It's not every day we meet—and chat with—a celebrity chef, let alone several of them. But it happened last month at "Savor Borgata," a five-course food and wine event at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Before the feast, MeetingNews extracted some juicy tidbits on how meeting planners can work best with them.
The chefs who took part, and who have restaurants at—or an affiliation with—the Borgata, were Thaddeus DuBois, Borgata's executive pastry chef (who previously held the same title at the White House), Michael Schulson, of Izakaya; Michael Mina, of SeaBlue (and restaurants nationwide); Bobby Flay, of Bobby Flay Steak (along with other eateries), and a Food Network personality; and Geoffrey Zakarian, culinary lifestyle consultant at the Water Club,Borgata's sister property, and owner of New York City's Town.
Q: Do you like working with meeting planners?
A: DuBois: I prefer it [over working with the customer indirectly, through hotel staff]! When I go through the banquet services manager, there can be a communication breakdown. If I meet with customers, I hear what they want.
Q: What do you dislike about group business?
A: Schulson: When people go to a high-end restaurant, they know it's going to be a quality experience. So I wish event organizers would trust the chef or general manager, and not worry so much. I know they're stressed and nervous, and that everyone thinks they can do great versions of the food themselves, but if they pick the right place, they should let the staff do what they do best.
Q: What can planners do to make life easier for everybody?
A: Mina: People know what good products cost, so don't overstep your bounds. In other words, don't think that because of the economy, restaurants are just going to clamor for every piece of business. People should look at what they can afford, because if they approach places they can't afford, they're just wasting their time, and that of the restaurant.
Q: What is the best negotiating leverage a planner has in this economic climate?
A: Mina: Having a lot of choices costs the restaurant a lot of money. If you're having a group of 40 people and you don't know if they're going to order mostly the fish, poultry, or meat entree, you will spend more stocking up on these items instead of ordering just what you need.
So what I'm doing is working with customers to get menus in beforehand. It lets you tighten up what you're offering and shave $5 to $10 off your per person cost.
Plus, it lets people be social right away and allows the event to kick off sooner because people don't have to stop mingling to order food. It gives the event a better quality.
Zakarian: Order less expensive wine and hors d'oeuvres.Also, they should order less food: have two courses served instead of three.
There are other things they can do, too: A buffet costs less than a plated meal; they should skip bottled water and instead have filtered water, which costs less; and meeting and event planners should talk to their florists about using plants instead of flowers.
Flay: If they have an event during the day, for lunch, versus dinner, we have more flexibility. I think a lot of people prefer that; give me a long lunch with a good bottle of wine and I'm happy.
Q: Chef Flay, do you have one of your restaurants in mind for group lunches?
A: Flay: Bar Americain.
Q: Have holiday parties shifted to particular dates, or has there been a scale-back?
A: Mina: People are asking more often about lunches; they're trying to be smart with wines and deciding whether to have an open bar.
Flay: We're almost completely booked for the season, but I am finding that people are pushing their holiday parties back, to March! That works well, though, because that's a slower time for us.
Zakarian: People are absolutely cutting back. We have had some cancellations—but people are asking us just to keep their deposit; they probably are planning to have an event another time.
The public can only stay depressed for so long. Then, once people see a glimmer of hope, they will move ahead.
Originally published Dec. 15, 2008