Eat, Drink, and Burn Bridges

He doesn’t consider accepting the gig as thumbing his nose at Love.

“Tim and I have been friends a long time,” he said. “I hope he continues to do great things. He’s done great things with the city already.”

Sodexo’s split with Love, still not officially acknowledged, appears to involve his tendency to rub people the wrong way. Two sources speaking off record described how a wealthy society woman with deep connections at the school was upset that Love didn’t take her menu suggestions for an event. A TCU insider who asked not to be identified said the society woman wasn’t the only one upset by Love.

“It wasn’t just one or two people,” the insider said. “There was grumbling among the rank-and-file people. There was grumbling among patrons and guests. It was his attitude and unwillingness to take criticism or correct what guests perceived as problems. His personality caught up with him.”

Mike Micallef is president of Reata Restaurant where Love, like Spears, worked early in his career. Micallef said he didn’t know what happened with Love at TCU but that Bonnell would do a great job.

“Jon Bonnell is as good a guy as you’ll find in Fort Worth,” he said. “Would I love the opportunity to cater there? Sure. But you can’t find a better person than Jon.”

When asked his thoughts on Love, Micallef paused for a few seconds.

“I don’t know if I really want to be quoted,” he said.

Later, he described the challenge of working a catering job for an exclusive client like TCU.

“You need to have the flexibility to do anything you can to keep those donors happy,” Micallef said. “If a donor wanted Chicken Express, there is a responsibility to get them Chicken Express.”

Some observers say Love’s ego has grown steadily with his fame.

“Tim Love is a true chef –– he can cook as well as manage a restaurant,” a local restaurant owner said. “I have respect for Tim for what he has done, and I want him to do well. But he needs to keep his ego in check as he grows his business and brand.”

Love’s departure from TCU occurred as he was preparing for the Colonial gig. The subsequent complaints about service and food quality at the golf tournament led to a rare media spanking. The Star-Telegram has trumpeted Love’s endeavors while mostly ignoring his shortcomings, but sportswriter Mac Engel pulled no punches in a May 27 article. He characterized Love’s Colonial debut as a “giant dud,” described the food as “wildly average,” and said “standing in line for 30 minutes to buy one beer is bad business; standing in line for 45 minutes for some chips with cheese is horrible business.”

Even more damning were the comments left at the bottom of the story. Readers blasted his on-site advertising: “From the looks of all Tim Love’s marketing material around the tournament one would have thought he was the main sponsor rather than Crowne Plaza,” one wrote.. “This guy has an ego bigger than Texas without the food to back it up.”

Others complained that he and his staff were rude to volunteers. And charities and high school booster clubs that used to get 9 percent of gross sales at their vendor booths were told they would be getting about half that amount under Love’s reign. Volunteers rely on those proceeds to help fund their groups. Some balked.

“Last year, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Posse donated over 300 volunteer hours and ended up with $1,200 at 9 percent,” said Lt. Dennis Hanson of the sheriff’s department. “This year, they cut it down to 5 percent. That is way too much work for that small a percentage. We are all volunteers. We pay for our own equipment. That is one of the major moneymakers. But to get our people to work for five days in a row for $800 is not feasible.”

He also didn’t like Love’s insistence that one of his own managers be assigned to each concessions tent.

“We’ve been doing this for 12 years and never had any problems with money or product,” Hanson said. “We knew what we were doing. Tim Love would have his own manager running the tent, and we were just there to help that manager. That put a little bit of a burr under our saddle.”

After volunteer groups began complaining and talking about dropping out, tournament officials announced their share would increase to 7 percent.

A local high school booster club president who asked for anonymity said her group worked the tournament this year and suffered more problems than in previous years.

“Their kitchens weren’t sufficiently staffed, and they couldn’t handle the flow; they weren’t prepared,” she said. “We would just run out of food, and we had nothing to serve.”

Another high school booster club leader reported the same problems with long lines and food shortages. However, his group ended up making more money this year despite their share being cut from 9 to 7 percent. Why? Higher food prices. A $5 hamburger from previous years sold for $8 this year. Still, the booster club official said he preferred working with Love’s predecessor, Spectrum Catering. The Woodlands-based company worked the Colonial for eight years before Love took over.

“I was told that the change was not made because of anything that we had [done],” company founder and owner Dave Smalley said. “The change was [from] a desire to associate with someone in Fort Worth, with a Fort Worth company.”

Smalley, who’s been catering large sporting events since 1983, attended the Colonial and saw Love’s struggles firsthand.

“I felt bad for all of our friends and clients that we have with the Colonial,” he said. “They didn’t receive the treatment they expected and deserved.”

Smalley said he’s expressed an interest in returning to the Colonial in 2015 but hasn’t discussed anything in detail with tournament officials.

“I am no smarter than Tim Love; he’s probably smarter than I am,” Smalley said. “But you can’t replace 30 years [of experience]. If he tried it again next year, he’d be better. But you can’t change that learning curve by doing two tournaments in two years when we do 16 tournaments every year.”

On May 29, Engel gave Love the opportunity to respond to his critics. Love began his “opening statement” in Engel’s column by taking full blame for the problems. He trotted out a couple of excuses –– unexpected high attendance and problems with credit card machines –– but said he is taking steps to correct problems and will do better next year.

Jim Shaw, a Colonial Country Club member since 1979, has attended the tournament for decades. A big guy who loves food, Shaw said he’s sampled plenty at Colonial through the years and thought Love’s fare was among the best. What he didn’t like were the long lines. But the blame shouldn’t fall solely on Love, he said. A major credit card company was offering a 10 percent discount for tournament purchases, prompting people to use cards rather than cash, slowing down the lines.

“I never was aware of any problems waiting in line to get food in the past,” he said. “You look over your shoulder, you see an opportunity, and you go grab something to eat. Now you look over your shoulder, and you’ve got 200 people in line at the 13thgreen.”

Other patrons watching from the 13th green area said nearby beer vendors –– part of Love’s operation –– were insisting on credit cards and not accepting cash.

Volunteers should shoulder some of the blame for long lines as well, Shaw said, citing poor serving skills and slowness in collecting money.