Apr. 14, 2003 - IRVING, Texas --The kitchen at Felcor Lodging Trust is getting its monthly workout. 

A team of four cooks is putting the finishing touches on an Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage, parsley potatoes, Irish stew with parsley dumplings and chicken, popovers with chives and bacon, rutabaga pudding and Irish coffee meringue (with whiskey) for dessert. To wash it down there is iced tea, water, soft drinks or green nonalcoholic beer. 

The staff of more than 60 is crammed into a conference room and spilling into the lobby. They are entertained by an Irish folk singer and the comments of Chief Executive Tom Corcoran. 

Corcoran, the "Cor" in Felcor, started the lunches in 1995 after the company moved into its offices, which were once the executive offices of Kimberly-Clark. 

"This was the chairman's wing," he says. "It had a dining room and a chef that cooked lunches. We started the tradition fairly shortly afterward." 

That tradition, which started as a way to get people to work together, has become an integral part of the company, which owns hotels around the country. The lunches have taken on even greater importance given the current world climate, in which travel is down and the hotel industry is suffering. 

"It's very important not only because the hotel industry has been affected with the war," says Elizabeth Bounds, senior administrative assistant for asset management. "It brings people of different cultures and religions to a meal. You don't have to think too much of what's happening outside." 

Corcoran, who says he loves to cook, sees benefits to the preparation as well as to the meal itself. 

"Sitting down to eat provided a lot of opportunities to communicate," he says. "It provides good social interaction than a more formal meeting setting." 

There was also an ulterior motive in the early years. 

"In the beginning I had the specific purpose to see who could work together," Corcoran says. "If people weren't working as well as they should be, I'd have them cook. It isn't an issue around here anymore." 

But the meals are still an exercise in teamwork. At 5 a.m. on the day of the lunch, Corcoran sends the cooking crew an e-mail with the menu and the ingredients. Team members go to the store to get their supplies, then start cooking. Meals have to be ready by lunchtime. 

Corcoran also isn't opposed to throwing a team a curve. 

"Sometimes I'm ornery," he admits. "Sometimes I'm not." 

Once, his shopping list included Isle of Mull cheese. It's a cheese made in Scotland and unavailable in the United States because it's not pasteurized. He put it on the menu in order to make the team members do research for an appropriate substitute, which they did. 

But to top it off, the cooks called the dairy where the cheese is made and put the owners on a conference call with everyone at the lunch. 

"They're hard work but a lot of fun," accounting manager Loretta Lantz says. "You get to learn about people. Particularly those you don't work with in other departments." 

Lantz says she tends to freak out in situations with unfamiliar people, so it was a good exercise for her when she helped prepare a traditional Southern meal. 

"It's hard work, but it all comes together," she says. "I don't remember what we cooked, but there was a lot of chopping and grinding." 

Corcoran says the meals have ranged from regional American fare to meals from Russia, England, Scotland, Italy and even Transylvania. A driver the company uses for trips to New York City is from Transylvania and he loves to cook. So Corcoran had him flown down to help prepare their Halloween meal one year. 

"It's a lot of fun," Bounds says. "It's an opportunity to get involved with other people when you generally don't have that opportunity." 

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(c) 2003, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. FCH, KMB,