Steve Giblin can remember past meetings in which he mindlessly consumed thousands of calories in chips, candy, and sodas, with nothing to show for it except a stomachache and eventual sugar crash.

Giblin, president/CEO of Dolce Hotels & Resorts, says the inclusion of “superfoods” into Dolce break menus makes clients feel better physically, promoting productivity and higher energy levels. Superfoods, foods containing high levels of essential plant nutrients, are believed to offer serious health benefits. [See “A Sampling of Superfoods” below for a partial list of these foods.] As part of a rebranding announced last August, the company puts enormous focus on nourishing guests by incorporating superfoods into all menus.

Refreshment break menus, an afterthought at some hotel companies, are given top priority. “Interesting food and beverage drives the success of a meeting,” says Andy Dolce, founder, chairman, and managing director of Dolce Hotels & Resorts. “If the emphasis is not there, meeting attendees are unhappy and not as productive. We blow it.”

In this do-or-die vein, Dolce’s 24 North American and European properties strive to deliver unique and delectable F&B offerings at meetings, which account for 65 percent of the company’s F&B revenue. “Our refreshment breaks are considered as important as breakfast and lunch,” says Giblin. “We want clients to walk into a breakout area and say, ‘Wow, this is why we chose Dolce.’ To distinguish ourselves—and to spark interest and promote conversation—we offer regional varieties of fresh, healthful, colorful foods that are creatively presented.

“We’re hoping that by offering these healthier foods, clients will appreciate that we care about their personal health and well-being as well as the success of their meetings,” Giblin says.

“Now,” he adds, “we don’t cut out the junk food entirely, because people have their favorites. We just scale it back. Then we display superfoods in interesting ways to attract attention, or we try to capture interest with a healthy action station.”

This plan is still being implemented at Dolce, says Corporate Executive Chef Eddie Palomino, who travels to each property and discusses superfoods with F&B directors and chefs. Palomino always carries at least one of several best-selling books on the phenomenon in his briefcase.

“We’ve asked all Dolce culinary staff and F&B directors at individual properties to read these books and incorporate the foods into their menus,” Palomino says. “In addition, we host culinary training programs with our top chefs, and we formed an advisory committee to help with research and implementation of the program. I meet with them monthly to discuss any issues properties might be having. Overall, though, we give each chef the reins in developing creative dishes that reflect their property’s region and personality.”

DOLCE BASKING RIDGE, BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY
Dolce’s Basking Ridge property is host to approximately 700 meetings annually, so it is a fitting test site for new superfood offerings.

“More than a year before the August announcement, we began testing various healthy items by including them in our refreshment breaks. Because we offer Complete Meeting Packages (CMPs) and prices weren’t affected, we could add the items to menus with little questioning by the client,” says Andrew Christie, director of operations. A standard used by many conference center hotels and most Dolce properties, the CMP per person rate includes guestrooms, meals, breaks, and meeting space with all necessary equipment. Even though healthier items often come with higher costs, Christie says neither the client nor the hotel suffers financial loss. “By keeping our menu offerings seasonal and local and making most of the items in-house instead of outsourcing, we manage to keep our costs down.”

The five-day rotational morning break menu includes unique presentations such as blueberry martinis, fresh local blueberries topped with yogurt and cassis and served in a martini glass; wheatgrass shooters, puréed and strained wheatgrass served in shot glasses; and pastry shooters, seasonal berries and fruit juice topped with pastry cream and coconut. Heartier but still healthy fare is offered in the form of daily house-made muffins (cappuccino, corn, cinnamon apple, seasonal berry), Danish (cheese-blueberry, banana-walnut), fruit fritters with assorted dipping sauces, and savory scones (prosciutto-parmesan, cheddar-ham). Fresh juice concoctions beyond the traditional orange or apple are served daily and include such flavors as carrot, cucumber, ginger, celery-lime, and cantaloupe-papaya.

“We try to keep morning breaks as healthy as possible, and even though people like their sweets in the morning, they’re getting mostly natural sugar highs from fruits and juices,” says Christie. “In the afternoons, we tend to cave in and offer up the candy, but in smaller portions and alongside tempting nutritious offerings that are hard to pass up.” These beckoning p.m. items include maple-glazed duck on potato pancakes, southwestern shrimp salad with ancho mayonnaise in corn tortilla cups, polenta and mascarpone cakes with prosciutto, ginger, and sweet chili cured salmon salad on fried wonton skins, and ponzu marinated tuna tartare on Asian spoons.

“Our breaks are not about quantity, they’re about quality,” Christie says. “We have a variety of the right things made and presented well.”

DOLCE VALLEY FORGE, KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Another East Coast property, Dolce Valley Forge, was recently added to the Dolce family and just finished a $17 million renovation. Stan Adams, F&B director, says the newness of the property and menus has infused an entrepreneurial spirit into the Valley Forge staff.

“We are all new at the superfood thing, but we are having fun experimenting with the meeting break menus and testing them on clients,” says Adams. “We pull what doesn’t work and beef up what does, and we do that on a daily basis. It makes life interesting.”

Adams says most of his clients book three-day meetings. On the first day, they typically crave sugar. Items such as Pop-Tarts, cookies, and penny candy fly off the break tables on a Monday, but by Tuesday, clients are ready for healthier fare.

“That’s when we slip in the superfoods,” Adams says. “We know they’ve had enough junk because they’ve practically cleaned us out the day before. Now it’s time to present some healthy options.”

Items such as made-to-order organic smoothies with fresh fruits, yogurt, honey, and soy milk have made a splash with Valley Forge clients, as have fruit juice martinis. An attendant uses a martini shaker to mix up juices such as apple, grape, açai, pomegranate, orange, and pineapple and serves each fruit cocktail in a martini glass. Another use for the martini glass comes in the form of crudite martinis, an assortment of baby carrots, lightly blanched green beans, celery, and cucumber sticks drizzled with an herbed yogurt sauce. A make-your-own bruschetta station, where guests choose from toppings such as eggplant tapenade, pesto, olive tapenade, and goat cheese, has also passed the popularity test.

“We’re finding that guests feel special when portions are individualized and customized to their tastes,” says Adams. “Small plates have been popular for a while, and they make sense in the meeting setting. People don’t want to fuss with large portions when they’re trying to talk, walk, and eat all at the same time.”

ASPEN MEADOWS RESORT, ASPEN, COLORADO
Surrounded by the Colorado Rockies and located on 42 acres of manicured lawns and wooded paths, it’s little wonder that the Zen-like Aspen Meadows has seen a seamless conversion to the new superfood break menus. The property was originally owned and managed by the Aspen Institute, an international non-profit organization that hosts seminars and forums on topics ranging from corporate values and religion to human rights and the environment. Now managed by Dolce, Aspen Meadows still attributes 80 percent of their summer meeting business directly to the institute. This international think-tank demographic appears more open to new gastronomic experiences.

“Our meeting menus have always been healthier than most,” says Jason MacEachen, director of conference services. “But the major changes here are that we’re zeroing in on superfoods, and we’re working to make meetings sustainable because our clients demand it. We buy locally, make a majority of our offerings in-house, and serve smaller portions in lower quantities to reduce waste.”

To make these changes feasible in the meetings setting, Aspen Meadows hired a banquet chef dedicated solely to meeting breaks. He makes menu items fresh daily, and when the conference staff sees an item rapidly depleting, he is on call to whip up a replacement batch. “Although more labor is attached to this system,” MacEachen says, “there is less waste and more of a ‘wow’ factor. Everything is fresh and hot out of the oven. That blows clients away.”

Particularly mind-blowing baked goods on the rotating morning break menu include cranberry wheat and red pepper/cheddar cheese scones; chocolate raspberry and lemon poppy seed muffins; zucchini, carrot-raisin, and five-spice breads; and French toast sticks with mint macerated berry sauce. Appealing to local and international taste buds, the afternoon menu hosts a Colorado trout and smoked salmon display with accoutrements such as onion, capers, tomatoes, eggs, and sauces; double corn tortilla casserole with eggs, pinto beans, green peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and salsa; antipasto display with smoked meats, cheeses, caper berries, and pickled okra; and baked vegetarian spring rolls with soy and Thai chili sauce.

“One other change for us is our meeting room snacks,” says MacEachen. “Instead of bowls filled with assorted candies, our old standard, we now place a delicate glass plate in front of every place setting. On it are three small dishes holding almonds, dried cranberries, and dried apricots. We place a little spoon on the plate, and it makes for a natural, minimalist presentation as well as a healthy snack. Our clients love it.”

LAKEWAY RESORT & SPA, AUSTIN, TEXAS
At Lakeway Resort & Spa, conference planning staff are excited about the new superfood breaks as well as the decorating options that come with them. “Maybe because we do a lot of themed banquets and special events, we tend to take the presentation of our meeting breaks just as seriously,” says Laura Campbell, conference planning manager. “We’re happy to have the superfood breaks because they’re good for our clients, but also because we have fun with the theme.”

Using props such as rows of live wheatgrass, bamboo shoots, wood and glass platforms, river rocks, and dozens of live plants and flowers, Campbell and her staff create a naturalist vibe clients love. “And whole fruits like pineapples, pomegranates, and bunches of bananas, as well as whole vegetables like artichokes, zucchini, eggplant, and red potatoes are strategically placed on the tables,” Campbell says.

Fresh examples from morning breaks include assorted sliced fruits and berries with cinnamon pecan yogurt dip; breads, muffins, and scones with house-made spreads such as pecan honey butter and spicy mango jelly; yogurt shooters topped with cranberry-orange or maple granola; pomegranate juice; and prickly pear cactus or banana almond smoothies. Savory menu items on the break have a mostly southwestern slant, since Campbell says it’s important to give clients a true taste of Austin.

“We’ll serve three different iron skillets filled with black beans, egg beaters with tomatoes and sautéed asparagus, and “migas” (eggs, tortilla strips, red pepper, onion, cheese, and chorizo),” says Campbell. “We have a make-your-own breakfast taco station, where chefs roll out tortillas by hand, and the décor is Mexican blankets, blue glass and china, and lots of native plants. We decorate thoughtfully and artfully, as if there were going to be a photo shoot of our meeting breaks every single day.”

At all 24 Dolce properties, the superfood menus will be influenced by client demographics, regional flavors, and even the personalities of the people creating the dishes. But the universal similarity, according to Chef Palomino, is reminiscent of something your mother might say. “It’s for your own good!”

Ashley Brown Allen is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.