Summing It Up
• Full-bodied raw ingredients, ethnic recipes, heightened spice and seasoning levels, precooking flavorings and high-impact cooking techniques (roasting, smoking, mesquite- or apple-wood grilling) can help achieve maximum flavor impact. • Some of the biggest—and most profitable—results come when a property is known for its menus that feature unique, mouth-watering hors d’oeuvres and appetizers. |
To wow diners with their “opening acts,” chefs are balancing maximum-impact flavors with highly recognizable dishes.
Appetizers are much more than small portions to kick off a meal. They’re an opportunity. Savvy chefs and managers know that taking a fresh look at little plates can yield big benefits.
Chefs are upgrading appetizers as a way to differentiate themselves from everyone else, according to Sarah Gillis, Consumer Research Manager with Technomic, a food industry consulting firm. The company’s 2007 survey of this segment of the menu showed that global influences and local, seasonal, sustainable fare are gaining traction with consumers.
“Even traditional concepts are being spiced up with bolder-tasting, ethnic, and high-end, artisan ingredients,” Gillis says. Sampler platters and items that can be shared are also increasingly popular. “Change is going mainstream and the category is being reinvented to satisfy consumer cravings,” she says.
Clubs and resorts from coast to coast are picking up on this shift. The first course is being used to introduce uncommon flavors and foods to guests, allow kitchens to take some risks while showcasing their creativity, and reach out to a less-conservative segment of diners, to test the appeal of new dishes. But it isn’t wise to shake things up too much, or too fast.
Winning Over the Heartland
Midwesterners typically lag the rest of the country when it comes to adopting the latest “thing,” making it especially hard to bring culinary change to the heartland, according to Christian Frappier, Food and Beverage Manager for Indiana’s Fort Wayne Country Club. But considering his core demographic, he’s been remarkably successful in moving beyond potato skins and cocktail wieners.
“I find that offering free samples and tastes as an amuse bouche are effective for overcoming diners’ resistance,” says Frappier. “If they find something they like, they’ll order it next time.” Wine dinners and private parties are also a good setting for trial runs, he says.
This approach has allowed Frappier to expand the Fort Wayne CC appetizer list to include a beef roll featuring a slice of New York strip steak, wrapped around sweet peppers and onions in a bourbon and brown sugar glaze (see recipe, pg. 35); a crab cake topped with basil pesto; and yellow squash stuffed with a vegetable melange in a fire-roasted tomato sauce.
At Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C., the regular appetizer list is always peppered with a few edgier items and augmented with specials that run for two days. If they’re well-received, says Clubhouse Manager John Matthews, they’re continued for a week, and the best show up on the menu next quarter.
Recent home runs hit by Matthews and Chef Daniel Pine have included mini “tacos” of sesame-seared tuna, napa cabbage, pineapple pico de gallo and guacamole cream, in a taco-shaped wonton skin (Mexican spicing does well with Prestonwood members, Matthews notes, because many of them have traveled there). Other favorites include a piping hot crock of sautéed beef tips in Cajun-spiced blue cheese cream, topped with roma tomatoes, crispy onions and served with warm pita points; and mushroom caps filled with roasted pepper hummus, garnished with feta cheese, and drizzled with lemon fennel volute.
After a sushi chef was added to the team, diners also began to order his fish and rice creations. And, because members come to the club for family meals as well as fine dining, Matthews also makes sure to plate slices of rolled white bread and peanut butter with chopped peanuts and a raspberry jelly reduction sauce.
Matthews enlists his staff to encourage guests to venture out of their comfort zones. “Chef Pine comes out and goes table to table, explaining and promoting his dishes,” he reports. “He’ll even offer to customize them to individual preferences. Our servers who sell the most specials can earn gift cards and end-of-the-month bonuses.”
Credible Creativity
Since arriving at The Bluffs Country Club and Resort in St. Francisville, La., last February, Cullen Lord has been aiming to strike a balance between innovation and predictability. The chef established his credentials with regulars at Eighteen, the clubhouse restaurant, by sticking with the standards and doing them well.
Now that diners trust Lord’s skills enough to earn him culinary freedom, he’s rewarding them by offering a reinvented Hollandaise featuring avocado and lemon, and a buerre blanc changed-up with a syrup of honey and blood oranges. Recently, Lord has been playing with sous vide—slow, low-temperature water bath cooking.
Lord also relies on his wait staff to move dishes like a blue crab and cucumber roll with a spicy soy, honey and sriracha glaze; crawfish and arugula salad in a warm Dijon vinaigrette; or shrimp stuffed with crab and fois gras mousse over risotto. “I let servers taste everything,” he says. “Their positive comments and enthusiasm go a long way with customers to sell my food.”
Starting Strong
Michael Weisshaupt, Executive Chef of Restaurant Latour at Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon, N.J., sees the first course taking on increasing importance. “Because of the reduced quantity and cost,” Weisshaupt says, “diners are more willing to experiment with appetizers. So there’s more room for creativity.
“More substantial starters and heartier preparations are ordered with a salad as light entrees,” he notes. “We’re doing very well with two- to three-ounce servings of short ribs or braised lamb shoulder.”
Knowing some dishes won’t appeal to everyone doesn’t stop Weisshaupt from adding them. “We have sweetbread skewers,” he notes. “They’ll never be a best seller, but a select group of guests is very glad to find them.”
Incremental Innovation
Peter Fontaine, Executive Chef at the Greenville Country Club in Wilmington, Del., follows industry trends closely, but has to integrate them carefully into his menus. “It’s tough to entice younger members and keep them excited without alienating the old guard,” Fontaine says. “So I innovate incrementally.”
That means taking something familiar, like a shrimp cocktail, and giving it a twist. He puts it in a martini glass and replaces the cocktail sauce with a sweet vidalia onion and tomato relish. Oysters—another popular choice for his guests—are served as shooters, accompanied by a selection of out-of-the-ordinary hot sauces.
“These appeal to adventurous diners but are still recognizable to everyone else,” says Fontaine. He has also found that using locally raised produce, such as corn, squash and heirloom tomatoes from a well-known farmer in the community—and mentioning the source on the menu—lures the timid and makes unusual dishes approachable.
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