FOOD + BEVERAGE
GIVING APPETIZERS
A FRESH START Whether for dine-in or takeout, pre-entrée starters or entire small-plate meals on their own, chefs are using innovative flavor profiles and presentations to offer new upfront enticements to club and resort diners. By Marilyn Odesser-Torpey, Contributing Editor
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, BETWEEN 60% to 70% of diners at Doylestown (Pa.) Country Club regularly ordered appetizers with—or as—their meals, reports Jason Hembree, the club’s Executive Chef. And even after the dine-in shutdown, when only takeout was available, members’ interest in the variety of taste sensations offered by appetizers has maintained its momentum. On the Tuesday “Pub Night” menu at Doylestown CC, half of the offerings are now appetizer or small plate-size portions. The same goes for the Bistro menu for golfers that’s served between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.—“the bridge between lunch and dinner,” according to Hembree. On the clubhouse’s a la carte dining menu, Hembree offers between eight and 10 appetizers/small plates, including two to four nightly specials. After expanding lunchtime appetizer offerings in January, sales of these selections have increased from 2.5% to 10%, he reports. “We offer two lunch specials every day and one of them is an appetizer,” he notes. “As a result, overall lunch sales have grown.” The pool restaurant’s menu features between six and eight appetizers, he adds. Some of the appetizers at Doylestown CC are simply petite portions of club favorites, such as gruyere macaroni and cheese, falafel or a carefully curated cheese board. Others are original creations, such as polenta fries with yellow curry aioli, port wine-pickled onions, roasted tomatoes and aromatic olive oil, and a lobster spring roll stuffed with butter poached lobster salad and served with a shaved fennel salad, citrus yellow tomato coulis and sweet poblano pepper crème (see recipe, pg. 48). 44
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Club + Resort Business
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April 2021
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
