No Horsin' Around

Mohegan Sun's panoramic Pacer's Clubhouse impresses

Gene Padden

The husband-and-wife chef team of John Koza and Amy Schnader spent the past eight years working at Mohegan Sun's Connecticut property. Having been drilled in culinary excellence as well as Mohegan's dedication to customer service, they were excited to come to Plains - not to reinvent the long-standing wheel known as the Pacer's Clubhouse, but to put the Mohegan stamp on a restaurant known the valley over for its sultry specials and scenic seating.



"You can't just come in here being the new sheriff in town and force people to eat what you want them to," Koza said. "You have to find what they like, put your spin on it, and have them wanting to come back here for more."



Pacer's Clubhouse was a famous fixture at Pocono Downs long before Mohegan Sun purchased the property two years ago. The restaurant's tiered seating has always featured a crisp, panoramic view of the racetrack as well as television monitors at each table. Past prime rib and lobster specials would sell out the giant room every weekend.



With tradition in mind, Koza and Schnader looked to keep a lot of the old menu favorites while "Moheganizing" the establishment to meet the casino's world-famous standards. Their first move was to research many of the restaurants in the area ... a venture that proved, of course, daunting.



"We wanted to see what items were popular in the area," Koza said. "You have a lot of great food around here. There's a lot of deep roots of ethnicity.



"You'll find good, deep, cores of food and family that have gathered and good food brings people together. I think you have more pizza shops around here than watering holes. It's very indigenous to the area."



The Pacer's menu still features a broad range of starters, salads, sandwiches, steaks, pasta, seafood, and desserts, with entrees available in lunch and dinner portions. Koza and Schnader took a chance by bring their own crab cake recipe to the table, and it helped them win over a lot of the restaurant's long-time clientele.



"You have lots of good crab cakes down here ... people will judge you on your crab cakes," Koza said. "They've been one of our best sellers, and even last week someone came up from Ocean City, Md., and mentioned how much he loved them."



Familiar items, though updated, remain on the menu. Dishes like prime rib, New York Strip, and lobster tail now complement new items like BBQ pulled pork chubbie, spinach salad, London Broil, gnocchi, and Mountain Top Farfalle, which Koza named after the local town.



"It's a dish I came up with while I was in Providence," he said. "It has such a rich sauce with a lot of other mountain flavors in there. Why not call it 'Mountain Top'?"



The spinach salad was also developed for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, and has sold well along with other traditionals like clams casino. Expect to pay as little as $6.25 for a Clubhouse salad to as much as $45 for twin lobster tails. A wine menu was added last Saturday. So far, he said, reaction from new casino visitors as well as long-time track betters has been positive.



"People have been very happy with the consistency and the prices, and all the updates we've done," he said. "We put in a new kitchen, and in the Clubhouse we repainted, installed new carpeting, put linens on the tables with nice china, and upgraded all of the televisions. The track also looks better, and they love it."



The new Pacer's clubhouse opened on March 31, with the start of the 2007 racing season. Koza and Schnader also control the food-court eateries, which feature low-cost gourmet meals on the casino's upper level.



"We call it fine food fast," he said. "You can't come here and pay $7 for a burger.



"Our ultimate goal is customer service. Whether you've won $10,000 or lost $5, we want you to feel like you're a part of the Mohegan Sun experience."