CULINARY
The Anacapa Restaurant – Lifestyle Amenity vs. For-Profit Business Reprinted from January 2019 CB Times and composed by Dan Kronlund, former resident and Finance Committee Chairperson As the Corte Bella Country Club (CBCCA) Finance Committee Chairperson and Anacapa Advisory Group Chairperson (since August of 2017), I’m continually asked questions by homeowners that revolve around restaurant profitability. “Why is the restaurant not profitable?” “When will it become profitable?” Or, even more frustrating to me, “Why do we not close the restaurant if it is not profitable?” In the following paragraphs, I would like to make an attempt to lay out some important facts. The Restaurant, per se, is not now (nor was it ever intended to be) a for-profit business. Why do I say that? Several reasons come to mind – please note those listed below are specifically not intended to be all inclusive. The Anacapa Restaurant (also referred to as the Food & Beverage Amenity or F&B Amenity) does not have sufficient kitchen space, equipment, storage, refrigeration, or beverage service space and layout to be a for-profit operation. The Anacapa Restaurant was built to provide food and beverage services in support of lifestyle events and the needs of a private homeowner association (HOA) consisting of 1,650 homes. It was to be an amenity providing for the day-to-day limited meal service and support to Lifestyle Management event functions, café type gatherings, social hours, and smaller gatherings developed within the needs and desires of the homeowners. After several years of operation, past HOA Board of Directors and residents determined that to help supplement operational expenses and increase revenues, non-residents would be encouraged to experience the Anacapa. It was felt this would be in the best interest of the community and would decrease the total reliance for the amenity costs to be paid from homeowner assessments. That decision has been proven to be on point, and the HOA Finance Committee has the numbers to support this statement. The Anacapa refrigeration, inventory, and equipment space was built with limited meal service and singular event needs in mind. Those plans did not contemplate quantity purchases of inventory, whether it be beverages, refrigerated cold storage inventory, or bulk purchases of non-perishable items. Accordingly, the F & B Amenity operation can not negotiate volume purchase discounts for inventory and products being sold. This is a major disadvantage in cost of goods sold compared to for-profit entities. Unlike for-profit restaurants (many of which are open seven days and eighty four hours or more weekly), the Anacapa Restaurant operation is open forty one and a half hours a week, closed Sunday afternoons and all day Mondays. These hours have been proven to meet the needs and demands of our homeowners for over twelve, almost thirteen years of operation.
State Licensed Beverage Opera8on § Anacapa Liquor/Wine/Beer Service § Wine/Beer Tas6ng Events § Event Portable Bar Services
Anacapa Restaurant § § § §
Lunch Service Dinner Service Sunday Brunch Happy Hour Service
Resident Catering § § § §
Birthday Par6es Anniversary Par6es Weddings/Recep6ons Re6rement Par6es
Non-Resident Catering § Birthday Par6es § Anniversary Par6es § Wedding/Recep6ons § Re6rement/Par6es
Food Delivery Service § § § § §
CB homes Non Resident Swimming Amenity Lanai Amenity Sports Court Amenity
Lifestyle HOA Events § Annual Events § Seasonal Par6es § Entertainment Events
Lifestyle Ac8vi8es-Groups § Holiday Par6es § Group Mee6ngs § Mixers/Fundraisers
Lifestyle Ac8vi8es-Clubs § Holiday Par6es § Club Mee6ngs § Mixers
As a HOA-owned food & beverage service, the restaurant does not have the typical patron turnover rate of tables per hour. In other words, our homeowners/patrons are welcome to (and do) linger and socialize longer than the for-profit restaurants that rely on the increased number of customers served. The Anacapa relies on promotion of the Corte Bella lifestyle. Corte Bella is a gated community located in the northwestern Phoenix metro area and is not on the major traffic routes. The Anacapa doesn’t have a great deal of public exposure. Nor would it be able to provide the quality of menu, service, and space necessary to increase patronage if a larger number of non-homeowners used the restaurant. Again this is due to the limitations of refrigeration, inventory, equipment capacity, and general facilities layout. The F&B Amenity provides staff support for almost every Corte Bella Lifestyle event, and is not reimbursed for those labor costs. This includes approximately 4.5 HOA events monthly and $80,000 -$100,000 in non-restaurant payroll related expenses. The F&B Amenity provides setup and food for “First Friday’s with Pam” community meetings, the “Welcome to Corte Bella” events for newcomers, and a number of other special events – all of which are not reimbursed. Corte Bella Country Club Association, an Arizona Non-Profit Corporation, under its Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (the “CC&R’s), specifically states that any change in its amenities, as covered in 4.10 (Provisions of Services), must be approved by a majority of residents. Annually, the Anacapa homeowner/ patron usage numbers informal tracking) results show an excess of 50,000 customers patronizing the Anacapa. That number does not include the homeowners’ and guests’ usage during special events. Included with this article is a chart to show what the Food & Beverage amenity actively supports in Corte Bella. It begs the question: “What would Corte Bella be without this amenity?”
18 | CB Times | The Official Community Magazine of Corte Bella
