'EXPANDING THE WOLFGANG PUCK BRAND': Spago Catering targets upscale catering events

Spago Catering has a unique advantage of name recognition, but the company's experience launching into business in the Chicago marketplace is fairly typical of any foodservice organization aiming high with catering.

"People know the Spago name, and that makes marketing a little easier," says Carl Schuster, pres. of Wolfgang Puck Catering, the parent company in Los Angeles, who has worked with Spago creator Wolfgang Puck since the inception of the landmark "California-cuisine" restaurant.

A 'special' challenge: "But we also have a huge challenge in meeting the expectations of a very sophisticated clientele."

With Spago restaurants in half-a-dozen cities and a stable of other cutting-edge restaurant concepts including Postrio, Chinois on Main, and Obachine, Puck certainly has a well-heeled following. Catering was born out of customer demand five years ago, with a seated dinner for 1,400 at the Governor's Ball during the Academy Awards.

Now, Schuster and Puck have put together a concentrated business plan that calls for the eventual debut of Spago catering in every city where there's a restaurant. "It's a logical progression in the expansion of the Wolfgang Puck brand," as Schuster notes.

Jon Wool was hand-picked as catering manager in Chicago, the company's first foray out of its L.A. home base.

Open for biz July 1: The new division officially went into business on July 1 of this year, with an ambitious marketing plan and a determination to make a splash in both the corporate and social markets. The effort has been aided by the fact that Spago is an established part of the restaurant scene in the Windy City and has also gained a large clientele for its 300-capacity on-premise private-dining facilities.

"In a city like Chicago, there's a lot of competition, however, and many of our best potential off-premise customers already have long-established loyalties to existing caterers," explains Wool, himself a veteran of the city's catering scene, with a large network of contacts.

"Our challenge now is to win these people over, at the same time that we announce our existence to the world in general."

Setting quality standards: Wool's first order of business has been to ensure delivery of the Spago restaurant experience with the same level of quality and service. To that end, he and Schuster have worked to set standards for the kitchen, translate restaurant menus into off-premise ones, and hire key catering staff, including an executive catering chef, a staffing and events supervisor, a catering sales manager, and an administrative officer/accountant.

Because Spago restaurant in Chicago already operated a separate kitchen for private dining, no additional facilities were required.

"In fact, catering represents a very efficient way for us to utilize that space because catering production takes place earlier in the day, when the kitchen is not in use for banquet preparation."

Initially, catering also relied on off-shift waitstaff for its service needs, but now Wool has developed and trained a pool of on-call captains and waitstaff for catering front-of-the-house duties.

"This staff is very important to us, because we want to position catering to offer the same level of professional but unstuffy service that the restaurant is known for, in addition to having the same exceptional cuisine."

Key research findings: Early research showed that there was also a real desire on the part of the event-planning community in Chicago to take catering to this level.

"There's a lot of opportunity for top-flight catering here," notes Wool. "There's a big drop-off catering market for services like office luncheons and Continental breakfast, but nothing approaching the experience you'd get at the restaurant."

And, despite the fact that about 85% of the restaurant menu is available for catering—including Spago's signature grilled and roasted meat items and boutique pizzas—none of the food is reheated on-site.

Spago Catering means to "overwhelm guests with service," as Wool puts it.

Service ratios work out to one and a half to two staff per table, rather than one server per two tables which is more of an industry average according to Wool. Twice a week, a catering supervisor, captain or waitperson spends a day in the kitchen with the catering chef in order to better understand the job.