SEPTEMBER 2026
GVREC.ORG
The Clubhouse Café As the Clubhouse Café staff concludes its fourth month of operation, and expands its hours and menu, there’s a great opportunity to discuss how the café encapsulates the service, excellence, engagement, and neighborliness of GVR’s staff. There’s a saying: it takes a village. In the case of the café, it took an entire organization to bring it into being. Almost every GVR department—Facilities, Field Services, Finance, Communications, IT, and Recreation—has had a hand in the café’s success. Appliances were ordered and connected, painting and minor remodeling happened, accounting systems were set up, publicity was generated, computers and printers installed, staff volunteered to cover an open shift here and there, or contract with entertainers to appear at the cafe, and employees with extensive restaurant backgrounds stepped up to lead the way in the kitchen and at the counter. Other departments have pitched in as well, ‘taste testing’ menu items and offering great feedback. It’s a rare treat when cross-department partnerships like this can happen. Service at the café involves staff presence every bit as much as a memorable product. A cheerful welcome, pleasant conversation, and a ‘thanks for coming in’ is part of a member’s experience every bit as much as a perfectly made latte, some of the best pastries in town, or a panini with a fresh slice of cantaloupe on the side. Café staff are conscious
of the fact that GVR members deserve the absolute best, and it’s rewarding to staff when members compliment them by coming back and becoming regulars. Excellence is something every GVR staff person expects of themself. Café work is fast-paced and involves following recipes in a well-rehearsed order of operation. Staff train, take notes, discuss, train some more, take advice, and make changes when needed, all in the belief that day by day, customer by customer, the café will become the destination of choice for members looking for a place where they’re certain they’ll be served top shelf food and drink. Engagement is an attitude toward one’s work, and at the café, staff are engaged in making sure that the menu is a dynamic one which takes on new items, adds items suggested by members, and, just as important, discontinues or changes those items that members don’t find attractive. We started with basic coffee/espresso drinks and some pastries, have added some healthy snacks and breakfast paninis, are offering ‘JavaLina’ mochas and lattes as well as, at the request of a member, lavender lattes, and are about to embark on a lunch service, including sandwiches, lunch paninis, soups, and desserts. As we’ve done with other menu upgrades, we’ll introduce lunch items gradually, beginning mid-September.
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