7food trends expected to continue through 2012 include: health, convenience, premium and indulgence, ethnic influences, “free-from” foods, good versus bad fats and “bespoke” (made-to-order) foods.
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The drive continues for club food and service to stand up to five-star scrutiny-and stand on its own financially, too.
Clubs aren’t just for bad breakfast anymore—or any other mediocre meal for that matter. Are club dining facilities being upscaled because the food’s so much better, or are the better facilities the reason for the better food? While it’s something of a chicken-and-egg conundrum, in the end it really doesn’t matter; the result is a win-win all around, with happier chefs, managers, members and directors/owners.
While clubs like Stonebridge Golf Links & CC are riding this wave to capture much bigger chunks of the daily dining market and the lucrative banquet and event business, resorts aren’t standing idly by. They continue to aggressively extend their culinary reach as well, both to guests and to locals. After a very satisfying year all around, here are some of the more interesting developments to digest:
Play It Where It Lies—In the Broccoli Raab
An article in the Omaha World-Herald described the successful efforts of the Omaha Country Club to incorporate “course-grown” vegetables and herbs into its culinary program. Jennifer James, horticulturist at the 465-member club, maintains a 50-by-50-foot garden—located just off the ninth fairway near the grounds maintenance building—for plants that are started from seeds in the club’s greenhouse.
James was encouraged to develop the garden, which produces enough to supply all of the ingredients for a new vegetable medley with herb sauce that’s been added to the menu by new Club Manager John Schuler, who had similar success at the Woodway Country Club in Connecticut.
Omaha CC’s 19-year Executive Chef, Lionel Have, says the home-grown produce inspires him by evoking memories of his native France. The crop has become so bountiful that Schuler is even thinking of offering a Saturday or Sunday farmers market in the club parking lot to let members take some of the surplus. After all, he notes, the club is “supposed to be their home away from home.”
Dry Doesn’t Mean Goodbye
Not being licensed to serve doesn’t keep a property from becoming a great destination, and may actually be a plus with certain groups. In an update on Native American-owned resort properties in Meeting News magazine, one meeting planner surveyed attendees of a trade show that brought 1,500 people to Mystic Lake Resort & Casino in Prior Lake, Minn., and found that “it made no difference” that the resort is alcohol-free. In another survey of 1,000 land surveyors to a conference and show at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., respondents said it was “not a deterrent” that Turning Stone didn’t have a liquor license (the Oneida Indian Nation-owned resort, which has five golf courses and hosts 1,000 conferences a year, has applied for a license; without one, it has allowed groups or off-site caterers to bring their own alcohol).
What’s Bad for the Goose…At the end of the summer, club diners in Chicago had to bid farewell to foie gras, a long-time culinary favorite. The buttery delicacy made with duck and goose liver was banned by the Chicago City Council in response to pressure from animal rights activists who protested the force-feeding that enlarges the birds’ organs.
Before the ban took effect, some clubs concocted special sendoff menus with the dish featured in every course—seared, chilled, included in salads and made into sauce. Foie gras enthusiasts are suing to have the ban lifted, and holding fundraisers and circulating petitions to support the fight.
With similar bans now being considered in other cities, such as Philadelphia, distributors, producers and processors have formed the North American Foie Gras Association and hired a lobbyist to carry their cause.
More than a dozen European countries have outlawed production of the dish.
Da Red, or Da White?
Just about every club has had great success with wine tastings, but most F&B?managers will admit they’re only attracting a small segment of their membership with these events. The opportunity to expand their appeal, and reach out to the club’s “harder core,” may have come. This fall, legendary Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka rolled out a line of five wines (that’s five, not fine). Produced by the Ukiah, Calif. vineyard of the Mendocino Wine Co., vintages include a chardonnay, cabernet savignon, merlot, pinot grigio and “Kick Ass Red”—a blend of zinfandel, syrah and petite syrah with a suggested retail of $49.99 (available from that noted fine spirits distributor, Costco).
But We Have Some Suspicious Hoofprints…
Finally, in a year that brought more recalls, bans and food-related health scares than usual, props have to be given to a California health official, Kevin Reilly, for trying to keep things light during the e-coli panic that was eventually traced to bad spinach from his state. Pressed for details about the nearby cattle ranch that was suspected to be the source of the problem, Reilly told the press, “We do not have a smoking cow at this point.”
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