Friday, January 12, 2007 Hotels fly in chefs for summit By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
FOOD preparations for Cebu’s most important guests have proven to be a tough challenge for most hotels. But it’s not a challenge these hoteliers will pass up.
When the red carpets are rolled out for the 10 heads of state and government of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), celebrated chefs from all over the region will don their toques and start work on imported meat, herbs and spices that they carefully selected.
They want only the best and most authentic dishes for their guests, who have different dietary needs, so that when the dignitaries take their first bite, it will feel like they never left their home.
Cebu City Marriott Hotel general manager Karl Hudson had this in mind when the hotel flew in two of their best chefs and the guest services manager from the Goa Marriott Resort and JW Marriott in Mumbai, India, respectively.
Spicing it up
Apart from preparing the food according to the Indian delegation’s requirements, he made sure his staff is also aware of and will respect their guests’ culture.
“We brought the chefs in at our own expense just to make sure the Indian delegates feel simply at home... We have really prepared our staff for the summit. We were ready before it was postponed and we’re ready now,” Hudson said last Wednesday.
Marriott will be host to some 150 delegates from India, one of the dialogue partners of the Asean member-countries.
Imported black and green cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and red hot chili will be used to prepare authentic Indian dishes. Having omitted beef from the buffet to adhere to the delegation’s dietary restrictions, the hotel will make sure that chicken, vegetables and seafood dishes will be abundant.
Security cameras and personnel in all hotels have also been beefed up for the summit.
At the Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort and Spa, where all Asean heads of state are billeted, five of its six restaurants are Halal-certified. Pork dishes will not be served in the dining halls and in-room service, in deference to the Muslim guests.
Culture course
A total of 18 chefs were flown in from other Shangri-la properties in Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and Manila to cater to the needs of all delegations.
Guest relations officers, food and beverage managers and protocol officers from other Shangri-la hotels are also in Cebu to help during the summit.
Members of the hotel staff were also trained in protocol to help them adapt to the cultural differences of all the guests, said Sharon Samarista, Shangri-la’s director for communications.
“We have hosted high-profile guests before but this is the first time ever that we are having all the Asean heads of state at one time. In that sense, it will go down in history as the most prestigious and biggest event for us,” she said.
Some 470 of Shangri-la’s 547 rooms have been reserved for summit delegates, including the heads of state and heads of government.
For Marco Polo Plaza, the summit hosting is all about personalized service.
Most of its hotel rooms have directories that are in Mandarin. Directional signs, menus, information guide for equipment have also been translated.
Personal attention
Like other hotels, Marco Polo also invited three of their best chefs from their sister-property in Beijing, China to prepare the food of Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao and other Chinese delegates.
“The three chefs will serve as the personal chefs of the premiere and they have prepared the most authentic Chinese dishes for the delegation, from the main course down to the tea,” said Marco Polo’s public relations manager Carlo Borromeo.
Up to 194 rooms at the Marco Polo have been reserved for the Chinese delegation, 44 for the Australian delegation and 21 for the New Zealand delegation.
At the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, the delegates from Korea, Timor L’Este and France will also be served authentic dishes from their respective countries.
Rooms have also been fully renovated weeks before the original dates of the summit last month.
“Waterfront was ready before and with the postponement, we were given more time to improve the minor details of the preparation like paintworks, ventilation, bathroom fixtures. The summit is happening the second time around and we’re still as prepared and excited about it as we were the last time,” said Renee Villacin, Waterfront’s marketing communications manager for rooms.
