The notorious “three martini lunch” may have gone out of style with “Mad Men,” but business entertaining has always waxed and waned in response to natural and man-made crises. After 9/11 and the 2008 crash, companies slashed expense accounts, limited all but essential business meals and made lists of four-star restaurants and hotels no longer approved for executive travel. But business entertaining always rebounds, prices at restaurants always go up, the deluxe end of the hotel market always increases and business class airline travel soars.
    But … not … now. The current pandemic has obliterated all such business entertaining, including corporate gatherings in convention towns like Las Vegas and few executives are flying anywhere, first or coach class. When this crisis passes, what will be the new normal for business entertaining and travel? If teleconferencing by at-home employees becomes cheaper and more convenient, will there be good reasons to fly execs to London for a meeting? Will clinching a deal over a porterhouse and $500 bottle of Bordeaux at Smith & Wollensky seem like nothing more than an extravagance? Is there any justification for booking a corporate suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston?
    I asked a number of company CEOs and managers what they see in terms of business entertaining as the pandemic subsides. Curiously, the only industry whose executives were prevented from commenting was the financial and banking sector.
    I asked two basic questions: Before the pandemic did you and your company do a good deal of business entertaining and events, and, when the pandemic ends, what do you think the new landscape for business entertaining will be like?

Michael R. Payne is Chairman and CEO of Payne Sports Media Strategies and, as the former head of International Olympic Committee marketing, led the Olympics’ first global marketing strategy.  He was nominated as one of the world’s most influential marketers by Advertising Age. Most recently, with his Chinese partner Shankai,  he pioneered the Alibaba–IOC long-term partnership deal.

    We do  a lot of entertaining. I run a global strategic advisory business, with clients around the world, from Olympics, to World Cup [soccer] to F1 [Formula 1 motor racing], requiring a lot of travel—both to them and [they] to me. There’s a lot of conventions and corporate travel, and I travel intercontinental normally a minimum of once a month.
      As for the future, I have been impressed how much can be done with video conferencing like Zoom—especially multi-country groups. A few weeks ago we had a press conference with 150 journalists on live video from 80 countries. But in the end, no amount of technology innovation is ever going to replace the importance of relationships in the business world—and to build relationships you need to meet in person, engage in a relaxed environment, outside of the constraints of the office. Strong relationships will not come about solely through a long-distance digital call.

 

Shamin Abas is President of Shamin Abas ULTRA-LUXURY BRAND MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. She is on the NYU Stern School of Business’s Advisory Board and Member of its Fashion and Luxury Council. In September 2016, Abbas partnered with Bob Rubin of The Bridge Golf Club to launch an annual, invite-only classic car exhibition for members and VIP guests, and has successfully attracted sponsorship partners that include Bugatti, Airbus, NetJets, Burgess Yachts, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Triton Submarines and Nicholas Brawer. 

    We work solely with brands in the ultra-luxury arena that cater to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and so our connection to the country’s best restaurants and the top chefs that sit at their helm is critical for us, whether it’s wowing our own clients with a personalized experience while hosting them at a hard-to-get-into restaurant or presenting a noted chef as a key part of an experience offsite or in their private dining room for one of our brands while they engage with their top clients, we do a considerable amount of entertaining with restaurants.
    Our clients have a substantial presence at annual events such as the U.S. boat shows in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach, at Monterey Car Week, Art Basel, Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and The Bridge, and these gatherings of collectors and enthusiasts generate significant business for the restaurants in these locations. With Pebble Beach, Quail, a Motorsports Gathering and The Bridge cancelling for 2020, there is a question mark over whether large events this fall and winter will take place. And even if they do, will people attend in anywhere close to the numbers they did? The financial impact for these restaurants will be devastating.   We are seeing the budgets of our clients realigning, with funds that were allocated for larger events pre-Covid-19 being reshuffled into “experiences” with small groups of individuals being invited to participate in environments that allow for social distancing. In our arena, chefs and restaurants will still have an important role to play in the overall goal of delighting and surprising this often difficult to impress consumer. Just last week we presented to a private bank client the concept of a Daniel Boulud-prepared picnic basket, filled with the most incredible local, earth-to-table lunch to enjoy on a personalized cashmere blanket at the stop-off of a very special classic car rally—handed to the guests by the man himself, with gloves on, of course!

 

 

Rick  Cooper is CEO/COO of Rick Cooper Music in Chicago, an independent pop-music consultant to the record and radio industries. He is also a partner in several restaurants in Chicago and co-owner of Alex Cooper Project Wines.  He has promoted artists ranging from U2, Post Malone, Billie Eilish and Harry Styles to up-and-comers like Doja Cat, JP Saxe and Saint Jhn. 

    Being in the business of promoting new music releases from both up-and-coming and established artists to radio stations, you can imagine that entertaining clients in restaurants is a huge part of my day-to-day.  Before the pandemic I traveled (and plan to again) to New York and Los Angeles regularly to meet with executives at the record labels who hire me, as well as artist managers, publishers, producers and often the artists themselves.  My travels also take me to visit radio stations, literally from coast to coast.  I discuss my business, but over a great meal and wine.  Dining out at the hippest spots in town is the norm in the music industry.  And I always find the best.
    All of my clients, both at radio and in the music industry are aware of my side hustles as a partner in both a group of restaurants here in Chicago (avec, Publican, Café Cancale) and a wine brand called Alex Cooper Project.  So, believe me when I tell you that they all know that “I ain’t eating at no Olive Gardens” when I’m on the road.
    When planning my business trips, dining out is always foremost in mind.  Of course, I’d choose a great place to dine, perhaps before or after a concert, but often I’d travel to see clients and schedule my trip around a special wine dinner. Why only take a client out for dinner when I can take them out for something more unique?
    There are the Grammys every year, so I’d always meet with and entertain clients during the days leading up to the event.  We also have annual conferences in L.A. and Minneapolis (a great food city!) and a few other broadcasting conferences that change locations from year-to-year.  The music industry is a major supporter to the City of Hope.  Unfortunately our annual “Taste of Hope” wine dinner in New York in March was canceled as a result of the pandemic.  This is a real shame because it’s the single biggest event if its kind each year and generates so much money for a great cause, not to mention it being a tremendous opportunity for guys who like to show-off and share our really special wine collections.      What the future holds is difficult to say. Being involved in my own restaurants and seeing our struggles and dilemmas, I’m afraid that so many restaurants across the country will be unable to reopen.  Further, many that do may not be able to sustain and close within months.  It’s just so hard to know for sure though.
    I do believe that restaurants will always be an essential part of doing business.  Just like golf or taking a client to a ball game.  Of course, there will be requisite budget cuts in any business.  But I like to believe that we are an incredibly strong country and that music plays such a big part in everyone’s lives.  Once this passes, and it will at some point, concert tours will hit the road, the major festivals will resume and people will flock to their favorite restaurants.  But only the smartest of operators will still be around to serve them.

 

Peter Miller, known as the “Literary Lion,” is President/CEO of Global Lion Intellectual Property Management, and has represented more than 1,500 books, including 23 NY Times bestsellers. His company has managed, developed or executive-produced 23 film and television projects, several nominated for Emmy Awards. He regularly attends colleges, universities, writing conferences, Book Expo America, the London International Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair.  

    I’ve traveled over five million miles in my lifetime thus far and have been entertaining clients all around the world. I'll never forget the first time I was I am a strong advocate of the beautiful restaurant experience that someone who's a social animal like me can have and share with literally thousands of people in the last 50 or so year.
    Sadly all this has changed and will continue to change as we create the "New Normal," especially with someone like me with a challenged immune system. Consequently, I'm super careful about food and will be very, very selective about not only buying food but also going to restaurants. I'll wear a mask and gloves to any restaurant I attend for probably the rest of my life.
    Expense accounts will be looked at more carefully. The old model of the literary lunch may wind up in a Zoom or WhatsApp call.  I don't know if I'm ever going to attend a book convention in Frankfurt, London, New York, Bologna, or China ever again. With the advent of technology and the success of Zoom, it's not necessary for me to travel so far, spend so much money, and risk the possibility of getting a disease because I was at a convention with 30,000 people from all over the world.
    I've always had six or seven trips planned annually for the last 30 years. For the first time, I have none. The world is changing, but I'm trying to keep a positive outlook for me to redesign my future so I can continue with my work and represent powerful, life-changing, entertaining books, publishers, and film and television projects.

NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani

LOVE AND PIZZA

CHAPTER EIGHT

© John Mariani, 2020

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

    For something that is basically just a beverage—albeit far more delicious than most—an awful lot of folderol has grown up around the buying, service and consuming of wine.  Indeed, wine drinking is fraught with opportunities to show oneself either a naïf or a show-off, usually both at the same moment. Too often it will cost you money. Here are ten wine myths that will save you embarrassment and even some cash.

1. Wine is a living thing.  On the contrary, once its yeasts have died off after fermentation, it is a dead and decaying thing. If there’s anything still living in a wine bottle after fermentation ends—unwanted bacteria mostly—it’s likely going to cause problems.

 

2. Red wines get better with age. If the age in question is the time the wine spent fermenting and aging in stainless steel or oak barrels before release, this adage makes sense. But, unless it is a wine of considerable complexity and strong tannins, it’s not going to get much better once it’s on the wine store shelves. Further aging of Grand Cru Burgundies and Bordeaux are requisite to allow them fully to mature, as are highly tannic California Cabernets, but even the experts within those regions can give only the vague-est of recommendations beyond, “Wait five years.”

 

3. You should expect very old vintages to have a somewhat musty smell and leathery flavor. While a connoisseur may declare a bottle of 1929 Mouton “sound”—which is like saying a classic car is “drivable”— the chances are that the bottle is way beyond its prime. And while a recommended “swirl of the glass” may blow off a little of the smell and bring some oxygen into the wine, it is more likely that “barnyard smell” (also described as “cat’s pee”) indicates that the wine has  simply deteriorated through oxidation (also called maderization) that once begun is unstoppable. Having once actually tasted a 1929 Mouton, I was amazed that it was drinkable at all, but within ten minutes’ exposure to the air it became undrinkable.

4. Red wines should always be decanted to remove sediment. If a red wine has sediment, fine. If not, there’s no reason to decant.  Most red wines upon release do not throw off sediment anyway; those aged five years or more may. Some enophiles contend that decanting brings oxygen into the wine, which is as easily accomplished by just pouring the wine into a glass.

 

5. When tasting a wine, you should suck in air and swirl the wine several times in your mouth to bring out the wine’s qualities or defects. . . then spit!. If you’re a professional wine taster—who may go through 50 wines at a time and spits the wines out—this can be helpful. But at a dinner table? Uh-uh. You’ll look ridiculous and embarrass your friends.  Just take a sip and make a determination.

 

6.  One should always sniff the cork. Why? Ninety times out of a hundred it will reveal nothing, unless the cork is so visibly rotted that you wouldn’t want to sniff it. The purpose of presenting the cork is a holdover from days when an inferior wine was deliberately and unscrupulously mis-labeled as a better one—a scam exposed by simply looking at the cork to see if it was imprinted with the original, real provenance ofthe wine.

7. A screwtop closure indicates an inferior wine. The debate over how often corks cause a wine to taste “corked”—a smell and taste caused by a chemical called TCA that may as easily come from a wine cask or even moldy cardboard boxes in a winery—continues year after year. Arguments in favor of using a cork stopper run from cork’s allowing a small amount of oxygen to enter and inspirit the wine, which is not a proven virtue, to silly notions that popping a cork is ineffably romantic. But the secret is, just about every winemaker I’ve ever spoken to, in the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world, would prefer to switch to a screwtop or glass closure rather than risk a five to ten percent failure that corks may cause. Most wines from New Zealand and Australia already are, as are many from Germany.

 

8. Expensive wines are often allocated because of their scarcity. This is of course true if you are speaking of Grand Cru Burgundies, Bordeaux and some Northern Italian wines that are by law delimited to be made only within a certain acreage and the number of bottles that go to market. In a vintage with a small crop, such wines will be very scarce; in a large crop the estate may only produce the maximum amount of cases allowed, with the rest sold under second labels. (There is, as you’d imagine, a grey market for rare wines whose provenance is often in doubt.)
    No such legal restrictions are made for California wines, so that a huge crop—often the case in sunny California—for a so-called “trophy wine” estate with high numerical ratings in the wine media makes an oversupply of wine a liability. As a result, they may sell off their 98-point wine to a middleman for sale under a different label at greatly reduced prices. In those years with a small crop, such prestigious wines are often allocated to subscribers, wine shops and restaurants—perhaps a single case or even one or two bottles—thereby keeping the wines’ prices artificially high. The key, then, is to find out what kind of supply there was in a particular vintage. In a year with a bumper crop, allocations should be very suspect.
    Cameron Hughes (left), CEO of the giant wine distributor under his name, told me that after several very bountiful vintages from 2012 to 2019, “The state is drowning in wine. For wineries that pride themselves on small production and selling only by allocation, it’s a little embarrassing to find their warehouses bulging with thousands of gallons of wine. Still, they don’t want to see their wines selling in Costco because of the perception of “lower quality.”

 

9. Alcohol levels are wholly a result of climate and terroir. For millennia this was certainly the case, and even today a process called chaptalization is used in certain regions of France by which hearty, high alcohol wines from southern Europe and northern Africa are added to boost the alcohol levels. Other wines like Port and Marsala are fortified by adding brandy. But in Europe the tradition has been to let nature determine the percentage of alcohol in a wine; indeed, the legal definition of a table wine stops at 14%. Despite this, many wineries, especially in California, South America, Australia and New Zealand, bottle wines well above that, at 14.5%, 15% or higher, without fortification. Many insist is it simply a matter of having more sun, more heat and more climate change, which causes the sugar levels to rise and in turn the sugar ferments into more alcohol.
    But many modern wineries trying to win media awards for big, brawny bottlings try to increase alcohol in the vineyard and labs by techniques such as keeping grapes on the vines to become over ripe in order to increase the sugars. According to the Oxford Companion to Wine, “The resulting wines tend to be high in alcohol without necessarily being accompanied by ripe fruit aromas and phenolics [which are chemical compounds that add pigment, acid and flavors].”

10.  You should always send back a wine you don’t like. No, you should only send back a wine that has gone bad, either by being oxidized or corked.  Just because you don’t care for the taste of the wine is no reason to ask for it to be taken off your bill. The exception is when a wine steward has really pushed a wine on you that you’re unfamiliar with and you find the wine distasteful.  Then, back it goes.