Life's A Banquet
In the halcyon days of ancient Greece and Rome, people regularly donned their best togas and set off in their chariots to enjoy the convivial atmosphere of a lavish feast. At today's banquet, the dress and means of transportation have changed, but people still look forward with anticipation to the convivial atmosphere and the lavish feast. These occasions afford the chance to greet one's friends, make new acquaintances, sit down to a delicious communal meal, and raise filled glasses in a toast to the occasion. Many savvy restaurateurs and banquet hall owners have long reaped the benefits of the banquet trade. With today's hectic lifestyles, the numbers of those cooks and bottle washers willing to host the entire extended family for a holiday dinner are dwindling down to just a few. Making reservations is a lot easier on everyone than cleaning, shopping, setting the table and cooking up a storm for several days only to face a gigantic mess once the party's over.
by Mary Daggett

Also consider the scores of other special occasions that call for a banquet—corporate parties, wedding receptions, class reunions, graduations, sports awards dinners, social club fetes, religious rites and on and on. Whether the event is an intimate dinner for a few or a corporate feast for 500, one of the first considerations is the venue. Make your venue the first one that comes to mind. Staging several holiday buffets and special occasion banquets each season can turn a splendid profit for foodservice operators. Here are some for whom life’s a banquet. View of Historic Mackinac Bridge Edgar Jaggi came to the United States from Switzerland. His wife Audrey came from England. Together, the two of them bought a restaurant in 1972 in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Originally built in 1957, the restaurant is located at the foot of the huge Mackinac Straits Bridge that connects the mainland of Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. This is the point where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron converge at the Straits of Mackinac (pronounced MACK’-IN-AWE). When the Jaggis’ purchased the restaurant, Edgar decided to rename it after his wife, and it has been known as Audie’s ever since. Ten years ago, the Jaggis’ son Nick purchased Audie’s from his parents after cutting his culinary chops apprenticing to a chef in Switzerland for two years, studying at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan for two more years, and graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

High Achievers . . .
Restaurants That Cook
Some restaurants have continued to thrive despite several years of what the pundits are calling "the Great Recession." These operators have figured out the formula to remain favorite "hotspots," on the leading edge of achievement, no matter where the economy stands. Every city and town has its dining hotspots. Some restaurants are trendy for a while, only to fade into the background and some of these eventually disappear altogether. The real trick is to build momentum and remain relevant. This staying power is what moves a restaurant into the ranks of "high achievers." These restaurants are the ones that will likely be around in five years, ten years, some much longer. Here's how some great RFS customers remain relevant.
by Mary Daggett

Blue Moon Keeps on Shining
Once upon a time near La Crosse, Wisconsin-1924 to be precise-the Blue Moon Tea Room was established in what was formerly the mansion of a wealthy businessman. There wasn't any tea in those teapots, however. It was bootleg whiskey and bathtub gin and other prohibited liquid refreshment. Now, all these years later, this establishment has become the totally respectable Blue Moon Saloon & Roadhouse, one of the oldest operating restaurants in La Crosse County. "We are right across the street from the giant sunfish," said Owner Barry Nimtz, referring to a monument adorning the city park in Onalaska, the La Crosse suburb in which they operate. Blue Moon suffered a kitchen fire in 2009, and it took five months to repair the damage. In the meantime, the Nimtz family took over another restaurant, Huck Finn's on the Water in La Crosse, a family dining operation that's open for lunch and dinner.

Weathering the Economic Storm
It's no secret that our industry has experienced a veritable economic hurricane this past year. According to many experts, we're still in the eye of the storm, and won't see any distinct clear skies until sometime in 2011. All is not doom and gloom, however. Many operators are thriving right now, due to smart business acumen, the ability to adjust to the current economic climate, advantageous use of reduced construction and rental costs and other strategies that appear in this story and others in this issue.
by Mary Daggett

During the last half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was a bustling, lucrative copper mining center. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was one of the major companies in the entire nation, run by Boston mining barons. Its competitor, the Quincy Mine, was founded with investments also coming from Massachusetts, hence the name “Quincy”, after the Massachusetts city of the same name. In 1908, Robert Grasseschi’s great-grandfather died in the Quincy Mine. “He was electrocuted far underground,” said Grasseschi. “The Michigan mines cut as far as two miles down into the earth. The temperatures reached as high as 93 degrees at the bottom of the mineshafts.” When Grasseschi bought a restaurant in 2000, he named it Quincy’s Restaurant & Lounge, in honor of the mine, which was on the South Shore of Lake Superior near today’s town of Hancock. The restaurant is in nearby Dollar Bay, about five miles away.

Sports Arenas – Magnets for the Masses
When you think of the places that attract swarms of people year in and year out, the sports arena is on the short list. Ancient Romans rooted for their favorites in chariot races at the Colosseum. Three thousand years ago in Mesoamerica, the Mayans gathered in arenas to watch the game of pitz, a distant cousin to soccer, played with the world's first rubber balls. One wanted to end up on the winning team in pitz-the captain of the losing team was sacrificed to the gods. Spectator sports have played a major role in the human lifestyle down through the ages, although thankfully they have become more civilized. Today, athletes aren't sacrificed; in fact, the great ones are truly idolized. Brett Favre, Tiger Woods and LeBron James make headlines nearly as often as world leaders.
by Mary Daggett

Sports arenas are hallowed ground in America. Storied places such as Lambeau Field in Green Bay, the Brickyard in Indianapolis and Wrigley Field in Chicago pack in thousands of faithful fans year after year. Sports fans naturally want to slake their thirst and satisfy their appetites in anticipation of a sporting event, or to celebrate a hard-won victory afterward at a nearby eating and drinking establishment. The following Reinhart customers illustrate why catering to the local sports fans is a real boon to their bottom line.