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Hotel Banquet & Catering Trends
Special Edition: Fall 2010 Click here to subscribe» |
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Behind the Curtain"Disappearing" breakfast space at Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco. Story and video by Michael Costa Part of the recent $30-million renovation at the Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco-Union Square Hotel was the reinvention of its three-meal outlet into something more befitting its prime location on the second floor. The result is the sleek Cityhouse restaurant and lounge. But sleek is not necessarily practical when it comes to a breakfast buffet. Since Cityhouse needed to serve as a three-meal space, the question of where to put the buffet without spoiling the cosmopolitan vibe became an issue. Using their collective brainpower, the F&B staff, led by director of operations Rob Robinson and executive chef Brian Healy, came up with a solution: design a separate buffet "room" on the far right of the outlet, which can disappear behind stylish curtains once breakfast is finished. If an in-house group is using Cityhouse as a private dining space, the curtains can be pulled back again and the buffet area used to serve lunch or dinner. Otherwise, as you'll see in this video, the guest rarely notices what's behind the curtain, helping Cityhouse stay sophisticated without sacrificing its three-meal mission. Michael Costa brings culinary school education, a background in hotel foodservice, and years of professional journalism experience to his position as Industry Relations Editor for Hotel F&B.
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Room for Revenue Palace at Auburn Hills diversifies events beyond hoops and hipsters. By Madison Palmer When Michigan's Palace at Auburn Hills—home to the Detroit Pistons and host of music acts and box office favorites such as Lady Gaga and Aerosmith—comes to mind, it may not be for weddings, bar mitzvahs, or birthday parties. Think again. Today's venues aren't afraid to dip a toe into unusual revenue streams, and this mega-arena is no different. When arena events aren't taking place, the Palace opens any of its multiple meeting rooms for private affairs, including Club 53, the Palace Grill, Caesars Windsor Club, and the Ameriprise Finanicial Club, all of which can host dinners, buffets, showers, holiday parties, and more. Example: Super 16 Success  A nacho bar, ice cream stations, and an enormous candy display provided whimsy while a live hip-hop act performed at the Super 16 party at the Palace at Auburn Hills.The "hip-hop and black-and-silver" décor, which included huge balloon balls hanging from the ceiling, metallic shimmering table linens, and silver crushed-velvet couches, produced a hip, candlelit lounge vibe. Wright says the only challenge was that the Ameriprise room was new at the time, so the team wasn't sure yet what the room was capable of and had nothing to use as a reference point. Now familiar with the space, the Palace staff finds it capable of nearly anything, constantly rearranging the room for a variety of events ranging from a recent wedding shower to trade shows. Working All Angles Gulliver says that for events such as the Super 16 Party, he uses 20 servers and bartenders and another five to seven culinary staff. Physical preparation for such events begins in the morning and takes about eight hours to get the room ready. "We also have the luxury of our production folks at Palace Multimedia," Gulliver says. "They really enhance our AV, running two screens and four wireless mics, and we even run DVD loop videos on certain channels of the in-house stations, so [the client] can have their logo or commercials run all day and night, even on the flatscreens in the men's room."  Former Palace Sales Coordinator Catherine Wright emphasizes creating impressive private events such as the Super 16 party, since all guests are potential clients."The response to the Ameriprise room is great because it's not a traditional space," says Mark Gulliver, director of catering for the Palace. "The Ameriprise is a large space, but you can do many things with it, such as add lounge furniture (kept in an underground storage area) to create intimate areas guests may not expect. The room's first priority was to accommodate 500 to 600 Pistons Club Members for about 60 game nights, but the rest of the time it was open. We began to book meetings with PowerPoint presentations using the existing TVs and sometimes changing out the tables to [include an] eight-foot meeting table, and other times incorporating the existing wood-finished tables. A challenge is the lack of curtains; the light can wash out a PowerPoint if you place it in the wrong position." To get the word out, the venue's Palace Eats Blog creates a dialogue about these opportunities, and their Facebook page informs a large audience, says Catherine Wright, former catering sales coordinator for the Palace. They also rely on referrals. "People sometimes don't realize [the Palace] hosts these kinds of private events," she says, "so the goal is to throw amazing, flawless events that make guests and clients happy. All of the guests at these events are potential clients." Madison Palmer is a freelance writer and editor based in the Atlanta area.
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In this issue: Room for Revenue Palace at Auburn Hills diversifies events beyond hoops and hipsters. Behind the Curtain "Disappearing" breakfast space at Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco. 
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Hotel Banquet & Catering Trends is edited by Michael Costa and Tad Wilkes and published in affiliation with Hotel F&B Magazine
and Hotel F&B Online (www.hotelfandb.com). To submit story ideas or images, contact Michael at mcosta@hotelfandb.com or upload photos or videos at www.hotelfandb.com/photos.asp.
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