Mr. Van Emmenes

Food & Beverage

Capitalizing on Your Menu

By Michael Van Emmenes, Director, Food & Beverage, Landsdowne Resort

First and foremost the most important rule is: know your guest. Anticipate what your guests want and when they want it and how much they are willing to pay.

Here at Lansdowne Resort, we have the great luxury of having various dining options. At On The Potomac we focus on what is around us – local farms, local wineries, local dairies and craft beers – we work closely with all to ensure our guests get a true appreciation of the local area and taste phenomenally fresh flavor. The culinary events we host ensure our local guests keep coming back. Seasonal menus, daily specials and often weekly themed dinners in conjunction with vendors, round out the culinary activities at the resort. At the same time we do realize the economy and the impact it has had on so many amazing food establishments.

Our restaurant manager, Spenser McKenna, created “30 under 30” – 30 great local wines being offered for under $30. Additionally Spenser works very closely with our farmers and wine makers who are increasingly more interested in what we do with their product, how we re-invent what they have grown and produced. They are as passionate about the end result as our team is and are willing to work with us through the creation phase to ensure their products are truly appreciated as much as our culinary art is for the completed dish. Guests are also trending to try the unknown. For example, who are the micro producers in the region and what are the rare gems we do not see in supermarkets?

Riverside Hearth, the resort’s buffet option, offers our business, leisure and day guests an opportunity to dine in a relaxed environment while still enjoying our healthy cuisine. This restaurant has wall to wall windows and a beautiful view of Maryland. Our buffets are specifically created for various market segments – again playing to know our guest! As the holiday season nears, we are seeing more and more families staying at the resort. Therefore, we have put programs in place that we believe these guests will enjoy, adjusting the buffets to offer more family friendly foods – burgers, chicken fingers, mac and cheese – rather than spinach alfredo. Likewise when a health focused group visits with us, we ensure our hot entrees are not full of cheese/cream/diary, but rather steamed vegetables, grilled proteins and food items that they will appreciate and realize we have taken the extra time to understand their needs and expectations.

In Room Dining – cater to comfort! There are only a handful of reasons why people order In Room Dining (besides the obvious – they are hungry):

1) They are tired and just want a quick easy meal in the confort of their room 2) Family stay in night (unlikely with the high price perception of in room dining) 3) Romantic dinner for two (very rare but still in the possible realm)

The Resort’s IRD menu focuses on quick, comfort and healthy food. For those who are looking for the romantic evening, we certainly can do whatever they would like. On The Potomac is open Tuesday through Saturday, and we offer that menu to our guests through IRD. As we move into the holiday season, we have created special family dinners – why allow your guests to order pizza delivery when you can make them an offer they cannot refuse in their rooms. I heard recently about a property that created flyers for pizza delivery. The phone number on the flyer is the In Room Dining number. The guests never knew that the pizza delivered was made in-house but had the perception of purchasing outside the property.

At our prestigious Golf Club at Lansdowne, which is private for hotel guests and members, our members are looking for wholesome yet quick food items. For lunch they want to eat and get back out on the course, and for dinner they want to relax with their families. We have taken our offerings and as Emeril would say “kick it up a notch”. We added our flavor twist and give our guests what it is they want. It is paramount to be able to allow our chef’s the flexibility to create food options “a la minute”. Making an amazing chilli dish as the weather is wet and cold outside when we have numerous golfers on the course or create an exotic gazpacho for those hot summer days! That’s what we do best.

Our biggest growth segment is coming through beverages and the innovation and rebirth of mixology. Our bartenders’ ability to mix and create innovative specialty drinks as guests request determines our success in the beverage world. Everyone has begun to create special cocktails for groups, ensuring the right color/flavor and name for the group. The key here is being able to quickly create cocktails for each individual. Being a foodie myself, when I go to a bar, I do not want the drink menu, I want whatever the bartender has up their sleeve. . . .something special, personal, perfect!! When having a tasting for a wedding or a social event, we set up a scratch bar and allow guests to speak with the bartender and get involved in making the specialty cocktails. By getting them involved and making them feel special, you are making their experience personal and special, taking the service level to a higher level.

Guests want to see the bartender cutting the fruit, muddling it fresh. They want to experience the full pleasure of a cocktail – the sights, aromas and finally the taste. So give the customer what they want. You have some die hard football fans checking in – ensure your beer coolers are full, create beer buckets or a pitcher special (throw some wings and nachos in the mix) and your guests will be blown away!

While discussing beverages, wine is paramount in most foodie discussions and beer (particularly the craft arena) is becoming an increasingly popular market. People are becoming more adventurous with their wine choices. They are eager to try new, unheard of vineyards and blends to see what the new age of wine is bringing to the complexity of a wine tasting. With the lesser know wines not commanding high price points, guests are willing to take risks on these less expensive wines and explore their own tastes and likes/dislikes. Beer pairings/tastings are showing up in many markets and restaurants. What used to be a “light beer” market has done a complete 180 and now we have guests wanting local crafts, unique flavors and beers paired with their meals. Hop-tails are the latest to come from beer lovers – mixing of beers with other beers/liquors/juices to create exciting and unique flavor profiles that we are not accustomed to. Creating these new flavors makes beer more approachable and easier for non-beer drinkers to get excited about and try.

As our lives have become more complex and adventurous so have our palates and our acceptance for weird and wonderful foods. Andrew Zimmerman has a cult like following on TV to see what next he will be brave enough to eat. Executive Chef Wesley Rosati and his team make the resort’s bacon, sausages, smoking meats and salmon. The resort has its own beehive and a phenomenal herb garden. All these small touches add to the delight of our guests and their intrigue with the culinary universe. Chef and his team also make preserves, pasta and desserts which differentiate us from the competition. For the front of the house staff, we need to communicate all this great information to our guests, suscintly and clearly.

And as for the cherry on the top... society is pushing for healthy, organic and more natural – so why not make scrumptious desserts the same way? We serve smaller portions, keeping calories lower, which is more desirable for our guests. Why allow guests to say “oh no I couldn’t possibly finish a full dessert”? Give them a 2-3 bite portion, enough to leave them satisfied but not overly full. With dessert comes coffee. an even bigger profit margin maker for food and beverage. People want to taste the difference between Hawaiian and Ethiopian; they want to know what coffees they would like to have at home and to serve their guests. Give your guests the best, freshest brew you can. Let them leave thinking “WOW! Best coffee ever.” Or have them leave just saying WOW.

Mr. Van Emmenes is Director of Food and Beverage at Lansdowne Resort in Northern Virginia. Born in South Africa, with a passion for food/beverage, service and travel, Michael Van Emmenes left his country and jumped on cruise ships to travel gain exposure to various cultures, customs and people. Mr. Van Emmenes attended the Swiss Hotel Management School in Caux, Switzerland – studying Hotel Management with a specialty in Events. His past experience includes Lausanne Palace in Switzerland and the One&Only Royal Mirage in Dubai. Mr. Van Emmenes can be contacted at 703-858-2107 or mvanemmenes@benchmarkmanagement.com Extended Bio...

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