By Hope S. Philbrick
Download the article as seen in F&B Magazine
12,000 eggs. 500 pounds of Eberly Organic boneless skinless chicken transformed into 4,000 chicken skewers. 480 stuffed chicken breasts. 500 pounds of whole beef tenderloin. 800 pounds of steamship beef. 800 pounds of various cheeses. 250 pounds of crab. 225 pounds of smoked salmon. 1,300 lamb chops.
All to feed 16,236 people over four days.
Chefs at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington D.C. transformed tremendous amounts of raw ingredients into tasty bites and meals to feed folks attending various events for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.
For a behind-the-scenes report on the effort, we talked to Executive Chef Neall Bailey at the Willard InterContinental Hotel and Chef Nicholas Walker, C.C., who regularly works as banquet chef at the InterContinental Buckhead near Atlanta, Georgia, but was there to help during the nation’s big party.
Q: What brought you together for the Inauguration?
NB: We started planning about eight weeks out. I got a logbook from the previous Presidential Inauguration as a reference with spreadsheets and old schedules from the previous chef and basically a layout of kitchen staff requirements. I knew we’d need five guest chefs from other properties, plus 25 temps, and wrote a schedule a month in advance.
NW: I jumped at the opportunity. It wasn’t just the chance to work at the Inauguration that appealed to me, but also to work in a different area in another kitchen in our company. This was a team effort.
Q: How did you stay organized?
NB: It was all about planning. We had a January 5 deadline to have menus in and guaranteed numbers. We did a lot of things not typically done in our day-to-day operation: We converted one whole section of our refrigerator into a freezer and had a reefer truck brought in because we needed massive amounts of refrigerator and freezer space. Each chef was designated to a certain area. Our five chefs who work at this property were each designated a section (banquet, cold, food distribution, outlets, ballroom and main floor) and the five guest chefs were all assigned to one of our chefs. We started having weekly meetings three months out. We sourced all our products and did tastings months in advance. We inventoried all of our silver, china and then brought in over $100,000 in new china and glass and another $10,000 on small wares, pots, ladles, spoons and such.
NW: Chef Neall had morning meetings where he set objectives and talked about sanitation, safety and organization. He was very present through everything. I was basically an extra pair of hands and worked in the banquet department with Chef Todd Goldian in a supportive role.
Q: What was your biggest challenge?
NW: Having space! It worked out, but you had to be very organized. They rented thousands of sheet pans and racks where everything was put and labeled so it was easier to get things out and fired. Once the organization was done the cooking part was easy. The organization was amazing.
Q: How many chickens does it take to lay 12,000 eggs?
NB: The thing about chickens is that how many eggs they lay really depends on their mood. On average they’ll lay two eggs every three days. You’d need about 18,000 to 20,000 chickens to get 12,000 eggs.
Q: How was security?
NB: Very tight, largely because we had a lot of high-profile guests including heads of state, dignitaries and celebrities. We’re the main hotel right on the parade route. Secret Service was heavily involved. The whole front of the building and both ends of the street were fenced off. There was no way to get in without badges and photo ID; and even then you could only get in certain hours. Most of my staff came in early, between 4 and 5 a.m., to prepare for the day. I stayed here two nights, and otherwise came in at 6 a.m. and stayed until after 11 p.m. The traffic wasn’t too bad from my perspective.
NW: The health department came in—one day a rep was taking temperatures while we were working. That’s definitely not something I’ve seen done before. She was very respectful of what we were doing and how busy we were. With the amount of people we were feeding they just wanted to be sure everything was done right. One sample of every item was taken and tagged with information about which party it was served at, the date and time, then frozen; so if something were to happen, it would be possible to track exactly where it came from.
Q: Did you know who you were cooking for?
NB: I heard that President Obama was coming here, but I’m not sure that he actually did. We did host the Delaware representatives, so I know the Vice President attended. Senator Hilary Clinton passed through, though she’s not senator anymore. I was so focused on what I was doing that King Kong could have been here and I wouldn’t have noticed.
Q: How did you keep up the pace?
NB: It’s just one of those things. You have to do it because that’s what we do. You know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Sixteen-hour days are not uncommon in our line of work; this was just a group of them. We were really prepared for the worst. We had the impression that we’d be so busy it would be impossible to move, so when we found that we could move it wasn’t quite as bad as we’d anticipated. Organization paid off. I’d heard horror stories and knew I didn’t want it to be me. You can run out of this or that, so we made sure we had what we needed plus five percent. We had enough. It was a matter of staying on top of it and reviewing it. Plan the plan-able and handle any anomalies that pop up. Surprises happen, but if everything else is under control you can look graceful when things go awry.
NW: I drank a lot of coffee. It was one of those things. I was there to do a job. Not only that, but I was representing Atlanta. I didn’t want to let down my hotel and the people back home.
The biggest thing for me was the camaraderie. We had different chefs from different places come together at one hotel and, without knowing exactly what to expect, jumped in and helped where we could. We were still one team with one common cause.
Q: Did you see any of the Inauguration?
NW: No. I saw the tile walls of a kitchen.
NB: I missed the whole thing. For four days I was standing in the main kitchen sending food out.
Q: How did you celebrate the end of this labor of love?
NW: We all went out for a really good dinner the night after the last party and celebrated on the town.
NB: I just went home and slept. It didn’t really end on Tuesday; Wednesday was quite busy for us and then Thursday and Friday going into the weekend was fairly active, too.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
