Chef's Showcase - SYSCO Corporation

Search Products and Recipes:

Customers

- Products
- Services
SYSCO iCare
SYSCO Features
What's Green At SYSCO
People and Products
Service That Sells
- Order Entry
- SYSCO eNutrition
- Quality Assurance
- Product Mkt. Reports
- Recipes
- Become a Customer

Chef's Showcase

Everything For Everyone

From where Parker Lee cooks, the view is fine

Executive chef: Parker Lee
Property: Anthem Country Club
Location: Las Vegas
Web site: http://www.anthemcc.com
Concept: A high-quality, freestanding, bistro-style restaurant disguised as a country club dining room
Check averages: The Grill: $11 for lunch, $18.50 for dinner; The Dining Room, about $27 for dinner
Seating: 105 in the Dining Room, 95 in the Grill
Annual culinary sales: about $1.5 million
Sample of menu items: homemade chicken tortilla chili, $3 cup/$5 bowl; fried Thai chicken served with sesame-oil-tossed soba noodles and a creamy peanut sauce, $7

How is country club dining changing? - Questions & Answers

We're hearing so much about the food scene in Vegas these days. How does it feel to be cooking in such a high-energy city?
I don't know if it gets any better than this. The Anthem golf course is one of the best in the area, the athletic club is state-of-the-art and the view from the Dining Room is spectacular. You can see a panorama of the whole valley, including the lights on both strips.

It's competitive here to be sure, in terms of both attracting talented staff and loyal guests. But I'm fine with that because the environment challenges me to do my best. I want to be compared with every other restaurant in town. After all, that's what our members do when they're deciding where to eat.

How do you make the Anthem Country Club a dining destination?
I try to embrace the culinary needs of our membership. That means everyone. It helps that the common denominator is high quality. Our food and beverage program is committed to delivering the best food available to us.

The program allows us to offer something for meat lovers, something for people eating light, an impressive experience for corporate and social entertaining and value for families with children. And then we make everything from scratch. Guests know the difference immediately.

How often do you change the menu?
We completely change the menu four times a year. And I mean completely. The only thing that stays on is the chicken tortilla chili.

Don't guests get attached to certain items?
If they do, then they're willing to let go of them just as fast. I'm very lucky that our members trust us with new dishes and new products. Plus, I think changing the menu this way helps keep their experiences fresh.

Does that mean you've even got Atkins diet items on the menu now?
I felt as if I had to get aggressive with the whole Atkins thing. I'm not advertising on the menu that we're doing it, but I do want people to know that we're hip to what's going on out in the world and are eager to accommodate their needs.

To be honest, I don't want anyone to come here and be on a diet. I want all our guests to relax and enjoy a fine meal. But that's just not reality. So we're quite flexible about special requests and dietary concerns. We'll do just about anything any time. And if you give us a call with a little advance notice, we really can do anything.

So it's fair to say you change the menu with the seasons. But are there seasons in Las Vegas?
Only two: hot and not-so-hot. We're just coming off the winter menu, where we did have a couple of braised dishes and typical "cold weather fare."

Does the property have special facilities for events and functions?
The Grill is open to members five days a week. Then we share the Dining Room between membership dining and private parties. Thursdays and Fridays are for à la carte dining, and Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for functions. As of now, I've got weddings booked for virtually every Saturday this year.

Is the Anthem an example of the way country club dining is changing?
I think we're at the edge of a new trend as country club membership becomes younger and more experienced diners. We're finding that guests want their club restaurants to be more casual. Traditional, formal, fine-dining rooms - with tableside service and Continental cuisine - are not the way Americans are eating anymore, especially at country clubs.

Take the food, for example. We offer what I would call multiethnic dishes. The influences might be Asian or Italian or American, but they're all authentic and driven by high-quality ingredients. This is the way we're eating in restaurants now.

What happens to the traditional country club dress code?
We obviously don't allow cutoffs or warm- ups or gym clothes in our dining rooms. But basically if you can wear it on the course, you can wear it in the restaurant.

The whole idea is for members to feel comfortable without losing that sense of quality and privilege.

Would you say that food might make a difference in which club people join?
I'm proud to say I think that in our case the food has been a factor for some new members. But the secret to the foodservice success at a club is really a matter of accessibility. You have to create a concept where people want to come over and over again.

When I first got here and revamped the menu to be more casual, lowered the prices and offered a wider range of choices, we noticed an immediate spike in covers. Now we're doing about 1,000 dinners a week. That's in just five days with a base of 1,600 members - in Las Vegas, where there are lots of great places to eat. That makes me feel as if we must be doing something right.