Jumeirah revs up for UK Hotelympia challenge
The culinary team at Jumeirah completed the last dry run of the three-course meal they must serve to 100 people as part of the Salon Culinare UK competition they are taking part in at the end of the month.
Led by Christian Gradnitzer, resort executive chef at Madinat Jumeirah, the team of 11 took criticisms and made the last tweaks to the entry that they hope will bring them international recognition in London at Hotelympia 2012 - the UK's largest exhibition for foodservice and hospitality.
“We have a good philosophy and a good product that we can now show the international world," Gradnitzer said. [Jumeirah has] hotels in London and in New York and in Frankfurt, the Maldives, and more to come in Shaghai, Spain, Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi – we have a global plan and that’s why we are competing in this global competition.
“The chefs are excited - we’ve been working on it for eight months,” he revealed. “We have to master operations and still serve our guests too. Obviously our restaurant service takes priority so the team has to be committed to put in the hours on top of their duties.
The team, consisting of chefs from the Burj Al Arab, the Zabeel Saray, Emirates Towers and Madinat Jumeirah, is also taking part in the cold buffet challenge, for which they have had a custom-made table created, measuring 4x3 metres.
“It is themed on a futuristic chef’s table,” said Gradnitzer. “It features illuminated chefs hats in the shape of the Burj Khalifa. The showpiece is a 60cm chocolate carving of chefs heads, which will be created on the day by our expert.”
Hotelympia takes place at Excel London between Feb 26 and March 1.