Lending by Example

November 2020 www.clubandresortchef.com

Leading by example INSIDE

Making Waves with Wagyu Managing Food Safety During COVID-19 Budgeting Tips for 2021

Executive Chef Gabriel Maldonado, CEC, CCA, holds himself to the highest standard while motivating his team to uphold The Gasparilla Inn & Club’s culinary legacy.

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EDITOR, CLUB + RESORT CHEF

VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER

Joanna DeChellis jdechellis@wtwhmedia.com

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Tom McIntyre tmcintyre@wtwhmedia.com

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Eva Barrios, Executive Chef Royal Oaks Country Club, Houston, Texas David Clark, Executive Sous Chef Army Navy Country Club, Arlington, Va. K. Scott Craig, CEC, CCA, WCMC Director of Culinary Operations, Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte, N.C. Vincent Horville, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington (D.C.) Jeremy Leinen, Executive Chef, Dunwood Country Club, Atlanta, Ga. Michael Matarazzo, CEC, Executive Chef, Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va. Lawrence McFadden, CMC, GM/COO, The Union Club, Cleveland, Ohio

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

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N OV E M B E R C L U B I N D E X

Properties featured in this issue BallenIsles Country Club Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club Boca Raton, Fla. Cherokee Town & Country Club Atlanta, Ga. The Country Club of Pittsfield Pittsfield, Mass.

Desert Mountain Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Everglades Club Palm Beach, Fla. Fiddler’s Elbow Bedminster, N.J. Forest Lake Club Columbia, S.C. Fort Wayne Country Club Fort Wayne, Ind. The Gasparilla Inn & Club Boca Grande, Fla. JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa Miami, Fla. Kalamazoo Country Club Kalamazoo, Mich.

Kenwood Country Club Cincinnati, Ohio Kings Creek Country Club Rehoboth Beach, Del. Myers Park Country Club Charlotte, N.C. Quail West Golf and Country Club Naples, Fla. River Run Country Club Davidson, N.C. Sedgefield Country Club Greensboro, N.C. Sherwood Country Club Thousand Oaks, Calif.

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Dishing

with

DeChellis

2020: THE YEAR OF A LA CARTE MY PUBLISHER, TOM MCINTYRE, LOVES

data. He frequently asks me and Joe Barks, Editor of Club + Resort Business, to feed him data about our industry and about how the pandemic has impacted numbers. He wants to know about budgets, food costs and CapEx plans.

He loves data so much that he’s in the process of developing new content streams and collateral that will further tell the story of the full extent of the club market to the uninitiated.

We’ve always asked questions about the numbers. We even offer an “at a glance” box at the opening of every club profile, just so readers can benchmark against the numbers.

One of my favorite data points is the a la carte-to-banquet split. Whether it’s 50/50, 60/40 or however it shakes out, it gives me a good idea of just how busy a club is on each side of the operation.

Of late, banquets have all but disappeared.

Even as they come back, they’re limited, smaller and far less profitable. Feeling this shift away from huge events, I decided to post a poll on LinkedIn asking followers to share their current a la carte to banquet split.

I posted the following options: 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 and 80/20 (with the larger percentage favoring a la carte in all cases).

Seventy-three percent of respondents chose 80/20 in favor of a la carte. A bunch more commented below the poll, to say that their numbers were now more in the 90/10 range.

We can bemoan the fact that banquets are gone—or we can look at what’s not gone.

I talk to club chefs all day every day, and I ask a lot of the same questions: How www.clubandresortchef.com

are your numbers? How do they stack up compared to last year? How are you making up for lost banquet business?

Time and time again, I’m told stories of how a la carte is booming and lessening the blow of fewer banquets.

When I interviewed Zack Wygant, General Manager/COO of Fort Wayne Country Club, for this issue’s Manager to Chef article (see pg. 30), he dropped a surprising data point on me.

Between FY 2019 and FY 2020, a la carte sales have more than doubled at Fort Wayne CC. That’s right—they doubled in the midst of a pandemic.

When I drilled down into why and how that was possible, Zack gave me some very clear answers. The first was that he brought in a new Food & Beverage Director who has helped to redefine the service culture in the front of the house. Second, he unleashed the creativity of the club’s Executive Chef.

What this tells me is that creativity and leadership are the “data points” that are most vital to successfully navigating through this pandemic—and into whatever comes next.

EDITOR Joanna DeChellis jdechellis@wtwhmedia.com 412-260-9233 November 2020 l Club + Resort Chef l 5

CONTENTS November • Vol. 10 • Issue 6

Leading by Example

D

5 Editor’s Memo

2020: The Year of A La Carte

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- 10 Executive Chef Gabriel Maldonado, CEC, CCA, holds himself to the highest standard while motivating his team to uphold The Gasparilla Inn & Club’s culinary legacy.

Publisher’s Memo We Changed the Date for Chef to Chef

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Making Waves with Wagyu

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Kneading the Dough

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Coffee Talk

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Festive and Safe

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Serving Staff Through a Pandemic

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The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown

These three club chefs are offering deliciously prepared wagyu that will never disappoint the discerning beef connoisseurs within their membership bases.

Bread programs may not be a cash cow, but they do sustain member expectations.

Desert Mountain and River Run CC offer thoughtful and well-crafted coffee and tea programs focused on member preferences.

Two clubs are combining ingenuity with a sense of member responsibility to still provide a memorable holiday season that stays well within CDC guidelines.

Club chefs are searching for the best ways to safely provide employee meals.

Clubs are setting their F&B budget parameters for 2021 with cautious optimism and care.

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Managing Food Safety During COVID-19

Adam Dietrich, a ServSafe Certified Instructor and Food Safety Expert, offers guidance for club and resort chefs.

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Effective Leadership at Fort Wayne CC

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Chef’s Thoughts

GM/COO Zack Wygant has elevated the club’s F&B program by empowering the club’s Executive Chef and hiring a strong new Food & Beverage Director.

Matthew Ratliff, WCMPC, CMB, Pastry Chef The Everglades Club, Palm Beach, Fla.

32 Product Showcase 33 Ad Index Photo courtesy of The Gasparilla Inn & Club

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IT’S OKAY TO HOLD ME

The

19th Hole

with

McIntyre

WE CHANGED THE DATE FOR CHEF TO CHEF HERE’S WHY. For 12 years, we’ve hosted the annual Chef to Chef Conference in early March. The event starts on a Sunday with a keynote address and networking session and runs through Tuesday afternoon, with an added stay on Tuesday night so attendees can explore the local culinary scene in the host city.

We chose this timeframe strategically as it’s a brief shoulder period for many clubs. The Sunday/ Monday/Tuesday timeframe was no accident either. Most clubs are closed on some combination of those days, so it’s a bit of an easier “ask” of a club to send its chef when things won’t be as busy.

On the flip side, we know that the early March timeframe is not ideal for some clubs, especially those in Florida, Arizona and other locations. The fact is, we’ll never be able to pick a time that’s good for all, so we tried to pick one that was good for most.

As the Chef to Chef Conference has grown, though, we’ve actually toyed with the idea of splitting it into two separate events, to try to offer the best possible time for everyone, with the first event in early March and a second in the fall.

In conjunction with this idea, we launched the Club + Resort Chef Association (CRCA) under the model that we’d host regional one-day events that would perpetuate the networking, continuing education and idea sharing the brand is known for.

Then COVID-19 forced us, like all of you, to reevaluate everything.

Large gatherings with the kind of numbers we’ve attracted at the Chef to Chef Conference are no longer safe—and it’s unclear when that will change. Our bet is that it won’t happen before this coming March.

So instead of cancelling our industry’s most critical continuing-education opportunity, we have rescheduled the 2021 Chef to Chef Conference for September 8-10, 2021. It will still be in Austin, Texas, and the content will be every bit as powerful and useful.

The new date immediately follows Labor Day and precedes what will no doubt be the start of a busy fall for everyone. And for those of you who have never been able to attend Chef to Chef because of its March timing, this is your chance to see what it’s all about.

Let’s go ahead and call it a blessing in disguise here.

If it becomes safe to host smaller in-person events before September, we will, through the CRCA. We are also building out webinars, continuing-education modules and networking platforms to provide other ways to keep everyone connected, up until and throughout next year.

While there are still many unknowns as it relates to COVID, I can promise you this: The event next fall in Austin will once again provide you with the networking, idea sharing, community building and unmatched content that you have come to expect from the Chef to Chef Conference. So please make a note of the new dates, and plan now to join us in Austin next September!

VICE PRESIDENT-GROUP PUBLISHER Tom McIntyre tmcintyre@wtwhmedia.com

216-533-9186

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COVER FEATURE

leading by

example Executive Chef Gabriel Maldonado, CEC, CCA, holds himself to the highest standard while motivating his team to uphold The Gasparilla Inn & Club’s culinary legacy.

By Joanna DeChellis, Editor

WHEN YOU LEAD BY example, you make it easier for others to follow. Look at Gabriel Maldonado, CEC, CCA, Executive Chef of The Gasparilla Inn & Club in Boca Grande, Fla. To evolve the culinary program at Gasparilla, Maldonado knew he had to open the lines of communication, refocus the dining experience and cultivate a strong team. So that’s just what he did.

“Some talented chefs have passed through this resort in my time here,” says Jon Reecher, General Manager, who has been with Gasparilla for 13 years. “I’ve worked with James Dyer, Peter Timmins, CMC, and Seth Shipley, CEC, CCA, who were all immensely talented culinarians. But somewhere along the way, the experience became too complicated. We lost touch with our guests, our members and one another.

“When we were looking for a new chef three years ago, [Maldonado] stood out for two reasons,” Reecher continues. “His culinary skills were unmatched, and the way he planned to manage the operation to build up the team was pivotal. We knew he would confidently lead us into a new era.”

As Executive Chef, Maldonado has done just that. He is both the “big picture” and the “details” person. He is creative, strategic, and visionary, while simultaneously conscientious, planful, and exacting.

He’s also a very strong cook.

His team is equally capable and includes a dynamic lineup of strong and smart leaders, including Pastry Chef Kassandra Pimentel, Beach Club Chef James Music, and Food and Beverage Director Brad Schoem.

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COVER FEATURE

Maldonado began his culinary career in his hometown of Mexico City before moving to the United States and earning top positions in the kitchens of several prestigious country clubs.

BEING SEEN Maldonado does not like heroes.

“Heroes get defeated,” he says. “They behave as though they are above or beyond the rest of the team. Heroes are dangerous and destructive.”

If a member of the team is running short, or feels like they can’t do their job, Maldonado does not want them to be a hero. He encourages his crew to communicate with the team so a solution can be found. “We can fix problems,” he says. “We can’t fix failure.”

Maldonado is a relentless team player and communicator. He encourages and trains his cooks to pay attention to the details.

He wants them to be excited about cooking and being part of the Gasparilla crew. He seeks new hires who are willing to learn. He comes in early and stays late. He is not above cleaning, organizing or scrubbing floors.

“There was a mentality of ‘that’s not my job, that’s someone else’s job’ when I first started here,” says Maldonado. “It was the biggest challenge I faced. The best way to build trust and show my team what I expect is to get my hands dirty.”

In three years, the mentality of Gasparilla’s team has shifted dramatically as a result of Maldonado’s leadership.

“Chef is approachable and accessible,” says Schoem. “His food is incredible. He is interested in upholding the history and traditions of the resort while fully understanding the membership and guest dynamic. He makes each one of us better and holds us to the same standards he holds for himself.”

BEACH CLUB MAKEOVER Located directly on the Gulf of Mexico, The Gasparilla Inn’s private Beach Club is reserved for members and guests of the hotel, 12

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serving them on a private beach and focusing on lunches and beverages.

James Music, Beach Club Chef, oversees this part of Gasparilla’s operation, which is in the midst of a renovation that will open up the front of the house and expand the kitchen while modernizing the dining room and creating an updated experience for members.

New equipment, including a charbroiler and a six-burner range and stove, will be added to the kitchen, while the front of the house will benefit from a fresh coat of paint, new furniture and a more open and COVID-friendly layout.

The menu will also change to meet new member demands.

“Last season we took our first stab at simplifying the menu, while still offering the type of food members have come to expect from Gasparilla,” says Music. “We are primarily a lunch option for members as they dine by the pool, so they aren’t looking for food they have to eat with a fork and knife. They want good quality [food that’s] simple, healthy and flavorful.”

The most popular dishes at The Beach Club include the shrimp tacos—made with ancho chile, marinated shrimp on a flour tortilla topped with a citrus and cilantro slaw, guacamole, salsa and pico —as well as the house-made crab cake.

New this year—and thanks in large part to COVID—will be a made-to-order salad concept where members can tick off what ingredients and components they want from a list of fifty or so choices.

The salads will then be composed in the back of the house before being served.

“Being organized is critical at The Beach Club,” says Music. “In season, we’ll see 500 covers at lunch in a three-hour window. That’s a lot of people to move through an operation, so we have to be prepped and make sure that everyone on the team knows the expectation and to hustle.”

THE OUTLIER OUTLETS Gasparilla’s F&B operation has a lot of moving parts. There are six dining outlets on the island, including The Inn’s Dining Room, BZ’s, the Gazebo, the Beach Club, The Inn Bakery and an employee café. The resort also offers room service to overnight guests. www.clubandresortchef.com

THE GASPARILLA INN & CLUB at a glance In addition, there are two other restaurants that are affiliated with the resort, but somewhat removed. The first is The Outlet Restaurant, located at Gasparilla’s sister hotel, and the second is The Pink Elephant, located in the Boca Grande Bayou. Both restaurants are open to Inn guests and island residents alike, and both have dedicated Executive Chefs and menus.

Maldonado’s team supports both restaurants to some degree with both culinary and labor assistance.

For example, Pastry Chef Kasandra Pimentel prepares the resort’s signature key lime pie in her dedicated pastry shop, and some of these pies are earmarked for The Pink Elephant, because the pie is a signature dish for the resort and consistency across the island is critical.

Schoem also works closely with these operations to cover service and staffing.

“A big thing for us is making sure that no matter what position it is—dishwasher, host or taking reservations—every person has a direct impact on the guest experience property-wide,” he says. “It falls on each one of us to make that experience positive.

“Chef shares my belief that no person is ever to be disrespected and by keeping the lines of communication open, we are able to create a lot of synergies between the different parts of the operation,” Schoem adds.

Schoem has spent his tenure with Gasparilla focused on creating a personalized experience for members and guests. “We want to make sure they leave happy and satisfied,” he says. “We have a lot of repeat guests in addition to our members, so if we can personalize that experience for them in big or small ways, we’re creating a lot of loyalty.”

Schoem and his FOH team are the eyes and ears of the operation for the back of the house, so they are as transparent as possible. Feedback is of the utmost importance and has become the foundation for Schoem’s relationship with Maldonado.

“In order to learn and grow, we need to know what our members and guests think, want, feel and need,” says Shoem. “The team is highly collaborative, and we’re always talking about how to do better and improve.”

KEY LIME PIE Pimentel inherited the aforementioned key lime pie from the legendary Peter Timmins, CMC, who served as Executive Chef of Gasparilla from 2006-2012. It features a graham cracker crust, key lime custard, fresh key limes, fresh juice and sweetened condensed milk. It’s paired with a toasted meringue.

“There are desserts and pastries that are signature and perfect as they are—like the key lime pie and crème brulee—and then there are others that constantly change,” says Pimentel, who did her culinary externship at Gasparilla, then returned post-graduawww.clubandresortchef.com

Location: Boca Grande, Fla. Annual F&B Revenue: $6.5 million A la carte/banquet mix: 65% a la carte-35% banquets Average Covers: • Breakfast 30-40 • Lunch 25-30 • Dinners 100-150 Food Cost: 32% Average Annual Golf Rounds: 14,000+ Foodservice Spaces: 6 No. of Kitchen Employees: 50 No. of FOH employees: 50 No. of Kitchens: 5 Banquet Capacity: 250+

tion and worked her way up the ranks.

The “perfect as they are” list also includes Pimentel’s yeast-raised donuts. “They’re big and traditionally glazed and amazing,” she says. They can be purchased at The Inn Bakery alongside breakfast pastries, desserts, brownies, bars and cupcakes. The Bakery also serves sandwiches, salads, smoothies and yogurt bowls.

“We just started to do popsicles there, too,” says Pimentel.

The “constantly changing” list includes a long menu of seasonal sweets and baked goods, including ice creams and sorbets.

“One of the most important things about our pastry program—and the culinary program, too—is that we don’t skimp on ingredients,” says Pimentel. “We focus on quality and use only the best we can source.”

Maldonado concurs. “My philosophy is to keep it simple,” he says. “We’re focused on local cuisine [and] fresh, elegant food. Simple flavors focused on main ingredients. We want that to be the center of attention.

“We would like to present food, but also give soul to the food, and give it flavor that members and guests are looking for when they come to Gasparilla,” he adds. C+RC November 2020 l Club + Resort Chef l 13

FOOD + BEVERAGE

Making Waves with Wagyu These three club chefs are offering deliciously prepared wagyu that will never disappoint the discerning beef connoisseurs within their membership bases.

By Joanna DeChellis, Editor

WAGYU BEEF IS A real luxury. It is deliciously marbled, and tender yet flavorful.

And because clubs can tolerate a higher food cost, club chefs are uniquely positioned to feature Japanese, Australian and American wagyu on their menus in fine dining and beyond.

At Forest Lake Club in Columbia, S.C., Executive Chef Robert Meitzer has featured a number of different types and cuts of wagyu over the years, including what he calls the most expensive Caesar salad he’s ever made, which was topped with a 10-oz. A-5 ribeye.

“The flank has become one of my favorite cuts because of the texture and flavor,” says Meitzer. “We do a light marinade of fresh rosemary, crushed garlic and a touch of soy, Worcestershire and olive oil. We marinate it for five hours, grill it at medium-high heat to mid-rare, then let it sit for six minutes before slicing and serving.”

Mid-rare is ideal, Meltzer adds, because the center of the flank gets warm enough to melt the fat and achieve that coveted buttery flavor.

“In Japan, Kobe is traditionally served off a hot rock in very thin slices with a touch of salt,” he notes, adding that he once used that service style to showcase Kobe during a member dinner at his previous club.

Forest Lake CC also offers a wagyu brisket that requires a much different approach than the flank. Meitzer’s most recent brisket was covered in a coffee-and-ancho chile rub, then smoked for two hours, and was finally finished in the oven for six hours at 225° F. “The result was a delicate, juicy brisket that was kind of like a Texas brisket with a richer flavor,” says Meitzer.

On occasion, Meitzer will feature 8-oz. waygu on Forest Lake’s a la carte fine-dining menu. Each time he does, he is careful to pair sides that balance the richness of the beef.

“I tend to feature a composed salad, a simple roasted potato or an Asian-influenced rice,” he says.

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FOOD + BEVERAGE

THE CHAMPAGNE OF

BEEF

FOR MEAT-LOVING MEMBERS, Kobe and wagyu beef are considered the epitome of fine dining. But what is the difference between kobe and wagyu, where do they come from, and what makes Japanese Kobe different from Australian Wagyu or American Wagyu?

Japanese: Kobe beef comes from the Tajima-gyu breed of cattle found in Japan’s Hyōgo Prefecture, of which Kobe is the capital and the meat’s namesake. In the 2nd century, the breed grew isolated from other breeds in Japan’s mountainous landscape.

That isolation, paired with distinctive feeding techniques, are said to have led to the unique differences in taste and texture.

Kobe beef—known as A4 or A5 Wagyu—is renowned for its flavor, tenderness and high amount of intramuscular fat, which gives the meat a marbled appearance.

The word “wagyu” means Japanese cow and is a holistic term that refers to any meat from Japanese cattle. Wagyu cattle are classified into four breeds: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Poll, and Japanese Shorthorn. Tajima-gyu cows belong to the Japanese Black breed and are the only breed that fulfill strict lineage and quality criteria to be termed ‘Kobe beef.’

This means that all Kobe beef is wagyu beef, but only a very small percentage of wagyu beef is Kobe beef.

Australian: Australian-raised Wagyu beef is a crossbreed of Japanese Wagyu cattle with Australian Holstein cattle. The meat has a large amount of intramuscular fat, though not to the same extent as Japanese Wagyu’s marbling. Australian-raised Wagyu beef has an earthy-caramel sweetness and a silky texture rich in good fats, Omega-3s and oleic acid.

American: American-raised Wagyu beef is the result of crossbreeding Japanese Wagyu cattle with Angus cattle. The resulting meat features a blend of the famous Wagyu buttery marbling and a robust beefy flavor.

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American Prime ribeye (left), American wagyu ribeye (center) and Japanese wagyu ribeye (right) are all offered at Bourbon Steak restaurant inside Florida’s JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa.

WORTH THE PRICE At the Bourbon Steak restaurant inside Florida’s JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa, Gordon Maybury, Director of Culinary, features Japanese A5 Wagyu beef, American Wagyu and Prime cuts on his menu.

For perspective, the 8-oz. Japanese A5 striploin is $195. The 8-oz.

American Wagyu Ribeye Filet is $95. And the 8-oz. Prime Angus Beef filet mignon is $52.

“Wagyu is an expensive commodity in a lot of cases,” says Maybury, who has been with the resort for more than five years. “It has a high level of fat and therefore a lot of umami.”

Preparation of the wagyu cuts at Turnberry are intentionally simple.

Steaks are cooked on a wood-burning grill to medium rare at most.

“We like to get that black-and-blue char on the outside with an almost paté-like texture on the inside,” says Maybury, noting that Turnberry’s restaurant chef or sous chef oversees the butchery, trimming, grilling and finishing of each steak. “For the Japanese wagyu, we bring in a whole striploin, so we can use any trimmings in a tartare or as an amuse.”

Todd Kelly, Director of Food & Beverage and Executive Chef of Cherokee Town & Country Club, Atlanta, Ga., uses his regular e-blasts to members to educate them about prized ingredients like wagyu. As a result of this member education, he says, when the club hosted a wagyu beefthemed wine dinner, it sold out almost immediately.

As a result of the wine dinner’s success, Kelly and his crew added wagyu to the menu in three different ways, including: • Wagyu Burger Stuffed with Red Wine Braised Wagyu Short Ribs served with Comte Cheese, Roasted Tomatoes, Truffle Aioli and Frisse-Shaved Truffle Salad • Wagyu Tenderloin Carpaccio with Pickled Chanterelle Mushrooms and Shallots, Beef Tongue, Buttermilk Gel and Curry Oil • Sous Vide American Wagyu Strip Loin with Butter Poached Porcini Mushrooms, Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Polenta Romanesco and Bourbon Barrel-Aged Soy “I like offering our members the caliber of wagyu in both fine and casual dining,” says Kelly. “The burger is inspired by the Juicy Lucy and belongs in a casual environment. The flavor is out of this world, and we expect to sell hundreds of them.

“Then, in fine dining, we’ll offer two simple courses,” he continues.

“One will be a take on a carpaccio with pickled summer vegetables, and the other will be an entrée that includes a seared piece of A5 with some super-simple sides that let the beef shine.” C+RC www.clubandresortchef.com

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PASTRY

KNEADING the

DOUGH

Bread programs may not be a cash cow, but they do sustain member expectations.

By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor

IT’S THAT UNMISTAKABLE SCENT that exudes comfort, warmth and all things homey. Freshly baked bread hints at the makings of a great meal and yet for some clubs, revamped programming is a sign of an evolving kitchen—one that is keeping cost front and center, but that doesn’t compromise quality.

SAFE BAKING At Fiddler’s Elbow in Bedminster, N.J., the bread program marries member preferences and chef selections. “We make all of the pizza dough in-house

At Fiddlers Elbow, Executive Pastry Chef John Sauchelli focuses on flatbreads, crackers, biscuits, scones, donuts, croissants and more.

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for the entire property,” says Executive Pastry Chef John Sauchelli, who has been at the club for the past year and a half. The kitchen also concentrates its pastry production on flatbreads, crackers, biscuits, scones, donuts, croissantstyle items like Kouign-Amann, and individual breads and rolls for sandwiches.

For its supplemental baked goods, the kitchen opts to outsource bulk items like bagels, loaf breads and hamburger rolls from a local supplier. “High quality and freshness are paramount,” says Sauchelli when considering vendor partners. On an average day, Fiddler’s Elbow’s kitchen turns out between 200 and 330 covers for its casual Grill Room, and an additional 60 to 70 covers for dinner at the Elbow Room, making the emphasis on house-made bread essential for member satisfaction.

While the club’s bread program is robust, it is not a profit-maker for the overall F&B business. “It’s giving our members more of a ‘wow’ factor with some key items that pop, in addition to what we outsource,” explains Sauchelli.

Of note are monthly wine dinners that feature a particular region and/or specific winemaker.

“For events like these, we like to add something more special for our members—perhaps a house-made bread item that could be a flatbread or cracker for one of the courses, a bun for a sand-

wich special, or a buttery soft dinner roll as a side item,” Sauchelli says.

When selecting outside vendors, particularly for special events held during the pandemic, Sauchelli stresses the importance of maintaining a safe kitchen. “For many of the items being brought in for a [serving] station or buffet scenario, our vendor has the ability to prepackage them, which makes our members feel safer and keeps handling to a minimum,” he notes.

Until restrictions have been lifted and the kitchen can resume full operations, Fiddler’s Elbow’s bread program will have to maintain its key offerings without deviating too far from the norm.

The club currently offers individual portions of bread delivered on a tray by the waitstaff, minimizing the risk of contact and unnecessary waste. “In the future, we will look to implement plans to create more regular offerings that we can experiment with now and bring to the table at a later time,” says Sauchelli.

RISING TO THE OCCASION For the pastry staff at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Country Club, while 2020 has been challenging, it’s also created an opportunity to broaden the bread program and fine-tune the balance between in-house and outsourced production.

“COVID-19 has pushed us to look www.clubandresortchef.com

Kalamazoo CC’s Executive Pastry Chef, Casey Konkol, specializes in naan, ciabatta, baguettes, hoagies, Bavarian pretzels, Italian loaves, oil and herb pillow rolls, bread bowls, biscuits, bagels, grissinis and breadsticks.

outward, due to the [state’s] executive orders and the shutdown of many local [bakeries and] shops,” says Executive Pastry Chef Casey Konkol. “Being able to provide fresh bread to our members, with no additives or preservatives, is just one of the small changes that have been impactful to our operation.”

Harnessing twelve years of experience in the casino industry, during which she was responsible for the bulk production of scratch breads, Konkol has been helping to build Kalamazoo CC’s bread program since she came to the club last year. After being schooled in baking loaf and artisan breads, English muffins, bagels, breakfast pastries and doughnuts, the chef carved out a niche roster of bread offerings that speak to a diverse range of tastes.

Grilled naan, ciabatta, baguettes, hoagies and Bavarian pretzels have found a home alongside Italian loaves, oil and herb pillow rolls, bread bowls, biscuits, bagels, grissinis and breadsticks—all made in-house.

Outside of Konkol’s kitchen, she sources three variations of sliced loaf breads, hot dog rolls and hamburger buns from a local bakery. In addition, gluten-free buns and assorted dinner rolls for banquet events are supplied by a big-box vendor. “Often the items we feature on special events in our dining room find their way onto the menu,” she explains.

Although Kalamazoo CC’s bread prowww.clubandresortchef.com

gram is relatively modest, the kitchen is focused on member engagement over dollars. “Profit was not a concern over the experience we want to create,” admits Konkol. “In the private-club industry we are in the dues business, and membership satisfaction is our focus.” Providing quality products and ensuring that they are handled in a safe environment are also key reasons for maintaining a solid bread program for the membership, she notes.

Rather than viewing the pandemic as a detriment to production, Konkol has seen it as a chance to bolster her club’s existing bread program. Kalamazoo CC is in the beginning stages of developing a brand-new bakery, which will plant the seeds for an intern program with a local college, full retail bread service, and banquet-bread production.

“We have definitely realized the benefits of being able to provide more items in-house and through this, we have seen where a full bread program would be very beneficial for our membership,” Konkol notes.

local, reputable small bakeries,” she says.

While Kings Creek’s bread program is not a money maker, Ellis feels that it serves as a member benefit that allows her to appeal to different tastes and dietary needs. “Member input is important to me, and they appreciate the fresh variety,” she explains. “We have a select few who request gluten-free and for them, we offer a gluten-free rosemary focaccia made in-house.” For the colder weather, she plans to add sweet potato rolls and sage rolls to the menu.

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY At Kings Creek Country Club in Rehoboth Beach, Del., bread-making is a carefully balanced operation that marries seasonal offerings with standard selections. Longtime Pastry Chef Jaime Ellis, who has worked at the club for her entire 11-year career, bakes up cranberry walnut rolls and potato rolls (both member favorites), alongside fall-inspired pumpkin dinner rolls and honey wheat rolls. Italian-influenced breads like garlic parmesan, rosemary and olive rolls round out the house selections.

When outsourcing the kitchen’s inventory of sub rolls and baguette breads, Ellis keeps brand names and an operation’s size in mind. “We choose

At Kings Creek CC, Pastry Chef Jaime Ellis marries seasonal offerings with standard selections.

Baking during the COVID pandemic has prompted Ellis to rethink her bread offerings, and she has adjusted baking processes accordingly. After putting a temporary hold on bread baskets, the club is offering a safer alternative: individual rolls with individual ramekins of whipped butter. “The rolls store and keep better than sliced breads and additionally, there are not baskets coming back with leftover bread,” she notes. C+RC November 2020

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FOOD + BEVERAGE

WITH EARLY TEE TIMES and bustling fitness centers, having a place for members to grab a cup of coffee or a flavored latte was a sure bet for Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and River Run Country Club (Davidson, N.C.).

Both Desert Mountain’s Cafe Verde and River Run’s Slice Cafe & Marketplace feature comprehensive and member-focused coffee and tea programs, including specialty and seasonal beverages.

“We offer rotating medium Desert Mountain and River Run and dark roasts, plus decaf, coldCC offer thoughtful and wellbrew, and espresso,” says Bertrand crafted coffee and tea programs Bouquin, Desert Mountain’s Culinary focused on member preferences.

Director. “We have all the flavored syrBy Megan Freitas, Contributing Editor ups, too—including pumpkin spice.”

Desert Mountain looks to its importer, roaster and distributor to fill the ample coffee needs of its program, which services seven a la carte restaurants as well as the club’s catering operation. The club also offers almond and soy plant-based milk alternatives, which are called for, Bouquin estimates, as much as fifty percent of the time.

Slice Café at River Run keeps it a bit simpler, with one medium roast, decaf, and espresso pods. The club also offers a full assortment of syrups, caffeinated and herbal teas, and non-dairy milk alternatives.

“We recently had to change from our longtime coffee purveyor because they switched to a distributor we don’t work with,” says Derek Nolin, Director of Food and Beverage. “When we began the process of finding a new purveyor, we sat down with our rep to taste different offerings to find the best fit for our needs.”

Sustainability and fair-trade practices are important factors to consider when picking a coffee partner, both Nolin and Bouquin note.

At Desert Mountain, Bouquin utilizes a staff largely cross-trained throughout the club’s various restaurants, including Cafe Verde, which offers healthy breakfast options, salads, and an all-day, light-fare menu in addition to beverages.

Bertrand Bouquin, Culinary Director, The nonstop traffic at Slice Café from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Desert Mountain requires a dedicated team. During COVID-19 closures, Nolin kept the Slice team working by launching a grocery delivery program that actually led to the recent expansion of the cafe’s offerings and a rebranding to include “Marketplace” in its name.

“It’s an evolution that speaks to our members’ current needs,” says Nolin. “Slice now provides them with an opportunity for quick-grab items such as eggs, milk, juices, and even flowers sourced from a local florist, in addition to all of the options we offered before.”

Derek Nolin, Coffee cocktails can also be found at Slice and in River Director of F&B, Run’s main dining room, as well as in Desert Mountain’s Italian River Run CC restaurant, Constantino’s. C+RC 20

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www.clubandresortchef.com

The Club + Resort Chef Association is the leading professional community for the culinary teams at private country clubs, city clubs, yacht clubs, athletic clubs and high-end golf properties and resorts.

CRCA supports its members’ unique needs through networking, continuing education, and professional development.

why join crca?

Peer-to-peer networking and continued education In-person events Podcasts Monthly Association blogs Online forums Subscriptions to Club + Resort Business and Club + Resort Chef as well as our weekly Club + Resort Chef eNewsletter Members-only award programs Mentorship opportunities Continuing education opportunities The Club + Resort Chef Association was launched to meet the unique needs of the club and resort food-and-beverage segment.

The association was formed to provide the chefs and others on their teams with even more opportunities to benefit, on a yearround basis, from the targeted content, educational resources and networking value that Club + Resort’s magazines, websites and events provides.

Find out more at association.clubandresortchef.com

BANQUET

Festive

and Safe

Two clubs are combining ingenuity with a sense of member responsibility to still provide a memorable holiday season that stays well within CDC guidelines.

By Ginny Bartolone, Contributing Editor

AS COVID RESTRICTIONS HOLD strong, the question of the upcoming holiday season hangs in the air: How can clubs safely uphold traditions?

For Rob Oosterhuis, CEO and General Manager of Sherwood Country Club (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), and Fabian Ludwig, Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Operation at BallenIsles Country Club (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), the holiday season will still go forward joyfully, thanks to a sharp focus on intricate planning and making clever adjustments.

After months of re-imagining their hosting styles, these two clubs have set the scene for a welcoming and warm few months ahead.

A QUICK SHIFT For Oosterhuis, this challenging year has provided an opportunity to approach dining with fresh eyes.

“Forget about everything you’ve done in the past—I don’t know that I’ll ever manage the same,” says Oosterhuis. “In the past, we asked, ‘What do we do well and how can we do it better?’ But at the start of COVID, it was, ‘What can we do?’”

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Executive Chef Michael Beck, Sherwood built its dining plan from the ground up, focusing initially on a complex to-go menu before completely overhauling the club’s outdoor and indoor dining setups.

Within a few months, the team transitioned all dining from two clubhouses into one. New menus, new seating areas and new plans for engaging members emerged.

Each week, Oosterhuis and his team watch the countyspecific COVID requirements in California. Spikes in cases can change restrictions quickly, so backup plans—and backups to the backup—are needed.

“We’re trying to make plans A, B, and C, and have plan D in the back of our minds,” says Oosterhuis.

Contingency plans are also key to every decision that is being made as the club plans important nights around the holidays. For Thanksgiving, Sherwood will again be ready to pivot last-minute should county regulations change, but the current plan already has built-in flexibility. “Essentially there will be three plans—a dine-in option, a to-go family pack, or a hybrid of those two,” says Oosterhuis.

The dine-in option will feature a family-style meal. Families will reserve their tables, allowing them to enjoy a meal within www.clubandresortchef.com www.clubandresortchef.com

Sherwood CC will again be ready to pivot last-minute should county regulations change, but the current plan for holiday events already has built-in flexibility.

their own “bubble,” but as part of a large dining setting filled with other familiar faces.

Sherwood also has a robust to-go menu, which can add its own sense of ease. “The to-go option takes away a bit of the decision-making [when cooking for the holidays],” says Oosterhuis.

The club offers both whole and sliced turkey as to-go options, as well as traditional sides.

PRACTICE RUN Planning this year’s Halloween event, which in a normal year attracts 500 to 700 people, served as a model as Sherwood CC planned the upcoming holiday season. The smaller guest list and extensive outdoor dining arrangement allowed a safely distanced seated dinner, with activities for children at each table.

During dinner, staffed food stations welcomed up one table at a time. In this model, there is no threat of long lines, bunching up, or mingling. The kids—who have spent a fun night completing activities at their tables—were able to trickor-treat at designated stations on their way out.

Come December, families will have their pick of several small, thoughtfully designed events in place of Sherwood’s traditionally large “Winter Wonderland” party. Holding more events, however, requires greater variety, Oosterhuis notes.

“We will focus on having a variety of menus so the party feels different each time,” he says. “This may mean using different rooms, different entrances, lighting concepts or entertainment.”

The club may also offer distanced events with Santa, gingerbread house decorating with staggered time slots, and specialized wine or champagne dinners for members.

Indoor gatherings will remain intimate and far within CDC guidelines, with reserved tables and staggered arrivals, so everyone can experience a range of holiday events without ever having to be in a crowded room.

PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING Even with six unique dining options and 2,600 members, BallenIsles CC rapidly adapted this year to create safe and dependable space for members and guests.

But in a normal year, the number of people celebrating Thanksgiving or the holidays on site can nearly double.

“During the holidays, it can bulk up to 4,500 people from the 2,600 members,” says Ludwig.

The club plans to manage this influx of guests by closely tracking who is staying on premise. And Ludwig and his team www.clubandresortchef.com

remain confident that they can plan to safely handle the added volume.

With the weather constantly changing in Southern Florida, the range of BallenIsles’ restaurants will allow for an array of safe indoor and outdoor setups, with plenty of room to expand seating to serve members safely.

SERVING ALL PREFERENCES “Due to social distancing, we have to come up with different plans for Thanksgiving,” Ludwig notes. “Some people like to have the family-style dinner, and some people just want to have an individual turkey dinner.”

Groups that wish to sit together will be able to enjoy the passed family-style meal, while members looking for individual prix fixe plates will enjoy those in the bistro location.

BallenIsles will also offer an extensive holiday to-go service, which will build off a system built during the early days of COVID and still is widely popular.

“We anticipate having about 200 to-go orders for Thanksgiving. And that could be 200, 20-pound turkeys,” Ludwig notes. “We require reservations for to-go orders a week beforehand, and members will have a specific timeframe for picking up their order.”

With decades of international experience, Chef Ludwig is accustomed to hosting large and challenging events. But shifting to a COVID-ready holiday season, he says, will require an eye for kitchen management and a keen awareness of the membership’s varying needs. C+RC November 2020 l Club + Resort Chef l 23

MANAGEMENT

Serving Staff

Through a Pandemic

Club chefs are searching for the best ways to safely provide employee meals.

By Lauren Sasala, Editorial Intern

WHEN IT COMES to serving staff meals, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced club and resort chefs to get creative in order to keep their staffs well-fed.

“Whether it’s our employees eating in the cafeteria or our members in the dining room, we don’t want anyone to not have a great meal,” says Executive Chef Tim Recher, CEC, AAC, CWX of Quail West Golf and Country Club in Naples, Fla. In the initial months of shutdowns, Executive Chef James Patterson of Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., didn’t have very many staff members to feed.

So he handled staff meals on a made-to-order basis.

Now that clubs are up and running again, bartenders, servers, housekeepers and other staff members are working consistently, and the number of meals being provided to them is increasing.

As chefs seek better ways to offer staff meals to larger groups, finding a solution to follow proper social distancing while doing so has involved a lot of brainstorming, and is still a changing process. “We’re all in the same boat here,” says Recher.

At Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club in Boca Raton, Fla., the staff used to have access to a hot and cold buffet inside the staff lounge, and Executive Chef Dominick Laudia offered five to six hot meal options, a salad bar and dessert for staff members to enjoy.

Once COVID began, however, Boca Grove stopped using a self-service buffet and transitioned to individually packaged meals for staff to eat in their department areas.

That’s proving to be one of the two most common tactics club chefs are now employing, along with still providing a buffet with a dedicated server.

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At Sedgefield CC, Patterson put his Executive Sous Chef in charge of staff meals, a task that also involves portioning everything and wrapping and keeping every meal separate from others.

PROS AND CONS No matter how chefs now choose to prepare staff meals, there are positive and negative considerations. The amount of food waste is decreasing because everything is being individually portioned. The individual meals also help to make it easier to accommodate dietary restrictions and accommodate staff preferences.

But while the individually prepared meals do provide a safe, socially distanced way to serve meals, they come at a cost. At Boca Grove, Laudia says, the club’s spending for packaging is increasing. This can also lead to additional paper waste.

Another challenge is the time it takes to prepare the meals.

Rather than preparing a buffet line, packaging meals individually is much more labor-intensive.

Laudia and Patterson plan to continue providing staff meals by packaging everything individually, but Recher is looking for a better way to meet his staff’s needs. “Doing individually boxed meals really isn’t efficient and feasible,” he says. So he is considering a switch to a served buffet process, although that presents the problem of finding enough seating for everyone to eat in their own department areas while being properly social distanced.

One option for addressing that is to utilize banquet spaces that aren’t being used currently, as well as other dining rooms, to help spread out staff during their meal times.

“It’s still very fluid and everybody is trying to figure it out,” says Recher. “There is not a perfect answer right now, unfortunately.” C+RC www.clubandresortchef.com

LISTEN TO INSIGHTFUL INTERVIEWS With the Club World’s Most Interesting

Managers and Chefs

Club + Resort Talks includes the following podcasts:

Sedgefield CC’s James Patterson on the Role of Relationships in Supply Chain Management

Charlotte CC’s Pastry Chef James Satterwhite Pivots Program to Better Serve Members

How Joseph Longo is Cultivating a New Kitchen Culture at Frenchman’s Reserve

Pelican GC’s Fred Ramsey Shares How He is Overcoming Adversity

Listen to Club + Resort Talks podcasts at CLUBANDRESORTCHEF.COM/CATEGORY/PODCASTS or on your favorite podcast app

MANAGEMENT

The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown

Clubs are setting their F&B budget parameters for 2021 with cautious optimism and care.

By Tad Wilkes, Contributing Editor

CHEFS AND FOOD-AND-BEVERAGE managers have surprised even themselves at times this year with their adaptability and determination, as they have had to make myriad changes while navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic, But there’s still no denying that 2020 has brought a crash in F&B revenues, primarily through significant loss of banquet business.

However, it’s not all total gloom. Clubs have positioned themselves this year as a much-needed retreat for people whose other outside-world options have largely withered away.

And the way in which food-and-beverage programs have been creatively revamped deserves much of the credit for doing so successfully, while still assuring proper safety for members.

As it becomes increasingly clear that the COVID-scape is likely to linger well into 2021, clubs are factoring how they have still proved to be a big hit—and where they’re still likely to miss—as they set financial objectives and budgeting goals for the coming year.

CREATING COMFORT At least half of the members of The Country Club of Pittsfield (Mass.) have dual residency, says Chief Executive Of26

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ficer Melissa Aitken, usually spending the warm months from June until October in Pittsfield before going elsewhere for the winter. But with the onset of the pandemic, many members—most of whom are over 65 and in the “at-risk” category— came back to Massachusetts sooner, and made plans to stay Melissa Aitken, CEO, there longer. And while there, The Country Club they have been spending more of Pittsfield of their time at the club.

“Usually members come to the Berkshires to immerse themselves in the cultural offerings the area provides,” says Aitken. “Most of the time, their social calendar is very full.

“This year, not so much,” she adds. “Members have had nothing to do locally. Due to the efforts we put in to adhere to all of the safety regulations, they have felt very comfortable here.”

Still, with events reduced to a whisper, budgeting for 2021 requires conservative number-crunching like no year before, especially as outside options begin to open up more. The www.clubandresortchef.com

new year likely won’t be totally back to “normal,” but it still may look different than 2020.

In early fall, Aitken and the team at Pittsfield began looking at the club’s 2021 budget as a whole. For F&B, Aitken predicts that even if restrictions lift, some members won’t feel comfortable dining, and large events will likely be off the table.

Noting that Pittsfield doesn’t normally budget for a lot of events from January to April, Aitken says that “Our fingers are crossed that by May, restrictions will be lifted at least a little, and we can return somewhat to business as usual—still adhering to safety guidelines.

“Most of our events will probably have headcounts in the 50 to 100 range by May or June,” she adds. “I don’t even think hosts of events will want to have 200 people anymore.

I anticipate at least a 25% decrease in catering, and honestly I think that’s being a little hopeful.”

As a result, Aitken advises clubs to take a simple “bottomup” approach to budgeting through which expenses are covered first, and then fewer events with lower capacities, which will require fewer staffers, are forecast.

“It’s an easier way to determine expenses and what you need to cover them,” she explains. “Then you’re not as scared later [as opposed to] if you just budgeted like you did for 2019 and hoped for the best. I don’t think anyone is doing that at this point. Our F&B is changed for the foreseeable future. It’s time to adapt.”

The coming year’s budget will also account for additional expenses to make Pittsfield’s indoor space even more comfortable for members who are still cautious. For example, the club recently purchased additional air purifiers and more table dividers, to try to entice people to spend time indoors in the winter months, as outdoor dining, even with heaters in place, comes to an end.

WHAT ‘WINS’ NOW LOOK LIKE Like other properties, Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio has found bright spots in the revenue it’s been able to generate during the pandemic through creative offerings in to-go service, including family meals.

“I joke that we make more money selling a to-go Thanksgiving package for $400 than by having 800 people here for a buffet, because we use less labor,” says Chief Executive Officer Dylan Petrick. “It’s difficult to characterize these things as ‘wins’ in food and beverage, but they are now.”

For its third fiscal quarter (October through December), Kenwood budgeted for 50% of its originally projected revenue—about 60% less than the same period in 2019. “That’s a net loss of well over $300,000 over three months,” Petrick www.clubandresortchef.com

reports.

In a “regular” year, Kenwood’s food-and-beverage operation does not break even, serving as an amenity subsidized by other key revenue sources, such as membership and golf. That need for a subsidy will be even greater in 2020, and while the club has been able to get Dylan Petrick, CEO through this year, continuing Kenwood Country Club that pattern won’t be sustainable over the long haul, Petrick says.

Still, Petrick strongly believes that cutting back on experiences is bad business for clubs as they strategize survival tactics.

“Clubs that decrease their food-and-beverage subsidy are going to start seeing members leave,” he warns. “Members are paying for experiences. If I cut that service back but charge the same amount in dues, why are you going to stay?

“We have to bite the bullet a little more in food and beverage,” he adds. “That doesn’t mean we won’t get more aggressive in cost-cutting and pricing. But if I cut about $2,000 in subsidies, and then I lose my [membership] waitlist, that’s foolish.”

As a result, Petrick and his staff are focused on finding ways to tighten up through a rigid cost analysis, without sacrificing experience.

“Clubs in the past set their liquor, beer, and wine prices, but how often do they go back and look at costs and consider where adjustments can be made?” he asks. “Are you doing proper menu mixes? Can you cut your menu size down a little bit? We’re doing those deeper-level F&B analyses to save a couple of percentage points.”

As Kenwood CC prepares for 2021, Petrick says he is cautiously optimistic, although he is expecting finances to “bleed” again until at least June or July.

“We may see COVID drop off if a vaccine comes,” he says. “But the really large holiday parties of 300 to 500 people are going away for at least a couple years. If your company is working remotely to be safe, why are you going to hold a 400-person holiday party and risk exposure?”

With question marks around how politics and science will unfold, Petrick is playing it safe by budgeting for about half of the events Kenwood did in 2019. The good news is that golf outings are returning, and to full capacity, as state restrictions loosen. C+RC November 2020

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MANAGEMENT

Managing Food Safety D Adam Dietrich, a ServSafe Certified Instructor and Food Safety Expert, offers guidance for club and resort chefs.

By Joanna DeChellis, Editor

COVID-19 HAS BROUGHT INTO sharp focus the importance of safe food-handling practices and forced club and resort chefs to scrutinize their food-safety strategies and improve their communication with members.

Adam Dietrich is a ServSafe Certified Instructor and foodsafety expert who has worked closely with Myers Park Country Club (Charlotte, N.C.), among others, to further that club’s already impressive food-safety strategy.

In this podcast interview—which can be found in its entirety at www.clubandresortchef.com/podcasts—Dietrich defines the difference between “sanitize” and “disinfect,” while also offering suggestions on chemical usage and operational strategy.

Club + Resort Chef: How have things shifted in regard to food safety over the past six months?

Adam Dietrich: There is a heightened understanding of sanitation now. The general public understands that not only do we have to wash our hands really well, but that sanitation and sanitizing is important, too.

Clubs and restaurants were well-poised to actually work through a lot of these challenges because these are things that we’ve already been doing. Chefs, cooks and employees are already washing hands well and often, as well as sanitizing the kitchen and the operations.

C+RC: You did ServSafe training with Myers Park Country Club recently. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

AD: Private clubs in North Carolina are not required to be health-inspected. But Myers Park’s Director of Culinary Operations, Scott Craig, CEC, CCA, WCMC, knew the importance of food safety and he wanted to bring that level of expertise into his kitchen and to his members. So we did a ServSafe Manager Certification training session with 22 members from his culinary staff.

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C+RC: What are some of the most common questions you get during these training sessions?

AD: Everyone always wants to know the difference between disinfecting and sanitizing.

Sanitizing reduces harmful pathogens through the use of chemicals such as quaternary ammonium or chlorine. With disinfecting, we eliminate viruses and bacteria. With disinfecting, we’re eliminating the good pathogens and the bad ones.

Disinfecting is something I believe in for certain places, but I think we mostly just need to sanitize.

C+RC: How does a club source a cleaning product they know will achieve one of those two ends?

AD: First, you have to decide what your budget is for chemicals. We all know that chemicals get very expensive, and www.clubandresortchef.com www.clubandresortchef.com

y During COVID-19 Food Safety Expert Adam Dietrich (left) is seeing a cultural shift in kitchens where it’s no longer a bad thing to call out sick if you aren’t well.

there are certain chemicals that are less expensive than others. Typically, you want to use the least amount of chemicals and do the best job. We’re really using either chlorine or quaternary ammonium.

For the most part, the chemical companies are going to be able to best steer the club chef in the right direction for chemical usage. Some can be ordered through foodservice purveyors, too. There are also some chemical companies that will come out to the club and actually manage their systems for them. www.clubandresortchef.com

C+RC: Have any food-safety processes changed as a result of COVID? AD: A few things have. First, we’re wearing masks in our operations and that will last for a while, I think. I think we are also starting to see a change in management culture. Calling in sick to work is no longer a bad thing. We want our employees to call in sick, and we should thank them when they do.

Is it going to hurt when someone calls in sick? Sure. Are you going to have to jump on the line and work that shift? Perhaps. Are you going to work a double that you weren’t expecting to? Maybe. But I think we’ve all worked for companies and managers who didn’t care if you were sick or not. You needed to be there. Now I think we’re understanding that sick people can make other people sick, and that can really be a detriment to our businesses.

the operation’s success when it comes to food safety.

We also have to look at training.

Instead of only training when a cook first starts, take 20 minutes out of your week, every week, for ongoing training. The posters in the kitchen are a great idea.

But if you’re walking by those posters every single day, you’re not seeing them.

Continuous training will keep food safety top-of-mind for all. C+RC

C+RC: What do you wish every club’s chef knew about food safety?

AD: It starts at the top. Your cooks, your line cooks and your sous chefs all look to the executive chef for that leadership. If that chef is visiting the handwash sink every time his or her hands may become contaminated, then the employees are seeing that and it’s vesting the rest of the staff in November 2020 l Club + Resort Chef l 29

MANAGER to CHEF

Effective Leadership at Fort Wayne CC

GM/COO Zack Wygant elevated the club’s F&B program by empowering the club’s Executive Chef and hiring a strong new Food & Beverage Director.

By Joanna DeChellis, Editor

THE FOOD-AND-BEVERAGE OPERATION at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Country Club (FWCC) is comprised of interlocking sets of goals, roles, processes, values, communication strategies and assumptions. Changing it would be a difficult thing—especially for a new General Manager.

But when Zack Wygant accepted the position as the club’s new General Manager/COO in September 2019, he faced that challenge head on. He made a strategic new hire in Sam Bailey, Food & Beverage Director, and leveraged the talent already in place with Executive Chef Aaron Parkinson, CEC. Those moves, combined with some capital improvements, have paid off.

In the past year, Fort Wayne CC has nearly doubled its a la carte business despite a global pandemic.

C+RC: What brought you to FWCC? Zack Wygant: I actually grew up in the area. After spending nearly three years in Naples (Fla.) at Quail Creek Country Club, I was ready to come home. When the FWCC Board President called me about the position, I couldn’t pass it up.

C+RC: Can you tell us a little about FWCC? ZW: We’re in the middle of a revival and we’re attracting a lot of new, younger families. Membership is the highest it’s been in eight years. We just finished a capital project where we added a resort-style pool and pickleball. The food-and-beverage operation is the best it’s ever been, too.

C+RC: What do you mean?

ZW: In 2020 we’ve almost doubled our a la carte revenue. We went from $700,000 in a la carte sales in 2019 to $1.1 million in 2020.

C+RC: How did you do that?

ZW: The pool had an outstanding year and that has helped immensely. I also brought in a new Food & Beverage www.clubandresortchef.com

Director—Sam Bailey—who had previously been with Shaker Heights (Ohio) Country Club. [Bailey] was supposed to start in March, but with the craziness of quarantine, he ended up starting in May, the week after Mother’s Day. Simultaneously, I gave Executive Chef Aaron Parkinson, CEC, the freedom and support to be more creative with his culinary approach.

C+RC: Let’s unpack that. What was Bailey’s top priority as F&B Director?

ZW: The back and front of house were not on the same page, so his top task was to redefine the service culture. He began by implementing new service standards, and then did some new training with the team. He implemented a new operating system and cleaned up the POS system, so that ringing in tickets became streamlined and standardized. There is now synergy between the front- and back-of-house and there are clear standards for how servers should approach tables and ensure the best possible member experience.

C+RC: And what happened with Chef Parkinson?

ZW: In March, Chef and I changed the format and look of the menu. For a long time, the creativity of the kitchen was stymied. Now Chef has the freedom to do what he does best. He actually grew up in Canada and his father was a chef.

He lived in Japan for a while, too. He uses that diversity well in his cooking and in how he collaborates with his team.

C+RC: What’s the dynamic like between you and Chef?

ZW: We are both very focused on a mutual goal—to give our members the most exceptional experience we can. Chef is very reserved. He doesn’t have a big ego. For him, it’s all about the members and the team. He seeks feedback and he thrives on collaborative strategies. He’s also a very skilled culinarian, and I respect him deeply.

C+RC: You’ve made big progress in a short amount of time. How will you keep moving the needle?

ZW: We actually had a meeting yesterday about this very topic. The first wave of changes was obviously super-noticeable for membership, but now we have to refine the details and make the little tweaks that collectively add up to the big overall experience.

This means we will constantly evaluate the details. We will ask ‘How can we go above and beyond?’ in every interaction with members, as well as with each other.

C+RC: What is your management style?

ZW: I’m very hands-on and visible to the team. I’m also a sommelier, so I’m on the floor, helping members with their wine choices. The staff sees me as a person who supports them and directs them when needed.

C+RC: A la carte is booming at Fort Wayne, but how are banquets?

ZW: We’ve lost about $260k or so from budget on banquets, and any events we’ve done have been scaled down.

It’s hard to swallow because we have a beautiful banquet operation with a really nice outdoor space. We also had a record number of events book pre-COVID. But that’s not the world we live in anymore. So instead of bemoaning the loss, we are focused on making members and guests feel safe and on creating experiences, albeit smaller, that are still meaningful and fun.

C+RC: What does 2021 hold for you?

ZW: We’re cautiously optimistic. We have a lot of momentum behind us.

Our membership numbers are great.

We also hit 20,000 golf rounds for the first time in 20 years. And while there are still a lot of unknowns, we are prepared to sustain that momentum into whatever comes next. C+RC

November 2020

l Club + Resort Chef l 31

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TRI-C CLUB SUPPLY: DUFFY’S: SANI PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SOLUTIONS

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SWEET STREET: RETAIL READY MANIFESTO® PACKS

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Features:

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MINOR’S: CHICKEN BASE CLUBPROCURE Features:

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SLO BREWING CO.: CALI-SQUEEZE BEER Features:

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SLO Brewing Co.

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ClubProcure

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Southern Pride

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Tyson

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TysonFreshMeats.com/Foodservice

W. Black The Marbled Australian www.wblack.com.au www.clubandresortchef.com

November 2020

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CHEF’S THOUGHTS

Matthew Ratliff, WCMPC, CMB

Pastry Chef The Everglades Club Palm Beach, Fla. Before becoming Pastry Chef of the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Fla., Matthew Ratliff, WCMPC, CMB, worked with a number of master pastry chefs over the course of his career, including Gunther Heiland and Chris Northmore.

He has competed and ranked in national pastry competitions and achieved two master designations, including Worldchefs Certified Master Pastry Chef and Certified Master Baker.

1. My favorite kitchen hack is using a drill to zest a case of oranges.

2. My last meal would be sushi.

3. My favorite junk food is Cheddar Chex Mix. 4. You’ll never see a banquet menu at my club, because we customize everything for all of our parties.

5. The most ridiculous request I’ve ever had was when a member asked me to remove all fat, gluten, sugar and dairy out of a dessert.

6. My worst culinary creation was a shelf-stable product from an R&D job. It was a cupcake with shortening for the icing.

7. One of my most memorable meals was a can of beef stew after a two-week mountain hiking trip. (We ate a lot of powdered food during the trip, so the stew was a significant step up.)

8. The most important thing in my kitchen is the production list. It rules all.

9. My go-to drinks are water and coffee.

10. During the quarantine, I’ve made sure to have these five foods with me: homemade bread, fresh vegetables, caramel corn, avocados, and chicken.

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I’d like to see more club chefs find a better “ balance between work and home life. ” 11. If I could change one thing about my club it would be the location, but for only two weeks a year.

It’s been 14 years since I have seen a snowy winter.

12. If I wasn’t a chef, I’d love to work in a think tank or applied mathematics.

13. I want to learn more about canning because I want to preserve fruits at their peak flavor.

14. My favorite ingredient is flour and it’s the most undervalued ingredient, too. I detest additives, and I can’t live without chocolate.

15. My most embarrassing moment in the kitchen was showing up late to work on Christmas day. I woke up late and everyone was in the weeds.

16. My dream vacation would be to the Redwood forest.

17. You’d be surprised to learn that I am pretty low-key outside of the kitchen.

18. If I could trade places with one chef it would be Danny Meyer.

19. I knew I wanted to be a chef when I realized I wouldn’t have to sit in an office my whole life and I could still do something challenging.

20. I love being a club chef because you get to know the members’ tastes, which lets me offer even better items and services.

21. When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m playing with my kids.

22. My biggest mistake when I first started as a chef was not looking for the best place to learn.

23. If I could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, it would be Leonardo da Vinci.

24. The most valuable piece of advice I’ve ever received was invest now for your future.

View the extended conversation with Chef Ratliff at www.clubandresortchef.com www.clubandresortchef.com

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