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Vol.16
The Hotel Chef Issue
May 2007
Remember hotel dining? It started with a classic cocktail at the
bar. Then you were brought to a table crowded with crystal glasses,
antique plates, too-tall candles, and hovering waiters in three
piece suits. There were silver trolleys wheeling about without a
hint of irony. Most likely it was a long, classic French fine dining
affair followed by a very large bill. But hotel food has changed.
So much so that staying in hotels across the country this year inspired
us to start our new Rising
Star Hotel Chef award. In this issue StarChefs
celebrates the hotel chefs across the country reshaping our idea
of hotel dining – from Dallas to Miami.
Comfort:
For travelers who spend lots of time away from home and don’t
necessarily crave the fine dining experience, new hotel food feels
custom-made. At the other extreme of classic hotel fine dining,
these casual places serve hearty food that’s comforting but
still refined and well-executed. At Lobby at 12 in Atlanta,
Nick Oltarsh composes simple plates like a braised, pulled lamb
with crème fraiche and toast points ideal for sharing over
a drink or making into a sandwich. Towering Cuban sandwiches and
fresh fruit smoothies make guests at Restaurant 8 ½
in Miami feel like they’re getting a taste of local food culture
without leaving their comfort zone. The trend towards casual-chic
extends to Central 214 in Dallas, where wood-fired meats
and rotisserie keep guests happy, as well as Wave’s series
of internationally inspired small plates in the W Hotel in Chicago.
Read our New
Hotel Cuisine Feature to learn more about the trend
and see some new hotel chef recipes.
Experimental:
Restaurants successfully serving experimental food are
few and far between – and in hotels it’s no exception.
But there are a few chefs we've encountered on our recent editorial
travels who are pushing the boundaries with technique, flavor pairings,
and high-concept presentations: Nana in The Hilton Anatole in Dallas,
Campton Place in San Francisco, and The Dining Room
at The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta. These restaurantsu are part of a larger
trend in international dining. Protected under the umbrella of the
hotel, they’re free to follow their creative impulses. The
Mandarin Oriental has committed to experimental restaurants in their
DC, New York, and San Francisco properties. All the future food
chefs are experimenting with technique and technology to reach different
ends. See recipes and pictures of their plating in our Experimental
Hotel Food Feature.
Concept:
The booming trend of concept
restaurants like Craft, at the W Hotel in Dallas, is
thriving because it attracts both hotel guests and non hotel guests
with accessible food in a hip, but relaxed environment. Concept
restaurants are sometimes critiqued in the industry for being substitutes
for the original chef’s flagship but our experiences at Craft
Dallas is the model exception of this theory. Craft carries
the brand of Tom Colicchio’s empire but escapes being impersonal
because its chefs apply their personal vision while committing to
the concept. Similarly at Guy Savoy in Caesar’s Palace
and L’Atelier in The Four Seasons NY, chefs carry
out their flagship’s philosophy.
Global:
The global restaurant delivers the culinary equivalent
of Disneyland: travel the world without leaving the room. Ordering
at a global restaurant is not unlike a glamorous food court: Pad
Thai, a Moroccan Tagine, Authentic Sushi, or Lamb Curry. James Wierzelewski
cooked in Malaysia, Micronesia, Thailand, France and Belgium before
developing his concept of global dining. He first developed the
concept at Aria in Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel, but
more recently Wierzelewski has created another global restaurant:
Vix in The Hotel Victor in Miami. Sensi at The
Belaggio is another global restaurant, with four stunning kitchens
in the front and center of the dining room – the result of
the American diner’s increasing obsession with dinner entertainment
and exoticism. Check out our Global
Hotel Dining Trends feature to learn more about Wierzelewski’s
concept.
Classic:
Of course we still appreciate those chefs making their
imprint on the classic fine dining experience. The French Room
at The Adolphus in Dallas has the cherub-festooned ceiling and gilded
gold walls of a French palace. Its silverware rests not directly
on the white linen tablecloth, but on crystal contraptions built
to hold the cutlery. But even somewhere like this fine dining doesn’t
have to be pretentious: Jason Weaver keeps things real with tiny
revolts against the French rule: Asian ingredients in a Classic
French context. At the luxurious Mansion on Turtle Creek
John Tesar has revamped the menu since Dean Fearing’s departure.
Tesar has built a classic French menu with a focus on seafood using
subtle twists. See our Classic
Hotel Food feature for a look into Tesar’s dishes.
These trends are being driven by many things. While some restaurants
sign licensing deals and maintain a separate identity (and budget)
from the hotel, other restaurants are hotel-run which often means
less creative freedom and more financial responsibility. What distinguishes
these hotel chefs is that they face different imperatives from restaurant
chefs. Whether they’re running small fine dining places under
the umbrella of a hotel or managing high-volume casual places, hotel
chefs face the ongoing challenge of meeting the demands of multi-unit
operations, the hotel management, and the hotel guest. Change in
all directions is a good thing.
Cheers!
Antoinette Bruno
Editor-in-Chief
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