PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Club on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, will close its kitchen for remodeling beginning July 19, 2019, in order to meet the changing needs of the Peterson community. While the kitchen is closed, Jennifer Moss, The Club manager, will be bringing in a food trailer, to be operated by Kirkland Dunning, The Club head manager. Moss says the kitchen is scheduled to reopen on Sept. 9, 2019, though that date is a projection due to the nature of renovation projects.
Moss, who has managed The Club for the last eight months, says that renovating the kitchen will make food service operations more efficient, meaning faster service onsite and more flexibility in buffet and catering offerings. She says that as demand for catering events changes and increases, the new kitchen will let Dunning offer more creative menus.
While the kitchen is closed, the Colorado Pizza + Sports Grill will remain open but will only serve beverages. Dunning’s food trailer will do business by the bar entrance, drawing customers away from the areas being renovated. He and his team will serve a smaller menu than prepared in the kitchen. Moss says that she and her leadership are still figuring out many of the details with regards to the trailer, but they’ve finalized the menu.
It’s not the first renovation The Club has undergone in recent memory. In 2017, the bar area was remodeled to be more inviting to younger Airmen. The bar itself became longer, Moss says, and the space was renovated to be more modern and less like a stereotypical officer’s club of years bygone.
While The Club’s kitchen is closed, Moss will transfer many of her kitchen staffers to Greenside, the foodservice concept at the on-base Silver Spruce Golf Course club house, and Strike Zone, at the bowling center. These two facilities will be handling buffet offerings for smaller events. Moss says that she will not offer large event table catering while the kitchen is closed. Further, the lunch buffet offered to club members on Wednesdays through Fridays will not be available during the closure.
Moss says the last day The Club kitchen is open is Friday, July 19. Dunning plans to celebrate with a low-country seafood boil of crawfish, shrimp, potatoes and other ingredients. While the kitchen is closed, Dunning’s food trailer will serve food for all Final Friday celebrations.