"Cuisine by Committee" Doesn't Have to Be Hash

Developing successful menus requires a dash of culinary talent and a large helping of input from management, members and guests.

by Marilyn Odesser-Torpey (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
January 2007
 

Can a chef who dreams of truffles, confit and plates painted with jewel box-colored sauces find fulfillment in a meat-and-potatoes club? Can members be persuaded to push their boundaries of culinary comfort, or will one more order of calf’s liver and onions send the chef plummeting into the depths of creative despair?

The best way to win the tug-of-war for diners’ taste buds is to include management and members in the menu development process. For some chefs, this input may come from regular meetings with general managers, food and beverage directors, or house committees. For others, it may be through questionnaires, casual conversation, or data-mining of what’s being ordered in dining rooms and banquet halls.

At the Naples (Fla.) Yacht Club (NYC), these courses have all been charted to help the culinary operation navigate a smooth transition through major shifts in membership demographics and dining expectations, reports the club’s GM/COO, Rhett J. Robicheaux.

“Until recently, the menu here was definitely focused on comfort-food items such as calf’s liver, lamb shanks and scamp (grouper),” Robicheaux explains. “But now we are seeing an influx of younger members looking for more innovative dining experiences, on par with the ones they can find in the neighboring downtown area.”

Still, he notes, about 70 percent of the membership at the more-than-50-year-old club expects to find the familiar. So the best first step, the culinary team headed by new Executive Chef Michael Duncan decided, was to tantalize palates with a few surprising tweaks of traditional ingredients and basic flavor profiles.

Michael Duncan, Executive Chef, Naples (Fla.) Yacht Club

Much thought is also given to the presentation of each dish. As much for their flavor as their visual appeal, the team paints swipes of colorful and often unusual sauces, such as wasabi sabayon, sweet and savory glazes, and aïoli spiked with roasted red pepper or curry and turmeric.

Another traditional menu item that’s been given a new look—and taste—at NYC is roast leg of lamb, which has evolved into lamb loin roulade with a savory stuffing of mild Italian sausage, bread crumbs, mushrooms, spinach and fresh mint, and served with a minted lamb reduction.

A recent strategic survey of NYC membership confirmed that Robicheaux and Duncan are on the right track. Even better proof comes from the increases in dining room data seen since the new menu innovations were introduced: Covers are up 7.4 percent, with an 11 percent boost in revenues.

Beyond the Basics
As the Laconia (N.H.) Country Club has made the transition from semi-private to private, its dining room has moved from 90 percent lunch activity to a renewed spotlight on the evening meal. To encourage the incoming private club demographic to dine at Laconia, its new Executive Chef and F&B Director, Mike Prete, has increased the five-bottle wine list to 28 bottles. He also intends to include entertainment as part of an evening-out package, launching a “Dinner Club” with comedy in the spring and a guest-participation “Game Show Night.”

The entertainment is being extended to what’s on diners’ plates, too. “This year, we’ve taken the food up a couple of notches from the usual chicken parmesan and cordon bleu,” Prete reports. “I’ve recently introduced couscous, and I expect to continue to expand the menu with baby steps.”

Slow but sure is also the approach Executive Chef Chip Dufault has been taking to turn his culinary vision into menu reality at Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg, Mass.

“Ours is definitely a sirloin-steak-and-club-sandwich crowd,” he explains. “Out of 12 items on our regular dining room menu, we can slip in one, maybe two, really creative dishes for the five percent or so of our members who are adventurous.”

Mike Prete, Executive Chef and F&B Director, Laconia Country Club

Undaunted, Dufault looks for ways to get the most oomph from his offerings without intimidating the more conservative taste buds. For example, the team now smokes its own meats in-house, including Canadian bacon and fish, instead of outsourcing these items. Currently, Dufault is experimenting with cooking sous vide, a method for maintaining the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures.

Getting members to try new things is often as much a matter of trust as taste. “Some members told me they were curious about buffalo and venison; both went over very well,” he reports.

Sometimes it simply takes a change of venue to whet the appetite for something different. When Dufault introduced “Grill Night” on in-season Thursdays, he discovered that usually cost-conscious golfers couldn’t get enough of higher-end entrées like veal chops, wahoo and talapia when they were cooked to order on the gas grill.

“We couldn’t sell barramundi in the dining room,” he notes. “But on the grill, it sells out.”

Pulling Out the Stops
Special events and banquet menus often provide the best chances to unleash chefs’ inner artists. For example, many of the envelope-pushing preparations at Naples Yacht Club debut at prix fixe wine-pairing dinners held at least once a month.

At Racquet Club Ladue in St. Louis, the menu is “70 percent classics and 30 percent ‘chef’s sandbox,’” says Executive Chef Chris Desens. But within the “more intimate venue” of a small-batch bourbon-tasting event, Desens’ team had a chance to pull out all the culinary stops; the menu included original creations such as mustard seed-crusted salmon with honey-ginger glaze, apple brioche bread pudding with apple-smoked bacon, bourbon pecan ice cream, and fried green apples “Foster.”

For another themed menu—“Tomato, Tomato, Tomato (A Culinary Progression)”—courses ranged from elegant entrées (Moroccan-spiced loin of lamb with golden tomato-mint couscous and spicy tomato sauce) to a daring dessert (tomato ricotta tart with basil parfait and tomato syrup).

Desens also looks to his Catering Director for heads-ups when members seem ready to go beyond the boundaries of regular banquet fare. A recent menu proposal included breast of squab, wild boar and chestnut crépinette with savoy cabbage and truffle sauce, and peppered venison loin with mustard spätzle and huckleberry sauce.

The response can even surprise the chef. “I never would have believed it,” reports Desens, “but seared Hudson Valley foie gras and duck strudel with apple butter and cinnamon-cider sauce was a major hit.”

Chris Desens, Executive Chef, Racquet Club Ladue

Encouraged by results like this, Desens plans to offer a three-course, prix fixe ($39) tasting menu in his dining room one Saturday a month.

Spreading the Word
At Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa in Galena, Ill., diners know exactly where to look for the kitchen’s latest creations. Once a week, half of the menu (three appetizers and five entrées) at the resort’s Woodlands Restaurant & Lounge changes to showcase the latest results of regular culinary brainstorming sessions led by Food and Beverage Director Don Pleau and Executive Chef Randy Hoppman.

Selling these new culinary concepts begins with the serving staff. “Every week, we bring the servers together to taste-test the latest dishes and learn about their origin and preparation,” Pleau says. “That way, they are always knowledgeable and, just as important, excited about the menu.”

Pleau and Hoppman also make sure the buzz goes far beyond the dining room at Eagle Ridge. Every Friday for one hour during prime resort check-in time, the chef and dining room manager set up a sauté station for food and wine sampling in the lobby across from the front desk.

At the Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, F&B Director Don Pleau (left) and Executive Chef Randy Hoppman change 50 percent of the menu on a weekly basis.

“We know it works, because many guests make dinner reservations right on the spot, and then come to the dining room and order the featured appetizers, entrées and wines,” Hoppman says.

Because of extra effort like this, Pleau and Hoppman have been heartened by orders for new items like buffalo ribeye crusted with caramelized shallots and Gorgonzola. The F&B team has also been pleased with the popularity of “Fresh Fish Fridays,” where diners find such unusual preparations as five-spiced seared mahi mahi over cactus pear coulis and pineapple fruit salsa.

One club tradition hasn’t changed, though: Nothing promotes a new item like a personal recommendation from a chef or manager. At Oak Hill CC, Dufault and his sous-chef try to get out to the dining room at least four or five times a week to talk up new menu entries. “When we do that,” he says, “it’s guaranteed they will sell.”