Commencing with the recently published September/October issue of HOTEL F&B, we’ve transitioned to recycled paper and added our new recycling logo appearing prominently on the cover.

Since we started publishing HOTEL F&B in 2002, we’ve investigated printing on recycled stock. It’s been tough to find affordable options. Paper prices have risen in the past decade, and, until recently, recycled paper has been a “specialty item.” Happily, it’s now within reach, albeit at a premium price. We have chosen to pay the premium to create a more environmentally friendly product. Read more of this >>

I recently had the privilege of attending and presenting at the University of Florida Institute of Food & Agriculture Sciences Small Farms Alternative Enterprises Conference (http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu/floridasmallfarmsconference/index.htm). This event brought together small farmers, green market organizers, educators, extension agents, farm business suppliers, and some industry chefs from all over the state. The opening address was given was given by the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Charles H. Bronson (not to be confused with the actor).

Over these two days of discussions, I was amazed to see the passion people had for sustaining small farms. Some discussions focused on local food systems. Others were discussing organics. Local and grass-fed beef were touched upon in some of the other sessions. I kept asking myself if our industry really understands the extent of this passion. People on small lots of land putting so much energy into stone fruits, berries, corn, and lettuces, to name a few. It was amazing to taste local food that was grown for eating versus food created for traveling (chefs who are already on board with local foods know exactly what I am talking about).

The reason for the title is that I now think it is our turn to be apart of this. We should seek out local fresh products. We should try to create seasonal menus. We should get to know the people who are producing our food. If you are not sold by the passion of the people growing the foods, I hope you will listen to your patrons. Each day, they are becoming more knowledgeable on what they eat. They are already a few steps ahead of you. Farmers’ markets continue to grow, the Food Network is providing more information, and people are generally interested in what goes into their bodies.

I would hope that the idea of eating locally and sustainably is not a passing fad. With the passion of our producers and consumers, I doubt that it will be. Now it’s your turn to step up to the plate.

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

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.
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We at Hotel F&B were saddened by the recent loss of our colleague, Dave Steadman. Dave helped launch and edit the magazine’s Hotel Wine, Beer & Spirits section of the magazine. He was 79 years young.

Dave was a lifelong New Yorker, who served in the Air Force during the Korean War and attended Oklahoma A & M University (now Oklahoma State). He became involved in the restaurant magazine business in its heyday during the 1960’s, at one time working for Restaurant Hospitality magazine before striking out on his own as a writer and editor.

I often thought Dave and I should’ve met 25 years earlier because we would’ve made great business partners. He was a fantastic industry networker, full of ideas and enormously energetic, which is saying a lot considering we met when he was in his mid-70’s. He had great editorial instincts also, and taught me about the liquor business.

Before his affiliation with Hotel F&B, he published two industry-related books: Restaurant Biz is Showbiz!: Why Marketing is the Key to Your Success and Beverage Biz is ShowBiz!: How to Increase Your Restaurant’s Bottom Line. In 2008, Dave published Hurtling Through Space Towards God: One Soul’s Journey. Despite the heavy title, the book is easy to read and contains a candid discussion of his experiences with his Catholic faith, studying the meaning of dreams, and his strong attraction to the phenomenon of reincarnation.

Although Dave probably wasn’t feeling well over the past couple of years, he never complained. He was officially diagnosed with liver cancer in December. In his typical fast-paced fashion, he didn’t linger.

He was married twice, to Kathleen and Jane, and had three children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren. He was proud of them and his love was evident when he spoke of them even during the rushed and limited business time we spent together. His grandson, Matthew, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis several years ago, prompting Dave to become active in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He helped to plan the organization’s annual wine events and raised funds for the organization.

Hotel F&B has made a memorial contribution to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. His family asks that other friends who would like to remember Dave please make a contribution at www.cff.org.

Dave was a good soul, a distinctive character and a valuable contributor. We’ll remember him fondly.

Jeanne Bischoff
VP/Publisher
Hotel F&B Magazine

The American Hotel & Lodging Association maintains that sustainability will continue to be a major focus of hospitality operations in 2009. Technomic says that “Local is the magic word for 2009.”

For years, our hotel has been very committed to green programs and sourcing products from local farms, long before this became the buzz. Our property was recently given the Two-Palm Certification in Green Lodging for its efforts. About two years ago, a few of us wanted to see if there was a way that we could bring our passion to other hotel and foodservice operators.

In November of 2008, Localecopia (www.localecopia.org) was born. This non-profit organization has many components. At the very core is the idea of bringing local businesses together, with the idea being to connect local hospitality operators with local farmers/producers. We help chefs buy locally and help farmers find demand for their products. Through our business subcommittee meetings, we bring these individuals together under one roof to discuss products, educate one another, and conduct business. Imagine the idea of actually buying seasonal products as some of us learned about in culinary school. Contrary to popular belief, produce is not grown in your produce distributor’s plant, and products from specific areas are not available year round.

Another key component is the collaboration on environmental and sustainability programs. On a regular basis, Localecopia members will be meeting to discuss projects they are working on in their own organizations. Members will also collaborate on new projects. Localecopia is currently working with experts in the field of sustainability, biodiesel, alternative energy research, and other areas.

Finally, we have established key partnerships with the University of Florida, The Florida Culinary Institute, and local government. This adds another component to the organization regarding education and research. For the educational institutions, this provides them with direct ties to the community for their own projects. Think of the possibilities of top food researchers partnering with top chefs? Pretty exciting stuff.

The possibilities are limitless. We do not see this as a passing fad or catchy buzzword, but a new way of life. As this organization evolves, so will the goals and focus. In time, Localecopia will take its concept to other markets. Before you know it, you may have a Localecopia chapter in your area.

Hotel chefs often need to accommodate the needs of the catering department with their banquet event orders. In this economy, competition for special event clients is fierce in many markets. The winning hotel may offer event clients a complimentary breakfast buffet, extra courses at dinner, and favorable prices for breaks and snacks. Package prices have an impact on the chef’s overall food cost results. Banquets and buffets are often 50% of the total food and beverage volume.

It’s common to hear the share of revenue allocated to the kitchen is too low for many events. Should management use the previous year’s results as their compass in today’s economy? I believe focusing on unrealistic income statement percentages could create a morale problem. This is a time for cooperation between departments.

If we step back and take an objective look at the competitive environment and the opportunity cost of losing an event, the sales department needs the support of the culinary team. Empty rooms won’t help anyone. So we need to accept upward pressure on the food cost percentage. Pressuring the kitchen when their food cost results are higher than budget may create a temptation to cut the quality.

Current trends include rising cost of raw ingredients, sky-high energy costs, and lower demand. The supply of conference center space exceeds the demand for the space.

It’s a great time for all the departments in the hotel to work together to secure vital special event business. Show the guests your best and you’ll win on three levels: your competition loses a special event (revenue from rooms, banquet space rental, and food and beverage service), you gain an opportunity to retain a previous client or attract a new client, and the hotel will focus on service rather than staff reductions.

Yes, I am still around. For those who read my posts, I am happy to announce that my wife and I welcomed our second son into the world in May. Ace Bjorkman is already a force to be reckoned with and has made this happy little family even happier.

New posts to follow. My goal is to keep us all energized on maintaining high service standards, team member morale, and keeping turnover to a minimum. These are very important topics for the rest of 2008, which is noted as being a very down year for most hotel markets.

My family is also on the move!! A new office in San Diego is on the horizon. Trading the heat (119 degrees today) in the desert for June gloom of coastal San Diego. I’ll take the fog any day.

So stay tuned and stay happy.

Kurt