Crafting the right mix of dining room offerings involves more than just adding something here while taking away there. Here’s the basic formula for an effective approach to ongoing menu planning.
Peter Dixon, Executive Chef at the Thornblade Club in Greer, S. C., says he never changes his menu. But that doesn’t mean members with an appetite for adventure are left to go hungry.
“There’s a saying in the club business that you don’t change a menu, you expand it,” says Dixon. “No matter how good a new menu might be, there will be certain items that members don’t want to see go away.”
To accommodate those traditionalists, Dixon maintains a core menu of “Members’ Favorite” selections. The flip side of that menu page is a whole other story—one that Dixon rewrites quarterly to feature seasonal ingredients and fresh ideas.
Executive Chef David Jarvis’ à la carte dining menu at The Chicago Club also follows the seasons, although, as he sees it, Illinois’Windy City only has two—“warm and cold.” Warm weather selections include a wide range of locally grown corn; heirloom tomatoes; soft, succulent fruits; ramps (wild leek) he plucks from his own backyard; purslane; and a bounty of flavors from his herb garden, where he grows lavender, sage, garlic chives, oregano, chocolate mint and lemon balm.
As winter sets in, Jarvis introduces more stickto- the-ribs fare, based on heartier root vegetables and squashes. Later in the season, he brightens dreary days with tropical tastes of carambola (star fruit), lychee nuts and other exotic surprises.
Members prefer a single menu, Jarvis says, whether they’re coming to the club for a casual lunch or a pull-out-all-the-stops evening extravaganza.
At Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va., the fine dining and casual menus are one and the same as well, because “our members like the formal cuisine, but don’t like the formal attire and atmosphere that go with it,” according to Assistant General Manager Caleb Elledge. The single menu, changed twice a year by Executive Chef Andre Ellis, gives members a wider range of dining options in the more relaxed setting they prefer, he says.
One menu also makes it easy for members at Lebanon Country Club in Lebanon, Pa., to satisfy their cravings for anything from innovative “four-star restaurant cuisine to Momma’s meat and potatoes,” according to Executive Chef Eric Notter, at prices that range from $8.95 for a “super burger” (think 10 ounces of handshaped beef, topped with port-grilled onions, bacon and herbed cheese) to filet or lobster tail for $19.95. Once a year, Notter gives the 22- to 25- item menu a major revamp. Constant Evolution With extensive fine dining and grill menus (between 20 to 24 items on the former, 18 on the later) that offer selections ranging from elegant to economical, David Abell, Executive Chef at Bend, Ore.’s Broken Top Club, relies on evolution rather than revolution to keep members coming back night after night.
“We constantly rotate seasonal and other new items in and out all through the year,” he explains.
In the Pacific Northwest, that means plenty of wild mushrooms such as morels and chanterelles, especially in the fall, and fresh fish preparations ranging from wild salmon filets to halibut cheeks. In addition to items inspired by seasonal ingredients, Abell and his club’s GM and F&B manager like to work in themed concepts such as highend steakhouse fare, wine-pairing dinners (with a choice of ordering from a complete prix fixe menu or à la carte), value-priced and program with other members, and the resulting buzz adds to the excitement of the new menu introduction, he notes.
Abell and Notter also take a personal approach to communicating new culinary offerings, spreading the word through table-to-table visits with members in the clubhouse.
While word-of-mouth is certainly an effective way to get the word about new menus out to the general membership, most of the chefs also include a preview in their club’s monthly or quarterly newsletters. Some also alert members via email. Boonsboro and Thornblade post the new menus on their Web sites, and Notter says Lebanon is preparing to do the same.
Summing It Up
• Member favorites and signature items often distinguish club menus, but the need to retain them doesn’t mean the introduction of new items has to take a back seat.
• Some club chefs are finding success by striking a menu balance that literally has two sides: one for permanent core items, and the other for a rotation of seasonal introductions.
• To “make the cut” as a new menu item, many clubs run dishes through testing processes that can include carefully monitored appearances as specials, or formalized testing (and grading) by dining room staff or other club managers.
• Dishes that are custom-designed for banquets or other special events can also present good possibilities for full menu rollouts, depending on how they’re received.
• E-mail and Web site postings are joining newsletters as favored means of letting members know about new items.
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