Spotlight On: John Knorr, Professor Turned F&B Director

By Derek Gale, Senior Editor -- Hotels, 6/26/2008 11:28:00 AM

John Knorr, a man with a wealth of experience in contract foodservice and catering, who previously held the post of assistant dean of Southern New Hamphsire University’s Tourism and Culinary Management program, had never before worked in a hotel. So when an advisory board member for the school put him in touch with RGH Hospitality, the management company for the Hilton Garden Inn Manchester, he saw an opportunity to “put some theory into practice,” he says. Knorr took a few minutes recently to talk with HOTELS about his transition and his new job as food & beverage director at the hotel.

HOTELS: Why leave academia to work at a hotel?

KNORR: The property itself and the ownership of the hotel [had a lot to do with it]. The hotel sits on the minor league ballpark for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and there’s a seasonal patio restaurant in left-center field that seats about 150 people. The hotel is an attractive facility that people like to come to.

HOTELS: Sounds atypical for a Hilton Garden Inn—a limited-service brand that’s not necessarily known for its food and beverage offerings…

KNORR: Yeah, Hilton Garden Inn does have a lot of standards, but most of them are in the breakfast program, so we have flexibility when it comes to dinner. [We serve] upscale pub food (sandwiches, salads, pizzas), and the two things I hear most often from guests is that they’re surprised at the price for a hotel—it’s very reasonable—and that the quality of the food is exceptional. Our May through September business changes drastically with [the restaurant overlooking the stadium]. People enjoy coming here for that. But we want to give [guests] a good reason to come here, not just for a baseball game, but for 52 weeks a year.

HOTELS: What does that mean in terms of the hotel’s F&B department—what else are you responsible for?

KNORR: The indoor restaurant, roomservice and catering—we’ve got two suites and a boardroom. We do catering for up to 50 people, with separate menus, and we do quite a bit of it.

HOTELS: Who does the menu planning at this type of property? Is there an executive chef?

KNORR: I’m kind of serving as the… well, I’ve got two people who act as sous chefs—that would be the best word. We had the [former] sous chef leave a couple weeks ago, so I’ve asked two cooks to step up into that role. I’m using this as an opportunity to evaluate people as we move forward—seeing how well they do with new challenges.

HOTELS: What about the rest of the culinary team on property?

KNORR: A fair amount of them are fairly new. What I’m doing now is trying to organize the kitchen team to get us prepared and to better execute out on the patio during busy season. I’m looking forward to doing things differently in the fall when we close the patio. In the fall, I will redesign the menu for the indoor restaurant.

HOTELS: What are your other plans and goals for the hotel’s F&B department?

KNORR: The idea is to make this the ideal F&B department for a hotel as far as menus and back-of-the-house functions—catering and all those things. I’d like to get systems in place and be able to get staff trained in those systems, and then as the [management] company grows, take this and use it as a training model. The idea is to duplicate this as the company grows.

HOTELS: Will you maintain any affiliation with Southern New Hampshire University?

KNORR: I have no plans to do so right now. But I did hire one of the graduates to come on as a catering supervisor, so as far as looking for opportunities for students, I’ll continue that.