“Take what you can; give nothing back!” — a pirate toast

I was thinking of this quote over a beer in our lounge.

A few months back, San Diego did remarkably well in the World Beer Cup with several medals and one brewery taking the prize as small brewery of the year. Given the explosion of great quality, local beers I thought it was important that my little hotel get out in front of this swelling wave and we brought in brewers for tastings, eventually moving all our tap heads to the locals.

As we were tasting, I thought, “Wow, it might be fun to invite a bunch of these breweries and a bunch of chefs here to throw a beer and food shindig out in our garden area.” Just a simple thought, but that thought was enough to weaken my anti-pleasant immune system, and I found I had come down with a moderate case of philanthropy. Read more of this >>

Recently I attended a large conference at a New York City hotel. The breakfasts, breaks, and lunches were not noteworthy in any culinary sense. Budget was an apparently significant issue in the service, not surprisingly. On the second day, we were served a family-style lunch consisting of two varieties of half-sandwiches, a large bowl of pasta salad, and a platter of antipasto, plus a bag of chips at each plate. Not only was it tasty, but I enjoyed the experience of passing dishes and striking up conversations. Read more of this >>

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

I remember a time when I would have said, “If I could just shut my door and not deal with all these associate issues, I could get so much done.” Between budgeting, forecasting, corporate reports, schedule reviews, brand updates, audits, the daily deluge of e-mails, and the 20-30 other things that come across my desk on a daily basis, it would make sense to let everyone else run the show. Then I could focus myself on what I am responsible for.

In this lies the conundrum: As leaders in the world of F&B, our very core knows we could never allow ourselves to be taken out of the action. Removing ourselves from the nitty-gritty controlled chaos would be like trying to remove one of our organs. It becomes a part of us, a part that we thrive on. Read more of this >>

We all know the problems associated with new hotel openings: staffing, training, opening inventories, F&B event scheduling, etc. Some of the best-laid plans, even at a five-star resort hotel, can go awry—particularly during grand openings.

As a hospitality consultant, I had a request to coordinate a wedding and reception at a soon-to-open, five-star resort hotel. I was to act as liaison between the wedding couple and the Catering Department at the hotel. However, repeated calls to the new property to schedule a meeting with the new Catering Director went unreturned. My next attempt was to phone the Catering Director at another affiliated property that was coordinating all special events and media schedules prior to the transfer to the new hotel. I retained all email communications as well as notations from my many phone calls and kept a comprehensive diary of activities I was to provide for my client. The affiliated hotel took my client’s information and I was told in no uncertain terms that absolutely no events would be booked at the new property prior to January 1st (the opening was scheduled for November 10th). I asked the hotel’s coordinator to contact me should anything change; she assured me that she would.

A few months later, after booking an alternate venue, my clients and I learned that the hotel was, indeed, booking events prior to January 1; in fact, their first event was scheduled for December 15th—my client’s wedding date. We were never contacted.

Upon learning of this inconsistency, I phoned the General Manager of the new property to inquire what became of our original request to be notified of any changes respecting scheduling of events. I indicated that I had spoken with the Catering Director at one of their other properties which had been set up to coordinate any future special events to be conducted at the new property. The GM was very aloof and offered no consideration to my clients. The excuse given was simplistic and insincere, even after noting that I had scheduled a rehearsal dinner for 30 people in their fine dining room as well as reservations for the couple for their wedding night. It appeared to me their attitude was cavalier and unprofessional.

As an example of the hotel’s poor service standards, they neglected to provide a copy of the rehearsal dinner menu in advance for my client’s review, as was requested when we met in person. The hotel’s Catering Department was also to produce individual menus to be set at each place setting–this also was omitted. My clients had also requested that the wine be opened as needed, instead ALL bottles were opened and my clients were charged for two full cases when, in fact, only 14 bottles were consumed.

Our preliminary meeting with the Executive Chef and the Assistant Catering Director was detailed and included notification of certain ingredients not to be used for the entrée service, due to my client’s allergies. This, too, was neglected. I expected that the submission of my written folio (signed off by me) containing all our dinner requirements would be sufficient guidance for the Chef and staff to manage accordingly.

It would be simplistic to say that the contract from the Catering Department should have been previewed by all parties to ensure all the details were covered and transferred from my folio of directives. We had every indication that the Catering personnel would have followed their own instructions set to their contract and our own expectations from this high-end hotel were not without merit. In order to be precise about my client’s requirements, I had provided a CD containing the same information for the hotel’s guidance. It appears that select sections were either inadvertently omitted or perhaps not deemed consistent with hotel policy.

Even a modified contract for F&B services did not clearly stipulate the who, what, where and when of the specifics involved for our event. I had worked with many hotel banquet services before and had found that even with the best-laid plans and intensions, omission of details and follow-up reporting were typically at the crux of problematic issues. No matter whether fault was found with the service provider or with the client, mutuality of owning the problem seems to be the more relevant solution when dealing with such experiences, and everyone becomes more vigilant on future arrangements. As a matter of fact, I have brought in additional new business to this same hotel knowing that they have fine-tuned their in-house operating procedures and, more importantly, their public relations efforts. I can now have a predictable and engaging experience with the business I bring forward. However, I would always stipulate to check (and) double-check everything that is in writing. You owe it to yourself and your clients.

Miscommunications can and do happen, even at the five-star level.

I know many of you run into this all the time. I welcome receiving your feedback regarding your own experiences, in particular with how you take care of all the details and communications with planners and consultants. As a consultant/planner myself I have had the benefit of planning many corporate-level events within a hotel setting and always received an appreciative response from the in-house catering coordinator – we always found ways and means from which we could negotiate a contract that was mutually beneficial to all parties involved. However, from the standpoint of the hotel’s position – do you feel that, generally, consultants and planners are too demanding? What could we do to work better with you?

I look forward to reading your comments and, most importantly, advice for what REALLY works in your establishment.

After meeting with the latest client who was in sheer panic about the hugely disappointing turnout of her 20-year high school reunion, I feel compelled to write.  This client had her personal credit card on file to guarantee all payments, as was required, and was the signer of the catering contract, therefore holding her responsible to the terms of the contract. Numbers were literally half of expected, and she knew she was personally responsible.

Over the past couple of years, I had noticed some uncomfortable challenges when it came to these reunions, but the escalation of problems that really began to turn it into an ethical issue grew right along with our recession in the past 16 months. Years ago, the only reunions I ever booked came from the two big reunion companies.  Booking them was a breeze, because the reunion company (aka professional planners!) assumed the role of the contract signer, and the responsibility of adhering to the contract fell on their shoulders.  Welcome Classmates.com and Facebook. The class planners began to feel clever. Why pay a company to book their party when they can simply find their own classmates with these two amazingly easy and user-friendly tools! Unfortunately, most of these planners did not think about what it means to plan an event. Yes, contracts…yes, food and beverage minimum agreements…yes, payment obligation. 

I don’t know about you, but as a Catering Director, I feel it is my ethical obligation to disclose exactly what is involved when the planner comes in to meet with me and discuss their event.  Never I have seen so many high school reunions come in with drastically lower numbers than expected, yet it never fails, the planner is sure they’ll have the 300 they are inviting.  My first step is to educate them about reality. The percentage of classmates that actually attend are in the 25 to 30 percent range, far from the 80 to 90 percent that they are assuming.  Second, I read through the entire contract with them, letting them know that as the signer, the liability falls on them for the dollars agreed to. Of course, I don’t want to lose the business so I don’t do this with the intent on scaring them straight out the door.  But after watching my current hotel lose (due to the big heart and ethical practices of our General Manager) several thousand “contracted” dollars, I knew that something simply must change. 

That said, the answer seemed clear in the approach that we, as catering professionals, must take.  I educate the planner about setting up PayPal accounts and not accepting RSVPs without money. One would think that would be common knowledge, but I can’t tell you how many took the word of the respondents without payment. I also have had to change the terms of our contract with regards to payment. Currently, a 25 percent deposit is paid on our events, with the balance due one week prior.  But I’ve had to create a high school reunion-specific contract, with an additional 25 percent due half way through and full payment due 30 days prior. 

After getting the planner to stop over-estimating and therefore lowering the size of the space they are committing to (while keeping in touch with me if the numbers and therefore space needs start to grow—which, has yet to happen—reading through the contract and making my recommendations about how they collect the money, I can at least live with myself when the event comes to fruition. If they are still thousands short, at least I know I did all I could, and I can still sleep at night.

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.

Lewis Black is not happy. He’s terribly funny and wildly intelligent but decidedly less than pleased. He’s made a very nice living and has been paid handsomely for not being happy. He finds the foibles of everyday life to be irritating to the point where the viewer or listener is completely sure all the blood vessels in his head will simultaneously burst in such a spectacular fashion that if you played “Clair de Lune” when it was happening, it would rival the fountains at Bellagio in Vegas. Naturally, I’m a huge fan.

In his latest book, Me of Little Faith, he takes on organized religion, and about this subject, oddly enough, he’s not happy. Being an equal opportunity curmudgeon, he even takes issue with his own religion…lots and lots of issue. It got me thinking about “religion.” Now, this little missive is not about religion…well it is, but it’s not. Since we are all F&B professionals and it’s something we believe in and follow devotedly to the point where it becomes a matter of ethics or conscience, we can borrow certain tenets.

Most everyone has heard of the Ten Commandments. Even if you are not of a faith that believes in Moses and his stone tablets, it’s hard to argue with what they have to say. They are short, sweet, and to the point… kind of an early version of The Idiot’s Guide on How to Not Be a Dirtbag. Most of the things are fairly obvious, which makes adapting them to our current calling ideal. It’s nice to have things all in one place, so here’s your Top Ten. (I’ll spare you the sight of me in a long beard and flowing robes.)

1. Food and Beverage is thy Lord and Master. Get serious or get out.

2. Thou shalt not have any Lords and Masters before me. It’s cool, and indeed necessary, to understand that we are but part of a greater whole. We need to understand it because we are never going to be the big kids on the block regarding profit margin. We simply cannot sell our wares for what the Rooms Folks can sell theirs. There is a difference in knowing that and understanding that and drinking the sales Kool-Aid, Heads in Beds Flavor. Simply because we can accept that fate doesn’t mean allow people to “name their own price” and we don’t scratch and claw for every penny we have coming to us. As they have a room rate they will not go under, so must we have our drop dead dollar figure. Dip below that and someone owes me the difference.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of hospitality in vain. It’s not just the name of our industry, it should be the feeling of our industry. It’s interaction versus transaction. If you just want to function with “turn and burn,” then go work at the DMV.

4. Remember the Sabbath. Period. Many of us look at Sundays as our rightful day off. We’ve worked long and hard and advanced our careers for that privilege. But when you think about it, Sunday can be a GREAT business day. It’s generally the day you don’t have deliveries coming in, so you’re not really spending a lot of money, and there are generally fewer distractions from “everyone else” being there. It’s a good day to run specials, clean walk-ins, set up your week. What many consider a day of rest, the enterprising department head considers as a day to “get stuff done.” It’s also a great day to get in there and train your assistant managers, your captains, and your sous chefs. I’ve spent many a Sunday with my executive sous chef. It lets him know I care about his development, empowers him, gives him a sense of pride. It also keeps him from calling me in the future because Sunday is Big Daddy’s day off.

5. Honor thy mother and father (especially on the days named for them). Many places have gone away from traditional brunches because of the expense involved in the full-on “dog and pony show.” All that means is we need to be smarter. Spend less on the flowers; skip the ice carving. Use action stations as focal points and make them kid-friendly. If it’s still too expensive, do well-thought-out specials. The community goodwill is worth the time and trouble.

6. Thou shalt not kill thy kitchen staff, thy housemen, or thy banquet staff. Dear sales and catering folks, elaborate and complicated is wonderful. Creative timing, setups, and menus are a necessity simply to keep up these days. However, we should never outstrip the talent level of the people who are doing all this. I’m all for pushing limits and training to a greater level of excellence, but too much too soon equals failure. Most staffs have oodles of pride and won’t take kindly to being set up to fail. Make sure we can do it before you contract us to do it.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Don’t double dip, so to speak. Having a vested interest in a group we’re servicing is a dangerous thing. It can cause people to make bad decisions based on wanting to be “nice” and “supportive”. Everyone can read BEOs and see the deal being cut–your involvement with the group will no doubt be revealed either in a meeting or in the locker room. We’re going to find out, and everything about your actions will be called into question. It’s human nature to do so. One team or the other is going to suffer because of it. If you’re deeply invested in the group, stay out of it and let someone else service them.

8. Thou shalt not steal. This isn’t your money, food, or booze. Ask me before you take it upon yourself to help yourself. If you break a bottle, I’m afraid I need to see the broken bottle. Don’t clock in and then disappear for 20 minutes. Theft, whether it be food or booze or time, is a profit killer. Stealing clients from other joints, however, is perfectly acceptable. See below.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shouldst, however, feel free to point out how much more banquet space you have, how much more talented your chef is, and how we might be able to work with you a little on that price. Thou shalt remember that much of what we consider “loyalty” is what they consider “a deal.” You may be friendly with your competition; you may even like them personally. But you need to be prepared to stand on their throats if need be, because that’s what pirates do. As was stated when the walls of Jericho came a’tumbling down… “it’s not personal, it’s just business.”

10. Thou shalt covet they neighbor’s…well, everything. Good ideas are good ideas no matter where they come from. Take a look at their equipment, setup, menus, space, and people. In order to overtake, one first needs to keep up.

Is this the comprehensive list on how to be successful as an F&B professional? If you answered no, then you are well on your way to realizing your full potential as an F&B tower of strength and most likely will not end up as a dirtbag. If you answered yes, good luck at the DMV.

I don’t care what they have to say
It makes no difference anyway
Whatever it is I’m against it!
- Groucho Marx in “Horse Feathers”

I’m a proud contrarian, a combative sort. If I were a petite woman, I’d be called feisty. As it stands, I border on disagreeable and some may say unpleasant. I don’t always go against popular opinion; however, I just don’t go blithely about accepting what most folks seemingly easily accept.

I love a good argument. I’m a big believer in a little discord and breaking up comfort zones. It’s how we evolve, how we grow, how we improve. One of the best restaurants I ever worked in was a complete us (the kitchen pirates who in this, and every, drama are the good guys….yeah!) versus them (the service staff….boo…hiss) vibe during service.

They thought we didn’t care about their difficult tables (and actually they were right on this one). They were sure we were ignoring their tickets. We weren’t working fast enough. How could we ignore such a simple thing? How can you not know that “not wht wne” meant “no white wine in the beurre blanc”?

We thought they were whiny, overpaid prima donnas who would sell our spleens to a table if they thought it would mean a better tip. We were sure they didn’t know the menu, didn’t care about the menu, had no idea how long it actually takes to cook things, never picked up their food when it was cooked, etc.

Now remember I said “during service.” To this day, it’s probably the tightest crew I’ve ever been a part of, both front and back. They pushed us and we pushed them. It worked, and there were many adult beverages consumed in celebration of how it worked. But make no bones about it, during service we were against it, whatever it was.

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