Page 17 - MENU Mag - July/August 2017

BACK OF HOUSE
Getting into
the event
market?
BE SURE TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
BY BETH POLLOCK
If you’re looking for creative new ways to make money, you may
be thinking about getting into the event market—hosting private parties, weddings, grad celebrations, festivals and more. You might wonder how to get started, and what the key success factors are.
I spoke to three restaurateurs to hear about their experiences running events, and to ask their advice for anyone getting started. One owns a small bistro that holds events on Sunday evenings; one organizes events to challenge his chefs and keep it fun; and the third runs events in a very big way.
1. SMALL BUT MIGHTY
Patrick Saurette owns The Marc restaurant in Edmonton, a French bistro with 67 seats. Because of its size and layout, it doesn’t have a private din- ing area. He chooses not to close the bistro to other diners to run private events, so he hosts them only on Sunday nights. And even so, he doesn’t aggres- sively book events, since he wants to ensure sta gets time o —typically the restaurant takes private bookings on Sundays of a holiday weekend. They’ve hosted events that include small weddings, wine dinners, charity dinners, and an annual Bastille
Day celebration.
He loves the creative aspect it gives kitchen sta . “If you’re primarily an à la carte business, you could o er family-style food on platters, or o er a di er- ent kind of cuisine than you usually serve—Indian, for example, in an Italian restaurant.”
Saurette says events are his best advertising, since current customers are the likeliest to book them. “You need to continually search for new customers. And who better to bring in new customers than existing ones?”
Finally, don’t overlook the impact on pro tability. “In the middle of January, when regular numbers are down, groups can be huge.”
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JULY / AUGUST 2017 MENU 17