Funny timing in that I just sent out a food and bev survey. Some interesting data but after 38 years (20 for me) of seeing this stuff there is not a lot of fundamental difference in what people SAY they want.
Ben,
I hear you and wish I could offer a very limited menu that changed very frequently. I could save on inventory costs and provide an excellent product. The trouble is that JK recognizes and points out that that approach really won't fly in a private club setting.
We joke that we don't really have a menu but rather an ingredient list! At a typical club the menu must be fairly extensive and even then people will ask for and demand you make whatever it is they ask for. For example my lunch menu has the normal--club sand, ham, turkey, BLT, chix salad, tuna salad, fried bologna (we are in the south
) , brisket or corned beef (we have a lot of yankee members
), burger, hot dogs, grilled cheese, quesadillas, we always have a chili and soup of the day, daily fish and chicken specials, 6-8 salads for the ladies (Parisian, Taco, Chef, Cobb) with toppings from tenderloin to chicken to shrimp to salmon. We have a soup and salad bar each Thursday (Ladies Day). That leaves room for 3-4 "signature" items that we can rotate on a quarterly basis. (Chicken tender platter, Seafood Crepes, Seafood Tacos, Old CHicago sandwhich, omelettes...)
We have people that eat at the club 3 days a week for lunch and they always want something different. The trouble is that it is very hard to take off any food item as each one has it own following. Even items that we rotate on and off the menu get ordered as members expect you to make it if you have the ability.
For example, this past weekend in the middle of the Atlanta snowstorm we did a lunch special where you bought one entree and received the next one for free. Kind of cheesy but I will do anything to get people to their club, using it and hanging out with their friends. We had 90 people come in on a slushy 40 degree day on each day this weekend and it was a great success. The point is though that we had people ordering omelettes, seafood crepes, home fries, shrimp quesadillas--all items not on the menu--but items they knew we could do for them.
Any food person knows how special orders, particularly at very busy times are killers for the kitchen as you are not prepped for them. The prep work before those times is 90% of the challenge but when Mr. Smith wants hand cut home fries or a chicken quesadilla but with shrimp instead of chicken and extra onions with red peppers only, no green peppers, extra salsa and sour cream and sliced avocado but no guacomole
! that is what he gets. This seemingly easy request can throw behind a line of three guys cooking for 90 people in a 2 hour time frame. Same goes for a genuinely easy request for a bagel and smoked salmon (people know we have it on our Sunday brunches so we have it somewhere in the kitchen, but may be in the mood for it on a Saturday at lunch time!)
Anyway, the whole point is that dues paying members don't really understand (and I am not saying they should) how their "demands" for whatever it is they want at pretty much any time increases the cost of the operation. BUT, if you told them here is a new limited
menu that will change daily and we guarrantee it will be good, fresh product but it may mean that if you were in the mood for "your" sliced brisket you may be out of luck, well, then, they don't understand and get angry.
Nothing can be more time consuming and frustrtating than menu planning for a private club. I think in a private setting you recognize golf pays the bills and food and bev is an amenity that can help foster good will among the membership particualry in slow times like winter months. FB is a member retention tool that means I will do everything I can to meet any request.
I have a great chef and kitchen crew who can pump out good quality food from burgers to a seven course gourmet night which we do 6-7 times a year. That is huge. Wait staff can be tough to get really strong servers as the best servers tend to work in traditional restaurants where the tips and money are better but a great attitude goes a long way. Be friendly and try hard!
Last thing--every survey tells you people want "heart healthy" food. They may want to see it on the menu but it is always the worst selling item on the menu!!!