Danny Trace, executive chef of Brennan’s in Houston, has an unusual loyalty-building program that he calls “chef for a day.”
“I haven’t met anyone who didn’t re-contact me or come back in with their family,” after participating in the program, said Trace, who spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News about the program during the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Customers pay about $1,500 to spend the day in Brennan’s kitchen.
“We give them a knife, a chef jacket and an apron, and they get to work,” he said.
More Aspen Food & Wine Classic coverage from NRN:
- Cultivating loyalty, one customer at a time
- Restaurateurs on kitchen culture and delivering value
- Top chefs on the importance of happy, skilled staff
- For more on-the-scene observations from senior food editor Bret Thorn, check out his blog Food Writer’s Diary
They move from station to station, working with different sous chefs, and what they do is tailored to what the customer wants to learn.
“They always want to make a soufflé and bananas Foster,” he said. “They can make turtle soup, and it’s a mind-blowing experience for them.”
At 4 p.m. they will typically learn about cocktails at the bar. Then they’ll meet with the sommelier to plan dinner — a 6-course tasting menu to which they can invite five people.
“They’re just blown away most of the time,” said Trace, who generally has one or two chefs-for-a-day each week.
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