Superiority = advantage, excellence, vantage point
Superior tastes, food preparation, service and view—all factors that contribute to a spectacular experience from a higher seat—and all experiences that happen in suite catering. Made-from-scratch menu items, top-notch service and limitless choices have helped make the suite catering business an essential and lucrative one for many venues.
"Our role as foodservice providers has changed," says Bruce Turner, national director of development for Sodexho Marriott Services, Boise, Idaho. "When it comes to suites, the objective is to absolutely dazzle them with service."
Evolution of excess
The past five years or so have ushered in an era of high expectations for patrons at recreational venues. As the economy soars, thirty-year old millionaires are common and entertainment dollars are being spent like never before. Businesses have "upscale clients and they want to impress them—that’s exactly what we try to do," says Robert Garcia, food and beverage general manager for Grand Slam Catering, foodservice provider at AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn., home of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple A affiliate Memphis Redbirds. "From the way the food is prepared to how it is presented, both of those things have a big influence on how the guest feels."
A high expectation level of service and presentation has been common for the past few years at professional sporting events, but now suites and all their amenities are prevalent at minor league ball parks, racetracks, concerts and convention centers as well. Those patrons now expect a carving station, dessert cart and attentive, professional servers. Minor league baseball business has evolved, "from the amount of suites to the way the facilities are built," says Garcia, who will oversee 48 suites when AutoZone Park opens on April 1 with a Memphis Redbirds inaugural game versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Our suites are full-service, multi-faceted fine dining areas," says Don Campbell, director of food and beverage at Emerald Downs, a thoroughbred racetrack in Auburn, Wash. "We have outstanding, quality food that receives rave reviews." Emerald Downs will begin its fifth live racing season in April.
The sky’s the limit
The suite catering business borrows principles from the catering, concessions and restaurant businesses. Most operations have a separate kitchen and full-time chef, sometimes with a sous and dessert chef. Suites usually have "day-of event" menus, as well as set menus, but most venues can satisfy any customers’ whim with a little bit of notice, and sometimes with no notice at all.
Turner explains that at one arena, a suite holder had caught a salmon, and wanted to serve the freshly caught fish to his guests in the suite. Sodexho Marriott’s staff saw that the fish was prepared and enjoyed that very night. This emphasis on above-and-beyond service extends to the ordering system, where Sodexho Marriott gives suite holders access to an online menu using their special access code and the ability to immediately print out their choices. "Online ordering has given us the ability to respond and react to the marketplace," says Turner. "With a few clicks, we are able to add a new menu item and have it immediately out to our clients."
Another way Sodexho Marriott interacts with their customers is at monthly suite holder appreciation parties, according to Christopher Claunch, general manager at Bank of America Arena, Boise, Idaho, which has 40 suites that hold up to 35 people each. "During these hospitality sessions, we get feedback from the people who actually order the food," says Claunch. These parties help guide the online ordering system and menu selections. Claunch says that 50 percent of his pre-orders are received through the online ordering system.
Themed events are very popular, especially as a buffet or banquet style; many of the suites can participate in the common shared areas on the suite level or opt to have a private party. Campbell cites Southwest, Asian, Italian and Northwest feasts as the most popular themed events at Emerald Downs. "Those are our major options, but we can embellish those with personal choices," says Campbell. Sodexho Marriott’s venues regularly stage ethnically themed buffets, as well as beach party themes. "The goal is to really create an atmosphere," says Turner. "For the Mexican theme, the suite catering director will decorate the area with sombreros and flags, include food like chips and salsa, enchiladas and fajitas, buckets of Corona beer, all the way to flan for dessert and Mexican coffee with Kahlua and chocolate spoons."
Regional tastes are essential to include in the suite’s offerings, according to Garcia in Memphis. The new AutoZone Park will feature a local restaurant’s barbecued pork, chicken and ribs, as well as fried catfish, a Memphis favorite and new menu item being introduced in the 2000 season. Garcia brings substantial suite catering experience to the new park, having worked at the Superdome in New Orleans, home of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints. His Cajun influences have been manifested with his New Orleans themed suite catering offerings, including boiled crawfish and shrimp. Skip Aurell, concessions director at The Kiel Center, home of the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League team, cites a top suite choice that is a local specialty—toasted ravioli, a regional favorite from the Italian influence on local cuisine.
The emphasis of freshness and quality of food offerings are a main priority in suite catering. Made-from-scratch soups, sauces and salsas are an expectation. "People know the difference," says Campbell. "We have regulars who come back several times a week, and they are quick to be critical." Campbell says the most popular item in the fine dining/suite area at Emerald Downs is beer-battered halibut and chips, made from scratch using a local microbrewed beer and fresh catch of the day. Emerald Downs also makes their pizza fresh everyday and will "keep doing our own because well-known products couldn’t compete with our size and price," says Campbell.
In-house options
The Kiel Center went from contracted foodservice suite catering to in-house after the expiration of a five-year contract with Levy Restaurants last summer. Levy has the contract on many major stadiums’ suite catering in the U.S., including Los Angeles’ new Staples Center and Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena and Pro Player Stadium. "We decided to take the third party out of the operation," says Aurell, who helped oversee the transition in July 1999. "All of the equipment for the suite belonged to Kiel, so we started from scratch, evaluated the menu counts and encouraged our chef to try new things." The transition went smoothly and went "hand-in-hand" with the concessions, an in-house operation when Kiel opened in 1994. "The menus are evolving to fit guests’ desires," says Aurell. "The first weekend of suite catering went great and the food presentation was phenomenal, and it continues to go great."
Top-notch service
"It takes a different type of person to work in a suite," says Turner. "It is a high-end job with lots of skills involved…you need to be articulate, bright, flexible and open to new ideas." Typical suite operations employ staff who act as servers, concierges and hosts for their particular suites. "We find it is a remarkable draw for college students and teachers, who do it as a moonlight job," says Turner. "Suite holders establish a relationship with their servers and don’t like a revolving door with staff."
Campbell agrees that suite and fine dining servers typically have more advanced skills than concession workers. Concession employees do have the opportunity to rise through the foodservice ranks to the higher-paid suite server positions. Because of the low unemployment rate in the Seattle area, and all over the country, labor shortages abound, but Campbell says incentives like increasing wage per hour within the first few months of working in concessions helps keep workers satisfied. "There is lots of mobility and employees know that as their experience grows, they can cross over to other areas," says Campbell.
Training for suite workers and concessions workers differs in the specific serving skills needed, and at some venues, employees do not cross over. At the Kiel Center, employees can choose which department they would like to work for after trying out both. Employees at AutoZone Park in Memphis can crossover as the need arises, and Garcia says some employees prefer to work exclusively in the suites. Using volunteers is always helpful in any concessions department to ease the strain of labor shortages, and Garcia says he has found great success using local groups, including Girl Scouts, soccer teams, church groups, and the most unique group, the Deaf and Mute Bowling League. Some suite operations are finding volunteers to be an asset in their staffing shortages, but different training is needed for the volunteers that work in both concessions and suite catering. Cost of luxury
Suite patrons are not your ordinary sports fans—they are willing to shell out the big bucks to impress, entertain and enjoy the event at a whole new level. Suite costs do not include food and beverage costs, just suite rental. At the Kiel Center, suites range from $90,000 to $125,000 a year for 12 tickets per suite. The fee also includes tables at The Club, the restaurant open only to suite holders. AmericanAirlines Arena’s top level of suites range from $120,000 to $210,000 a year, with promised views overlooking not only the action on the court, but the Miami Skyline or Biscayne Bay. Sodexho Marriott’s suites, located across the country at minor league ballparks, colleges and universities, and stadiums/arenas, cost from $30,000 to $100,000 a year.
"There is a clubhouse mentality with suite holders," says Turner. "They like to relax and enjoy their success in their suites."
The advent and rise of suite catering has added a new dimension to recreation and leisure-time foodservice, a trend that appears in no danger of reversing.
"The outstanding quality of the food and the rave reviews keeps people coming back," says Campbell.