In three years, Joie de Vivre Hospitality’s food and beverage revenues have grown from $16 million to $70 million—a mix of 65 percent restaurants and bars, 30 percent banquets and catering, and five percent room service. Achieving this growth has required drawing locals as well as guests, which Joie de Vivre achieves by standing out from the crowd.

The San Francisco-based company’s California-only hotels and accompanying F&B concepts celebrate the colorful diversity of West Coast lifestyles, from surfer-sexy chic to Japanese izakaya bars to modern brasseries. As different as these venues are, a common thread runs through the development process. “The first time I met [Founder/CEO] Chip Conley, he stressed the need to drive expansion with an entrepreneurial spirit and a restaurateur mindset,” says Dave Hoemann, Joie de Vivre’s VP of F&B. “The boutique hotel properties all had strong individual personalities and a high level of creativity, and the restaurants needed to exude the same.”

When Hoemann came on board in 2007, Joie de Vivre operated four restaurants, but “there was no real food and beverage strategy,” he says. “In the early years, most of our hotels were smaller, with 40 to 120 rooms. We’re now opening much larger properties, requiring a bolder, more directed F&B vision. Before, we had been dealing mostly with third-party operators, had restaurateurs coming and going, and experienced a loss of control in guest services including banquets, catering, and room service.”

FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL
In 1987, Chip Conley, a 26-year-old Stanford business school graduate, bought his first property. It had been a pay-by-the-hour motel in San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin district, and his dream was to turn the newly named Phoenix into San Francisco’s first rock ‘n’ roll hotel.

Through a niche marketing plan and strong sales effort, Conley realized his goal, and celebrities eventually began flocking there. Miss Pearl’s Jam House, which originally opened at the Phoenix, was a huge part of the draw. With a “let’s party” attitude and Chef Joey Altman’s Afro-Caribbean cuisine, Miss Pearl’s became a favorite hangout for drinking and schmoozing.

In developing properties, Conley looks less at traditional age and income demographics and more at psychographics: personalities, values, attitudes, and lifestyles. He takes inspiration from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and applies it to his business, focusing on high-level self-actualization for employees, customers, and investors.

In his approach to team building, Conley not only aggressively pursues seasoned, tested pros such as Hoemann, but he also spots young talent with potential for growth and innovation.

Before being invited to join Joie de Vivre, Hoemann’s stint with Levy Restaurants helped him hone business acumen and solid operational knowledge. At Lettuce Entertain You, marketing and guest experience were stressed. Food integrity and business expansion were the focus when he was with Mark Miller’s Coyote Cafe restaurants. In a consulting gig with HMSHost, Hoemann worked with major players redefining airport concepts. And health and nutrition were emphasized during his time with Compass Group.

“Then one day I got a call from a quirky company I had experienced and enjoyed while on the road,” Hoemann recalls. “There was a special attitude, enthusiasm, and warmth that could be felt at Joie de Vivre hotels. I couldn’t resist [the opportunity].” Joie de Vivre lacked a cohesive strategy to handle upcoming growth at the time, Hoemann says, but he was prepared to draw upon his experience and accept the challenge of developing that plan.

COMMUNITY WELCOME MATS
The goal was to create boutique restaurants that enhance the guest experience at the hotels while also serving the local community and “playing to the streets,” Hoemann says. “We view the restaurants as welcome mats to the communities. Our restaurants are often the only part of the properties local clientele touch. When their experience is positive, it makes the property top of mind regarding catered events and room referrals for visiting friends, family, and business associates.”

Most Joie de Vivre properties have limited banquet and catering space—somewhere between 3,000 and 10,000 square feet—and appeal to a traditional mix of business and social groups. And, like the hotels, space varies in size and shape.

“One element, however, is unique and consistent,” says Hoemann. “We carry the vibe of the property and essence of the restaurant into catering menus. Our new waterfront Hotel Maya in Long Beach, for example, has a relaxing ambience, with its restaurant Fuego featuring modern coastal Mexican cuisine. For catering, we promote outdoor cooking: traditional barbacoa, Baja-style lobster roasts, tequila tastings, and such. These concepts are much more experiential and memorable than traditional plated meals,” Hoemann says.

Morgan Plant, now regional director for F&B operations, came to Joie de Vivre five years ago to open the company’s first branded restaurant, Americano at Hotel Vitale, the company’s first luxury new-build property. In San Francisco’s financial district, Americano offers modern Italian cuisine and attracts a young, hip crowd.

“It’s a place to be seen,” Plant says. And a farmers’ market is across the street, a reminder of Joie de Vivre’s long-standing commitment to seasonal, sustainable food. “Our brand positioning as a company is that we are a bit like a farmers’ market: fresh, changing, and seasonal.”

Before joining Joie de Vivre, Plant worked with Avenir Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotels, and Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. Conley initially talked to her about operating a vegan restaurant but ended up convincing her to take on the Hotel Vitale project instead.

Although at first lukewarm about returning to hotels, Plant says, “Conley sold me on the merits of a long-term career with a hotel company rather than a standalone. It was a rare opportunity to have someone turn over a restaurant to me and say, ‘make it happen.’

Plant reiterates the goal of creating an F&B concept that uniquely identifies with a particular market. Hoping to be everyone’s favorite neighborhood spot, “we have town hall meetings to see what the community needs.”

That’s how Miss Pearl’s Jam House was reincarnated at the Waterfront Hotel in Oakland. “The locals wanted urban ethnicity, nothing pretentious,” Plant explains. “Joey Altman came back, and, 20 years later, Miss Pearl is a little more worldly and all grown up.”

CULINARY OVERSIGHT
Hoemann crossed paths with Jennifer Cox a couple of times before she came to Joie de Vivre to oversee the culinary component. A background in communications and sales preceded Cox’s time in culinary school. Stints with Barbara Tropp’s China Moon Cafe, Elizabeth Falkner’s Citizen Cake, and Levy Restaurant Group (where she met Hoemann) expanded her repertoire. Cox joined Joie de Vivre as director of culinary/ executive chef nearly two years ago.

“We are very particular in choosing our chefs and receive 85 to 100 applicants for every position,” Cox says. “But what we had were chefs with no culinary oversight. Before, we had no menu continuity in individual hotels. Now, the chefs email or text menus to me so I can ensure concept and pricing integrity,” Cox continues. “At first, they weren’t sure if I was just consulting or had real influence. It was a bit of a struggle.

“What’s interesting is if you walk into one JdV restaurant and then into another, you’d never know they’re managed by the same company. The food, décor, and styles are all different,” she says, “but the attitude is very JdV.”

OPERATION RECESSION-PROOF
“Generally speaking, fast-casual and casual dining concepts are stronger than fine dining right now,” Hoemann observes. “Our best performing concepts are our fast-casual locations that are down just 10 percent. Casual dining is down 15 percent, and fine dining is off 20 percent.

“Although it varies by location, happy hours are jammed, and beer sales are going through the roof,” says Hoemann. “We’ve toned some things down. Breakfast menus were scaled back, and we’ve adjusted room service menus to offer more casual items. There’s growth in bar food. And we see a real trend in entrée platters that can be shared by two to six people.”

“It helps that we’re not so branded that we have the flexibility to go with the traffic,” Plant says. “In Sacramento, we recently opened Grange, a farm-to-table concept, and were a little worried. But it’s now the busiest restaurant in town.

“Lack of rigidity can have its downfall,” Plant admits. “Sometimes it would be great to have the same plan for all openings, but that would take the soul out of it. Joie de Vivre is all about individuality. People who thrive here are entrepreneurial and don’t need a lot of direction.”

HOSPITALITY PHILOSOPHY
Joie de Vivres’s standard operating procedures, called Peak Operating Procedures (POPs), borrow from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and six disciplines are taught: restaurant marketing, kitchen management, beverage management, food and beverage controls, safety/sanitation, and hospitality/ service. All chefs and F&B managers are required to take classes and learn the disciplines.

“We tend to teach philosophy to empower managers and encourage chefs to work with an entrepreneurial attitude instead of providing step-by-step how to’s,” Hoemann says. “Employees are given latitude with gratitude. They are encouraged to figure out what makes guests tick. It all comes from the heart.”

Margaret Rose Caro has covered the hospitality industry for 20 years, as founding editor of HOTEL F&B, contributing editor for HOSPITALITY DESIGN, and managing editor of LODGING. Also a painter, she is currently producing a series of hotel chef portraits.