Client: St.

Joe Company northwest florida

Design & Programming
As a coastal person, Chris knew that he needed to
bring the restaurants back to their roots: the sea.
He worked with St. Joe chefs like Philip Krajeck of
Fish Out of Water to create a culture of reflecting the
region and respecting fine local ingredients. Now,
Fish Out of Water is the only AAA four-diamond
rated restaurant on Florida’s coastal route 30-A. The
WaterColor Market was transformed into Hot and
Cold, a family oriented pizza and ice cream spot
hastings consulting company, l.l.c.

with old fashioned charm, and WaterColor Resort’s

BaitHouse was reenvisioned as a high quality
seasonal venue for families.

Operational Oversight
In 2005, the St. Joe Company was faced with
disappointing restaurant performance in its Northern
Florida properties. As one of the largest developers in
Florida, with over 600,000 acres of land in and around
the panhandle, St. Joe Company needed to provide
quality dining that resonates with their homeowners

“ Chris’s
and guests. Rather than close or restructure from
expertise and passion within, the company approached Hastings Consulting
to retool their restaurants’ design and programming
for the regional cuisine will while working with the operations team to improve

prove invaluable as we grow

our restaurants across
”
Northwest Florida.
Vitals & Vision
Location: Northern Florida
Web Site: www.joe.com
Featured Venues:
Fish Out of Water; The BaitHouse Restaurant;
Hot and Cold; WindMark Beach; Provisions;
School of Fish; SummerCamp
Marketing Programs: Foraging the Forgotten
Coast
Media attention:
Garden & Gun; Coastal Living; Food & Wine;
Birmingham Magazine; Birmingham Home &
Garden; The Boston Globe; Newsday; The Oakland
Tribune; PBS (America’s Heartland)
the bottom line. In addition to the retrofitting, Chris
and Idie Hastings also helped the company build
two establishments from the ground up—Windmark
Beach and SummerCamp Beach.
Branding, Marketing, &
Licencing
Hastings Consulting wasn’t finished once the
balance sheets began turning around. As soon
as the operational aspects of the retooling were
accomplished, Chris and Idie got to work getting the
word out about St. Joe’s newly revamped offerings.
Their convictions run so deeply about the Northern
Florida coastline that they worked with St. Joe to
create a culinary tour program called Foraging
the Forgotten Coast, which highlights the culinary
uniqueness of the region and the passion of the local
artisans who keep those traditions alive. Their efforts
drew the attention of local and national outlets alike,
including Garden & Gun, Food & Wine, Birmingham
Home & Garden, Newsday, and The Oakland Tribune.

Christopher A. Hastings 2180 11th Ct South

205/873-1753 Birmingham, Al.
chris@hotandhotfishclub.com 35205
 Client: Russell Lands alexander city, alabama
Design & Programming
Rising out of the hilltop, the SpringHouse Restaurant
treats diners to local cuisine served in rustic,
casual elegance. The main dining room features
an inglenook—a large, functional walk-in fireplace,
which served as the center of the home in medieval
times. The inglenook is used as a hot appetizer
station during dining hours, and a classroom
throughout the day. Handsome bars, rough-hewn
beams, and hand-forged ironwork fill the main dining
room, and a magnificent open kitchen, replete with a
wood-fired pizza oven adds ambiance. The upstairs
hastings consulting company, l.l.c.
bar and dining area will focus on small plates and
provide adults a place to relax and gather. Patios
with working fireplaces flank the main dining room
and upstairs bar. The private reservations-only
dining room, the WellHouse, features a private
garden for cocktails and receptions, a panoramic
vista of the gardens, meadows, and surrounding
woodland.
Vitals & Vision
Location: Alexander City, Alabama
Web Site: www.russelllands.com
Seats: 154
Private Dining: The WellHouse – 12-seats
Catering: On and off site
Signature Dishes:
•Spit-Roasted Quail with frisée, poached farm egg
and bacon sherry vinaigrette
•Roasted Pork Loin with squash gratin, homemade
hominy and oven-roasted tomato vinaigrette
•Grandmother Mac’s Fried Apple Pies with
buttermilk ice cream
Marketing Programs: Wine Club
Future Enhancements: Organic gardens; on-site
smokehouse; on-site gristmilling; fruit orchards
Christopher A. Hastings 2180 11th Ct South
205/873-1753 Birmingham, Al.
chris@hotandhotfishclub.com 35205
Operational Oversight
When Russell Lands, the largest land-owning
company in Alabama, decided to create a
commercial center for its holdings on Lake Martin,
they set out to make it as authentic and seamless
as possible. Russell Crossroads was envisioned
as a walkable recreation of a 1920s agrarian
Southern town—one that could have been there
when Lake Martin was created. An emphasis on
local, sustainable, and community-building elements
made up the first phase of its construction. Hastings
Consulting was brought onboard to turn Russell
Lands’ dream into a reality. Chef Chris Hastings
teamed with the SpringHouse general manager and
executive chef to craft a menu that would honor the
land, a business model that would make the most of
its local resources, and a network of craftsmen and
purveyors who could stock the restaurant with world-
class products.
Branding, Marketing, &
Licencing
From its inception, the restaurant will cultivate lasting
relationships with local artisans and purveyors, but
the long-term vision includes access to an on-site
organic garden, persimmon and apple orchards,
apiaries, grinding local sorghum wheat and corn,
and utilizing local charcoal production. As the lands
are explored a detailed foraging map will be created
for guests to see where on the Russell Lands their
products were found. Artisans will eventually raise
organic chickens and heritage-breed hogs. Those
hogs will then be available for on-site smoking and
curing, giving SpringHouse guests exceptionally
fresh and local meat. As these elements come
into focus, they will increase the emphasis which
SpringHouse and Russell Crossroads put into the
community of farmers, craftsmen, and purveyors.
 Client: EBSCO mt laurel, alabama
hastings consulting company, l.l.c.
“ We
expect the customer service
and the overall success of the
restaurant to be better under
”
their management.
Vitals & Vision
Location: Mt. Laurel, Alabama
Web Site: www.standardbistro.com
Restaurant features:
Uses local organic garden
Lectures
Wine tastings
Cooking classes (for adults and children)
Community features:
Community organic garden
Weekend farmer’s market
Community supported agriculture program
Corporate wellness program
Elementrary school gardening program
Christopher A. Hastings 2180 11th Ct South
205/873-1753 Birmingham, Al.
chris@hotandhotfishclub.com 35205
Design & Programming
Once the Standard Bistro’s menu was tightened
and refocused, the Hastings, Chef Martin, and
the town of Mt. Laurel framed a long term plan for
community growth centered on the local organic
garden. The Standard Bistro uses produce from the
garden, and holds classes and lecture series on
topics like composting and planting victory gardens.
Even the town’s Montessori school students will
take advantage of the garden through an Edible
Schoolyard-type program.
Operational Oversight
With EBSCO’s Standard Bistro project in Mt.
Laurel, Alabama, Hastings Consulting was not just
expected to increase the quality of the restaurant’s
cuisine, but to provide the community’s residents a
model for living well—the art of living. Chris and Idie
accomplished this by integrating the restaurant’s
supply chain into the town’s organic garden, holding
cooking classes, and starting one of the area’s first
elementary school farming programs (similar to the
Edible Schoolyard project, where students tend a
working garden which is integrated not only into the
school lunch program but their overall curriculum).
After centering Chef Martin’s menu on locally sourced
products, the Hastings went on to integrate the local,
seasonal philosophy into the community, school
system, and eventually the landowning corporation
that manages Mt. Laurel.
Branding, Marketing, &
Licencing
Hastings Consulting worked to increase the
restaurant’s appeal to the greater Mr. Laurel
community by initiating a weekend farmer’s market
program. Throughout the year, the local farmers
and purveyors who provide the exceptional artisanal
products Chef Martin uses in the Standard Bistro
come to give Mt. Laurel townsfolk the same
opportunity at the farmer’s market and a community
support agriculture (CSA) program. Beyond the
restaurant and the surrounding community, Hastings
Consulting worked with EBSCO to create a corporate
wellness program that rethought the employee café
and gave them access to the fresh produce from the
Mt. Laurel organic garden.