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Chef's Showcase

Southern-Style Hospitality in Ohio

		Executive chef: John Beuter Owners: Bill and Kathy Kinane Managers: Lon Callis and Steve Dawkins Concept: An elegant, "plantation-style", "special-event" estate Square footage of meeting and event space: 55,000 Number of weddings in 2003: 220 Types of settings: Outdoor gazebo, gardens and veranda; indoor ballrooms and meeting rooms Number of kitchen staff: 10-15 Number of service staff: about 50
Sample menu items: Individual baked cheese tartlet; tenderloin tips stroganoff; grilled balsamic chicken breast; oven poached Alaskan halibut, topped with gulf shrimp and lobster chive brandy cream; pan-seared boneless center cut pork chop, with a sun-dried cranberry and spiced pecan medley and cassis butter sauce; gorgonzola rosemary whipped potato; fresh asparagus spears with sweet pepper medley; magnificent seven layer cake; white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

What’s so enjoyable about cooking for large parties? – Questions & Answers

How did your previous work experience prepare you for high-volume event foodservice?
I came to Manor House about eight months ago, after six years with the Cameron Mitchell restaurant group in Columbus. There I was responsible for opening new restaurants, training chefs, and getting the menu up and running. The most I was ever really in one place was about six months.

Before that I was an executive chef for Aramark, specializing in concept and menu development for health-care foodservice. The rest of my jobs were more conventional restaurant venues, one in a big five-star country club and then a couple of Italian restaurants on the East Coast.

When this position came open, I believe the owners were not necessarily looking for someone with volume experience but rather someone with a volume attitude.

What’s the difference?
In a place where you are responsible for serving hundreds of guests at any one time, it’s important to be a hands-on and can-do person. You have to be someone who can make things happen yet be easy to work with. Teamwork is the only way to make large events run without a hitch.

Would you say that’s one of your major strengths?
Yes. I work on having a positive attitude and treating my colleagues as I want to be treated. You’ve also got to be ready to jump in whenever and wherever you’re needed. I’m open to anything. I’ll do dishes. I’ll clear tables. That’s what all of us do here.

Take the owners, for example – the Kinanes. They’ll fill in wherever they see a need, whether that means bussing tables, driving cars for the valet, setting up buffets or working the plate-up line. They set the example and the standard for the rest of us.

Do guests notice?
No. That’s the whole idea. Their experience must be seamless and flawless. All that really matters is that we create the best possible memories for them.

What are some of the other ways you and your staff make that happen?
Regular tastings are one way. Each quarter – four times a year – we invite everyone who is having an event at Manor House during that period to a big buffet dinner. And they can bring a companion so that means about 300 people total.

For our guests it’s not only fun but a way to thank them for their business and show them how serious we are about making their party a success. And, of course, they get to taste most of our menu items, which helps them make their food decisions.

Do you ever do private meetings and tastings?
Absolutely. I’m always available, especially if someone wants to venture off the menu or plan some more elaborate themed event. Some guests even bring in ideas they’ve seen in books or magazines, and we work to duplicate that.

But for the most part, guests tend to stick to the menu. It’s large and comprehensive, with a little bit of something to please everyone.

How do you and your staff prepare for events?
The whole crew meets weekly to go over all the parties and make sure the front-of-the- house and back-of-the-house know the latest details. Then we plan the best way logistically to work the whole day. We operate from the perspective that the client always comes first, so these meetings ensure that we can achieve that goal.

As for the kitchen, we generally work a day or two ahead, prepping food for the next day while we’re finishing and serving the reservations on the current day.

It sounds as if you must be pretty organized. Are you?
In this end of the business, you can never be too organized so it’s something I’m always working on. It seems as if I do a whole lot of counting all the time.

Do you ever miss conventional restaurants?
Are you kidding? There are too many variables. It’s a lot easier knowing you’re going to be serving 1,200 people and what they’re going to eat.

And this type of cooking isn’t really any more monotonous than being in a restaurant kitchen. Being a chef is a little repetitious. That’s no secret. But I’ve been here nearly a year and still haven’t made everything on the menu yet even once.

So what was the toughest dish you had to make so far?
Cobb salad for 300, individually plated, with all of the components carefully lined up. And to make sure they were really fresh, we didn’t do them in advance. That was pretty wild.