What meeting and event groups want for dinner: healthy, locally-grown and bite-sized selections, combined with star service. These are the trends sweeping the tables in several Midwest destinations. Event menus are a dynamic element of the food and beverage business that offers constant change and opportunities for creative solutions. In today’s economically challenged times, the job has grown even more interesting.
With an influx of celebrity chefs claiming airtime on various TV channels throughout the last decade, a large percentage of viewers have gained knowledge of and exposure to changing food trends. Food and beverage personnel are now challenged to meet public perception standards, delivering impressive meal functions without breaking the bank.
Here, a few minds in the food and beverage arena share their perspectives on working with meeting and event groups.
A breakfast buffet at 7:00 a.m. A chic café for lunch at noon. A formal banquet hall for dinner at 6:00 p.m. All without transportation concerns or costs. All, in fact, without ever leaving the property.Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and most resorts offer multiple dining options onsite with assorted menus, themes and even table-side entertainment.
You can expect to find two to five or more different restaurants within one resort, each with its own unique ambience and offerings. This means your attendees have the opportunity to sample a new venue for each meal, whether on their own or as part of a group function. Speaking of group functions, who says you have to use one of the resort’s restaurants as the setting for your meal? If you’d rather serve hors d’oeuvres on the golf course or a five-course dinner around the pool.
When was the last time you asked your attendees what they wanted for dinner? A good bet: everyone now expects more than rubber chicken.Benchmark Hospitality International recently released its list of “Top Five Dining Trends 2007,” as observed by its properties. Here, Bob Zappatelli, vice president of food and beverage for the Benchmark culinary team, discusses these trends and ways planners can tap in to what diners want to create a meeting or event menu to satisfy attendees.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has become the first hotel company to announce its brand-wide commitment to using sustainable, locally sourced and organically grown products wherever possible in its menu.
This step is part of an ongoing process in which Fairmont will be evaluating its menu for further opportunities to choose responsible food purchasing practices. The change, part of Fairmont’s Green Partnership, took effect throughout the chain this last fall.
RSS Feed