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“Trend is live cooking; 75% chefs in front of customers”
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Monday, 27 October, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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fiogf49gjkf0d  JW Marriott is a luxury address in Chandigarh. Exuding elegance and craftsmanship, the hotel is centrally located close to the business district - Sector 17. It offers 164 rooms, including four suites and one presidential suite. In keeping with tradition, the culinary experience at the hotel is a combination of flavours and finest delicacies being offered at five restaurants.
Pallav Singhal, executive chef, JW Marriott Chandigarh, who is into the field for the last 19 years, in a conversation with Ashwani Maindola, throws more light on his long-winding journey in the hotels and hospitality segment and the culinary experiences at the hotel’s restaurants. Excerpts:
How long have you been with JW Marriott Chandigarh? Elaborate on your association, learning experience of managing hospitality industry, and challenges.
Overall the experience has been great. After a long time, a five star hotel came here and it came with a lot of expectation from the people as it will change the hospitality landscape of the city. And we’re able to do it. Definitely, the general standard of F&B dining has gone up around and also the hospitality in terms of staying has gone up. It’s been good four years since we started here. In terms of challenges, the customer expectations are increasing by the day in terms of quality and variety. And this is driving the pricing downwards within the competition, as the customer tries to play one product with other and then tries to rate down. Fortunately we’re able to hold our rates in much of the segments that’s mainly because of the brands for which the customer is willing to pay the premium.
What do you like most here? Elaborate on how hospitality industry changed since you joined Marriott and how the hotel incorporated changes.
Now, the hospitality sector has become more professional these days. The client is treated as guest uniformly. A lot of customisation has happened during the visit in accordance to customers’ wishes. Like for regular customers, if he has certain specific requirement they’re taken care off. Also due to growth in the hospitality sector, the ancillary business, the support or the supplies have also got a boost. The vendors are now more open and bringing in materials for the hotel industry that earlier they used to write-off.
The thing which I like about Marriott is the brand name which promises delivery of certain kinds of services, customisation, and guest recognition across the country, across the globe. We have one of the strongest guest recognition programmes called Marriott Rewards. This starts with a person’s stay in the hotel and when he goes to Marriott property worldwide same reward number is valid across the world. And after certain stage or time of association he starts getting certain benefits being a regular customer. Further after five or six stays the customers need not mention much about him, as the hotel already knows him before he arrives.
Tell us about your F&B facilities.
In our hotel, the F&B facilities contribute around 50% share in business consistently. The food is authentic, true to the local culture and crafted to suit the refined palate. Multiple dining options include Saffron (fine dining Indian Cuisine); The Café@JW (Global Cuisine); Oregano Restaurant & Bar (Italian Cuisine); Chandigarh Baking Co (Deli & Patisserie); The Lounge; and Whisky 111 – Bar.
The revenue generated by the restaurant and banqueting remains almost same as the room occupancy does. And it is growing. Our regular customers visit us once in a fortnight. And they come in groups mainly five to eight people. Café JW is the busiest place in our hotel.
Tell us about accommodating changes in food habits vis-à-vis the F&B facilities.
JW Marriott has set many benchmarks in pioneering F&B concepts, and keeps reinventing its offerings at affordable prices at its various restaurants that can be counted among the best in the country.
One of the biggest trends which we have observed lately is that younger generation is more and more aware about different cuisines and young guns are discovering the gastronomic pleasures of fine food, following epicurean philosophies and indulging in gourmet experiences at high-end restaurants. They understand taste and authenticity of a dish and television shows, cooking blogs and food magazines are testament to this change and F&B as a segment has seen a dynamic evolution in the Indian hospitality industry.
F&B has evolved in the last decade with both classes and to some extent the masses are ready to experiment. With outbound travellers experiencing the world, they want to try out cuisines ranging from Japanese to South America, from Spanish to Korean. And, when a new cuisine is introduced they are ready to be educated. We, at Marriott, only believe in serving the best authentic cuisine. At Oregano, the Italian restaurant, we serve authentic Italian dishes made to perfection by our expat chef Antonello Cancedda.
How are the concepts of health, fitness, food safety and taste taken care of at these facilities?
The current trend is ‘live cooking’ these days and we make sure that 75% of my chefs are in front of the customers. A customer can walk up to the chef and get dish customised. Our chefs at Marriott have detailed knowledge about food and food related issues like some people may have allergies to nuts or lactose, so the chefs proactively ask about such sensitive issues before serving them food.
Why Marriott chose an Italian restaurant, why not Spanish or French?
At the inception of the project, a survey was conducted and Italian cuisine was the second preferred choice after Indian, hence we decided to give what the city wanted. Moreover, cuisine like Spanish is pork, seafood and beef based cuisine and procurement of ingredients becomes a challenge.
How vital it is to understand the changing F&B trends and keep updated to stand out amongst so many choices?
It is imperative to understand the changing trends in the F&B sector. With the rapidly growing Indian middle class population and changing lifestyle, India is going to be one of the fastest growing food and beverage markets in the world. The metros in the country are already engulfed in this wave and soon there is a large room of untapped growth expected in the tier-II and tier-III cities as well.
Some of the main drivers for these emerging trends are increase in income and evolution of urban population, emerging change in consumption patterns, and evolution of innovative restaurants and growing population of working women. People these days are well travelled and understand food and its dynamics, the taste, flavour and authenticity.
The focus of eating out has now shifted from food being a necessity to a form of entertainment, whether it is a family entertainment, activities, live performances or music. People want to eat and be entertained at the same time. This authentic F&B concept in restaurants is bringing about the region’s rich culinary heritage and improving the hospitality skill for international travellers looking for a truly authentic experience. We, at Marriott, are just blending in with this change and serving our guests the best authentic cuisine with ultimate ambience to be cherished forever.
Elaborate on the concept of live cooking. How interaction goes on for the same?
Live cooking and serving are the new trends affecting the buffet-ware market; it is becoming popular for chefs to interact with guests during food service. You can observe how your dish is created; learn about some culinary tricks and in some cases you can even try to prepare something by yourself. Guests can witness, how the ordered dish is being made and what all ingredients have gone into making the dish that the guest is going to savour in the restaurant. Live cooking also gives a room for customisation, you can change ingredients if you do not like them and you can choose between a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian version.
And, we do have special ‘cookout with chef sessions’ for our guests. We also have cooking classes by chef Antonello if somebody at the hotel wants to learn Italian cooking.
What is your procurement policy for F&B facilities?
We procure 99% of fresh produce locally. We have developed many vendors in neighbouring areas who also cultivate items according to our need and supplying to us.
What are the challenges that high-end restaurants are facing at the moment? How is the ongoing crisis - labelling norms for imported foods - affecting the hospitality business?
There are certain challenges which are related to F&B facilities in the hospitality business. Some of the ingredients that go into the food, particularly the foreign cuisine, are not grown in India. Also local produce is not of that standard. The problem is for the visitor who is staying in India for a longer period of time but could not find food according to his taste. So food import is the area right now concerning, also even if you decide to import food, it may get stuck in the dockyard due to procedural issues. Even it has become difficult to bring in simple things like chocolate.
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