Ask the Experts: Business Entertaining

THE LIFESTYLE GURU

Colin Cowie is the proprietor of event and interior design and lifestyle firm Colin Cowie Lifestyle.

Favorite restaurant for client entertaining?
The Four Seasons. Stunning architecture and power brokers making deals—what more could you ask for?

How else do you entertain?
I have guests in frequently for lunch and dinner, which I really enjoy. I also like to organize glamorous or exotic trips. We'll go to South Africa on a safari or to Mykonos for fun and sun.

Drinks?
I always order wine with lunch. Usually something light like a sauvignon blanc and limit it to a bottle for the table. More than one glass, and for some reason I'm catatonic for the rest of the afternoon. Incidentally, it does not have the same effect on me at dinnertime.

Tipping tips?
Twenty percent or more. I'm a generous tipper and like to tip everyone. It always guarantees me the best service when I return. However, if I am ordering big, expensive wines, I don't tip 20 percent on the wine. I tip on the food and service and add some.

What is excessive?
Nothing is excessive if it is quality. I don't mind paying when I get what I paid for. I get very upset when a meal is expensive and the food and service are less than expected.

At a resort, do you pick up incidentals?
Depends on the individual. If it's a celebrity, then I insist on the credit card procedure. Otherwise I end up paying.

Get many thank-you notes?
Not enough! Very few people write thank-you notes. I, however, accept phone calls and emails.

Anyone ever abuse your hospitality?
We did the opening party of Atlantis and gave all celebrities first-class tickets to come to the Bahamas. This particular celebrity (she has a very famous husband with his own TV show now) was able to get a ride on someone's private plane, so she did not redeem her free ticket. Two months after the opening, she was going to the Bahamas and called to see if she could still use her free first-class ticket!

Overall philosophy?
Entertaining is the principal way to both open and close deals. Dining with someone, whether for lunch or dinner, disarms your guest and puts you in the driver's seat, since it's your choice of restaurant, time, menu, wine, where your guest is seated. It never fails.

THE PUBLISHER

Donna Kalajian Lagani is senior vice president and publishing director of Cosmopolitan and CosmoGIRL! magazines.

Who do you entertain?
Advertisers, all the time.

Favorite place to go?
Café Gray, which is Gray Kunz's place in the Time Warner Center. First of all, it is just beautiful. And the food is top quality.

How else do you entertain?
I like to have people to my home. It's more personal.

What doesn't work?
Two things spring to mind: Broadway theater and getting a massage with a client. Neither work for the exact same reason. You are simply unable to hold a conversation with the client, which is the whole purpose.

For a private room, who do you call?
Gramercy Tavern.

How often is wine served at lunch?

I'd say about once a month. It's really the exception now—it's only for special occasions.

What is excessive?
Anything over $150 for lunch and $200 for dinner.

At a resort, do you ask clients to put down a credit card?
Yes, we ask clients to pay for incidentals.

Anyone ever abused your hospitality?
I drew the line at a client who asked to not only bring children to an out-of-town event, but also the nanny.

THE PR PRO

Susan Magrino runs the Susan Magrino Agency.

Favorite restaurant for business entertaining?
The Four Seasons. I like the Pool Room. They are remarkably consistent and the food is terrific. You can entertain there often and not gain weight, and there are no better hosts than Alex [von Bidder] and Julian [Niccolini].

Favorite restaurant in Los Angeles?
Koi. They have a nice semiprivate table where you can still see what is going on in the restaurant. It's hard to beat the occasional Pam Anderson sightings.

What else works?
Another way to entertain clients is to give them something they can do on their own or with the person of their choice. They enjoy it more. Personalization is an important detail. If they love baseball, get them tickets for opening day at Yankee Stadium; if it is wine, a case of their favorite red. But if they want a reservation at Rao's, I have to go with them.

What doesn't work?
Trying to organize a one-of-a-kind experience, or gift certificates. I am not a big fan of giving clients something they need to arrange themselves, unless they have specifically requested it. Entertaining and gifts should be instant gratification.

Favorite private rooms?
The wine cellar at the 21 Club, Daniel's Bellecour Room, and the top floor of Jo Jo. I am very much looking forward to Sirio [Maccioni] returning with his latest restaurant incarnation later this year, as I miss Le Cirque already.

What's your limit?
I would say over $150 for a business lunch without liquor would be excessive. Dinner knows no limits.

Do you send a car?
I think if you're hosting the client, you should pay for transportation both ways.

When traveling, do you pay for clients' incidentals?
If they use the telephone to make a lot of long-distance calls, I would make them aware that it would be better if they used their cell phone. I would much rather spend that money on a great meal or send the client something nice in the room.

THE FOOD MAVEN

Julie McGowan is publisher of Food & Wine magazine.

How often do you entertain?
Groan. Hundreds of times per year.

Favorite restaurant?
Okay, because of my job, there is no way I can just answer that question with one place. There's Town, which I just love—they take great care of us. I particularly like their upstairs cocktail area. Out-of-towners are inevitably wowed by the Four Seasons and Daniel. For younger, hipper folks, I like Spice Market. But not for dinner, that's way too sceney, and I'm not even sure I could get in. There are more.

Big tipper?
This is a boring question for me. I always tip 20 percent, pre-tax. Danny Meyer taught me that if I have a problem with the service, then I should speak up, rather than silently steam and then stiff.

How else do you entertain?
What haven't we tried? My one rule is that I don't just give tickets or an evening to clients, unless I, or a member of my team, will be there to interact with them. The purpose is to build a relationship. When I hear about people providing, say, a box for the Knicks, I think, "Why not just give them money?"

What doesn't work?
Well I'm wary of the whole client spa experience, which we've done a number of ways. For starters, you have to get comfortable with the idea of seeing your client in a bathrobe. Then, even though you may allot a few hours, you only see each other between treatment rooms.

When traveling, who pays for what?
If it's a hotel, we always ask that the client put a credit card down for incidentals. Doesn't everybody? I also find that we almost always get a thank-you note for travel/overnight entertaining, while we rarely do for regular, even expensive, dining. I think that says something about the impact, and how I justify the relative costs.

Wine or spirits?
Well, there are two answers to this question. If we have an executive from those industries, then liquor is at least offered 100 percent of the time. But for regular lunches, I'd say we have wine less than 20 percent of the time. Almost all my European clients have a glass of wine with lunch, by the way.

In Los Angeles?
Spago was, is, and I bet will continue to be, a definitive spot. We do our annual Oscar week party there. And while we almost always have celebrity attendees (Kyle MacLachlan, Vivica Fox, ER's Laura Innes, director David O. Russell, to name a few), we like to say at our event, the food is the star. I also go to Lucques, whose chef Suzanne Goin was partially discovered by our magazine.

THE FUND-RAISER

Kerry Kruckel Gibbs is the assistant dean for development at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Who do you entertain?
Donors, donors, donors, with at least five meal appointments a week.

Where do you like to go?
A lot of our entertaining takes place in and around the NYU community. I guess Gotham Bar & Grill is my favorite. It feels quintessentially New York. We go to Babbo a lot—they recognize that we're frequent diners and we always get the table we want.

For a private room, who do you call?
Again, Babbo. The rooms at Le Bernardin are also beautiful.

What really works?
Anytime we can get the students themselves in front of potential donors, it's a home run. So we're always on the lookout for student forums—performances and the like. But what is really the cat's meow is dinner in a trustee's home. One trustee has a home at Sutton Place where we entertain, and that is extremely
effective for us.

What doesn't work?
Curiously enough, golf. We find that whole arena—golf, tennis, club memberships—to be ineffective. It's too bad, really. I like tennis.

When traveling, do you pick up the whole tab?
We host a lot of seminars here and abroad. Our policy is that we expect the guests to pick up their air and hotel. Once there, we pick up lots of meals, and any costs associated with organized activities.

Anyone abused your hospitality?
We had one donor who raised eyebrows with a request for Knicks tickets and flat-screen TVs! We just can't honor those types of requests. When he asked about a pied-à-terre, we really got the message and stopped communications completely. A few months later he was indicted for sexual harassment. Oh, well.

THE M&A ADVISER

Polly Perkins is business development director at Ad Media Partners, a mergers and acquisitions adviser.

How often do you entertain?
It really depends. Now that I have family obligations and live in Connecticut, I've really slowed down my pace. I used to entertain five-plus times a week. But now I primarily do lunches, at least two to three times every week.

Favorite restaurant?
It's gone. For business entertaining, I have yet to replace Le Cirque, which I just loved. It was such a great combination of old architecture with a new buzz. I go to Michael's for lunch like everybody else, and try to be seated in the front room with the rest of the publishing industry.

Any secret places?
Well secret to some maybe, but all working women know about the S.F.A. Café on the eighth floor at Saks Fifth Avenue. It's behind the coats. When I want to lunch with a female client who is also a friend, we just meet there. They don't take reservations, and it's often quite busy, but you can look around while you wait,
and it makes it easy to pick up a lipstick on the way out.

And for guys?
Maloney and Porcelli was a great find for me. It delivers on that steak-and-cigar, clubby kind of atmosphere for guys, but it's more sophisticated with a light and airy feeling and consistently great food. Plus it's across the street from my office, and I now try to dine within a 12-block radius of 444 Madison Avenue.

Other ways you entertain clients?
After much trial and error, we've settled on a formula that works for us. A few times a year we'll host intimate dinners with various high-level executives who have never had the opportunity to spend quality time together. We keep it small and intimate and focus on clients who will benefit from this type of network entertainment. That minimizes, although not erases, last-minute cancellations, which makes staging events so disheartening.

At lunch, how often do you serve wine or spirits?
The pendulum has really swung in that arena. When I was at Hearst in the 80's there was some serious drinking taking place during lunch. I'm not talking about a glass of wine, I mean multiple cocktails. Then in the 90's people acted as if they were allergic when you ordered a glass of wine at lunch. I think the pendulum has swung back to a healthier place. It is fine to have a glass of wine or two with lunch. Many of my clients do, especially the Europeans.

THE DESIGNER

John Truex is a partner and designer at the luxury accessories house Lambertson-Truex.

Who do you have to entertain?
First of all, we enjoy it, so it's not really a chore. Our world is mostly fashion editors and retail buyers.

Favorite entertaining location?
Rosa Mexicano. I'm not a lunch boy, so in the evenings, we're looking to have a little fun. Rosa Mexicano has great food and lively energy, and we're never disappointed.

How else do you entertain?
We don't like to go to the theater, so why would we drag clients there? That's our point of view. We like personal entertaining. We don't really entertain people until we know them. Mostly we like to have people to the showroom, either for small wine and cheese sunsets which we prepare ourselves, or for an annual-ish Fashion Week event for a larger group featuring our famous margaritas.

For the wow factor?
Ouest on the Upper West Side. Downstairs, four people in a horseshoe banquette only. Once you slide in, it's heaven.

Cocktails?
Because people are so busy, we like to invite people for "pre-dinner." Here's the routine: We go to Brasserie 8 1/2 because it is so centrally located. We call ahead and have wine and snacks pre-ordered so no one has to fuss with menus or lots of waiter back-and-forth, unless someone wants a cocktail. We do it from 6 to 7:30, and our guests can come and go as they like. It takes the pressure off.

Big tipper?
Well, occasionally our groups can be a bit boisterous, and since we only frequent a few kitchens, we always tip 20 percent-plus.

—Ted Kruckel

Posted 05.31.05

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This story originally appeared in the April/May 2005 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.