Executive chef of Bolingbrook Golf Club Chris Polo discusses why the club chose to go with the Bo Jackson’s 34 Reserve Program and what makes the cuts of meat different than others.
Andy Hanacek: We are here to talk about 34 Reserve. You guys are taking the product on. What drew you to Bo Jackson’s 34 Reserve? Why did you take a look at it, and why you decided to go with the program?
Chris Polo: Bo does a lot with our country club here, and we wanted to give back to him. He’s putting out a good quality product to consumers, and we’ve tried it, we sampled it and it’s an awesome product. Full of flavor. We’re super excited about it, and we are excited to put this on our menus.
Hanacek: How does it compare to what you were offering before? Obviously, what you were offering before wasn’t garbage, but what made you decide to make the switch? It wasn’t just that Bo comes around. You still want to make a good product, so what stood out about the product in comparison to what you were serving before.
Polo: In the past, what we were looking to serve then and now is a quality piece. You can go to a steak restaurant anywhere around here and get a good quality steak. People that come here get a cut that is reasonably priced and they are getting a very good quality piece of meat that tastes awesome.
Hanacek: What are your plans? I know you said it’s not on the menu just yet and you are new to the program. What are your plans? What steaks are you going to be serving? What’s the plan for growth moving forward?
Polo: We’ve got the Bo Jackson’s [Pork Shanks] going on there. We also have his Sweet 16 Burger, an 8 oz. burger, and we also have his New York Strip Steak going in. Down the road, we are looking to do the filet.
Hanacek: So a variety of cuts and proteins. Great.