INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Before Executive Chef John Brand implemented a French-inspired menu at Las Canarias restaurant in the Omni La Mansion del Rio in San Antonio, Texas, he took a slight detour to sharpen his culinary acumen.
“We spent a week in France,” he said. “We really had to eat this menu over there.”
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| Prepared with authentic ingredients and in an authentic technique, The Las Canarias restaurant features dishes such as the Entrecôte au poivre et sa sauce Robert. |
That eight-day trip Brand spent with fellow Omni Hotels chefs and food-and-beverage executives marked the culmination of an extensive training program designed to import the authentic tastes of France back home as part of the brand’s annual Flavors of the World program.
This year’s theme, “Savor the Flavors of France,” marks the sixth year in which the upper-upscale chain has featured a menu offering authentic dishes prepared with authentic ingredients using authentic techniques.
But while Omni’s program ends 31 December 2008, that doesn’t mean guests’ ability to order authentic cuisine will end as well. Throughout the world, more and more hotels with F&B are featuring certain dishes or entire menus prepared with the same ingredients and techniques of a distinctive region.
At Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara in California, for example, the newly opened Tydes Restaurant and Bar features authentic Mediterranean dishes that include ingredients flown in from the region daily.
At numerous Hyatt restaurants, including the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, D.C., Made in China in Beijing or Straits Kitchen in Singapore, chefs draw inspiration from right in their own back yards.
“These are all good examples where we take local, regional cuisine and bring this into a high-end restaurant environment,” said Achim Lenders, vice president of food and beverage, international operations at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
Filling the need
Whether inspired from home or abroad, authentic menus have evolved to meet the increasingly sophisticated tastes of travelers.
“Guests are very educated today,” Lenders said. “They have access to very good-quality media that helps them to understand different cultures and cuisines much better and gives them the opportunity to prepare themselves for a trip to a new destination.”
And it goes beyond just preparing for trips. For some travelers, cuisine is the main reason for taking the trip in the first place.
“Culinary immersion trips or vacations were certainly coming to the forefront,” said Caryn Kboudi, VP of corporate communications at Omni. Though she wasn’t with the brand when Flavors of the World launched in 2003, she said the program was designed in part to attract an emerging segment of travelers who lead with their stomachs.
Five years later, authentic cuisine inspired by international locales has come to serve yet another purpose.
“(Travelers) want authentic cuisine, but … it’s not affordable to go traveling right now,” Brand said. “They experience something French without having to go anywhere.”
Footing the bill
Affordability isn’t just a concern of travelers. Embracing authentic cuisine requires a significant capital outlay on the part of hoteliers as well.
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During a training session in Boston, Omni chefs study the authentic preparation of French dishes for the Flavors of the World program. |
At Omni, it wasn’t simply a matter of changing the names of dishes and printing new menus. The 2008 program involved significant training, including the trip to France and another training session in Boston, as well as the costs for securing the proper ingredients, printing new menus and marketing.
“It’s a sizeable investment,” Kboudi said, adding that the total expenditure was “well into six figures.”
That’s not to say the investment doesn’t pay dividends.
“(Chefs) like it, it delights our guests, so it’s worth every penny.”
Because authentic cuisine offerings are decided on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis at Hyatt, Lenders said the cost varies based on the concept, ingredients and cooking methods.
“It is difficult to put an exact amount of time/hours/ money on this,” he said. “We do understand that there are no shortcuts in this process and failure to go all the way only results in a diluted product.”
Leaving a tip
Like any dish, a well-executed authentic cuisine program or concept delights guests and brings them coming back for more—an invaluable draw as occupancies continue to drop across the industry.
“Wherever we have done this successfully, we have seen an increase in restaurant, bar and event business and, most importantly, in our hotel business,” Lenders said. “Having restaurants and facilities that are known for authentic/regional cuisines can be a deciding factor in making room reservations for our hotel guests.”
While Kboudi certainly acknowledged the impact Omni’s “Savor the Flavors of France” program has had on guests, she also pointed to the effect it has had on chefs.
“It also has a lot of benefits for us because it continues to strengthen our culinary team’s talent,” she said.
And not only strengthen them, but make them more likely to stay.
“It encourages me to keep working here,” Brand said. “It’s almost an extended education program.”