Las Vegas restaurants look to L.A.
Las Vegas restaurants look to L.A.
Ever since the infamous Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in 1946, people from around the world have flocked to the city in increasing numbers every year.
Today, the city offers 124,270 hotel rooms to provide accommodations for over 37 million annual visitors, on top of the resident population of about 60,000. It hosts 3,749 conventions every year.
Any way you cut it, Las Vegas has a lot of mouths to feed.
There is no produce terminal market in the city, but that doesn't mean high- end hotels and restaurants struggle to procure the high quality and specialty produce they need to feed all those visitors and residents. In fact, they are getting exactly what they demand, and from numerous resources, many of which are in the Los Angeles area.
"Las Vegas is a three-and-a-half-hour ride from Los Angeles," said Greg Bird, business development director for L.A. Specialty Produce Co. Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, CA. "With Los Angeles being one of the largest markets in the country - with three major terminal markets - it is able to speed produce distribution in Las Vegas. There are a great number of competitive distributors that service the area, and each seems to have its own niche. Ours is the specialty market."
L.A. Specialty Produce distributes a daily publication to its customers with snapshots of market movement, including new items, organics and locally grown produce. The bulletin is unique in that it also lists quantities of products available, so chefs can prepare menu items knowing quantity limitations. Products are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, so chefs also know to order in a timely manner.
"For example, wild ramps, fava beans, pixie tangerines and wild mushroom varieties coming into season from foragers in the Northwest are typically limited in quantity," said Mr. Bird. "These items would never make a terminal market because of the quantity restrictions."
The company also distributes a daily market recap called L.A. Specialties' Daily Deals, a one-page snapshot that is sent to sales representatives who in turn print them and deliver them to customers. Mr. Bird said that the high- end Las Vegas restaurant industry both moves and changes quickly.
"Depending on the customer, menus can change daily, and we are relied on for accurate information to keep them updated continually," he said. "We source from around the world, so product availability also changes daily."
The challenges in dealing with hotels and restaurants of the quality and size of Las Vegas are affected by the sheer volume of product used in the city. Mr. Bird said that it requires a strong partnership with customers and an understanding of how the system works.
"When we take on a new client, we try to bring them to Southern California to educate them on the process related to supply availability, seasonality and ordering. Timing is a challenge. We like to receive orders so we have enough time to react. They are typically received between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and delivery expectations are between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. the next morning. We have 25 to 30 people on staff processing orders at all times."
Volumes ordered by major hotels and restaurants are what might be expected - huge. One of L.A. Specialties' customers orders up to a pallet -- 112 boxes -- of strawberries every day. The company delivers from Monday through Saturday, so customers must also learn to order accordingly for weekends.
"One of our environmental initiatives is to get trucks off the road on Wednesdays," said Mr. Bird. "Increasingly, more clients understand our 'Green Wednesday' program. Our goal is to reduce both our customers' and our own carbon footprint, and to help them save money. Besides saving fuel, not receiving deliveries on one additional day of the week means less paperwork and less processing for everyone."
B.R. Guest Restaurants has 18 high-end restaurants in the nation, including Fiamma Las Vegas at the MGM Grand and Dos Caminos Las Vegas at the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. Dos Caminos Executive Corporate Chef Scott Linquist said that the Las Vegas area is an excellent place for a Mexican restaurant because of the good and easy availability of high-quality Mexican and Latin products.
"We procure fresh produce from several sources, including L. A. Specialty Produce," said Mr. Linquist. "Get Fresh Sales, local growers and green markets are also excellent sources for us. Get Fresh, a local produce vendor in Las Vegas, is good for value-added and processed items, which saves us time and labor. B.R. Guest Restaurants are very 'green' oriented, and we like that Get Fresh is environmentally friendly. Its facility has a river running through it where all trim and waste that comes off the produce is washed in large processors and trucked away to be used as animal feed."
Dos Caminos is also strongly dependent on L.A. Specialty Produce for a large portion of its produce.
"We have specific criteria for many of the fresh produce items we use regularly," said Mr. Linquist. "Avocados, Hass when they are in season, are the most important item we use. It is imperative they are the right size, 36s, and perfectly ripe when they come in the door. We use about 25 cases daily. With 360 per case, we're using a total of 800 to 1,000 every day. We have two plantain dishes, and both are popular with patrons, so we use about four cases a day, and we must have them at peak ripeness. L.A. Specialty Produce manages these processes very well for us. Our suppliers doing things right is imperative to our restaurant's success."
Melissa's/World Variety Produce in Los Angeles also has a large customer base in Las Vegas, according to Robert Schueller, director of public relations, who said that the company supplies over 40 hotel-restaurants in the city regularly.
"These top chefs insist on the best quality and ample supplies, and that can be challenging when there are seasonal or weather problems," said Mr. Schueller. "It means staying on top of their needs and keeping them informed at all times."
Melissa's customers include the MGM Grand hotel, Charlie Palmer, Roy's, Nobu and Sterling Club. It delivers six days a week, and concentrates strongly on timely deliveries.
Mr. Schueller said that some of the more highly demanded products that Las Vegas chefs order from Melissa's are cilantro, Italian parsley, Hass avocados, all berry varieties, fresh chilis, herbs and specialty mushrooms, such as truffles, porcini, morel and Hen of the Woods.
"Las Vegas is a very competitive market, but logistically the amount of restaurants that lie just within a few miles on the Strip are unique to any other place in the U.S.," said Mr. Schueller. "The close proximity of the restaurant-hotels is an advantage to both us and to our customers."
Today, the city offers 124,270 hotel rooms to provide accommodations for over 37 million annual visitors, on top of the resident population of about 60,000. It hosts 3,749 conventions every year.
Any way you cut it, Las Vegas has a lot of mouths to feed.
There is no produce terminal market in the city, but that doesn't mean high- end hotels and restaurants struggle to procure the high quality and specialty produce they need to feed all those visitors and residents. In fact, they are getting exactly what they demand, and from numerous resources, many of which are in the Los Angeles area.
"Las Vegas is a three-and-a-half-hour ride from Los Angeles," said Greg Bird, business development director for L.A. Specialty Produce Co. Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, CA. "With Los Angeles being one of the largest markets in the country - with three major terminal markets - it is able to speed produce distribution in Las Vegas. There are a great number of competitive distributors that service the area, and each seems to have its own niche. Ours is the specialty market."
L.A. Specialty Produce distributes a daily publication to its customers with snapshots of market movement, including new items, organics and locally grown produce. The bulletin is unique in that it also lists quantities of products available, so chefs can prepare menu items knowing quantity limitations. Products are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, so chefs also know to order in a timely manner.
"For example, wild ramps, fava beans, pixie tangerines and wild mushroom varieties coming into season from foragers in the Northwest are typically limited in quantity," said Mr. Bird. "These items would never make a terminal market because of the quantity restrictions."
The company also distributes a daily market recap called L.A. Specialties' Daily Deals, a one-page snapshot that is sent to sales representatives who in turn print them and deliver them to customers. Mr. Bird said that the high- end Las Vegas restaurant industry both moves and changes quickly.
"Depending on the customer, menus can change daily, and we are relied on for accurate information to keep them updated continually," he said. "We source from around the world, so product availability also changes daily."
The challenges in dealing with hotels and restaurants of the quality and size of Las Vegas are affected by the sheer volume of product used in the city. Mr. Bird said that it requires a strong partnership with customers and an understanding of how the system works.
"When we take on a new client, we try to bring them to Southern California to educate them on the process related to supply availability, seasonality and ordering. Timing is a challenge. We like to receive orders so we have enough time to react. They are typically received between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and delivery expectations are between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. the next morning. We have 25 to 30 people on staff processing orders at all times."
Volumes ordered by major hotels and restaurants are what might be expected - huge. One of L.A. Specialties' customers orders up to a pallet -- 112 boxes -- of strawberries every day. The company delivers from Monday through Saturday, so customers must also learn to order accordingly for weekends.
"One of our environmental initiatives is to get trucks off the road on Wednesdays," said Mr. Bird. "Increasingly, more clients understand our 'Green Wednesday' program. Our goal is to reduce both our customers' and our own carbon footprint, and to help them save money. Besides saving fuel, not receiving deliveries on one additional day of the week means less paperwork and less processing for everyone."
B.R. Guest Restaurants has 18 high-end restaurants in the nation, including Fiamma Las Vegas at the MGM Grand and Dos Caminos Las Vegas at the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. Dos Caminos Executive Corporate Chef Scott Linquist said that the Las Vegas area is an excellent place for a Mexican restaurant because of the good and easy availability of high-quality Mexican and Latin products.
"We procure fresh produce from several sources, including L. A. Specialty Produce," said Mr. Linquist. "Get Fresh Sales, local growers and green markets are also excellent sources for us. Get Fresh, a local produce vendor in Las Vegas, is good for value-added and processed items, which saves us time and labor. B.R. Guest Restaurants are very 'green' oriented, and we like that Get Fresh is environmentally friendly. Its facility has a river running through it where all trim and waste that comes off the produce is washed in large processors and trucked away to be used as animal feed."
Dos Caminos is also strongly dependent on L.A. Specialty Produce for a large portion of its produce.
"We have specific criteria for many of the fresh produce items we use regularly," said Mr. Linquist. "Avocados, Hass when they are in season, are the most important item we use. It is imperative they are the right size, 36s, and perfectly ripe when they come in the door. We use about 25 cases daily. With 360 per case, we're using a total of 800 to 1,000 every day. We have two plantain dishes, and both are popular with patrons, so we use about four cases a day, and we must have them at peak ripeness. L.A. Specialty Produce manages these processes very well for us. Our suppliers doing things right is imperative to our restaurant's success."
Melissa's/World Variety Produce in Los Angeles also has a large customer base in Las Vegas, according to Robert Schueller, director of public relations, who said that the company supplies over 40 hotel-restaurants in the city regularly.
"These top chefs insist on the best quality and ample supplies, and that can be challenging when there are seasonal or weather problems," said Mr. Schueller. "It means staying on top of their needs and keeping them informed at all times."
Melissa's customers include the MGM Grand hotel, Charlie Palmer, Roy's, Nobu and Sterling Club. It delivers six days a week, and concentrates strongly on timely deliveries.
Mr. Schueller said that some of the more highly demanded products that Las Vegas chefs order from Melissa's are cilantro, Italian parsley, Hass avocados, all berry varieties, fresh chilis, herbs and specialty mushrooms, such as truffles, porcini, morel and Hen of the Woods.
"Las Vegas is a very competitive market, but logistically the amount of restaurants that lie just within a few miles on the Strip are unique to any other place in the U.S.," said Mr. Schueller. "The close proximity of the restaurant-hotels is an advantage to both us and to our customers."
