Taste of France

(L-R) Michael Allegria, Franck Detrait and Steffen Gube

Please outline your career background?

I began my journey in F&B with my enrollment at Johnson & Wales University, which is one of the top schools in culinary arts and hospitality management in the US. After working a few years in New York with another international hotel brand, I began my career with Hyatt Hotels for the opening and re-branding of The Stanhope Hotel — a Park Hyatt hotel in New York. After working with Hyatt Hotels in cities such as Miami, Shanghai and Seoul, I began my current assignment at Park Hyatt Dubai.

How would you define Traiteur prior to the relaunch?

[It was] a modern European restaurant with French influences.

Why did you take the decision to reposition the outlet?

We saw there was an opportunity for Traiteur to establish itself in a new market segment that had a strong growth potential within Dubai.

The physical appearance of the restaurant did not change: did you find it challenging to do a relaunch without a physical revamp?

The design and ambiance of Traiteur is still very unique and, after four years, very impressive in comparison to our competitors, so we decided to make minor changes regarding the table top and style of service.

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Four years in Dubai is a very long time in the life of a restaurant and managing our guests’ perceptions is our biggest challenge.

How many covers did Traiteur take from October 1 to November 1?

Through the positive response of our new chef and French brasserie concept, we have enjoyed a substantial growth from the beginning of the year to date.

Do you feel that without a celebrity chef restaurant, it is hard for upscale luxury properties like Park Hyatt to compete when it comes to fine dining?

Our direction for Traiteur has never been to compete with the celebrity chef market. The restaurant should stand alone on reputation through the excellent skills and knowledge of the chef, through good quality and through the fresh ingredients used and its good service.

What is your view of fine dining restaurants in Dubai generally?

Over the past two to three years, more and more fine dining restaurants have begun to appear.

We believe our restaurants offer the best value-for-money experience in Dubai with regards to food, service and ambiance. The label of “fine dining” is not essential to being a successful restaurant and often time limits the range of guests which patronise your restaurant.

And what is your view of French restaurants in Dubai?

There is a strong presence in the fine dining segment, but there is great opportunity for growth in the mid-range market, where we believe we can carve out a nice niche.

What is the outlook from your perspective for the hotel F&B industry in 2010?

I believe that we will have a better idea once the fourth quarter of 2009 comes to a close, but our direction in the New Year remains similar to 2009, and that is to offer our guests a second-to-none dining experience at great value for money.