HB On The Scene: Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park Previews ‘The Chocolate Bar’

NEW YORK— The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park has developed one sweet idea to raise its revenue stream, while strategically leveraging Rise, its modernist bar that offers sweeping views of the harbor in lower Manhattan from its 14th floor location. Throughout weekends in February, the property, which celebrates its first anniversary on January 29, will install “The Chocolate Bar” as part of the lounge’s landscape. Appealing to sensibilities surrounding Valentine’s Day, the property will offer both guests and the general public the opportunity to consume a wide variety of confections produced by pastry chef Laurent Richard. The “CB” is being offered as a standalone service for $25 (minus tax and tip but including a glass of champagne) and as a part of three “romance” package promotions that run from $489 per couple to $35,000 per couple. HOTEL BUSINESS® previewed the concept at the property on January 15. Kate Harth, director/sales and marketing, told HB® Ritz-Carlton staff strategized on the promotion beginning back in the fall. “We wanted to capitalize on Valentine’s Day being on a Friday, and that more people would want to enjoy the weekend and take advantage of New York City. The big push is that they would spend one or two nights here in New York, and then with The Chocolate Bar, just do something different. We wanted it to be a little edgier and have fun with this.” Toward that, the chef, formerly of Manhattan’s La Caravelle restaurant, has created a heady mix of chocolate items, split into two categories: Petit Fours and Desserts. The former includes tuxedo strawberries, chocolate citrus marble cake, candied oranges, mint truffles, pecan and dark chocolate coins and caramelized filbert roll in Valrhona cacao powder, among others. The latter side is filled with chocolate almond creme caramels, white chocolate peanut crunch, Sacher tortes with apricot jam and Bacardi rum, Guanaja chocolate pyramids, spoons holding Valrhona Guanduja creme bruleé, mini carolines with chocolate mousseline cream, and chocolate rum brioche pudding. To wash it all down, there is a chocolate marquise martini that features Godiva chocolate liqueur. And to intrigue guests further, The Chocolate Bar buffet selections are presented on display platforms carved from white chocolate, while 70-pound chocolate cherubs serve as accents. Additionally, guests may select their items from platters sitting on dark and white chocolate waffle-weave “placemats.” Once seated at any of the bistro tables, they can admire the chocolate-toned floral arrangements stashed in square vases covered with edible chocolate almond bark. “We’ve had a lot of success, particularly with holiday packages,” general manager Dan Flannery told HOTEL BUSINESS®. “We’re really bundling lots of reasons to give people to come and stay at our hotel and come downtown. Once the “love month” is gone, Harth said the property would look to capitalize on different things in each subsequent month. Right now, Ritz-Carlton is offering a St. Patrick’s Day weekend package for March, so Guinness beer might be the order of the day at Rise. “We’ll do something different each month so it enhances our mystique as well as enables other people to do something different,” said Harth. “We’ve really put a focus on saying we need to come up with other experiential elements that will make this a great place to come,” added Flannery.