Great Hotel Restaurants
For the 16th year, HOTELS recognizes the culinary, service and management teams who make hotel dining unforgettable.
By Mary Scoviak, Features Editor -- Hotels, 7/31/2005 11:00:00 PM
The unifying factor among the multi-ethnic, globe-spanning winners of this year’s Great Hotel Restaurant awards is an appetite for experimentation. “We are always looking to surprise our customers—to keep them as interested as they were the first time they came in,” says Roland Villard, who oversees Le Pré-Catelan at the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro, along with the hotel’s casual restaurant, catering and roomservice, and serves as executive chef of Sofitel South America. Food and beverage managers and chefs continually fine tune not only their menus and wine lists, but also design. They take their inspiration from products brought to them by inventive farmers as well as comments made by critical customers. Consistency without complacency is the goal of this year’s 10 Great Hotel Restaurant award winners.
Being great means delivering a seamless dining experience—every meal, every day. This standard of excellence is what HOTELS’ Selection Committee looks for in a great hotel restaurant. Each year, hundreds of hotel restaurants are nominated by chefs, interior designers, food critics, cookbook and guidebook authors, as well as consultants from around the world.
The Selection Committee then chooses 10 winners from that list. Restaurants must have a solid track record and be in a major hotel to be considered. Previous winners are ineligible.
Congratulations to the chefs, brigades, waitstaffs, sommeliers and management teams who have put hotel restaurants back at the top of everyone’s hot lists.
Wright’s, Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix
The menu: “Traditional American” with Napa Valley influences
The raison d’étre: Simple genius. “More and more, cuisine is about getting back to basics rather than about manipulating the food,” says Matt Alleshouse, head chef. That mandate applies to the menu, which pairs striped bass with a summer salad of shaved asparagus, baby heirloom tomatoes and haricot vert with a green mustard vinaigrette and Sauvignon Blanc demi-glacé; or roasted duck breast with citrus balsamic glaze, caramelized foie gras, confit phyllo cigars and a dried mission fig reduction. It also applies to the style of service. “We call ourselves a signature restaurant, not a fine-dining restaurant. We still deliver all of the components of a traditional fine-dining hotel restaurant, but without the stuffiness,” Alleshouse says. Wine has been a major focus since the restaurant opened in 1973. Monthly Winemaker dinners from September through May get rave reviews and enable both the chef and sommelier to experiment with new products that differentiate Wright’s from its competition.
The ingredients Chef Alleshouse cannot do without: heirloom tomatoes and black pepper
“Hotels need to pay extra attention to all the little things that make them special. It’s the hotel’s reputation that draws diners to its restaurants.” — Matt Alleshouse, Wright’s
Allegro, Four Seasons, Prague
The menu: Mediterranean, with a focus on the flavors of Italy
The raison d’étre: Harmonizing the old and the new. Roasted duck with cabbage soup and osso bucco may not seem like staples of a restaurant that has won kudos from Zagat and European food magazines alike, but in the hands of Four Seasons’ Executive Chef Vito Mollica and his seven-member brigade, traditional fare has never looked more cutting edge. “People want to revert to traditional food and rediscover the flavors of their past. We look for old recipes, then give them a modern twist,” says Mollica, an Italian native who fell in love with the Golden City during his first visit in 2000. One of the cook’s grandmother’s recipes for corn soup became an elegant starter thanks to the addition of pan-fried foie gras. Customers who demand more vegetarian fare can sample grilled seasonal vegetables with smoked scamorza cheese and new harvest olive oil. “We try to mix humble food items with premium products—tripe and black truffle; poached eggs and white truffles; pig’s head with cannelloni beans and scampi. These are unusual combinations that work well and get people talking about us,” Mollica says. Buying local products not available elsewhere also boosts visibility. While competitors still specialize in New Zealand lamb, Mollica sources product from South Bohemian producers who raise milk-fed lamb to his specifications.
The ingredients Chef Mollica cannot do without: “eggs, eggs and more eggs; fresh herbs we have delivered by a local lady farmer who comes to the hotel on a tram everyday and Parmigiano.”
“Customers always need to feel they are right, even if they are not.” — Vito Mollica, Allegro
Nadaman, Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong
The menu: Traditional Japanese Kansairyori with a contemporary twist
The raison d’être: Food as art. Each of Head Chef Takaya Ishizuka’s dishes is a creation—both in terms of flavor and presentation. Framed by the award-winning design of Hong Kong’s CL3 Architects, Nadaman has more than 400 sets of chinaware, depicting the four seasons, “to give free reign to our chefs and enable them to exhibit their culinary creativity in different presentations,” Ishizuka says. There is less oil being used in Nadaman’s dishes; the emphasis is on new flavors—Australian fresh-water marron (a rare freshwater lobster sought after for its sweet meat); nine types of shochu (a distilled alcoholic beverage that can be made from anything from sweet potatoes to soba); and sashimi flown in daily. Customer input also helps to keep Nadaman’s menu new. Ishizuka and his 19 sushi and teppenyaki chefs use their “culinary sensitive antennas” to deliver market-driven menus that include a wider selection of set lunches for the time constrained, a wider price range of lunch dishes for the budget constrained and a monthly “min-kaiseki” menu with eight to 10 courses for adventuresome gourmands.
The ingredient Chef Ishizuka cannot do without: dashi, a fish stock made with bonito
“Never compromise on presentation.”— Takaya Ishizuka, Nadaman
Le Pré-Catelan, Sofitel Rio de Janeiro
The menu: Brazilian ingredients prepared with the flair of French haute cuisine
The raison d’être: Fresh thinking. “When you talk with Head Chef Roland Villard you can feel that he is always looking for improvement,” says Giancarlo Pochettino, the Sofitel’s food and beverage manager. “The trend for him now is dégustation because it feeds the customer’s need to taste more products and to enjoy more ways of cooking.” That applies not just to the food, but to the entire dining experience. Villard’s version of a tasting menu is “5-way salmon.” Each salmon course gets a special presentation, with portions decreasing in size as the china gets finer. Change is a constant. Villard was among the first to introduce a three-course set menu to Rio. He oversaw the redesign that lightened the restaurant’s Art Deco lines and pumped up the impact of the tables with colored tablecloths and innovatively shaped dishes. He was in the vanguard of marrying traditional French méthode with a New Age lightness that scores high marks with the body-conscious locals who make up the lion’s share of the restaurant’s clientele. “You can accommodate health and pleasure in gastronomy,” Villard says. “The possibilities of light cooking are limitless. It is surprisingly interesting.”
The ingredient Chef Villard cannot do without: “salt”
“Never let the customer get bored.” — Roland Villard, Le Pré-Catelan
The Dining Room, Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
The menu: Modern French with Japanese influences
The raison d’être: Food, not fad. “I do not pay attention to fad diets or fads in general. A new herb, a fish that a vendor has just a few of—that is what inspires me,” says Ron Siegel, chef de cuisine of the Dining Room, one of only 14 North America restaurants to earn Mobil’s Five-Star award this year. A strong advocate of building menus around what is fresh and seasonal, Siegel challenges patrons with his deconstructed cooking. “I like taking the elements of one dish and breaking them down into many separate dishes. They become the parts that make the meal,” he says. Siegel adds a new menu item each night to tempt customers with the unexpected: from exotic dishes such as schirako (cod sperm), live glass eels or live spot prawns to new treatments of standards such as chilled white corn soup and lobster tartare. Guests are equally open to new wines, says Stephane Lacroix, sommelier. “I am a firm believer in food and wine pairings,” Siegel adds.
The ingredients Chef Siegel cannot do without: blue fin tuna; porcini mushrooms; morels; “seafood in general”
“My menu is based on what is fresh not on signature dishes. They can become dated and stale.”— Ron Siegel, The Dining Room
Spoon by Alain Ducasse, InterContinental Hong Kong
The menu: Alain Ducasse’s signature “total concept,” which gives guests the freedom to mix and match food and cooking styles.
The raison d’être: Consistency as a base for innovation. An elegant simplicity pervades Spoon’s interior designed by tony chi + associates, New York City, as well as its menu. Mentored by renowned chef Alain Ducasse, Laurent André, the hotel’s executive chef, and Spoon’s Chef de Cuisine, Tjaco van Eijken, focus on modern presentation to transform “a traditional base” into something new and memorable: steamed duck foie grois with fruit chutney and an herb salad; lobster salad with seafood “Jello” and baby vegetables; watermelon soup with lobster and Bloody Mary Sorbet. The mild flavors and delicate accents directly reflect the tastes of Hong Kong residents who make up half the restaurant’s clientele, André says. “Our local clients tend to like more traditional French cuisine with lighter, milder sauces—nothing as heavy or strong as the tastes preferred by Europeans,” he says. André sees this contemporary, multicultural approach to ingredients and cooking methods as the next big culinary trend. Menus change “according to the season, not seasonally, since we have access to fresh product year-round.” Spoon’s à la carte menu maximizes customer choice. Guests can mix and match the best course and select different sauces and side dishes or follow the chef’s recommendation. “It keeps the menu interesting, even for repeat customers,” André says.
The ingredients the chefs cannot do without: fresh vegetables; fresh fish; “and, of course, the most important—French foie gras”
“Give your restaurant a personality and an image.” — Laurent, André, Spoon by Alain Ducasse
Mark’s, Mandarin Oriental, Munich
The menu: Light Mediterranean/French
The raison d’être: Modern classics. Mark’s Head Chef Mario Corti learned to cook “from my Italian grandmother in the Piedmont and from the huge herb fields in southern France.” Small wonder, then, that Mark’s menu is close to the earth. His recipe for success is a mixture of common sense basics and provocative innovation: turbot with white peach and chanterelles; langostinos with caviar imperial and an avocado tarte. “Our guests are multicultural. They are spoiled since they travel a lot. We have to be inventive,” Corti says. Mark’s keeps a high profile in the local community with special menus designed around seasonal specialties such as “truffle week” or a special opera-inspired menu—an effort that has paid off with a customer base that is 90% local residents.
The ingredients Chef Corti cannot do without: “fleur de sel;” olive oil from Liguria; fresh herbs; lemons from Amalfi
“How much do we consider food fads? Not at all.” — Mario Corti, Mark’s
Equinox, Swissôtel The Stamford, Singapore
The menu: Authentic Asian and Western specialties
The raison d’être: East meets West. “I want every guest to be absolutely satisfied with the meal. But, more importantly, I want them to have enjoyed the entire dining experience,” says Ivan Yeo, chef of Equinox. Yeo’s cooking reflects that goal. The something-for-everyone menu allows space for yuzu-marinated cod as well as a grilled beef tenderloin and braised cheeks and homemade tofu. Different is better for customers and the bottom line. “With the stiff competition here, it is crucial to be flexible in catering to the whims and fancies of guests,” Yeo says. Adds David Francouer, director of operations, “We have to think out of the box when it comes to promotions. It is what helps us stand out.” Yeo uses promotions to investigate new ingredients and new ideas—from his current fascination with mushrooms to products like air-dried duck from France. The restaurant also has a popular babysitting service to enable families to enjoy a night out.
The ingredient Chef Yeo cannot do without: “butter, especially for Western dishes”“Chefs should serve everything with a zealous passion.” — Ivan Yeo, Equinox
Nahm, The Halkin, London
The menu: Thai
The raison d’être: Authenticity. The first Thai restaurant ever to be awarded a Michelin star, Nahm is the culmination of Chef David Thompson’s 15-year study of Thai culinary tradition. He is a man with a mission: evolve and deliver a new paradigm in Thai food in the West. The Sydney-born Thompson spends three months each year researching (“well, actually, eating”) in Thailand and translating recipes “from old memorial books” to create what he calls “proper Thai food without compromise.” Guests who equate Thai food with satays and fried noodles will be on unfamiliar ground. “Sometimes what we offer does not conform to expectations. People say what we have is not Thai food. When that happens, I can say with confidence that they are wrong,” says Thompson, who was invited by the Thai government to consult at the famous Thai cooking institute. Matthew Albert, Thompson’s head chef at Nahm, adds that, “While we can use different styles of dishes and methods of cooking to create a balanced meal to meet most customers’ needs, we do not let fads or diets have any control over the menu planning. As chefs, we are always under the guidance of Mother Nature.”
The ingredients the chefs cannot do without: artisanal Thai products such as palm sugar, shrimp paste, chilies and tamarind
“Menus change incessantly. We may have favorite dishes, but if the best ingredients are not available, the dish is not on the menu.” — David Thompson, Nahm
Mercer Kitchen, Hotel Mercer, New York City
The menu: American, prepared with a Mediterranean accent
The raison d’être: Less is more. Whether eschewing traditional meat stocks for vegetable juices and fruit essences or hunting the perfect wild greens for a spring salad, Jean-Georges Vongerichten puts the clear, intense flavors of nature in the spotlight. As chef and owner of the Mercer Kitchen, Vongerichten and his Chefs de Cuisine, Cruz Goler and Luis Gonzalez, bring the best of the natural world to the heart of the city with dishes such as a wood-roasted Maine lobster with artichokes, fingerling potatoes and garlic or an aged sirloin with gingered shiitake mushrooms and a caramelized soy sauce accompanied by French fries (no pommes frites here.) Seasonal menus—including highly successful seasonal cocktails—have built a 50/50 client mix of guests and locals. What strikes a chord is the everyday appeal of a market-inspired menu and Christian Liaigre’s sleek interior design. Vongerichten enhances the welcome with a client-driven service attitude in the front and back of the house. “We do whatever customers ask. If they want something that is not on the menu, we will create it. We try not to say no,” he adds.
The ingredients Chef Vongerichten cannot do without: “the freshest, best ingredients available in the market”
“The biggest mistake most hotels make is not giving the restaurant a separate entrance.” — Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Mercer Kitchen
The Selection Committee
Amanda Afiya, managing editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper, London; Ron Andruff, president/CEO, Tralliance; Manos Angelakis, managing editor, LuxuryWeb magazine, Hackensack, New Jersey; Edouard Cointreau, president, Gourmand, Madrid; Fred Ferretti, food writer, restaurant consultant, Montclair, New Jersey; Kurt Fischer, president, International Food & Beverage Forum, and managing partner, WGS America LLC, Issaquah, Washington; Mary Gostelow, president and editor in chief, WOWTravels, London; Peter Greenberg, NBC/Discovery; J. Joho, chef, Everest, Chicago; Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, cookbook author, teacher, consultant, Montclair, New Jersey; Anthony Lassman, founder and publisher, Nota Bene, London; Ernesto Marino, president and CEO, BSH International, São Paulo; Bryan Nagao, chef, Mao Asian Bistro, Denver; Wolfgang Schmitz, publisher, editor in chief, TOP HOTEL, Landsberg am Lech, Germany; Steve Shellum, editor, publisher, Hotel Asia Pacific.
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