We at Hotel F&B are sad about the loss of Benchmark’s F&B leader, Bob Zappatelli. Last year, Bob accepted our invitation to join the HFB Corporate Editorial Advisory Board and we were thrilled to have him. He generously gave his time for several interviews, detailing Benchmark’s F&B initiatives and sharing his highly distinctive observations and knowledge about the hotel foodservice profession. Our industry relations editor, Michael Costa, remembers their first interview:

“I first talked to Bob on the phone about Benchmark’s F&B programs, and I was struck immediately by his abundance of passion. He wasn’t communicating in corporate-speak, but true off-the-cuff passion—the kind that comes from someone who absolutely loves what he does, and wants you to love it too. He was also very funny, and would interject his humor into opinions of certain F&B concepts and ideas. I talk to a lot of hotel F&B professionals, and I don’t remember ever laughing as much as I did with Bob. He was open, honest, and full of great F&B ideas. One-of-a-kind, and he will certainly be missed.”

In Bob’s honor, Hotel F&B will make a memorial contribution to the Bob Zappatelli Culinary Arts Scholarship administered by the James Beard Foundation. Donations can be made by calling 212-675-4984, ask for Special Giving.

Below is his complete obituary.

Jeanne Bischoff
VP/Publisher
Hotel F&B Magazine

The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, June 3, 2009 … Bob Zappatelli, Benchmark Hospitality’s beloved Vice President of Food and Beverage, unexpectedly and peacefully passed away Sunday, May 31st, 2009. His loss is profoundly felt by all who knew him.

Bob Zappatelli was a great man, an inspiring leader, and a devoted friend. He expertly served the people and customers of Benchmark Hospitality International for 15 years and in a multitude of capacities. These included as Executive Chef, Director of Food & Beverage, General Manager, Corporate Food & Beverage Director, and eventually Vice President of Food & Beverage — Benchmark’s first! During these years, Bob oversaw the opening or re-concepting of 50 restaurants and lounges.

“Bob’s contributions to Benchmark Hospitality were innumerable and absolutely invaluable,” said Burt Cabañas, chairman and chief executive officer. “He has left an indelible imprint on our company and on all of the lives he touched. He is profoundly missed.”

At every step along his career path, Bob Zappatelli mentored his staff, developed cutting-edge culinary teams, created innovative dining experiences for guests, and helped his team members grow and develop as master chefs, food & beverage directors, experts in hotel & resort operations, and masters in customer service.

To know Bob Zappatelli was to love him. A generous man and always the educator, Bob never said no … rather, he’d meet a unique challenge head on with “I think we can do that,” and then proceed to do so with style, taste, and an immense amount of perseverance and enthusiasm. No one carried on quite like Bob carried on!

A New Jersey native, the Garden State never really left Bob, as he would fondly reflect upon. This immensely talented, marvelously gifted man could talk the language of New Jersey’s neighborhoods and then eloquently discuss with New York’s most sophisticated gourmands the intricacies of fine cuisine prepared by his chefs at the nation’s temple to the culinary arts, the James Beard House in Manhattan.

Much like James Beard, Bob Zappatelli lived large and at full throttle. He loved his craft, adored his team of gifted culinary experts, relished teaching, and was invigorated by the joy of bringing disparate people together in a common understanding and appreciation through the sharing of great food, drink and conversation.

Bob Zappatelli was a great man, a devoted husband, a superb chef, a benevolent mentor and an excellent vice president! He is irreplaceable and is sorely missed. And if he were still with us, he’d gather us around, prepare a superb dinner, serve an excellent wine, and discuss the pleasures of pairing fine food and wine all the while regaling us with his razor-sharp observations of where dining in America is trending now and in the future. That’s what Bob was about … celebrating the present with a keen eye to tomorrow.

For a complete biography of Bob Zappatelli, please reference: http://benchmarkhospitality.com/Media_Center/Executive_Bios.asp

The idea with a group purchasing organization (GPO) is quite simple. You pull together many organizations to give them purchasing power they would not be able to gain on their own. In any business, purchasing volume is where the negotiating power is.

Stuart Sherman is president of S. Sherman Associates, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He took some time out of his busy schedule to answer questions for us about his company and what it does.

Q. Can you give me a little history on S. Sherman Associates?
A. The Company was begun in 1977 with our first major client, Summa Corporation in Las Vegas.

Q. How many employees do you have? Do you have people who specialize in certain areas?
A. We have a total of 7 associates at this time. While each of the associates wears many hats, each one focuses on key areas (i.e., invoice auditing, food analysis, labor and process, etc).

Q. Who is your client base?
A. Our client base is centered in the 4- and 5-star hotel industry. We are now taking on a few upscale restaurant operators.

Q. Where are your clients located?
A. Our clients, past and present, are in more than 16 countries.

Q. When organizations retain you, what services do you provide? How does your process work?
A. In a nutshell, it is our primary goal to reduce food costs and improve the P&L for the F&B operations including labor through stable and auditable purchase programs and internal process re-engineering.

Q. What are some of the purchasing opportunities that you help your clients capitalize on?
A. Over the past 33 years, we have developed and implemented programs with manufacturers and distributors to establish simple and reliable specification and delivery programs to assure the receipt of goods of consistent specifications necessary for the delivery of end-user products at good and fair pricing built on an auditable and negotiated mark-up structure, most of which are based on the underlying commodity costs and formulas thereof.

Q. Would organizations from small restaurants to multi-billion dollar operations realize any benefit working with an organization such as yours?
A. Of course. But we usually do not work with clients who purchase less than one million dollars in food per location per year. This is meant to insure our supply partners a certain level of efficient operation and cost/profit ratio.

Q. I am sure that you sometimes get resistance when working with clients. What are some of the common things organizations and individuals within the organization resist when you make your recommendations?
A. To facilitate great results, there must be great change. That change takes place in numerous ways, including labor, processes, and menu evaluation. These all involve personalities, and these personalities have “ownership.” Ownership often evolves ego, and egos get bruised in the implementation of the changes.

Q. In this business, you really cannot guarantee much. However, do you have an average percentage your company saves on food cost for new clients?
A. Over the past 33 years, we seem to average 2 to 5 point reductions in the F&B P&L. Our mean average would be around 10 percent.

Q. Would you have any recommendations for organizations that are thinking about retaining an organization such as yours?
A. Chaos! You must have great change to get great results. Doing the same thing over and over only assures the same result.

Stuart’s organization is one of many available to help operations achieve improved results. Some hospitality operations have achieved great results by going down this path. Variables such as the size of your operation, chain affiliation, proximity to vendors, and willingness to make changes impact any potential results. Ultimately, your organization must do its diligence to see if a group purchasing organization could add value to your operation.

Many hotels use a control system for requisitioning food, beverages, and supplies from a central inventory.  The steward may be responsible for both purchasing and stock control. Some operations split these responsibilities, depending on volume, and use more than one person. There is a tendency to overkill this valuable control tool.

The manufacturing approach to inventory control offers a great comparison to the hospitality industry. It is common for manufacturers to classify stock items as A, B, or C items.  The A items are high-volume, big-impact items that make up 70 to 80% of purchasing volume. Most B items are lower volume items that tend to have a high cost per unit. The C group is typically the low-volume, low-impact, lower-cost-per-unit items. 

I find that too much time is spent controlling the C items in our hospitality industry. Many operations spend the same energy documenting these minor items as they do with a case of lobster tails. Since time is money, the time spent documenting transfers of toothpicks, ground nutmeg, and other similar items is rarely justified by the benefit.  If possible, a small open storage area could be setup to handle many of these low-impact inventory components.

On inventory day, the frozen lobster tails may be off by 2 cases.  If the control team is lost in a jungle of too many transfer sheets with too many entries, the time needed to solve the shortage may not be spent. Hotels often stock more than 2,000 unique food, beverage and supply items.  I urge you to try the manufacturer’s approach and focus on the A items.

I’m contemplating my headstone.

I’m not dying and not planning on it anytime soon. I’m not “dark,” nor am I a fatalist. I’m not even truly sitting here wistfully contemplating my mortality with existential thoughts of the great beyond.

Those who know me can tell you I’m not all that wistful…ever. But my headstone puzzles me. How do I want to be remembered? Go with elegant and understated? Elegant and understated fits me like a donkey in a tuxedo. Perhaps a granite structure in the shape of a Jack Daniels’ bottle with a CD of all my favorite songs on motion-sensor repeating loops (clearly my favorite; I’m sure the Mighty Dozen would agree)? But what would it say? As much as I talk in real life, I want the stone to be short, sweet, and to the point.

A Good Man and a Good Chef

Now one might ask why I didn’t mention my wife and children? My love for them borders on fanatical, but loving your children and being in love with your wife are all part of being a good man. So are integrity, character, and a long list of other attributes that I hope I have or will learn before that final day.

A Good Chef…that’s a little harder.

Esquire magazine recently did an entire issue on how to be a man. It spoke of things good men do. It made me think of chefs. Fellow blogger and very talented chef Len Elias made a very succinct and well-written list of the levels of “cheffiness.” A thinking man, which I try to be on occasion, would say he gave us the destination.

Having that, it made me think that maybe we should discuss the trip. It also made me realize that someone should write some things down while in the midst of trying to become that ever-elusive “good chef.” Stuff I’ve figured out; stuff I’m still figuring out; stuff I may never figure out. I may be strong like bull and smart like tractor, but I do know some stuff. So here goes:

Good Chefs are great cooks. They love the process, the ingredients, and the traditions. They are passionate about flavor and presentation and will spend hours coaxing flavor and tenderness out of something a tiger would say was a little “chewy.” Cooking isn’t enough, however. I know great cooks who aren’t chefs, just like I know some “chefs” who aren’t good cooks.

Good Chefs know how to use their equipment, every single piece of it. Whether it’s in a micro-sized mom and pop or a monster hotel “so big you could park airplanes in it” culinary factory, they know it all: which fryer cooks hotter, which oven is off by 20 degrees, how to make the Robot Coupe work even when that plastic safety stem is broken. They know this because the show must go on…always.

Good Chefs are teachers, first, last, and always. Naturally, they teach their staffs, but cooks can do that. Chefs teach the waitstaff. Chefs teach catering managers and convention service managers. Chefs teach the public about their food. Good chefs give it away.

Good Chefs know all the swear words but also know it’s not cool to use them most of the time. Good Chefs also know they can most likely drink you under the table, even if it’s a skill you’ll never witness. Good Chefs don’t have nights out with the boys if the boys include members of his staff.

Good Chefs read and read a lot. They realize that none of us knows everything about our profession, but boy do we want to. Good Chefs can also write. It may not ever be anything more than a clear menu description or a staff review, but they can put sentences together in a clear, concise manner.

Good Chefs have a sense of humor. There is a time and place for it, but they like to laugh. Passionate people always do.

Good Chefs make it their business to know other chefs. We know we are competitors, rivals even, but we also know we are our own support system. We go out of our way to help other chefs.

Good Chefs bring it when they don’t have to. They push the quality of the $18 dollar lunch as much as the $80 dinner. They stay and do dish-up even after 14 hours. They work 16-hour days and 18-day weeks. They call on their days off even though they know everything should be okay. Good Chefs are somewhat knuckleheaded in this area. They have trouble “letting go.”

Looking over this list, it’s shorter than one might expect, but it’s a work in progress, like all good journeys are. Some of the things on here would indicate that I’m not yet a good chef, but I’d like to think I’m on my way. I know for a fact that all the great, even simply good, chefs I know are first and foremost good men and good women. I’d like to be in their company and be able to expand this list as time and experience allow. I want to be a good man and a good chef.

And when it comes to the end, I hope someone thinks enough of me to put it on my headstone.

The need for well-rounded chefs and hospitality professionals has never been more critical. Reductions in corporate and consumer spending, shrinking margins, distracted labor pools, and government mandates are just a few of the challenges we face as an industry. Add to that the necessity of producing superior, consistent, and profitable foods in a clean efficient facility, and you begin to separate the amateurs from the pros.

A recent drive down a heavily populated strip of Atlanta area highway illustrates my point. Evidence of the times were displayed at regular intervals; boarded up mom and pops, closed chain affiliates and once popular chef-proprietor white tablecloth restaurants were all causalities littering the landscape.

Our most important asset and liability is our labor. Without strong leadership skills, a team behind you, and a healthy working environment, you would not be able to complete the rest of the package. You can’t do it yourself; you need others to buy in and contribute. Understanding your team’s motivation allows you to connect and assist them in reaching their potential and contributing to the organization’s success. Here are a few common types of employees you may encounter. There are many associates who will cross boundaries, of course.

Workers are the backbone of the industry. First and foremost, they need a paycheck. Most are hardworking, predictable, and dependable. Treat them with respect, pay them fairly, and you may get the results you expect. Staff at this level attend meetings and agree in principle to developmental directives, concepts, and vision but will exert little energy towards extracurricular activities that will keep them from their second job or family priorities. Positive public praise for a job well done, respect, and appreciation are powerful motivators for this group.

Semi-Pros also put quality of life before work. They work in the industry because that’s what they have always done. Most staff at this level are fast, efficient, and do a great job. Semi-Pros are proud of their accomplishments and need to be recognized for their achievements. Most think about advancement, developing skills, and cross-training but rarely do anything about it. The concept of self-development for their own greater good without immediate rewards or paybacks is a major deterrent to their future growth. Setting baby steps that lead to achieving goals helps build confidence by illustrating their potential.

Second Career Cooks have become the largest group of applicants showing up at HR departments these days. Applicants are in their late 20s to mid 30s, smart and career-minded. Some drawbacks are the lack of inherent skills and kitchen savvy. Unlike Workers and Semi-Pros, they did not spend years building their skills foundation and overall industry knowledge. Salary expectations and opportunities for advancement are often unrealistic, creating underlying frustration and tension. Straightforward and honest feedback is the only way to help this group move along.

The Pros have many years of experience combined with education. Participation in industry events and the desire to progress put this group in high demand. Pros always stand out from the crowd and can be counted on to execute at the highest level. As difficult as it may be for some of us to do, point these people in the right direction, set parameters and expectations, then get out of the way. You can’t do it yourself.

We have recently completed our vast expansion at Potawatomi Bingo Casino that started almost a year ago. You can read more about it in my earlier post, Opening Soon. Without a doubt, it has been very challenging and tiring at times. Busy periods have been followed by some slow times, but it all has been exciting and rewarding.

In March, we invited the public to our open house introducing them to Woodland Dreams, one of three new banquet spaces we have added. The theme of the event was “Treasures or the Caribbean” and had more than 500 guests in attendance, including potential future clients such as corporate meeting planners, Visit Milwaukee representatives, vendors, media partners, business owners, and others qualified by the catering sales team.

This expansion includes RuYi, the Asian concept opened on Memorial Day weekend, together with our focal point on the new casino floor, Bar 360. RuYi offers a Pan-Asian menu, with everything from Hmong to Vietnamese, from Japanese to Chinese, and even an item or two from Singapore as well as the Philippines.

RuYi is conveniently located in the heart of the casino complex. The dining space, while casual, is richly detailed. Curved walls and tables surfaced in gold and red-orange hues add to the experience. Of the two counters, both of which are topped with stone, one has kitchen views where the busy chefs can be glimpsed at work.

By June, we were busy putting final touches on our 7000-square foot production Kitchen. This new space includes a butcher shop, garde manger, hot kitchen, and a cook-chill operation with two 100-gallon kettles and a turbojet cook-chill tank, as well as a fully equipped pastry department to support our ten foodservice venues catering to the six million visitors we expect this year.

Our new buffet followed. Located adjacent to the production kitchen, we feature eight food stations offering salads, seafood, Latin, Mediterranean, Asian, American cuisine, and, of course, pastries and baked goods. These stations are more mini kitchens where our talented and friendly culinarians cook many dishes in front of the guest, where service is provided with a sassy but classy attitude.

June 11th kicked off the opening festivities with more than 3,000 visitors showing up for the open house. The F&B department was geared up to provide great foodservice. Grand Opening Day, June 19th, was the official opening of the new casino areas, now featuring over 750,000 square feet of gaming, entertainment, and F&B facilities. Close to 30,000 visitors showed and the casino gave away $1 million dollars in prizes that day.
Read more of this >>

The hottest electronic gaming system for 2009 continues to be the Nintendo Wii. More than 17 million units have sold to date, including 4 million in November and December of 2008. In our lodging industry, Nintendo product trials have occurred at Westin and Marriott. A simple Google search can provide information on these trials in hotels.

So how can you use this affordable technology to drive increased F&B sales in your hotel operations?

The device is easily connected in a hotel lounge or bar area. With the addition of a Wii to a bar, customers stay and play for hours longer than usual. Given the different sports that can be played on the Wii, football, baseball, or basketball could be incorporated into a theme of the sporting event of the day. In ski resort area hotels, for example, the new Wii Fit has skiing competitions for lounge patrons.

Given the different sports that can be played on the Wii, football, baseball, or basketball could be incorporated into a theme of the sporting event of the day. In ski resort area hotels, for example, the new Wii Fit has skiing competitions for lounge patrons.

For fitness addicts, an in room Wii Fit attached to the TV allows guests to do yoga and pilates in their own rooms. This may appeal to female business travelers not wanting to work out in the public workout room of the hotel. Tying a spa menu to the Wii Fit in-room could upsell to the fitness market segment.

For convention center hotels, the Wii Fit could be incorporated into the mid-morning or mid-afternoon break. Call it a fitness break, where conferees can really stretch and get a little exercise using the Wii after sitting in sessions. We have found this actually stimulates conversation and networking. The Wii break could also be sponsored by a company as a new and innovative type of sponsorship offering: “The Wii Fitness Break sponsored by…” Nutritious foods can be offered during the breaks as well.

In this day of being unique and fresh-to-market, The Wii and Wii Fit offer hotel food and beverage operations ways to increase revenue at a relatively low cost of investment. And the Wii can give your F&B operation a competitive edge in a crowded marketplace. The Wii and Wii Fit are now found in the Experimental Guest Room (The “X” Room) at the University of Delaware.

For more information, contact Dr. Fred DeMicco at fdemicco@udel.edu.

About a month ago, I was able to get away on a cruise for a few days. I have been cruising before but, for some reason, this time I paid particular attention to the other passengers on the ship. Specifically, I paid particular attention to their eating habits.

For those of you who have not been on a cruise , the variety and volume of food is incredible. I personally enjoy the fact that I can try so many different things. On this trip I noticed that a number of my fellow passengers had an entirely different mindset when it came to this.

On the first day of the cruise, I enjoyed a buffet lunch. As I was in line, I noticed people in front of me piling food on their trays as though they were hibernating for the winter: two pounds of salad, a loaf of bread with a pound of butter, a pound of potatoes, two pounds of meat and some greens (probably so they felt as though they were eating healthy…you know…like someone ordering Diet Coke at McDonald’s). Besides the fact that they were consuming their daily-recommended caloric intake five times over, I thought to myself, “Do they know what they are eating?” “Do they appreciate the fact that they are trying dishes from all over the world?” “Do they appreciate the flavors, tastes and labor that went into making the dishes they are consuming?”

In our country, you notice that all-you-can-eat operations thrive in some parts of the country while they can’t keep their doors open for a few days in other parts of the country. This usually parallels to the parts of the country that ask for their steak to be cooked to a specific temperature versus other parts of the country where their meat is either cooked or not cooked. A lot of this really boils down to people being focused on the quantity of food versus the quality of food.

This is how I see it. I would be curious to hear from others as to what their experiences are with this. Are your customers concerned with the quality of food you put out, or are they more concerned with getting the most for their money?