Levy Restaurants Expands Further Into Hotel/Resort F&B

By Derek Gale, Senior Associate Editor -- Hotels, 4/23/2008 1:24:00 PM

Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, a member of the Americas division of UK-based Compass Group PLC, will design and develop a new food and beverage program as part of developer KL International’s casino renovation project at The Aruban Resort & Casino in Eagle Beach, Aruba, to be completed by the end of the year.

The project will include the concept development of an all-day dining, exhibition-kitchen restaurant, a sports bar and grill, and a new main casino bar, plus F&B-specific service training for resort employees.

“From its restaurant roots, Levy Restaurants pioneered the concept of fine dining in stadiums and arenas, and has expanded into the luxury hotel and resort market. We believe they can create an entertainment culinary experience for The Aruban, making it a truly distinct Caribbean venue,” says KL International spokesman Phil Allen. “We also look forward to Levy’s U.S.-based food and beverage training that our local employees will receive, with an emphasis on service delivery.”

Levy’s hotel/casino F&B experience to this point consists of the Harrah’s St. Louis property and the former Le Meridien in Chicago, says Mike Plutino, regional director of operations. In addition, company founder and chairman Larry Levy recently took a new branch of his highly successful Spiaggia concept south from Chicago to Miami as part of a boutique fractional ownership resort called The Fairfax.

Though the company’s experience does not run deep when it comes to specific hotel/resort projects, Plutino says Levy will get more involved in the space “as long as they are quality projects with quality partners. We bring the restaurateur mindset to a lot of different businesses,” he notes. “Casinos can focus on gambling, and we can focus on food and service.”

On the food side, the new main restaurant at The Aruban will consist of a large, interactive space in which chefs and equipment—like an oversized rotisserie or a brick oven for pizzas—are front and center at various stations, and guests are engaged through the sights, smells and interaction with chefs. “We think it is going to be unique [for] Aruba,” Plutino says. “It will set us apart from anything Aruba’s ever seen before.”

On the service side, Levy will see The Aruban project all the way through to the hiring of the F&B staff and the training phases, Plutino says, noting that the training will be highly customized to the local workforce and culture. “We know we need to be flexible and adaptable,” he says. “We’ve been successful with that model wherever we’ve opened—and we’ve opened in lots of places.”

Finally, in addition to the property’s main restaurant and bars, Levy may also wind up directing the resort’s roomservice and banquet service. “I think we’re headed in that direction,” Allen says.