Hastings Consulting Success Stories

Client: St. Joe Company

northwest florida

hastings consulting company, l.l.c.

Design & Programming

As a coastal person, Chris knew that he needed to bring the restaurants back to their roots: the sea. He worked with St. Joe chefs like Philip Krajeck of Fish Out of Water to create a culture of reflecting the region and respecting fine local ingredients. Now, Fish Out of Water is the only AAA four-diamond rated restaurant on Florida’s coastal route 30-A. The WaterColor Market was transformed into Hot and Cold, a family oriented pizza and ice cream spot with old fashioned charm, and WaterColor Resort’s BaitHouse was reenvisioned as a high quality seasonal venue for families.

Operational Oversight

expertise and passion “ Chris’s for the regional cuisine will prove invaluable as we grow our restaurants across Northwest Florida.

Vitals & Vision

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Location: Northern Florida Web Site: www.joe.com Featured Venues: Fish Out of Water; The BaitHouse Restaurant; Hot and Cold; WindMark Beach; Provisions; School of Fish; SummerCamp Marketing Programs: Foraging the Forgotten Coast Media attention: Garden & Gun; Coastal Living; Food & Wine; Birmingham Magazine; Birmingham Home & Garden; The Boston Globe; Newsday; The Oakland Tribune; PBS (America’s Heartland)

In 2005, the St. Joe Company was faced with disappointing restaurant performance in its Northern Florida properties. As one of the largest developers in Florida, with over 600,000 acres of land in and around the panhandle, St. Joe Company needed to provide quality dining that resonates with their homeowners and guests. Rather than close or restructure from within, the company approached Hastings Consulting to retool their restaurants’ design and programming while working with the operations team to improve the bottom line. In addition to the retrofitting, Chris and Idie Hastings also helped the company build two establishments from the ground up—Windmark Beach and SummerCamp Beach.

Branding, Marketing, & Licencing

Hastings Consulting wasn’t finished once the balance sheets began turning around. As soon as the operational aspects of the retooling were accomplished, Chris and Idie got to work getting the word out about St. Joe’s newly revamped offerings. Their convictions run so deeply about the Northern Florida coastline that they worked with St. Joe to create a culinary tour program called Foraging the Forgotten Coast, which highlights the culinary uniqueness of the region and the passion of the local artisans who keep those traditions alive. Their efforts drew the attention of local and national outlets alike, including Garden & Gun, Food & Wine, Birmingham Home & Garden, Newsday, and The Oakland Tribune.

Christopher A. Hastings 205/873-1753 [email protected]

2180 11th Ct South Birmingham, Al. 35205

hastings consulting company, l.l.c.

Client: Russell Lands alexander city, alabama Design & Programming

Operational Oversight

Vitals & Vision

Branding, Marketing, & Licencing

Rising out of the hilltop, the SpringHouse Restaurant treats diners to local cuisine served in rustic, casual elegance. The main dining room features an inglenook—a large, functional walk-in fireplace, which served as the center of the home in medieval times. The inglenook is used as a hot appetizer station during dining hours, and a classroom throughout the day. Handsome bars, rough-hewn beams, and hand-forged ironwork fill the main dining room, and a magnificent open kitchen, replete with a wood-fired pizza oven adds ambiance. The upstairs bar and dining area will focus on small plates and provide adults a place to relax and gather. Patios with working fireplaces flank the main dining room and upstairs bar. The private reservations-only dining room, the WellHouse, features a private garden for cocktails and receptions, a panoramic vista of the gardens, meadows, and surrounding woodland.

Location: Alexander City, Alabama Web Site: www.russelllands.com Seats: 154 Private Dining: The WellHouse – 12-seats Catering: On and off site Signature Dishes: •Spit-Roasted Quail with frisée, poached farm egg and bacon sherry vinaigrette •Roasted Pork Loin with squash gratin, homemade hominy and oven-roasted tomato vinaigrette •Grandmother Mac’s Fried Apple Pies with buttermilk ice cream Marketing Programs: Wine Club Future Enhancements: Organic gardens; on-site smokehouse; on-site gristmilling; fruit orchards

When Russell Lands, the largest land-owning company in Alabama, decided to create a commercial center for its holdings on Lake Martin, they set out to make it as authentic and seamless as possible. Russell Crossroads was envisioned as a walkable recreation of a 1920s agrarian Southern town—one that could have been there when Lake Martin was created. An emphasis on local, sustainable, and community-building elements made up the first phase of its construction. Hastings Consulting was brought onboard to turn Russell Lands’ dream into a reality. Chef Chris Hastings teamed with the SpringHouse general manager and executive chef to craft a menu that would honor the land, a business model that would make the most of its local resources, and a network of craftsmen and purveyors who could stock the restaurant with worldclass products.

From its inception, the restaurant will cultivate lasting relationships with local artisans and purveyors, but the long-term vision includes access to an on-site organic garden, persimmon and apple orchards, apiaries, grinding local sorghum wheat and corn, and utilizing local charcoal production. As the lands are explored a detailed foraging map will be created for guests to see where on the Russell Lands their products were found. Artisans will eventually raise organic chickens and heritage-breed hogs. Those hogs will then be available for on-site smoking and curing, giving SpringHouse guests exceptionally fresh and local meat. As these elements come into focus, they will increase the emphasis which SpringHouse and Russell Crossroads put into the community of farmers, craftsmen, and purveyors.

Christopher A. Hastings 205/873-1753 [email protected]

2180 11th Ct South Birmingham, Al. 35205

Client: EBSCO

mt laurel, alabama

hastings consulting company, l.l.c.

Design & Programming

Once the Standard Bistro’s menu was tightened and refocused, the Hastings, Chef Martin, and the town of Mt. Laurel framed a long term plan for community growth centered on the local organic garden. The Standard Bistro uses produce from the garden, and holds classes and lecture series on topics like composting and planting victory gardens. Even the town’s Montessori school students will take advantage of the garden through an Edible Schoolyard-type program.

Operational Oversight

expect the customer service “ We and the overall success of the restaurant to be better under their management.

Vitals & Vision

Location: Mt. Laurel, Alabama Web Site: www.standardbistro.com Restaurant features: Uses local organic garden Lectures Wine tastings Cooking classes (for adults and children) Community features: Community organic garden Weekend farmer’s market Community supported agriculture program Corporate wellness program Elementrary school gardening program

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With EBSCO’s Standard Bistro project in Mt. Laurel, Alabama, Hastings Consulting was not just expected to increase the quality of the restaurant’s cuisine, but to provide the community’s residents a model for living well—the art of living. Chris and Idie accomplished this by integrating the restaurant’s supply chain into the town’s organic garden, holding cooking classes, and starting one of the area’s first elementary school farming programs (similar to the Edible Schoolyard project, where students tend a working garden which is integrated not only into the school lunch program but their overall curriculum). After centering Chef Martin’s menu on locally sourced products, the Hastings went on to integrate the local, seasonal philosophy into the community, school system, and eventually the landowning corporation that manages Mt. Laurel.

Branding, Marketing, & Licencing

Hastings Consulting worked to increase the restaurant’s appeal to the greater Mr. Laurel community by initiating a weekend farmer’s market program. Throughout the year, the local farmers and purveyors who provide the exceptional artisanal products Chef Martin uses in the Standard Bistro come to give Mt. Laurel townsfolk the same opportunity at the farmer’s market and a community support agriculture (CSA) program. Beyond the restaurant and the surrounding community, Hastings Consulting worked with EBSCO to create a corporate wellness program that rethought the employee café and gave them access to the fresh produce from the Mt. Laurel organic garden.

Christopher A. Hastings 205/873-1753 [email protected]

2180 11th Ct South Birmingham, Al. 35205