Destination Dining
Hot hotel restaurants shine spotlight on their locales.
By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 5/1/2005
 Siete, a contemporary Mexican concept at Aqua, Cancun, features a pop-art, industrial ambience complete with mosaics of famous cultural icons, such as Frida Kahlo.
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Be it a seaside resort in Miami or Mexico or the middle of the desert near Dubai, many of today’s hot new hotel restaurants stand out by paying homage to their locales. Through innovative design, each concept offers guests a unique sense of place and an atmosphere intriguing enough to attract a local following. Menu creation follows suit—from modern interpretations of classic Mexican dishes to contemporary Arabian specialties cooked in the open air.
But that doesn’t mean chefs are afraid to look beyond their locales for culinary inspiration as well. Bringing something new and a bit unexpected to the table remains a welcome trend. Take, for example, celebrity Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s new Wasabi at The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai. This high-end concept fuses traditional Japanese cuisine with European influences and is complete with sushi bar and teppanyaki counter, a first for Mumbai. Across the globe, Chef James Wierzelewski draws inspiration from his world travels to create a diverse menu of authentic flavors for his latest restaurant, Vix, at the new, Hyatt-managed Hotel Victor in Miami’s South Beach. Heading to Spain, famed Chef Ferrán Adriá continues to innovate for NH Hoteles, this time by introducing an on-the-go dining concept for busy guests. The following is a round-up of some of the hottest hotel restaurants creating a buzz for guests and locals alike.
SIETE, Aqua, Cancun
Looking to take Cancun back from the Spring Break crowd
is the newest luxury resort by Fiesta Americana Grand,
Aqua. This oceanfront retreat features two restaurants by acclaimed chefs:
Michelle Bernstein, formerly of Azul at the Mandarin Oriental Miami, has
opened her namesake MB here, and well-known Mexico City-based chef and
cookbook author Patricia Quintana introduces Siete. While both concepts
offer world-class cuisine, the unique ambience of Siete, which pays tribute
to its locale by offering contemporary Mexican cuisine
in a Mexican pop art-inspired setting, makes it a stand out. The look is “industrial
chic,” with large mosaics of seven of Mexico’s most famous
cultural icons, including artists Frida Kahlo and Diego
Rivera and music legend Carlos Santana.
The menu of Siete, the name of which was inspired by “lucky number seven,” features Quintana’s sophisticated approach to Mexican cuisine—layers of flavors in robust combinations. Signature dishes include appetizers such as red snapper ceviche with soy sauce, ginger and dry red chili; and sea scallops with small, crunchy fried tortillas in “escabeche” and caviar. Entrées include grouper in annatto and ginger with soft habanero chili pepper sauce; veal osso buco with a red pipian sauce; and grouper “zarandeado” tacos with lemon and soy-scented sauce. The average dinner check is US$35 per person (for food) at this 220-seat restaurant.
VIX, Hotel Victor, Miami
We’re almost too busy,” says Chef James Wierzelewski, of
his latest restaurant project, Vix, at the 2-month-old Hotel Victor
in South Beach. “We did 180 covers yesterday and have 220 on the
books today.” According to Wierzelewski, Vix honors its ultra-trendy
locale by offering what he calls “eatertainment,” achieving
both a see-and-be-seen atmosphere and a culinary experience diverse
enough to suit almost any craving. “People go out to eat for more
than just food, they want an experience. We need to stimulate all five
senses.” This is realized by the swank décor of the glass-enclosed
room, which features a 10-ft. (3-m) jellyfish tank (jellyfish are a
theme throughout the entire hotel) and an exhibition kitchen that extends
14 feet (4.3 m) into the dining room; the ambient sounds emitted by
the restaurant’s resident deejay; and, most importantly, through
the world cuisine.
While drawing much inspiration from his setting—both in terms of fresh seafood and Latin flavors (tequila-soaked prawns, Honduran “fire-and-ice” lobster and a diverse ceviche menu)—Wierzelewski creates a menu of comfort food from a wide array of cultures, including Thai, Chinese,Indian, Middle Eastern, North African and more. His kitchen staff includes 27 chefs from all over the globe. His equipment echoes that diversity—woks, tandoori ovens, rotisseries and a spice rack of more than 350 offerings. Indian naan bread is the restaurant’s signature item, and the most popular dish currently is a Chinese-inspired crab and rock shrimp dumpling appetizer served with hot-and-sour vinaigrette.
Wierzelewski says he’s planning to change the menu every six weeks, but the most popular dishes will remain. As it is, the restaurant already is succeeding in attracting a local clientele. For example, one couple he mentions (not hotel guests) had been in Miami for a week and already had dined at the restaurant three times. Average dinner check per person, without beverages, is about US$65.
AL HADEERAH,
Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, United Arab Emirates
Perhaps the greatest use of a location to create a unique
dining experience is the Jumeirah International-operated
Al Hadeerah restaurant at the company’s newest resort, Bab Al Shams Desert
Resort & Spa. Located 45 minutes from Dubai, the concept is a traditional
Arabic open air restaurant, complete with falcon display,
belly dancers, camel rides and live Arabic music. As visitors walk through
the elaborate fort design of the 250-seat restaurant, complete with
stone walls, antique rugs and
tented, semi-private sunken tables, they’ll see large
displays of fresh fruit (quite a feat considering its
desert locale), sacks of spices, and several live cooking
stations, including a spit roast, wood-fired stone oven,
Arabic bread oven and large Biriany cooking facilities,
which are specifically designed for Arabic food.
The menu highlights traditional Arab foods from all over the region. Guests can nibble on hummus or babaganoush while awaiting an entrée from one of the cooking stations, where a large selection of grilled meat and seafood are offered.
WASABI,
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai
The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is known for being a culinary trendsetter,
having been the first to introduce Thai, Italian and Mexican cuisine
to India. Now the hotel is expanding its reach Eastward with the opening
of Wasabi, a contemporary Japanese restaurant by famed Master “Iron” Chef
Masaharu Morimoto, who worked with Taj’s
Corporate Executive Chef Hemant Oberoi to bring the concept
to life. “The name Wasabi was
proposed because Indians can easily identify it as a
Japanese ingredient,” explains Oberoi, who spent considerable
time in Tokyo, London and New York sampling authentic Japanese food
and met with Indian guests to understand their preferences. “The
design team took it forward creating a restaurant in soft green tones.” One
standout feature of the space is the private Tatami dining
room. While in traditional Japanese settings such a room
is sunken, here it has seating around a glass table, with mood lighting
and a view of the harbor.
The menu consists of traditional Japanese dishes, such as the Morimoto assorted sashimi appetizer with seven sauces, as well as popular dishes such as rock shrimp tempura, and European-influenced entrées such as Lobster Epicé, an eight-spice “angry” lobster. An interesting part of the menu is the many vegetarian options, catering to India’s large vegetarian population. “We felt that the menu had to be 40% vegetarian, a novel concept for Chef Morimoto,” Oberoi says. “Taking this on, [several] non-vegetarian recipes were adapted. Shrimps were substituted by asparagus; California rolls were stuffed with avocados or pickled carrots; rock shrimps made way for rock corn; and a variety of tofu dishes were perfected.”
The restaurant opened last fall and has proven quite popular—reporting guests coming in “several times a week.” The 45-seat restaurant averages 80 covers nightly with an average dinner check of US$75.
FAST GOOD,
NH Hoteles, Madrid
On the quick-service side of the equation comes a new
creation by culinary innovator Ferrán Adriá for NH Hoteles.
Called “Fast Good” the
concept combines fast food with high quality in a whimsical
setting. Bright colors and modern décor create a dynamic space
that caters to both those dining in and those on the
go.
The menu consists of gourmet hamburgers, sandwiches and salads. Hamburgers, for example, are garnished with tapenade sauce or gorgonzola; a panini sandwich combines ham, asparagus or cheese with sage, pine nuts, crystallised spring onions or even foie gras; while salads may include such high-end ingredients as green beans, duck pâté, leeks or couscous. Some meals come with non-frozen French fries made “a la minute” with olive oil. Natural juice offerings include litchis, raspberry or red peach. For those on the go, an assortment of prepackaged items are made fresh daily. The average check—with the hamburger, fries, salad and a drink being the most popular menu item—is E15.
The first Fast Good opened last year at NH Eurobuilding Hotel in Madrid. Building on its success (approximately 340 daily covers with 10% of its customers coming in more than once a week), NH recently opened the second Fast Good restaurant with a local partner in Santiago, Chile. According to NH Spokesman Lucas Martinez, “the plan is to expand Fast Good in a number of different locations in Santiago and other cities in the country, as well as opening branches in Argentina, Peru and Mexico, and reaching other markets on the American continent.”
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