Episode 22 - We "Mayde" it!!!

What was it like the first season back in the clubhouse? That's the discussion on the table in this episode with Scott, Chef Jay and Joe. Yes....We made it. Season started in July with members over the top excited to get back into the club and experience what they've waited two years for - an extra long year but overall it was incredibly successful. Members were patient - nearly everything was well supported and the team was able to pivot as the activity grew and we figured out how the club and the new spaces were being utilized. 

We shared some insider details and "things we'd recommend" if you're about to open a new facility...Buckle up and tune in for this one...and of course, we finish up with with a small thing that made a big impact.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

How do we do some things? Where we discuss all things hospitality and most things come with some of the people.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Now we hit the record.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

We're live. How's everyone doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Good. Good cricket? Yeah. Cricket.

SPEAKER_04 1:03

Okay. It's May. It is May. It is May 2nd.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

We made it.

SPEAKER_04 1:08

We made it through our first uh season back in the clubhouse. Um our first very extremely busy season in quite some time.

SPEAKER_05 1:22

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:23

Um, and actually, I was thinking about this, Scott. You joined in January of 2020.

SPEAKER_05 1:29

Weren't you gonna blame me for certain things again?

SPEAKER_04 1:31

No, I'm not blaming you for anything.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

It's just you haven't worked a real season yet.

SPEAKER_04 1:36

But well, when you think about it, I guess 22 was kind of a real season, right? It was odd.

SPEAKER_05 1:42

Yeah, I mean, we we lost some events through. I mean, I know when I started here in 2020, we had uh a couple months of yeah, you know, up until like that beginning of March. Yeah. And then by I think it was by St. Patrick's Day is when everything kind of went down. So that that second half of March and April were pretty non-existent. Actually, they were completely non-existent. Yeah. Right. And uh yeah, and then that next year was was very funky, and and yeah, so by 22 it was kind of kind of as close to a a true system as we have had in a little while, and then but we were dealing with a little bit of turmoil, sure, you know, because this project we were we pushed through to, you know, kind of continue planning this, and you know, that brought its own share of uh challenges, but we got through it.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

We overcame, and then I think like 2022, I think we did like one 1.3 maybe in food and beverage revenue, um, which is like typical. And this year we're gonna do like just over two million.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 2:54

So we went from like one three to a couple years of like five, six hundred thousand in a trailer to um yeah two, yeah, yeah, quadruple it.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

It's fine.

SPEAKER_04 3:07

So it's all good. Pretty tired, yes. But uh I think overall it went really well.

unknown 3:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:17

I mean, in fact, I was getting ready to send survey scores out to everyone um today. Yeah, but I mean, you look at the survey scores, and like the survey scores this year were higher than they were in like our historical average prior to COVID. Awesome. So that is a good thing, and I think members had a great time, and you know, I think they're just as tired as we are. Sure.

SPEAKER_05 3:47

Yeah, no, I think we continue to say it from the very beginning that it was gonna be a year where we're like, okay, what what do people want to do? How do they want to utilize the club? And we learned a lot of stuff, and you know, it's just a matter of going from there. You know, I think everybody was pretty understanding of the fact that things were gonna be new and processes were gonna be new, and we were gonna be learning stuff as we went along and um you know, still do, I think every day there are times when we were like, oh, that's right. So um you know, we'll we'll can continue to grow and improve from from there, and you know, those surveys are a huge part of that kind of learning how yeah, and the the good thing about being in this business for as long as we have that you kind of know, you know, as as you see stuff and you know, you hear things and you read comments, you're like, Yep. You're right. Yeah, we know.

SPEAKER_04 4:46

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's nothing that I I wasn't surprised by anything. Yeah. You know, uh one of the biggest things that I've even last night, um, someone stopped me and said, you know, uh, you guys gonna be open more at the pool cafe next year? You know, they said like Mondays and Tuesdays, yeah. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:05

You can't be open eight days. I mean, we could try. I mean, but yeah, adding those two days will be very famous.

SPEAKER_04 5:13

British rock band said that there were eight days a week.

SPEAKER_05 5:16

Sure. Yeah. I think the knobs on your your thing over here probably only go to ten, but there was another very famous British rock band that said you could probably go to eleven. Eleven. Crank it to eleven.

SPEAKER_04 5:29

Why not just make ten the loudest? Because ten is not eleven. No, we I feel like we we were at an eleven all season long.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Oh man, the pace, the pace is eleven.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

Uh seriously, I don't know where the time went. I mean, I just like I would blink, and it was the week, you know, the end of the week, you know. And I know there were like some months, you know, 30 days, 31 days in a month, and we were 45 events, 45 events. I don't know how, and not to mention, we you know, we I should say you guys did it with um I mean, Scott, it was you and and Maria as you know, kind of food and beverage managers, and on top of your other responsibilities.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

And Jeff, you were out the beginning of season for some health right when we started, so it's kind of good for me.

SPEAKER_04 6:22

Yeah, for some uh part replacements. Pardon came back solid. So uh gosh, it was like talk about overcoming some big things, right? Um, but no, I think it was great, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

I think you know, my my guys were you know, because I think it's we've got so much history, you know, like the crew, the the core crew in my kitchen, we've been together. The minimum was three years, yeah, with the with the newest person. And you know, people like Jose, it's 13 years. Yeah, so you know, it's I when he stepped, you know, when I had to step out, he stepped up, and I don't from what I heard and what I've seen, we didn't miss a beat.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

No, he was just solid, he was he was just awesome, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Yeah, and for the longest nobody knew that I was out, which was great. Yeah, so there was no concerns and everything it was business as usual, yeah. And that's how it was.

SPEAKER_04 7:17

That's at like the most pivotal pivotal time, like that was what it was uh October.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Right, right, right before we opened the pool. I was here the Saturday, the first day we opened pool cafe.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

I worked that day, and then I was done.

SPEAKER_04 7:33

And then you were back for the grand reopening, but just kind of to hang out, right? And then you weren't back officially until what January one?

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Uh yeah. Yeah. Like I I was here for New Year's. Yeah, about that.

SPEAKER_04 7:49

That's crazy. It seems like forever ago.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

It does. Uh tell me about it. The only reminders I have is a few scars, some markings here and there.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

Yeah, but chicks dig scars. They do.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

It's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

So that's a good thing. I was thinking about just going to get some. Probably find somebody to give me some like maybe some something like a scar across the like the side of my face. That's got some sharp knives in the kitchen. You know, what's that from?

SPEAKER_05 8:15

They're gonna have to keep you away from the kitchen, is what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04 8:18

I think Joe's a lot in there anymore. Well, and I think at this time of year we're all a little delirious, so that was probably a delirious comment. Yeah, sure. You know, it's all good. I really don't want to cut my face open just for chicks. That's good.

SPEAKER_05 8:31

You kind of have one. Yeah, you know, a face or a chick. Well, a chick.

SPEAKER_04 8:36

Yes. No, it was I think it was great. Now, you know, um I I kept saying to members as they've been complimenting the operation, I was like, well, we guessed pretty good, didn't we? You know, and that's really what it was. Sure. True. You know, because we we opened a building that it was all entirely new elements. You know, so there was nothing that I mean, yes, we had a bar before, we had a kitchen before, we had a dining room before, but they were used the same way for 30 years, and even what we reopened with were it was all entirely different spaces and different atmosphere, and yeah, the whole feeling it was so much better, you know. And I remember like we spent like freaking hours discussing like what how should we operate, like what should be open that when and what should be open on the same days, and you know, and I remember someone asked me in December if we were gonna increase the hours of the pool cafe. And I said, if you're asking me to make that decision now, I would say we should reduce them.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:52

Because remember, it really wasn't like November, December wasn't really wasn't that big out there.

SPEAKER_05 9:58

No, it wasn't. It certainly wasn't what it was in the spring, yeah. Um, you know, and then you had that kind of January fall, Florida fall or Florida winter, right? Yeah, uh, where you had some, you know, some funky days. We had a lot of really cold nights.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:15

Um, but yeah, early on in the in the fall when when we first opened it, it it wasn't heavily utilized. So yeah, there was some question as to what what that actually looks like. Right, you know, but come the the heavy portion of visitors coming down, the more the pool got used, obviously the more the cafe got used. And then what we learned also was you know, those nights where entertainment was out there, those those were the those were the nights where it just far exceeded what we were doing inside on those same evenings. When we do dyno dance in the dining room on Wednesdays, it is just a different feel than it is outside. Outside just you know, jam-packed. It really is. Um, those were the things I think were still up in the air that we weren't sure about. I think like when you said we guessed right, we kind of had a feeling that the lounge was going to be the place that people wanted to hang out. And you know, even on nights that that were having dinner service, it it the the bar, the Lakeview Lounge prior to renovation, people liked hanging out in the bar. We had eight tables and twelve seats at the bar. Yeah, you know, and those tables would constantly be rotating in and out. People wanted to hang out in there, people liked hanging out in the lounge. And so now you got this larger space and this brighter space and wide open space and big ceilings and this this outdoor terrace area right off of the bar, and it was just from the very beginning the place that people wanted to go. And so, you know, well, the one thing that we didn't necessarily take into consideration at the beginning was reservations in that area, which which became an issue fairly quick. You know, we kind of was an opportunity, yeah, yeah. But you know, when you have a hundred reservations in the dining room and you have 250 to 300 people walking in on the other side, it's like, well, okay, uh how yeah, it doesn't translate well into the kitchen.

SPEAKER_04 12:13

No timing on everything, drinks, on food, on and just as a point of clarification you cannot ever build a kitchen large enough to handle a situation like that unless it's probably a cruise ship.

SPEAKER_06 12:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:29

Right? Right. Where they have you know multiple kitchens that service one dining room. Right. Because, you know, they're seating, you know, 600 people at once.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

Yeah, and it's it's an assembly line in there. I mean, it's just you know, one guy's putting salad in a bowl. That's all he does.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Salad in a bowl, salad in a bowl, salad in a bowl. So yeah, I mean, that was I think that was uh an early opportunity and we shifted gears on it pretty quick.

SPEAKER_05 12:56

Yeah, I think, you know, like you said, the kitchen, the kitchen's bigger, yes, the line's bigger, yes. The grill's bigger, yes, but it's still one station on that line with one one and a half, sometimes people working that. Um, so no matter what, if you have a hundred orders come into the kitchen at one time, it's gonna it's gonna be a good one.

SPEAKER_04 13:21

There's an order that comes in first, and there's an order that comes in last, you know. I mean, they don't they come out of the printer one at a time. So um it's just that's just the way of life, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 13:34

Yeah, no doubt. Um so the reservations, you know, over that way, doubt. I know we still had people asking, you know, even up until a couple weeks ago, you know, when did we start taking reservations in the lounge? Yeah. Why do we do that? Well, this is why.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Yeah, you guys should have put that on a video or something. Well sorry. People love the videos, man.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

Maybe next year. Um, but you know, the other thing too that I think we did so well, and this would be my recommendation to any other club or community that goes through a project like this, um, going into their first season, is we were so transparent in the expectations, right? Like we said from day one, like the theme this season was patience and learning. Exactly. And I mean, I in so many on both sides, and so many meetings and videos and town halls, I said to I said to members, like, you need to be patient, we need to be patient. Yeah, you're learning the new building, right? So are we. We're trying to figure out how you're gonna use it. And um, so we're in this together, and I think for the majority, you know, our members were so great and just so, you know, um understanding of the growing pains.

SPEAKER_05 14:56

Oh, yeah. Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

And I think we the one thing that I really saw is like mid-season, we really got into a good groove in terms of you know, if if we had a walk-in and you know, perhaps the the lounge was full and there was no bar tables or or seats at the bar, um, you know, our our hostess would say, uh, you know, why don't you you can go to the pool cafe, grab a drink, have an appetizer. We can, you know, we we were handing out the buzzers, you know, we'll buzz you when something's available inside. Sometimes they go out there and they end up staying out there. So I think that just started to, you know, work a little bit better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:41

So they're still getting served, you know. Of course, yeah. Yeah, it's quicker.

SPEAKER_05 15:45

I don't think that we imagined having pagers, you know, of all the conversations that we had prior to the project, during the project, moving back into the building. I don't think that was.

SPEAKER_04 15:56

I don't think it's something you think about in a in a public or in a private club. I mean, you know, as much as I hated pulling the trigger on that, it's like, man, I feel like this is like they like they use these at Outback. Yeah. Yeah. But corporate, yeah. I mean, gosh. But I mean, it's we used them.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

Yeah, sure. It I think it translates into a better. I mean, it's we're keeping you aware, you know, and now we can find you.

SPEAKER_04 16:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

You know, and we're we're trying to service you.

SPEAKER_04 16:26

Exactly. That's what it comes down to is, you know, um so and that was again to your point, Scott. Like we never thought we would do something like that. And um you know, just because you're private club, that kind of stuff shouldn't be off the table. No, definitely not. Right? It it doesn't it doesn't make you any less exclusive. No, right. No, of course not. No. And I it I think it it helps the experience. So what's next?

SPEAKER_05 16:58

Uh, you know.

SPEAKER_04 17:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:03

I mean, you know, it's summer now, that that's our planning time traditionally, right? So now we start start thinking about and putting together plans for next year. So those you know, those issues and maybe things that we didn't think of this year, or you know, something that we didn't think that we would have to think of. Maybe there's something else that comes up next year that like what is that thing, you know, that we need to worry about and get taken care of. And then, you know, we start getting stuff on the calendar. I know that the golf associations are you know, they've got dates in their head, and we're gonna meet with Kirby and get stuff on the calendar for that, and then it's a matter of filling in our clubhouse social calendar from there and you know, see if we can beat that 45 events in a month. Yeah, just joking.

SPEAKER_04 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

Joking.

SPEAKER_04 17:57

You know, the the the one thing, I think the members are are just as tired as as we are. I mean, just in the last week, I every this time of year, every year, um all every community we start to hear like, oh you know, why do you close one day a week, or why are you only open for dinner two nights a week? And you know, but just the activity drops off so much. Sure. You know, um 18% of our community is year-round. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 18:27

You know, and I think in the last week, and again, I've I've been very transparent with members, especially because this year, brand new club. You know, I'm I've heard a few comments like, We, you know, we just did this clubhouse and you're closing in the summer, like you're gonna, you know, I've said, well, that you want us to operate that way. You know, first of all, a lot of our team members are seasonal. Um, secondly, you don't your dues don't reflect the cost to operate seven days, seven nights in the summertime. And the the support just isn't there. I mean, that's just I mean, in the last week, it's been dramatically more quiet. I mean, we we see it, you know, every single day someone, you know, or a handful of people are stopping in to say goodbye because they're leaving, you know, heading north. So it's just the it's just the right thing to do in the summertime. But to your point, Scott, that's also the time where you know that we need to plan and regroup and you know, look forward to the fall and of course, yeah, you know, kind of digest the the year.

SPEAKER_05 19:39

So exactly. Yeah, it's it's uh it's always that that pivotal time of getting together multiple times as an entire team. Like really our whole management team kind of starts getting together and figuring out what what the fall looks like and and you know the whole next season as well. Um but we're not you know we're not not doing things through the summer. We have we have uh we've got some, you know, we've got some dining dances on the horizon, we've got Italian nights that are coming up monthly, and um, you know, we've talked about what you know certain things like the Fourth of July look like and what outside looks like versus inside. It's just like you said, it's it's significantly slower, you know, even in the last couple weeks. You just saw you saw a dramatic drop. And it's funny because it like a lot of people we've we've been lucky in that a lot of our our team this year were people that were recommended from other teammates, you know. Yeah, so referrals, you know, they give a they give everybody kind of a good idea, and we try to do that as well when we bring them on of what what uh that back half of April looks like because that's generally the last you know month of full season for those seasonal people. Uh this year we've kind of hung on a little bit longer through May because we're keeping outside open and not really knowing 100% what to expect. But you know, some of them kind of seeing that that kind of drop, especially after this season was like they were like, it really, it really does happen. It really calms down. Because when we, you know, every there there was a uh felt like a five-month time period where every time we walk into the kitchen, Anna, Anna, one of our uh culinary team members, would always ask how many, how many reservations, how many reservations? And we'd throw out some stupid number at her and she'd be like, Oh, okay. And then you look at all the events every time I walk back there with a BEO to hang on the board, she's like, Oh god. And they start looking, everybody just starts looking at them all lined up there. And I think as of right now, there might be one hanging on the board. There might not even be, because I think Italian night was the last one that was hanging up there. I know we've got a couple things in May, but uh, you know, I think that first time that she asked how many reservations, and I threw out a really low number, she just heard. Eyes got big and it was like, oh okay. That's happening.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

I mean, you need a breather. I mean, look, I look at it this way like during the seasonal months, we're here, we're at the club like twice as much in a week, sometimes even more, but we have less focused time to talk about exactly what is going on. Like it's like we're just you're just running from one thing to the next, and like it might be like, you know, Scott and I might brainstorm or or you know, talk about whatever, you know, and I'm just standing in the doorway to his office, you know, running to something, you know, the next thing, right? Or I'm passing you, Chef, in in the kitchen, just being like, Hey, did you, you know, have you heard back about this, this, and that? You know, whereas in the summer months, you know, it's a normal work week, if you will, and the time that we have here, like we're able to actually like sit down, be focused, not have the interruptions, like really put the thought and the and the work into, you know. So, I mean, that's I think that just is huge.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Oh, yeah. So no doubt. Yeah, the summertime is see. I I kind of get in trouble in the summer, only because with that extra time that you talk about, it allows me to become more creative. Yeah. And then so it sounds great in June when I write a menu. Yeah. And then in March when we go to execute the menu, people are looking at me like, Chef, what is this? What was I thinking? And how long does that take? Because we've got to do it for 300, Jeff. Yeah. And it's just, you know, it's like, well, but it's gonna be cool.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Yeah, hey, I promise. It was a great idea in June. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

I mean, it it it tasted great then. We can do it. Yeah, it'll be fine.

SPEAKER_04 23:55

Yeah.

unknown 23:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:56

So it's that's yeah, man, that's the name of the game.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Exactly. And it's different. You know, we try and that's the other thing with us, is is I don't, you know, we don't we try not to do the same thing over and over again.

SPEAKER_04 24:07

So it's just variety is key. We gotta get them here not only more than more than you know, multiple times a week, but sometimes multiple times a day, you know, and that's if you're doing the same thing over and over, it's that's just difficult to do. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:24

Well, and you know, and I saw a comment the other day about we should have the same menus everywhere. Well, that kind of defeats everything that we're doing. You know, I mean, that just you know, if you come to the lounge, you can get these items. If you go to the pool cafe, you can get these items. Yeah, sure. You're sitting in the main dining room, the the service level is a little higher. You're you know, it's a different animal, you know, it's a different entity, you know.

SPEAKER_04 24:47

So well, but the other reason for having some different menus in the different locations is to help help spread out the business, the activity a little bit. Yeah, you know, we I I I always think of it as like balancing, you know, the the the activity, right? You know, I mean if we're doing the same thing everywhere, it's just like you know, if everyone can get the same food in the lounge, like they're all gonna go to the lounge. Yeah, and that puts all the pressure on that, you know, whereas um, you know, by spreading having some different options, it spreads out, you know, and I think a majority of the people we gotta continue to focus on the you know, the majority, majority of the people like to be able to go outside and have this experience versus going inside and having this experience. So um, you know, that's a constant challenge, I think. But you got a new uh pizza oven coming.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

I do.

SPEAKER_04 25:43

That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Yeah, it's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_04 25:46

It uh I mean it's so let's clarify that. The oven that we bought was not the wrong oven. No, and we're still keeping it. Correct.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Um Yeah, we had a we have, we currently have a deck oven. Yeah, which in you know, when we were sitting down originally planning this out, that's that's the piece of equipment that I wanted. And in the first conversations that we had, we ended up talking about pizza. And really pizza wasn't even it wasn't really on my radar for you know, that I'd read anywhere on surveys or anything that anybody was looking for. And I said, well, that's fine because the the deck oven is capable of making pizzas. And it and it has all season long.

SPEAKER_04 26:34

Yeah, a lot of them.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

A lot of them. And you know, my my goal here was to, you know, the the deck oven is it's a bigger space, there's no fans in it, you know. I I've explained it before, you know, like when you're cooking muffins and you see them kind of blown over to the side, that's because you're using a convection oven which has forced air in it, and it's pushing pushing your batter over to the edge of the muffin cup. Well, when you have a deck oven, it's just uh conventional, it just it's just heat. Uh-huh. So it just bakes evenly. And that's what I liked for all my my cakes, my breads, my everything that I'm doing out of that bake shop. So now what we have or what is being delivered is a traditional Neapolitan dome uh pizza oven. And so we were currently taking I I'd said, you know, you'd have to set the timer for nine minutes to bake off a pizza in the deck oven. That that cook time goes down to about three minutes. Um so it's just it's obvious it's three times faster. Um, and it's and it's gonna be a it's a gas oven. Uh-huh. So it's just got more of an you know an open flame on the one side, but I think we'll get a little more caramelization on some stuff. Um it's a it's an easier control, and I tell you, the the speed of it is gonna be that's that's what it is. I mean, and it it holds as many pizzas as I can do right now, so we're not losing any any floor space in essence. Um it's just the sheer you know, the speed of it.

SPEAKER_04 28:18

Plus, it looks really cool.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

And it looks really cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

So can we do other things in there? Or is this primarily gonna be pizzas?

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Yeah, no, absolutely. We can still bake in there and you can still um we can we can roast some stuff, um, but we gotta just turn it down, you know. Because what we're trying to do is, you know, my deck oven goes to 500 right now. Yeah, this'll this will go at about 650, 700 is where we want. I mean, it'll go to 900 if we wanted it to, but I mean 650, 700 is about the sweet spot for you know the pizza that we're doing.

SPEAKER_04 28:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

So I mean, I don't think um we can turn it down. And even like I've seen some stuff roasted like overnights, you know, in a cold, you know, you just kind of shut the oven off and let the the residual heat bake, you know, like do some brazing overnights, which I think is a cool concept, you know. Um so the deck oven then moves to the other moves into the back line, banquet kitchen, um, back line. Um we have a steamer that is aged out um that we just didn't replace when um we did new equipment. It was working at the time, it's it's it's aged out though. Yeah. And then we just move around some other stuff um and put the and put the deck oven in the back so I can bake out of that still. And if we need to, it's a backup for the pizza oven. Um if our volume gets high, or if we want to do you know, bigger pizzas or something else that needs more floor space, uh, we have that capability also.

SPEAKER_04 29:56

Yeah, awesome.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

So yeah, neat.

SPEAKER_04 29:58

Well, I'm excited because I think that opens up uh more opportunities to video and uh do some one bite reviews. And I'm I'm gonna like double down on getting uh Dave Portnoy out here. Yeah, yeah. We're gonna Scott, you and I are gonna do some call-outs, you know, to him. All right. And uh I'd like to bring him into the kitchen and uh, you know, get a get an actual one bite from him. No pressure, Chef.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

I'll watch that on the Twitter.

SPEAKER_04 30:32

I don't think he's done a private club. I don't think so. He hasn't. You know, so this is a whole new market for him. Sure.

SPEAKER_05 30:39

I'm sure he won't mind the fact that we call ours a one bite review either. Well, but we're not, you know. And everybody knows the rules, so yeah, exactly. Sure, that won't be a problem. That's fine.

SPEAKER_04 30:50

I don't think he's got it like copyrighted or trademarked.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

You haven't got that letter yet? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:57

That's all right. That's all right. Yeah, it'll be good. It'll be good. So, Chef, you said like on uh you said about nine minutes on pizzas on Friday nights in uh February and March when there were about 40 to 50 pizzas coming in at one time. It's probably taking a little bit longer, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Yeah, yeah, because once you start putting six pizzas in, because that's what one deck will hold with six, it goes to about 13 minutes, guess you know, you're opening the door, you're closing it, you know, you're you're in and out, you're you're trying to move things around. So as soon as you put you know, cold dough onto the deck, you lose some heat. Yeah, of course. Um and then you gotta just kind of you gotta just increase time. Yeah, you know, and with you know, what I'm learning about this new piece of and is is like we need to we need to bring the stone up slowly. So it's a couple of days of 200 degrees just to, you know, and then we increase it a little bit and it increase it. So it's gonna take us like three days to kind of I don't know if you want to call it seasoning the stone or heating stone or or how you want to call it, but but if you if you go in and you turn it on 700, you're gonna break the stone. And it's just and at that point you just we just threw away your money.

SPEAKER_05 32:10

Throw the whole dice that way, yeah. Right in the right in the pond. We don't want to do that. Tear the building down. Start it over now. Oh that's that's like building around it.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

We'll put another one in. We'll get some breaks.

SPEAKER_05 32:23

You know, that's one of those things that you know we talked about some of the things that we thought about or didn't think about, but one of the things early on that I remember realizing was an issue, and I'm sure that chef thought about this at some point over the summer before we moved in, but like it might have been late October, like really when we started truly getting hit during dinner services, was that that uh, you know, those first tickets that came in that had pizza, pizza, entree, entree, bar menu. And was like, all right, how do we time this exactly? You know, because we've got a couple items on here that are, you know, that have starters, whether it's soup or salad. And you've got Nicola who's making pizzas, and he's wondering timing-wise, how he's going to time this out with with the entrees on top of the bar menu item that might just be a chicken sandwich. Right, right. You know, and so like the pre the people that have the chicken sandwich are like, well, you know, why does it take so long? Well, these two people had starters, so we're obviously giving them time to finish their starter.

SPEAKER_04 33:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:29

And then on top of that, while you know, while he held off on pizzas because they might be ready sooner than the entrees are, uh about 25 more pizzas get ordered. So all of a sudden you're having to kind of, you know, figure out where who's going. Yeah, exactly. It it got it got interesting right away. And one of the things that we talked about was okay, so when, you know, maybe we put a a button in the computer that lets, you know, everybody know if we're holding off or if we're firing pizzas right away, or how that winds up working out. And it it got it got, you know, it's something we worked on and got better at. Right. Um, but it was like one of those things right away where you had, I mean, we had tickets and tickets and tickets, and all of a sudden you're like, okay, well, we're waiting on pizzas, or we're waiting on entrees, or we're waiting on pizzas, we're waiting on entrees. And so it it it was a tricky thing right away because, like we've talked about, like we didn't necessarily I didn't necessarily think of the pizza area as a different kitchen, but it really is because it's a completely different area working on completely different items. And so there's a ton of volume. Oh, a ton, yeah, absolute ton. And then on top of it, he's also, you know, whoever's making pizzas is making pizzas for the pool cafe as well. So it's not just what's happening inside. Yeah, that's the one thing that's that's crossing, you know, the multiple areas. But it was it was interesting to see that right off the bat, like, oh, okay, this is this is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_03 34:57

Yeah, uh yeah, because it was nothing for him to tell me, you know, at the end of the shift to be like, How'd we do? Yeah, he's like 70. Yeah, it's 70 pizzas for dinner shift alone. Yeah, yeah. He's like, Yeah, 85 all day. Yeah, you know, or something. I mean, the numbers were just insane. And I remember a couple ones. He shakes a couple digits, he said. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:17

Well, I remember at the annual meeting in March, you know, I I one of the stats that I shared, I think we did like through through that through February, maybe the end of February, it was like 3,000 pizzas. Yeah, yeah, like 2,800 pizzas.

SPEAKER_05 35:30

And I was like at the end of the day, it was pizzas and burgers and Rubens.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

What?

SPEAKER_05 35:34

And vodka and vodka and vodka, yeah. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

Yeah. Obscene. A lot of beer though, a lot of draft beer in the obscene amount.

SPEAKER_05 35:41

A lot of happy with that draft beer. Yeah, but yeah, a lot of vodka.

SPEAKER_04 35:45

So what um what do you what do you think we missed in the in the renovation? Like if they're going through the first season, if you're like, man, we missed the boat on this. I've got some things.

SPEAKER_03 36:03

Uh I I think the the planning for chair storage.

SPEAKER_04 36:07

Yep, that's on my list.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Yeah, you know, because every you know, I'd go back in the banquet story, you know, when we were setting it up.

SPEAKER_04 36:13

We have a lot of storage space.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Exactly. And when we were setting it up, I'm thinking, man, there is so much room for activities back here. No, and then you know, you come to the middle of it and you're like, I I literally cannot walk back here. Yeah, there is so much stuff out here.

SPEAKER_04 36:28

So so for other clubs out there, if you think you have enough storage space in your renovation, you don't. Yeah, double it. Double it, you know, and that's probably still not enough.

SPEAKER_05 36:39

I remember, yeah, we we looked at that space, the former legacy room, yeah, as this it was massive, it was big, yeah, and we knew it was gonna get you know full. It would it would get filled up fairly quick once we started getting back there, what we planned on getting back there. But yeah, the you know, the great thing is that we have you know, we had this new furniture that had been in the building prior to the renovation that had just been purchased. So we've got you know all these uh additional chairs because that furniture was also in the lounge, which was replaced by new furniture. So we came in and we're like, okay, we still have all these chairs. I don't think that we remembered truly how many chairs we had. Right. Because it takes, you know, it takes every table in the dining room being popped up to eight tops and ten tops and six tops, and we don't have that happen a whole lot. So we wound up with extra chairs, and the extra chairs unfortunately line the service station and the banquet storage area.

SPEAKER_04 37:43

It's like two 250-ish. Yeah, and when I bought those, that included having all the chairs in the Lakeview Lounge. So those chairs were in the lounge as well.

SPEAKER_05 37:53

So the room and the atrium and the atrium, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

So that furniture, those two areas is all brand new. Yep. So all the original chairs we bought were all in the dining room and the four seasons room, which is a lot. Yeah. Yeah. So storage.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yes, yeah, that's my number one. But I tell you what, you know, when they talk about not having enough refrigeration, I I I think we hit that right on the head. Yeah, I think we did well with that. Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_04 38:23

That brings up one that I um uh trusting uh uh one of our contractors who told us that the condenser for the beer cooler wasn't loud. Um folks, they're loud. Yes, yep. And not to throw anyone under the bus, but yeah, if it happens to border a wall, yeah, a shared wall with your main dining room, and you have a meeting in the main dining room, you're gonna hear that condenser pretty dramatically. Multiple times. Multiple times, every time it kicks on. Yes. So oh no, it's not loud at all. They're really quiet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, not a true statement. But I think we're gonna we got a better solution for dampening some of that sound. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 39:09

So cool around with it.

SPEAKER_04 39:11

The other thing for me was cushions, out outdoor cushions, and yeah. That was my number one. Was that your number one? In hindsight, I wish we had put our foot down and said, listen, no cushions on the outdoor furniture. Let's find something outdoor that that doesn't need a a cushion because it's they're just such a challenge to maintain, and you know, they always look sloppy, they get dirty. What do we do with them in the summertime when it's rainy every day? And con yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:42

So yeah, that'll that'll you know, we you start off each day by getting everything straightened out, and then the first, you know, first table sits down, and it's just kind of downhill from there on what everything looks like. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:59

It's all good. So it's not a lot though. It's not a lot on that list. I think there were a lot of things that we had a good amount of time to to think and talk about what what we all felt was gonna be you know best for for the building. There really isn't a lot that that's dismissed.

SPEAKER_04 40:19

I I still kudos to the you know our our members on the committee because they were really like Joe. Yeah, what do you need for operations? You know, they really didn't.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah, it was great. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 40:33

You know, they they really didn't tie our hands with with anything. I mean, we had to be reasonable. There was some stuff we had to scale back because at the end of the day, still had a budget. Um but gosh, for the most part, they didn't know, you know, they didn't push back on anything that I was like, well, I I need this space or I need that. So that's awesome. Yeah. That was it, really, storage and cushions and beer cooler condenser. I feel like there was something I feel like I feel like there's a number of times a week where I looked at you, Scott, and I'm like, man, I'd screw it up. I really say that. I mean you screw that occasionally. I missed this, I missed this.

SPEAKER_05 41:13

A recent one that we talked about, but I think you might have forgotten that we did mention it at one point, and you're like, no, we don't need that. I'm not gonna bring it up, but bring it up. What was it? I forgot. Oh, yeah. It's okay. We yeah, that was a mix. I don't think that was a I don't think that again, you said we're gonna do one screwed up. I don't think it was your fault. I don't blame you for that. Uh it's just it would be something that would be nice to add on there. Yeah, but nothing.

SPEAKER_04 41:41

Well, I I talked to Javier, it's on John's list for the summer. Javier asked me about it yesterday, yeah, and I walked out there and I said, This is where I want it. And he goes, I think I can run the power.

SPEAKER_05 41:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

And I said, Okay, 220, 221. Whatever it takes, whatever it takes.

SPEAKER_05 41:56

Probably 221.

SPEAKER_04 41:57

But no, I I said listen, maybe. I said, Listen, you guys get a J box in that location when it's there, I'll buy the fan and we'll get it up. That's that to me is an easy one. Yeah, you know, um so yeah, but yeah, I mean, I I think otherwise I don't know pretty well covered.

SPEAKER_05 42:18

So I think so too. I think so too. I don't I don't uh nothing nothing pops out as anything that's your fault. I mean, you know.

SPEAKER_04 42:27

No, it's all my fault. I mean, it's yeah, storage my fault. No, again buying those chairs originally my fault. I bought too many.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

And since nobody's gonna use the pool, we don't need any more Shay's lounges down there. Oh, exactly. That's true. Yeah, it's all good.

SPEAKER_04 42:44

The pool deck could have been larger.

SPEAKER_05 42:49

But again, you went from um trying to put it as nice as possible. You went from an area that wasn't utilized. No, there was no reason to use it. Never utilized, sure. It wasn't no reason, never utilized to you know, wanting to create that resort feeling, but again, the footprint and and you know, the actual usage was was a little bit more limited, at least trying to figure that out. So I don't think anything could have been done about that.

SPEAKER_04 43:22

We are getting some more loungers though, yeah, as we go into the fall because it's second level, right? So we're gonna have to get creative with uh you know how we floating lounges, how we stage them, but swimming. So all right. I think we can uh I think we can call it quits there. Yeah, yeah. Anyone got a small thing? What one small thing, any personal job? Any uh small things you've seen, done, or experienced recently that made a big impact? I got one. It's actually from a couple months ago.

SPEAKER_05 43:59

Oh Has it been that long? Yeah. When's the last time we met? I think you did it with Herbie entirely. Yeah. Yeah. Since March, right?

SPEAKER_04 44:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:08

All right. What's your small thing, Joe?

SPEAKER_04 44:11

Well, is it? I can't. It was an email that I got from a member about an experience they had. And uh this well, I love when members refer to small things that make big impacts because it tells me that they're listening to stuff that we say. But she's this member says, I'd like to recognize one small thing that happened today. And it may be a small thing to the employee, but to me it was huge. My day was already busy and overscheduled and interrupted when I got a phone call about a dinner on Friday. Another person wanted to be added, and this resulted in several more phone calls to confirm and arrange a ride, so on and so forth. I called the clubhouse to change the reservation. Usually I could change it online, but since my name wasn't on the reservation this week, I couldn't do that. I got the dining reservations recording basically saying we're busy, call back later. I was to the point of thinking that I can't do this anymore. The group has become so large. Few minutes later, my phone rang and it was Jamira. She said she had seen that I had called and she was calling me back. So she the member didn't leave a message. She just figured whatever. Um so Jamira saw that she had called and she just took the initiative to call her back. Just a small thing to her, but huge to me. And she said, Jamira is always friendly, says hello to me by name whenever I come to the clubhouse. But seeing my name on the caller ID and calling back was so over and above. So lucky, lucky to live here and lucky to have such caring employees. So that to me is like a true example of like just taking that small initiative.

SPEAKER_02 46:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:05

I mean, how often I I'll be honest myself, I probably get a hundred phone calls a day and they don't leave voicemails, and I never look back at my missed call log.

SPEAKER_02 46:15

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

It's just like I don't think about it and I'm busy. Sure. You know, so just how many phone calls go through the reservation desk and uh, you know, they don't leave a message. Yeah. You know, so she happened to just look back, saw the member's name. Hey, they just called, they didn't leave a message. Let's call back, see what was up. I mean, that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 46:36

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 46:38

Really good stuff. So that's all I got.

SPEAKER_05 46:43

Awesome. That's awesome. I gotta start writing them down because I you see stuff almost every day. I know. And I'm like, you know what? I we we even driving down here today, it was like small thing. I know I've got small things. But I I gotta write them down.

SPEAKER_04 47:03

How we do small things is how we do it. Maybe your small thing can just be writing it down.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Just a small thing. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 47:09

But you're right. I mean, I I run I I see stuff every day where I'm like, oh, that's a it's a small deal, but it's a big deal. Small thing, big deal, right? Like just someone thought to do that. Yeah, you know, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_05 47:22

What sucks too. Is one of those things is like you you see it happen, and like a lot of times it's just something that we do. It is. So I don't you don't think of it as like over and above, yeah. But it it truly is a lot of times to those people, you know, the person that it it's being done to.

SPEAKER_04 47:43

I think a lot I think there was a time where we didn't just do some of those small things. Sure. And I think the more we talk about it, right, the more it becomes something we just do.

SPEAKER_03 47:53

Yeah, the awareness is up. Yeah, you know, it's just yeah, you can think about others.

SPEAKER_04 47:59

Yeah. So all right. Cool. Well, happy May. That's gonna be good, great first season. Yeah, and uh next year it's gonna be even better. We got a foundation, we got a baseline, less guessing next year, and uh sorry about the storage space and the cushions.

SPEAKER_05 48:21

I think you brought that on both of those up, so whatever.

SPEAKER_04 48:25

All right, your fault. Until next time. Happy Cinco de Mayo. Oh yeah, there you go. Happy Cinco de Mayo with you, and may the fourth be with you.

SPEAKER_02 48:34

Happy Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_04 48:35

Happy Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Wow. Always enjoy the Derby. Oh, Kentucky.

SPEAKER_04 48:40

Kentucky Derby. All right.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Uh, thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_01 49:02

So very much appreciated.