INSIDE Demystifying Natural Wine Innovative Hiring A Piece of the Pie
September www.clubandresortchef.com2022
NextAnsley’sChapter
J. Kevin Walker, CMC, reinvigorated Ansley GC’s culinary program and established a strong leadership pipeline to ensure a seamless transition for Executive Sous Chef Shannon Farmer to take over as Executive Chef.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 2023 Chef to Chef Conference—and change is in the air. Historically, Chef to Chef has kicked off Sunday, first with pre-conference sessions, followed by a welcome reception, keynote address and kickoff party.
This year we’re extending the learning opportunities to include bonus Saturday programming with three Chef to Chef Certification Seminars, the return of the Club Tour, as well as a series of breakout sessions on Tuesday afternoon.
•1 PM to 1:45 PM: Advanced Club Confections, Presented by Jeffrey Munchel, Executive Pastry Chef, Ocean Reef Club •1 PM to 1:45 PM: Creating a Career Culture for Cooks, Presented by Rhy Waddington, Executive Chef, The Palmetto Bluff Company
2 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
On Saturday, March 4th, there will be four different seminars attendees can tack on to their conference registration, with limited availability: •9 AM to 1 PM: ServSafe Manager Certification
•2 PM to 6 PM: ServSafe Manager Recertification
•10 AM to 4 PM: WSET Level 1 Wine Course and Exam •1:15 PM to 11 PM: Ocean Reef Club Tour If you want to attend one of these bonus events, you can select it as part of registration process, and our system will add the cost of that opportunity to your cart.
SPLIT TRACKS TUESDAY Chef to Chef continues to grow in size. Last year we had nearly 500 attendees, and while there are many benefits to a single-track conference, there is plenty of merit in offering varied, smaller group breakout sessions, too. With that in mind, we’ve replaced Chef to Chef Live with five different sessions attendees can select.
The session are: •1 PM to 2:45 PM: Hands-On Pasta-Making Master Class, Presented by Pastaio Ryan Peters
EDITOR’S MEMO
WHAT’S NEW AT #CHEFTOCHEF2023
•2 PM to 2:45 PM: Drive Dessert Sales With Classic Desserts, Presented by Laura Herman, CEPC, Executive Pastry Chef, Shoreacres •2 PM to 2:45 PM: A Mental Health Toolkit for Chefs, Presented by Melinda Dorn, Certified Peer Recovery Specialist
There’s plenty more to learn about each of these sessions at EveryCheftoChefConference.com/agenda.year,theCheftoChefConference gets bigger and better. 2023 will be no exception. These enhancements (and some others we’re still cooking up) were added so attendees could make the most of their time away. Be sure to register right away so you don’t miss out on these bonus opportunities.EDITORJoannaDeChellisjdechellis@wtwhmedia.com412-260-9233
Boring Beautiful You don’t have to settle for standard. Use Butterball premium shaped butters to create an elegant, memorable dining experience they’ll never forget. FIND DISTRIBUTORA WWW.BUTTERBALLFARMS.COM
“That means more to me than anything else,” Walker tells me, “that I’ve been able to pay forward what other people have taught me.”
I found Farmer’s story inspiring. She took a leap of faith mid-career, changing paths to one she knew she was suited for. Then she worked her way up. In learning about her, it’s clear that Farmer has earned this title. I believe it’s also worth noting— and celebrating—that she did so as a woman in a field that’s still largely male-dominated. She’ll soon be the first Executive Chef in Ansley’s history who’s a woman and, as far as she knows, the first in the history of any major club in Atlanta.
Walker continually strives to learn and improve throughout his success. And he’s known to go out of his way to aid and support those around him. He’s been a leader and a mentor to many over the years, including his soon-to-be successor.
Still, when Farmer was first approached as a mentor, she says it was unexpected. “You don’t always see the value in yourself,” she admits. “I have always looked up to Chef [Walker] as my mentor, so I was under the impression that everyone was here for the same reason. It really made me stop and think about my impact.”
OUR PROFILE THIS MONTH features Atlanta’s Ansley Golf Club. At the end of this year, J. Kevin Walker, CMC, will retire, and his current Executive Sous Chef, Shannon Farmer, will take his place as Ansley’s Executive Chef. In writing this article—my first cover feature for C+RC—I knew it’d be challenging to do these two chefs’ stories justice. I wanted to make sure I thoroughly celebrated Walker’s career. He’s an incredibly accomplished chef with decades of experience that can hardly be summed up in one article.
I hope these chefs’ stories might remind you of your own value and impact on those around you. Please feel free to reach out with any ideas, questions or considerations. And don’t forget to register for the 2023 Chef to Chef Conference for more from Walker, who will join us as a speaker ANSLEY
THE NEW SOUS COVERING
Farmer, who Walker says is now “perfectly positioned” to begin her first Executive Chef post, will take all she’s learned throughout her career, from Walker and her 10 years at Ansley, and make this role her own.
SENIOR EDITOR Isabelle 216-296-2041igustafson@wtwhmedia.comGustafson 4 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
In addition to being a talented Chef, Farmer sets an example of what an e ective leader can look like. Among her strengths, she’s known for being open, compassionate and empathetic.
“I can read people well,” she notes. “I can sense when they’re having a bad day, when they’re frustrated, angry or upset.” She believes it’s crucial that sta feels involved, included and cared for, especially since the pandemic. “Kitchens have changed,” she says. “The whole atmosphere has changed.”
Creating a Functional Feast
A Piece of the Pie Pizza programs demand knowledge, precision and copious amounts of R&D, but the results are worth the e ort.
Demystifying Natural Wine Beverage directors and sommeliers are wise to explore this newer genre and nd a few bottles for members to try.
8
20
26
A Competitive Career
Robert Meitzer, CEC, AAC, Executive Chef of Forest Lake Club, on how impactful competitions have been throughout his career.
Digging In James Allen, CEC, Executive Chef of Blackthorn Club at the Ridges, shares how he came to culinary and what it means to be named Chef of the Year. Memo New Sous 2022
Ansley’s Next Chapter J. Kevin Walker, CMC, reinvigorated Ansley GC’s culinary program and established a strong leadership pipeline to ensure a seamless transition for Executive Sous Chef Shannon Farmer to take over as Executive Chef.
Innovative Hiring
22
2 Editor’s
4 The
16
Putting the Icing on the Cake Pastry pros who know how to make a showstopping dessert discuss the latest trends in cake-decorating.
Behind the Plate
30
24
The Future of Cooking Thunderbird CC saves time and money while improving consistency and quality thanks to six RATIONAL combi ovens.
Elijah Pulley, CCC, Executive Chef, Columbia Yacht Club, shares his breakfast ramen recipe.
14
28
CONTENTS September • Vol. 11 • Issue 6 D 6
www.clubandresortchef.com September
l Club + Resort Chef l 5
Broken Sound Club is merging tenured team members with an ambitious eet of new hires as a multi-milliondollar clubhouse renovation nears completion.
Faced with tightened budgets and labor shortages, banquet chefs weigh in on what to make or buy.
2. Gently drop the egg into boiling water and poach.
BEHIND THE PLATE
Elijah Pulley, CCC, Executive Chef
ELIJAH PULLEY, CCC, THE NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE CHEF of Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago, says the idea for his Breakfast Ramen, which is on the club’s new brunch menu, came from his experience working in a Vietnamese noodle house three years ago. “Even though a basic dashi broth is simple to make, it’s easy to mess up,” says Pulley. “There’s more technical skill involved than most chefs realize. Dashi has a depth of flavor that is only achieved when brought up slowly and properly.”
1 oz. red bell pepper (deseeded and julienned finely)
7. Serve with lime wedges. Season to taste.
Resort Chef l September 2022 up,” more PROCEDURE FOR BACON DASHI:
3. Place the potato noodles in a sauté pan with 8 oz. of dashi broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
1. Soak the kombu and dried shiitake in 4 qts. of water for 35 minutes before turning on heat. 2. Turn heat on low and allow the water to come to a low simmer/ steam. Continue for 30 minutes. 3. Remove the kombu and add in the smoked bacon. 4. Allow the stock to simmer for 1 hour, skimming fat off the top. 5. Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer. 6. Add sesame oil and fish sauce. 7. Season with salt and white pepper. 8. Thicken stock slightly with slurry.
Breakfast Ramen YIELD: 1 SERVING INGREDIENTS: 2 oz. dried kombu 2 ea. dried shiitake mushrooms 4 qts. water 2 lbs. smoked bacon 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil ½ tsp. fish sauce to taste ground white pepper to taste ground black pepper 3 Tbsp. slurry 6 oz. Idaho potato (peeled and julienned on a mandolin)
1. Fill the stock pot with water and bring it to a boil.
6. Garnish broth with cilantro leaves (4 pieces).
Columbia Yacht Club, Chicago, Ill. Chef
6 l Club + Resort
4. Add scallions, carrot and bell pepper to the dashi and potato noodle mixture. Bring to a rolling boil and transfer to a serving bowl.
4 ea. fresh cilantro leaves to taste lime wedges to taste kosher salt TO SERVE:
5. Place poached egg on top. 6. Season egg with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
1 ea. whole extra-large Grade A egg 2 oz. scallions (cut on extreme bias) 2 oz. carrot (peeled and grated)
Ansley’s Chapter
CLUB PROFILE
Next
J.Kevin Walker, CMC, reinvigorated Ansley GC’s culinary program and established a strong leadership pipeline to ensure a seamless transition for Executive Sous Chef Shannon Farmer to take over as Executive Chef.
WHEN HE JOINED ANSLEY GOLF CLUB as Executive Chef in 2018, J. Kevin Walker, CMC, knew he wanted to build a legacy. “There’s no better way to do that than to have someone you’ve personally trained take over for you,” he says. After nearly 40 years in the culinary industry, Walker announced his plan to retire at the end of the year. His Executive Sous Chef, Shannon Farmer, who’s been an integral part of the Atlanta-based club for a decade, will take his place as Executive Chef. Walker has had an immeasurable impact on the club, but his choice to spend more time with family presents an important opportunity for Farmer, who has developed a strong relationship with members and sta over the past 10 years. “I knew this was the position I was ready for,” she says. “But I didn’t think it’d be at Ansley. I love this membership and crew; they have always been great to me. It’s unlike any other club.”
By Isabelle Gustafson, Senior Editor
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef l 9
Walker is also an ACF-approved competition judge, was a founding member of the ACF Professional Chefs Association of Houston and is currently one of the coordinators for the annual Chef to Chef Conference. Although he’s been in restaurants since he was 14, washing dishes, Walker considers working at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix when he was 20 years old to be his first professional role. “What I learned at the Biltmore has applied to my entire career,” he says. Later, he attended The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. This is where he met Fritz Gitschner, CMC, who was the Executive Chef of Houston (Texas) Country Club at the time and became one of Walker’s most significant mentors.
A COOK AT HEART For Walker, retirement means time to rest and be with family. He and his wife, Betsy, will move closer to her“Myparents.wifehas always supported me in this profession,” he says. “She’s been there at every turn. And now I want to be there for her.” It’s nearly impossible to overstate Walker’s success and distill his accomplishments over decades of hardearned experience. He’s competed in dozens of culinary competitions since 1993 and has won several gold medals and numerous national culinary awards.
Walker was named National Chef of the Year in 2007 as well as the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Greater Atlanta Chapter’s Chef of the Year. In 2008, he was inducted into the American Academy of Chefs (AAC). He received the ACF Presidential Award in 2009 and was awarded the AAC’s Chef Good Taste Award in 2011. He’s an accomplished coach and manager, too. He coached Daniel Gorman at the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Chefs Competition in Turkey and was named manager of ACF Culinary Youth Team USA in 2016.
While at Grandfather G&CC, Walker got a call from Ansley’s GM at the time, who wanted recommendations for the club’s next Executive Chef.
ANSLEY at a glance No. of members: 1,615 Average annual F&B revenue: $5.3 million
Walker was o ered the Executive Chef position at Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta, where he spent the next nine years helping the club build an exceptional culinary program. He was at Cherokee when he first met and hired Farmer.
A la carte/banquet mix: 68/32 Annual a la carte covers: Over 108,000 Food costs: 45% Food-and-beverage minimum: none Average number of golf outings annually: four to six Average number of golf rounds: 53,000 Average number of catered events annually: 2,600 Number of foodservice sites and their capacities: eight dining rooms and bars that seat up to 100 and six banquet rooms that host groups of up to 400 Number of foodservice employees: 110-150 depending on the time of year Kitchen size: four kitchens that range from 200-2,400 square feet Clubhouse sizes: • 65,000 square feet • 10,000 square feet
Walker then moved to The Vintage Club in Indian Wells, Calif., before deciding to “try something di erent” by taking a Director of Clubhouse Operations position at Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville, N.C. There he helped to implement a “kitchen-out approach” instead of a “dining room-in” approach. For Grandfather G&CC, this meant going back to basics: simplifying operations, using correct methods—and educating sta and members on what it takes to put out a good product.
He joined Ansley as its Executive Chef in 2018. “I’m a cook at heart,” he says. “Cooks are just built di erently.”
“I went home and told my wife,” says Walker. “She said, ‘You told him you, right?’ We’d always talked about getting back to Atlanta. But I told her that I wasn’t in the kitchen anymore. She said, ‘In the four years you’ve been [Director of Culinary], you’ve never come home excited—not like you do when you’re in the kitchen.’”
10 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
Walker would go on to spend three years at Houston CC as Executive Sous Chef, followed by a year as restaurant chef of Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas. He was o ered his first Executive Chef position at The Lafayette Club in Minnetonka Beach, Minn., where he spent the next four years. In 2000, he moved to Greenville (S.C.) Country Club. And in 2002, he achieved his Certified Master Chef (CMC) designation through the ACF—a 12-year journey, he says, inspired by the CMCs he met at the CIA.
“That was my whole reason for taking the test, to see how I stood up against them,” Walker says. “I learned quickly that it wasn’t about standing up to them. It was about learning for myself—and that passing the exam doesn’t mean as much as what you do after.”
Ansley’s 1912 Grille & Lounge o ers adult members a bistro-style menu with tapas.
ELEVATING THE MENU
“Our Midtown location is the heart and soul of the club from a social standpoint,” says Calvin Bolling, Ansley’s General Manager. “It’s in the middle of a vibrant community. About 80% of our members live within a 10-mile radius.” Settindown Creek, Ansley’s secondary location, was acquired in 1999 and is located in Roswell, Ga., about 30 minutes north of Midtown Atlanta. It has an 18-hole rural course. Across the two locations, Ansley o ers members a Jr. Olympic-size swimming facility, eight tennis courts, two pickleball courts, a fitness center, youth programs, 27 holes of golf, eight dining rooms and bars, six banquet rooms and four kitchens. Its food-and-beverage operation averages $5.3 million annually.
Walker also implemented a chef’s table experience, which Ansley calls Table 1. The club o ers seatings up to twice a week for six to eight people, and the experience generally
Since joining Ansley Golf Club as Executive Chef in 2018, J. Kevin Walker, CMC, has elevated the Atlanta club’s culinary o ering, adding fresh pasta, house-made pizza, a taco program, a chef’s table experience and more.
At the start of 2020, Ansley completed a $3 million renovation, which included a kitchen remodel to replace critical equipment and flooring. The club also expanded the kitchen’s footprint, particularly in the cooler and dish station, while adding room for pastry and a chef’s table. Walker, who’d completed five other kitchen renovations at prior clubs, was instrumental throughout the process.
Clubs must be aware of what restaurants are doing and give members better quality at a better price, Walker says, while challenging and educating the membership on what it takes to run a quality operation—and the costs involved.
“Everything fresh” is Ansley’s culinary philosophy, says Farmer—“everything fresh and everything seasonal.”
“We’ve done pizzas the past two Sundays out on the pool deck. Last Sunday, we sold 120 pizzas in an hour,” Walker says. “[The members are] excited about it. It’s fun, and it’s something di erent.”
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef l 11
Each month, Ansley’s culinary team provides the board of directors with a breakdown of the top 20 items it uses, comparing the price a year ago to today. “I’ve sat in house committee meetings and said, ‘I can either put the burger on the menu at $17, or I can run it at $13, and we’re going to run a higher food cost,’” Walker says, “‘But I’m not going to change the quality of the food we serve.’” makes him a great chef is that he challenges everyone around him to raise their own.
ANSLEY’S COMMUNITY Ansley, open since 1912, is a family-oriented club with 1,600 members across two locations.
“He cares greatly,” Bolling says. “He wants to leave this place better than he found it.”
This extends to a fresh pasta program, Neapolitan-style pizzas with house-made dough, a taco program with brisket smoked in-house. Menu items change every few weeks, save for the staples.
“Chef [Walker] has elevated [Ansley’s culinary o ering] to another level,” says Farmer. “I think if we took our tacos o the menu now, there might be a revolt by the membership.” Under Walker, Ansley also added pizza ovens, which have been a massive hit with members of all ages, and most recently, a mobile version.
When COVID hit around that same time, Ansley and its membership were incredibly supportive, Walker says, o ering continued pay for sta during multiple shutdowns. Since 2020, as with many clubs, food costs have increased significantly. At the start of 2022, Ansley opted to raise menu prices by about 10%.
A PARTNER IN THE KITCHEN Farmer’s always been drawn to culinary, but she took a roundabout path.
“Chef Walker’s light shines bright—very bright,” she says. “I want to be able to shine as bright, just in a di erent way.”
On average, Ansley hosts about 2,600 catered events annually, from weddings to golf tournaments, including member-member, member-guest and pro-am tournaments. “Those are super exciting for me because they’re always themed, and we can really impress at that final party,” she says. “Last year, we did a member-guest with a jungle theme. I went all in—the Asian jungle, the Amazonian jungle, the Indian jungle—anything you can imagine. Chef [Walker] even said, ‘I think you may have gone a little too wild with this one.’ But they loved it.”
Farmer’s currently working on her Certified Executive Chef (CEC) designation through the ACF, which she expects to complete this year. In her first year as Ansley’s Executive Chef, her primary goal, she says, is to learn from her mistakes.
I want to reflect on that first year and say, ‘Next year, this is what we do better.’” C+RC Ansley’s let (pictured), on the a la carte menu, features a balsamic-roasted onion, pickled heirloom tomatoes, cauli ower purée, Shropshire Blue cheese, an asparagus bundle, potatoes Anna, veal jus and a 6 oz. let.
Farmer anticipates pastry to be among her biggest challenges without Walker, who calls himself “a closeted pastry chef.”
“I don’t know what I don’t know,” she says. “There are going to be challenges—and I’m going to work through them.
CLUB PROFILE 12 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com includes five courses, all paired with wine, for $195 a person.
“I’m able to bring members into the kitchen and take them outside their comfort zones,” Walker says. “The only thing they can tell me is that they have an allergy. But the minute they tell me they don’t like duck, I’m putting duck on theTablemenu.”1sells out months in advance without any overt marketing.“Icreated this experience so that I would be able to get in the kitchen and cook for members,” Walker says. “It’s easy for chefs to get wrapped up in everything else we need to do. This gives me an opportunity to do what I love.” Walker uses Table 1 to try out new recipes or techniques he’s excited about. It also serves as an educational tool for Ansley’s culinary team. “If a cook comes to me and says, ‘Chef, I’ve never worked with octopus,’” Walker notes, as an example, “this is the perfect opportunity.”
Another challenge, she says, will be building a name for herself in the broader culinary community.
“I wanted to start in culinary after high school,” she says. “But at the time, it wasn’t necessarily a field women and other people in my area thought was an attainable goal. There weren’t many culinary schools in Georgia.” So she worked in human resources until 2008 when she decided to attend Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Ga. It was here that she first met Walker.
Among Farmer’s best qualities, Walker says, is her attention to detail. She’s extremely knowledgeable, organized and a natural leader with “a great temperament and a wonderful palate.” She’s known for her caring nature—her genuine relationships with members and with sta , in the front and back of house. And she’s worked alongside Walker, learning from him, for years“Chefnow.[Walker] has always made me a partner in the kitchen,” says Farmer. “The wealth of knowledge he holds is amazing. And I know that I can pick up the phone at any point and ask him any question I may have.”
In 2009, Farmer joined Walker at Cherokee as a PM line cook, alongside Jason Valerio, who was Walker’s Executive Sous Chef at the time, and who, in 2011, Walker would help place at Ansley as its Executive Chef. In 2013, Valerio o ered Farmer a job at Ansley as a Banquet Chef. “Chef [Valerio] and Chef Walker were both instrumental in me having the position that I have today,” says Farmer. “They have guided me my entire career.” Walker joined Ansley in 2018, and in 2020, he promoted Farmer to Executive Sous Chef. Still, banquets remain a “huge passion” of Farmer’s.
Make it robust. Make it in minutes. Get a FREE sample at MINORSFOODSERVICE.COM CLASSICAL REDUCTIONS
By Joanna DeChellis, Editor
48 l Club + Resort Chef l July 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com FOOD A Piece of the Pie Pizza programs demand knowledge, precision and copious amounts of R&D, but the results are worth the e ort.
“I’m a purist regarding toppings,” admits Recher. “I want Italian pepperoni and homemade meatballs. I’m not interested in novelty pizzas—but I recognize our members are.” Most recently, Quail put up a Maui pizza topped with roasted pineapple, jalapeño and specs of sausage. Much to Recher’s dismay, the members loved it.
Quail purchased a woodfired pizza oven on a trailer that the team hauls to the driving range. One of the club’s sous chefs will work the wood-fired oven to produce personalized pizzas for golfers in 45-second turns. During the most recent men’s invitational, Quail’s culinary team produced 100 pizzas in one hour from this oven. “Quail is a residential club with 650 homes in the community,” says Recher. “We see many of our members for at least one meal daily. To be our members’ restaurant of choice, we must have a wide range of o erings. Pizza is universally recognizable and can swing casual or upscale. It’s a smart investment that can add a lot of value.”
“[Rogers] and her team will stretch the leftover dough to make lavash for our bread baskets,” says Recher, adding that the lavash has become one of the most popular breads. “In three years, we’ve never run out of dough for the pizza program. Rogers is a master at mise en place and reducing waste.”
“The biggest challenge when you start a pizza program is finding a dough recipe you like, testing it, and then managing the dough flow,” says Recher. “We’ve committed to 100 percent scratch baking, and we have a team of four chefs, led by Pastry Chef Brianna Rogers, who handles our dough and production for our pizza program.” By committing to the fresh dough, Rogers and her team must plan far enough ahead to meet demand while also having a plan for anything left over.
Soon after Christine Hazel accepted the position of Executive Chef at Huntingdon Valley (Pa.) Country Club a year ago, a commercial brick oven was installed.“Wespent the first few weeks testing doughs and eating a lot of di erent pizzas,” says Hazel. “Fortunately, I was able to work with a chef from the oven’s manufacturer, which was very helpful.”Huntingdon Valley’s pizzas are Neapolitan-style, like Quail’s, and cook in a quick 90 seconds. “The pizza program makes us more approachable to the casual audience,” says Hazel. “It gives us another way to impress our members, too.”
Quail’s gas-fired deck oven is located inside the bakeshop and produces most of its Neapolitan-style pizzas. The club has plans to add a second pizza oven to a future restaurant on a di erentRecently,floor.
CREATIVITY AT THE FOREFRONT Pizza extends to Quail’s take-andbake o erings and owns a spot on the a la carte specials menu with an everchanging “pizza of the week.”
TIM RECHER, CEC, AAC, CWX, Director of Culinary Operations at Quail West Golf and Country Club (Naples, Fla.), hails from Chicago. His wife is from New York City. You can imagine the turmoil that arises in their house when the topic of pizza comes up. “I’m not saying I’m right—but I’m not wrong, either,” jokes Recher. Personal pizza preferences aside, Recher is the driving force behind Quail’s ever-evolving pizza program, which averages about 30 pies per day. All of the dough used across the club is handmade, a process that required an enormous amount of research and development in the early days.
Consistency is important, as is properly training the team. Now that both have been achieved, creativity is at the forefront.“We’re using the oven to prepare octopus, clams casino and grilled vegetables,” says Hazel. The most important step in getting the program up and running, she adds, was getting her hands dirty. “Go to another club,” she says. “Do your research. Feel the dough. Work the oven. You’re not going to understand it until you work with it yourself, and if you don’t understand it, you can’t teach it. I needed to ensure I knew everything there was to know about the brick oven to give my team the confidence to excel—and we are.” C+RC
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef 15
From newbies in the private club sector to seasoned veterans who have handled their fair share of catered events, these chefs share their stories of managing kitchens and making critical make-or-buy decisions.
Faced with tightened budgets and labor shortages, banquet chefs weigh in on what to make and what to buy.
PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP For New Ulm (Minn.) Country Club Banquet Chef Nikki Dittrich, preparing and cooking most meals in-house is her end game.
Banquet Chef Nikki Dittrich (pictured left) is a requests.ableCC,operationone-womanatNewUlmsoshe’softentofulllspecial
CREATING A FUNCTIONAL
“We will always do the best we can to keep producing all of our banquet food in-house,” she says. “That’s what we’re known for: fresh, homemade food.” Having spent the past year at the club honing her craft, Dittrich draws upon her experience of preparing high-volume meals for sta and patients at nearby Mankato hospital, where she specialized in banquetstyleWhencooking.planning a banquet menu, Dittrich considers two main factors: how large the group she’ll be cooking for is and how much money is required to feed them adequately. She strives to make most banquet items in the club kitchen for budget reasons.
BANQUET
By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor
“Our food cost is 45-50 percent lower than what I’m charging,” she notes.
16 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
CHEFS MUST CONTEND WITH A BARRAGE of questions these days. Plagued by rising food costs, supply chain issues, and reduced workforces, they must also determine whether it’s feasible to make foods in-house or if it’s best to outsource them. And with banquet season in full swing and not showing any signs of slowing down, thanks to the resurgence of pandemic-postponed weddings and other special occasions, they must act quickly and decisively.
Johnson estimates the club outsources between 15 and 20 percent of its banquet products.
“Chicken used to be our top seller, but since the bird flu, it has been tough getting that in,” she says.
“Since I started here, I have brought so many new, fun, and flavorful dishes to our menu,” Dittrich says.
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef 17
Her more noteworthy selections include a triple-threat surf (a crab-stu ed lobster tail topped and closed with grilled shrimp, mushroom risotto and a lemon beurre blanc sauce); a rosemary-infused filet mignon with a parmesan garlic couscous and asparagus; and smoked lobster mac and cheese.
For her budget, Dittrich finds that pork, ground beef, some seafood and pastas are her most cost-conscious options.
Undaunted by a modest-sized sta of four responsible for 200-guest events regularly, Johnson has developed a keen understanding of what works—and what doesn’t—for club a “Whatairs. food we outsource often comes down to how much labor would be invested and whether or not that labor investment is logistically worthwhile,” she explains. Dough work, for example, is not feasible in her kitchen. “While we have the technical ability to complete it, it wouldn’t make sense to have a tabletop mixer produce 300 rolls per weekend when we need to focus our e orts beyond just banquets at any given moment,” she explains.
FUNCTIONAL FEAST
“I love when the members give me a challenge with a dish, and I execute it,” Dittrich says. “It’s a gratifying feeling.”
With prices in constant flux, she admits to keeping a closer eye on all her banquet goods and products.
But she’s confident in her ability to steer members to a more readily available option that doesn’t skimp on quality.
Dittrich is inspired by the fact that she has free reign over her kitchen. And while inflation will undoubtedly impact what she decides to outsource for the coming season, she’s not deterred by these concerns.
Kayleigh Johnson, Executive Chef of Eastern Shore Yacht & CC (pictured right), says members understand that local or house-made items often come at a premium.
A SHORE THING
Labor costs, however, do not play a part in Dittrich’s decision-making, as she is a one-woman operation in the banquet kitchen. As a result, she can often fulfill special requests or, at the very least, provide an adequate substitute. A member recently requested smoked pork chops that were not on the club’s banquet menu, so Dittrich decided to outsource from a local meat market and prepare the dish to her liking.
At Eastern Shore Yacht & Country Club in Melfa, Va., Executive Chef Kayleigh Johnson arrived at just the right time. Two years ago, following a complete rebuild of the club, she entered the private club circuit fresh out of a culinary arts teaching gig where she had the opportunity to put her mark on banquet production.
Space constraints, however, can sometimes impact her process.“Depending on what the customer wants, it can get tricky figuring out how to make some things,” says Dittrich.
“Pay rates have gone up 25 percent in the past year, but it’s still hard to find workers,” he says.
In addition to dough-based products like pu pastry, tart bases and phyllo cups, Johnson purchases simple sauces, such as steak sauce, tartar and cocktail sauce. And while hot honey has become a popular condiment this year, she is honoring members’ brand requests rather than infusing her own. This, of course, sometimes comes at a cost.
“While customers prefer that their fish be local, their microgreens sourced on The Shore and produce to be grown as close to home as possible, they also understand that it does come at a slightly higher premium,” she says.
For Henry, that means working with a variety of companies that specialize in certain products.
Among the factors impacting her decision are limited kitchen accommodations and equipment usage.
Balancing his banquet operations with a la carte dining service has proven challenging, especially because 75 percent of his product is scratch-made.
Salsa is another staple he considers outsourcing. “It’s nice to have fresh pico, but we will buy chopped tomatoes instead,” he adds.
The club’s specialized combi oven can only hold 10 half-sheet-sized pans simultaneously, with a threeinch maximum between pans.
Despite the cost, those who book banquets at Eastern Shore can expect a well-balanced lineup of local classics mixed with innovations. This season’s menu includes triedand-true smoked oyster canapes, crab-stu ed flounder, and new selections like bruschetta chicken, BBQ salmon, and maple-roasted pork tenderloin.
“Find vendors that don’t do everything—companies that specialize in a good product,” he says.
BANQUET 18 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
MAKING HARD CHOICES
Deciding what foods should be made in-house is a choice that Daniel Henry does not take lightly. The Executive Chef of Manchester Country Club in Bedford, N.H., who has spent the bulk of his career at country clubs and high-end restaurants in metro New York, ventured up to New England a year ago, determined to do right by his members.
When assessing what can be cooked in his kitchen, Henry must also ensure a quality product—and sometimes that means preceding a more straightforward process. He points to bacon-wrapped scallops, a New England appetizer favorite, as something he previously outsourced but has since resumed making. He also prepares his vegetables, but opts to purchase precut and peeled potatoes. And while Henry prides himself on making his stocks, he outsources sauces and demiglace“Webases.gothrough so much of this; it’s impossible to keep up,” he adds. “We can add red wine, doctor it up a bit, and it saves usHenry’stime.” advice when deciding what to buy? Work with the right outside partners.
But in the wake of the pandemic, Henry, like most chefs, has had to contend with rising costs for goods and labor, not to mention a vast reduction in culinary sta ng.
“Members pay a lot of money for these special occasions,” he notes. “The quality must be there.” C+RC
At Manchester CC, Executive Chef Daniel Henry (left) and his team prepare 75% of banquet products from scratch.
Her four-person crew also impacts which items are made vs. bought. “I cannot have a sta member cleaning and slicing mushrooms for an hour when I can outsource sliced mushrooms for $4 more,” she notes.
To help make the best purchases for his kitchen, Henry says he relies on the club’s event-planning software for organizing and figuring out what to buy. “It also allows me to forecast—to see what I can stock up on or buy something now so I can save it for later,” he adds. This comes in handy for guacamole production, with his kitchen using anywhere from 90-130 cases of avocados per week. Purchasing premade guac in bulk and then seasoning it himself has been a tremendous time- and money-saver.
“This requires us to rent ovens, smokers, or rotisseries to accommodate larger groups with larger menus, which ultimately a ects the cost of each banquet,” she says, adding that the club is currently evaluating more cost-e cient equipment alternatives that would better streamline production.
Pastry pros who know how to make showstopping desserts discuss the latest trends in cake-decorating.
‘TOO PRETTY TO EAT’ are words to live by when designing a cake. Whether tasked to create a multi-tiered confection for a bride and groom or a fanciful treat for a milestone birthday, pastry chefs know aesthetics are just as important as taste. With piping bags in hand, these pastry chefs share how they incorporate current decorating trends into their cake designs.
PASTRY
After being promoted to Pastry Chef this past April, Andi Gardner was eager to put her talents to work at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich., where she has built her cake-decorating portfolio and can concentrate on wedding cakes.
20 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
“We are implementing more controlled, humidity-free air conditioning into the shop,” she notes. “I try to be mindful of the season the bride is getting married when I discuss the appropriate cake options with her.”
Putting the Icing on the Cake
INSPIRATIONAL ICING
By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor
LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY Tiered cakes may be a tall order for some pastry chefs, but for Mellisa Root, who heads up the pastry department at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.—and is presenting at the 2023 Chef to Chef Conference—it’s an opportunity to share a taste of something she relishes. “I love a beautifully glazed entremet cake,” she says. “Whenever I have a chef’s choice cake, I treat the membership to French-inspired entremets rather than a classic American-style stacked cake.” Root has been awing Farmington’s members with cakes for the past year and a half, demonstrating her breadth of experience. Her work draws upon her implementation of specialty cake programs in luxury hotels, resorts, casinos and privately held shops, in addition to her consultancies with private clubs and wedding cake shops. Her varied background has prepared her well for the diverse requests that come from“Ourbrides-to-be.weddingcake portfolio here at Farmington is as diverse as the brides themselves,” she says. Her creations run the gamut, from avant-garde to traditional, with cakes resplendent in gum paste floral, and those lightly decked with fresh florals and buttercream. This season, Root is working with brides looking to forego traditional white cake in favor of vivid hues of pink, blue and metallic gold. Fulfilling these requests can prove challenging at times, given Charlottesville’s climate.
Egypt Valley CC Pastry Chef Andi Gardner says ideas for new cake-decorating concepts often come from social media.
Once Virginia’s temperatures cool in the later months, Root looks forward to reintroducing her spice cake, a popular choice for September-through-December brides. “It partners beautifully with a cream cheese frosting or a milk chocolate ganache for a more indulgent serving,” she says.
“You can incorporate painting and buttercream or go with all dried flowers; the greenery adds so much depth,” sheToadds.accomplish her goal, Arma often arrives early before the kitchen becomes too busy or sets up shop on the lower level.
BERRY DELICIOUS A mile down the road from the ocean, where sea breezes rustle the surrounding greenery, a hint of fresh strawberries is in the air. The scent intermingles with a fresh-from-the-oven berry buttercream cake, a member favorite at Westhampton (N.Y.) Country Club (WCC), where Pastry Chef Jennifer Arma has prepared the summertime classic.“Iget many requests for my strawberry cake,” she says of the simply decorated white cake outfitted with fresh and dried berries and some club florist-supplied greenery. “What sets this cake apart is that it’s made with both strawberry reduction and freeze-dried strawberry powder,” she says. The latter enhances the flavor and complements the buttercream. Such insight about knowing what works—and what doesn’t—in cake design is the result of a career that began at a custom cake shop, where Arma learned design basics. Before joining WCC two years ago, she served as a lead baker at the fabled Hamptons institution Loaves & Fishes and relied upon her upbringing instead of formal training.“Noculinary school for me—just passion for sweets and making memories for others like the ones I so cherish of baking—and eating—with my grandmothers,” she says.
Gardner’s ideas for new decorating concepts often come from the Internet, where she scours social media for designs that mirror her visions. She relies on Instagram—devoting an account entirely to cakes and pastries—and Pinterest to peek at artistic examples.
“There is a larger emphasis on the fresh florals and greenery that gives the cake an earthy, natural look,” she explains.Following this trend, members often request cakes designed with pastels, browns and neutral tones. Gardner is hoping to expand her cake color palette by incorporating terra cotta. “I continue to see it in weddings, often paired with jade green, beige and taupe,” she adds.
Members at Egypt Valley CC opt for minimalist designs like this multi-tiered cake with beautifully piped buttercream owers.
“I’m hoping to get a range of fake flowers to use on a simple cake that just needs a little something to make a statement piece,” she says. Gardner plans to create more themed cakes for birthdays in the colder months as the wedding season cools. She has fun coming up with over-the-top design concepts and cites a recent example when she was asked to make a cake for a young boy who loved SpongeBob SquarePants. “I was given no other details than that, so I took it to another level,” sheThesays.result was a multilayered, colorful cake that paid homage to the character. “I [tend to] keep it pretty simple, but when I do get a little crazy, the member is usually very pleased,” says Gardner. “That’s what I must remember: When decorating with creative freedom, most people are impressed and delighted.”
At WCC, where the season runs from April through the end of October, Arma designs wedding cakes that depart from traditional trends.
“It takes some time to get all my tools down there, but it is well worth the peace you want when finishing what is usually a week-long, painstaking process,” she says.
When crafting a confectionary wonder for a bride’s special day, Gardner abides by the ‘less is more’ rule as a nod to more minimalist wedding cakes.
“We’ll be o ering a traditional black forest cake with dark-chocolate-dipped cherries,” she says. “They will be covered in shaved chocolate and bursting at the seams with rich whipped cream.” C+RC
“No matter the idea, someone did something similar, and you can feed o their creativity,” she says. With the holiday season quickly approaching, Gardner’s attention will shift from weddings to family-focused celebrations that end with a sweet treat. She expects fresh flowers to take a back seat to other alternatives.
Instead of larger cakes, small cutting cakes share the spotlight with a dessert table or a plated dessert of three individual items: a trend she believes willWhenpersist.designing her cakes, Arma prefers bold colors to pair with simplistic styling. As of late, she’s working on adding organic, edible flowers that are pressed into the buttercream.
Before WCC’s season ends and Arma turns her attention to cake orders for private catering events, she will concentrate on the annual Oktoberfest, for which she’ll prepare a classic dessert to make the occasion.
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef 21
The natural wine movement appears to have been first introduced in France and Italy but has now spread to all corners of the globe. Odds are your members have tried some natural wines and might be looking to your list for at least a few options.
• Orange/Amber Wine: a white natural wine that takes its color from skin contact • Pétillant Naturel (or Pét-Nat): a natural wine with a small amount of spritz
THERE ARE NO LAWS THAT GOVERN the term or process for “natural wine.” It’s more of a concept than a well-defined category. In theory, a natural wine sees little manipulation from the wine-maker. Instead, the process is simplified and pure and, if managed properly through time and temperature control, can be extremely rewarding, with interesting outcomes.
I’ve had some good ones, some great ones, some interesting ones and some really bad ones. Don’t let the bad ones get in the way. Keep trying until you condition your palate to recognize the potential these wines have to offer your members. C+RC
Before blindly adding these to your list, go to a wine bar that offers a few selections by the glass. This will al low you to taste and explore without breaking the budget. Look for younger wines and wines produced in your local area if possible. Natural wines are not meant for long aging and are more volatile due to the lack of SO2. Store natural wine the same as you store other wines, which are best laid down in a cool, dark room.
Regardless of the lack of regulations surrounding natural wine, it is an exciting new genre in the world of wine-mak ing, and I encourage club beverage directors and somme liers to pick up a few bottles to offer their membership.
By Robert J Mancuso, CMC, DipWSET, Contributing Chef Editor
The question remains: Is natural wine good or bad? That is for your members to decide. However, you must be prepared to explain how many of us are more ac customed to drinking wine that has been processed in a modern way, which means we expect a clean, fruitforward, unoxidized style.
To be clear, natural wine is different from organic and biodynamic wine. By definition, it is made with grapes typically grown by small-scale producers and hand-picked from a sustainable, organic or biodynamic vineyard, then fermented with no additional yeast, additives nor sulfites.
It’s important to make sure members understand the process before committing to the bottle. Explain that they’ll likely notice a yeasty, gamier funk to the wine— almost like a yeasty beer or kombucha. If the wine is “white,” it will look orange and cloudy. Remind them that these wines are made with minimal intervention, so there is no fining or filtering.Acouple of natural wine terms you’ll want to look for as you’re adding them to your lists:
Beverage directors and sommeliers are wise to explore this newer genre and find a few bottles for members to try.
22 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 BEVERAGE
• Col Fondo: a fizzy prosecco that has not been disgorged
When shopping for natural wines, look for terms like: minimal intervention, raw wine, zero/zero, unfined wine, unfiltered wine, skin contact, fermented in clay amphora and made with native yeast.
Most natural wines do not have those characteristics; instead, they have gamey, wild flavors that are appealing and interesting to the right membership base.
NaturalDemystifyingWine
PRODUCTS AT WORK
Chris Olson (CO): We have four CombiMaster® Plus Combi Ovens, two iCombi Pro 10-Pan Natural Gas Half-Size Combi Ovens and one iCombi Pro full-size Combi Oven.
THUNDERBIRD COUNTRY CLUB IN
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., is home to six RATIONAL units and serves as a training site for the customer-centric organization. TCC’s Executive Chef, Chris Olson, was instrumental in bringing these units into the club. Club + Resort Chef (C+RC): What pieces of Rational equipment do you have at TCC?
24 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
The Future of Cooking
Thunderbird CC saves time and money while improving consistency and quality thanks to six RATIONAL combi ovens.
By Joanna DeChellis, Editor
Thunderbird CC is home to six RATIONAL ovens, which Executive Chef Chris Olson (pictured above, left) says have made the culinary operation much more e cient.
C+RC: How long have you had those pieces?
CO: When I started at TCC in 2013, we had two older stacked CombiMaster® Plus Combi Ovens that the club purchased in 2009. In 2016, I replaced a set of stacking convection ovens with the iCombi Pro full-size Combi Oven. In 2017, I needed to replace a steamer on the a la carte line. So I replaced it with not one, but two iCombi Pro 10-Pan Natural Gas Half-Size Combi Ovens. I made room for the second one on the back production line.
C+RC: Why RATIONAL?
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022 l Club + Resort Chef 25
CO: Everything we cook in them saves us time and money.TheRATIONAL ovens are capable of many applica tions—searing, sous vide, slow/overnight cooking, smoking and dehydrating. The results are precise without the need to monitor often. In terms of cleaning, they are priceless. In the past, we would spend up to two hours cleaning ovens. The RATIONALs are washed daily with the push of a button.
Now, TCC has six ovens and has become a training sales site where [Hoehn] can educate new RATIONAL owners on how to utilize their ovens most effectively. Because TCC has six ovens on-site, prospective buy ers can also see four types of RATIONAL ovens at work.
C+RC: What value do they bring to your operation?
C+RC: What problems do these pieces of equipment help you solve? CO: The way they help TCC save on labor can’t be un derstated. With RATIONAL, two cooks can plate a party for 60-100 by assembling the entrées ahead of time using a plated banquet setting. It will bring everything up to the correct service temperature. All we have to do is remove the lids, sauce the plate and serve. We no longer have to stand over the grill or flat top when it comes to searing meat.
RATIONAL ovens enable users to slow-cook proteins to a specific temperature.
C+RC: What would you tell a chef considering the purchase of a RATIONAL?
CO: Whether you’re cooking for 20 or 2,000, these ovens will make your operation much more effi cient. Attend a demo sales event to see for yourself. RATIONAL ovens represent the future of cooking. C+RC
We can set our finished cooking temperature on pro teins and slow-cook to a specific temperature. We no lon ger overcook filets. They are medium-rare, end-to-end.
RATIONAL ovens have many capabilities, including sous vide, searing, overnight cooking, smoking and dehydrating.
CO: Years ago, I connected with one of RATIONAL’s local chefs, Justin Hoehn, [at an expo] in Los Angeles. We spoke at length about the RATIONAL ovens. As a result of that connection, I began learning and researching. I was impressed by their engineering and attention to detail. The ovens are built and assembled by one per son and can be easily tracked if issues arise. Customer service is very responsive and always available.
By Isabelle Gustafson, Senior Editor
MANAGER to CHEF
InnovativeHiring
Broken Sound Club is merging tenured team members with an ambitious eet of new hires as a multi-million-dollar clubhouse renovation nears completion.
C+RC: Tell us more about the new restaurants.GD: Zest (pictured below) will be our shareable, small-plates restaurant with sushi and tapas. It’s eclectic, and the menu will rotate. Zest can also be used as a pre-function space and reception area for our new ballroom, which holds up to 600 people.
27
The Old Course Clubhouse, our traditional dining space, is under the leadership of Executive Chef William Quick, who crafts elevated menus for our membership. He will not alter the menu much, but it will transition into a steakhouse on Saturdays. We’ll have table-side and cocktail carts run by our new Director of Bars, Kord Laughlin.
C+RC: What do you expect will be Danila’s biggest challenge transitioning to the club world?
We’re also relaunching our Moonstone Cafe, next to our gym, and refreshing our Bistro at our pool. We have a food truck that we’re re-wrapping with a new look that will o er rotating concepts, too. Finally, we’re transforming our soft-serve yogurt shop into a kids’Whengrab-and-go.wereopen the clubhouse this November, all of these concepts will be fresh—and managed by our talented new chef. C+RC l Club Resort Chef
GREG DEVINO, THE NEWLY APPOINTED General Manager and COO of Broken Sound Club (Boca Raton, Fla.), is reaching out to his global network to recruit talent for Broken Sound as it enters a new era amid a multi-million-dollar renovation. New hires from within the club industry include a Chief Financial O cer, a Director of Marketing and a Director of Food & Beverage, plus internal promotions. Hires are from outside the industry include two Pastry Chefs, a Director of Bars, and the new Director of Culinary Operations, Bogdan Danila. Despite his newness to the club industry, Danila’s no rookie. He has more than 18 years of experience managing and directing culinary operations, including Michelin-starred kitchens in Europe and the U.S. He and Devino worked together for several years at The Clocktower, a Michelin-starred restaurant in The New York EDITION hotel. At Broken Sound, which does $8 million in annual F&B revenue, Danila will oversee all culinary. “We can’t wait for [talent] to come to us,” says Devino (pictured left). “We must look for them.” Club + Resort Chef (C+RC): Why is Danila, a restaurant chef, the right t as culinary director? Greg Devino (GD): Historically, members have been happy with the food here but weren’t blown away by it. When we spoke with them about dining preferences, they would reference restaurants outside the club. So I thought: If they’re leaving the club to go to restaurants, why can’t we bring a restaurant-style environment to the club? Our culinary team here at Broken Sound is stronger now than ever. But when we decided to add two new restaurants, we wanted a leader with a fresh perspective and experience. So we brought on [Danila], an incredibly talented chef I had the pleasure of working with years ago. C+RC: How will your experience working together help you better navigate the challenges ahead? GD: I’ve seen his passion, attention to detail and ability to multi-task firsthand. His opening playbook is highly detailed and will guide us through the reopening. His ability to build and manage multiple kitchens is precisely what we need at this stage of our evolution. He has a vast network of aspiring culinarians that he’s tapping into to help us further overcome labor challenges.
GD: After working in a Michelin-starred environment, it’s pretty humbling to have a burger get sent back. But it happens—that’s just the demographic. Club members know what they want. Training him on how clubs operate, what menus look like, and how members view club food and food costs will take time. He’s done a great job so far, engaging with members and learning about our culture.
www.clubandresortchef.com September 2022
+
Director of Culinary Operations Bogdan Danila was hired to oversee Broken Sound Club’s culinary program, including two new restaurants.
Next to Zest is our Cirque Bar and Grill, led by Executive Chef John Muriel, which will be open for lunch and dinner. It’s more of a casual, after-golf experience but will o er an elevated menu and transformed dining room at night.
“The pandemic hit Florida hard, and I was ready for a less seasonal operation after Mountaintop and Windsor,” says Meitzer. “Forest Lake is a wonderful club with a strong membership that supports our culinary operation and our team. I’m focused on improving the quality of my club and developing the cooks on my sta to become future chefs. “Being named one of the 2022 Club + Resort Chefs of the year was extremely validating for me and the career I’ve built,” says Meitzer. “It was an honor to compete in front of my peers, and I’m grateful I had the opportunity.”
Robert Meitzer, CEC, AAC, Executive Chef of Forest Lake Club, on his Chef of the Year win and the impact of competitions throughout his career.
COMPETITION HAS ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT to Robert Meitzer, CEC, AAC, Executive Chef of Forest Lake Club (Columbia, S.C.) and one of the 2022 Club + Resort Chefs of the Year.
He o ered a more practical approach to students based on real-world experience. After two years with the Art Institute, Meitzer went on to teach at Johnson & Wales and was sent to the school’s Miami, Charleston and Singapore campuses.
Fortunately, there was an opening in The Centennial Room, a fine-dining restaurant in Denver’s Hyatt Regency.
Meitzer excelled in this role and went on to work at The Brown Palace Hotel for another two years after the Hyatt. During this time, he got back to competing. At one of the events, he was approached by the Dean of the Art Institute of Colorado, who invited him to teach at the school.
In high school, he competed in small, locally judged culinary competitions. Through these, he met a chef who o ered him an American Culinary Federation (ACF) apprenticeship at a large hotel in Denver. This is where his career began. Meitzer worked at the hotel for three years in every capacity, from banquets to fine dining. When he left, he went to the Beacon Grill, a nearby fine-dining steakhouse. After only four months, Meitzer was promoted to Executive Chef. He was only 21 years “Everythingold.we did was from scratch, and we were winning tons of awards, but the workload wasn’t sustainable,” says Meitzer. “When I left that job, I almost left the industry.”
28 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
“I always joke that my first day of college was when I went to teach it,” Meitzer says. “I knew how to cook. I just didn’t know how to teach, but that was exactly what they were looking for.”
“It was rewarding to see all parts of the world while watching my students go on to succeed—but I wanted to do more,” saysHeMeitzer.leftteaching and took over as Food and Beverage Director and Executive Chef of Red Rocks Country Club (Morrison, Colo.). For five years, he managed the front- and back-of-house operations and established the club’s 1.5-acre culinary garden. After Red Rocks, he served as Executive Chef at Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club in Cashiers, N.C., for four years, then in the same role at Windsor Club in Vero Beach, Fla., for three more years. He took over at Forest Lake Club in Columbia, S.C., in 2020.
C+RC
Excecutive Chefs James Allen, CEC, (left) and Robert Meitzer, CEC, AAC, were named 2022 Chefs of the Year at the Chef to Chef Conference in Nashville.
By Joanna DeChellis, Editor
Robert Meitzer, CEC, AAC, Executive Chef Forest Lake Club, Columbia, S.C. 2022 Club + Resort Chef of the Year
A CareerCompetitive
James Allen, CEC, Executive Chef of Blackthorn Club at the Ridges, shares how he came to culinary and what it means to be named Chef of the Year.
“Being named one of the 2022 Club + Resort Chefs of the Year is an honor,” says Allen. “It’s a reminder that life is a process, risks are worth taking, and opportunity is everywhere.”
Allen graduated from Auburn University with a degree in archeology. He joined a crew digging for Colorado State in Alaska, serving as a “shovel bum.” He began cooking for the crew, mainly because no one else wanted to. “One of my colleagues told me I was a good archeologist—but a much better chef,” says Allen. He decided he would try culinary school under the assumption that if it didn’t work out, he could always advance his archeology degree with a master’s or doctorate.
But Mackenzie had no plans at the time to leave the club, so he helped Allen find his first Executive Chef role at Tupelo Country Club in Belden, Miss.
Two years later, Allen caught wind of the opportunity at Blackthorn Club at The Ridges. He decided to apply.
“When I went for the interview, I walked into the dining room, and it reminded me of Chez Hans,” he says. “The atmosphere and membership felt like a perfect fit.” He nailed the cooking interview, and they o ered him the position. Twelve years later, Allen has impacted Blackthorn’s culinary program immeasurably. He has increased F&B revenues from $350,000 to $1.4 million annually. He’s made the club a dining destination for the membership equal to golf. He’s also created an environment where line cooks become chefs.
C+RC James Allen, CEC, Executive Chef Blackthorn Club at the Ridges, Jonesborough, Tenn. 2022 Club + Resort Chef of the Year
The winning 2022 Chef of the Year dish featured a curry seafood mélange with sweet and spicy sambal soba noodles, fresh vegetables and a micro-cilantro salad.
30 l Club + Resort Chef l September 2022 www.clubandresortchef.com
“I fell in love with culinary,” says Allen, who completed the program at Le Cordon Bleu and then did an externship in Ireland at the Michelin-rated Chez Hans. “I love the precision of fine dining.”
After Ireland, Allen worked in restaurants in the south before landing his first club gig at Old Overton Country Club (Vestavia Hills, Ala.).
By Joanna DeChellis, Editor IN EVERY FIELD OF STUDY, specific sets of traits tend to fare better than others. Archeologists, for example, must have passion, drive, curiosity and critical thinking skills. They must be team players and have a good sense of humor. The qualities that make a great club chef are similar to those of an archeologist—and James Allen, CEC, Executive Chef of Blackthorn Club at the Ridges (Jonesborough, Tenn.), is proof.
Digging In
“I worked under Executive Chef Jae Mackenzie, who gave me a ton of freedom with the menus, which we changed weekly,” says Allen. “The membership was adventurous and eager to have the culinary team try different foods and techniques. I learned a ton.”
Product: Features:IntelliDash IntelliDash ® allows operators to monitor, manage, track and maintain the health of their operations all in one place with realtime data, including agronomic conditions, labor, asset location and equipment health access IntelliDash on any computer or mobile device Dashboard is customizable to operator preferences a bird’s-eye view of the course and fleet data integrates with well-known products, such as Lynx ® Control, equipment, labor and agronomic data are easily accessible in one place Track expenses and understand operational inputs, over time and by area of the course — providing insights for year-over-year comparisons and effective budget management daily productivity and planning purposes, IntelliDash provides equipment location, health and status Toro www.golfdashboard.toro.com
▶
▶ IntelliDash
▶ Unmatched
T����� + C�����
▶
▶ Compact
Eustis
▶
▶
▶
▶ Communication
▶
▶
▶ Easily
Stylish Seating
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
location of distanced workers on a map ▶ Voice assistant: Verbal commands with a press of a button ▶ Cloud-connected deployment: Groups stay connected on mixed channels including the Relay+ device, the online dashboard and smartphone app ▶ Bluetooth connectivity: Integrate with other products and USB-C for both secondary charging and audio output ▶ Extended battery life: Full charge can last up to 2 days ▶ Screen-free: Eyes-up control for workers on the go keeping a 6-foot distance Relay relaypro.com Safe Skin Product: Palm Island Sunscreen Features: ▶ No greasy residue ▶ SPF 50 and SPF 30 ▶ Also available in gallons, 32-ounce pump and 19-ounce pump ▶ Choose fragrance-free or a light, pleasant scent ▶ UVA and UVB Protection Tri-C Club Supply Inc. ~ Duffy’s www.DuffysTriC.com Squeaky Clean Product: Club Classic Gallon Soaps Features: ▶ Comes in three brand new scents: Green Apple, Tropical Breeze and Pink Pearl ▶ Features a Hand & Body Wash, an AllIn-One Hand & Body Soap and a Moisturizing Hand Soap ▶ Great for filling preexisting countertop or wall mounted dispensers ▶ All three products are pH balanced for use on hands, skin and hair ▶ Versatile gallon size allows for economical use and pricing Fore Supply foresupplyco.com
▶
▶ Customizable
▶
▶
Central
▶ For
A��������
Product: Park Avenue Modern Chair Features: Updated version of the Park Avenue chair by Eustis Chair with straight arms and side rails for a contemporary look 20-year warranty Proudly made to order in the USA for your club and your project needs Proprietary Eustis Joint® construction Available as a side or armchair Chair www.EustisChair.com
▶
www.clubandresortbusiness.com Septmeber 2022 l Club + Resort Business l 31
Data Device
▶ Offers
Constant Contact Product: Relay+ Cellular Walkie-Talkie Features: No bigger than a Post-It note Powered by Wi-Fi and 4G LTE for an unlimited, nationwide range Sleek and simple push-to-talk design is fast and in real-time size and water-resistant parts makes for easier disinfection compared to popular personal-use smartphones that are generally heavy bacteria sources GPS tracking: See
�������� �������� T���������
cabinet with 3
power sources – Electric – Solar – and Battery ▶ Built for rugged transport ▶ Charge, then it’s ready to use off premises ▶ 4-6
Cool Product: KoldCube KCUA11 Features: ▶ Operates
CHEF
19
BARILLA 7 BarillaFS.com FARMS INC. www.butterballfarms.com TEC 303-447-3334 www.ChefTec.com WITHIN 23 888-240-9758 www.minorsfoodservice.com
BUTTERBALL
THE MONTAGUE COMPANY 34 800-345-1830 / www.montaguecompany.com PRIDE 33 www.southernpride.com AUSSIE LAMB foodservice.trueaussiebeefandlamb.com
indoors and outdoors ▶ The only
FIRE
SOUTHERN
cold
32 l Club + Resort Business l September 2022 www.clubandresortbusiness.com PRODUCT SHOWCASE
/
ADVERTISER INDEX K������ E�������� An Efficient System Product: Legend® Heavy-Duty Glycol “Ice & Heat” Sauté Station Features: ▶ Combines Montague’s Legend heavy-duty burners with a revolutionary glycol chilling system ▶ High performance appliance that provides greater production while using significantly less energy ▶ Glycol chilled raised rail keeps vegetables, meats, cheese and more… cold and convenient ▶ Superior, two-inch thick insulation protects foods from the heat of the powerful 3,000 BTU/hr. star or induction burners ▶ Proudly built in the U.S. ▶ Available lengths: 36-inch, 48inch, 60-inch and 72-inch ▶ Winner of the 2015 NRA Kitchen Innovations (KI) Award The Montague Company www.montaguecompany.com
on a single charge ▶ Place your
logo on the door for branded messaging Cres Cor www.crescor.com F��� + B������� Happy Hour Product: Landmark Golf Course Products Portable Bar Features: ▶ Available in both EasyCare™ and Rinowood™ materials ▶ Built with sustainability, all-weather performance, and durability in mind ▶ Every bar is constructed with stainless steel ice bins and speed rails, plus locking storage areas, large shelves, and caster wheels that make it easy to maneuver over any surface. ▶ Fully customizable—choose from different sizes, materials, and EasyCare color combinations Landmark Golf Course Products Rinowood.com
3
15
TRUE
/ www.firewithin.com MINOR’S FOODSERVICE 13
Keep It both refrigerated built-in hours of holding custom
Being a third generation, family-owned and operated business is something we take seriously. We are proud to offer a full line of Electric, Gas or Mobile lines of equipment to fit your individual needs. Our equipment is designed with the highest quality materials and components ensuring a long life, giving you unmatched performance with every use. The ease of use with any Southern Pride and the consistent heat are just a few of the reasons we’ve been able to build the customer base we have today. We proudly offer a network of distributors making your partnership with Southern Pride easy and rewarding. Visit us online at southernpride.com today! DESIGNATED SMOKING AREA MADE WITH PRIDE IN THE USA Alamo, Tennessee | southernpride.com
MADE IN USA The Montague Company • 1-800-345-1830 • montaguecompany.com Cooking Innovation. Done to Perfection. Manufactured in the United States by skilled craftsmen, the Montague Legend® Steakhouse Broiler offers chefs powerful, high-volume, heavyduty broiling, producing tender, flavorful entrees customers will rave about. Now that’s perfection. It’s time to discover Montague! broilersteakhouse® Optional 1/2” Sear Plate or 3/4” Plancha, seals in juices before broiling 42,000 BTU cast iron burners deliver powerful infrared heat as high as 1800°F Adjustable broiler drawer with positive locking counterbalanced grid assembly Independent burner controls – 36” models feature two; 45” feature three Multiple configurations: • Warming ovens, top or bottom • Refrigerated cabinet base • 36” and 45” widths • Single and double broilers
