Classic Car Club of America 2013 dinner at The Herrington Inn & Spa in Geneva, IL 5/9/2013

Even though the weather could have cooperated better, the proud members of the Classic Car Club of America pulled into the parking lot at The Herrington Inn & Spa to park their beautiful, antique, mint-condition vehicles for a midwest culinary experience. 

Classic Car Club of America 2013 dinner at The Herrington Inn & Spa in Geneva, IL 5/9/2013

Though raindrops dotted the pristine paint jobs, some excellent photo opportunities were at hand. 

Classic Car Club of America 2013 dinner at The Herrington Inn & Spa in Geneva, IL 5/9/2013

The Herrington was honored to host local CCCA members along with the road tripping members who were on their way from New York to San Fransisco, CA.  The group feasted on a meal prepared by Chef Jason Tsoris, highlighting midwest spring season recipes.

Members talked, chatted, and walked among the cars.

Classic Car Club of America 2013 dinner at The Herrington Inn & Spa in Geneva, IL 5/9/2013

The group will tour downtown Chicago today, and set off early tomorrow morning for their next stop, Des Moines, IA.

Executive Chef Jason Tsoris has selected many fresh fish items for his new spring menu.  “We have recently selected Norpac as our new fresh fish source.   Norpac is a responsible fishery in Hawaii.  I love this new supplier, because with the time change, I can actually serve this on your table before it’s caught.”

Guests dining outdoors can enjoy the view of the water from our sun filled patio during breakfast and lunch, and it’s the perfect location for a romantic, waterfront dinner.

Sample items from Atwater’s new spring menu, flown in fresh daily from Hawaii:

-       naukati bay halibut steak sautéed, morel encrusted & mussel fennel fumet

 -       big island red snapper pan seared with pineapple plantain salsa, risotto cake & coconut butter

Reservations are recommended.  Please contact 630.208.8920.   Executive Chef Jason Tsoris, Executive Chef Jeff Meyer, and Food & Beverage Director Corey Hardersen invite you to enjoy al fresco dining now that spring weather has arrived!

 About Atwater’s in The Herrington Inn & Spa: About Atwater’s – Atwater’s is Geneva’s Premier Four Diamond dining experience.  Located just inside The Herrington Inn & Spa on Geneva’s waterfront, Atwater’s proudly serves expertly prepared cuisine, three meals daily.   Al fresco dining on our patio is available weather permitting, and private dining in our waterfront Gazebo is also available.   Reservations are recommended.

We are sincerely grateful for those of you who came to the aid of the Herrington last week!  With the teamwork of the countless volunteers we were able to save the hotel from flooding.

The amount of community support was overwhelming and we thank everyone who came together to assist wherever needed.  The volunteerism and community spirit is truly inspiring.

Thank you!

The Herrington Inn & Spa

For video (courtesy of Shannon Marie Brown) click below:
Herrington Flood Video

After spending the first two months of the year shopping for the best seafood purveyor, responsibility and sustainability are the reasons that Chef Jason Tsoris has selected a brand new seafood partner from Honolulu.

Chef Jason Tsoris explained his selection of his new purveyor: “Norpac Fisheries incorporates best practices as they relate to both fishing, employment, and client services.  We have a responsibility here in the midwest to ensure our product is the freshest possible, using methods that will sustain the supply of fresh seafood.”

This week, Chef is featuring Hawaiian Lehi Snapper on his special menu in Atwater’s.  He feels that Norpac shares his dedication to providing clients with the freshest, highest quality seafood products that have passed rigorous quality control testing.

Chef Jason’s sense of humor is still in tact after his arduous search for “It’s funny but because of the time change between Hawaii and Illinois, we can now serve seafood in Atwater’s before it is even caught from the water.  You can’t get it fresher anywhere else!”

The full text of the article is available by clicking here.

Most small towns have a story to tell. Lynchburg, Virginia, is one of those towns.

Before the Depression and World War II, travelers came to the small Virginia town bordered by the Blue Ridge Mountains and overlooking the James River for weddings and parties, staying at vivacious, prosperous hotels. But after the war ended, the downtown area was abandoned as people started to migrate out of the rural mountain area to the suburbs, explained Hal Craddock.

Craddock is owner of the Lynchburg-based Craddock Cunningham Architectural Partners, which specializes in architecture, planning and interior design, most notably the 44-room Craddock Terry Hotel—a hotel that is given credit for revitalizing Lynchburg as an attractive destination for travelers.

Although Craddock is a Lynchburg native, he wasn’t motivated to get into the boutique developing arena until he spent time at the Brookstown Inn Hotel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Inspired by the hotel’s unlimited avenues of success, Craddock begin plotting. The pervasive history, the small-town allure and the natural landscape were all qualities Lynchburg had in spades.

Craddock concluded this hotel must be making money not in spite of, but because of, its location.

“We were trying to think of a game changer that would quickly be a renaissance to downtown,” he said about the conception of the Craddock Terry. Upon his return to Lynchburg, he found an old tobacco and shoe factory and converted it into a boutique hotel that opened in 2007.

“This was a no-brainer,” he said.

The hotel jumpstarted the downtown area, giving birth to a vivacity Lynchburg hadn’t seen since the beginning of the 20th century.

Experience trumps all

Haddock’s journey to establish the Craddock Terry as a linchpin in the city was fraught with obstacles, each one hinged upon him convincing investors that the hotel would be good for the city, and that it wouldn’t lose money.

There’s whimsy there, said Kimberley Christner, president and CEO of Cornerstone Hospitality, who was hired as a development and operations consultant on the project and now manages the property. “It’s an anchor of the area.”

Cornerstone is working on three more boutique hotels in historic Virginia towns.

Small-town boutique hotels are “more of escape” than anything else, said Chris Plummer, GM of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, which includes the 42-room Falling Rock boutique hotel as part of the property’s accommodations options. “You’re going somewhere … to experience something you never have.”

Three hours from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, and only an hour from Pittsburgh, the Farmington, Pennsylvania, hotel is close enough to city locations to feel a part of urban culture but far enough away to enjoy the benefits of rural living isolation.

Boutique hotels are “viable as long as you have a strong market close enough,” Plummer noted.

Modeled after European boutiques, the U.S. market has latched onto these hotels in hopes of finding “a lost paradise,” said Philippe Doizelet, managing partner in France for Horwath HTL. In the Paris hotel market, Doizelet said the city markets are growing as the small-town hotels are on a downtrend.

“It’s not sustainable because of low profitability,” he said, referring to France’s low market on small countryside hotels. “It’s something that’s a downtrend … the French country inn is really vanishing.”

Geneva, Illinois, 61-room hotel was formerly an old creamery, incorporating this into its amenities by offering guests chilled bottles of milk at night.

Small-town benefits

Doizelet claims the U.S. travelers desire and seek the influence of nostalgia. “This has not been translated into something material in the hotel business (in Europe),” he said.

In many ways, it’s the nostalgia of design and service that drives the American independent market, but dissuades European hoteliers, who want to “market themselves as anything but traditional. There’s a strong expectation from the old world to have Americans behaving like the French, and the French behaving like Americans,” he said.

The Herrington Inn, about an hour west of Chicago in the river town of Geneva, Illinois, exemplifies Americans need for idyllic leisure. Like Lynchburg, Geneva has a lot of history. “It’s very scenic. It has a lot of shopping and restaurants,” GM Paul Ruby explained.

Before the hotel was transformed into a 61-room boutique, it was home to a 19th century creamery. Ruby said the hotel embraces its past by including the traditions of the creamery into aspects of the hotel by delivering chilled bottled milk at night to the rooms and using dairy treatments at the spa.

“We definitely capitalize on the town itself,” he said. “We try to focus on everything someone would need right here instead of going to a large market.”

The Herrington Inn & Spa celebrates their 20-year annivesary this summer.

Photo credit:  Kelly Nowak

Editor’s Note: This article by Paul Ruby gracefully addresses how a hotel general manager overcomes the daily challenge of working with Parkinson’s disease.

I remember as a teenager in the 1970’s watching the television show Fantasy Island and thinking how anyone could not be happy working or vacationing in such a wonderful paradise. Each episode would begin with the owner, Mr. Roarke, prepping his staff for their guest’s arrival, while the small sea plane was landing at the tropical resort. Mr. Roarke would graciously state “Smiles everyone. Smiles!” The beaming faces of the diminutive Tattoo and the other staff members was clearly an integral part of what was portrayed as the ultimate service experience.

Not only does a welcoming smile by a doorman make a positive first impression on a guest, smiles seem to be contagious and can be passed on from one person to another. These infectious smiles have the power to change our mood for the better and conversely the absence of a smile can potentially compromise our attitude and experience. A smile from a manager to an employee can mean a job well done or can signal thanks from a guest to an employee. We teach our employees to leave their personal problems at home and that they are on stage when at work.

Hopefully we are just not “acting” as if we are happy to be servicing our guests, but honestly have our hearts into providing that excellent service. This requires attentiveness and typically a smile. Whether you are a hospitality professional, or communicating on any level, it’s not only what you say, but how you say it. This includes appropriate intonation as well as non-verbal communication such as eye contact, body posture and facial expressions.

What if a smile is missing from a manager’s arsenal of customer service traits? Does the absence of a smile indicate dissatisfaction with an employee’s performance or mean a manager is not happy to see a long time guest? What kind of message does it send to a guest when they are greeted by a manager who says all the right things but has absolutely no emotion in his or her face? It might mean that the manager is in the wrong business, and that natural selection needs to run its course. Or, it’s possible that the manager has a medical condition such as Parkinson’s disease.

I was diagnosed with this degenerative neurological disease in 2006 and I experience many of the typical symptoms such as stiffness, slow movements and a softer voice. People who haven’t seen me in a while often ask if I am still working.

Although I am able to continue working effectively, I feel challenged by my inability to show emotion with facial expressions. Smiling was a communication tool I relied on every day of my career until I literally just couldn’t make the edges of my mouth raise. The symptom is called a masked face and I am certain this symptom has caused more than one employee to wonder or say, “What does it take to make that guy happy?”

Even prior to diagnosis, my philosophy has always been not to worry about what I can’t do and focus on the things I can do. Although there is nothing better than a warm smile to let the room attendant know she is doing a great job sometimes for me it literally takes giving someone a pat on the back. Although I may be smiling on the inside sometimes I have to completely rely on what I am saying rather than how I am saying it to communicate to staff members and guests. Sometimes it requires showing thanks for a job well done in writing. I have also learned to smile with my eyes.

Although I no longer feel frustration or guilt about not being able to visibly show facial emotion, I am extremely conscientious of how employees and guests perceive me and my reactions. To some extent I am forced to rely on people’s instincts that they understand I am happy to be at their service or pleased with the service they are providing our guests. Being sincere, approachable, following through with what you say you’re going to do, setting a good example, and smiling on the inside are all actions we can take to positively impact a guest’s stay or an employee’s work satisfaction as much or more than a happy face. Sometimes a smile is all it takes to show how you feel and sometimes for one reason or another you just need to think outside of the box to figure out a new way to communicate your satisfaction or to make a guest feel welcome.

I have considered disclosing my masked face situation as part of each new hires orientation to avoid employees confusing my lack of facial expression with being uncaring or angry. However, I have learned that true hospitality comes from within and transcends even a missing smile. Employees and guests can usually sense sincerity and happiness and it shouldn’t have to be explained. Never underestimate the power of a simple smile and the positive impact it can make on those around you. If I were taking Mr. Roarke’s place I might have to change his catch phrase to “Smiles everyone! Or at least be smiling on the inside.”

Contributed by Paul Ruby, vice president of operations for Shodeen Hospitality  and general manager of the Herrington Inn & Spa in Geneva, Illinois. To learn more about how he gives back to his community, visit www.paulrubyfoundation.org.

Atwater’s offers tasting menus for Chicago Restaurant Week, February 1st – 10th, 2013.

Please call 630-208-8920 for reservations.

  Recommended wine pairing:  A light to medium red wine such as Pinot Noir.

Freedom Farms Braised Venison Osso Bucco

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons canola oil
2. 6 venison shanks cut 2 inches thick
3. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4. 1 large onion, finely chopped
5. 2 carrots, sliced
6. 3 celery ribs, sliced
7. 3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
8. One 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine
9. 4 thyme sprigs
10. 3 cups venison stock

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil. Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until browned and crusty, about 15 minutes. Transfer the shanks to a shallow baking dish in a single layer.
2. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until very soft and lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Add the wine and thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°. Transfer the shanks and stock to a large, enameled cast-iron casserole. Add the venison stock and bring to a boil. Cover and braise for 3 1/2 hours, until the meat is tender but not falling apart. Reduced by about half and the meat is very tender.
4. Strain the sauce into a heatproof measuring cup and skim off as much fat as possible. Pour the sauce over the osso bucco.  Enjoy!

As we ponder the past year, we count our blessings as we have hosted thousands of guests from 19 different countries, including several high profile celebrities, and even a lucky couple win a complimentary wedding on 12.12.12!

At the beginning of 2013, we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary year as a luxury boutique hotel.  We hope to serve you with at least 20 more years of weddings, romantic overnights, fine meals, and spa treatments.

Thank you all for your business through the years, we would not be who we are without all of you!   Wishing you a safe and healthy new year’s celebration, and enjoy these last 84 days before spring