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COLOR UP YOUR LIFE! RIEDEL.COM
October 2018
CONTENTS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLISHER MIKE FRYER
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WELCOME BACK TO THE LAS VEGAS FOOD & BEVERAGE PROFESSIONAL OCTOBER 2018 ISSUE and the only industry-dedicated food & beverage publication for the Greater Las Vegas Valley and beyond! I say beyond since our publication reaches food & beverage establishments and professionals throughout the US and internationally. Las Vegas continues to be the world gaming leader, which is why the largest gaming expo takes place in Las Vegas this month: G2E October 9-11. Now, more than ever, the food & beverage side of the gaming business is growing and constantly changing, and we’re here to cover it.
Cover
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Our Cover Feature is dedicated to the passing of Robin Leach, our Media Associate, our Mentor and our Friend. Robin was the true Las Vegas salesman and was always promoting the Las Vegas food, beverage and entertainment industries to the world, and we are touched that he took the time to spend with us and to mentor and direct us with our publication’s articles from cover to cover monthly as we grew our business. Don Chareunsy, Robin’s personal PR/Publicist for several years, has compiled this Cover Feature and we want to thank Don for his thoughtful coverage of our mutual good friend, Robin Leach. PAGE 19 Chef’s Talk takes us to a Meatless Monday as explained by Chef Allen Asch, who takes us to a new approach to eating healthier through a meatless day each week. The current purpose of meatless Mondays is rooted in two different thought processes: to make for a healthier diet and to make the planet healthier, with a goal to reduce meat consumption by 15%. Please read more with Chef Allen and make your own decision. PAGE 24 NVRA-Nevada Restaurant Association has its monthly events page and this issue brings up several important Association events such as the first annual Taste of Downtown Epicurean Event held at the rooftop pool deck of the Plaza Hotel & Casino on October 25 and the Annual Meeting & Culinary Excellence Awards on December 10. PAGE 26 The Restaurant Expert by David Scott Peters covers the 7 Steps to Effective Manager Meetings. David takes us through each of the steps to be taken for successful manager meetings: 1. Plan properly and ahead of time. 2. Make attendance mandatory. 3. Collect info for the meeting and create an agenda in advance. 4. Stay on track. 5. Facilitate and communicate. 6. Assign specific actions. 7. Take notes.
CHEERS! Mike Fryer Sr. Editor/Publisher
Page 4 Hot off the Grill!
Page 15 Chef Spotlight Eric Scott
Page 5 Wine Talk New App Alert: WineGame— Taste, Play, Learn Page 6 What’s Brewing Page 7 Spirits Confidential In Search of Liquid Gold Page 8 Brett’s Vegas View
www.lvfnbpro.com
Page 18 USBG Las Vegas Page 19 Chef Talk Meatless Monday
Page 10 Product Review
Page 21 The Catering Coach 3 Tips to Get the MOST Profits from Your Catering Sales
Page 11 Front & Back of the House Embracing PR One Targeted Campaign at a Time
Page 22 Best of the Best
Page 12 What’s Cooking
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Page 16 COVER FEATURE Robin Leach (1941-2018) A longtime champion of the food & beverage industry in Las Vegas
Page 23 The Bottom Line Cash, Credit, Bitcoin? What Forms of Payment to Accept
Page 24 Nevada Restaurant Association Technology’s Influence on Guest Behavior Page 25 Human Resources Insights Think of HR as a Partner in Your Success Through Good Employee Strategies! Page 26 The Restaurant Expert 7 Steps to Effective Manager Meetings Page 27 UNLV Epicurean Society Page 28 Made from Scratch Yogurt Revelations Page 30 Events Ad Index
Page 14 Twinkle Toast “Grab-N-Go” Wine Pairings
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 3
The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 7442 Grizzly Giant Street Las Vegas, NV 89139 www.lvfnbpro.com
HOT OFF THE GRILL!
Mike Fryer
Sr. Editor/Publisher Thank you for joining us in this issue of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional. For any questions or comments please email mike@lvfnb.com
Bob Barnes
Editorial Director bob@lvfnb.com
Juanita Fryer
Adam Rains
Assistant To Sr. Editor ACF Chefs Liasion/Journalist juanita.fryer@lvfnb.com
Beverage Editor adam.rains@lvfnb.com
The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional recently attended the Celebration of Life for Robin Leach hosted by The Venetian-Palazzo Resort and attended by hundreds of Robin’s friends, family and wellwishers. Shown here honoring Robin before the event are The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional staff—Editorial Director Bob Barnes, Creative Director Juanita Aiello and Senior Editor/Publisher Mike Fryer— joined by Don Chareunsy, Robin’s PR/Publicist for years and the writer of our October issue cover feature on Robin Leach.
Juanita Aiello Creative Director juanita@lvfnb.com
Advertising sales@lvfnb.com
Article Submissions/Suggestions articles@lvfnb.com
Calendar Submissions calendar@lvfnb.com
Website webmaster@lvfnb.com
Press Relase Submissions news@lvfnb.com
General Information info@lvfnb.com
@lvfnb
The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
Journalist Wine Talk Alice Swift
Journalist The Bottom Line Ben Brown
Accounting Manager Michelle San Juan
Journalist Brett’s Vegas View Jackie Brett
Journalist Best of the Best Shelley Stepanek
Journalist UNLV Epicurean Society Justin Leung
Journalist Made from Scratch John Rockwell
Journalist The Restaurant Expert David Scott Peters
Journalist Good for Spooning LeAnne Notabartolo
Journalist Front & Back of the House Gael Hees
Photographer Audrey Dempsey
Journalist Chef Talk Allen Asch
Journalist Don Chareunsy
Journalist Samuel’s Beer Picks Samuel Merritt
Journalist Spirits Confidential Max Solano
Photographer Bill Bokelmann
Journalist Pat Evans
Photographer Joe Urcioli
Journalists Twinkle Toast Erin Cooper & Christine Vanover
Journalist The Catering Coach Sandy Korem
Journalist HR Insights Linda Bernstein
4 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
www.lvfnbpro.com
Wine Talk
with Alice Swift
By Alice Swift Alice Swift has been writing Wine Talk since 2011, and has a passion for education and hospitality/ F&B. In 2016, she obtained her Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from UNLV and moved from the “ninth island” to the island of Oʻahu. She now works for Kamehameha Schools as an instructional designer/project manager, and teaches part-time for UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. See more at www.aliceswift.com.
New App Alert: WineGame—Taste, Play, Learn
As you may or may not know, I have many different interests. Even in the beverage field, I love learning as a student for life. However, beyond just learning about wine theory and wine tasting, I enjoy learning about the many technology applications and innovations that beverage brings. This month, I would like to share on a recently released wine tasting app that brings the “game” element to the table! How many readers out there have attended, or even hosted some sort of wine tasting party? I myself have hosted blind tastings for entertainment, for studying purposes and have even attended regularly scheduled blind tasting events for wine lovers in my local area. What better way to conduct a blind tasting than with a wine app that helps to facilitate the blind tasting process? Along the way, there are multiple opportunities to learn more about wine in general, while adding some competition to the mix. This new game, called WineGame, was devised www.lvfnbpro.com
by Rob Wilder and (Chef) José Andrés. After spending some time with the app myself, I found some very intriguing aspects of the game, especially because it allows for a range of users from basic wine enthusiasts to more advanced wine professionals. Upon creating an account and signing in, I was given an overview of how the app works. To my pleasant surprise, I discovered that I could not only create my own blind wine tasting game, but could also join in on other public games with others who might be playing in my area. This is a great feature, especially if you are not with a group of people and just want to get some practice in. I’m sure nearby games will start to pick up once more users discover this game. Setup is quite simple; the host inputs the purchased wines that will be used for the game (themed or random), and then publishes the game to be shared. Participants can find the game by entering the game code that the host generates. Once the game begins, a series of multiple choice questions are presented with five possible answers, and you are given three tries: 1. Grape varietal 2. Country 3. Region 4. Vintage/Label Of course, if you need help, the “hint” button is available to help you find the correct answers. The more correct answers you get, the more points accumulated! However, no “free guesses”
are given, because if you get the question wrong, points are deducted. What makes this game great is that even if you do not know the right answer and guess, users can still learn from the incorrect response because of the detailed response feedback. Finally, prior to the unveiling of the wine, participants are asked to rate the wine, so they can determine whether they like the wine before they find out more information about it, namely cost and/or label. The other great aspect of this app is the Trivia and Learning Section. If you don’t feel like wine tasting, you can still have fun with the app! In this section, you can learn about several categories of wine, such as winemaking, food pairings, geography, grapes, etc. Each category has multiple levels so that you can “level up” as you pass each set of questions (e.g., multiple choice, true/false). During your use of the app, users have the ability to keep track of their progress of wine tasting games, and can see their global score on the wine trivia leaderboard. This is a great wine app for those who want learn more about wine, while having fun playing games! Since the game was built with the help of wine professionals, including Keith Goldston, Master Sommelier, it seems to be a great study aide and refresher for wine aficionados of all skill levels. Next time you plan a blind wine tasting party, try out this WineGame app! Until next month, Cheers~! Alice
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 5
what’s
BREWING
By Bob Barnes Bob Barnes is a native Las Vegan, editorial director of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional, regional correspondent for Celebrator Beer News and covers the LV restaurant scene for Gayot.com. He welcomes your inquiries. Email: bob@lvfnb.com
6 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
photos by Joe Urcioli
Astronomy Aleworks Now Open in the Booze District After anticipating its opening for several months, Southern Nevadans now have a new brewery to visit. The retro sci-fi themed brewery at 7350 Eastgate Rd. in the Booze District in Henderson is equipped with a 10-barrel Premiere Stainless brewing system with four fermenters and one brite tank and with plenty of room to expand. Co-owner Matthew Brady and Brewer Allan Harrison opened last month with eight beers and will eventually have enough brews to fill all 12 of its taps. Opening beers include Perihelion Hef (Perihelion is the point in an object’s orbit closest to the object it is orbiting), an American-style hefeweizen; Mars Red Ale; single hop Hawking Hazy Pale hopped with Mosaic; easy drinking American-style Nova Stout; Pluto Is a Planet, a West Coast IPA; Pluto Is not a Planet, a New England-style IPA; and versions of the Perihelion and Hawking spiked with prickly pear. For now the hours are 5-11 p.m. Wed.-Mon. Plans in the coming months are to expand the hours and bring in some higher gravity beers, and by the time you read this there should be a barrelaged Mars Red pouring. Now that this new brewery has touched down at the Booze District its addition brings the number of breweries to three (along with CraftHaus and Bad Beat), and joining the Las Vegas Distillery and Grape Expectations winery/wine school. Public House Offering Beer-Pairing Prix Fixe Menu Beer dinners have been popping up more and more frequently, but now there’s one you can partake in any day you choose. Public House in Restaurant Row at The Venetian/Palazzo is offering the Cicerone Experience, a prix fixe beer pairing menu. Priced at $65 and available daily at any time, it includes amuse of watermelon with feta and micro lavender mint, spiked with Dogfish Head Alternative Takes #4; house-cured beet salmon tartare with locally-brewed Tenaya Creek Sunrise Mountain Imperial Belgian-style Witbier; caprese salad with fresh burrata, pesto and basil matched with Hop Valley Bubble Stash IPA; choice of coffee-rubbed wagyu tri-tip and fried garlic rapini (also known as broccoli rabe, a leafy cousin of broccoli) and King Bolete mushrooms served with Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad or seared halibut and fingerling potatoes with Unibroue La Fin Du Monde Belgian Tripel; and chocolate/raspberry mousse bar with sour raspberry beer compote paired with Squatters Outer Darkness Russian Imperial Stout. In addition, Public House also offers the Ditch the Milk Beer and Cookie Pairing for $21 matching Unibroue La Fin Du Monde with an apricot clove thumbprint, Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin with grapefruit white chocolate macaron, Rogue Hazelnut Brown with coffee cookie butter button and Modern Times Black House with almond Nutella sable. The pairings are stupendous and are the creation of Executive Sous Chef Cory Anderson and Bar Manager Chris Isham selected the beer. I was initially dismayed to read that Public House will be closing in January, as since its opening in 2012 it’s been one of the best craft beer finds on the Strip. But thankfully, GM Kirk Perry informed me that while The Venetian has chosen not to renew the lease, the gastropub will be moving to a yet-to-be-determined new location. In a future column I’ll be sure to let you know where and when the Gen3 Hospitality restaurant group decides to relocate its Public House to. Tragedy Strikes Local Beer Community It is with a heavy heart that I relay tragic news that Jim Wilson, former head brewer at Barley’s and Old School Brewing, and Monique Lane, longtime Triple 7 Brewpub server, were murdered by Monique’s former boyfriend, who then took his own life. Monique’s bubbly upbeat, pleasant personality and Jim’s ultimate nice guy-persona will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know them. RIP Jim and Monique. Vegas Beer Events On Nov. 9 beginning at 3 p.m. Aces & Ales will help us celebrate the 25th anniversary of Lagunitas with 25 specialty & vintage offerings, giveaways and the chance to meet Lagunitas Head Brewer Jeremy Marshall. Then on Nov. 21 beginning at noon the Bourbon County Stout tap event will offer multiple versions of the iconic Goose Island imperial stout going as far back as 2013. Both events will take place at the Tenaya location. What began as a small niche event has grown to one of the largest sour-only beer festivals in the nation and it happens to occur at Atomic Liquors. This year will mark the 6th annual Sour Saturday on Nov. 10 from 2-5 p.m. (VIP entry at 1). Last year’s gathering featured more than 75 beers ranging from the slightly tangy to mouthpuckeringly sour, and this year will likely offer the same amount, if not more. For more info and to purchase tickets visit www.atomiccitybrews. com/sour-saturday. www.lvfnbpro.com
photo by Joy Solano
In Search of Liquid Gold
Max Solano is a principal mixologist at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Nevada and is considered one of the most respected and premier authorities in the West Coast on all matters whisky. He also serves as a Spirits Judge at the coveted New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, International Whisky Competition and world-renowned San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
From my collection (left to right) a bottle produced from every decade beginning in the very early 1900s through the early 2000s.
How many times over the years can you recall you or someone else saying “I should have… Could have… Didn’t.” Or, how about “If I only knew then, what I know now…” Personally, I have lost count, but it’s A-LOT! Now, imagine if we could travel back in time to just a mere 20 years ago, and find ourselves at a Liquor Barn or other retail store in let’s say Louisville, Kentucky. And, all of a sudden, we come across a shelf full of 20-year-old Pappy van Winkle bourbon with wax tops… What would you do? Buy each and every single one of them, right? I mean, even if I didn’t have the money to do it, I would find it!! After all, it’s only the most sought after American whiskey in the world, and has been that way for the past decade!! In the 1950s, the American whiskey industry was still going strong coming straight out of the Korean War, but began to slowly decline entering the 1960s as new trends and many new spirit categories began to cut into whiskey’s limelight. And, approaching the latter part of the 1960s, the country saw various social upheavals and divisions between generations such as the civil rights movement, women’s rights and the infamous Vietnam War—that you had a real divide between older and younger generations. And, let’s face it, my friends… The younger folks did not want to drink like their parents or grandparents. Slowly but surely the American whiskey industry found itself drowning in its own Great Depression, which lasted for more than three decades. Many well-known and once-thriving brands slipped away into a deep and dark abyss never to be seen again. However, there were www.lvfnbpro.com
some companies like Wild Turkey, Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman, Jim Beam (including Maker’s Mark), Ancient Age (now Buffalo Trace), Seagram’s (closed), United Distillers (closednow Diageo) and several others whose brands helped save the industry from disappearing altogether. But, let’s focus on the present… Not just whiskey, but almost all aged spirits are experiencing such a major revival—a Renaissance. So much so, that these rare and precious spirits from the days of yore have become very precious and extremely soughtafter commodities: Liquid Gold, as I call them! The value and appreciation has skyrocketed to now record-setting levels, and at a consistent basis. The kind of items I am referring to are not easy to find. Sure, you may walk into your favorite retail store and behind a large and beautiful glass display find a healthy selection of rare and old vintage and/or age-stated single malt scotch whiskies along with very old brandies embossed in breathtaking crystal decanters and fancy cases. Notice, if you will, the hefty price tags. For example, a bottle of Macallan 65-year in a Lalique decanter (pictured, below) will go for $65,000 USD retail, or even higher. To many consumers, that price may be outlandish, but to the individuals in the know, that is an investment that will only continue to increase in value over the years based on exceptional quality, but more so, based on extreme scarcity. However, these types of items will be more recent releases. The other, and even harder to find items, will come from private estate auctions, whether live or online from different parts of the world throughout different times of
the year (ackerwines.com, bonhams.com, whiskyauctioneer.com, scotchwhiskyauctions. com, etc.) Typically, this is when one can find many old relics, especially turn of the 20th century items such as Pre-Prohibition era whiskies, very old gins, extinct Cognac brands and other brandies, pre-Castro Cuban rum, etc. I can tell you from my auction experience that many of these items just in the past 2-3 years have almost tripled or quadrupled in sales price. It’s supply and demand, baby! Older American whiskies and scotches are becoming increasingly more scarce causing very aggressive bidding wars. A bottle of Belmont 8-year American whiskey (Max Sellinger & Co.) distilled in 1902/bottled in 1910 that I purchased for $600 three years ago can easily sell for $2,000-$2,500 today. Not too many blue chip stocks can yield a 300-400% ROR in such a short period of time, can they? I will add that Japanese whiskies have demanded much attention through these auctions as well, and have been items that I have been aggressively purchasing at auction, some as old as the 1950s. Unfortunately, but very necessarily, the government created and imposed the threetier system immediately after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Essentially, all alcohol is produced by a supplier, then shipped to a distributor of choice to their desired state and sold to retailers (on or off-premise). Personally, I find this system be somewhat obsolete, but if it ain’t broke why fix it? Right? However, beginning on January 1, 2018 Kentucky became the first state to pass a law that allows individuals to be able to sell their personallyowned “vintage spirits” directly to retailers, completely bypassing this system that has been in place for 85 years. So, if you’re on the fence about becoming a collector or just starting off, don’t miss out on the opportunity to stake your claim on some of your very own Liquid Gold before it’s all gone. Cheers!
photo courtesy the Macallan Distillers Limited
SPIRITS CONFIDENTIAL with Max Solano
By Max Solano
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 7
Brett’s
By Jackie Brett Jackie is a freelance public relations specialist and writer specializing in the Las Vegas entertainment and travel scene. Her writings have appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide and on numerous websites. Email: jackiebrett@cox.net
Upscale Hong Kong restaurant Mott 32 will open its first U.S. outpost at The Palazzo • The Venetian this winter. Factory Place Hospitality Group will open The Factory Kitchen at The Venetian in December, marking the second for the downtown Los Angeles Italian trattoria. La La Noodle is a new casual dining concept debuting at Park MGM this November with a covered outdoor patio and serving authentic Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. LA-based chef Roy Choi’s original restaurant concept Best Friend will debut at Park MGM at the end of December capsulizing a look at Koreatown with entry through the Liquor Store. Pop Up Pizza at the Plaza revealed a refreshed menu and eatery complete with a new Brooklyninfluenced mural “The New Style” by Derek Douglas professionally known as SNIPT. Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, chefs and Border Grill restaurant owners, have opened quick service BBQ Mexicana at Mandalay Bay. Rodizio Grill, the first Brazilian “churrasco” steakhouse in the United States in 1995, will open its first Nevada location this fall at the Galleria at Sunset mall. Family-owned Tacotarian is a new plantbased, 40-seat Mexican west side restaurant serving a full menu daily. James Beard nominees and owners of Honey Salt restaurant, Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla, have their first cookbook, Honey Salt Food & Drink – A Culinary Scrapbook. Freed’s Bakery, featured on Food Network’s Vegas Cakes, will open a second valley location, Freed’s Dessert Shop, in October.
ENTERTAINMENT
New quintet pop sensations Why Don’t We will make a tour stop at the newly renovated Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Saturday, March 23. Diana Ross makes her third engagement at Wynn’s Encore Theater with nine shows Oct. 31-Nov. 17.
photo credit John Shearer
RESTAURANTS
Jerry Seinfeld will return to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2019 for two weekends Feb. 22-23 and June 21-22. Barry Manilow’s show “Manilow: Las Vegas – The Hits Come Home!” is extended at Westgate through 2019. Carlos Santana will enter his seventh-year residency at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in 2019 beginning Jan. 23. In his 19th year, Harrah’s headliner Mac King extends his afternoon “The Mac King Comedy Magic Show” four more years through 2022 making him the longest running act performing at the same hotel in Las Vegas history. ComedySportz featuring two professional improvisational comedy teams competing for laughs, points and audience support, has premiered at The Space west of the Strip. Michael Winslow, star of Police Academy and vocal sound effects will appear at The Space Friday, Oct. 12. Broadway singing veteran Shoshana Bean, the first replacement for green-witch Elphaba in “Wicked,” will perform two concerts at The Space Oct. 25 and 26. Off-Broadway hit “FRIENDS! The Musical Parody” will preview the show Thursday, Oct. 18 at the D Las Vegas. Comedian-actor Doug Benson will hold a live taping of his podcast “Doug Loves Movies” at the Comedy Cellar at the Rio Saturday, Nov. 3 at 4:20 p.m. Comedian Whitney Cummings will headline the Greenwich Village club replica Comedy Cellar at the Rio Nov. 12-13.
ABOUT TOWN
The Fremont Street Experience will begin a $32 million renovation of the Viva Vision video canopy next February and make the reveal Dec. 31, 2019. The 392-room, high-rise Mandarin Oriental is now luxury brand, Waldorf Astoria. Next summer, the nongaming hotel will initiate a guest room restyle.
8 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
Fly LINQ, the Strip’s first zipline is scheduled to open in November at The LINQ Promenade with 10 ziplines launching riders in a seated or superhero position. Madame Tussauds Las Vegas unveiled its newest team-based virtual reality adventure allowing two to four people to participate in up to four, 15-minute timed challenges. Electra Cocktail Club opened at The Palazzo • The Venetian completing The Venetian Cocktail Collective trinity, comprised of the romantic Rosina, sophisticated Dorsey, and now, kinetic Electra. History-rich Thunderbird Boutique Hotel downtown has made renovations including updating the Thunderbird Lounge with a full bar and gaming. Magical Memories Dimensions opened at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace showcasing artists’ original 3D works. The 17th Welcome to Las Vegas Gift Store location opened at McCarran International Airport’s B Gates. Billed as the world’s largest marijuana dispensary, the $7.5 million Planet 13 Superstore is a cannabis entertainment complex opening Nov. 1. Cannabition at Neonopolis downtown is Las Vegas’ first immersive cannabis museum with Instagrammable vignettes, and multisensory, entertaining and educational exhibits. Karma And Luck spiritual lifestyles brand opened its 13th citywide store at Fashion Show mall. Another downtown project in the works is the $7 million “Treehouse” entertainment-dining complex on Main Street opening next March. M Resort opened the first indoor interactive, two-bay Topgolf Swing Suite virtual gaming experience with comfortable lounge seating. The Downtown Brew Festival returns to the Clark County Amphitheater for its seventh year Saturday, Oct. 20. The W Hotel occupying one tower at SLS is gone. New owners, the Meruelo Group, are investing $100 million in renovations at the three-tower property. The Stratosphere is making over its guest rooms with remodeled contemporary décor including new furniture, amenities and walk-in showers. Sid the Science Kid: The Super-Duper Exhibit! is visiting Discovery Children’s Museum through Jan. 21 bringing the PBS KIDS TV series Sid the Science Kid to life. The Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC) is hosting Downtown Watch Zone series with Sunday football outdoor bashes all season, including all Raiders games. www.lvfnbpro.com
•Wholesale distributor of exceptional quality dried spices and specialty foods to the finest hotels and restaurants •Owned and operated by a former chef with over 20 years of experience •Custom packed Herbs and Spices •Custom Spice Bends •Private labeling •Now Certified Kosher
Product Review By Bob Barnes
Hotbox Coffee Porter Who says beer isn’t for breakfast anymore? I’m not actually suggesting you begin your day with this brew, but definitely if you like coffee this brew will turn your head. Brewed and canned by Oskar Blues, the Longmont, CO-based craft brewing pioneer that was a monumental influence in convincing the world that it’s an excellent choice to put craft beer in cans, this roasty, malty, wake-up-call of a porter was previously only available as a seasonal, but thankfully due to the demand of its fans it’s now a year-round offering. The proof of its goodness is in the can, as this 6.5% ABV porter is endowed with seven varieties of grains. “The malt bill highlights chocolate, fig, plum, espresso, burnt sugar, caramel, and marshmallow,” said Head of Brewing Operations (HOBO) Tim Matthews. The beer is complemented with coffee from Oscar Blues’ neighbor Hotbox Roasters, who formulated a blend of beans from Columbia, Honduras and Guatemala to highlight flavors of tobacco, chocolate, wood and earthiness brewed up in a super-concentrated cold brew. “We brew two pounds of coffee to one gallon of water and then steep it for 36 hours,” said Head Roaster Noe Lopez. “It adds massive coffee and chocolate flavor to the beer.” Hotbox Roasters donated the leftover Cold Brew to NASA to use as rocket fuel (not really!).
Black Butte XXX Black Butte is thought by many to be the benchmark for the modern day craft beer porter style, so when once a year the Deschutes Brewery celebrates its anniversary with an imperial, barrel-aged version of its flagship, fans of the brew take notice. Each year the brewery experiments with fun ingredients and this year, the 30th anniversary Birthday Reserve was brewed with chocolate malt, midnight wheat and 2 row; and Millennium, Cascade and Tettnang hops. This year’s version marks the first time it has been aged in 100% oak barrels, utilizing a combination of eight different types of barrels that had been used to age bourbon, rye whiskey, rum, port, sherry, cognac, maple syrup and vanilla extract, resulting in extracting a mélange of the flavors previously contained in the barrels. As this 13.6% ABV gem only comes out once a year, and this year is sure to be a very special rendition, don’t hesitate to hunt one down.
Rogue Combat Wombat Rogue Brewing is known for doing some fun and wacky things, like brewing with unusual ingredients such as donuts and yeast cultivated from their brewer’s bread. Their latest concoction is a bit tamer than the aforementioned brews but still out of the realm of normalcy. IPAs are all the rage right now and brewers are looking to create unique versions. This one fits the bill, as it is a fusion of hazy, sour and fruity all tied together with a hefty dose of Australian hops resulting in aromas and flavors of citrus and tropical fruit and a touch of tartness. This 7.2% ABV, 49 IBU Sour Northeast-style hazy IPA is brewed with no less than 13 ingredients, including oats, wheat, blood orange, grapefruit and acidulated malts (which contributes to the beer’s tartness). The result is a beer that is simultaneously sweet, sour and juicy. Other notoriety for this beer is in the label with a cartoon bright neon image of a wombat-like animal doing battle with citrus fruits. For a very entertaining video made by the Rogue team of the mysterious citrus-loving marsupial with an affinity for Australian hops wreaking havoc in the brewery, visit www.rogue.com/beers/combat-wombat. Combat Wombat is available in 22 oz bottles and on draft from July-October.
Everything but the Bagel Spice Mix If you’re like me, your favorite bagel is the one with everything on it. If you wish you could have all those flavors without the huge amount of carbs contained in the bagel, now you can. This new spice mix from Pereg Natural Foods is a mix of onion, garlic, poppy, salt and three kinds of sesame seeds. The makers suggest you can jazz up practically everything with it, such as stirring into cream cheese or sprinkling on grilled meats, avocado toast, rice, scrambled eggs, salads, chicken and pancakes. I am definitely a fan, and haven’t found anything I’ve put it on not to be improved by its inclusion. The mix is fresh, 100% natural, gluten-free, vegan and is OU and CRC kosher-certified, with no MSG, additives or preservatives. Look for it in the supermarket spice aisle beginning in September, 2018 or you can find it online at www.pereg-gourmet.com.
10 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
www.lvfnbpro.com
Front & Back of the House Embracing PR One Targeted Campaign at a Time
Have you heard the term “free PR?” Many people think that the role of a public relations professional is to simply send out news releases on various company activities and events. Yes, a news release may get picked up by a newspaper or magazine, the resulting article would be free and would hopefully be of benefit to your restaurant. But an occasional news release is only a tiny portion of the tasks of someone in the PR role. Whether a restaurant works with a public relations/marketing firm or handles those duties in-house, it is always important for the manager to know what to ask of a public relations professional and the types of challenges they can help with. According to Effective Public Relations (11th edition, p. 5), the definition of public relations is, “the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.” There are several key words in this definition. One of the most important is “publics.” What are the “publics” that a restaurant manager seeks to maintain “mutually beneficial relationships” with? The first one that probably comes to mind is customers. It is vital that good relationships are maintained with customers. But what about employees and vendors? They’re vital too, as are investors. What about government entities, neighboring stores and other restaurants in the area? Have you considered the media as one of your publics, the entire world when you factor in social media, and the community at-large in relation to local advertising, special events and donations? These “publics” can be broken down into subgroups. You have local and out-of-town www.lvfnbpro.com
By Gael Hees Gael Hees is a Las Vegas freelancer, specializing in written, graphic and audiovisual communications. She has written for national publications and has won numerous awards for tourism-related printed materials and videos, is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America and is a certified hospitality educator. gael.hees@icloud.com
customers. Your vendors may be service providers (everything from pest control to accountants), food and supplies purveyors or liquor distributors. They have all have different needs and require different attention. The term, “management function,” means that public relations is a series of planned activities, spearheaded by management. Public relations (PR) activities can be used to change how members of a group, or public, think and act. They can also be used to raise awareness. It is up to the manager to recognize the different publics that interface with the restaurant and understand when and how a PR effort could be of benefit. Most formal PR campaigns begin with research to determine a baseline for the group’s mindset with plans developed based on research outcomes. Research usually entails a survey, focus groups or individual interviews. However, “secondary” research can also be used. This might include a study of reviews in social media or tabulation of comment card notations for customers; paying attention to attitudes, tardiness, call outs and conversations of employees; or assessing the atmosphere of the last few interactions with one or more vendors. It shouldn’t take long for a manager to discover a few areas where improvements can be made. Rather than taking on all tasks at once, it is best to prioritize and tackle projects on an individual basis. First, let’s focus on customers. Perhaps a restaurant sends out regular emails with links to a newsletter, often with discount coupons attached. The email list is substantial, but “research” indicates that there is not a high percentage of clickthroughs, or people accessing the newsletter itself. This may have been determined by looking at the analytical information provided
through the mail program, or a simple tally of the coupons that are actually brought in. There are several strategies that can be used to increase the readership of the newsletter. A PR professional would review the emails of the last several months and make suggestions about email content and the content of the linked newsletter. Suggestions might include: • Refer to newsletter content with catchy headlines. Use power words like “simple,” “award-winning” and “quick.” • Use headlines that use numbers, for example, “Six Ways to Save Money when Eating Out,” or “15 Foods to Order When You’re in a Hurry.” • Include a cooking tip or short recipe from the chef or even from one of the employees. • Reference the coupons that are in the newsletter. • Include stories about customers. People want to read about people. Tell stories of first dates, out-of-state guests that come back again and again or friends from around the country that include your restaurant in their annual reunion. • Tell a story about an employee who went out of his/her way to make a customer feel honored and pampered. Once the changes in the email and newsletter have been implemented, it is important to monitor the results. Pay close attention to the statistics available through the email and newsletter programs and keep a close count on the coupons that are turned in. Make sure employees are aware of the changes and ask them to note comments, or even ask customers if they read a specific article. Continue the program for three or more months and reassess.
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 11
By Bob Barnes Bob Barnes is a native Las Vegan, editorial director of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional, regional correspondent for Celebrator Beer News and covers the LV restaurant scene for Gayot.com.
What’s Cooking
photo courtesy Station Casinos
He welcomes your inquiries. Email: bob@lvfnb.com
Christopher Hall Appointed Room Chef at Sonoma Cellar Christopher Hall has been appointed room chef at Sonoma Cellar inside Sunset Station. The native Las Vegan grew up in the restaurant business, as his father and brother are both chefs. He began cooking at age 14 when his brother gave him his first cooking job at the Hot Rod Grille in Henderson and began working for Station Casinos in 2008, when he was only 17 years old. During the past 10 years he has worked at Sunset Station’s Capri (now named Pasta Cucina); as a broiler cook at Hank’s Fine Steaks and Martinis at Green Valley Ranch Resort; and as assistant room chef at Boulder Station’s specialty rooms: Cabo Mexican Restaurant, Pasta Cucina and The Broiler. Just more than two years ago, he transferred back to Sunset Station as assistant room chef at Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse; and in February 2017 was promoted to room chef at
Pasta Cucina before moving back to Sonoma Cellar as room chef. Commenting on working in a steakhouse setting Chef said, “I enjoy the simplicity and quality of the product; that’s what steakhouses are all about.” Along with a new chef come some new menu items and dishes Chef has added to the menu, which include crab avocado tower with jumbo lump crab, heirloom tomato, cucumber, smoked paprika and vinaigrette; jumbo lump crab cake with fried capers and red bell pepper aioli; and short rib grilled cheese with smoked gouda on brioche toast (on the bar bites menu). After trying all three, I highly recommend checking them out, and a visit to this classic steakhouse is not complete without experiencing something you don’t see very often these days: the tableside bananas Foster, complete with pyrotechnics.
Attention Beer, Burger and Dessert Lovers: bBd’s Is Now Open at Palace Station
12 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
photo by Mike Amidei
Station Casinos’ $192 million revamp of the 32-year-old Palace Station is switching out the railroad theme to a more contemporary design with upgrades including adding a 27-story hotel tower, boutique movie theater, bowling alley, new pool and new restaurants. An improvement worth taking special note of is the opening of bBd’s, a Rocky Point, Long Island, NY transplant whose initials stand for what it does best: beers, burgers and desserts. When I met Chef/Owner Ralph Perrazzo (a CIA graduate who was formerly at Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace, Jean-George in Manhattan and Clio in Boston) and GM Mike Amidei back in June, they promised the restaurant would open Labor Day weekend, and they were true to their word. During my visit a week after the opening, I was impressed as soon as I walked into the 200-seat restaurant, as the first thing I saw was a butcher room fully visible through a window, where you can view the Prime beef www.lvfnbpro.com
champagne sherbet, cranberry & lime; passion fruit sunflower with elderflower, black sesame meringue and pastry cream; and Valrhona liquid chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate crunchies and salted caramel drizzle. Attention to quality carries over to the beer department, and a superior beer program began with the hiring of Bar Manager Matt Alexander, a Certified Cicerone who has the beer knowledge to ensure the beer is served properly. Attention to detail can also be found in the keg room, which has three temperature zones for storing different beer styles and glycol lines to adjust the line temps; a high-tech, efficient line-cleaning system (that doesn’t waste beer!) that cleans after every keg blows; bBd’s is one of the few venues in Las Vegas where one can enjoy a cask beer, with two firkins available at all times; and a nitrodedicated tap. As for the heralded beer selection, I’ve been around the beer block more than a few times, and as I like to say, “It’s not my first rodeo,” so was quite pleased with the initial selection, 80% of which were beers I’d never heard of or tried. It was quite fun exploring the 35 taps and 60+ bottles and cans and adding to my delight was the fact that the list includes a large variety of beer styles including my favorites: imperial stout, barrel-aged, Belgians and wild/sour beer, such as the Evil Twin Aun Mas Café Jesus American imperial stout, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvee Armand & Gaston and Plan Bee Farm Pickleback wild ale aged in rye whiskey barrels with dill & cucumber. Further
photo by Mike Amidei
being prepared for the gourmet burgers on the menu. Inside, the restaurant is bedecked with wooden arched ceiling, custom chandeliers, full-length windows bringing natural light, an open kitchen and long bar. The restaurant’s motto is “Craftsmanship You Can Taste,” which is evident in their attention to detail and quality. USDA Certified Prime beef is used, a superior grade with amazing tenderness, juiciness, flavor and fine texture based on fat marbling and maturity that accounts for only 2% of all beef produced in the US. It is shipped in weekly from New York and after it is hand-butchered and pattied, three different cooking methods are used: fired over embers of cherrywood and charcoal, on a griddle creating a crispy brown crust or steamed over chopped onions. The quality of the product comes through in the flavor, and I proclaim the gigantic 12-oz PRIME Steakhouse Burger, which I chose to top with smoked gouda, to be my new go-to burger. It also happened to be so large I could only manage to eat a quarter of it! There are also non-beef options including turkey burger, duck ramen, lamb gyro tacos, a variety of chicken wings and chicken sandwiches. Nonmeat eaters aren’t left out, as there is a vegetarian/ vegan section of the menu with falafel burger; impossible burgers made with the protein-rich, soy-free seitan; vegan Philly cheese fake; vegan BBQ nachos; and vegan wings. Of course the D in the name suggests desserts are taken seriously here, and six options include some unique choices like sableuse crusted cheesecake with preserved berries, lemongrass
good news is that the majority of the selection will rotate constantly and while initially there was only one local beer on the list, I’ve been assured that will likely have been expanded by the time you read this. As for the prices, burgers, which come with a side of fries, range from $8 for a single steam burger, $9 for a single griddle burger to $19 for the PRIME (about $21-25 with add-ons). Beer begins at $3.50 for a pint of a macro-brew and most of the craft drafts come in at around $7-8 with the option to order 6-oz for a reduced price as low as $4 and the opportunity to try more varieties. As the name implies, this new restaurant is a welcome breath of fresh air for beer, burger and dessert lovers; and convenient location right off the I-15, and ample free parking is another reason to revisit this iconic locals casino.
Edge Steakhouse at Westgate Displays the Excellence of Its Young Chef and Its Dry Aging Steaks
photo courtesy Edge Steakhouse
Edge Steakhouse Executive Chef Steve Young never ceases to impress us with his talent and accomplishments at such a young age (34), having earned the Best New Chef/Rising Star award at the 2017 Silver State Awards and just recently being named to the Vegas Inc. 40 Under 40 list sponsored by the Greenspun Media Group. After a recent visit I can attest that the aforementioned accolades are well deserved. During our tasting Chef treated us to heirloom tomato gazpacho with King crab, pickled cucumber and lime crème fraiche; wagyu beef tartare with quail egg, caviar and truffle aioli; tomato avocado salad with pickled red onions, queso fresco and green goddess dressing; Hokkaido scallops with chorizo, jalapeño, creamed corn and piquillo pepper emulsion; and smashed fingerling potatoes with cheddar cheese curds and sundried tomato aioli. All featured a charming balance of textures, flavors and colors with stunning presentation. Naturally the stars of the tasting were the steaks, which included NY wagyu and Prime rib-eye. Although they were served with four different steak sauces, I sampled them and found them to be quite tasty, but couldn’t bring myself to indulge in their use, as the steaks’ flavor was so rich I didn’t want to mess with perfection. The Prime meats are aged in-house, and in fact, are on display for all to see, visible through a window located just outside of the restaurant’s entrance with each cut labeled with the date its aging process began. Chef Young explained he has control of the whole process from start to finish and the 40-day dry-aging makes the meat super tender and concentrates its rich flavors, giving it a unique taste. It’s worth pointing out that you don’t have to be a tourist to enjoy a meal at Edge. Nearly half of its clientele are locals, which is not surprising, as the steakhouse has prices well below some of the other top-rated steakhouses just a few blocks away on the Strip. Add to that free valet and self-parking, and if you join the Westgate’s WOW (World of Westgate) loyalty program, you can earn points on everything, including gaming and dining, and order from a special wine list with huge discounts on bottles. www.lvfnbpro.com
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 13
Twinkle Toast
photos by Erin Cooper
“Grab-N-Go” Wine Pairings
By Erin Cooper & Christine Vanover Erin Cooper and Christine Vanover have been residents of Las Vegas since 2007. Vanover is also a UNLV Alumnus. Both women are Territory Managers for the Resort Wine Team at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, members of Women Gone Wine and the founders of Twinkle Toast. info@twinkletoast.com • www.twinkletoast.com Facebook: @TwinkleToast Twitter: TwinkleToastLV Instagram: TwinkleToastLV
We are firm believers that pairing wine with food shouldn’t be solely reserved for fine dining in fancy restaurants. Wine can and should be enjoyed in a variety of different settings including a spring picnic or a casual dinner at home in your pajamas. In the spirit of encouraging wine pairing with even the simplest meals, we met with Robyn Sonnenberg, Wine Steward for Vons supermarkets here in Las Vegas, and asked her about common buyer behaviors as well as pairing recommendations for some of the grocery chain’s most popular grab-n-go meals. Robyn, when did you discover your passion for wine? I first discovered my love of wine in my early twenties. I was lucky enough to travel a lot at a fairly young age. Traveling though different countries I was drawn to the local cuisines and with that, the local wineries. I owned a restaurant and bar in Lake Arrowhead, California where I was able to share the wonderful food and wine pairings that I fell in love with while traveling. How did you become the Wine Steward for Vons? I was doing a tasting at a local venue for Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits when the district manager for Vons approached me with a pretty enticing offer to come onboard with Vons as a Wine Steward. I do tastings, order new and exciting wine (and spirits), help customers with wine and food pairings and help educate liquor managers on the products in their departments. How do your customers’ buying patterns change throughout the year? Summer and spring bring about the lighter wines that are chilled like Chardonnay, Prosecco, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Rosé. As for reds, my customers seem to like Pinot Noir or sweet reds such as Stella Rosa, served chilled. Fall is the perfect time for some oaky Chardonnay, spicy red Zinfandel, jammy red blends and full-bodied Malbecs. Winter is when you want to buy a bottle to warm your soul. People tend to start grabbing hearty Cabernets and red blends. My other winter favorites are Syrah and Malbec, which are often less purchased and unfortunately less understood. Are there any current trends or buying behaviors that you find particularly interesting? Yes, some of the biggest buying behaviors are with the millennials. Wine buyers between the ages of 21 and 34 aren’t as influenced by marketing due to not watching TV as much. These customers are more influenced by trending wines also known as “cult wines.” 19 Crimes has an interactive label on their bottles that are trending hard right now. Walking Dead wines also have interactive labels. These trending wines can be inexpensive or very expensive such as Caymus Cabernetor Penfolds Grange. What are your top three “go-to” wines? My top three affordable wines are Love Noir Pinot Noir, Flowers Chardonnay and Ménage A Trois Silk. My top three splurge wines are Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Opus One and Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Rosé. Quick and easy wine pairings with five popular grab-n-go meals: 1. Signature Café Italian Sub Sandwich White: Ruffino Pinot Grigio Red: A Chianti like Villa Antinori Toscana Rosso 2. “Fresh Meals Made Easy” Garlic and Herb Salmon with Roasted Red Potatoes and Broccoli White: Whispering Angel Rosé Red: Cherry Pie Pinot Noir 3. Chicken Wings (from the hot wings bar) White: Veuve Clicquot Brut with plain wings and Kung Fu Girl Riesling with spicy wings Red: Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel 4. Harvest Salad with valley spring mix, apples, walnuts, feta cheese and cranberries with a sweet onion vinaigrette White: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Red: A Beaujolais or Meiomi Rosé 5. Rotisserie Chicken White: Ferrari Carano Chardonnay Red: Chateau Ste Michelle Merlot Sonnenberg also noted that single serving wines in 187ml bottles or Tetra Paks are becoming increasingly popular with grab-n-go customers. These smaller options come in many of the popular white and red varietals and can provide a little something for everyone at any budget.
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Chef Spotlight Eric Scott
By Pat Evans Pat Evans is a writer based in Las Vegas and Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a regular contributor to Grand Rapids Magazine, October and The Manual often writing about food, beer and spirits. He has written one book, Grand Rapids Beer, and has more on the way. Twitter: @patevans Instagram: @patrickmevans
How’d you get your start cooking? Culinary-wise, I got my first job at 12 years old. Bussing tables and worked my way through there. Real small, easy jobs: pizzas and prep work. It was a very small town, 500 people in the winter and 10,000 in the summer, so I ended up finding a job at a steakhouse and got my chops in full-service dining, before moving up to Montrose, Colorado. How’d you end up in Las Vegas? We had a small family and it was taking its toll on our young kids and my wife and I both worked a lot. So we sold both (restaurants) in 200910 and said, “Let’s go work for someone else.” We could still work for some great restaurants but not put the same time in. How about Nacho Daddy? My wife was working at Nacho Daddy and I loved the restaurant and really believed in this small born and raised Vegas restaurant that was growing and expanding. I loved the experience on the Strip and loved the energy, but missed working for the independent restaurant. You don’t really get the creativity with your own food, and it’s more reproducing what the chef wants. This was a good opportunity to take on the menu that was really creative and had a lot of potential for future growth. So working with nachos, how’s that? They’re like Rodney Dangerfield, they don’t get no respect. I want to help be part of that movement and change the way people perceive nachos and being at the first Nacho-focused restaurant, I think we can and are doing that. We’re definitely not just the chips, cheese and beans. Everything is homemade, no canned queso. The beef we use is filet mignon. We’re not skimping, there’s no need to. We have basic nachos with pico de gallo and refried beans, but we also have a take on Thai chicken, with all the flavors of pad thai with shrimp and steak. Again, we’re trying to bring respect to nachos, if we can put filet in nachos, or lobster on nachos, we will. We try to have creative twists. We feel we can do anything with a nacho. Maybe we can be the first Michelin-starred Nacho restaurant. It’s a blank canvas, we could do caviar to Kobe (beef). www.lvfnbpro.com
photo courtesy Nacho Daddy
Most people can walk into their kitchen, grab some chips and cheese and make nachos. Eric Scott believes nachos can be an elevated food item and he’s making great progress as the executive chef at Nacho Daddy, the Las Vegas born and raised restaurant concept where the late night and sporting event staple is star. The Nacho Daddy concept can seem gimmicky, but once a plate of the upscale nachos hit the table, most heads are turned. With three locations in Las Vegas, it soon could be four and it’s expanding, first to Georgia, then beyond. Prior to joining Nacho Daddy in 2014, Scott worked with Bobby Flay and Michel Richard at Caesars Palace and owned two restaurants in Colorado, following a lengthy stead with Frank Cork in Montrose, Colorado. We sat down with Scott to find out why he took the reins of the kitchen for such a seemingly simple dish.
How do you come up with the ideas and keep the menu fresh? We try to stay current with trends, and there’s so many people coming from all over the country that seek us out and speak about how we can do nachos like their regional dish. Next month, we’re doing a pizza nacho. Last month we did Big Fat Greek Nacho, with lamb grown in the Utah mountains and made into a really nice taco meat, on top of pita chips and feta cheese. Some of the specials are hard to execute, but we try to bring things that freshen up what’s going on. A few months ago we did a Nashville Hot Chicken, with fried chicken, pimento mac and cheese and a sauce we called the cluckin’ hot sauce. Is it hard changing the perception of nachos? We hope we’re doing it when they’re coming in. It is a fun and whimsical name and probably doesn’t bring the highest expectations, but we try to blow them away and I think customers tend to see that pretty quickly. Do you make nachos at home? I don’t make nachos at home very often, since Nacho Daddy is so focused. I like to use my culinary skills to be creative in other ways. Sometimes I miss the old school French techniques. So when I’m home, it’s probably something simple, but with a lot of technique in it to remind myself of those. What are some tips for homemade nachos? We have a motto: Never a dry chip. Build a good foundation and build in layers from there on a heavy-duty pan that holds the heat so it doesn’t get cold. If you have a hard cheese, put those on the chips first; that creates a barrier from a topping with moisture. No one likes soggy chips. Then make sure you have good ingredients and be imaginative. October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 15
Robin Leach (1941-2018)
A longtime champion of the food & beverage industry in Las Vegas By Don Chareunsy Photos by Tom Donoghue
Robin’s
heart was as big as his
voice
London, England-born Robin Douglas Leach was widely known as host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (1984-1995) and for his quote, “Champagne wishes and caviar dreams,” but his life’s work reached far beyond television fame and fortune. The longtime TV personality, journalist, entrepreneur and actor helped found the original the Food Network; was one of CNN’s first entertainment reporters; wrote People’s first 11 cover stories; and worked as one of the first entertainment journalists on Entertainment Tonight. But what many don’t know about Leach is his longtime food & beverage and philanthropic work in Las Vegas. Leach is credited with bringing star chef Wolfgang Puck to Las Vegas with Spago 25 years ago, which is recognized as igniting the celebrity chef invasion in this desert city. Complementing his extensive coverage of food & beverage for the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Review-Journal, Leach most recently starred alongside Kim Alexis on the Food Network’s Food Quest, which was renewed for Season 2 shortly before Leach’s debilitating first stroke last Thanksgiving while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
16 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
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And, as will be discussed later in this story, Leach gave back to Las Vegas via his extensive work with the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and its Keep Memory Alive foundation, Opportunity Village, the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada, Nevada Ballet Theatre and much more. Leach passed away in Las Vegas, where he had lived since 1999, on Aug. 24 after suffering another stroke. He was 76 and died five days before his 77th birthday. His family and close friends organized a “Celebration of Life” in his honor at The Palazzo Theatre in The Palazzo Las Vegas on Sept. 28. “Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had,” his sons Steven, Rick and Gregg Leach said in a statement. “Everyone’s support and love over the past almost one year has been incredible, and we are so grateful.” Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Southern Nevada Event Marketing General Manager Michael Severino, a longtime friend of Leach’s who has resided in Las Vegas since 1977, recently sat down to talk about Leach’s generosity with SGWS and the Lou Ruvo Center and its Keep Memory Alive foundation (SGWS Vice President and General Manager Larry Ruvo founded The Lou Ruvo Center, which is named after his late father): Michael, do you remember the first time that you met Mr. Robin Leach? Yes, it was at one of our Alzheimer’s events, Keep Memory Alive, at Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio in The Venetian. He saved the day — or, rather, I should say the night. We had faulty microphones during our live auction, and Robin, with his tremendous voice, came up and started auctioning off people. It was hilarious because he auctioned off Dr. Ruth Westheimer that night. He had her stand on a chair and auctioned off dinner with her. He endeared himself that night to the guests and our organization. It was the start of a beautiful friendship. Tell me more about Robin’s involvement with the Keep Memory Alive Center, from reporting about Keep Memory Alive as a journalist to his volunteerism with the annual “Power of Love” galas and other Keep Memory Alive events. Robin’s heart was as big as his voice. He was a tremendous supporter of Keep Memory Alive through his writing and his financial contributions. Whatever was needed, he was there for us and the organization. He really believed in the Frank Gehrydesigned building. We were very blessed to have a man of his quality and knowledge to lead us through a lot of things that were related to public relations, journalism, the shows and entertainment. He emceed and coordinated a lot of the “Power of Love” fundraising galas for Keep Memory Alive. One that really stands out … well, he had a great sense of humor. He had a very loud sweater that he was wearing at a gala, and spontaneously Steve Schirripa, who was helping him with the auction, turned www.lvfnbpro.com
around and auctioned off his sweater. I believe that it raised $8,000 to $10,000. He was game — he was in it. His 70th birthday celebration took place at the Keep Memory Alive Center and included Wolfgang Puck’s Las Vegas chefs. The City of Las Vegas proclaimed that day — Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011 — Robin Leach Day in Las Vegas. Yes. Many people don’t know that he started the Food Network. I’ve seen old films of him interviewing Wolfgang Puck back in the day in L.A., Nobu Matsuhisa, all the up-andcomers back 25 to 30 years ago. He was the go-to guy when it came to the chefs. He was well-respected. A bench was dedicated in Robin’s honor at the Keep Memory Alive Center on Dec. 6, 2015, for all of his contributions. There was an intimate ceremony to dedicate the well-deserved honor to Robin. I’m happy to say that it is a lasting memory to Robin in our Lou Ruvo Center memory garden. Robin is credited with helping raise tens of millions of dollars for the Keep Memory Alive Center. Do you have a favorite memory of Robin? The best memories I have with Robin are the times that we shared lunches and dinners together and he told me about how he came to America, how he started. It was interesting, the things he did as a young man, he was a young editor and journalist growing up in England. What do you miss most about Robin? Hmmm (long pause) … his voice and his laugh. He had an expression that I think about all the time. I always referred to him as Sir Robin, and it became a running joke where some people thought that he had actually been knighted. He used to say, and it was funny, “My great sainted aunt used to say …” What is Mr. Robin Leach’s lasting legacy in Las Vegas? His generosity. Not just with Keep Memory Alive, but with many, many charities. We were the primary charity, and he endeared himself to us and vice versa. There were many charities: Girl Scouts, Opportunity Village, the Boys & Girls Club. He gave back in a lowkey and humble way. Robin was a great friend of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Keep Memory Alive. He was always willing to help any way he could. Leach was honored with a 21-Cork Salute at the 44th Annual UNLVino at the Keep Memory Alive Center on April 14. In a tribute to Leach at KeepMemoryAlive.org, there is a quote from the man himself: “Philanthropy, as with anything you do well in life, has to be done with passion.” Well said, Mr. Leach. Now rest in peace after a long life well-lived. Las Vegas-based editor and writer Don Chareunsy was Robin Leach’s editor at the Las Vegas Sun from 2008-2016 and Las Vegas Review-Journal from 2016-2017. October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 17
USBG Las Vegas
By Adam Rains Adam has a true passion for food, wine, beer & spirits. He is tiki-attaché and lead bartender at The Golden Tiki, a long-time cocktailian, and a member of the Health & Wellness Committee for the United States Bartenders’ Guild in Las Vegas. Adam strives to learn every day and during his career he’s studied at SDSU, USBG, BarSmarts, International Sommeliers Guild, Certified Cicerone Program and the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Academy. His mantra with both food & cocktails is, “Fresh is best.”
EVA FLEMING learned, biked 20 miles for charity and camped in a desert among many other experiences.”
What is the first thing one does after moving to Vegas? Join the USBG course! One of the new faces of our chapter is Eva Fleming and that is exactly what she did upon her arrival. “When I moved here I did not know anyone but through USBG I have found a thriving and supportive community. I have made friends, been inspired,
When she is not studying the bar, you can also find her at some of her favorite places like Jammyland, Corduroy or Herbs & Rye. I asked her what she likes to drink when she’s out and she replied, “To me it’s a lot to do with atmosphere and mood. There’s a reason why sazeracs tastes better in New Orleans, Aperol spritzes in Italy, and malört in Chicago. Long night? I want a Vesper.” About bartending...“I like to think my approach to bartending is just to be genuine. A lot of us have real passion behind the bar and surround ourselves with ways to be better but giving genuine hospitality is always first.”
photos courtesy Eva Fleming
Eva recently relocated from Chicago but was actually born and raised in Thailand by expat parents. This gives her a unique viewpoint and she is a big advocate of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. “I believe whatever effort you put into USBG and if you attend as many events as you can, you get back so much more. And always if I have questions, my fellow USBG members have answers.”
Sunora Fresa 1.5oz Sunora Bacanora .75 oz strawberry syrup .75 oz lemon juice .75 oz rabarbaro amaro pinch of salt Shake all ingredients and strain into coup, express and discard lemon peel, garnish with candied strawberry leftover from syrup.
NOVA CLARK Nova hails from Vancouver, Canada but has been in Las Vegas for 3 years and is a 20-year veteran in the industry (bartending for 18 years of it). She currently is on a hiatus while awaiting her green card. Regarding the USBG and competing she said, “I like that it’s a family of people with a lot of the same interests, I’ve made a lot of special friendships. I also love that I’m always learning something new through the events I attend. Competitions have become a passion of mine and I do as many local ones as I can and I can’t wait till I can do them all!” photos courtesy Nova Clark
She also likes long walks on the beach, sunsets and puppies. If she is not at one of our numerous events you can find her at one of our many great industry haunts drinking a whiskey neat and if she’s mixing a Vieux Carré. Nova Clark is hands down, one of the most active members of our chapter. While she has been a member for just over 17 months, in that time and before (as a plus one to husband and chapter member, Ryan Clark), she has attended almost every event that she could.
Nova takes a fun but serious approach to her craft and knows that a bar should be enjoyable. “At work I’m not too serious; I like to have fun and create an environment where my guests feel the love whether I see them every day or once a year. When I’m making or creating cocktails I like to make everything from scratch and I juice my own fresh fruits and vegetables.”
18 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
Star of Sonora 1 1/2 oz Sonora Bacanora 1oz Fall Spiced Simple Syrup 2oz Macadamia Nut Milk 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, light shake then pour over crushed ice. Garnish with grated cinnamon and a perfect star anise. www.lvfnbpro.com
Chef Talk Meatless Monday
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Feel free to contact Chef Allen with ideas for comments or future articles at allena@unlv.nevada.edu Chef Allen Asch M. Ed., CCE is a culinary arts instructor that has earned degrees from Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales University and Northern Arizona University. He is currently teaching at UNLV. He earned his Certified Culinary Educator Endorsement from the American Culinary Federation in 2003.
Although meatless Mondays started in the United States it has continually drawn attention from other countries around the world. It is now being promoted in 43 countries around the world.
4310 W Tompkins Ave Las Vegas, NV 89103
702-645-0049
www.jayssharpening.com • customerservice@jayssharpening.com
Mobile Service Our mobile service vans provide sharpening services on-site to even the largest resort properties, without disrupting workflow. Commercial Knife Exchange Program We furnish sharp knives to your kitchen on a weekly or biweekly rotation schedule. Equipment Sales We offer top-of-the-line knives, culinary tools, kitchen supplies and replacement parts.
W Harmon Ave Jay’s Sharpening Service
Cutting Board Resurfacing & Replacements
Arville St
Although the current version of meatless Mondays was started in 2003, history goes much further back than that. It was actually started during World War I when President Wilson called for Tuesdays to be meatless and one meatless meal to be observed every day for a total of nine meatless meals a week. This was done to help the war effort and avoid rationing. The current purpose of meatless Mondays is rooted in two different thought processes. The first one is to make for s healthier diet, and the second reason is to make the planet healthier. The goal is to reduce meat consumption by 15%. This reduction includes any animal protein including chicken and fish, while eggs are usually allowed since they are a byproduct from birds. In 2003 marketing professional Sid Lerner created this program as part of his work at John Watkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. Mondays were chosen for several reasons. For many people for religious reasons Friday is already a meatless meal, and with Monday being the first day of the workweek, individuals settle back into their routines and habits that were started on the weekend can be replaced by healthier choices. Meatless Mondays, which are becoming much more popular, have an impact not only on your personal health but the environment also. Meatless Monday helps the environment by creating less greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are produced in a much larger quantity by livestock than by vegetable growth. Livestock also uses much more water than growing plants does. Advantages for you are your diet will become more nutritious eating plant-based proteins rather than meat-based proteins. It also saves you money because usually meat is much more expensive than replacements like vegetables, grains and legumes. Another advantage for you is red meat has been linked to cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and strokes.
By Chef Allen Asch
Steak & Table Knife Re-Serration / Sharpening
W Tropicana Ave
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 19
The Catering Coach 3 Tips to Get the MOST Profits from Your Catering Sales
Successful catering is all about profits, NOT sales. Many times, we only see the dollar signs when considering a potential catered event. Three of the mistakes I see caterers make, or restaurants trying to cater, are to take every sale that comes in the door, to match pricing to a competitor and to sell catered food at the same price as the restaurant menu price. If you have tried any of these, well, you haven’t graduated from Catering 101 with a passing grade! For example, boxed lunches for 500 people at $8 per person during a slow week looks very enticing. Who wouldn’t want to deposit $4,000 in the bank during off season? Everyone would, unless you knew the $4,000 would hit the bank one day and two days later $4,300 would be debited from the account to pay for those boxed lunches. Want to get past these mistakes in your catering business? Here are three things that will make you the most profits in catering.
Number One – MINIMUMS Everyone I know in the restaurant or catering business has been approached about catering an event for 10–12 guests. I’ve been guilty of taking these jobs myself. In my “non-profit” catering days, I jumped at every catering sale that came in the door, whether it was 100 guests or 10 guests. Unless you are charging the client a huge amount of money for food and staff for 10, there is NO WAY you are making any money on an event for 10-12 guests. For a simple boxed lunch with a sandwich, chips and cookie, the cost of goods sold is a minimum of 40 to 45 percent if all of the sandwich flavors are the same. Assume your client wants three kinds of sandwiches offered for the 12 guests to choose from and you, out of the kindness of your heart, throw in delivery as part of your pricing. If you add up your food costs, packaging, napkins, fork, delivery bag and delivery costs, there is NO profit. What should your minimum be? For my catering company, our minimum for drop-off catering and boxed lunches is 25 guests. For off-site events, it is 30 guests. For years, I had no minimum guest count, and I paid www.lvfnbpro.com
By Sandy Korem Sandy Korem, catering expert, is CEO and founder of one of the top 20 catering companies in the U.S., Dallas-based The Festive Kitchen. She was awarded the White House Food Service Medallion in 2008 for outstanding food service to President George W. Bush. Her company, www.thecateringcoach.com, helps restaurateurs take their off-site catering revenue stream to a different level. If you have any questions about how to launch a profitable catering business, email her at sandy@thecateringcoach.com.
for it with no profits for small events. In fact, we lost money. Will you turn down business? Absolutely! But, who cares? You are turning down business, also known as gross sales. You are NOT turning down profits.
Number Two–Not competing with the “guy down the street” In my business as a catering coach, I have a member who makes excellent food and has exceptional staff and customer service. The competition in their town charges a ridiculously low price for their catered food and service. There is no way that company is making any real profits, yet my member will not price the menus higher than the competitor because “no one will use us.” Are they making a profit at the end of the year? NO! They are losing money because they won’t step out of their fear box to be paid what their product is worth. When it comes to making profits in your catering business, don’t let the competition rule your company profits. Be paid what your food and service is worth. Do not compromise, or your profits will fly out the window. Catering is not easy. If someone tells you it is, they have never catered an off-site event for at least 100 guests. Be paid what you are worth, and you will make a profit.
Number Three – Catering food is more expensive than restaurant food Any food that is catered off site from your restaurant costs much more to serve. Besides the traveling of the food, there is staff, plates, cutlery, equipment, small wares like lighters, sterno, etc., that all have to be paid for to accomplish a successful catered event. If you only charge the $21 menu price for your restaurant’s version of the pork belly, like the example from the beginning, I guarantee you have lost profits because of all of the other expenses involved with a catered event. Don’t give away your profits by throwing in staff costs, plate costs, even ice costs, to your client. If you do, you will be working for nothing! October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 21
By Shelley Stepanek
Best of the Best
Shelley Stepanek is President of DSA, the oldest non-profit tourist association in the state, along with being on the board of ticket brokers. Shelley has previously owned three restaurants.
LAKESIDE, one of the most gorgeous restaurants in Las Vegas, perched across from the massive waterfall called Lake of Dreams at the Wynn Hotel, now has one of the most incredible brunches in town. With a Dixieland band, one can dine with a cool breeze coming from the lake. Served Sunday mornings from 10:30 to 2:30 and priced at $68 per person and $34 for children ten and under, included are an unlimited sampling of executive chef David Walzog’s menu items. Lakeside has a seafood spread, consisting of King crab legs, jumbo shrimp, ahi tuna, oysters and complements. A fantastic basket of bagels, mini croissants, a berry plate featuring exotic items such as dragon fruit and rattan comes to each table, along with baked oysters and avocado toast points. Executive Chef David Walzog’s menu focuses on seasonally prepared items. All the dishes are made to order, such as wild mushroom & gruyere cheese omelet, crab cake eggs Benedict, chicken/ mushroom crepes or lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberries. There is also blackened swordfish, char-grilled flat iron steaks on frites or a hamburger with frites, which are the absolute best. Executive Pastry Chef Andy Jim provides a selection of passion fruit meringue tartlets, Kona Coffee cremes, along with bon-bon chocolates and a host of sweet items. Take your pick from limitless bloody Marys, white pineapple Bellinis, or Prosecco for a $40 per person added fee. Reservations recommended at 702-770-DINE. After years of living only two miles away, I visited GEISHA HOUSE STEAK & SUSHI on the east side. This restaurant must be getting social security as it has been in the same location since 1971 and is still thriving. The place is warm and welcoming, and the service is great. We sat down to a perfect Mojito and started with the traditional miso soup. A nicely done Japanese salad, and tempura fried shrimp with carrot and zucchini came with a spicy sauce. I had the Kobe beef, and my friend had the seafood, with a small lobster, shrimp and scallops. All were seasoned with a wonderful garlic butter. Within an hour every seat at the hibachi tables had been taken. I would highly recommend. 3751 E. Desert Inn Rd. 702-451-9814. ROCK & REILLY’S on the Strip celebrated on September 17th a party entitled “½ Way to St. Paddy’s Day.” You could see a lot of people downing large pints of Irish beer and noshing on plenty of Irish food. Just before last year’s event, they were hit with a huge flood and had to postpone. They are really rocking now. New Entries into the Las Vegas Market At ELECTRA COCKTAIL CLUB in The Palazzo, created by Sam Ross who also picked the libations of The Dorsey and Rosina, there are a large offering of mezcals and agricoles. The WALDORF ASTORIA, which was formerly The Mandarin Oriental, opened at the end of August. This beautiful property will have a total restyle of its guest rooms.
LA LA NOODLE will open in November in The Park with plenty of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese items. MOTT 32 is another new Chinese eatery coming to The Palazzo. The newest Mexican spot is MEXICANA, located directly across from Border Grill in Mandalay Bay. Plenty of house-smoked meats and burritos, bowls and salads. One more Asian spot is now part of the whole remodel of Palace Station, BOATHOUSE ASIAN EATERY. With a sushi and noodle bar, they can seat up to 200 people. Bellagio is soon opening a breakfast, lunch and dinner spot called SADELLE’S. Sonia El-Nawal’s ROOSTER BOY CAFE is also coming to the Lakes. 22 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
photos by Shelley Stepanek and courtesy Rock & Reilly’s
THE COSMOPOLITAN has opened BLOCK 16 URBAN FOOD HALL. Numerous new restaurants have appeared, such as District: Donuts. Slider. Brew., Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake, Pok Pok Wing, Lardo and Ghost Monkey.
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The Bottom Line Cash, Credit, Bitcoin? What Forms of Payment to Accept
Cash and credit cards have long represented the overwhelming majority of customer-based restaurant transactions. And now, as the tech world continues to integrate into just about every industry out there, several new payment methods have entered the arena. In the same way that credit cards were new and worrisome back in the day, so too are platforms such as PayPal, ApplePay and cryptocurrency. The question is whether you trust them for your business. Take some time to ponder whether some of these new payment methods will open up your restaurant to a new customer base, as well as any associated risks that may come with them. First, revisiting credit cards Credit cards have undoubtedly become the most universal payment tool of the present time, and in the restaurant world, it takes a very special kind of place to get away with being cash-only. Unless your brand holds enough fame to have a line out the door from opening to close, chances are that you’re losing a ton of business just because you don’t accept credit card payments. A growing number of people don’t carry cash on them, and in many cases where spontaneity determines a dining decision, guests will much rather go to a place that accepts credit than take the time to go to an ATM—and likely pay a withdrawal fee—to visit a cash-only establishment. Add in credit card rewards and the ease of tracking payments through credit card statements, and the incentive to pay in cash is virtually nonexistent. www.lvfnbpro.com
By Ben Brown Benjamin Brown, MBA is Restaurant Editor of The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional. A seasoned writer and consultant, Ben works with Fortune 500 companies and mom & pop shops alike in Marketing, Analytics, Consumer Insights, PR and Business Development. Contact Ben at Ben@lvfnb.com or follow him @Foodie_Biz.
Yes, accepting credit card payments requires setting up infrastructure and takes away from profits, but in the incredible majority of cases, the uptick in volume is more than enough to outweigh the marginal costs. Apply the credit card mantra to other platforms. In the same way that credit cards overtook the transaction market, several new platforms have built significant user bases and stand to benefit the restaurants [and all vendors, really] that embrace them: PayPal: The stand-alone money exchange platform also integrates credit card transactions, making it one of the easiest new payment methods for restaurants to adapt. While PayPal may not be as widely used in the restaurant itself, it can prove vital for online ordering. If you’re working with GrubHub or another online delivery service, chances are you’re already savvy enough to be using PayPal. Venmo: A spinoff of PayPal from the same ownership, Venmo is huge in peer-to-peer money transfer and is making its way into business transactions. Funds go straight into your bank account with minimal processing, making Venmo a prime candidate for increasing efficiency to turn tables over faster. ApplePay/Google Wallet: Similar to Venmo, these platforms allow guests to make payments straight from their phones. Several of these services exist, with each one requiring its own infrastructure setup. While setup should be quite simple, hosting multiple direct payment platforms may be a bit much to handle for
owners not yet familiar with the tech payment landscape. Bitcoin: Cryptocurrencies have attracted no shortage of press and can stand to serve not just as a payment method, but an investment vehicle for restaurant owners. Imagine guests paying for a $100 meal using Bitcoin in June 2017...that would be a whole lot more than $100 at the time of this writing. Volatility and security are huge issues to consider for any restaurant looking to accept cryptocurrencies, not to mention that a limited number of vendors actually accept cryptocurrencies, making them harder to spend once you have it. Assess your consumers’ behavior. While bringing on new payment platforms has great potential, this potential will only be reached if your guests actually use those platforms. Look at your typical guest demographic: If you cater to a younger or more progressive customer base, chances are you stand to profit from a new payment platform. Check in with your servers to see how frequently guests ask whether you take payment form XYZ. If these requests are significant and consistent, that’s a strong suggestion to bring on the target platform. Have servers or managers ask guests whether they’d prefer to pay with another method if it was made available. If you have an email list, send out a quick survey asking the same thing. These new payment methods likely won’t replace credit cards any time soon, but having them in addition to credit cards can stand to help you if they align with your guests’ preferences.
October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 23
Technology’s Influence on Guest Behavior By Steve Thomas
NvRA Upcoming Events September 25 Mix and Mingle
nvrestaurants.com/mix--mingle.html
October 25 Taste of Downtown
Our first annual Taste of Downtown Epicurean Event will be held at the rooftop pool deck of the Plaza Hotel & Casino. Restaurants and beverage purveyors will come together for this culinary event. The Taste of Downtown offers guest the chance to immerse themselves in the high energy surroundings of Downtown Las Vegas while enjoying magnificent cuisine and succulent cocktails from spotlight restaurants. This remarkable evening gives attendees an opportunity to experience why the Nevada restaurant industry is famous for its culinary destination.
When it comes to emerging technologies and marketing, most of the conversation today typically focuses on apps, social media and how to take advantage of consumers’ growing dependence on their mobile devices.
Finding 3 (Upsell Purchase Intent): Purchase intent for a higher-priced or premium version of an item highlighted by Spot HD printing increased 28.7 percent over traditional HD and 59.7 percent over conventional printing.
The event proceeds will support the Nevada Restaurant Association’s educational and scholarship programs, including ProStart, a national high school culinary skill and restaurant management program involving more than 3,500 students here in Nevada. The program teaches students the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the foodservice industry.
That’s all well and good for driving customers into your store or restaurant, but then what? In-store or point-of-sale marketing and merchandising is still the key to converting shoppers into buyers, but that doesn’t mean you have to be “old-school” about your signage and displays. One of the most exciting new developments is Spot High Definition printing, and a growing number of retailers are discovering the power of this technique to drive purchases of premium and/or ancillary items.
Finding 4 (Ancillary Item Purchase Intent): On average, consumers were eight percent more likely to purchase an ancillary item such as a bottle of wine that was merchandised with a primary item such as a pizza or steak when the ancillary item was printed in Spot HD vs. conventional techniques.
Regular Admission is $65 per person. Tickets can be purchased at The Plaza Hotel and Casino Box Office or by visiting www.nvrestaurants. com/taste-of-downtown.html. To reserve a Cabana or to purchase VIP package call the Nevada Restaurant Association at 702-878-2313. Attendees and participants must be 21 years or older to attend.
December 10 Annual Meeting & Culinary Excellence Awards
nvrestaurants.com/culinaryexcellence-awards.htm
Nevada Restaurant Association and Educational Foundation Founded in 1982, the Nevada Restaurant Association has carried its mission to promote, protect and educate Nevada’s rapidly growing restaurant industry. Restaurants are the cornerstone of Nevada’s economy; the association provides services for restaurant success, thus enhancing the community as well.
WMG, recently commissioned Bentley University’s Center for Marketing Technology to measure the impact of our Spot HD printing on consumer behavior. We asked Bentley to measure the impact of spot HD on consumers in order to better understand how different types of printing techniques affect what viewers see and what they recall. The study was specifically designed to focus on ability of next-generation digital printing to make a visual more attractive and memorable to viewers, creating sensory and appetite appeal, and ultimately, purchase intent. The research team fitted a sample group of consumers with special glasses designed to measure the movement of the eyes. Participants were then shown visuals using traditional High Definition (HD) and Conventional print techniques, and another using Spot High Definition produced with WMG’s cutting-edge G-traxTM system. The results surprised even us, and produced four key findings regarding the impact of Spot HD printing compared with standard HD and conventional printing: Finding 1 (Focus Speed): On average, Spot HD printing attracted eyes to the target focal area 8.2 percent faster than conventional printing methods. Finding 2 (Focus Duration): On average, eyes remained focused on the area using Spot HD printing 15.3 percent longer.
24 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
Using this data, we develop our Hierarchy of Signage, an in-store marketing effectiveness execution model through which we work with a retailer to evaluate their marketing objectives against available solutions based on sound, measurable insight, and then determine the solution that best accomplishes them. This result is the creation of a practical tool that we use with retailers to impact the speed at which in-store marketing is noticed as well as the length of time that a customer stays focused on it. This then translates into favorable purchase intent and when used to promote premium or add-on items, can build basket size and impulse buys. How can this translate into your restaurant? The owner of a pizza restaurant wanting to drive wine sales, for example, could use Spot HD printing on a glass or bottle of wine pictured with a pizza on signage and POS materials. Research shows that by doing so, the owner will increase the likelihood that customers will purchase the highlighted item than if it were printed using traditional techniques. The implication of this research for retailers is critical as they continue to search for ways to drive incremental sales in an increasingly competitive environment. The results clearly show, especially when all findings are considered together, that advanced printing technology such as Spot HD can have a measurable positive impact on grabbing a customer’s attention and influencing their purchase intent and impulse buys. www.lvfnbpro.com
Human Resources Insights
By Linda Westcott-Bernstein Linda Westcott-Bernstein has provided sound human resources advice and guidance to Fortune 500 companies and others for over 25 years. Linda has recently re-published her self-help book entitled It All Comes Down to WE! This book offers guidelines for building a solid and enduring personal work ethic. You can find her book on Amazon or Google Books. Phone: 702-326-4040 Email: Vegaslinda89129@yahoo.com
Think of HR as a Partner in Your Success Through Good Employee Strategies! A sound and engaged HR function and HR team can be felt and measured in the following ways…
It’s not difficult to see how an engaged and approachable HR (human resources) function/team contributes to the success of your organization. Take a look around at the impact HR has on your morale and culture, and then go one step further and ask your employees what they believe HR does for the company and for them. If you have a valued and meaningful HR team, you will get responses that match some of my points below. You might be amazed to find that, more than just ensuring that people get paid on time and correctly, your employees see HR as the ones who exhibit and support the culture of your organization. They communicate the history, culture, philosophy and guest service expectations to each and every new hire—they set the stage and establish the expectations for success at your company. They outline the ways and means for success by clearly communicating the policies, procedures, rules, standards and guidelines that are to be followed. They reinforce the importance of safety and instruct on what the company expects and how safety is an important requirement there. And, they emphasize the essential and unwavering expectation, that RESPECT is a key component of the company’s culture and philosophy—without respect for one another, no organization will thrive or survive!
• Employees come to HR to be “heard” in a way that may not occur at the job site. • HR represents to them what the culture and philosophy for employee treatment is at the company. • HR exhibits the behaviors of respect, courtesy and fair, nondiscriminatory treatment. • HR communicates the benefits and rewards of working at the company. • HR lays the foundation for success with a positive image and picture of the company and leadership team so that employees can focus on their jobs and add value to the organization. • HR conveys the value and idea that opportunity and growth is possible for everyone to the extent that they are willing to work hard and to apply themselves. One of the toughest hurdles for HR to overcome is the occasional disconnect between the message that is conveyed at time of new hire orientation to the behaviors and actions exhibited by the management team. These same beliefs and philosophies—especially the importance of RESPECT—must be embraced and displayed at all times with each and every employee by the management staff. You can undo a positive image with just a random act of discrimination, harassment or retaliation perpetrated by a single member of your management team. The best way to engage your HR team in your success is to first view them as your business partner, include them in your plans for growth and expansion and provide them with opportunities to engage and interact with your most important asset—your customer service representatives. Have your HR team work closely with your management team to ensure that business strategies match the culture and philosophy of the organization, and don’t send a wrong message to your employees when business levels fall or transition into the slow season. I have always supported and believe in the importance of the Golden Rule. You will hear this time and again in my articles. But my belief is that the success of any business is founded in this simple but time honored rule of respect. That as in any endeavor that you may undertake in your life—“Treating others in the way that you would want to be Treated”—you can never go wrong. Keep up the good work if you have a strong HR team, and if you don’t, see this as an opportunity, and embrace it, and don’t turn back! Best wishes!
HR Question of the month:
Please send your HR questions and concerns, or share your thoughts on your human resources challenges via email to the following address. Send input to vegaslinda89129@yahoo.com. Your comments, questions or concerns will help determine the direction for my next month’s column and earn you a copy of my book. Include your mailing address when sending your responses.
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October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 25
The RESTAURANT EXPERT 7 Steps to Effective Manager Meetings
Do you have manager meetings? Not the passingin-the-hall quick conversations, but actual sitdown meetings where you focus on moving the business forward? If you are, are they effective? Communication in restaurants is key to getting anything done, from cleaning to profitability. The challenge is making sure you get your message across in a manner that everyone understands and can execute what you want done how you want it done. To do this right, you must have sit-down manager meetings that focus on moving the business forward. Sit-down meetings are where you get things DONE. I know what you’re saying to yourself: “David, I meet with my managers almost daily, and we still have this problem.” When you say that to me, I’m going to tell you very quickly, the “meetings” you’re having with your managers, where you stop them in passing, those are not a manager meeting. And worse, those “meetings” lead to more problems. A manager meeting is scheduled on a weekly basis. It’s not a five-minute tirade over what didn’t get done at closing the night before. It’s a weekly, scheduled time, set aside to review goals, expectations and challenges and then brainstorm solutions. It is also mandatory. To begin having effective restaurant management team meetings, follow these seven steps: 1. Plan properly and ahead of time. 2. Make attendance mandatory. 3. Collect info for the meeting and create an agenda in advance. 4. Stay on track. 5. Facilitate and communicate. 6. Assign specific actions. 7. Take notes. Step 1–Plan This is the step where you look at last week’s priorities and goals and audit where they are. Did they get accomplished, did you hit your goals or were there things that happened that delayed results? Take the time to really look at things with a detailed eye. Meet with your general manager and communicate the goals for the next week. This is your opportunity to make sure your general manager is on the same page as you. You are also setting the general manager up for success to conduct an effective and efficient managers’ meeting.
By David Scott Peters David Scott Peters is a restaurant consultant, coach, speaker and founder of TheRestaurantExpert.com, a company committed to the success of independent restaurants. Peters is a restaurant industry-recognized blogger and his writing is regularly published in restaurant industry publications, such as Restaurant Hospitality, Catersource, and QSR Magazine. Learn more at www.TheRestaurantExpert.com.
Next, create your list of goals for you and your team for the upcoming week. Be specific and clear in the list of what you want done, how you want it done, how well you want it done and more importantly by when. Without deadlines, nothing would get done. Step 2–Make it mandatory. If you want to ensure attendance, make sure everyone understands the meeting is mandatory. Do your managers a favor and make sure to switch up the days of the mandatory meeting so that the same employee isn’t coming in on his or her day off. Every. Single. Time. You can still set this up on a regular schedule so everyone can plan to attend the meeting, but rotate the day of the week when you have the meeting. Step 3–Create agenda and collect data. Whether it’s you or your general manager who will create the agenda, use your list of goals for the week, to create the agenda for the meeting. Make sure you have your numbers and appropriate reports, such as your prime cost targets, key item report, waste sheets, marketing materials, etc. Have everything ready so when you hand out the agenda, everyone has everything they need to be successful. Step 4–Stay on track. Be sure to stick to this agenda. If and when a NEW topic comes up, make sure you determine if it should be tabled until the next meeting or if you need to set up a sidebar meeting after the manager meeting. When you don’t control the topics, start and stop time, manager meetings go forever. Your manager meetings should run 60-90 minutes. Anything longer than 90 minutes
26 The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional I October 2018
creates an environment where your managers get frustrated because they feel you don’t value their time, and they start tuning you out. Step 5–Facilitate and communicate. One of the biggest questions I get all the time is, “I’m the owner, shouldn’t I conduct the meeting?” The short answer is NO, unless you fulfill the general manager role as well. Your general manager is going to be held accountable for these goals, so you need to put them in a leadership role and demonstrate that the general manager is the other managers’ direct supervisor. When conducting the meeting, the general manager should only be talking about 20 percent of the time and clear expectations must be laid out. This is because your managers have come to the meetings knowing what they are responsible for because you have assigned them their duties in step three. They should present to the group on their areas of responsibility. You want every manager engaged and participating in the meeting. Step 6–Assign specific actions. Break down the steps for what needs to be done and who is going to be responsible for each step. Assign deadlines and benchmarks because you want to delegate effectively, helping everyone on the team to be successful. Step 7–Take notes. Assign someone to take notes and then distribute the notes to everyone. This keeps everyone focused on moving forward. If you’re tired of things not getting done, tired of not making the money your restaurant should be making and/or tired of being frustrated daily with everyone’s performance—owner or manager—then you’ll want to follow these seven simple steps. www.lvfnbpro.com
By Justin Leung
photos by Deanna Wong and Hanna Min
Justin Leung, a Hospitality Management student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, represents the Epicurean Society, a collective of food and restaurant enthusiastic students. As the journalist on their leadership team, Justin desires to share the club’s experiences with the public. He is from Georgia and decided to pursue his passion for hospitality in Las Vegas.
A bright semester awaits Epicurean Society especially with a strong 159 recruited members: This was a number that has developed from July to September. Our recruitment stage began a week before school during the New Hospitality Students welcome event. Epicurean Society welcomed transfer and freshman students with pizza wontons. A fusion between Chinese and Italian tradition, pizza wontons are wontons wrappers filled with freshly made marinara sauce. The ingredient list consists of 3 pounds of Spanish chorizo, 5.5 pounds of cream cheese, 4 eggs, 5.25 pounds of whole canned tomatoes, ¾ cups of extra virgin olive oil, 1.5 cups of garlic cloves and 3 bunches of fresh basil. The wonton wrappers were an exceptional choice of concealing the savory sauce within. One bite of pizza wontons would send you down a nostalgic trip. We watched as families helped themselves to about 150 wontons and our organization grew with 62 new members that day. Our organization’s growth only sped up within the first couple weeks. Fall semester at UNLV started off with a bang: Of course, Involvement Fair played an essential part in igniting the enthusiastic and spirited beginnings. Over 350 registered student organizations participated in Involvement Fair on September 5th. Epicurean Society contributed with jaw-dropping appetizer plates. The first appetizer was an authentic take on Brazilian cheese bread. In order to start the bread, we boiled a mixture of milk, water, oil, and salt–on medium-high heat. Tapioca flour was put in a stand mixer with the boiled milk. As the mixer blended the white and sticky paste together, we used 4 large eggs to begin creating the dough. Next, grated parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese were added to the stand mixer. Our Brazilian cheese bread dough was very soft and sticky, just the way we desired. Epicurean Society shaped the dough into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and baked them in a preheated oven of 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Epicurean Society wanted to add some spice to the list, so we decided to tackle a Roasted Pineapple Habanero Salsa. The salsa is made with roasted and chopped pineapple, tomatillos, habanero peppers, jalapeno peppers, freshly chopped cilantro, juiced lime, olive oil and cream cheese. In order to create our Miso Caramel Apple Tarts, we tackled three parts: the miso caramel, apple filling and the crunch topping. To start the miso caramel, our team cooked granulated sugar, water and corn www.lvfnbpro.com
syrup together in medium-high heat. We stirred the sugar until all of the contents were dissolved. As we made the mixture, we were searching for a strong amber color. We stopped the heat after all sugar crystals melted and gently stirred in evaporated milk and white miso paste. Apple filling was started by boiling a gallon of water and placing the diced apples into a large bowl. The boiling water was poured over the apples and stood on the side for a full ten minutes before we drained and dried the apples off. The diced apples were mixed with light brown sugar, tapioca flour and ground cinnamon. The mixture was tossed for it to settle. Our team whisked together 2% milk, Kosher salt, tapioca flour and combined it with the diced apples. Another toss truly combined the mixtures together for an apple filling. The last component to the Miso Caramel Apple Tarts was the crunch topping which was made by combining all-purpose flour, sugar and a dash of salt into a medium sized bowl. We added cut in butter to make the mixture crumbly and baked until it turned golden brown. With our crunch topping finished, we filled our puff pastries with the apple filling and sprinkled the crunch topping on top. We baked the puff pastries for 10 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The miso caramel was the drizzle that completed the cooled apple tarts. Involvement Fair was just the beginning of our organization’s major growth, with 62 students added to our e-mail subscription list. On the morning of September 13th, our hospitality college hosted a fall mixer for its organizations. Through tabling alone, we gathered another 35 students to our roster. Enticing talk about food and committees piqued the interests of non-members. September 12th and 13th, Wednesday and Thursday respectively, were the first meetings for Epicurean Society and had our members engaged in making and eating rolled ice cream. They were able to try toppings such as Oreos, Nutella, and Hershey’s Chocolate. Not only were they enjoying a dessert treat, they were able to officially join the newly-launched six committees: Restaurant Outings, Partner Relations, Marketing, Fundraising, Front-of-house and Back-ofhouse. Additionally, the remaining weeks of September will introduce students to our first restaurant outing, partner collaboration and a set of committee assignments. October 2018 I The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional 27
Made from
By John Rockwell
SCRATCH
John Rockwell is a native Southern Californian and career English teacher working in the Riverside area. In his spare time, he rides his bicycle to breweries, restaurants, and cheese shops, and is always looking for culinary delights within riding distance of the vast network of SoCal bicycle trails.
Yogurt Revelations
He is an ardent fan of the waiver theater culture in Los Angeles. He is new to cheesemaking, but has been a homebrewer for over twenty years.
photos by John Rockwell
The procedure for making yogurt is simple, and to disabuse any notions of what yogurt is, it is simply milk that you eat.
After the milk has fermented at 107 degrees for 8-12 hours, it turns to curd. It is then strained through a cheesecloth for 1-2 hours (longer=thicker) and then scooped into sealed containers.
Up until the past 100 years or so, with advances in refrigeration, food storage and chemical preservation, people had to rely on microbes and natural processes to preserve their food over longer periods of time. Wine, beer, kombucha, pickles, bread, cured meat, cheese and yogurt are all part of that heritage of foods where human beings (unwittingly until recently) used microbes (and sometimes chemicals) to preserve protein, starches and liquids during seasons when fresh water, crops, dairy and meat weren’t always available. The invention of the electric refrigerator fundamentally changed the way people eat and
live, shifting the responsibility of food storage and preservation to food companies in exchange for the assurance of year-round food availability. The benefits of cold storage are essential to urban societies separated from food production, but in the process, the art of the preservation of seasonal food has been lost. Canning, pickling, brewing and other home-made items in those categories now either give you hobby status, or if you’re a restaurant, give you some gravitas in the “artisanal food” or “gastro” category. Aren’t we all a little more impressed when a gastropub makes its own pickles, even
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though mom and pop Mexican restaurants in SoCal have been doing this for the past 40 years? After experimenting with Greek yogurt making the past few months, I am convinced that the process of making yogurt was a way to preserve milk that had soured, possibly milk that had started curdling, and was no longer drinkable. I’m convinced of this because as I sit here writing about yogurt, I’m eating some homemade Greek yogurt that is approximately eight weeks old—way past its “expiration date,” and it’s still wonderful and delicious. Under light refrigeration or room-temperature storage, it probably wouldn’t have lasted as long, but it would last longer than raw milk under those same circumstances. The procedure for making yogurt is simple, and to disabuse any notions of what yogurt is, it is simply milk that you eat. Well, milk and a mixture of living yogurt cultures that ward off infections and mold. There are generally two version of it commercially available: “regular”—which simply means the whey hasn’t been broken out of it—and “Greek,” which means the whey has been broken out of it. I’m a fan of Greek yogurt, but not all Greek yogurts on the market are equal. The ones that spend more money on marketing themselves to seem Greek are usually not quite as good. Look at labels. Avoid products where there are additions of fruit pectin, sugar or corn starch used to artificially thicken the product. None of that is required to make good, thick commercial Greek yogurt. If you’re one of the few people who hasn’t tried Greek yogurt, a good reference point for a starter is the Fage Greek yogurt brand. The name is www.lvfnbpro.com
pronounced “Fah-yay,” and it is most definitely the “Budweiser” of Greek yogurts, based on sales and popularity. It’s definitely a gateway product. It has a thick, smooth texture, it’s a little grainy and earthy, and isn’t really sour. It is also very filling. There are a couple of other commercially available Greek yogurts which are just as good— maybe better—but have increased sourness levels, or “culture” flavors as industry people like to say. It’s almost like a mixture of ricotta cheese and sour cream, both of which are made with very similar processes. I’ll look more at the different types of Greek yogurt in the next piece. I am going to describe the process for making Greek yogurt. You can make some today if you want and eat it tomorrow. It’s really that easy, and when you make it you’ll see why so many dairy companies jump in on this “value-added” product where they can take a relatively inexpensive resource like milk, process it for a few hours, and then sell it back to customers at many times the price of the original milk. It’s a lot easier to make with an Instant Pot or some other device that can hold a reliable temperature for a long period of
time. But you could just let it sit in a jar or pot for additional time at room temperature, and you’d get a similar result. All you need is that pot, milk, a thermometer, about a cup of plain Greek yogurt from the grocery store (for live cultures), some cheesecloth and some containers for final storage. I do about 1-1.5 gallons of milk at a time which yields around three quarts of Greek Yogurt, give or take. Step 1: Destabilize proteins and pasteurize. Use any milk you want, but as usual, stay away from ultra-pasteurized milk because it has been heated to a point where the proteins aren’t as reliable for use. Heat the milk to 180 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. This is just below boiling. Instant Pots have a setting where this is “automatic.” Step 2: Cool to 110 degrees and add culture. Like any fermented product, you have to hit the right temperature before adding microbes. The Instant Pot is nice because you can remove the stainless pot, immerse it in ice-water while monitoring the temperature, dry it, and put it back in the Instant Pot when it hits 107-110 degrees. Then stir in a cup of store-bought yogurt, seal it, and let it
Homemade Greek yogurt is thick, smooth and delicious. Because the liquid (whey) content is drained away, it is not as sour as you might think, and because it is made of solid milk proteins, it is surprisingly filling.
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ferment at 107 degrees for 8-12 hours. (This is a setting on your Instant Pot.) If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you may need to let it sit more than the 8-12 hours (more time=more sour) at room temperature (70-80 degrees). Of course, in SoCal, you could just seal the pot and leave it outside in the shade in the 100 degree heat and see what happens! Step 3: After fermenting for 8-12 hours, it should be thick. Scoop the yogurt into a yogurt funnel or cheesecloth and strainer and let the whey drip out for around 1-2 hours. Then scoop your thick Greek yogurt into clean sealed storage containers. I use Ball jars, and the yogurt keeps well beyond the two weeks most recipes claim. Perhaps they claim this because it’s so delicious it is eaten before that time anyway! Yes, there are things that can go wrong, but if you followed this basic procedure, you’re going to have something resembling yogurt. If you don’t strain out the whey, you might have a product that’s thinner than you hoped for, but it’ll still be yogurt. Experiment and enjoy! That’s what food preservation is all about!
Fage “Total” is the gold-standard of Greek yogurt. Far and away the most popular brand, Fage is at the top for a reason: It is thick, smooth, and not too sour. Once cup of Fage makes a great starter culture for your own home-made yogurt experiments!
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EVENTS
AD INDEX
There are several major food & beverage events coming up this month. Here is a sampling of some of the events we highly recommend, so if planning to attend you can start booking now.
Audrey Dempsey Infinity Photo infinity-photo.com 702-837-1128
October 5-6 The 10th annual Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival will convene at Tivoli Village, where you can expect two days of events showcasing some of the world’s most renown chefs, spirits and wine. vegasfoodandwine.com
Al Dentes’ Provisions sales@aldentes.com 702-642-1100
October 8-11 The G2E (Global Gaming Expo) will return to Las Vegas, hosted at the Sands Convention Center. This is the largest gaming show in the world which includes F&B@G2E in the Food & Beverage Pavilion dedicated to all F&B related food & beverage products and services to the casino gaming industry. www.globalgamingexpo.com
Big Dog’s Brewing Company www.bigdogsbrews.com 702-368-3715
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Designated Drivers, Inc. designateddriversinc.com 877-456-7433
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Ferrari-Carano Vinyards & Winery ferrari-carano.com
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Keep Memory Alive Event Center 702-263-9797 kmaeventcenterlasvegas.com
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Jay’s Sharpening Service www.jayssharpening.com 702-645-0049
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October 12-14 The Chef’s Table: an EPICurean Experience hosted by MGM Resorts International at Mandalay Bay and Delano Las Vegas, will be comprised of five culinary events highlighted by a collaborative seven-course Master Chef event at Alain Ducasse’s Rivea. www.mandalaybay.com/en/restaurants/chefs-table.html October 13 The Martha Stewart Wine & Food Experience, a 12-city culinary series, will make a stop at the outdoor Las Vegas Festival grounds at Las Vegas Blvd. and Sahara with a cooking demonstration from Stewart, the chance to explore various kitchen gear and other products and samples of cuisine from the MGM Resorts International. wineandfood.usatoday.com/lasvegas October 13 The James Beard Foundation’s Celebrity Chef Tour, a traveling dinner series with renowned chefs from around the country, will convene at the Luxor Hotel for a six-course dinner with Mary Sue Milliken, Stephan Pyles, Nancy Silverton, Jimmy Schmidt, Jeremiah Tower and Andrew Friedman. www.jamesbeard.org/events/las-vegas-3 October 25 The first annual Taste of Downtown, supporting the Nevada Restaurant Association’s educational and scholarship programs, will be held at the rooftop pool deck of the Plaza Hotel and will offer tastes of several Downtown Las Vegas restaurants and beverage purveyors. www.nvrestaurants.com/taste-of-downtown.html
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Riedel riedel.com Roca Patron rocapatron.com
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