As Executive Chef of Columbia CC, Brandon Gross and his team are working on new ways to create member engagement this holiday season through barbecue, sushi, and other specialty themed events.
The challenges and procedures that COVID-19 has presented for the service industry requires adjustments and flexibility in planning events at the club. The Food and Beverage Team at Columbia Country Club continues to remain proactive in forecasting events out through the holiday season. With the cold weather approaching, we started to focus on how we could gain participation inside the clubhouse. As we brainstormed ideas, we started with theme nights, cooking classes and specialty dinners/events.
Many clubs thrive on theme nights as it provides the members another option to the nostalgia the club offers daily. As a team, we concentrated on two theme nights: BBQ and Sushi.
To kick-off the promotion of BBQ on Saturday nights, the club purchased a smoker on Labor Day weekend. A prix fixe menu offering three courses includes two BBQ meats, southern sides, and a delicate southern dessert.
For Sushi night, a makeshift sushi bar was set-up in one of our dining rooms where rolls are prepared in front of the members. Both nights have been a huge success selling out week after week. These two nights have shown the success of bringing members back into the dining rooms as the weather continues to turn colder.
We also held an outdoor grilling class that included members learning to prepare a 3-course meal. A small grill was put at each station, with ice chests that were pre-portioned out for each group. We had a total of 32 people attend the class. The entire instruction was done outside under the stars allowing each group to learn different grilling techniques for meat and vegetables.
In addition to theme nights and cooking classes, the Club had to get creative when executing yearly club events but also ensuring all COVID protocols were incorporated to hold the event. As an example, in September, we held our Family Camp Out event on the golf course. We calculated the amount of people allowed in an outdoor space and built square villages for individual families. For breakfast and dinner meals, a Tent Dash dining service was utilized. Members placed their orders and individual boxes were packed by the kitchen for each family to enjoy. S’mores were done at individual fires within each family’s square rather than at one large one. Although slightly modified from the previous year, the event’s success was amazing and the attention to detail Food and Beverage Team put into this truly made it special for the members.
Another successful outside specialty event included an Argentine style dinner on the golf course where the culinary team cooked the entire meal over fire with meats roasting on both ends.
This four-course meal started with canapés and as each course was prepared, we platted and served the food. Cooking the meal outside and on the course was something the members did not expect. The current environment and challenges presented has pushed the Food and Beverage Team to continue to think outside the box and remain innovative. This allows for the members at Columbia CC to be kept on their toes, always wondering what may be next.
As we look ahead to the holiday season, we have many exciting events planned to include a four-course Whistle Pig Dinner, a drive through haunted house for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners will transition into family style platers for the entire table to enjoy and rather than children sitting on Santa’s lap they will stand in front of Santa and a refurbished antique sleigh circa 1910 for a photo opportunity. Although Columbia CC holiday events may look a little different this year, the traditions will remain.
