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| Chef's Showcase |
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| Food That's Right On The Mark
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 Executive chef Patrick Delaney says he likes to keep moving and work in all of the hotel's many kitchens
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Executive chef: Patrick Delaney
Culinary education: Graduate, The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y.
Corporate name: Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts
Owning company: HBE Corp., St. Louis
Number of hotel properties held: 24, all in the United States
Foodservice venues in Denver: Bravo! Ristorante; Capitol Bar; Supreme Court; Trattoria Colorado; Players Sports Bar; Tiffany Rose Lounge
Total F&B Business: $21 million
Number of meals served during any one daypart: 5,000
Number of guest rooms: 1,225, including 92 suites
Amount of meeting space: 133,000 square feet
Number of kitchen employees: 70 cooks; 64 stewards
Some popular "off-the-menu" items: Free range pheasant roulade stuffed with grilled steamed artichokes and sorrel; Fluted phyllo cup filled with frisee, baby spinach, walnuts, dried black currants accompanied with aged Vermont white cheddar, port wine dressing; Pan-seared Colorado buffalo with morel
and chanterelle mushrooms, tarragon garlic glace
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Why is the food so important, even at a big convention hotel? - Questions & Answers |
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How long have you been at the Adam's Mark in Denver?
It's been five and a half years since I arrived. That was right in the middle of our huge expansion, when we went from 600 rooms to more than 1,200 and built on the majority of our meeting space. Part of that commitment was to grow our reputation for fine banquet food.
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What sort of changes have you seen in the banquet business?
Meeting planners know how to utilize chefs better than ever before. They know it's important to "get to the chef." It used to be that there was standard banquet fare. That's what customers expected and accepted. Menu choices boiled down to roast beef, chicken or scrod.
But now the planners are more aware of food possibilities and want to eat the same sort of things they're eating in restaurants. That means meeting venues can use food as a point of distinction, which is what we try to do here. |
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So how do you make that work?
About 70-75 percent of the hotel's business is done in meetings and conventions. Naturally, we have developed a series of banquet menus around all the possible dayparts, breaks and receptions that customers might request during such occasions. But I'd say that about 60 percent of all our banquet guests request food that isn't on any of those menus.
We're happy to oblige, actually. I have a lot of fun working with the meeting planners to develop menus that are best suited to the personality of the group and the theme of the gathering. With some of the larger gatherings these relationships are very important to the overall success of the meeting. And the food ends up being at least as good as the best restaurant food, if not better. We offer all the best products, including specialty produce and grains, and keep up with the most current eating trends.
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What other kinds of special requests do you accommodate?
Now every time we do an event, we plan for a 5-6 percent vegetarian component right off the bat. If someone has even more specialized dietary concerns - like lacto-intolerance or low sodium needs - all they have to do is ask their server, and we'll take care of it on the floor. But so often now, people will contact me before the event, either through the meeting planner or directly, to talk about things they can or can't eat. Then we're able to help them out with their menu choices for their entire stay.
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That's right. For conventions that last several days, how attentive must you be to variety?
I think it's extremely important to keep the menus varied and balanced. That goes for the hotel restaurants and clubs, too. For example, I've got three different kinds of french fries in the hotel. I look at it like this: A guest wants to eat a meal in each of our different restaurants, so why would he or she want to eat the same kind of french fry every time?
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Does each venue have its own production kitchen?
We have nine kitchens in this hotel. We're really fortunate because all the meeting rooms have their own facilities and things are connected underground for mobility. There's one bake shop, a central butcher and a large garde manger that produces many basic preparations. The banquet department makes all the stocks. Sous chefs order the basics they need for their areas but are responsible for everything else on their menus, even the sauces.
I think it's important to keep employees motivated by giving them some autonomy and the tools to be successful. Cross training is another example of that approach. Not only does it help me retain good employees, but also it helps keep people energized and eventually reveals their true strengths.
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You also have a lot of externs under your direction, don't you? Please tell us about working with the next generation of chefs.
It's important to me now to provide some sort of mentoring roll. I try to bridge the gap between what they learn in culinary school and what can be learned in a real-world operation. I was lucky enough to work in some of the greatest hotel properties in the country. Someone had to give all of us a chance. I try to keep that in mind always.
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