Roger Beaudoin knew that the restaurant business was one of the challenging ventures he could tackle when he opened the Matterhorn SKI BAR at Sunday River, Maine, ski resort 20 years ago without a lick of restaurant experience under his starchy clean apron.
Even though it was a seasonal restaurant and bar, it generated $1 million in sales in just four months. It was named “Best Ski Bar USA” by Skiing Magazine and “Classic Ski Bar” by Ski Magazine, in addition to winning accolades from the New York Times, Boston Globe, Frommers Travel Guides, Powder Magazine and other publications.
Beaudoin recently decided to move to Sun Valley as part of a lifestyle choice for himself, his wife and two daughters. His wife wanted a bigger mountain to play on and the whole family was intrigued by the cultural and other opportunities the area has to offer.
So Beaudoin sold the Matterhorn and a Mexican restaurant he had since opened and started an online restaurant training service he calls media.restaurantrockstars.com.
He introduced his online “training boot camp” Wednesday night at the Ketchum Business After Hours (BAH) held at the Knob Hill Inn.
“Nine times out of 10 I get an order taker when I walk into a restaurant,” noted Beaudoin.
The training teaches restaurateurs how to maximize sales and profit by enhancing customer experience with “secret weapons” that educate and entertain customers about what the restaurant has to offer, he added.
“Anything you can do online is great because it doesn’t tie up traffic,” quipped Gary Hoffman, who organized the BAH.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK