Grove Life Summer 2019

Food for Thought By Carla Hull

M any of you have known me a long time. You have seen me really grow here at Boca Grove. In the 15 years I have been employed at the club, I have done it all when it comes to Food & Beverage. From bussing tables, bartending, waiting on tables, hostessing, reception, supervising and now managing. I grew up in the club just as the club grew on me, and I take pride in saying taking care of our members has always been very important to me. With the help and guidance of Jennifer Jolly, Chef Dominick Laudia and, of course, Mike Gibson as a team, they have challenged me and helped me learn a lot in these past 6 months. In addition to developing standards for our day- to-day operation, I have also had the opportunity to grow in areas that interest me. To that, in February, I was given a great opportunity to take my first WSET (wine and spirits education trust) coursework and test. Back in June, I took my second exam for WSET and am waiting on my results. Fingers crossed! I was even given the opportunity to grow in a professional capacity by attending the Club Managers Association of America three-day conference at Ocean Reef. Wow! did I learn a lot!! I met leaders in the field that really focused on the importance of taking ownership as if we were running our own personal business. The highlight was sharing a table at dinner with Scott Blanchard of The Ken Blanchard Companies as well as a very interesting seminar entitled “Bridging Generations as Clubs Evolve: Innovations in Member Experience and Food & Beverage,” by The Polo Club leadership team of General Manager Brett Morris

and Executive Chef Ed Leonard. It was an incredible experience that gave me tools and examples to bring back to the club and share with the rest of our Food & Beverage team – all with the intent to better serve you, our members. One thing that became evident to me at the conference was that at the heart of every private club’s operation is food and beverage. Some people play golf, some play tennis, some use the fitness center, but EVERYONE eats! The ability to successfully bring the membership to the table and to keep them there is the direct result of an efficient, highly-motivated, well-trained staff devoted to serving quality food and beverages in a professional manner and, just as importantly, to guaranteeing a memorable experi- ence for every member and their guests. We began our first formal training program in late-May. We started by exploring the Ritz Carlton’s Three Steps of Service and what that meant to us at Boca Grove. The three steps sound quite simple …Warm Welcome, Sincere Personalized Service, Fond Farewell … but the devil is in the details. We worked with the team to show them how this relates to Boca Grove’s Vision, Mission and Club Culture. We worked with them as a team, where issues and solutions belong to all. In one session we broke them up into smaller teams challenging them to identify three things we do best, three things where improvement is necessary and three things we do not do today but we should. This led to about a dozen items in each category, which became our Best Practices. Standards of Operating Procedures were then

Vision Inspire and enable members to enjoy every day of their lives.

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