What’s with the Bag?

Next to golf, F&B is the most serious issue facing any club (and usually the source of most member discontent, if there is any).

William C. Donohue, Founding Publisher
bdonohue@clubandresortbusiness.com

When you received your October issue of Club & Resort Business, you may have asked yourself, “What’s with the bag?” Let me explain.

When we launched Club & Resort Business in 2005, it was clear to us that one of the biggest issues facing clubs today was food and beverage—yet none of the existing club magazines were addressing this function in any serious way. Next to golf, F&B is the most serious issue facing any club (and usually the source of most member discontent, if there is any).

Recognizing this, we decided to make food and beverage one of our major editorial “pillars,” which means it’s one of our regular main features.  Our coverage of F&B was (and is) extremely popular, and as a result, we launched “Chef to Chef” in 2009—a conference by club chefs and for club chefs. This event has grown from 54 chefs attending in 2009 to 175 in 2012. We expect 200 chefs and F&B directors to attend our 5th Annual Conference in Denver, March 10-12, 2013.

Our experience, and success, with the conference led us to create a supplemental magazine, naturally called Chef to Chef, that will be published four times per year and poly-bagged with regular issues of Club & Resort Business. What came in the bag with your October issue is the debut issue of this supplement.

The reason it is poly-bagged is that not all of our regular readers, such as the course superintendent, are engaged in F&B issues. With this supplemental issue, we want to speak exclusively to club food and beverage issues and not turn off our other readers.

This supplement is being mailed to club general managers, food and beverage directors, and executive chefs. There is so much going on that is good today in club F&B that we want to create a forum for the best ideas in club dining. There is much to learn about “farm to table” and also its converse, “table to farm.” Banquets, events, and outings are activities that occur only in golf clubs, and today’s club chef has to be well-versed and competent in all of them. More and more we are seeing chef’s tables, and an artful combination of fine and casual dining.

That is what this special publication is all about. If your chef or F&B director is not currently receiving this supplement, make sure they do. Read it, absorb it, and let us know what you think.

Tags: chef to chef Club & Resort Business Denver Colo. farm to table food and beverage issue