Questions owners ask

The Signature Audit costs AED 10,000: two anonymous visits and a written report. A Return Visit costs AED 5,000 and the Monthly Watch AED 7,000 per month. The bill for each visit is recharged at cost, within a cap agreed with you in advance. Large mystery shopping networks charge less per visit because a trained shopper fills in a checklist; here, every visit is made by an experienced restaurateur.

I do, every time. I do not use shoppers or subcontractors. You get the eye of someone who has run restaurants and clubs in Paris for 27 years.

No, unless you decide to tell them. I work for the owner only and report to the owner only. You choose what you share with your team afterwards.

I pay the bill like any guest, then recharge it to you at cost. We agree a cap before the visit, based on your menu, so there are no surprises.

A written report in English or French: what happened, minute by minute, from the booking to the bill, and the corrections I would make first. If you wish, we meet to go through it together.

Yes. Restaurant-clubs, lounges and beach clubs are what I know best: I ran Kong, L'Arc, Bagatelle Mansion, Yeeels and Le Baron in Paris. I can visit at lunch, at dinner, during the switch from dinner to party, or on a beach day.

Yes, in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah as well.

Only of dishes, the room and details. Never of staff or guests, in line with UAE privacy law.

Large firms are built for chains that need hundreds of visits scored against the same checklist. An independent owner needs something else: one experienced person who understands how a room, a kitchen and a bar work together, and who tells the owner directly what to fix.