BWE '11: Going to California?

[aimeedogdogdog]

Michael,

Ed will be the treasurer for 2011. He would post the mailing address this weekend, after I go to a walk-throu with One Market this Friday and if I found it good enough for us. That doesn't mean One Market is the final venue. It means we have one venue which fits us. We are still working on the Box SF and the catering service so that we have choice.

I talked to Absinthe again 2 days ago and they kept their $30/bottle policy. So it's the least favorite so far. It's doable for our budget at ~$150, except instead bringing whatever we want, we have to limit our wine to about 50 bottles for 24 - 28 people.

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

Nancy and I went to check out both One Market and the Grand-Cafe this morning. Here is the details:

One Market Restaurant
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The room we looked at is big enough for 40 people to sit down but it would be tight. It's more for 30 people comfortably. The room could be open to the common area in the commercial building, which on a saturday night should be quiet. The close 15-ft area belongs to the restaurant so we could use this area for welcome with champagne and hors d'oeurs. However it wouldn't be warm or cozy outside, but it's free for us to use. Inside the room it was warm and cozy. The room is next to the open-style kitchen. There are doors in between but when the food comes in through the door, the smell from the kitchen is likely to come in too. It might not be too bad but just beware. There is also another room next to the one we looked at. There are 3-inch door separate them and the restaurant said it's good enough sound insulation but I didn't know how good it could be if there is another party going on there.

The minimum food and beverage comsumption is $2000/room for the two rooms. Corkage fee is not considered as a part of the food and beverage comsumption. So at fewer than 50 heads, we wouldn't be able to use the two rooms altogether. The restaurant has standard restaurant wine glasses so they would charge us a fee for getting fine wine glasses as they have to rent them. They didn't know how much at the time. The other restaurant Absinthe charged $2/stem, so I am thinking about the same ball park. Maybe 1 or 2 other little fees but they will give more details next week. At $150, it's doable here but just depends how we do it (for example, have 3-course dinner instead a 4-course one). Corkage fee is $20/person. By the way, they wouldn't allow us to bring in our own cheese if Ed did it.

To be continued...

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

The Grand-cafe (exactly the Banquet room of hotel Monaco)
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We also looked at the banquet room of hotel Monaco. The restaurant Grand-cafe is part of the hotel property. The banquet room is just one level under the restaurant, so we wouldn't smell all the cooking in the kitchen. The banquet room is so big that we could use half of it for our sit-down dinner, comfortably for 40 people, and we could set up our wine tables on the other side of the room, plus maybe some couches to make it cozy. 8-people-Tables are big enough for all the glass stems and food plates. The place was clean smell although a bit simple and run-down. Enough light. Quiet.

At $150/person, we could do a lot of different combinations because Keriann from the hotel we talked to was very accomodating. I suggested to have a flat rate for corkage and we could use the money on food and she said that would work. I asked if we could bring in our own cheese and she said she would look into it. I said it's our priority to have fine wine glasses, and she would rent them and would work within our budget. I also asked her to have their Master of sommereil to work with our menu and the chef to make food bordeaux wine friendly, and she would go ahead and do it. I realize that Keriann is the sale manager so everything sounds good so far. But the real deal is the details she will give mid-next week. We will see but it did sound very promising at the time.

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

After checking out the venues, Nancy and I had lunch at the Grand-cafe, just to see how the food tastes there. For appetizer, we ordered escargot and a salad. For main dish it's beef short ribs, and cassoulet with duck confit. The food was good. It was southern french style, with an american twist on it, but it's a bit salty for us. We mentioned it to Keriann and would like the MS to work with the chef to cook food for our BWE convention wine dinner. And then we had dessert, pot de creme and brun blanc, which were first rated. I see if we could have those two desserts in our BWE dinner menu.

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

As we were in a hotel, I asked Keriann to have a look at the hotel rooms. She showed us a queen double standard and a junior suite. Both rooms were very clean and nicely decorated, while still enough room to move around. It's probably the nicest hotel rooms we have been in our BWE conventions. I loved their rooms. Although the carpet of their hallways were stainy, but no smell. Compared, the carpet in the rooms were like brand new. It's a 4 star hotel (according to Priceline). I just checked their room rate on their website, and it's about $250/night average. Keriann could give us a group rate for 10 rooms or more. I will have the quote mid-next week. I will let you know. Hopefully it's good enough so we don't have to spend time searching for a hotel. Let's cross our fingers.

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

We have a quote from another catering service and it's very close to what we got from the first two vendors. So the Box SF with catering is out of our budget.

I think for our BWE convention dinner, it's either at One Market or the hotel Monaco. Ed will be the treasurer for 2011. So when Ed posts the mailing address the next few days, folks, please send your checks of $150/person to him. We would like to get them all in the next 2-3 weeks.

Thanks,
Werner

[Jay Winton]

would the Monaco offer us discounted room rates given we would have the dinner there?

[aimeedogdogdog]

Hi Jay,

I haven't had the quote from hotel Monaco yet. I will ask them for a discount if it's too high.

Werner

[aimeedogdogdog]

Hi everyone,

The private party staffs at the restaurants are very busy right now because of the coming up of the holidays. So things are movng at a very slow pace. Thanks for the patience.

I have just received one proposal from Grand-cafe, but none from One Market so far because the girls there have been being busy with other clients for the holiday events. One Market did give me a baseline and a formula to calculate the total cost though, so I do have the cost/person ready. It's between $150/person at Grand-Cafe and $160 at One Market. Ed will post and ask for checks to be sent in.

Thanks,
Werner