Asado voted best hotel restaurant of the year

Authentic Argentinian restaurant of the Palace Downtown Dubai has taken the Restaurant Team of the Year – Hotel Managed Outlet award by storm at this year’s Caterer Middle East Awards.

The entries for this category really gave our judges pause for thought as there were so many incredible teams.

Highly Commended was Armani/Ristorante, Armani Hotel Dubai for working well together in its fifth year of operations, one which saw a refurbishment challenge.

Asado’s winning entry was one which showed a cohesive atmosphere between its front-of-house and back-of-house, and is committed to providing an authentic experience to its guests.

The award, presented by Gavin Dodd, managing director of Ronai, one of the Caterer Awards 2015 sponsors, was ultimately given because of Asado’s cohesive atmosphere between its front-of-house and back-of-house, and is committed to providing an authentic experience to its guests.

Head chef Gabriel Stivala said: “I have worked in both sides of restaurant team and I know what both kitchen and FOH need for success so we try to combine those in our work.”

The team, which is mostly Argentinian, was chosen for this category because of their brilliant communication between both teams. Of interest to the judges was their two Expo Chef positions, whose sole purpose is to ensure communication between the kitchen and the floor.

Talking about how those positions, restaurant manager Marcel Vera said: “We implemented that just this year. It’s not that common in F&B but it’s a big part of our service and how we get the best from our team for the guests.

“There’s no better waiter than one who’s been part of the kitchen so chef Gabriel always wants every new waiter to start in the kitchen to fully understand both parts of our service.”

Stivala explained his thinking for this unusual approach: “I was a chef instructor for four years in a culinary school in Argentina, so for me, training is part of teaching – it runs in my blood. It’s something that I really focus on when I train service staff. It’s so important to know every secret that comes out of the kitchen.”

One of those secrets is having what the team believes to be the only smoker in Dubai which produces the old Argentinian style preparation for their slow-cooked brisket.

Stivala said: “I think definitely we’re the only Argentinian restaurant to have this smoker. You know, this way of cooking is so old, from hundreds of years ago. We implemented it because Argentinian cooking has so much to do with smoke. We do everything on the barbeque, with the wood and the smoke – it’s so important to do this for each single barbeque that we do.

Talking about the Caterer win, Vera said: “I have to be honest, I wasn’t that surprised to win, because chef Gabriel was already nominated for Chef of the Year in a Hotel-Managed Restaurant. He was my sure bet, so I am not surprised that with him, we won this award. If you ask me if we deserve it? Well I would say yes, I think we do. We’re a great team together.”

With the win under their belt, Asado isn’t standing still, with new menus, presentation styles and new chinaware rolling out by the end of this year.

The full list of nominees for Restaurant Team of the Year – Hotel Managed Outlet and why they were nominated can be found here. 

The Caterer Middle East Awards were held at Atlantis, The Palm on June 10. The gala event was sponsored by category sponsors Figjam, TSSC, Ronai, Meat & Livestock Australia, MMI, Aramtec, Baqer Mohebi, IFFCO, Pristine Belgium; water sponsor Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino, coffee sponsor Julius Meinl, and support sponsor Gourmet Olive Market. Also present were photobooth sponsor Pod You Like, and social media wall sponsor TintUp.