Longtime food & beverage director toast of Broadmoor resort

Nation's Restaurant News, March 4, 2002 by Dina Berta

I want Craig Reed's job, but I don't think I'll get it. Never mind that I have zero experience as a food and beverage director -- I don't even do the grocery shopping and cooking for my own household -- but it doesn't look as IF Reed is going anywhere, anytime soon.

Reed is only the third food and beverage director in the 83-year history of the Broadmoor, a luxury hotel and resort in Colorado Springs, Colo, that I would be happy to call home.

Longevity is a common trait here. Siegfried Eisenberger is only the third executive chef in the hotel's history. President and chief executive Stephen Bartolin Jr. has been there for 10 years. So has Reed. And heck, the assistant food and beverage director has been there for 17 years.

"A destination resort has to be in a destination people want to go, so it's [a] good [place] for you, too," Reed says as he takes me on a tour around the property.

The Broadmoor is nestled up against the Cheyenne Ridge, a buffer of mountains on the southern side of Pike's Peak. The ridge sometimes acts as a barrier against severe storms. So with Colorado's annual average of 300 days of sunshine, the weather is usually decent, even in midFebruary. A lake in the middle of the property is home to geese, ducks and swans.

The 700-room hotel has garnered a five-star rating every year for the past 41 years and a five-diamond rating for the past 25 years. Over the years more wings have been added, as have a spa and golf courses.

It's a beautiful property, even with a gigantic crane hovering over the main building, which is encased in scaffolding. The Broadmoor is in the middle of a $72 million renovation, scheduled to be completed by May 1.

The Broadmoor's parent company, Gaylord Entertainment out of Oklahoma, decided to go ahead with the renovation in October, even though bookings had dropped dramatically after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It's been the biggest decision in the last 10 years to allow the transformation and bring [the Broadmoor] up to the standards that it needed to have and position it for the future," Reed says.

He oversees a $35 million F&B department at the Broadmoor. The resort has 150,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space and 15 food and beverage operations, including nine restaurants. Among the offerings are an Italian restaurant, a steakhouse and an English pub, and the critically acclaimed Charles Court and Penrose Room.

Unilke many resorts, the restaurants at the Broadmoor are open not just to guests, but to the general public. Reed estimates that half of the customers dining in the restaurants come from town. That means that each restaurant has developed its own atmosphere, style and menu. Each restaurant also has its own chef de cuisine and manager.

Not much can pull Reed away from the Broadmoor. However, for the past eight or so years, he makes a regular 90-minute trek to Denver to serve on the Colorado Restaurant Association board of directors. The 4,500-member association recently honored him with its Distinguished Service Award.

Reed was recognized for his role in helping bring the school-to-career program, ProStart, to high schools in Colorado Springs and other smaller towns in the state, such as Wasson, Palmer, Coronado, Fountain, Fort Carson and Mitchell.

Reed also was noted for being a role model for the more than 600 employees in the Broadmoor's F&B division. The respect he receives was obvious as we walked around the property. Our conversation constantly was interrupted each time we passed an employee. Everyone greeted him with a smile, a hello, sometimes a handshake, which he warmly returned.

"Oh, the award," Reed says when I asked him about it. "I was so surprised. So many people are worthy of this. Really, I got involved [with the CRA] because I felt like it was time for me to give back to an industry that had been so good to me."