The Man Behind the Menu
Kevin Garvin, Neiman
Marcus executive chef,
writes menus for 48
restaurants
Kevin Garvin claims to have the best job in the world, and he may well be right.
As executive chef and vice president of Neiman Marcus, Garvin sums up his job description in just two words: “I taste.” He oversees all 48 Neiman Marcus restaurants, writing recipes and menus to make certain each is regionally relevant.
“That’s what makes our restaurants so unique,” Garvin says. “Each has a sense of local community. Our customers are loyal; about 70 percent of our business comes from repeat customers.”
In Coral Gables, the menu has more of South American influence. In the Pacific Northwest, the Mariposa in Bellevue, Wash., features the classics plus more contemporary cuisine. In more tourist-driven markets, like Scottsdale, the restaurants feature favorites from all of the stores.
This year, Garvin celebrates his 20th year with Neiman Marcus, and he is just the third food director since 1953, when the Zodiac, the company’s first restaurant, opened in Dallas, the company’s oldest location. Throughout his tenure, Garvin has honored his customers’ love of Neiman Marcus classics: chicken salad, popovers with strawberry butter, orange soufflé. “You don’t mess with tradition at Neiman Marcus,” Garvin says.
But one thing you can do is tweak. Garvin has tweaked the décor of the restaurants, and, more importantly, he has tweaked the menus by offering modern dishes alongside the classics. And he is ahead of the curve on providing nutritional information on the menus. After ObamaCare first was approved, the mandate was that if a restaurant had more then 20 locations, the company must post calorie count. Garvin immediately recognized the benefit to his customers and didn’t wait for a deadline to publish the information on Neiman Marcus menus. At first, some regular diners didn’t love knowing that their beloved Mandarin Orange Soufflé is 940 calories or that a lunch of chicken salad, a popover and fruit adds up to 1,100 calories, but eventually they came around. He kept the calorie-laden classics, but added lower calorie, healthier options, designating these items “Go Figure” on the menu. Today, the No. 1 items around the country are those with the fewest calories.
In September, Garvin began a tour of Neiman Marcus restaurants around the country to promote his new cookbook, visiting the Scottsdale Fashion Square store Nov. 7. Neiman Marcus Cooks: Recipes for Beloved Classics and Updated Favorites, written with John Harrisson, is Garvin’s third cookbook and features both comfort foods and more contemporary recipes that fit a healthier lifestyle.
The beautifully illustrated book includes shortcuts where appropriate, and, yes, calorie counts.
Neiman Marcus Cooks is available in stores and at neimanmarcus.com.
