Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 29, 1995 TAG: 9503290028
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Another time, he was making theater reservations in New York when the operator recognized his ZIP code and fondly recalled Hotel Roanoke and its food.
When it was announced that the old hotel would reopen, "People came out of the woodwork" with memories, comments and suggestions, laughed Hotel Roanoke's director of food and beverages, Phil Davis. And all were given consideration in creating what Knowles, Davis, restaurant manager Steve Zjart, assistant restaurant managers Michael Ella and Jayme Fore and the rest of the food staff hope will be a menu from which memories are made.
The Regency Room menu actually has three separate facets, Knowles explained recently amid the final dust and din of construction: past, historical and ``new traditions.''
The past incorporates fondly remembered favorites from the hotel's old menu, such as peanut soup, spoon bread, oysters Rockefeller and lobster.
"We have done our best to maintain the integrity of those original recipes," Davis said. "But there had to be some variations because of certain restrictions such as being able to flame things in rooms or trying to incorporate all these items down into a menu that wouldn't take up reams of paper."
The menu's historical aspect includes a sampling of fare that might have been favored by our forefathers and includes authentically reproduced treatments of venison, quail, duck and trout.
The new traditions section, a melding of the best from the past with the wave of the future, is from where Knowles and Davis anticipate future memories will spring.
"We'll be doing a swordfish with a sesame vinaigrette over wilted spinach,'' said Knowles, who is a native of Franklin County. ``There'll be some pasta items, including one with Virginia Smithfield ham. There's a steak and shrimp item that's not cutting edge but a staple that people here love.
"We've also put a couple of signature meats on the menu. The lamb are nice, big chops, and we'll have a 'Star City Beef Chop' that is this 22-ounce steak, actually cut from prime rib but frenched out like a chop."
"It's just going to melt in your mouth," Davis promised. "We anticipate people having enough left over for lunch the next day."
The Pine Room, with its more casual menu including sweet potato chips, also will vie to create new food favorites. One predicted comer is its pizza club, the result of a compromise between Davis, who wanted a club sandwich or pizza on the menu, and Knowles, who didn't.
"It's foccacia bread, topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, bacon, turkey and shredded cheese," Knowles said of the hybrid.
Knowles and Davis said they knew from the time of their first meeting early last November that they'd be good at reaching compromises.
"We talked about our philosophies and found that we agreed on many things. We felt that we sort of came along the same paths, so we knew that from then on out it was going to be smooth sailing as far as coming up with the final product," Davis said.
"Our philosophy is total teamwork, and whatever it takes to get things done, that's what we do," Knowles added.
It was as a team that the two wrote the menus' verbiage and descriptions.
"We sat in this room with the computer between us and wrote and wrote until one of our mouths watered," Davis recalled. "We wanted it to trip off the tongue and be easy for the waiters to explain - to be simple and descriptive and not misrepresent what the product was."
He said that the laser-printed menu would, however, be easy to change "if we find that people want something and it's something that we can do well."
Wording the menu was challenging; pricing it was surprising.
"Once we'd figured out what the items cost us, we came up with what we thought was a fair price and then went around and compared our prices to those of all the other hotels and restaurants in town. For the same product in another location, it's phenomenal what they're getting,'' Davis said.
"We were laughing because we know that the perception is that we're going to be very expensive, but that isn't the case."
A sneak preview showed a children's menu, printed on 5,000 Mylar-type balloons, listing "Kiddy Waffels," "Fruit Fun," "French Toast Fingers" or a "Mega Muffin" at 75 cents each, and breakfast meats, scrambled eggs or chocolate chip pancakes at 95 cents per item including beverages.
Regency Room dinner entrees range from $12.95 for penne pasta primavera or Virginia pink speckled trout to $23.50 for the Star City Beef Chop. Regency Room breakfasts will range from a short stack of pancakes for $3.75 to a New York sirloin with hash browns and eggs for $8.95. Lunches will run from $5.35 for salmon and corncake to $7.25 for a couple of beef entrees. Breakfast and lunch buffets will be available at $7.25 and $8.95, respectively.
The Pine Room's one-price package, including a salad or sandwich and soup, will cost $6.95. Desserts are $1.95.
"We want people to come back at least once a month, if not every two weeks," Davis said.
And he wants them to come as much for the total experience as for the food.
Different dining areas will use new high-quality logoed china, both with and without a gold rim or dogwood pattern.
"In the Regency Room, the table setting will be extremely elegant with a crystal-domed butter dish and logoed butter. We've been very sensitive to using local purveyors and Virginia products. We'll have a Virginia house wine and a house bottle of Quibel water,'' Davis said.
"We have a gorgeous lantern. Fresh-cut flowers will be done by a local florist. The lamp that's going on the table is a crystal candlestick with a silk shade. We're trying very hard to bring back the elegance of the Regency Room and the way people remember it."
The Pine Room's cozy atmosphere, ideal for quick informal lunches, will include pine-paneled walls and pewter-like serving ware. Banquet rooms, an outdoor patio and the Virginia Room will provide other dining options.
Davis said he realizes that a few people will still be disappointed - some because, believe it or not, they didn't speak up about what they wanted.
The dance floor may be the biggest disappointment, said Davis, who once was a ballroom dancer himself. With the elimination of about 30 percent of the old Regency Room to accommodate the hotel's conference center, the dance floor technically will no longer exist. However, on Fridays and Saturdays a combo will play and a dance area will be laid down for dance-reservation seating for up to 160 people.
Knowles, who came on board in September, said that the easy part of this opening project has been working with the kinds of simple, basic, straightforward cuisine he most enjoys. The hard part has been narrowing the choices down to one lamb, one pork, one duck, and several beef, chicken and nonmeat selections so that everyone can find something to like.
Davis said that the easiest part for him has been having so many people from the valley come in and want to be part of the operation. The hardest part has been telling some of them no.
by CNB