§ Issues
9
Dispatches filed and counting — for the line, not the lounge.
§ 02 · Recent issues
From the plancha.
Bi-weekly · All issues →
google reviews
4 min read
How restaurants win on Google Reviews (without doing anything sketchy)
Most restaurants are already 4.5+. The difference now is credibility, recency, and replies. A practical playbook for asking, responding, and avoiding risky review shortcuts.
News
1 min read
Plancha is coming very soon
Plancha is coming soon: a newsletter for the people who run restaurants, hotels, and hospitality businesses across Central Europe. If you’re an owner, GM, head chef, F&a
The files.
§ 03 · The rooms in the kitchen
- 01 plancha express Dispatches filed under plancha express. 3 issues →
- 02 Google Places Dispatches filed under Google Places. 2 issues →
- 03 tofu Dispatches filed under tofu. 1 issues →
- 04 waste Dispatches filed under waste. 1 issues →
- 05 vendor Dispatches filed under vendor. 1 issues →
- 06 Festivals Dispatches filed under Festivals. 1 issues →
§ 04 · The line is talking
Operator takes.
Quotes from the line
VAT
"Cheaper vegetables, tone-deaf tomatoes, and when food festivals work for operators"
— Zsofi Bajor, Alexei Korolyov, Georgiana Ilie, Peter Erdelyi
AI
"The restaurants AI recommends, and why"
— Peter Erdelyi, Zsofi Bajor, Georgiana Ilie, Alexei Korolyov, María Paula Ángel Benavides
On the line
"The case for running a lunch menu you don't profit from"
— Georgiana Ilie, Zsofi Bajor, Alexei Korolyov
plancha express
"How war hits your menu, the worst food influencer in Budapest and toilet signs from hell"
— María Paula Ángel Benavides, Peter Erdelyi, Zsofi Bajor, Georgiana Ilie, Alexei Korolyov
waste
"In the business of wasting food"
— Zsofi Bajor, Georgiana Ilie, Alexei Korolyov, María Paula Ángel Benavides, Peter Erdelyi
plancha express
"Bread wars, spy pizza, and why your coffee bill just went up"
— Peter Erdelyi, Georgiana Ilie, Alexei Korolyov, Zsofi Bajor
tofu
"You're selling tofu wrong"
— Peter Erdelyi, Alexei Korolyov, Georgiana Ilie, Zsofi Bajor, María Paula Ángel Benavides
Welcome to Plancha: a practical newsletter for people who run restaurants, hotels, and hospitality businesses in Central & Eastern Europe. We’re building this because the industry deserves something better than PR dressed up as “insight”: utility first, every time. (If you want the full “what we cover / who we are / how we’ll fund this” version, our About page lays it out clearly.)
Our very first edition focuses on Google Reviews. Not because it’s particularly great fun responding online to people who leave 1-star reviews because they failed to make a reservation (“BuT tHeRe iS a FrEe TaBlE OVerR tHeRe, I cAn SeE iT, wHy WoUlDn’T yOu LeT uS sIt ThErE?!”), but because they are still influencing customer choices for a lot of restaurants.
A quick regional snapshot: ratings are crowded at the top
We pulled restaurant listings via the Google Places API (15 km radius from city centers) in Budapest, Bucharest, and Vienna.
A few useful takeaways:
- Most restaurants are “rated” (roughly 91–94% of the total restaurant universe in these cities).
- 4.5–5.0 is the biggest tier:
- Budapest: ~54% of rated restaurants sit at 4.5+
- Bucharest: ~48% at 4.5+
- Vienna: ~49% at 4.5+
- The truly low end is tiny (about 2–4% under 3.0 across these cities).
Translation: you’re competing in a market where “good ratings” are common, so recency, credibility, and how you handle the occasional bad moment matter a lot.
Review farming and potential consequences
As you can see above the jump in 5.0-rated restaurants is unusually sharp, especially in Bucharest, which may reflect a mix of factors, including possible manipulation. Google has some pretty clear policies as to what is allowed and not allowed on its platform.
Plancha is coming soon: a newsletter for the people who run restaurants, hotels, and hospitality businesses across Central Europe.
If you’re an owner, GM, head chef, F&B director, operator, or the kind of creative leader who carries a P&L in their head whether they want it or not: this is for you.
Our promise is simple: utility first. Every issue should help you make at least one better decision: about running a tighter operation, understanding your customers, or staying ahead of the forces reshaping the industry. We’ll land in your inbox, and we’ll aim to be the opposite of PR-heavy trade press: clear separation of editorial and sponsorship, data and evidence where possible, and respect for your time.
You can sign up for free now to be there when the first issue drops. If you like what we’re building, tell someone else in the industry and if you want to help shape it, drop us a mail at hello@plancha.food and tell us what you need.
§ Files
16
Rooms in the kitchen — operations, customers, industry and the rest.
§ Cadence
Bi-weekly
In your inbox, never on a service day.
§ Price
€0
Free to read. Members get the spreadsheets.
§ 06 · Who's on the line
Written by operators, for operators.
For people who run restaurants, hotels, and hospitality businesses in Central Europe.
Peter Erdelyi
Budapest-Vienna
8 issues filed
Zsofi Bajor
I’m a Budapest-based hospitality innovator and food storyteller with a rare dual background: 15 years in television and media and a second career building real-world food concepts that change how people eat.
8 issues filed
Alexei Korolyov
8 issues filed
Georgiana Ilie
Bucharest
Journalist and anthropologist looking at how food influences our world.
8 issues filed
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