Fun meets flavor by way of food trucks

The aroma of delicious food and sweet treats filled the air Aug. 22 as the parking lot at St Ann Catholic Church hosted several food trucks and hungry customers. Food vendors included La Bete, Slideways and Scoop's Ice Cream Truck.

Patricia Clements, the education director at St. Ann, organized the weekly event over three years ago.

“I was familiar with several of the Baptist churches in Richmond, and they were doing food courts on Wednesday nights. I knew a couple of the folks who ran them, and they said it was a real good [way to] build the community and support local businesses. It wasn't meant to be a money maker, but to be neighborly,” she said.

The event takes place every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. during the summer months. “We always have two entree trucks and one dessert truck,” Clements said.
The community also gains from hosting the event.

“We ask the trucks when they have a really profitable night, if they could give a donation to the youth activities scholarship fund, and they usually will. Our youth wins, and the trucks do as well,” she said.

A frequenter at the St. Ann food court, La Bete grilled and fried dozens of meals last week.

La Bete means “the beast” in French, and their slogan, “Sate your Beastly Appetite.” The food truck is owned by Randy Boodram and operated by his sister, Krystal Saywak, and a friend, Akeem Hendrickson.

Boodram and his sister grew up in New York before moving into the Richmond area. Here they worked on their family-owned food truck before opening their own four months ago to service the Chesterfield area.

“We're trying to make a name for ourselves, trying to keep business local,” Boodram noted. “I am self-taught. I never went to culinary school. I had to learn all of this stuff. Growing up in New York, I got competitive and I wanted to grow. My high school was outside of a farmers market, and I enjoyed that a lot.”

La Bete's menu is mainly Caribbean, Creole and “New American” flavors. They have a wide variety on the menu that includes beer battered fried chicken, mac ‘n' cheese and chipotle steak tacos, but the crowd favorite seems to be the braised oxtails.

“Our menu changes every night [in order to] keep it interesting and seasonal,” Boodram said. “All of our dishes are inspired from traveling and trying new things.”

Another popular food truck is Scoop's Ice Cream. Scoop's is owned and operated by Sandy Farnam, who often gets help from her daughter and granddaughter. Farnam specializes in selling Hershey frozen goodies and offers more than eight flavors of ice cream for those who like sweet treats.

Similar to Boodram, Farnam started from scratch. “I bought a truck, and I did a lot of this myself,” she said. “It was a lot of hard work, but it was fun.”

Although Farnam has been in business for over two years, she wasn't originally in the food business. “I sold real estate for 30 years, and I still flip houses, but [owning a food truck] is fun. Everybody smiles. This is so rewarding,” she said.

Slideways serves sliders and gourmet french fries and is based in Richmond.

How hotels are upping their game on food and drink

F&B is an important revenue generator for hotels, with overall consumer spending in the U.S. alone rising by 5.5 percent annually since 2011, according to Technomic. The biggest driver of F&B, however, is a desire among hotels to tap into today’s experience-led economy.

“Having a memorable experience is especially important among today’s young people,” says Alexis Marcoux-Varvatsoulis, Consultant – Hotels F&B Specialist at JLL. “Instead of simply having a room to sleep in, Millennials are looking for innovative concepts that enhance their overall experience. In return, F&B provides hotels with more chances to interact with guests, thereby reinforcing their image, and when done well, generating positive reviews on social media to reach new potential guests.”

Competition among hotels and restaurants is stiff, which means it is no longer enough for hotels to simply add on an eatery as an afterthought. Standing out from the crowd is incredibly important – and this has led to some innovative concepts being introduced.

    Food a feature of hotel lobbies

Hotel lobbies are becoming much more than a simple reception and gift shop with coffee bars, grab and go stations for snacks and comfy seating that encourages people to linger. In Marriott’s Moxy hotels, the focus of the lobby is on eating, drinking and socialising from the self-service buffet at breakfast, fully-stocked food wall and coffee and full-service bars.

The big focus of a lobby needs to be on the food & beverage experiences,” George Fleck, VP of global brand management and marketing for Westin, Renaissance and Le Meridien, tells Hotel Management. “The first thing you should see when you walk in, ideally, is a really beautiful bar scene. The seating has been arranged to ensure there are communal seating opportunities and that there are intimate seating zones for more personal conversations.”

Other novel concepts include homemade snacks and pastry-making demonstrations in the lobby of the Renaissance Tuscany II Ciocco Resort & Spa, and a ceviche and tequila bar in the lobby of Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa in Mexico.

    Flying in world-renowned names

To bring guests and locals a high-profile foodie experience, some hotels are ‘flying in’ Michelin-starred restaurants from the other side of the world. The Crown Hotel in Melbourne was home to the UK’s famous Fat Duck restaurant for six months, while the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo provided a six-week residency to Copenhagen’s Noma. The latter had a waiting list of 65,000 guests.“This type of arrangement is a win-win for both parties,” says Marcoux-Varvatsoulis. “It offers the restaurant an opportunity to test its brand in a new city, and for the hotel it is a great way to market its rooms to a large pool of potential guests.”

    Room service via AI

New technology is increasingly on hand to satisfy guests’ needs – and appetites. At the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, guests can now order room service via Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa. And in the U.S., residents at Choice Hotels International can get external food delivered via a mobile app, created through a partnership with delivery.com.

“Using technology not only demonstrates that the hotel is on trend, but it also makes it easier for guests to spend money. The long term benefit is convenience for guests,” explains Marcoux-Varvatsoulis.

    In-room cooking programs

The concept of in-room grocery deliveries has been taken a step further in the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, which has launched an in-room cooking program. Aimed at long-term travelers, the recipes have been devised by famous chefs such as Hari Nayak and James Rigato.

    Attaching a brewery

A rise in the popularity of craft beer and spirits has led some hotels to incorporate on-site breweries. The Source Hotel in Denver has a branch of New Belgium Brewing next to its lobby, while Cavalier Hotel in Virgina Beach includes a bourbon, rye and vodka distillery. BrewDog, the Scottish brewery, recently announced it was planning to open a second DogHouse hotel in Ellon, complete with in-room beer taps, after launching the concept in Ohio last year.

    F&B pop-ups

Some hotels have turned to pop-ups as a way of letting guests try the latest food and drink trends. Marriott International launched an F&B incubator project, Canvas, in 2014 which is designed to maximize space in its European hotels. The rooftop at Marriott’s Park Lane hotel has been host to the likes of Notch, offering Japanese street food and homemade cocktails in cans.

Whether it’s via technology, pop-ups or famous chefs, the focus on F&B is expected to rise over the next few years as hotels seek to tap into the demand for exciting new concepts. “In today’s competitive marketplace, where online reviews are the major driver of choice, it’s essential for hotels to create a positive buzz,” says Marcoux-Varvatsoulis. “It’s an exciting time for hotels and food-savvy travelers alike.”

Christmas in July fundraiser returns to The Food Liaison

The Food Liaison will host Christmas in July, a fundraising event running from Monday, July 23, to Friday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, with a special dinner service on Friday, July 27, from 3  to 6 p.m.

Last year, The Food Liaison hosted their first Christmas in July, a week-long fund- and awareness-raising event to benefit community organizations in Carpinteria. Nirasha and Jason Rodriguez, owners of The Food Liaison, wanted to honor and carryon the philanthropic legacy of Michael Towbes. The event raised nearly $40,000 for diverse non-profits.

This year’s Christmas in July event will raise funds and awareness for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, a group essential to the rescue efforts after the mudslides in Montecito. The Search Dog Foundation is located in Santa Paula and experienced severe loss to their facilities during the Thomas Fire. “In sharing all the reasons the Search Dog Foundation needs our help, it would require writing several pages to give even just a brief explanation,” wrote Jason, “as the work they do has been witnessed around the world in the aftermath of disasters of all types. Something special about the Search Dog Foundation is that they take rescued dogs and train them to be the rescuer.”

During Christmas in July, The Food Liaison will donate 50 percent of their counter sales and 100 percent of tips, raffle and donation station proceeds. For each day of the week, a different company or organization—LinkedIn, BEGA, Bottenfield Construction, CARP Growers and The Berry Man—will match the donation made by The Food Liaison in lunch counter sales, doubling the fundraising potential.

Additionally, Procore and Southern California Edison have teamed up to create the Donation Station within the restaurant that will display a photo gallery of the Search Dog Foundation and an iPad for customers to donate online. SCE will match up to $1,000 a day for money raised at the Donation Station. The individual who gives the largest online donation will win a VIP Tour and TFL BBQ for 10 at the Search Dog Foundation National Training Center. Donations can also be made online at TheFoodLiaison.com.

vent raffle prizes have been donated by Sonos, Impact Hub and Gonzo’s Cycles, among other businesses. 100 percent of raffle proceeds will be donated to the Search Dog Foundation.

Search Dog Foundation staff will be present at the event to speak about the foundation and their dogs throughout the week.