2005 Tabletop Performance Awards
By Toby Weber, Associate Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 10/1/2005
While back-of-the-house equipment usually takes most of an operation’s E&S dollars, the front of the house plays the bigger role in establishing an atmosphere, and the tabletop is one of the most important elements in the front of the house. Diners gather around it, handle its pieces and form their impressions of a restaurant based largely on the china, flatware, glassware and accessories an operation employs.
With this in mind, FE&S conducted its 2005 Tabletop Performance Awards, dedicated to recognizing the most effective newly installed tabletops in five distinct categories, as well as those who assembled them.
FE&S would like to thank this year’s judges for the Tabletop Performance Awards: Nash Calihan of Calihan Catering, Chicago; Dennis Semro of Page & Semro Marketing, Bloomingdale, Ill.; and Pamela Stoner, dining room instructor with Kendall College, Chicago.
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Town Square at West View, Wooster, Ohio West View Manor Home has served the elderly in Wooster, Ohio, since its founding by The Brethren Church in 1956. During the past 49 years, it has relocated and expanded on several occasions, the most recent being the addition of Town Square at West View, which opened earlier this year. Town Square boasts an indoor “streetscape” concept that includes assisted-living apartments, a movie theater, a beauty parlor and, of course, a restaurant that offers both à la carte service for visitors and meal plans for residents. In selecting Town Square at West View, the winner in the On-Site Foodservice category, the FE&S judges noted that its tabletop does not look like that of an institutional feeder. Rather, it is what one would expect to find in a high-quality restaurant. This was exactly the intention, states Earl Bailey, business development specialist with S.S. Kemp, who helped specify the tabletop along with Town Square Chief Financial Officer Cherie Jameson and Director of Nutritional Services and Catering Gail Griggs. “We wanted a place where their residents and visiting family members would feel very much at home,” he says. Of particular note is the similarity in styles between Churchill’s Damask china and World Tableware’s Verona flatware. “When we selected the china, we were thrilled to find flatware that matched,” Bailey says. |
Specifiers Winning Elements |
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Specifiers Winning Elements |
Old Original Bookbinders, Philadelphia One of the oldest and most famous restaurants in Philadelphia, Old Original Bookbinders reopened in February after a major renovation. In performing the upgrade, Bookbinders owner John Taxin’s main goal was balancing the old with the new in order to attract more local diners while maintaining its robust tourist business, says Michael Burnett, the sales representative with Singer Equipment Co. who was part of the dealer’s renovation team. “John’s big thing, whether it was the tabletop or the menu, was walking a tightrope between honoring the Bookbinders that was there before by keeping the feel of a landmark, and contemporizing the restaurant,” Burnett says. In being selected as winner in the Independent Restaurant category with an average per-person check above $30, Taxin has received validation that he achieved this goal. The judges noted how the tabletop did not feel out of place at a landmark restaurant such as Bookbinders. At the same time, elements such as the clean lines of the dinnerware give the tabletop a contemporary look and feel. The judges also noted the lobster logo found on the bread plate and goblet centerpiece adds a playful element to the tabletop. They also point out that the logo’s placement on smaller service pieces rather than on entrée plates prevents it from overwhelming the presentation. Playing key roles in assembling this tabletop were John Taxin, the owner of Bookbinders, and David Cunningham, the restaurant’s chef, as well as Cortney McKenna, Burnett’s assistant. |
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D’Agnese’s Tomato Grille, Hudson, Ohio D’Agnese’s Tomato Grille, winner in the Independent Restaurant category with an average per-person check of less than $30, opened its doors in Hudson, Ohio, in December 2004. The owner, Franko Boffice, previously operated a similar restaurant in Hudson, The Red Tomato, but had lost his lease on the space where it operated. After finding a location in a new development, Boffice decided to move to a higher-class interior in order to match the quality of food at this Italian eatery. In honoring D’Agnese’s, the competition’s judges cited the welcoming feel instilled by everything on and around the tabletop, from its flatware to chairs. Indeed, Boffice, along with D’Agnese’s Manager Joann Dodd, set out to create the most inviting environment possible for this style of operation. “You feel comfortable going in if you’re wearing shorts and a t-shirt or a suit and tie,” says Jim Blakely, interior designer/project coordinator with S.S. Kemp. At the same time, however, the specifiers added some flair to the tabletop with stainless-steel accents such as the cheese bowl, oil dish and candle holder, while the light green walls and matching napkins help give D’Agnese’s an upbeat feel. Among the pieces that stand out for S.S. Kemp Sales Representative Marguerite Marini is the Nouveau bowl from Steelite International, with its crisp, clean look. “Since so many of his dishes have sauce, the bowl contains the sauce and gives the tabletop an elegant look at an affordable price,” she says. |
Specifiers Winning Elements |
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Specifiers Winning Elements |
The Coronado Ballroom, St. Louis St. Louis’ Coronado Ballroom, winner in FE&S’ 2005 Tabletop Awards’ Catering/Banquet category, first opened in 1927 as part of the Coronado Hotel. After being used as a dormitory for St. Louis University in the 1960s and ’70s and then falling completely out of use, Steven and Kathy Becker bought the facility and commenced a $40 million renovation in 2003. Restored to a top-of-the-line facility that our judges described as a “classic ballroom,” the renovated space features a tabletop whose colors tie in with the overall environment. In selecting the tabletop, the operators wanted to incorporate elements that recalled the 1920s and ’30s but that did not make the facility seem dated. Much of this was accomplished through the tabletop’s china. Schönwald’s undecorated Marquis line offered a style common to the desired time period. “We went with a decorative plate, something with a little detail, vs. plain white, slick-looking china,” says David Fitter, DSR with Ford Hotel Supply, who helped assemble the tabletop along with the Beckers and Rob Schaefer, senior catering and events specialist with Steven Becker Fine Dining. Balancing this pattern with a more modern look is a frosted white base plate from Service Ideas. The translucent plate helps the table setting match any color tablecloth, as well as the space’s original terrazzo floor. Other pieces that stand out are the tabletop’s Triton crystal stemware from Schott-Zwiesel and Oneida Donizetti silver-plate flatware. |
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Rocky Fork Hunt & Country Club, Gahanna, Ohio Located in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Gahanna, Rocky Fork Hunt & Country Club installed a new tabletop in February that earned first place in the Club category of FE&S’ 2005 Tabletop Performance Awards. Rocky Fork’s management decided to install this new tabletop for purely practical reasons, says John Sweeney, account manager with The Wasserstrom Co. The club was using porcelain-based dinnerware that was extremely fragile and needed pieces that could better handle heavy use. When selecting china patterns to present to Rocky Fork, Sweeney inched away from the traditional round plates and introduced oval shapes. “We tried to blend durability with what we were seeing at the club: a combination of an old-time conservative look that was being brought up to more modern standards without being too modern,” Sweeney says. In selecting Rocky Fork, the judges noted that the tabletop was exactly how a country club’s table setting should look: comfortable yet elegant, and appropriate for both casual and formal dining. According to Sweeney, several people played key roles in assembling this tabletop, including Rocky Fork General Manager Tom Wheat and Chef Erika Decker, Oneida representative Steve Castle with Castle Cliffe & Associates and Wasserstrom Sales Manager Dan DeNoble. |
Specifiers Winning Elements |
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