Golf pro recreates River Club restaurant

RIVER CLUB — Holding a cup of coffee, golf professional Jacques Panet-Raymond sits comfortably at a table inside The River Club’s restaurant area.

Although Panet-Raymond has, for years, spent nearly all his time on the golf course at The River Club, he’s spent the last few months learning every detail of restaurant space inside the clubhouse, which he began leasing in September after purchasing the restaurant.

Panet-Raymond slides a business card for the newly christened venue, Caddyshak Sports Bar & Grille, across the table.

“You see what it says?” Panet-Raymond said, grinning. “’Attitude Adjuster.’ It’s what I do.”

“(Our goal is) making you feel better (when you leave) than when you came in,” he said.

With a background in the restaurant business before becoming a golf professional, Panet-Raymond knows what he’s after with his new venture: providing a clean and enjoyable dining experience to customers and top-notch customer service. He plans to liven the restaurant’s atmosphere by adding weekend entertainment at the facility’s main banquet area, which will double as a dance club called Club 19. Although the space will be open to members for a special New Year’s Eve party, it will open to the public for dancing and live music Friday and Saturday nights starting Jan. 6.

In the coming months, Panet-Raymond plans to host special evening events for both club members and the public. The Club 19 space, he said, also can be used for luncheons and events.

Improvements, such as heavy-duty cleaning and painting, already have been completed, but Panet-Raymond said other enhancements are still to come.

“We’re doing it piece by piece, day by day,” he said.

Panet-Raymond’s experience in the restaurant business started in high school, when he started busing tables. Through college and beyond, he worked in various capacities — from a headwaiter to line cook to bartender.

While working at Boca Grande’s The Pink Elephant restaurant, Panet-Raymond experienced golf for the first time after borrowing the chef’s golf clubs. After his second attempt at the game, he knew he wanted to turn professional and began studying the sport. He turned pro about three years later, working at a golf resort in Vermont.

Panet-Raymond opened his business, Vision Quest Junior Golf Academy, after moving to the area seven years ago. He didn’t expect to return to the restaurant business but developed a vision for doing so when the River Club’s restaurant experienced several changes in ownership in the last two years. Panet-Raymond said his biggest challenge will be growing the business in a way that he can manage the quality of food and service. He hopes to make the facility self-sustaining in the summer months by increasing the number of groups who dine at the facility, among measures.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].