Sameh Youssef from Holiday Inn cooks up a win

Sameh Youssef impressed the judges with his ability to keep costs low while maintaining the quality of the F&B offering at the hotel, and won the Hotelier Express Chef of the Year title for his efforts.

The newly crowned Chef of the Year manages a team of 50 chefs and stewards and a total of 6 F&B outlets including an all-day dining restaurant, a Thai and an Indian restaurant.

Along with his creativity, Youssef showed great support to the business development of the hotel and has been a great asset to the hotel team over the last years with duties including the purchasing and control of the food, training of the team, planning and organisation of the promotions, the maintenance of the HACCP rules and standards throughout all the kitchens.

Sumit Kumar from Citymax Hotels Bur Dubai was highly commended in this highly contested category.

Speaking to Hotelier Express on the night, Youssef said: "When people come to our property, they are expecting something and we have to meet these expectations. We have customers who come specifically for the F&B - what we are serving and how we attend to their needs."

He added: "The quality remains the same. A guest can come back two months later and have the same standard. In my experience as a chef, that’s what makes a difference."

The award was presented by Riyadh Hassan sales and marketing manager, pastry division from Aramtec.

The inaugural Hotelier Express Awards was held at Grosvenor House Dubai on February 22, 2017, and was supported by: Platinum Sponsor, Caffe di artisan; Gold Sponsor, Oldenburger; Silver Sponsor, A. Ronai; Category Sponsors, SIAL Middle East, Sealed Air Diversey Care, Aramtec, Viking Gulf, Prologic, Dallmayr, Hoist Group; and Beverage Sponsor MMI.