Back in “the day” (circa
1970-2000), to attract
casino business most buffets
and some restaurants
were loss leaders, meaning
these outlets would price
their meals so low that
they would actually lose
money. For those of us that can remember, in
Las Vegas it wasn’t uncommon to see a $1.99
all-you-can-eat buffet, 49-cent breakfast, or
$3.99 prime rib dinner. But that was then.
In today’s casino environment, Food,
Beverage, Hotel, Retail and Entertainment
attract business; however, the deep discounts
of “the day” are long gone. And in many Las
Vegas properties, non-gaming revenue surpasses
gaming revenue. To learn a bit about
the culinary side, we reached out to a food &
beverage executive who has travelled full circle
– he was in Las Vegas during that growth
time frame, enhanced his experiences elsewhere,
and recently has returned.
Sujoy Brahma started his casino career with
Caesars Tahoe in 1991, transferred to Harrah’s
Las Vegas after the Caesars/Harrah’s merger,
and went on to become the Assistant Vice
President of F&B at Caesars Las Vegas. He
spent more than 9 years within Indian gaming
before coming back to Las Vegas. He has
his Master’s degree from Johnson & Wales
University. Here are his comments:
G&L: When did you join the MGM team?
SB: I came on board as Vice President of Food
& Beverage for the Luxor and Excalibur
Resorts and Casinos in February 2014 and
assumed responsibility for a total staff of
approximately 1,400, many of them actual
day-one employees. If you can imagine the
feeling of marrying into a large extended family,
with relationships already cemented,
opinions formulated, and bonds of loyalty
established, that was very much like what it
was like to step into this role. Fortunately for
me this was a strong group of professionals,
totally dedicated to their properties and each
other, and they welcomed me as the newest
member with great heart!
G&L: Give us a rough organizational chart of
your department.
SB: With the addition of a new executive
team at Excalibur, my sole focus became
Luxor where I continued in my position as
VP for the Food and Beverage department,
in one of the larger properties on the Strip
with 4,400 guest rooms, a 120,000 square
foot casino floor, and 1,184 slot machines.
Those numbers alone sound intimidating,
but when you factor in the number of guests
that occupy that space on a daily basis, with
an F&B staff of about 800 working 24-hours
a day, the sheer quantity of food and drink
we are providing still amazes me!
Of course, I have a great team of directors,
executive and room chefs, and managers who
are on the floor, consistently overseeing the
outlets. I am particularly proud of the fact
that within our MGM family of properties,
despite the volume of visitors we come into
contact with, the Luxor Food and Beverage
Department maintains one of the highest
rankings for friendliness and guest satisfaction…
that’s a great testament to the attitude
this team brings to their jobs every day.
G&L: What are some of the advantages, and
challenges, of being on the Las Vegas Strip?SB: While our number one priority is, and
always will be, an over-the-top great Vegas
experience for our guests, I know we are not
unique in that feeling amongst the other casino
properties. Luckily for us, however, is the
very exciting growth and development
presently going on at our end of the Strip,
with the new Arena slated to open in 2016!
Because we anticipate a huge surge of foot
traffic and increased visibility for the Luxor,
our leadership has made a significant financial
investment in upgrades and renovations to
many of our existing venues. Our Pyramid
Café received a substantial facelift, both front
and back of the house, and another exciting
project was the acquisition of the LAX
Nightclub. We took this space and made significant
improvements to the physical area
itself, and added a much larger dance floor as
well as state-of-the-art lighting and special
effects. The success is tremendous, and the
decision to reinvest in a professional nightlife
venue again was a great one.
G&L: Describe a typical day in your work
schedule.
SB: With the scope of our operation, there is
never a “typical” day. Maintaining a strong
bond with the supervisory team is very important,
as well as making sure the message we
are delivering to our employees and guests
represents the core values of sincere engagement
demanded by our COO, Renee West.
One-on-one sessions with all F&B employees
are crucial, as is the process of maintaining a
great working relationship with the Vice
Presidents of other departments, vendors and
outside suppliers. Because MGM encourages
its executives to give back to the community
in the form of volunteerism, I do serve onthe
board of several organizations also.
G&L: What have been some of the culinary
changes/trends you have seen over the years?
SB: It does seem like the culinary world
changes as quickly as the Las Vegas Strip does,and I personally am excited that the trend is
swinging toward responsible stewardship of
our resources. I see the ‘Farm to Table’
emphasis continuing, as well as strong
growth in organic and special dietary menus.
People are demanding to know where their
food comes from, and are prepared to pay a
little more, to assure their beef, poultry and
pork are raised in humane conditions, and
that their seafood comes from fisheries that
do not overfish the waters. Just as our guests
are becoming more concerned with what
they put into their bodies, as part of a larger
corporate family, we at the Luxor try to be
good stewards by recycling all paper, glass,
and plastic products, as well as sending our
food waste to participating farms daily.
G&L: Where do you see the future of the
industry going?
SB: Overall I see the dining piece becoming
an even larger part of the casino world, as
more properties move toward ownership of
their venues and gradually move away from
tenant-lease situations. Food and Beverage
has become a huge profit center in its own
right, and while I do see us evolving away
from the popularity of the celebrity chef concept,
those restaurants have created destination
dining venues that gave our non-gaming
guests a great reason to visit Las Vegas!
I am excited about the future, both of the
industry and our town. We will continue to
focus on creating a huge welcome for each
guest who comes through our door, and providing
an exciting career path for hospitality
professionals who have chosen to be part of
our family.
I’d like to thank Sujoy for his candid
insights, and hope that our readers enjoy it,
too. If you have any comments or questions
I would love to hear from you. Until next
issue, bon appétit!
Marc Weiswasser is a Managing Member of
CasinoRecruiter.com, an Executive
Recruiting firm for the gaming & hospitality
industry. He can be reached at 702-798-
0180, Marc@CasinoRecruiter.com or
www.CasinoRecruiter.com