Properly managed pre-shift meetings can make steady contributions to F&B success.
How Club Chefs Can Take Better Food Photos
Club chefs looking to improve their photography skills can learn and apply these tips from two pros.
Using Dining Room Furniture to Set the Tone at Corinthian Yacht Club
Dining room furniture plays a critical role in the member dining experience at Corinthian Yacht Club. When the commodore of Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) in Marblehead, Mass. continued to hear feedback from members about how the club’s main dining room felt “too formal,” despite a complete tear-down and rebuild in 2003, the club’s management team,…
How Clubs are Uniting the Front and Back of House
How to bring the front and back together to ensure a great member dining experience. There are many moving parts within a club’s food-and-beverage operation. From chefs and line cooks to servers and dining room managers, everyone should be working toward the same goal: to offer an outstanding member dining experience. But mistakes are made,…
What to Consider When Buying a Refrigerator for a Club Kitchen
Reliability is critical when it comes to a commercial refrigerator that must hold and store ingredients, leftovers, prepped sauces, and more. A commercial refrigerator is an investment, and hopefully a long-term one. That’s why it’s critical for club chefs to be equipped with the best knowledge for making the right purchase. Reliability is critical. Commercial refrigerators…
F&B Variety is a Must at Mizner CC
Mizner CC’s $22 million renovation and expansion will add a number of new dining options and, according to GM/COO Larry Savvides, will be the key to the South Florida club’s success. In South Florida, the club business is fierce, and food-and-beverage programs are among the biggest differentiators between top properties. Mizner Country Club (Delray Beach,…
The Role of F&B in Riviera CC’s Success
Donald Emery is extremely proud at all times of The Riviera CC’s culinary operation, led by Executive Chef Simon Lewis—and especially during high-profile events such as the Women’s All-American Tennis Championship, Genesis Open, US Amateur Championship and upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics. Donald Emery, General Manager of The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., is…
How to Tackle Kitchen Renovations
Club kitchens house the heart and soul of every food-and-beverage operation. It’s where the food is prepared and where the staff that prepares it works its magic. But often, especially in older clubhouses, the layout of the kitchen leaves much to be desired. “A lot of chefs in the club world inherit a kitchen designed…
Finding the Best Software Fit
As social and dining memberships continue to climb, clubs must match their needs to the right point-of-sale system. Members expect a lot from their club’s food-and-beverage operation. They want high-quality food at a good value, and seamless, personalized service. And with social and dining memberships on the rise, point-of-sale (POS) systems that are F&B-focused can…
How a Chef Became a General Manager
Joe Napolitano, CEC, CCM, continues to rely on his experience as a chef to guide him in his current career path as the newly appointed General Manager of Bonnie Briar Country Club (Larchmont, N.Y.). Joe Napolitano’s career began on the line. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, a Certified Executive Chef…
How to Effectively Manage Millennials
Young culinarians can thrive in club kitchens when training and mentoring allows them to develop their skills and competencies. Millennials—the generation born between 1980 and 1996—get a bad rap. They’re said to feel entitled and be narcissistic and addicted to social media. They job-hop. They lack engagement. They always ask why. The thing is, millennials…
How Dearborn CC Landed a CMC
At Dearborn (Mich.) Country Club, General Manager/COO Bruce Lilley and Executive Chef Michael Russell, CMC, are working hard to reinvent the dining program. Bruce Lilley doesn’t shy away from a challenge. So when Dearborn (Mich.) Country Club asked him to take over as General Manager and Chief Operating Officer nearly six months ago, with the…
Best Practices for Controlling Food Costs
Four club chefs share insights into how they keep costs in line. Without constant vigilance, food costs can spiral out of control. And the subsequent “solutions”—raising prices, lowering quality, or worse—can be damaging to a club’s food-and-beverage operation. The better way to maintain a budgeted cost structure is to control it in a sustained fashion.…
How Club Chefs Use Social Media
Food photography dominates digital feeds—from a perfectly composed amuse-bouche, to a panorama of new grills, to a beautiful wine dinner on the course. Ditto for culinary blogs, recipes and videos that are being shared, “liked” and linked. If the content applies, club chefs tend to click. “Sharing experiences, pictures and ideas on Facebook or Instagram…
Finding—and Keeping—the Right People
How club chefs are overcoming the shortage of skilled culinary talent that can step right up to the plate. Clubs across the country are facing difficult labor challenges in their dining operations. Open positions abound, from qualified cooks to dishwashers to sous and pastry chefs. This topic often gets club chefs fired up, too. Many…