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Business Entertaining:
Four corporate hot spots demonstrate how it's done
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Business New Haven
8/21/2000
By: Lucy D. Twarkins
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Does taking on the assignment of planning a business function make you feel like you've been given a mission of impossible proportions? Does the prospect of sleuthing around for just the right place leave you slightly queasy?
Never fear, with the handy checklist below, and sample menus from some of the many fine restaurants located in New Haven County, it is possible to accomplish your mission of planning a dazzling evening for 20 that everyone will want to take credit for - even the secretary.
Top Ten To-Do's for a
Successful Meeting
A small meeting can involve ten to 50 attendees, according to a survey taken by MeetingsNet, the meeting industry's online resource. However, a small meeting doesn't mean the planning or implementation is any less complicated than that of a large one.
In fact, the agenda and programming become even more important as the typically shorter duration and smaller number of attendees make the content of the meeting paramount. Small meetings, more often than not, are taken for granted by organizations and planned in haste.
Whether you're planning a small management, sales, training or board meeting, follow the top ten steps below and choose a restaurant with extraordinary food and service, and fulfilling your mission will come as no small success.
1) Establish meeting objective(s), subjects to be covered, and theme, if any.
2) Determine who is to attend, including local guests and other VIPs, if necessary.
3) Keep in mind local holidays, events and weather conditions, when selecting a meeting date and site.
4) Inform potential attendees of date and place of meeting.
5) Select speaker topics and speakers, and determine speaker audiovisual requirements.
6) Determine meeting room setups.
7) Reconfirm arrangements with all suppliers.
8) Send attendees information about the meeting and participation requirements.
9) Run separate post-meeting follow-ups with your own staff and the facility.
10) Send thank-you letter to the restaurant or facility.
Four Menus for Divine Dining
in New Haven County
Jeffrey's
501 New Haven Ave. (Old Gate Lane)
Milford 203-878-1910
For those executives with continental palates, Jeffrey's comes highly recommended. Zagat magazine, which publishes reviews of more than 20,000 restaurants, reports that admirers attest owner Jeff Johnson “knows his business” - that is, overseeing an “exciting,” “top-of-the-line” seasonal menu and a “well-trained,” “accommodating” staff.” Jeffrey's received a superior rating in Connecticut magazine's dining-out guide and was selected as best Continental restaurant/statewide in the magazine's 22nd annual Reader's Choice awards.
Bayer and Pfizer Pharmaceutical executives are among the most recent to choose Jeffrey's to hold their dinner meetings. Able to accommodate up to 80 in a party, owner Jeff Johnson says, “We' re swamped with corporate dinners in September.”
Menu Sampler
Appetizers
n Vine-ripened tomato stuffed with fresh picked lobster and shrimp, served with an endive salad medley, tossed in a horseradish, blood orange vinaigrette.
n Pankoed crispy scallops served on a sugar-cane skewer, served with upland cress and fresh pineapple, tossed in a passion fruit chili vinaigrette.
Salads
n Baby red and green Romaine tossed in a Caesar dressing, with garlic crouton, topped with reggiano parmigiano crisp.
n Crispy goat cheese over baby arugula, with two pepper marmalade, calamata olives, tossed in a sweet basil dressing.
Entrées
n Hazelnut and coriander-crusted halibut served over saffron cappellini, with seasonal vegetables, and pink grapefruit, verjus vinaigrette
n Oven-roasted rack of lamb, with vidallia onion herb whipped potatoes, goat cheese vegetable ratatouille spring roll, and fresh currant bordelaise.
500 Blake Street Café
500 Blake St., New Haven 203-387-0500
Speaking of New Haven, why not try what the Connecticut mag Readers Choice Awards voted the best business lunch and best business brunch in New Haven County: 500 Blake Street Café?
According to Zagat, 500 Blake “does large groups well,” but this New Haven Italian is also a “classy” and “clubby” local choice for “good portions” of “always dependable” food and “attentive service.”
Workers from Southern Connecticut State University, the Hospital of Saint Raphael and New Horizons Computer Training Institute are often found here discussing business over lunch.
Menu Sampler
Appetizers
n Oysters Taronto - on the half shell, topped with smoked salmon, olive oil and cracked black pepper.
n Rolled Eggplant Napoletana - stuffed with ricotta cheese and sausage, with a light tomato sauce.
Salads
n Arugula salad with raspberry vinaigrette.
n Caesar salad with blackened salmon - served with bruschetta.
Entrées
n Gamberi Vino Bianco - shrimp sautéed with olive oil, white wine, garlic, herbs, in a light marinara sauce served over linguini.
n Veal Scaloppine Saltimbocca - with garlic, fresh sage and white wine served over escarole.
Quattro's
1300 Boston Post Rd. (opp. Bishop's Farm)
Guilford
203-453-6575
If you're like many, when you think of New Haven you think of Italian cuisine. Drive a little further down I-95 and you'll find Quattro's in Guilford. Given a superior rating in Connecticut magazine's dining-out guide, Quattro's won Best Overall, Best Italian, Best Service in New Haven County and was statewide runner-up for best Italian in the 22nd annual Reader's Choice Awards. Zagat readers agree: This Post Road “storefront” Italian with a “creative chef” is where you can “make a meal” of the “stunning appetizers.”
Quattro's counts Merck and Bayer pharmaceutical executives among their meet-and-mange clientele.
Menu Sampler
Appetizers
n Portobello Maramonte - fresh portobello mushroom topped with jumbo shrimp in light marinara sauce topped with mozzarella.
n Lumache Pernot - escargot sautéed with roasted peppers, mushrooms & scallions in a Pernot cream sauce.
Salads
n Insalata Tri Colore - radicchio, Belgian endive, arugala & green leaf lettuce topped with dried cranberries tossed in a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
n Insalata di Carciofini - artichoke hearts with olive oil, lemon garlic & spices served over a bed of mixed greens.
Entrees
n Fettucine al Telefono - fresh picked lobster meat sautéed with shallots & scallions in a vodka cream sauce served over fettucine.
n Vitello Portafolio - veal lightly egg-battered, stuffed with prosciutto, eggplant & mozzarella in a sherry wine sauce with shittake mushrooms.
Timbers on the Green
The Heritage, A Dolce Conference Resort
Heritage Rd., Southbury
203-264–8325
Thinking of something a little different? Maybe a dinner meeting for 20 followed by nine holes of golf? Or a swim in the pool? Or maybe therapeutic massage? A vaulted cathedral ceiling, a stately stone fireplace and wall-to-wall windows is the backdrop for New American cuisine in Timbers on the Green Restaurant at the Heritage Inn.
Although it is part of an impressive conference facility, the restaurant will entertain any size dinner meeting, from 20 to 200 or more. The management boasts the ability to accommodate a variety of diets as well as offering themed events such as a New England clambake or a “Taste of the Southwest.”
The Waterbury Chamber of Commerce was spotted recently dining in the newly erected canvas pavilion. Large enough for functions of 150, “The Tent” provides comfortable outdoor dining from April to October in any weather New England can dish up.
Menu Sampler
Appetizers
n Grilled Vegetable Lasagna Roulade - served with roasted tomato and basil coulis.
n Barbecued Duck Chimichanga - served with Crema and Tomatillo salsa.
Salads
n Tomato, Mozzarella and Fresh Basil - served with Mesclun greens and balsamic vinaigrette.
n Arugula with Poached Pears - and red wine vinaigrette.
Entrées
n Roast quail with sun-dried cranberry glaze
n Grilled filet of beef & shrimp with Cabernet demi glaze and tarragon butter
Bon appetit!
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