Seasonal Highs

Clubs and resorts are giving Mom and Grandma a run for their money, as the new favorite spots for memorable holiday meals.

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

Summing It Up • Designing menus and activities around families has helped clubs and resorts become attractive alternatives for holiday meals. • Takeout holiday dinners can also have strong appeal to members—but only with whole cooked turkeys, not individually sliced dinners. • Clubs are also proving to be popular family gathering points for New Year’s Eve. This Month’s Recipes *Alholiday *Balsamic Glazed Wood-Grilled Pork Chops *Sand Creek Curried Apple and Butternut Squash Soup (pictured)

For generations, families have gathered in Grandma’s kitchen to share in the celebration of holiday traditions. But these days, Granny and the gang are just as likely to head out to the country club or a favorite resort, where imaginative managers and chefs are dreaming up more and more ways to fill the Thanksgiving-to-New Year’s period with fuss-free, family-friendly, memory-making food and fun.

In Southern California, there’s no snow to provide the setting for holiday spirit. But with its extravagant annual display of more than 700,000 lights (even the palm trees twinkle), Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach, Calif. has established itself as the central celebration spot for members and guests.

Putting on such an electrifying exhibition is an expensive proposition, both in terms of labor and utility costs, admits Dieter Hissin, Balboa Bay Club’s Executive Assistant Manager/Director of Food and Beverage. Few properties in the area put out half as many lights, he says; but going all out for the season gives the club’s dining operations a chance to really shine.
“We’re always busy throughout the season,” he explains. “In fact, for some events we have so many guests that we have to provide extra parking off-property, and shuttles to transport them to the door.”

Cattail Creek CC Executive Chef Tom Caswell

Balboa Bay takes full advantage of the seasonal spotlight with a jam-packed schedule of special events designed to appeal to all ages. On Saturday afternoons in December, for example, members and guests can cozy up in front of the library fireplace for traditional English high tea, complete with finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones and pastries.

To give the five-and-older crowd a taste of that tradition, the club offers teas with a fairy tale twist. Featuring story-telling, caroling, and a menu of kid-sized finger foods such as mini tartlets, decorated Christmas cookies and sandwiches cut into whimsical shapes (instead of the usual watercress, it’s peanut butter and jelly for the little sippers), the members-only Fairy Tale Tea is pretty much a guaranteed sellout every year, says Hissin.

In mid-December, Newport Beach becomes even more of a holiday hub, when more than a million people gather to view the almost century-old annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade. Aside from its location as the best seat in town (the viewing station for the Chamber of Commerce judges is on top of the club’s Dockmaster’s House), Balboa Bay offers members and guests who come to watch the sailing spectacular with the bonus of a beachside barbecue.

Easy-going edibles such as burgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, grilled chicken breast, chili, clam chowder and the club’s signature lobster bisque are offered a la carte. Hot spiced cider, hot chocolate, coffee and full cocktail service are also available.
In the dining room, the before- and after-parade menu reflects the Austrian origins of Executive Chef Joseph Lageder, with selections such as roast goose, Cinderella pumpkin bisque with pumpkin seed oil, and a soufflé-like dessert called Salburger Nockerl (see recipe, pg. 29) that must be ordered 24 hours in advance.

Picture Perfect
Right before Thanksgiving, Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Ind. gets its family festivities in gear by elevating the annual Christmas card photo-taking session from just another holiday chore to an event that is enthusiastically anticipated by all ages, says Club Manager Michael Clindaniel. Instead of waiting in line at the local photographer’s studio, families relax over brunch (kids have a set-up of their favorite foods all to themselves) for their turn to smile for a greeting card-quality snap. About 40 families attended the first “Photo Brunch” last year, and Clindaniel says that he anticipates an even larger turnout this year.

Sand Creek CC Executive Chef Nathan Wronko

Clindaniel has seen first-hand how quickly an innovative event can become a treasured tradition for guests and families. Ten years ago, when the club first invited members and guests to come and build their own gingerbread houses from provided kits, icing and decorative candies, about 170 adults and children participated. Last year, that number increased to 268.

To accommodate members who could not make it but still wanted to join in on the fun, the club even offered carry-out gingerbread house kits that could be worked with at home. Although this option was promoted primarily by word-of-mouth, somewhere between 15 and 20 of the kits were sold, Clindaniel notes.

But for those who came to the club to exercise their aptitude at creating edible architecture, Sand Creek’s chefs were on-hand to share professional decorating secrets. Another highlight of the event is the brunch which features Executive Chef Nathan Wronko’s Midwest seasonal specialties, such as signature butternut squash soup (see photo at left) and pork chops with roasted apples and mulling spices (recipes for both dishes available HERE & HERE).

“We’re always trying to come up with new ways to increase member participation,” Clindaniel explains. “Most of our really successful events are family-oriented.”

Housing Boom
Gingerbread house-decorating has also proved to be a big draw at Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood, Md. During the day-long event, a total of about 80 parents and children created snow- and candy-covered cottages. About 50% of those participants stayed for lunch, which consisted of a special buffet for the kids and a la carte offerings for the adults, according to Executive Chef Tom Caswell.

Breaking bread with Santa is a popular seasonal pasttime at both Sand Creek and Cattail Creek. Sand Creek’s annual brunch with the jolly old elf, held on the second Sunday in December, usually attracts anywhere between 400 and 500 guests and members. This year, Cattail Creek has added a second brunch buffet and a dinner (buffet for the kids, off-the-menu for adults) to accommodate little guests who want to share their wish-lists with the big guy.

Santa’s night-before-Christmas visit to Balboa Bay is heralded by a performance by the All-American Boys Chorus and a gala dinner in the Grand Ballroom. The annual songfest and turkey feast usually attracts around 400 members and guests. Members receive a 10% discount on the price of the event, and children under four are free.

To give member families a chance to chill out from the whirlwind of shopping and other activities, Cattail Creek hosts weekday Movie Nights, featuring holiday-themed flicks on the big-screen television, a buffet for the kids, and limited menu for the adults. This year, Caswell is also considering adding a pre-holiday session to his popular Saturday afternoon kids’ cooking classes, each of which usually attracts about 50 participants.

Until recently, Thanksgiving at Cattail Creek Country Club was such a quiet time that the facility was closed. Last year, however, Caswell and crew decided to offer members the option of ordering holiday dinners, including a 12-, 16- or 24-pound turkey and all the trimmings—from mashed potatoes and gravy to pumpkin or zucchini bread to pie—for take-out.
“We sold a total of about 250 dinners and, by setting the pick-up times from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., we still had our staff out of here by 2:30 p.m. so they could enjoy the holidays with their own families,” Caswell said. “We did as much business as we would have done had we served in the dining room.”

This year, members will be able to order their family-size feasts once again. But, unlike last year, the club will not include individual sliced turkey dinners among its offerings.

“We only sold a couple of those last year, so we realize that whole turkeys are the only way to go,” Caswell notes.

Family Ties
Family considerations are also changing the way Cattail Creek handles other major meals during the winter holiday season. It was only a couple of years ago that the club began serving Christmas Eve dinner, mostly as a courtesy for members who were hosting out-of-town holiday guests. According to Caswell, the first year was a relatively small affair in terms of both menu and attendance. “We served around 100 dinners from a limited a la carte menu,” he says.

Last year, though, Christmas Eve dinner attendance tripled, as more and more members began to bring their families, booking tables of 10 to 16 and including “unbelievable numbers of children,” according to Caswell. So limited a la carte offerings have now given way to a full buffet that includes numerous items, such as an ice cream sundae bar, geared to young appetites. “Buffets make it easy to get the kids fed right away, so the rest of the family can relax and take their time over dinner,” Caswell notes.

At Sand Creek, even New Year’s Eve is changing from the usual adult-oriented, black-tie, big-band blast to a kids-included evening, with movies, games and special interactive buffet stations (Clindaniel expects the pasta station and chocolate fondue fountain to be huge hits with the small fry). And to schedule the revelry for a time that fits better with the bedtimes of the youngest party-goers, the club will officially move the traditional ringing in of the New Year revelry to a more child-appropriate 10:00 p.m.