F&B Focus:
Having only joined the hotel a few months before opening, Australian executive chef Christopher Curtis found himself in the unusual position of having all of his F&B concepts already decided, designed and ready to go.
“We reviewed them before opening obviously, but I found that they were pretty much rock solid, with only a few small things that needed changing,” he says.
In total, the hotel has eight F&B outlets, each with their own dedicated kitchen, and a total of more than 100 kitchen staff.
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Listening to Curtis break down his F&B operation, it seems clear that the hotel’s all day dining Garden Cafe is a focal point.
“This restaurant has been very successful since the beginning,” he explains, “with a mix of international, Asian and local Middle Eastern dishes available. Most of our business here is buffet, but we have a surprisingly good breakfast trade, with around 60-70 walk-ins for breakfast on a busy weekend.”
Asked why the all-day dining is so popular, Curtis explains that: “Kuwait is a little bit different F&B wise, as guests here seem to enjoy seeing a lot of food available, and with a lot of variety on offer. They can also be a little bit particular at times and know what they want. A lot of our customers are also retained guests, who come back every weekend or every lunchtime, so you really need to keep the variety up and not do the same thing every day.”
The hotel’s next big hitter is Pepper steak house, which Curtis describes as an “upmarket steakhouse concept, focusing on imported meats, mainly from Australia”.
“From day one the restaurant has been a hit, and we were fortunate to have a great opening period. It’s not fine dining, but it is a little bit more than a simple steakhouse.”
Then there is Mint, the poolside restaurant, which Curtis says is “very popular at the weekends and with guests with families. It fits a perfect need for the hotel and offers simple food done well, with some healthier options on the menu”.
Located above Mint is the hotel’s upcoming Olio restaurant. Curtis admits that there are “already plenty of Italian restaurants in town, but we were interested in doing real authentic Italian food, such as simple pizzas done the right way, and fresh pastas, with a relaxed menu in the afternoon and more refined dishes in the evening”.
Another soon to open restaurant is Aqua, which has been designed to be an accompanying venue to the hotel’s Talise Spa.
“Aqua is interesting,” says Curtis, “because we’re going to offer a specially designed well being menu. The menu is being cleverly balanced, with food that helps digestion, and that can assist in healthy skin, and we will offer these alongside the treatments that are available at the Spa.”
The hotel’s final outlet is the soon to be unveiled Salt fine-dining sea food restaurant. Curtis describes this as a “true fine-dining experience”.
“I’m afraid that I can’t tell you too much because we are preparing for our grand opening soon. However, one thing I can tell you is how excited I am to use the kitchen facilities in there, as we’ve collected some really interesting pieces of equipment that are going to allow us to try some cooking methods and styles that we wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
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