Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis Museum of Art has selected Sodexo Inc. to replace Wolfgang Puck as its restaurant operator and to share museum catering responsibilities with Kahn’s Catering in Carmel.
The IMA’s announcement this morning culminates a six-month search following the museum’s decision in September to restructure its food-service operations.
Based in Maryland, Sodexo employs 120,000 people and has annual revenue of $7.7 billion. The company’s high culinary standards and strong reputation for customer service were factors in the museum’s decision, the IMA said.
Sodexo will work with the IMA to develop a new restaurant concept and menu. The transition should be completed within the next three months, and food service should continue uninterrupted during that time, the museum said.
Puck’s IMA restaurant ceased serving dinner last October but will continue to serve lunch for an undetermined amount of time before it closes, the museum said.
Los Angeles-based Puck Catering assumed a variety of food-service duties – including opening a restaurant, Puck’s, when the museum reopened in May 2005 following a $74 million renovation and expansion.
Puck lost its exclusive catering deal after service complaints marred an important event in November 2006. The coveted contract had allowed Puck to cater hundreds of museum-sponsored activities and outside events held on the museum’s picturesque grounds, including holiday parties, corporate receptions and weddings.
Puck then shared the responsibility of serving food and drink at the museum with three competitors, Kahn’s, Ritz Charles in Carmel and locally based Great Cooks & Co. Inc.
In negotiating the latest contract, IMA officials had considered returning the catering contract to one provider, but opted for two, IMA spokeswoman Katie Zarich said.
“We thought we would be moving to one exclusive catering arrangement, but we were quite pleased when we negotiated this arrangement that would let our customers have some choice,” she said.
With $7.7 million in annual revenue in 2007, Kahn’s is the city’s second-largest independent caterer, according to IBJ statistics. It is the exclusive caterer at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis.
Sodexo provides food services to the Museum of Science and Industry and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and the Dallas Museum of Art, among other cultural institutions.
The museum said Sodexo would operate the restaurant under a true profit-and-loss arrangement, unlike Puck, which was guaranteed a payment even if it didn’t turn a profit.
Under the previous arrangement, the museum made up the difference if Puck fell short of certain revenue figures. The two parties shared revenue over a certain threshold.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.