New Hyde Park, NY - Morton's of Chicago, whose 39 steakhouses have set a new standard for fine dining in cities throughout the U.S., will introduce its classic American steakhouses throughout the world, beginning in Southeast Asia, when its first international restaurant opens in Singapore on May 30th.
The 40th Morton's of Chicago will be located in the luxurious Oriental hotel, centrally located in Singapore's business and financial district.
In the 20 years since its founding, Morton's of Chicago, a division of Morton's Restaurant Group, has carved out a unique niche in the high-end of the American restaurant industry, earning an extraordinary nationwide reputation for excellence in food, service and decor.
In citing the restaurants' popularity, the New York Times noted that Morton's “caters to many captains of industry,” and the Los Angeles Times called it the best steakhouse in all of Southern California.
“Hard to believe it's a chain” is how New York magazine describes Morton's of Chicago, which it also named the best steakhouse in New York. The Chicago Tribune said Morton's is “The Rolls-Royce of steakhouses. The well-drilled staff and seemingly unremitting attention to detail in food preparation make this a place to impress clients or celebrate a momentous occasion.”
Morton's of Chicago, which recorded its 12th consecutive year of comparable restaurant revenue growth in 1997, is America's most successful multiple-location, company-owned (none are franchised) fine dining restaurant group.
Morton's of Chicago serves USDA Prime aged beef, the finest quality beef available, unmatched for its flavor and tenderness, and shipped fresh (never frozen) from the company's selected Midwest purveyors.
The Morton's menu also offers generous portions of fresh fish, lobster, veal and chicken entrees. The menu, which is identical at all locations, includes such items as the signature 24-ounce porterhouse, a 20- ounce New York sirloin and a 14-ounce double-cut filet. Another Morton's signature is its tableside rolling cart “show-and-tell” menu presentation.
Morton's prides itself on sourcing the finest products available: in addition to USDA Prime aged beef, the Singapore Morton's will be serving lobsters from Maine, potatoes from Idaho -- and cheesecake from New York, along with oysters from France, smoked salmon from Scotland, swordfish from Australia, tomatoes from Holland and shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico.
Allen J. Bernstein, founder, chairman and C.E.O. of Morton's Restaurant said that Morton's of Chicago “has defied conventional wisdom by successfully replicating our high-end restaurant in dozens of markets across the United States.”
He said Morton's “legendary” status in the fine-dining segment of the American restaurant industry had inspired its new “Legends are larger than life” advertising campaign, featuring such world famous Morton's guests as Muhammad Ali.
“The clear message we've been getting from so many of our international guests is 'We'd love to have a Morton's back home,”' said Bernstein. “Now we intend to make that happen by rolling-out our proven steakhouse concept in major business and financial centers throughout the world.”
He said that Singapore was chosen to launch Morton's international expansion because the thriving city of 3 million is one of the world's most important business centers, Asia's leading convention city and a convenient gateway to many other countries in Southeast Asia.
The Wall Street Journal reported that of all destinations for American executives who transferred overseas in 1997, Singapore was second only to the United Kingdom, which led Bernstein to observe that, “Many American executives working and traveling in Southeast Asia are likely to be among Morton's core customers.”
Bernstein said the second international Morton's is set to open in September in the Grand Bay Hotel in the exclusive Yorkville section of downtown Toronto.
As for additional international locations, Bernstein says Morton's is “currently evaluating a number of promising sites on several continents.”
Since Morton's restaurants are highly-desirable “value-added” tenants, real estate developers usually contribute a significant amount of building and development costs. Landlords are aware that a Morton's of Chicago in a complex will attract other prime tenants.
All Morton's steakhouses also feature an open-display kitchen, an extensive, award-winning connoisseur's wine list, and a fully stocked bar offering the finest single malt scotches and a classic martini selection. The new Morton's will have the largest selection of California wines of any restaurant in Singapore.
To assure that every dish is consistent in ingredients, preparation and presentation, Morton's goes strictly by the book. And there actually is a book, (a precise step-by-step, ingredient-by-ingredient, illustrated binder, with full instructions for each menu item).
But in delivering customer service, Morton's managers and staff rewrite the book every day. They are expected, encouraged -- and empowered -- to do whatever it takes to consistently exceed guest expectations.
All Morton's of Chicago restaurants are similar in design and decor, with dark, rich woods, subdued lighting, white tablecloths, photos of celebrities and colorful LeRoy Neiman limited-edition serigraphs and prints.
Morton's is also noted for its popular private dining and meeting rooms. These luxurious “Boardrooms” offer automatic room-partitioning and flexible set-ups, and can accommodate groups of six to 90.
The Boardrooms have Oriental rugs, wood parquet floors, dark mahogany walls, comfortable high- backed chairs and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment for multimedia presentations. They are designed to offer the utmost in comfort, convenience and privacy for business and social lunches and dinners.
Morton's of Chicago has developed staffing, training, motivation, purchasing, site selection and design systems enabling it to achieve the shared corporate culture of a group of restaurants, while maintaining the quality and individuality of the finest local restaurants.
The company has put in place stringent internal financial controls and state-of-the-art restaurant technology to optimize operations and maximize profitability, and each restaurant has its own food and beverage controller.
“It's extremely gratifying that when the world's most respected and admired quality brand names, such as Tiffany, Rolls-Royce, Disney, Rolex, Gucci and the Mandarin Oriental hotels are cited, the only fine-dining restaurant group likely to be included on that exclusive list is Morton's of Chicago, the Steakhouse,” said Bernstein.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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