The Morton's restaurant in Shanghai IFC Mall in the Lujiazui area opened in November 2010. [Provided to China Daily]

A large portion of the fine dining revenues comes from business customers on expense accounts. There is concern that companies might cut such expenses to reduce costs.

"It is always a concern but we have learned over the last 33 years that when people are going to spend money to entertain, they want to get the most value for that money.

"When they are going to take that client out, they don't have to worry about the food, the quality and the service that's going to be there. We've always been that place even when the economy in the US was as tough as it was," he said.

Morton's is well known for its consistency. The restaurants are not only similar in terms of style, concept and dcor but also share almost the same menu.

The Morton's steakhouses offer premium quality steak, featuring United States Department of Agriculture prime aged beef in the US, which is the highest in quality and intramuscular fat yet of limited supply, fresh fish, lobster and chicken, complemented by a full selection of premium drinks.

Due to restrictions imposed on the import of US beef, Morton's steakhouses in Asia use comparable high-quality aged beef where US beef is not permitted. China is the only place where they use 100 percent Australian beef, which, according to Artinian, is the best available to them that money can buy.

In addition to the quality of food, Artinian said he believes that training is a crucial factor that keeps the brand strong.

The company has a training team specially developed in Asia with the help of instructors in the US to make sure that everyone understands Morton's culture.

"Here in Shanghai, they don't understand how we execute in Chicago before they start with Morton's. We train everyone step by step, whether you are a dish washer, a server or the general manager. Everyone clearly understands the history of Morton's, how to select the best products and even how to anticipate the guest's needs in the same way," he said.

But Morton's has noticed the unique preferences of Chinese customers and made some changes.

In most of Morton's restaurants, there are only two or three private dining rooms. However, they have 11 in Shanghai "because when we were doing our research, we realized that a lot of Chinese businessmen do business over a meal and like to meet in a room that is very comfortable. It honors their guest," Artinian said.

He said that over the last several months, the restaurant is seeing a growing number of local Chinese customers. Usually around 60 percent, sometimes 70 percent, of customers are Chinese.

For Artinian, Morton's culture is about running a family business.

He began his career in the pantry kitchen at Morton's New York City, and was quickly promoted to assistant manager and then general manager. In 2004, he was promoted to vice-president of East Coast Operations and was appointed as the CEO in 2010.

But he said that in the big company with more than 4,000 employees, he is just one example of so many who have been with the company for a long time.

"What Morton's has taught me is if you treat people well inside your company, they are going to treat people well that are coming to choose Morton's. I believe very deeply in the brand because we've always kept the integrity of the brand together," he said.

He said that if there was a terrible economy, they would never say: "Maybe our beef is too expensive. Let's try something else" or: "We don't need that many staff to serve people. Let's do with fewer."

He added: "I always appreciate that commitment to excellence. It really helps to drive me to continue to be successful as the company has grown.

"Our biggest fear that drives us is that we don't ever want to become second best."

China Daily

Christopher Artinian, president and chief executive officer of Morton's Restaurant Group Inc. [Gao Erqiang / China Daily]