n the fall of 2006, Dennis Brady, Boston Marriott Burlington food and beverage director, began planning a renovation of the property’s primary restaurant. The Marriott’s location on the edge of the Greater Boston area demanded a restaurant to meet the expectations of a wide range of clientele who visit the region for business, tourism, and education. Brady rolled up his sleeves, gathered his demographic and business data, and turned to Marriott’s workshop full of tools to build an appropriate and feasible restaurant concept.

Brad Nelson, VP of culinary and corporate chef at Marriott International, calls this complex program of tools the “Momentum Process.” Through the collected history of decades of successfully built-out concepts across 16 Marriott brands, the process provides “a roadmap to develop viable and relevant menus wherever you are in the world,” and through a series of analyses including “vetting, market research, and competitor review, it supplies guidelines for a winning concept.” The concept profiles were first designed in 2003, and the entire collection is continually updated and refined.

The Momentum guidelines offer 56 concepts, such as Mediterranean, Steakhouse, Brasserie, or Seafood. But the resulting details are more complex. The concept tools also provide recommendations for price point, tabletop, glassware, restaurant design, style of service, and many other fine considerations of business.

“The process looks at a combination of factors— from location and average check to how close the restaurant is to the lobby or what the competitors are and aren’t doing—and comes up with a model that recommends food and beverage, lighting, silverware, and even music,” says Nelson. It also cautions against concepts, elements, and practices to avoid, he notes. Along with the wealth of its own experience, Marriott has forged partnerships with great chefs, prominent designers, and food industry consultants to expand the concept tools’ knowledge base.

The Momentum Process was assembled as a decision-making tool, not as the definitive final word. While directors are advised to pay close attention to the process recommendations, they are at the same time encouraged to innovate and tailor their concepts for a unique dining experience.

To make the process accessible and collaborative, the primary tools for planning are available online at the Marriott Global Source internal website. The online tools consist of two parts:

• The Momentum Process, which collects the broad array of facts and data to narrow down to a detailed recommendation.
• The C3 Concept Tool that guides the user to iterate a formalized concept statement that will inform all those involved and conduct them uniformly toward the realization of the envisioned restaurant.

FINE-TUNING THE ROADMAP
When Brady applied the tools, the result was Summer Winter, a collaborative effort with acclaimed chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, or “Mark & Clark” as they are known. As wellknown chef-owners of Arrows, number 14 in Gourmet’s “America’s Top 50 Restaurants in 2006,” and the lauded, more casual MC Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, the celebrity chefs brought serious star power to Burlington, Massachusetts. While Burlington is a frequented lodging area for those visiting the Boston area, it doesn’t benefit from heavy foot traffic or the concentrated work, tourist, or residential populations of downtown Boston. Consequently, Brady’s concept relied on Summer Winter as a celebrity chef-driven destination restaurant to welcome visitors and lure Boston’s urban and suburban foodies to Burlington.

Brady says the concept statement they developed gave them a solid foundation to build on and a tangible thread to follow through the labyrinthine decisions necessary in opening a restaurant. While venturing outside their comfort zone—Summer Winter is Mark & Clark’s first effort with a large organization like Marriott—the clearly written statement helped ease anxieties by fully outlining the responsibilities and expectations of both sides. Brady claims that he and Mark & Clark went through the concept statement completely at least three times before it was finalized to everyone’s satisfaction.

BRINGING SUMMER WINTER TO LIFE
The choice of Mark & Clark fulfilled Brady’s desire for name-brand chefs to garner culinary attention for Summer Winter, and with them, he arrived at a “Modern American” concept that the chefs were eager to create and that the Momentum Process considered viable. Mark & Clark’s extensive travel and culinary curiosity add a frequent international twist and constant surprises to menus.

For example, Mark & Clark pay homage to the beloved New England lobster, with not only the Summer Winter dinner menu featuring the simple Steamed Maine Lobster with Drawn Butter and the lunch menu offering the humble MC Lobster Roll with French Fries, but also by adding a slightly more adventurous Lobster Quesadilla with Hazelnuts and Queso Fresco to the daytime fare. With the further inclusion of a small bites menu of American tapas, an oyster bar, a menu of signature martinis prepared with herbs and botanicals from their onsite greenhouse, an extensive sake list, and a wine list of 100 bottles and 20 by-the-glass selections, the food and beverage program is meant to appeal to a broad audience—from the weary traveler, to the tourist seeking local traditions, to the culinary aficionado.

Whatever the final design of the restaurant, Brady wanted the physical space to convey a sense of place. In following the process design concepts laid out as they apply to a modern American restaurant, Brady and Mark & Clark chose to blend contemporary design with rustic allusions to the history of the chefs from their farmhouse setting at Arrows. Comforting stone and dark wood elements mix with the crisp modernity of stainless steel and glass to give guests the same sense of the convergence of the new with the old that the menus engender.

The remainder of the restaurant’s essentials fell into place under the guidance of the concept statement and the highly collaborative efforts of the chefs, managers, and Marriott staff. The entire process, from conception through finding collaborators, building out and training, to opening took about one year. Summer Winter opened the first week of November 2007 and awaits confirmation as the hit it is expected to be. Nelson and Brady both praise the Momentum Process’s effectiveness and the in-depth concept tools Marriott has assembled to facilitate and expedite the planning of new restaurants and to ensure their success. Given time, Summer Winter may find its place as a model for other new restaurants in Marriott’s Momentum Process.

Denny Lewis is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B