New recruit: Westin Abu Dhabi F&B director

Caterer speaks to Adam Beasley, F&B director at the soon-to-open Westin Abu Dhabi, about joining a new property, working with chefs and the standard of the region’s outlets

What are your short- and long-term plans?
The immediate plan is to open the Westin Abu Dhabi on brand, on time, and on budget with a talented team of F&B professionals. The long-term plan is to be the benchmark for F&B offerings among the five-star hotels in Abu Dhabi.

With so many new openings in the F&B industry, how do you distinguish yourself from the competition?
This will be challenging but with The Westin brand and our F&B concepts coupled with our golf course location and talented team, we will be in good shape.

Also the unique design of the property’s interior will really set us apart from our competitors — it is nothing like I have seen before.

Does it make a big difference to come into a new hotel, rather than joining an already established property?
Both can be challenging but with a new property you are seeing the project develop from the ground up and you see results instantly, whereas established properties’ results are not so forthcoming or measurable.

How much input do you have in the menus and food concepts at the hotel?
The food concept obviously ties in closely with the design concept, which was primarily created by Starwood during the development stage.

I have reviewed and fine-tuned these concepts to the physical product and the current trends. Our executive chef David Contreras then developed the draft menus based on the concept statements.

How closely do you work with the chefs from each of the hotel’s outlets?
In the pre-opening stage I work very closely with the executive chef, but once the hotel opens I intend to spend a lot of time with the culinary team from each of the hotel’s venues, which I get much enjoyment from.