Spirited Holiday Issue 2011

HOLIDAY 2011

The Official Magazine of the World Class Beverage Program

The Mark Wine Group: Telling the Winemakers’ Stories The Mark Wine Group specializes in putting fine-quality, smaller wine producers on the radar screen of large national restaurant and hotel accounts. The result is enhanced selection for the establishments and greater visibility for the wineries.

Talking F&B With Kirk Kinsell Whether he’s savoring a local, hand-crafted pale ale or winning accolades from friends for his superb guacamole, it’s clear Kirk Kinsell is a person who loves and appreciates food and beverage. Our special holiday edition of “Talking F&B With...” features a conversation with the President of the Americas.

In This Issue

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New iPad App Puts InterContinental Recipes at the Fingertips

Introducing Three New F&B Commandos

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Hotel Spotlight: InterContinental Chicago’s Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse

World Class Beverage Program Supplier Profile: The Mark Wine Group

The InterContinental Brand Goes Green

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Talking F&B with Kirk Kinsell

SinglePlatform: A OneStop Shop for Managing Your Digital F&B Presence

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‘Experiencing’ the InterContinental Brand at Conference

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Celebrating IHG’s Top Chefs: Luc Dendievel of the Willard InterContinental

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Social Marketing, Part 2, by Ned Barker

Teaming with Penfolds and Belvedere to Support (PRODUCT)RED

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Beverage Briefs

Celebrating the Spirit of the Season

Welcome to the busiest, most sparkling time of the year! The holidays are a wonderful opportunity for our food and beverage teams to shine as we support our customers in celebrating the season. On behalf of IHG Food & Beverage, I’d like to thank each of you for your individual contributions to ensuring outstanding guest experiences at your hotels throughout the year. We also appreciate your ongoing support of the World Class Beverage Program and promise even more good things to come in 2012.

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Cheers, JP

Ask Kirk Kinsell to name his favorite food, and you’ll get not only an answer but a great recipe or two, as well as a conversation about the ability of food and beverage to bring people together. In a recent interview, we asked the President of the Americas about his F&B preferences and learned the secret to making a great top-shelf margarita.

Kirk Kinsell F&B Has the Power to Reconnect, According to

Any foodservice experience in your background?

“Yes—in the eighth grade, I started working at Foster Freeze, a local hamburger shack in my hometown of Santa Barbara. I flipped burgers, made shakes, cooked fries—all the major food groups for teenagers. Over the course of three years I worked my way up from hourly employee to fledgling manager. That meant they trusted me with the keys and let me open up and shut down the shop every day.

“When I was an undergraduate at the University of California San Diego, I served as student manager of one of the snack concessions and the faculty club. Then in the graduate program at Cornell University’s Hotel School, I was required to take a number of food preparation and service courses that included cooking and a

course on meats, among many others. The wine course was not a requirement, but of course, I took it anyway.

“Later in my career, I was President and COO for Avado Brands, a company that at the time was the largest franchisee of Applebee’s, with more than 500 restaurants, and operated a number of other restaurant brands as well, including McCormick & Schmick’s, Canyon Cafe, Don Pablo’s and Hops.”

What does a great dining experience look like?

“Through research we did at Avado Brands with our Applebee’s restaurants, we learned that people go out to eat primarily to get reconnected. The environment in the restaurant or bar must enhance that reconnection. So, it’s critical for the experience to

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deliver in all the sensory channels—the food has to look, smell and taste great, the background music has to set the right mood, the service has to be friendly but not intrusive.”

What’s your favorite food?

“I have an ongoing need for Mexican food. I especially love chile rellenos and have a great recipe, but it takes nearly a whole day to cook it, so I only do it once in a while. My wife, Carrie, and I usually invite friends over and turn it into a great all-day party.

“I also make award-winning guacamole. When I was president of EMEA and living in London, several American ex-pat hotel colleagues of mine and I noticed that it was really hard to find good guacamole in the city. So we decided to have a competition among ourselves to see who could make the best. We had a party and called it a ‘guac-off,’ after the ‘walk-off’ scene in the film ‘Zoolander.’

The voting was held after a blind taste test, and my recipe won both years we held the contest.”

How about your favorite beverage?

“I have several. Tequila—my favorite is Don Julio Añejo. I also developed a taste for single malt Scotch while I was in the U.K., where you can drink it almost 12 months out of the year. Here in Atlanta it’s too hot to drink Scotch most of the time. And, I like handcrafted beers, especially ones with a local flavor or story.

“Margaritas are another favorite—frozen, no salt, top shelf. I have a great recipe for these, too. I start with Bacardi margarita mix, strawberry or lime, then fill the empty can half full with Don Julio tequila. Next add Cointreau to three-quarters full and top up with Grand Marnier. Mix it in the blender with just the right amount of ice for thickness.”

Favorite restaurant?

“I have different favorites for different occasions. In the summer I’d choose the Taco Bar in Seaside, Florida. It’s a great place to get tacos and margaritas, then just sit and watch the sunset.

For a more international experience, I like Theo Randall at the InterContinental London Park Lane—it’s perfect for business entertaining when I’m in Europe. Here in Atlanta, my family usually gets together for a meal at the Capital Grille between Christmas and New Year’s. Their calamari with peppers is terrific. Now with Southern Art open at the InterContinental Buckhead, we’ll be starting a new tradition.”

Speaking of the holidays, any other F&B traditions?

“For Thanksgiving, we usually have dinner at a club near our house in the North Carolina mountains. At home with my family during the Christmas holidays, I might barbecue a flank steak—marinate 4

it for a day in Stubbs marinade, cut it on the bias, then grill it with fresh vegetables and serve it with a good bottle of wine.”

When you dine at an IHG hotel, what do you usually order?

“When I travel, I’m on the move and out of the hotel for most meals except breakfast. I’m a healthy eater and try to make good choices, so for breakfast I would probably have fresh fruit and granola with low-fat milk or lite yogurt. If I’m in one of our hotels for a banquet or other function, my first choice is usually chicken.”

Have you had a recent standout meal at an IHG property?

“A couple of months ago I attended a banquet at the Holiday Inn Chamblee-Dunwoody in Atlanta in conjunction with some meetings with the IHG Owners Association. The hotel did a bang-up job with the whole meal. The salmon and steak entrees in particular were very nicely done.”

Any F&B “pet peeves?”

“I like having options when I dine out, so it bothers me when things aren’t available or requests like serving the sauce on the side aren’t provided willingly. I’m not high maintenance, but customers have an expectation of a certain level of skill and service in a fine dining establishment. The wait staff should know how to properly open and pour a bottle of wine, that courses are served from the left and cleared from the right, and when to engage with the diners and when not to.

“It’s also annoying to feel rushed. In Europe, you have the table until you decide to leave. Here in the States, the servers tend to hover once you’ve finished the meal.”

Why is food & beverage important to IHG and the guest experience?

“Food and beverage is so much more than sustenance—it provides comfort, energy and a way for our guests to reconnect with their lives. So it’s a critical element of the guest experience at our full-service hotels. Food and drink should also be fun, and our restaurants and bars should be places where people can relax, be casual and really enjoy themselves.

“Of course, F&B also makes up a significant portion of revenue for our owners at many hotels, and also provides interactions with guests where our hotel teams can presence some of the respective signature brand touchpoints.

“Finally, our full-service properties have the opportunity through food and beverage to introduce the hotel to customers who are not staying overnight—in our F&B outlets, at meetings, banquets, weddings and other functions. These are the perfect format for reaching out and creating great relationships with our communities.”

Best Wishes for the Holidays!

Golden Margarita, InterContinental Cozumel, from the InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook

Everyone who works in food and beverage knows that it is the heart and soul of our full-service hotels. It’s one of the key elements that differentiates our brands and has our guests return again and again.

As we come to the close of the year, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the skill, talent and care you bring to your roles, encourage you to continue to up your game in 2012, and thank you for your part in making Great Hotels Guests Love a reality, day-by-day.

All the best to you and your families for this holiday season and the coming year!

Yucatan Temptation, InterContinental Cancun, from the InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook 5

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any a flourishing business— if not most—results from the perfect marriage between a gap in the market and an entrepreneur sharp enough to spot the opportunity.

That’s certainly the case for The Mark Wine Group, a national sales and marketing company that specializes in fine wines. More specifically, the Austin, Texas-based company represents topquality, family-owned and independent wineries and importers to hotel and restaurant companies throughout the United States.

President Mark Gmur started with a simple vision when he founded the company in 2007: to provide buyers a wide selection of very high quality wines from which to choose, and to provide a voice and presence for those smaller producers who had the ability, but not always the wherewithal, to service national accounts. Serving as the conduit between these two groups has led to the development of a distinguished portfolio of both national brands and boutique offerings that comprises more than a dozen suppliers and nearly 100 different wineries representing almost every major wine-producing region in the world.

“Each of the wineries in our portfolio has an interesting story, and our mission is to tell them,” Mark says. “The result is that the hotels and restaurants in our national accounts have much better wine selections to offer their customers.”

The World Class Beverage Program currently features three wines represented

by The Mark Wine Group—Raymond Napa Reserve Merlot and Lyeth Estate Meritage for the InterContinental brand and DeLoach Pinot Noir, which is provided by the glass at InterContinental Hotels and by the bottle at Crowne Plaza properties.

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“Each of the wineries in our portfolio has an interesting story, and our mission is to tell them.”

Mark Gmur Founder, The Mark Wine Group

THE WINE INDUSTRY’S

Starting at a Tender Age Mark’s 20 years of international experience in the wine and hospitality industries began in his childhood in Sydney, Australia.

His father had a career as hotel food and beverage director, general manager and restaurateur, so Mark grew up around the business, living in hotels and eating in fine restaurants as soon as he could walk. He worked in his father’s restaurants and later earned a degree with honors from the prestigious Les Roches School of International Hotel Management in Switzerland.

He was quickly recruited to work at the New York Four Seasons and then as Beverage Manager for the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he discovered his passion for wine. His next opportunity took Mark all the way to Hawaii to become Beverage Director for the Hilton Waikoloa Village. His deepening interest in the beverage business led to a position as Vice President of On-Premise Sales for one of Hawaii’s largest wine and spirits distributors. It was during his tenure here that he identified a niche in the industry that had not been addressed, and the idea for The Mark Wine Group was born.

“I was managing national accounts and working with 30 or 40 large, national suppliers,” he explains. “But I noticed there were a lot of smaller wineries who were not chasing the national account business. They were stuck in the middle—producing enough volume to service national hotel and restaurant accounts, but not large enough to afford a full-time person to sell and represent them. I created the company to serve as national account manager for these smaller businesses.”

Mark first partnered with Boisset Family Estates, who remain the company’s largest supplier. Four years later, The Mark Wine Group has assembled the most extensive collection of highly visible, marketable family and independent wineries available from one source within the on-premise arena. “We have more wines with 90+ scores than any other company,” Mark notes with pride.

Growing with Care The Mark Wine Group has moved quickly to the top in the national accounts channel and continues to grow, but in a carefully considered, selective fashion. Prospective suppliers’ distribution and production capabilities must meet strict requirements and fit well within the company’s portfolio, bringing something new to the overall offerings.

“We’ve actually been bigger than we are now,” Mark says. “We decided to pull back to focus on brands that are really working for us and can extend our reach. We want to grow by partnering with the right partners.”

These days, Mark has found his role shifting from buyer/distributor to that of consultant and educator. In 2008, he became a Certified Wine Educator and has expanded the company’s services to include consulting and providing wine education programs.

“We have to be able to educate our national account customers about not just one entity, but 50 or 60, so teaching is a big part of what we do,” Mark says. “We get lots of calls requesting assistance with wine education, and we help out whenever we can.”

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Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse Reenergizes F&B at the InterContinental Chicago

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undreds of people lined the sidewalks, spilling into the street outside the InterContinental Chicago and stopping traffic on Michigan Avenue. A sleek, black Bentley pulled up to the red carpet at the hotel’s entrance, and the crowd went wild as one of the city’s favorite sons, Michael Jordan, stepped from the car, smiled and waved.

The September grand opening of Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse was a bit like Oscar night and the NBA Finals rolled into one, according to InterContinental Chicago General Manager Edward Andrews, noting that the event marked the culmination of a project five years in the making.

“We had a temporary restaurant on our second floor and a traditional lobby bar. It was time to renovate, and we knew we needed a new brand and concept,” says Ed, a 21-year veteran of InterContinental Hotels who came up through the ranks on the food and beverage side of the business. “Cornerstone Restaurant Group, which manages licensing for the Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse concept, had been looking for the perfect spot on the Magnificent Mile to open a ‘hometown’ version. Of course, our prime location on the most famous part of the Avenue is as good as it gets.”

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Michael Jordan’s offers a sophisticated but approachable atmosphere

The historic property is comprised of two buildings: a tower that was built in 1929 as the Medina Athletic Club and a second wing built in the 1950s. It opened as an InterContinental Hotel in 1989.

Cornerstone ultimately sealed the deal with the InterContinental Chicago owners, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, to place the third Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse within the hotel. (The other two locations are in New York City’s Grand Central terminal and the Mohegan Sun casino and entertainment complex in Connecticut.)

Aged Beef to Mac and Cheese Construction began in January 2011, and the elegantly appointed, casual dining restaurant and new lobby-level bar space opened as Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse in August. The restaurant has more than 7,000 square feet with seating for 160, as well as two private dining rooms for 18 people each, complete with full audiovisual capabilities.

The restaurant offers lunch and dinner seven days a week. Along with a variety of 45-day dry-aged Delmonico steaks, other signature dishes include garlic bread served with a Wisconsin Ader Kase reserve blue-cheese fondue, a chopped salad boasting 23 ingredients and a Michael Jordan favorite, mac and cheese. Among the delectable desserts: a 23-layer chocolate cake.

Business has been brisk and sustained since opening. “We’re seeing very positive and promising results, and hope it’s just the beginning,” Ed says.

Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse General Manager Myron Markewycz

Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse Executive Chef James O’Donnell

Management of the new restaurant is the hotel’s responsibility, though the Cornerstone organization was involved in installing the concept and helping hire key members of the management team.

One of these was restaurant General Manager Myron Markewycz, well-known in Chicago restaurant circles. The hotel also now has two Executive Chefs: James O’Donnell for Michael Jordan’s and Kurt Mittelberger for the balance of the hotel’s food and beverage outlets and functions. All the staff of Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse are IHG employees.

“We are lucky to have an extraordinary team, and experienced, knowledgeable management,” says Ed. “We’re still doing some hiring and fine-tuning, but overall they are doing a great job.”

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Dishes feature locally sourced, seasonal ingredients

Guests enter across a new glass bridge underneath historic frescoes

A Competitive Edge The addition of Michael Jordan’s has boosted business in the hotel’s other outlets and given a lift to banquet and catering sales as well, he adds.

The renovations to accommodate Michael Jordan’s involved adding a new restaurant, The Continental, which serves three meals a day from a beautiful built-in buffet. Eno, the hotel’s long-popular wine, cheese and chocolate bar, is situated directly across from the Michael Jordan’s bar and has experienced a definite uptick in revenues since the opening.

The visibility from the high-profile restaurant premiere has given the InterContinental Chicago a fresh advantage in the intensely competitive bid for social catering and corporate meetings business.

“We are well-known for our beautiful, historic function space, and we have a strong banquet team and a good reputation in the market for service, so we do a healthy banquet business. But the competition is tough,” Ed says. “The new restaurant and bar are giving us a shot in the arm. We also fully appreciate our owners, who chose to make this investment in the hotel.”

Looking ahead, Ed says plans are to continue to refine the Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse operations and explore new areas for growth— such as developing a carryout business for the restaurant and building private party bookings.

InterContinental Chicago General Manager Edward Andrews

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InterContinental Chicago Executive Chef Kurt Mittelberger

“There are plenty of opportunities. Once Michael Jordan’s has run through a full 12-month cycle, the team can catch their breath and it will be easier to see where to go next,” Ed says. “We are also working hard to make certain we continue to recognize our regular guests and ensure they have a superior experience during their stays with us.”

Going

Green It’s

an ambitious—but highly achievable— goal: the InterContinental brand has committed to become the first hotel group in the world to “green certify” all its bars and restaurants in North America by year-end 2012.

The World Class Beverage Program team is working with the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) to support the 34 properties in the U.S. and Canada through the certification process. Founded in 1990, GRA is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to shift the restaurant industry toward ecological sustainability.

A successful pilot test certification process was conducted at Miel and RumBa at the InterContinental Boston in 2010. When the results were presented at the annual InterContinental General Managers’ Conference in April of this year, the GMs expressed interest in becoming certified as a brand.

“Having the brand achieve green certification is a powerful way to support our Responsible Business platform as part of the IHG ‘Wheel’ performance initiative,” says Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray, Vice President of Food & Beverage. “The hotels will be helping create a healthier environment while also improving staff productivity and morale, staying ahead of legislation and potentially, reducing costs.”

To prepare for undergoing GRA’s comprehensive, seven-part certification process, each hotel has created a “Green Team,”

led by the F&B Director and including other staff stakeholders such as the Executive Chef, Chief Engineer, Director of Sales & Marketing and the bar and restaurant managers. The process begins with a thorough environmental assessment by GRA, followed by environmental consulting. Once the agreedupon sustainability enhancements are made, GRA conducts a verification visit, and if the bar or restaurant achieves the minimum score, certification is granted.

In the assessments, points are awarded for meeting GRA requirements in a range of categories, such as disposables, food (including practices such as using natural meat and free-range/ cage-free poultry), water efficiency, waste reduction and recycling and pollution and chemical reduction. All properties must be styrofoam-free. Hotels achieving certification may market and publicize themselves as such, and IHG plans to promote the InterContinental brand’s achievement a year from now.

“All indications are that our restaurants and bars will see increases in sales as a result of being GRA certified,” JeanPierre notes. “According to a National Restaurant Association survey, 62 percent of consumers say they are likely to choose a restaurant based on its environmental friendliness. This ‘green’ effort should help drive in new customers for our InterContinental Hotels and increase customer loyalty— creating Great Bars & Restaurants Guests Love!”

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We continue our series celebrating leading IHG Executive Chefs in the Americas

“The Willard is a very traditional hotel with a lot of repeat clients, particularly in banquets and catering, which is a significant part of our revenues. Luc is an innovator who’s brought a terrific, restaurant-type approach and a sense of style, especially to the function business.

He’s helped us raise the bar for the hotel’s food and presentation while still appealing to our customer base.”

Jim Veil General Manager, Willard InterContinental

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hen Luc Dendievel was eight years old, he asked his mother if he could attend his native Belgium’s prestigious culinary school. She laughed, but Luc’s youthful love affair with food was already in full bloom.

“Mother fed us well. We had a big garden, so everything was fresh. We enjoyed wonderful bread, waffles, pastry and cakes on Sunday—we are Belgian, after all,” says Luc, who has been Executive Chef at the Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., since October 2009. “My mother managed a family entertainment center and cooked a little for it as well. I loved helping her make things like croques monsieur and especially, crepes.”

At age 12, Luc asked again about a culinary career, and this time his parents realized he was serious. They helped arrange for him to study at l’Ecole Hoteliere de Libramont when he was only 14, and he later obtained an apprenticeship with the President of the Master Chefs association of Belgium at the distinguished Sanglier Des Ardennes hotel. He soon secured a position at the well-known three-star Lucas Carton restaurant in Paris.

His career was off and running, and Luc decided to try his hand in the U.S. He moved to Washington, D.C., and worked at the European Economic Community embassy and then with celebrated Citronelle chef Michel Richard. He was subsequently lured to New York, where he developed a reputation as an exceptional opening chef, leading the launch of such notable establishments as Greenwich Village’s Le Zoo and Harry Poulakakos’s fine dining Wall Street restaurant, Bayard’s, among others. Along the way, he garnered praise from the media, appeared as a guest chef on several Food Network programs and earned a “Best of New York” award from New York magazine.

Herb Encrusted Shenandoah Rack of Lamb, cooked sous vide with Provençal Vegetables Tian, Natural Jus

Chesapeake Bay Wild Striped Bass, Summer Vegetables, Tomato Basil Cappuccino

Luc soon made another move, this time to the West Coast.

He was successfully showcasing his opening chef talents in Sacramento when he was contacted about becoming Executive Chef at the Willard.

“It was a great opportunity—a dream come true,” Luc says. “I had been Executive Chef in some big restaurants in New York, but I hadn’t led a culinary team in a hotel, much less one with the reputation of the Willard.”

Today he brings his extensive restaurant background to bear in working with his staff, focusing on staying ahead of trends and technology, teaching, and being open to contributions from all. “I have a very good team, with strong culinary knowledge,” he says.

“They come from everywhere, and we learn from everyone. My experience, their talent—combined, we do magic.”

The secret to success in the world of food and beverage? Luc believes it has two parts: the first, being true to oneself. “You cannot be a good cook if it doesn’t come from your heart,” he says. “I tell my team, don’t try to copy or imitate. Be yourself and you will be successful.”

The second part, he notes, is being someone who genuinely enjoys creating great guest experiences. “There are lots of jobs you can hold without being in love with what you do.

But in the hotel business, you need to have a passion for people.”

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Carving Out The Role

Celebrity Chef Todd English and InterContinental Miami Head Bartender Joey Scorza

for Food & Beverage CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS F&B’S ROLE IN BRAND STRATEGY

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ach “Brand Experience” presentation at the recent IHG Americas Investors and Leadership Conference included a strong, unmistakable food and beverage element. The message: IHG is focused on leveraging F&B as a key differentiator, particularly for the full-service brands, that can help win the competition for new customers while solidifying the loyalty of existing ones.

Food and beverage played a major role in the Brand Experience for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in particular. Invited Conference delegates—primarily current and prospective InterContinental owners and investors—were whisked by elevator to a beautiful, quiet VIP space designed as an InterContinental Club Lounge. Here the guests could relax, enjoy light refreshments and chat with special guests such as renowned celebrity Chef Todd English, creator of the InterContinental New York Times Square’s Ça Va, master mixologist Francesco LaFranconi, and star IHG mixologists Joey Scorza of the InterContinental Miami and Wember Castillo of the InterContinental Boston. The corporate food and beverage team provided material and answered questions about the InterContinental Hotel signature themed bar program, and several InterContinental Hotel General Managers also were on hand to share operational perspectives.

The formal InterContinental Brand presentation centered around further building the InterContinental brand presence in order to reinforce brand messages. Specific topics included updates on the development pipeline and training initiatives such as the IHG Bartender Academy. The overall experience was well-received by participants.

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New F&B plans, concepts and approaches featured in the other brand presentations as well: • CROWNE PLAZA: The brand’s major, three-year repositioning will incorporate a key role for food and beverage in efforts to “Freshen Up, Move Up, and Shine.” Full details of the F&B component are in development and will be announced in 2012.

•H OLIDAY INN: The innovative “Hub” concept, blending “coffee, cocktails and connections” in a sleek but comfortable lobby/front desk/work-eat-play area is testing well and shows great promise.

•H OLIDAY INN EXPRESS: The brand team is exploring ways to create greater access to food, such as adding an evening experience with wine and beer.

•H OTEL INDIGO: Building on its “Locals Know Best” theme, the brand will focus on each hotel’s “neighborhood story,” including ensuring that all properties offer a “great bar serving good food.”

•S TAYBRIDGE SUITES: A slight repositioning of the happy hour food-and-drink offering will be implemented, including renaming the daily event the “Social.”

•C ANDLEWOOD SUITES: 2012 will see the introduction of the “Lending Locker,” allowing guests to borrow food-preparation items such as a coffee grinder.

“As a company, we are continuing to seek new and meaningful ways for food and beverage to make the guest experience memorable,” says Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray, F&B Vice President. “The plans revealed and discussed at Conference position each of our brands to take significant ground in this area in 2012.”

INTERCONTINENTAL COOKBOOK APP FEEDS THE INTERESTS OF FOOD ENTHUSIASTS WORLDWIDE

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or a true “foodie,” the next best thing to dining in an InterContinental Hotel is having scrumptious recipes from the chefs of these great hotels at the fingertips—to read, to prepare, to dream about. A cutting-edge new iPad application provides just that.

Launched in September, the InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook app provides 32 recipes from 24 hotels, drawn from the exquisite coffeetable book published in 2007 to commemorate the InterContinental brand’s 60th anniversary. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is the first global hotel brand to offer a food and beverage application, and this new offering follows the success of InterContinental’s Concierge Insider Guides app for iPad and iPad 2, as well as IHG’s iPhone booking apps for all seven of the brands.

The application, which is free, targets a wider audience that enjoys cooking, not just consumers who favor the InterContinental brand.

It allows food enthusiasts to download and prepare in their own kitchens a selection of simple, local recipes from InterContinental properties around the world, feeding the global desire to recreate restaurant experiences at home.

The recipes were specially chosen for inclusion based on their ability to be attempted in residential kitchens. One delectable example: the cheesecake from Ça Va, the restaurant at the InterContinental New York Times Square, developed by renowned celebrity chef Todd English. The application is user-friendly; cooks (and would-be cooks) can find recipes by ingredients, dish name and location, and can also email and print shopping lists and recipes.

The application launched this fall is Phase One; upgrades are planned for year-end that will add 36 more hotels, 60 recipes and new features such as the ability to share and provide feedback on recipes.

The InterContinental Kitchen Cookbook app is available for download through the App Store or at www.intercontinental.com/cookbookapp.

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ounded two and a half years ago, the IHG Food & Beverage Commandos have continued to strengthen as a team and in the level of their contributions to the company’s strategic F&B agenda. Three new members who joined in the second half of 2011 are widening the group’s geographic breadth and adding to its depth of experience.

NEW MEMBERS BROADEN THE REACH OF IHG’S F&B STEERING COMMITTEE Todd DeSilva, Director of Food & Beverage InterContinental Buckhead, Atlanta Todd brings a background in corporate-level F&B operational and financial management as well as product and concept development to the F&B Commandos.

Before joining the team at the InterContinental Buckhead in August, he was F&B Director of the InterContinental Montelucia in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Todd’s experience includes tenures in F&B management with both Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Hyatt Corporation. For both, he held area director positions and also served as an opening/ turnover specialist, opening 22 hotels and restaurants with Hyatt alone. “I love opening restaurants. Who doesn’t enjoy the stress?” he laughs. He is a master mixologist and certified advanced sommelier whose articles have appeared in numerous F&B publications and is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry symposiums. With the Commandos, Todd looks forward to applying his experience developing pricing structures and cost controls, partnering with purveyors and maintaining good quality for the right price. “I believe the secret to F&B success is understanding operations and costs, coupled with staying ahead of trends and realizing that themes and innovative ideas drive revenue. But underneath it all is putting together, training and motivating a strong team of experienced people. You’re only as good as the team you build.”

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Jorge Moran, Executive Assistant Manager Presidente InterContinental Mexico City Jorge will represent the InterContinental Presidente Hotels in Mexico on the Commando team, ensuring ongoing idea- and information-sharing.

He has been in food and beverage, hotel and resort management for more than 25 years. Before joining the team at the five-star Presidente InterContinental Mexico City, he was General Manager at the Villas del Mar in Cabo San Lucas. Earlier he was Corporate Food & Beverage Director for the Villa Group responsible for Villa la Estancia resorts. Jorge has also held General Manager and F&B Director positions at a number of other leading hotels and resorts throughout Mexico, and served as F&B Director for the InterContinental San Jose, Costa Rica. He joined the Presidente InterContinental in January 2011. “In my current position, I’m responsible for both the food and beverage and the rooms side, and I will bring that perspective to my role with the Commandos,” Jorge says. “It’s my responsibility to make sure everyone in the hotel has a great guest experience. For me, that’s the best part of the job. I love food, wine, being with people and making sure everyone is happy and having a good time.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to learn, to interact and to share ideas with my Commando colleagues.”

Maarten Drenth, General Manager InterContinental Buenos Aires Maarten’s role with the F&B Commandos will be to serve as liaison between the IHG hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean and those in North America.

Specifically, he will promote sharing of F&B best practices, enhancing hotel interaction, and working to build a sense of community among food and beverage directors within the Americas. A native of the Netherlands and a graduate in Hospitality Management of Hotelschool The Hague, Maarten started his hotel career at the InterContinental Miami as Room Service Manager in 1989. He was one of the original “commandos” when the concept was first employed there. “The Gulf War had started, business had fallen considerably and we were short-staffed due to layoffs,” he says. “The F&B management team took on a ‘commando’ approach to keeping service levels high, being visible and supporting our teams. It worked very well—we helped pull the hotel through the crisis.”

Maarten also served as F&B Director at the InterContinental Stuttgart, Germany, the Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., and the InterContinental Miami. His first General Manager assignment was with the InterContinental Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he has also been GM at the Crowne Plaza Bratislava, Slovakia. He became General Manager in Buenos Aires in January 2010. “I’m looking forward to bringing the Latin America/Caribbean point of view, as well as the region’s trends and ideas, to our Commando meetings. We have so much room to grow in Latin America, and so many ways we can adapt the U.S./Canadian programs to support F&B profitability for our hotels,” he says. “We’re also building a Latin America Commando team, comprised of several F&B Directors from hotels throughout the region, to assist with implementation.”

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Buying, and

for an End to Three

IHG brands in North America— InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo hotels—are participating in a promotion from now through mid-February that will literally help make a difference in the world.

When customers purchase a glass of Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz or a cocktail made with Belvedere vodka, they are helping increase the donation made by the suppliers to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and other diseases, through a unique fundraising concept called (PRODUCT)RED. Five years ago, rock superstar and activist Bono of U2 and Bobby Shriver, co-founder of the nonprofits DATA and ONE.ORG, conceived (PRODUCT)RED as a way to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. The difference: make it happen through purchases of special products rather than traditional donations and “regular” purchases.

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The (RED) organization has partnered with some of the world’s most iconic brands for the global initiative, from Bugaboo baby strollers, Apple and Starbucks to Nike and The Gap. Each company creates a special “red” product (think the “red hot red” Apple iPod) and agrees to donate a portion of every purchase to the Global Fund. Partner companies earn the right to use the (PRODUCT)RED styling for these products.

World Class Beverage Program supplier partners Treasury Wine Estates and Moët Hennessy were meticulously selected by the (PRODUCT)RED organization to be part of the innovative program.

Penfolds was the first alcohol product to be included, and currently, Penfolds and Belvedere are the only alcohol partners in the (PRODUCT)RED program.

The (PRODUCT)RED goal is to deliver an “AIDS-free generation by 2015.” Since its inception in 2006, the organization has donated 100 percent of the monies generated—more than $150 million— to the Global Fund, taking no overhead.

Drinking, (RED)

AIDS

Project Red for (PRODUCT)RED To support our World Class Beverage Partners in their endeavor, IHG Food & Beverage teamed with iMi Agency, the marketing agency for the World Class Beverage Program, to develop the

as wine tasting notes and both food and drink recipes with a “red” theme, such as The Red Breeze, made with (BELVEDERE)RED Vodka blended with cranberry and apple juice. Rounding out the kit was a variety of specialty promotional items ranging from Belvedere and Penfolds red silicon bracelets to Penfolds recipe booklets

Project Red for (PRODUCT)RED promotion. The effort launched December 1st, the World Health Organization’s World AIDS Day, and runs through mid-February to take full advantage of Valentine’s opportunities.

and red wine keys. The promotion also includes a staff incentive component. F&B Directors will receive Starbucks and Gap gift cards to award to the top servers who best support the promotion and help educate consumers.

InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo properties received a set of point-of-sale materials including colorful postcards featuring the Koonunga Hill wine on one side and Belvedere on the other, as well as an easel-back stand with a holder in which to display the cards in high-traffic areas. Crowne Plaza hotels, for whom the World Class Beverage Program only requires the Penfolds Shiraz, received postcards that showcase Penfolds on both sides.

The promotional package also included information such as (PRODUCT)RED facts for the staff to share with guests as well

“Each hotel may choose how they want to execute the promotion, but we’ve offered a host of suggestions, from using the postcards as part of the in-room amenities to creating events such as a (RED) Night in the bar to (RED)-themed dinners, banquets and meeting breaks,” says Pamela Tweedell, Senior Account Manager for iMi Agency. “This promotion allows us to showcase two of our stellar beverage partners while supporting a highprofile and very worthy cause. It’s a win for everyone.”

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Outsourcing your “voice” is risky and expensive.

Allowing a third party to communicate directly with your stakeholders as if they were you may diminish your ability to establish credible, authentic relationships with your customers.

Social Marketing Part 2: Creating an Online Presence We’re continuing our series of articles on developing an effective social marketing program for your hotel’s bar or restaurant, guestauthored for us by IHG food and beverage consultant Ned Barker, President of Grill Ventures Consulting, Inc. 20

In

the last issue of Spirited we reviewed two simple but powerful steps for getting started with social marketing: 1) to LISTEN to what is being said about your business online, and 2) take proactive steps to EMBRACE YELP, which can help your bar and restaurant business in so many ways.

This time we’ll look at the basics for establishing an online presence and offer some tips for growing this presence once it’s established. Begin by considering these three questions, even before setting up accounts in Facebook and other social media sites:

1. Should I have an online identity for my bar, my restaurant or both?

If your bar and restaurant are part of the same operation, especially if they share a single name, then a single online identity should be established.

If the bar and restaurant are separate and each is worthy of interest to the local community, consider establishing an identity for each. In this case you might wish to test the waters with just one F&B operation. For purposes of this article, let’s assume you’re setting up social media accounts for your bar.

2. Do I need a website for my bar?

In short, yes—you’ll need one. Your website will be your “home” for all resources and information, including menus, pictures, events and promotions, basic information, contact information and much more. If you don’t have a site for your bar, consider using a service that will provide you with an independent (bar/restaurant) website while at the same time integrating your website messaging with your accounts in Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. One of my favorites that provides this service for a reasonable cost is SinglePlatform (www.SinglePlatform.com, and see the related article on Page 22).

3. Should I use a third party service to represent our bar in the social media universe?

I don’t recommend this for restaurants and bars. Outsourcing your “voice” is risky and expensive. Allowing a third party to communicate directly with your stakeholders as if they were you may diminish your ability to establish credible, authentic relationships with your customers.

Once you’ve resolved these issues, it’s time to create your accounts and establish your public identity in the appropriate social media. Remember, you are building a relationship with the public, and you’ll have needs, just as you have needs in your personal relationships. Here’s quick guide:

NEED

SOLUTION

We need to have discussions with our current and potential patrons—to gather and share information and to build relationships.

Facebook

Sometimes we just need to shout out a new discovery, share an amazing experience or brag about something remarkable.

Twitter

We need a photo album for sharing our pictures.

FlickR

And one for showing our “home movies.”

YouTube

Are there other great social media sites? Plenty! Consider joining these if your other sites have been up and running for some time, and you already have many Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers.” Otherwise stay with and grow the basics.

Grow the Audience OK, so let’s begin to make some friends. Here are a few tips for beginning the process: 1. F irst, create (and upload) content. Do you have PDF versions of your menus? If not, get them. Do you have lots of pictures of your bar and people having fun in your bar? If not, take some! Hint: pictures without people are boring. Do you have videos? If not, make some. Hint: you can convert any PowerPoint presentation to a video format.

You can make a great video in 20 minutes using a free service like Animoto (www.Animoto.com). Do it.

2. Make sure you have links everywhere. Your website, your email signature, your menus, your business cards, your promotional posters—all of these should have links (or in the case of printed materials, directions to your sites).

3. If you have an email list, send an announcement about your new site(s)—but make sure you have a reward there for those who check it out. For example, this could be a “secret” invitation to a special event, a special discount code, a peak at your new menu, a drawing for an iPad or a weekend at your hotel, etc.

4. Like, friend, follow, subscribe, recommend: Engage your audience by recognizing them. Subscribe to a blogger’s blog. Like a friend or page on Facebook, follow a follower on Twitter. Like a customer’s YouTube or Flickr post.

5. L everage special occasions. For example, use Facebook’s Audobudder app to automatically send a message with a “gift” to any of your friends having birthdays.

6. Use poll apps. These allow you to get organized and measure feedback from your audience. More importantly, they represent just one more way in which to engage your audience. Facebook has several types of poll apps.

7. Create a contest. Contests are fun, and everyone loves prizes. Announce a prize for the “best phone video shot in our lounge this weekend,” or “the best video commercial for your favorite drink at our bar,” or “the best picture of our bartenders ‘in action,’” or “the best recipe for a cocktail using (brand) gin.”

Finally, don’t neglect this new online presence. Nurture it. Relationships grow with attention. Cultivate your establishment’s new friendships with periodic new content.

You and your bar will be rewarded.

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For more info about the SinglePlatform service, contact Laura Hammer at 770.604.8283 or laura.hammer@ ihg.com.

Managing Your

A

s a savvy food and beverage marketer, you may have long ago chosen to embrace social media and social marketing as a part of doing business. But that doesn’t make navigating the crowded online waters any easier.

Today there are more than 10,000 digital companies or websites catering to local businesses, with more entering the arena all the time. How do you decide where you want your message to be? And how do you develop an infrastructure to get it there, consistently and currently?

Enter SinglePlatform, an online service that can manage many of your social marketing needs, all in one place. The company caters exclusively to restaurants and has thousands of customers across the country. Best of all, the World Class Beverage Program may be able to sponsor (where legal) the initial setup fee with SinglePlatform for qualifying company-owned/managed InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn hotels in North America.

The SinglePlatform service begins with creating a dedicated website for your restaurant and/or bar, including purchasing a unique domain name for you. If you already have a website, the service will work with your existing site, though it may be prudent 22

to take advantage of the opportunity to tap into the SinglePlatform expertise and consider changing or updating with their assistance.

The service also includes ensuring your website is mobile-enabled and optimized, and easy to view on iPhones and other smart phones.

(Fully 40 percent of online traffic today is via mobile phones.)

You will be able to add as much information about your bars and restaurants as you like to your website, including menus, photos, hours of operation, location, and events and specials. The service will also set up your social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, and organize your website to maximize search engine optimization.

SinglePlatform employs a user-friendly platform into which you’ll enter all your pertinent information. The company’s technology does the rest, ensuring realtime syndication of your information throughout the web. Input, feedback and measurement are provided through a single dashboard.

“With about 89% of consumers researching a restaurant online prior to visiting, it makes sense to take the necessary steps to ensure that each of our restaurants and bars has a viable online presence,” says Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray, Vice President of Food & Beverage. “We encourage all our hotels to take full advantage of the services the World Class Beverage Program is providing through SinglePlatform.”

Don’t Miss Out—Sign Up! Tried to log-in to the World Class Beverage Program site and your old username and password wouldn’t work? A brand-new version of the Program website was launched in October that requires all users to re-register and obtain a new username and password. Just visit www.ihgbeverage.com and follow the instructions for receiving new log-in information.

Holiday Beverage Trivia Some spirited facts to brighten your seasonal conversations: •8 0% of annual Champagne and sparkling wine consumption takes place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. The distilled spirits industry makes more than 25% of its yearly profits in that same time period.

•A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh Champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

•T he famous “Coca-Cola Santa Claus” was created by Michigan illustrator Haddon Sundblom in 1931 and used by the company during the next 35 Christmas seasons. In 1993, the popular animated Polar Bears were introduced; these lovable “stars” continue to make periodic appearances in Coke’s holiday messages and were recently inducted into Advertising Age magazine’s 2011 “Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame.”

Best Practices for Business Cards If updating your business cards is one of your New Year’s resolutions, be sure to use your direct line as your contact phone number rather than the hotel’s general number, and add your cell phone number as well. It’s important for clients to be able to reach you quickly and easily, and this sound best practice eliminates frustration and helps ensure outstanding guest experiences.

•E ggnog is made with milk/cream, sugar and beaten eggs, often with a touch of brandy, rum or whisky added, and garnished with ground cinnamon or nutmeg. This traditional holiday favorite may have originated from “egg ’n grog,” a drink from American Colonial times made with rum.

•M ulled wine, another drink historically associated with winter and the holiday season, consists of wine (usually red) combined with spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and citrus and is typically served warm. In Nordic countries, stronger spirits such as vodka or akvavit may be added and the drink is known as glögg.

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The Official Magazine of the World Class Beverage Program Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray | Vice President, F&B Americas Laura Hammer | Office Manager, F&B Americas Pamela Tweedell | iMi Agency Ann Wilson | Writer & Editor Silvermoss Partners | Art Direction & Layout World Class Beverage Program Contact/Support: 770.604.8283 | laura.hammer@ihg.com

The World Class Beverage Program Family

The World Class Beverage Program Family of Bra

The Official Website of the IHG F&B Community The Official Website of the IHG F&B Community

www. ihgbeverage.com

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The Official Magazine of the World Cl

The Official Magazine of the World Class B www. fbconfitdential.com

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