A strategic approach to appetizers as “an introduction to the club’s focus on food” has made them anything but an afterthought at Olympia Fields CC.
Cedar-plank roasted oysters with Tabasco butter…fried deviled oysters with green papaya slaw…Fanny Bay oysters with Bloody Mary granita.
These are just a few of the appetizers that have been featured on the menus of the restaurants at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club during oyster season. But members of the suburban Chicago club never get bored with the bivalve, because Executive Chef Jeff Seapan keeps coming up with new and creative ways to make the seasonal delight stellar.
SUMMING IT UP
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By sticking with seasonal ingredients as much as possible, Seapan says he can give members and their guests the best quality, while keeping costs in line.
“I might offer five different oyster-based appetizers when they are in season, and each one will sell well,” he says.
At Olympia Fields, Seapan invests as much time and attention putting together his appetizer offerings as he does on the rest of his menus. For him, appetizers are more than just meal starters; they’re an introduction to the club’s focus on food. And for a growing number of diners, they’re becoming the main meal.
Starters To Finish
Over the past year, Seapan has seen a 15% to 20% increase in diners ordering assortments of appetizers in place of regular entrées. Some members are inspired by a favorite appetizer to add sides and create a customized entrée.
As an example, Seapan notes that some members have ordered his lamb meatball appetizer with a side of pasta as their main meal. One member likes to order the escargots with herb butter on top of pasta, rather than the usual puff pastry. The club also lets members order regular menu pasta entrées, such as gnocchi and risotto, in appetizer portions that are less than half the size of entrées.
Seapan attributes the increase in appetizer ordering to the fact that members want to try new things without making the commitment to an entire entrée. Many times, they also want something lighter than a full entrée.
Adam Nickerson, Olympia Fields’ Club Manager, has also been seeing more members order a variety of appetizers to share around the table. To encourage that, the club’s restaurants and bars offer a wide assortment of appetizers that change regularly.
Seapan creates between four and six appetizer options each for the club’s white tablecloth restaurant, family restaurant and men’s grill (they share an appetizer menu), and bars. He does another four for Happy Hour at the pool.
In the Candlelight Room, escargots and foie gras are favorite appetizers. At the AA Stagg Room and The 73rd Hole (men’s lounge), the appetizers, like fried calamari, are more likely to reflect the casual surroundings and lower price points. However, Seapan notes, members are free to order any appetizer from any of the menus in any of the club’s restaurants.
Appetizing Data
Source: Technomic’s Starters, Small Plates & Sides Consumer Trend Report, 2013 |
“If a member wants escargots in the AA Stagg Room or at one of the bars, that’s no problem,” he says.
New Touches and Untouchables
In season, appetizer options at Olympia Fields change every two to three weeks, reflecting the availability of seasonal ingredients and the need to offer variety to members who may dine at the club frequently. In addition, there are daily specials.
“We have members who dine with us four days or six nights a week,” Nickerson explains. “They’re not going to want to see the same items on the menu too often. We have to change up the offerings to keep them interested.”
Member-favorite appetizers that must remain on the club’s menus include the escargots and fried calamari. “These are club classics that we can’t touch—if we removed or changed them, we would really hear about it,” Seapan says. “But as long as the classics are available when our members want them, they are happy to see us try different things.”
The key, says Nickerson, is to recognize and keep the classics that members love, while continually rotating new items in and out. Creating daily specials also allows Seapan to utilize ingredients that have short seasons or are only available in small supply at any given time.
Members have also come to anticipate the seasonal return of some favorites from the rotation. One of these is seared sushi scallops with morels and asparagus, and another is grilled Gulf shrimp with local corn and tomato grits.
Nickerson calls or e-mails some members when foie gras is making an appearance on the menu. The club will also use social media outlets such as Facebook to let members know when some of their favorites will be coming back, and also to introduce new appetizers.
Seapan will change two or three appetizer options at a time on each menu. New items remain for at least two or three weeks, to give them an opportunity to catch on with guests.
For the summer Happy Hour at the pool, Nickerson will often pair wine, cocktails and beers with Seapan’s appetizers, to add interest and promote their trial. Some Happy Hour appetizers, including Baja shrimp taco and Thai seared sushi scallops, have been so well-received that they’ve found their way onto the regular restaurant menus.
Tips for Appetizer Success
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Constant Learning Process
Having been with Olympia Fields for over 22 years, Seapan is pretty tuned in to what the long-time members like. But, he says, every year a number of older members will retire or move away, and they are replaced by new, younger members who are looking for on-trend flavor profiles and presentations.
Seapan is also seeing an increase in member families who are looking for more healthful, vegetarian and gluten-free options—and not just in the entrée section of the menu, but the appetizer one as well.
Over the past 20 years, Olympia Fields CC has gone from being a local club to a more regional one, with guests coming from as far away as 150 to 175 miles (anyone coming from 100 or more miles is referred to as a national member).
“Whether they come alone or bring guests to entertain, they pass many fine restaurants to get here,” Seapan notes. “We have to stay on trend, to give them more reasons to pass those other restaurants by.”
To ensure that the club is competitive with other non-club restaurants, Seapan and Nickerson find out where their members are dining when they are not at the club, and check out those menus online or in person.
“We’ll go in and order eight appetizers, to get the idea of the flavors and presentations that our members are looking for,” Seapan explains. “We also eat out as much as possible in other cities, so we can bring new ideas home, adjust the flavors to our members’ preferences, and try them at the club.”
All Ideas Welcomed
Nickerson jokes that he has two types of pictures on his cellphone—pictures of his daughter, and pictures of food. But actually, appetizer ideas can come from anyone at Olympia Fields. Individuals from any department are encouraged to come to Nickerson or Seapan to suggest a dish he or she has tried in another restaurant.
“They don’t have to know how to make it; they just have to describe the flavors and what the dish looked like,” Seapan says.
During slow periods in the kitchens, the line cooks are also invited to get creative with ingredients.
And when the club is closed from January through mid-March, everyone in the foodservice department is invited to visit vendors and find out what’s new and up-and-coming that could be adapted into an interesting appetizer.
Menu prices at Olympia Fields are based on a cost analysis and consideration of how much members are willing to pay for an appetizer. “It’s hard for us to run an appetizer for more than $10 on the regular menu and $12 as a special feature,” Nickerson says. “We once tried to raise the price on a scallop appetizer to $14, and it didn’t sell. We discovered that once an appetizer gets into the $14 range, members begin to view it more as an entrée.”
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