Cheers

Cheers - November 2015

Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.

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www.cheersonline.com 38 • November/December 2015 ! CREATE A SPECIAL MENU Unless it's a very small group, allowing partiers to order off the regular menu can be a recipe for an overwhelmed bar and kitchen staff. Most operators will offer a special or pared-down menu for private events. A smaller menu also helps to maintain balance between needs of the party and those of other customers. At Luce Ristorante E Enoteca, "We'll offer a condensed four-course menu, a few choices for antipasto, salad, main entrée and desert," Moore says. This strategy allows the kitchen employees to work more effi ciently, putting together a large number of the same several dishes. Otherwise, the staff may be pulled in too many directions at once, and fall behind or make mistakes. Seasonal offerings typical for the Luce Ristorante E Enoteca party menus include butternut squash soup with braised escarole and pancetta ($6), and meatier dishes such as osso buco, with fregola and toasted garlic vegetables ($28). The restaurant will work to fi t the party budget. "We try to stay around a cost of $50 per person," Moore says. At Café and Bar Lurcat, the menus refl ect seasonal fare. Winter brings heartier dishes. For an appetizer, Lurcat might serve braised Nueske's bacon with hoisin, brandy and compressed Asian pear ($14). Main-course items on the party menu can include the prime dry-aged rib eye steak with caramelized onions and roasted garlic ($48 for 12-oz., $64 for 16-oz.), or the Colorado rack of lamb with toasted garlic puree and cabernet sauce ($52). Party guests will order off of a condensed four-course menu at San Antonio's Luce Ristorante E Enoteca, typically choosing antipasto, salad, a main entrée and dessert. EMBRACE THE BUFFET Tom Bergin's will set up a buffet to serve food during holiday events. Nothing fried is put out, Delp says, since fried fare does not hold up well over time. Rather, the pub offers corned beef and cabbage, stews, wings and other items that work well with a buffet and are popular among guests. Planter's House, a trendy spot on the St. Louis cocktail scene, also typically serves food buffet-style during private parties, says co-owner Ted Kilgore. The fare is usually "something that can be served easily while people mill about, like pulled pork or whole roasted pork." The main bar and eatery seats about 85 people, but a smaller bar on the second fl oor, which has 35 seats, can incorporate some holiday parties, he says. Planter's House will also work with customers to design special menus for events. With private parties, "get as much work done beforehand that you can," advises Ted Kilgore, left, co-owner of Planter's House. PHOTO CREDIT: GREG RANNELLS PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO CREDIT: GREG RANNELLS PHOTOGRAPHY OFFER SEASONAL SIPS Tom Bergin's, which is billed as "The House of Irish Coffee," has a winter drink menu that it extends to parties. Seasonal favorites range from Candy Cane Irish Coffee to Mulled Wine to the Holiday Old Fashioned, made with pine syrup. Come winter, the Café and Bar Lurcat party menu will have "super boozy teas and coffees," Jensen says, along with mulled ciders and local seasonal craft beers. Sparkling wines increase in popularity during the holidays, says assistant bar manager Carrie Valentine, and are common orders during their parties. The Lurcat wine menu for 2015 includes a gewürztraminer demi-sec from Yakima, WA (priced at $45 a bottle), along with a classic brut Champagne by Perrier- Jouët of Epernay, France ($102 a bottle). Above, the second fl oor bar at Planter's House in St. Louis can host intimate holiday gatherings.

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