Hospitality Business ME | Issue 39 - 2015

ISSUE 39

OCTOBER 2015

AN attractive INVESTMENT Making the walls work

MANAGING SUCCESSION

BRAND NEW SOLUTIONS

BACKSTREET BANGKOK

EDITOR’S LETTER

MANAGEMENT Dominic De Sousa Chairman Nadeem Hood Group CEO Georgina O’Hara Publishing Director Paul Godfrey Group Director of Editorial

Editor Dave Reeder dave.reeder@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9163

Deputy Editor Beth Burrows beth.burrows@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9167

ADVERTISING Business Development Director Elaine McCarrick elaine.mccarrick@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9112

DESIGN Head of Design Glenn Roxas Senior Graphic Designer Froilan Cosgafa IV Production Manager James Tharian Data Manager Rajeesh Melath

The change game A

nticipation is building in F&B outlets across the UAE: the third annual The Pro Chef Middle East Fine Dining Awards are just weeks away.

The event - held this year at the Habtoor Grand Hotel, Dubai, on November 11th – will celebrate the best in the industry, as chosen by the industry. Open to those working in any of the UAE’s 4- and 5-star F&B outlets, awards are up for grabs across a number categories, including FOH, BOH and Best Chef. The awards ceremony will follow hot on the heels of the daytime The Pro Chef ME conference, also held at the Habtoor Grand, featuring a stellar line up of keynote speakers and industry movers and shakers. Put the date in the diary and vote on-line now.

With the arrival of so many new F&B offerings in 2015, it will be interesting to see how the winners vary from last year…

Indeed, change colours this issue. Hospitality is a fickle mistress and when her mood changes it is important to adapt accordingly.

We take a look at how rebranding a

property can bring new buoyancy to a troubled bottom line. But it’s not just the underdogs who need to look ahead; even the highest-flying resorts must be prepared for unexpected turbulence. What happens if your leadership team dissipates? Or your prize GM jumps ship? We discuss how careful succession planning can offer security in such a transient market.

But change isn’t a curse or something to be feared: it provides opportunities for growth, something the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates has realised. We take a look at their recent network upgrade in our technology section.

Meanwhile, new movement is occurring in the world of laundry too. Victor Bastian, Assistant Vice President of Linencraft, gives his forecast on an industry that is set to swell 20% by the end of the year.

Change is constant, no more so than in hospitality, but progress is impossible without it. As we move into a new season seek out the opportunities for change. That, after all, is the secret to hospitality success.

Dave Reeder dave.reeder@cpimediagroup.com

Printed by Printwell Printing Press

Head Office PO Box 13700, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (0) 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 (0) 4 447 2409

© Copyright 2015 CPI. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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CONTENTS An attractive investment What have you got, a Miró or Monet?

Why what’s on your walls can affect how much is in your wallet.

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6 AllMANAGEMENT change?

Why, when and how to rebrand

10

A blueprint for talent management Dead men’s shoes or the best man (or woman) for the job?

How do you plan for success in succession planning?

16 AnDESIGN attractive investment What have you got, a Miró or Monet? Why what’s on your walls can affect how much is in your wallet.

24

Livening up lobbies

26

Made in Italy

Reimagining a traditional space for the modern guest.

Italian furniture designer Piergiorgio Cazzaniga talks style, skyscrapers and flying carpets.

TECHNOLOGY 30 A green welcome The Boutiquehotel Stadhalle in Vienna is the world’s first net zero energy city hotel.

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Five star fabric A technology renovation is kicking in at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates.

40 In aHYGIENE spin The laundry industry is on a quick cycle to success.

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COVER CONCEPT Once restricted to gargantuous galleries and mildewed museums, art is making its way out of the archives and into hospitality. Hoteliers around the world are recognizing what a well-placed Warhol or one-off Monet can do for their business. And those with the grandest designs are not content with the odd painting, they’re after the whole gallery.

CONTENTS

42 Vital Signs

24

Why first aid adoption in hotels needs a band aid.

46 Gym or germs?

Is your gym hygiene as healthy as your members?

48 Taking stock

34

Nifty stocktaking tips from housekeepers in the know.

THE PRO CHEF 52 Backstreet Bangkok Sophie McCarrick delves into the depths of Bangkok’s street food scene.

to Face with 58 Face Alex Barrera

46 62

The Peruvian chef has just opened Pollo Pollo, his first Dubai offering, and he has another fine dining concept in the pipeline.

storage 62 Smart Tips and tricks for keeping food fresh and kitchens clean.

weight of waste 66 The Buffets: a gold mine or pit of profits? We talk waste management strategies.

The eggs factor 70 Chef Phillip Harbin began his career in Military Culinary School, but is he stringent about what he cooks at home? It’s time for a fridge inspection.

corner 74 Recipe Chef Alex Barrera lends some Latin flair to his Peruvian dishes and Chef Wolfgang Puck gives a healthy twist to two American classics.

last word 78 The ‘Have you slept in a wigwam lately?’ asks Route 66’s Wigwam Motel.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

3

6

ALL CHANGE?

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A BLUEPRINT FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

All change?

Hospitality is becoming an increasingly competitive market.

Expo 2020 and the promise of 20 million inbound visitors has triggered a massive construction drive in the UAE. New resorts are mushrooming across the emirates and even the most established hotels are feeling the heat. The solution?

For some, it’s rebranding.

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

T

he UAE’s holiday market is huge.

Tourism and aviation is expected to account for 47% of Dubai’s GDP by the end of this year. And the hospitality industry has reacted with gusto. Last year 46 new hotels opened in Dubai and, as of January 2015, a further 626 properties are in the pipeline for the Middle East and Africa. Indeed, it is becoming hard to move for all the 5- star skyscrapers lining the Sheik Zayed Road.

Its good news for the UAE’s economy, but less so for hotel owners. In an oversaturated market how does a resort stand out? The answer is branding. “Brands make a difference when nothing else does — strong brands have the power to demand premium prices, particularly in economically or politically difficult times,” explains Marion Walsh-Hédouin, Vice President Marketing Communications & Public Relations at Minor Hotel Group.

Branding is nothing new — the UAE is home to the world’s biggest and best hotel chains. But what happens if the name above the door stops working for you? What if your competitors are cutting into your slice of the hospitality pie? It might be time to consider rebranding.

The first thing to understand is that the decision to rebrand should not be taken lightly.

Much like a divorce, it can be an expensive, protracted and painful — casualties can be incurred in the form of lost customers. As Walsh-Hédouin warns, “you don’t want to change unless you have to.”

Rebranding usually occurs for two main reasons: the hotel owner decides to change operators or the individual brand decides to refresh their public persona. The latter is, arguably, harder. Rebranding an entire chain is a complex operation affecting every aspect of the company and property in the portfolio.

For major global hotel companies such as Carlson Rezidor — who manage Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Radisson Red and Quorvus Collection — the task can be colossal. “The process is not limited to a name change, new logo or updated marketing materials – this is the simple part. The make or break is within the service delivery,” explains Rob Collier, Area Brand Director for the Rezidor Group.

Indeed, superficial changes will not boost

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Rebranding Cycle

1

Making the call

2

Placing the pillars

3

Rallying the troops

If things aren’t so buoyant in the bottom line then conduct an audit. Is your brand built around current and emerging consumer behaviour trends? If yes, leave things be. If no, it’s time for a rebrand.

“From bell boys to room attendants, it’s critical to educate frontline staff about reflagging. Staff who feel involved in changes are better brand ambassadors. If personnel aren’t passionate about the alterations taking place there’s little hope consumers will be, many of whom are instinctively resistant to change.”

Use the audit, market research and — if you choose — an external consultant to pick and place your brand pillars.

Sit down with key stakeholders, the management team and staff to explain the rebrand and reason for it.

Help each person understand their role in the changes and how to communicate with consumers during the transition.

4

Debranding

Remove all collateral, signage, uniforms and advertising bearing the old branding from the premises and online platforms.

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Rebranding

6

Creating a buzz

7

Making a judgement

Roll out the new look brand on site and online. Ensure all consumer touch points reinforce the brand pillars.

Use social media, PR and marketing to create a stir about the shakeup. Contact consumers to tell them about the reflagging and reiterate your commitment to serving them.

Six to nine months down the line make a judgement. Has the rebrand been successful? What do your customers say?

What do your staff say? Crucially, what does your RevPar say?

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your bottom line. Just changing the shade of blue on your logo is not going to have consumers charging down the doors (take note, Ritz-Carlton). Rebranding is about connecting with the customer you serve again. “Everything we do when it comes to branding is meant to close the gap between identity and consumer perception,” says Walsh-Hédouin, who assisted with the recent reflagging of the Four Seasons Bangkok to the Anantara Siam Bangkok.

Research is crucial: there is no point repositioning yourself as an ultra-luxurious offering if your guests view you as a midmarket mover. Rebranding is about moving closer to your audience, not further away from them. Foresight is also essential — it doesn’t matter how consumers are behaving now, what will they be doing in the future? “There is no such thing as a quick turnaround — you need at least two years to react to trends, so be alert now,” advises Walsh-Hédouin.

She recommends allowing the same amount of time for the rebranding process, from ideation to post-implementation analysis. And there are a number of decisions to be made before the clock even starts ticking. Will you start completely from scratch or retain elements of the original brand? Will you implement changes during low or high season? Will you keep the property open or close it before staging a grand reopening?

How will you manage consumer expectations, both in person and online? Will you bring in an external rebranding consultant or manage everything in house?

This last question is of particular importance and one that divides opinion. Walsh-Hédouin believes it is necessary to bring in an outsider “because you are usually too close to your brand and lack fresh perspective,” whereas Collier thinks working for a large international hotel group such as Carlson Rezidor means external support is superfluous.

The experts may clash in their views on consultancy but they agree on one point: the importance of personnel. Major stakeholders, marketing and PR departments are the key drivers behind a rebranding project, but that doesn’t mean they’re the most important individuals. From bell boys to room attendants, it’s critical to educate frontline staff about reflagging. Staff who feel involved in changes are better brand ambassadors. If personnel aren’t passionate about the alterations taking place there’s little hope consumers will be, many of whom are instinctively resistant to change.

And even when you’ve got guests and staff reading from the same page, how do you measure if rebranding has been a success?

This first thing to check is RevPar — are you performing better than before? Our experts also recommend investing in qualitative research in the form of market perception analysis.

Spreadsheets and reports are all well and good, but perhaps the best way of gauging success is via customer feedback. Talk to your guests. Ask them questions. Do they like the changes? How would they do things differently?

After all, weren’t they the entire reason you rebranded in the first place?

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

A blueprint for

talent management Businesses and organisations are rediscovering the various benefits of competency-based management models.

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Y

ou may have heard about competencies or competency-based management (CBM) systems and their potential impact on organisations. This method of talent management has been around for over 30 years, yet interestingly enough, it has not been embraced on a wide level by businesses and organisations until about a decade ago. This is mostly due to technological advancements and the increase in availability and accessibility of the metrics.

Integrated approach Looking at the supporting research, it may first come across as complex, and comprised of a lot of moving parts. The more you read about it, however, you begin to realise the simplicity, structure and efficiency it can provide to businesses of all sizes. According to a Talent Acquisition Study by Aberdeen in 2012, 67% of surveyed organisations indicated that their competency models are linked with their learning and development initiatives, while 61% of respondents said competencies were integrated with performance management.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson founded Human Resource Systems Group (HRSG) over twenty years ago, which is a Canada-based consultancy and provider of competencybased management solutions. Capitalising on a growing market need, the company has been successful in implementing competencies across industries in the public and private sector throughout Canada and North America.

It now has its eyes set on the MENA region,

“67% of surveyed organisations indicated that their competency models are linked with their learning and development initiatives, while 61% of respondents said competencies were integrated with performance management.�

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

“It starts at the top.

Executives must have an obvious and overt commitment to risk management that is well-articulated to the rest of the enterprise.

This commitment needs to be kept front and centre; managing risk should be a consideration in all major decisions.”

as organisations look for new ways to develop and retain their employees. Previously, the company has worked with a number of organisations in the UAE including Dubai Customs and Dubai Ports.

Scalable solutions During my interview with Suzanne, she informs me of how she has just returned from Saudi Arabia, where her company is seeing a great deal of interest in this area. The company has already implemented competency models across a number for of companies and sectors in the Kingdom and throughout the region. Its main mission will be to spread the word about the benefits of its Competency Core solution designed to help SMEs and larger corporations monitor and manage their talent according to the organisation’s goals. “Competency is really what it takes for a professional to be a successful individual in that particular position. It starts with defining what it takes to be successful in various jobs and what will bring in results. In order to be successful, you have to do that through people, and people must have competencies to drive success–it all links together,” says Suzanne.

The solution includes a software and cloud-

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based program, as well as a starter kit that can provide SMEs with an integrated framework and tools to help organisations manage their people in the areas of recruitment, training, succession planning and retention, all of which can be accessed and modified using one streamlined system. It also comes with a library of competency job profiles, which organisations can use as a reference tool when recruiting and then modify, according to their individual needs. Another service offered to SMEs is training, which is designed to bring HR professionals up to speed quickly on how to use the software to improve talent management processes. “If you’re an SME and spend a lot of your business focused in a specialty area or strategy, this offers you a quick start. It’s based on best practice and is well founded on research. Competencies themselves have been researched and evaluated many times, and beyond that, within the system you get template policies and procedures than SMEs can use to get started,” says Suzanne.

Recruiting and training tools This type of management model is of significant value when it comes to recruiting, developing and training, succession planning and retention, as these areas represent real issues being faced by HR professionals today.

Because it’s intelligently designed to bring in the best candidates for the job, it’s very effective in bringing down attrition levels, while more motivated and qualified recruits contribute to overall productivity. “The point is as simple as matching the person best suited for the job. They like it, they’re happy doing it, they do the job properly, and you will see them sticking around. If you don’t like your job, chances are you won’t be doing it that well,” says Ian Thomas, Regional Director, HRSG Middle East FZE. In the recruitment phase, the solution provides a framework against standards in which the organisation recruits. So, right from the start, these standards are used in the selection process. For example, in the solution’s library section, you can find a whole set of questions matched to the individual role and competency profile. There’s also a huge amount of research that shows that this ultra-focused interview style and selection process can drive productivity and performance in the long term.

“It’s all about behaviours and assigning behaviours to roles to deliver your corporate goals with excellence. On the recruitment side,

you know the job they’re coming into and you have the competency profile for that job. So, the candidate will be interviewed against those metrics,” says Ian. “As a result of this, you’re much more likely to bring in someone who fits the role right from the beginning, and you are saving on training costs as they are already skilled in the right areas.”

Using such a system can also empower businesses to make smarter decisions when it comes to training their employees. Over the last few years, the issue of training programmes and their return on investment has come under scrutiny as businesses fail to see the results they are looking for. Such tools can be used to assess existing staff in their current roles, in an effort to identify skill and learning gaps that matter to the organisation’s bottom line and future goals.

Empowering young employees These tools also aims to address the Generation Y issue by allowing employees the option to self-assess their skills levels and performance and against other roles in the organisation, as well as recognise learning gaps which they can fill through training.

Today, managers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep younger employees interested and motivated in their roles. With a competency model, there’s a certain level of transparency and engagement, which may be exactly what they are looking for. “If a young recruit understands what it takes to be successful in their current job and other roles, and they’re given the tools to measure themselves against the requirements of the job, then they will be more empowered to manage themselves.” adds Suzanne.

Some of the world’s leading companies have used competency-based management models for years. Xerox is one example of how this type of management model can be used to deliver personalised training to its service engineers. The company developed a competency inventory based on the employee’s past performance, in which they can actually see the learning elements and gaps broken down across all technical aspects of their current role.

When done correctly, competency-based models can bring about positive change in many areas of a business. However, it’s important to mention that it’s not a copypaste, one size fits all approach. Solutions can provide businesses with frameworks and reference tools, but it’s up to the management to decide how to use such tools to their benefit.

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AN ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT

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MADE IN ITALY

HOTEL DESIGN

An attractive investment Once restricted to gargantuous galleries and mildewed museums, art is making its way out of the archives and into hospitality.

Hoteliers around the world are recognizing what a well-placed Warhol or one-off Monet can do for their business. And those with the grandest designs are not content with the odd painting, they’re after the whole gallery.

16

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HOTEL DESIGN

O

nce upon a time it was common to find a faded, dusty sketch of a landscape hanging languidly in a hotel room. Its presence was mandatory, not artistic. In fact, it probably made guests feel more apathetic than inspired.

Walk into any 4- or 5- star hotel today and it is clear attitudes to art have come a long way. Gone are the sad token paintings; in their place hang iconic, experimental and thought-provoking pieces. Guests may stay in a concept room inspired by a children’s fairytale or stumble across a sculpture around the next bend.

Who knows? Where art is concerned, anything is possible.

“Art infuses a sense of place and represents the final layer. It dresses the spaces where finishes cannot and creates a narrative,” explains David T’Kint, Partner at hospitality design firm HBA Dubai.

With the property reclaimed as an artistic space, guests are forced to turn off autopilot and experience the hotel anew.

The design concept is trending worldwide, particularly in the established culture capitals of Berlin, Amsterdam and New York. But why? What is attraction of decking your hotel out in art?

Art and wealth go hand in hand — thus art becomes a luxurious commodity.

Traditionally created and admired by the educated and affluent, art is synonymous with a higher social standing. This, in part, explains the increasing number of 5- star properties acquiring art. Much like a rare vintage on the wine list, a coveted collectable instantly raises a property’s profile.

Much like a rare vintage on the wine list, a coveted collectable instantly raises a property’s profile. Want your guests to feel refined and regal? Add some art.

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HOTEL DESIGN

It’s important for art choices to reflect and reinforce the brand image. A Warhol popart print will go down well in a minimalist hotel targeted at the millennial market, but not so much in a decadent Arabic themed resort.

Want your guests to feel refined and regal? Add some art. But be careful. If a picture tells a thousand words then properties with piles of paintings are speaking volumes, but what are they saying?

It’s important for art choices to reflect and reinforce the brand image. A Warhol popart print will go down well in a minimalist hotel targeted at the millennial market, but not so much in a decadent Arabic themed resort.

Investing in art is a delicate decision, but it can pay dividends when it comes to the bottom line. As T’Kint explains, “an in-hotel art collection is becoming part of the development budget and no longer an afterthought; investment is quite substantial at times.” Crucially, artful hoteliers are using their pretty pictures to court the attention of a new breed of clientele.

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Guests are always looking for novel hospitality experiences: building an art gallery in the comfort of a hotel certainly counts as novel. Chronic culture vultures and art aficionados love the idea of surrounding themselves with art while they sleep. “Some guests come only for the art,” says Domoina de Brantes, art concierge at Raffles’ Le Royal Monceau in Paris, a hotel boasting a 300 piece collection. “They want to be kept informed of the latest exhibitions and art events, so I get enquiries from them every day and also reach out to them with an art newsletter,” de Brantes continues.

Even travelling professionals with no professed love for art appreciate the convenience of an in-house exhibition — they can get an aesthetic hit without even having to leave the property. The

HOTEL DESIGN

subsequent sharing of photos on Instagram is an invaluable asset for hotels in today’s social media driven market too.

Art hotels are an established concept in the West, but they’re finding an audience in the Middle East too. Local hotels have often signaled their Arabic heritage through striking geometric designs and angular architecture, but in recent years a cluster of properties have started housing art within their walls. Dubai’s XVA Hotel, Noon Art Boutique Hotel Apartments and Creekside Jumeirah Hotel all feature the work of Arabic artists, be it laid out in a traditional gallery or scattered about the space.

The XVA gallery showcases over 30 Middle Eastern creatives, but the artists are not only Arabic. The current exhibition celebrates the work of Colleen Quigley, a Japanese-American artist. Meanwhile, the Noon Art Boutique Hotel focuses on a more select group. The 45 apartment Al Barsha residence features a gallery space devoted to Middle Eastern trio Dr. Najat Makki, Ali Hassan and Khaled Slimane. The Jumeirah Creekside, takes a more experimental approach to art. The hotel’s 482 paintings, sculptures and video installations are dotted about the property at random and visitors are encouraged to experience the work as ‘a series of chance encounters’. The hotel also offers a free guided tour once a week.

Want to add an aesthetic edge to your hotel and boost the bottom line in the process? Here are four ways of fusing art and hospitality.

1. The generic gallery The staple of art hotels, the generic gallery displays pieces in a set space, recreating the formal atmosphere of a gallery or museum. A prime example is the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. The property is home to a $10 million collection of 21st century art, including artists Bill Viola, Camille Utterback and Kehinde Wiley. Completing the traditional gallery experience, upon check in guests are given IPods with a narrated tour of the museum.

2. The artist in residence Having an artist working on-site certainly creates a buzz at the breakfast buffet. As the days go by new paintings appear in the corridors and hopeful guests try to spy the master at work – some are even given personal guidance. Eden Rock in St. Barths has an Artist in Residence program in

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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HOTEL DESIGN

Dubai’s XVA Hotel, Noon Art Boutique Hotel Apartments and Creekside Jumeirah Hotel all feature the work of Arabic artists, be it laid out in a traditional gallery or scattered about the space.

association with The New York Academy of Art. Up-and-coming talents give art lessons to guests and produce work for the hotel’s beachside gallery.

3. The hotel as subject Breaking down the walls of the art gallery — and with it the belief that art must be contained — these properties treat the hotel as muse. The building is a blank canvas for colour and embellishment. The most famous hotel of this type is arguably The Hotel Chelsea, New York. One of the original art hotels from the ‘50s and ‘60s, creatives left sculptures and paintings as payment for rooms.

A different spin on this concept has artists approach each room as a separate design project. French fashion designer Christian Lacroix was let loose in Hotel du Petit Moulin in Paris, a former bakery. The result was 17 rooms representing different ways to discover

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the nearby Le Marais neighbourhood. Taking things to the next level, at Propeller Island Hotel in Berlin each room takes on a different crazy theme. Highlights include the prison cell and flying bed rooms.

4. The guest as participant Challenging the notion that art is only for the talented and trained, the Radisson Blu Hotel in Pudong Century Park, Shanghai, invites guests to create. Local artists and visitors are invited to contribute to the graffiti wall in the hotel’s parking area.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Park Hotel in Amsterdam calls upon the customer to become critic. Guests view the property’s gallery, a collection refreshed by new exhibitions every couple of months, and formally discuss the pieces. Cheese, truffles, macaroons and — somewhat hilariously — lollipops are provided to stimulate conversation.

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HOTEL DESIGN

Livening up

lobbies

Dead space or a dynamic multi-purpose place? You decide.

The lobby is a hotel’s most important public space; it is the first thing guests experience. From layout and lighting to fixtures and furniture, every element must work in harmony to create an environment for socializing, working and more.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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HOTEL DESIGN

The new ‘zoning’ trend loosely divides the reception area into separate spaces for socializing, working and relaxing; business and leisure travellers can enjoy the space simultaneously without disturbing one another.

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W

hat is the purpose of a lobby? Once upon a time the answer was clear: the place to check-in. Today its purpose is less obvious — somewhere to sit down and relax? A place to get online? The arena for ad hoc meetings? Actually it’s all of them. And yes, checking in is still important, but with many hotels introducing automated registration systems the front desk is no longer lord of the lobby. Instead, receptions are being reimagined as transcendental spaces and the atrium is becoming the beating heart of the hotel once more.

As the old adage goes, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

Never was this truer than for hotels. Guests experience a new hotel in a fully sensory way; sights, sounds and smells are all noted. Instead of leaving the lobby as a dingy, crampt space the smartest hoteliers are making a showcase of them, lacing the air with the brand’s signature scent and shrouding them in warm light.

But the changes are not just atmospheric, they’re tangible too. Hotels are redesigning lobby layouts to cater to a cross-section of customers. The new ‘zoning’ trend loosely divides the reception area into separate spaces for socializing, working and relaxing; business and leisure travellers can enjoy the space simultaneously without disturbing one another.

“Lobbies today have got to be dynamic,” says June McDonald, Design Director of The FF&E Company in Dubai. Increasing numbers of professionals, particularly in the 20 – 40 age bracket, are upgrading from coffee shops to hotels for meetings and

networking. “The lobby is becoming the new board room,” declares McDonald.

And some brands are already on board with the trend. ‘Link@Sheraton’ promotes the lobby as a ‘connection destination’, offering complimentary Wi-Fi, Ethernet data ports and its own coffee shop. Meanwhile, the Marriott breaks its lobby into three distinct zones, ‘Relaxing, Business and Individual’, with each space differentiated through furniture choices.

Indeed, in these reimagined receptions seating takes on new importance. It’s all very well creating separate spaces for customers, but furnishings need to support the purpose of each zone. Business travellers are unlikely to appreciate a squishy sofa and low level table when trying to work. Much more practical is a straight-backed chair at a purpose-built desk. In the same sense, a large family group should not be forced to split across two or more tables to enjoy a coffee together.

Speaking of families, particular attention should be paid to children during the design process. An original 18th century chaise lounge may look stunning in the foyer, it could soon scream ‘shabby’ if your hotel caters to a large family crowd. Little ones are want to explore and destroy at will, so think carefully before placing your collectables pride of place.

Lobbies are no longer holding pens for guests in limbo; they are the lifeblood of a hotel. As cumbersome check-in desks continue to be cut, hoteliers must decide how to play with the space to better serve consumers.

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HOTEL DESIGN

Made in

Italy Furniture designer Piergiorgio Cazzaniga is one of Italy’s finest exports. With half a century in the business, he has seen the industry evolve and helped shape it along the way. Though approaching 70 years old, the Milanese mastermind has no plans to hang up his set-square just yet.

Beth Burrows catches up with him during some downtime in Dubai.

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here is something of the wizard about Piergiorgio Cazzaniga.

Mesmerized, I watch as he frenetically sketches furniture and effuses in incantation-like Italian. There must be magic in his fingers, fingers that have cast a spell over the furniture industry for nearly fifty years with their iconic designs.

A decorated designer, Cazzaniga has won numerous prizes for his creations over the decades.

I catch up with the genial Italian during a fleeting visit to Dubai. We meet at the showroom of Andreu World, his regional distributer, and although Cazzaniga’s English is broken his enthusiasm at being in the Middle East is evident. Pointing at the skyscrapers clustered around the studio, he marvels at their size and spectacle. “They are enormous, so flashy!” he chuckles, “not like my designs,” he continues.

Indeed, his furniture is all about simplicity; function and form over shoutiness and sparkles. His designs seem quite out of place in the Middle East, and yet he has a loyal local following.

His furniture can be found in Le Royal Meridian, Abu Dhabi; Hamad International

Airport Hotel, Doha, and Al Ghurair Mall, Dubai, just to name a few locations.

In the often flamboyant Gulf Cazzaniga’s furniture has found an audience who appreciate its unpretentiousness.

“For me, it’s about intelligent beauty,” says the designer, “I’m looking for the aesthetic appeal, but there needs to be a clear function and purpose too,” he continues. He cites the natural world as a key source of inspiration. Gesturing out the window at the embarrassingly arid desert plains, he explains how everything in nature is necessary to support life and that there is a quiet beauty in that. “I want to inspire an emotional reaction in people — I want them to feel moved by how I fuse form and function.”

Perhaps the best example of his work is SAIL, a lightweight side chair for which he won the Gold Award at Neocon in Chicago in 2011, the Red Dot Design Award in 2012 and received an honorable mention at the Compasso d’Oro ADI awards last year. Using a technological design, the chair tenses to receive the body in a comfortable way. “I am particularly proud of this piece because I designed it with my son,” Cazzaniga smiles.

HOTEL DESIGN

Piergiorgio Cazzaniga

To say that design runs in his family would be an understatement. His greatgrandfather founded a Milanese design school in 1875, his grandfather was CEO of the award-winning Filli Paleari design company and his father was a carpenter.

“I was lucky; I grew up surrounded by imaginative men and living in the design capital of Italy,” he muses. As a budding young designer Cazzaniga had access to all the major designers within 15 kilometers of his house. “BOFFI Cucine, Porro and Matteograssi — they were all there,” he recalls. In fact, his very first job in the 1960s was with BOFFI Cuncine as their Director or Studios and Research.

Keen to discover alternatives to Italian design, in 1973 Cazzaniga went to Japan for six weeks. The experience changed him forever. Working as an interior designer for the Italian fashion brand Nazareno Gabrielli, Cazzaniga discovered a completely different way of thinking. “In Japan everything was abstract, I had never seen anything like it. It gave me a reason to design,” he declares.

He already had some knowledge of Scandinavian style from squirreled copies of ‘Mobilia’, the design magazine his father read. Coupled with his experiences in Asia and Italian roots, Cazzaniga went on to develop his signature style — a unique blend of all three cultures. He sketches a quick triangle on his pad to illustrate and looks up smiling: “this is Piergiorgio design.”

And has his style changed much over the years? “Not really, no. Technological

advances have changed how I design, but what I design is essentially the same: functional, practical and beautiful pieces,” he concludes. Perhaps surprisingly for his age, Cazzaniga is a big advocate for using technology in design. “Technology allows man to develop and push his mental potential to the maximum,” he says. He cites the early 1960s as his favourite period in the last 50 years for the industrial changes it brought to the design world.

“I was emerging as a designer at the same time technology was entering the warehouse — we developed in unison,” he explains.

And he is in no doubt that technology will dictate the future of design. So what does he think we’ll be sitting on in 2050?

After a moments pause and with a twinkle in his eye he answers “flying carpets.” Well, if anyone can make it happen it is this wizard of design.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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A GREEN WELCOME

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FIVE STAR FABRIC

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

A green welcome The world’s first net zero energy city hotel, Boutiquehotel Stadhalle in Vienna, implemented new eco-friendly initiatives backed by systems from Siemens to make the case for sustainability in the highly consumerist and energy-centric hospitality sector.

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

H

otels the world over are faced with a balancing act between their business goals, increasing expectations of a discerning clientele and changing environmental policies. Consequently, the timeframe of technology investments is often weighted against these criteria.

Boutiquehotel Stadhalle in Vienna set itself the objective of achieving these goals. With its sustainability initiatives supported by technology from Siemens, it has now become the world’s first net zero energy city hotel.

Its success story demonstrates the vital role sustainability plays in the hospitality sector and the importance given to the issue by cities themselves, as they compete to attract investors, corporate visitors and tourists.

Boutiquehotel Stadhalle in Vienna is a 3-star eco hotel that originally offered 42 rooms in a renovated period town house. An extension to the hotel with the construction

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

Record water and energy savings A company-wide commitment to adopting environmentally friendly practices saw Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts cut energy and water consumption by record levels across its Middle East portfolio in 2014. A range of innovative hotel-led initiatives, many pioneered by general managers and staff members, led to energy and water reductions of 7.8% and 6.3% respectively in 2014, compared to 2013.

To put this into perspective, the company’s Middle East hotels saved 271,000 hours of energy over the course of the year, which is the equivalent of one 75-watt incandescent light bulb running constantly for 31 years. They also saved enough water to fill 46 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 105 million 1.5-litre bottles of water.

“One of our core values at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is to always conduct business in a responsible way, encompassing sustainability practices that not only address current needs but

preserve the environment for generations to come,” explains Gerard Hotelier, VP of Operations, Middle East and South Asia of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. “This commitment has inspired our team members to think carefully and creatively about how they can reduce the use of the Earth’s natural resources while enhancing the guest experience and developing the wellbeing of our employees and the local community.”

For example, the Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments Bur Dubai has introduced Green Wrap Technology, using a steel framework and filtration system that increases the reliability of the hotel’s air-coolers and even provides additional shading and protection against sandstorms. It’s a move that has reduced the electricity bill for these ‘chillers’ by a significant 16%.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is the most Green Globe certified hotel company in the world and all of its green initiatives fall under a global sustainability programme called Shine, which concentrates on three areas - Environment, Employer and Social Sustainability - with a focus on Education.

“This is certainly one hotel that has recognised the opportunities to be more profitable in the long-run using energy efficient technology, while also, in parallel, meeting the needs of more environmentally sensitive customers without compromising on guest comfort.”

Michael Hartmann, Senior VP, Head of Market Development Board Hospitality, Siemens.

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of a new building saw the addition of a further 38 rooms in 2009.

Ecology was already a prime focus of the hotel, before the extension work began. For example, the use of rainwater from large cisterns located in the basement to tend the gardens and to flush the WCs and signage that generated its own electricity. However, the focus of sustainability was heightened with the construction of the new building.

The aims of the green initiatives were twofold: to make the hotel sustainable without compromising on guest comfort and to achieve net zero energy within a year by producing energy sustainably and, then, managing it intelligently.

With the hotel’s ultimate objective being the ability to generate as much energy as it uses for its operation, it set about systematically implementing the necessary initiatives, starting with the deployment of renewable energy sources including solar thermal and photovoltaic panels and groundwater heat pumps.

Since heating and cooling are significant contributors to a hotel’s energy load, an in-house well was tapped to supply cooling

energy and provide the heat pump system with groundwater. The power was set to be generated by photovoltaic panels and solar thermal panels. This is now used to heat the water for the hotel’s general areas and its 80 rooms, as well as pre-heating fresh air through a ventilation system which achieves over 90% heat recovery.

Central to the operation is a Desigo Building Automation System from Siemens, which offers intelligent energy management. Through integration of all the system components and processes, Desigo ensures constant guest comfort and an efficient use of the hotel’s energy. It features programmable automation controllers along the needed workflow patterns, as well as flexible key performance indicators related to measurement and control technology that enable the monitoring and regulation of heating and ventilation based on actual demand or pre-defined schedules. Desigo’s Web-based operation enables energy data and reports to be accessed at all times, increasing energy monitoring capability, as well as consumption transparency and usage efficiency.

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

Five-star

Fabric

The guests of Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates are some of the most demanding in Dubai. The need to enable high quality Multicast communication, along with the million mobile devices that pass through the hotel’s walls each year mean the network quality has to be impeccable. Enlisting Avaya’s Fabric Connect technology, the hotel has managed to enable firstclass infrastructure for a faster network.

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

W

ith over 300,000 guests from around the world visiting annually, five-star Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates has a duty to provide a first-class stay for its guests.

This includes everything: food, room quality and service, and, now more than ever, IT. Prasanna Rupasinghe, Director of Information Technology, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, appreciates that being based in Dubai – a world leader in terms of hospitality and service – brings added pressure and expectation to the business. “Most hotels around the world can’t compete with what Dubai can offer,” he says. “Even the best that the U.S. and Europe can offer is often not up to our standard.

In that vein, we’re aiming to be the firstto-market for new technologies; to be a next-generation representative of top class hospitality, which can provide the best guest experience possible.”

With this in mind, guests expect seamless high-definition TV services, as well as premium, complimentary wireless Internet. Throw in a huge demand for gaming services, and the fact that broadcast services are delivered through IPTV - a system through which TV is delivered through a LAN, rather than cable – and huge demand is placed on Kempinski’s network. “If you consider that the average guest brings with them three devices, that means that roughly a million pass through this hotel every year,” Rupasinghe says. “We wanted to put everything on the network to enable ourselves to grow with the technology evolution. We had to reduce complexity in our IT operations by provisioning a simplistic network. Our legacy infrastructure could not handle its previous demands.” In addition to the guests’ entertainment needs, Rupasinghe also needed to factor the hotel’s 600 CCTC surveillance cameras into the complex equation.

Central to his plan was the need to enable simple, high-quality IP multicast around the hotel. Multicasting is designed to make more efficient use of bandwidth on corporate networks as well as the Internet by allowing packets to be sent simultaneously to multiple network-connected devices.

This is what drives the ability to deliver these online services that guests demand, as well as the hotel’s need to push digital advertising to guests’ TV screens.

Given Kempinski’s need to avoid downtime, as well as the overall scale of

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

“Most hotels around the world can’t compete with what Dubai can offer. Even the best that the U.S. and Europe can offer is often not up to our standard. In that vein, we’re aiming to be the first-to-market for new technologies; to be a next-generation representative of top class hospitality.”

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the project, staffing would be an issue.

With only five IT engineers on board, Rupasinghe would have to manage the team’s time wisely.

Throughout the implementation this could have been a banana skin, given the nature of the hotel business as a roundthe-clock service provider to its guests.

“At most, we could have allowed for 10-20 minutes of downtime at any particular point,” Rupasinghe says. “We could not allow guests to lose access to the Internet, and the hotel’s communications, including our security cameras, could not go down. On top of this we had to keep our ERP system up and running. If any of these services went down for too long, customers become dissatisfied and that runs the risk of losing the hotel money.”

Fortunately, Rupasinghe and his team underwent rigorous planning procedures to ensure that downtime never went

below minimum acceptable levels.

High bandwidth was an essential end goal. Without it, customers’ TV quality could be pixelated, an unthinkable option for perfectionist Rupasinghe. In addition, it was important that PCI (Payment Card Industry) standards were adhered to. In order to do this, financial transactions within the network would have to be segregated.

Following the implementation of Fabric Connect, Rupasinghe has now been able to “eliminate complexity and simplify the hotel’s architecture” through the use of open standards-based platform, which has allowed for much more efficient multicast. “That was the main thing we had to achieve,” Rupasinghe says.

Fabric Connect’s Shortest Path Bridging technology means that users now only experience a 20-50 millisecond wait - it had been 800 - between pushing a button

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

“There would be no point in moving to SDN with our previous legacy infrastructure. It would be unwise for us to sweep this issue under the carpet when the time came to move to SDN. Fabric Connect has done so much to ease this transition.”

Prasanna Rupasinghe Director of Information Technology, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates

on a device and waiting for a networkbased action to be completed.

Although not yet fully realised, Rupasinghe believes the greatest benefit of implementing Fabric Connect will be the doors it can open for the hotel’s IT team. He says it has laid the foundations for moving to virtualisation, and then software-defined networking, “There would be no point in moving to SDN with our previous legacy infrastructure,” he says. “Infrastructure is key to everything our IT is about, so it would be unwise for us to sweep this issue under the carpet when the time came to move to SDN. Fabric Connect has done a lot to ease this transition, and for now effectively acts as a private cloud within the property; it is basically a mini service provider. Our IT is now simpler to manager, configure and maintain. We plan to start with end-toend virtualisation, which will soon lead to the move to SDN.” This scalability is one of the huge benefits Fabric Connect has brought to Kempinski, and could lead to further improved use of the third platform. “It will have huge benefits for our data centre,” Rupasinghe says. “It is crucial for the network to support virtualisation, with virtual servers moving across locations.

We also want to have the power to exploit Big Data in the near future; to use the vast database we have of guest profiles.”

Fabric Connect has also enabled

seamless high quality video conferencing services across the hotel. This is largely due to the fact that that it can provision up to 16 million different network services, which can now be enabled at the network edge. “We are now able to move services across the facility without any hassle,” Rupasinghe says. “There is no longer a need to configure each room for a meeting. If a customer has a conference in one room at 9am then another in a different room at 10, we can effortlessly provision that service.”

Looking to the future, Rupasinghe feels the addition of Fabric Connect will prove to be a beneficial step towards the hotel’s preparations for Expo 2020.

With 20 million visitors expected to descend on Dubai for the exhibition, he is confident that Fabric Connect is an important part of the groundwork needed to provide impeccable service.

“Kempinski is a leading hospitality brand, and we need to remain ahead so that we can provide the best possible services further down the line.”

Rupasinghe speaks highly of the support he has received from Avaya since the implementation, “We can always contact them in case of a problem,” he says. “They offer round-the-clock support and have always worked beyond their contractual obligations. Technology can only take you so far so support is key; we’ve had no worry in that respect.”

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IN A SPIN

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VITAL SIGNS

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GYM OR GERMS?

Hygiene & Housekeeping

In a spin In line with the UAE’s growth mission, the call for laundry services is increasing: experts expect the sector to swell 20% by the end of 2015. The future is bright for launderers, but how can businesses avoid being washed out by the competition? We speak to Linencraft, one of the region’s most prominent players.

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T

he average 250-room hotel produces 5,000 pounds of dirty linen per day.

That’s 35,000 pounds a week, 140,000 a month or 1.68 million a year. It’s not to be sniffed at (at least not until it’s been washed).

The Emirates’ demand for laundry services is extreme, and with hundreds of new hotels in the pipeline pressure on the industry is only increasing. The sector currently accounts for approximately 2.5% of UAE GDP — Abu Dhabi Consulting Group predicts that figure will rise to 4% by 2018. Helping lighten the load on the Emirates’ one billion dirham industry is Linencraft, the region’s largest laundry services provider.

“No one can deny the convenience of having linen freshly delivered when and where needed,” says Victor Bastian, Assistant Vice President of Linencraft.

Originally conceived as part of the Emirates Flight Catering Group in the early 1990s,

Hygiene & Housekeeping

Linencraft stepped out as a company in its own right in 2006. It now has three plants across Dubai processing 190 tons of laundry daily, up from 3 tons in the late 1990s. Much of the weight is coming from the city’s burgeoning hospitality industry. “The savings hoteliers can make by outsourcing laundry are immense, including reduced utility, equipment and human costs, as well as significant space savings,” enthuses Bastian.

The Assistant VP has been overseeing operations for 15 years. Since joining Linencraft he has seen the company swell from a team of 20 to nearly 1,000 employees from 13 different countries. “Over 50% of the original team are still with us and we have people who have spent more than 25 years here,” smiles Bastian. But just because the company has a stainless record doesn’t mean it can rest on its linen laurels.

“The industry in this region is constantly evolving. Proactively embracing technology and increasing capacity is both key to our success and also a challenge,” Bastian concedes. Linencraft has been busy innovating its practices and recently made the leap to LPG, a clean, high-energy diesel alternative. “Environmental responsibility is one of our cornerstone values as an organization,” claims Bastian.

The move to greener energy is in line with the Emirates’ mission to reduce its CO2 footprint; LPG produces 45% less carbon dioxide than diesel. “The switch also saves us the equivalent to one ton of steam per hour,” notes Bastian. Only time will tell, but if the average lifespan of laundry equipment is roughly two decades the company may have bought itself valuable years with its cleaner energy update.

Hygiene is high on Linencraft’s list of priorities too. Soiled sheets can be a breeding ground for disease, particularly in the warm and moist setting of a laundry. Not only does Linencraft’s detergent formulae extend the lifespan of linen, but it also ensures linen leaves the facility hygienically clean. There is a clear segregation between soiled and clean areas, which offers an extra level of protection to employees and end users alike.

Healthcare industry linen is processed in its own dedicated plant, making it impossible for medical-use laundry to get mixed with hotel sheets.

Linencraft’s daily output for the airline, hospitality, garment and healthcare industries is exhausting enough, but the company remains keen to extend its market position. “We have several projects in the pipeline and we will expand to ensure we can

continue to provide high-end laundering solutions to our quality-conscious customers,” reveals Bastian.

But he’s not just concerned with the development of his company; he wants to see the wider industry grow too. As such, Linencraft decided to get on board as the official linen care partner for the Gulf Laundrex Linen Care Expo 2015, part of the Middle East Cleaning Technology Week (MECTW).

The event, held at the Dubai World Trade Center this 2-4th November, is the first of its kind in the region to cater exclusively to the cleaning and hygiene industry. Its very existence highlights how the sector has exploded since the announcement of Expo 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. As Bastian notes, “this is an excellent platform for laundries to meet potential clients, suppliers, others in the industry and engage with various institutions.” A meeting of key industry movers and shakers, MECTW promises to propel the sector towards its target of 4% UAE GDP by 2018. Here’s hoping for a clean streak between now and then.

Victor Bastian Assistant Vice President, Linencraft

The move to greener energy is in line with the Emirates’ mission to reduce its CO2 footprint; LPG produces 45% less carbon dioxide than diesel. “The switch also saves us the equivalent to one ton of steam per hour,” notes Bastian.

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

Vital Signs It’s one of the most important skills to master and yet you hope you’ll never have to use it.

First aid may not feature high on every hotel’s list of priorities, but it should. Even with the most stringent safety precautions accidents still happen, and when they do hoteliers need to be able to help. We examine the issue and ask three industry experts for their diagnosis.

A

little girl runs to up the hotel concierge having grazed her knee.

He gives her a plaster, tells her she’s been very brave and waves her on her way.

Easy enough. The next day a businessman collapses at breakfast. What does the concierge do? The answer all depends on the training he has or hasn’t had in the months leading up to this moment. If he has received regular first aid training he can leap into action, perform CPR and potentially save the man’s life. But if his employer has neglected educating staff in emergency procedures then the guest’s prospects look far grimmer.

“We are taking care of our guests as well as our employees, so we must be prepared for any situation,” acknowledges Tatjana Ahmed, Housekeeping Manager and

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Functional Specialist at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Taking things one step further, Steve Woods of Dubai-based Safety Skills Training DMCC stresses that “the hospitality industry is charged with the care of guests as if they were visitors in their own home.”

But helping customers in their time of need is more than just a human duty, it’s a legal requirement.

In 2008 the Dubai authorities made it mandatory for hotels to train all staff in first aid. The legislation is in place, but that doesn’t mean it’s being actioned. “Currently there are some who take first aid training very seriously and some that undertake the minimum to just about satisfy a municipality requirement,” explains Woods.

Training adoption is so poor in parts of the city that this May the Dubai Centre

Hygiene & Housekeeping

The Trainer view “When you are looking after guests they are your responsibility. But it’s not just about legal obligations, it is about ethical business and safety — it’s an essential part of good guest service.

Unfortunately it often takes a serious incident before companies understand the importance of having well trained staff.”

Where’s the injury?

“In our industry the biggest challenge is skills deterioration. Technical skills begin to deteriorate almost immediately after training and, if left un-checked, will leave the rescuer ill-equipped to handle an emergency.

Regular in-service training is essential; if this was rolled out across the hospitality industry it would lead to dramatic improvements.”

Training adoption is so poor in parts of the city that this May the Dubai Centre for Ambulance Services pledged to educate all hospitality workers in the emirate themselves.

for Ambulance Services pledged to educate all hospitality workers in the emirate themselves. The paramedic-led program will be rolled out next month, starting with hotels on the Palm Jumeirah and those in the Jumeirah group. “It’s a very big operation — we’re hoping to complete it by the end of 2016,” says Dr. Omar Al Sakaf, Medical and Technical Affairs at Dubai Centre for Ambulance Services.

But getting everyone trained isn’t a cure, it’s a tourniquet. There are deeper problems surrounding how training is conducted that need to be remedied.

We examine the issue from three different perspectives: the training company, the awarding body and the government authority.

Steve Woods Director of Business Development at Safety Skills Training DMCC

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

The awarding body view “We are the largest awarding body in Dubai offering UK first aid qualifications. There are certain important restrictions on trainers.

To start with, you have to be registered: in Dubai it’s with Dubai Ambulance and in the capital it’s with Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD). Crucially, the registrations are not interchangeable — if you are registered in one emirate and teach in another without a license you can be fined.”

Richard Sprenger Chairman at Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance

Where’s the injury?

“Vigilance of hoteliers. Highfield is here to ensure that first aid qualifications are valid and have integrity. All trainers we license are regulated so hoteliers can be sure they are being taught accredited courses by experienced professionals.

However, some training companies are making up their own qualifications and issuing certificates at random.

It completely undermines industry standards.”

“Some training companies are making up their own qualifications and issuing certificates at random. It completely undermines industry standards.”

The government authority view “We’ve been rolling out first aid training across Dubai for the last 10 years now. It’s important for as many people as possible to be trained in emergency procedures to help improve success and survival rates when accidents happen. We have trained employees in more than 500 hotels; that number will increase with the drive we’re starting this November. Next we’re looking to train taxi drivers with the help of RTA. After that it will be service staff in all public buildings.”

Where’s the injury?

“There are two main issues. Firstly, qualified first aiders in hotels are not always on duty when an accident happens. The second problem is to do with high employee turnover rates. Hospitality is a very transient industry and people are constantly moving on. This makes it hard to ensure staff are always first aid trained. The Expo 2020 boom means we have many new people to teach. It’s a challenge, but we will overcome it.”

Dr. Omar Al Sakaf Medical and Technical Affairs at Dubai Centre for Ambulance Services

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

Gyms or germs?

It’s a paradox - the one place people go to become healthier may in fact be making them sick, as bacteria, fungi and viruses thrive in the warm, sweaty atmosphere of athletic gear, yoga mats and water bottles. Without proper laundering and cleaning processes as standard, the germs may accumulate and find their way into guests’ systems, where they can cause gastrointestinal disease.

J

ason Tetro, a senior Canadian microbiolist has claimed that many gyms are so unhygienic that if people head into the shower with bare feet, “there’s a good likelihood that you might be coming out of there with either a wart or athlete’s foot”. He also tested a gym bag, bottle and mat picked at random - the bag was relatively clean but the water bottle contained bacteria from backwash that could grow to levels he said could potentially cause an illness within 24 hours.

To stay healthy at the gym, he suggests that users: • Don’t go into the shower with bare feet.

• Don’t share mats.

• Do disinfect their own with hot water and soap - if it smells, it needs cleaning.

• Do use saunas above 55C - germs grow easily around the 30C mark.

• Do use paper towels and disinfectant to clean shared equipment.

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

The mat was the most contaminated item.

“The mats themselves are incredibly porous and they’re going to be able to keep in anything put on there like sweat,” Tetro added.

Of course, giving advice to gym users is one things but, given these shocking findings, gym operators need to dramatically raise their game. When it comes to a fitness club’s cleanliness, there are very few universal rules, although the various Municipalities do random inspections and issue warning letters.

Most commonly, action is taken if a complaint is filed or an illness is traced to the facility.

The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association does provide a recommended checklist of cleaning and maintenance tasks for health clubs, including daily vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing and disinfecting. For the most part, though, it’s up to individual gyms - and gym goers - to ensure their spaces are clean.

Hygiene & Housekeeping

“Your gym should also be monitoring its air quality as gyms can have high levels of airborn dust, formaldehyde and carbon dioxide, which can contribute to respiratory problems and fatigue.”

So what are the potential hazards? First up, infectious diseases. Cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces like treadmill hand rails, free weights and yoga mats for anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours and other dangerous bacteria can linger even longer.

So, as an operator, you need to think from an infection control or prevention standpoint.

In addition, members and guests should be fully aware that gym staff wipe down equipment and high-traffic surfaces several times a day, with a cleaning solution that kills germs and bacteria. Locker rooms should also be cleaned several times a day and towels should be washed in hot water and bleach between each use.

Next, air quality. Your gym should also be monitoring its air quality as gyms can have high levels of airborn dust, formaldehyde and carbon dioxide, which can contribute to respiratory problems and fatigue.

Simply because of cost, it’s unrealistic to expect every machine to get a thorough cleaning after each use. But do keep your users informed about cleaning schedules and encourage them to also take responsibility for wipe downs. The reality is that not only should your facility have a cleaning staff, but it should be clear that they’re following a schedule and covering all the areas of the club - saunas, yoga studios and reception areas, along with cardio and weight rooms. Your gym should also provide ways for members to do their part to keep things clean, by wiping down machines, bikes, and mats with disinfectant spray. Some facilities provide spray bottles and paper towels, which can certainly help remove viruses and bacteria. Pre-moistened, antibacterial wipes are easy to use, so they get used more frequently.

Finally, if one of your users is sick and coughing or sneezing, do everyone a favour and tell them to stay home for a few days.

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Taking Stock Stocktaking: monotonous, mindnumbing and mundane? Perhaps. But just because it’s not the most thrilling part of hospitality doesn’t mean it isn’t important. The 276 bed Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek and 493 room Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh run operations on different scales, but their need for accurate stocktaking is the same. We talk to the keeper of the keys from each property about their tips and tricks for inventory success.

Why is regular stocktaking so important?

business valuation and reporting reasons.

Sanju Samuel, Assistant Director of Rooms, The Ritz-Carlton Riyadh: Hotel assets like linen, cutlery, crockery, glassware etc. add up to many millions worth of dirhams and mostly belong to the owners in this part of the world.

Hence regular stocktaking is important for a number of reasons: a. To ensure we are taking good care of the owner’s assets b. To ensure we have enough stock of each item to run smooth hotel operations c. To identify any shortfalls and look at necessary actions accordingly

How do you perform stocktaking? Do you follow a particular procedure or system, if so what is it?

Bob Busman, Rooms Division Manager, Radisson Blu Deira Creek Dubai: Stocktaking is key to regulating product levels and values. The practice is particularly important in kitchens to ensure food is kept within its legal expiry date as per the UAE Food Code. Inventory values are maintained on balance sheets and must be accurate for

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Samuel: We perform stocktaking manually using generated checklists and Excel spreadsheets.

Busman: Stocktaking is done on a monthly basis with daily spot checks. We adhere to LIFO and FIFO as appropriate and also to Dubai Municipality health and hygiene codes.

We are currently using SCM with monthly exporting to Excel for sales analysis.

How regularly do you take inventories and who is responsible?

Samuel: It varies depending on the item in question. Room linen is always checked by housekeeping. F&B linen could be taken care of by housekeeping and/or individual outlets.

Hygiene & Housekeeping

cases, the particular item is recounted to ascertain the stocktake figures.

Busman: Any variances are brought to the attention of the relevant outlet manager. Where necessary these variances are charged to the outlets, thereby affecting their financial results.

Individual stickers are used for high cost beverage items and ‘bottle-for-bottle exchange’ is practiced throughout the hotel. Internal transfers between bars are recorded by the outlet managers and verified by the inventory controller. Security measures are in place to minimize any losses through misappropriation.

What is the biggest challenge you face in stocktaking?

“During a room linen inventory if all parties involved (guestroom attendants, pantry attendants and laundry team) have not counted stock within the short window of time allowed the inventory will be a failure.”

In-store items are handled by the accounting department.

Busman: F&B stores have a stocktake once a month with two people from the F&B department assisting the store keeper and inventory controller. For operating supplies and equipment held in stores the stocktake is conducted every six months by the inventory controller and store keeper, with verification by the cost controller.

How do you deal with shrinkage and tracking down inconsistencies?

Samuel: Once the data is complied, it is compared with the previous period’s inventory. Opening stocks of the particular item are also looked at. This should give an experienced leader a good understanding of the trends and patterns of consumption, damages, pilferage etc. Any major deviations from the acceptable trend are usually due to human error or some items missed out completely in the counting process. In such

Samuel: Getting 100% commitment from all parties is the biggest challenge. Many employees think stocktaking is a mundane task above and beyond their daily duties, hence they are not always as scrupulous as a manager would like. This leads to undesirable variances.

For example, during a room linen inventory if all parties involved (guestroom attendants, pantry attendants and laundry team) have not counted stock within the short window of time allowed the inventory will be a failure.

The linen will move through its cycle from laundry to pantry, trolleys, guestrooms and finally back to laundry again with inaccurate or missing values on the inventory sheet. The whole exercise will have to be redone if one person fails to adhere to the assigned task in the time frame allowed.

Busman: Time constraints can lead to miscounts. Even when the count is accurate values can easily be mistyped during data entry. Stocktaking can also be physically challenging — in some areas storage space is not easy to access.

What is the best way to minimize costs? Do you have any tips?

Samuel: Yes, there are a few things you can do to cut costs. a. Keep strict control of your stocks b. Identify and eliminate wastage/misuse by team members c. Identify and control pilferage by guests Busman: Stricter purchasing controls can help minimize costs. You should also identify slow moving items and order on a reduced par level basis. Finally, ensure all employees observe strict adherence to minimum and maximum par stock levels.

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The Pro Chef Awards 2015 Prepare to doff your hats for the industry’s finest Habtoor Grand, Dubai 11.11.15

Nominate. Vote. www.theprochefme.com/awards

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PRO CHEF

Backstreet

Bangkok

It’s said that the best way to experience a place is through its food, which can most definitely be said for Bangkok – if, of course, you take the street food route. Join us on a backstreet tour, of one of the most colourful culinary city getaways. By Sophie McCarrick.

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KEY WORDS Hello - sawadee ka/krap Thank you - kop kun ka/krap Want - ao Don’t want - mai ao Yes - chai (or ka/krap) No - mai chai Spicy - pet Not spicy - mai pet

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W

hether visiting this vibrant city for a day or for a week, you could wander the streets of buzzing Bangkok for miles, handing out no more than a couple dozen baht to find yourself bursting at the seems with an endless supply of mouthwatering food – all served from makeshift roadside trolleys.

Exploring here, any visitor will find it a challenge to locate a street corner without a row of food carts, lined up dishing out freshly made meals like noodle soup, fish cakes, chicken satay, Khanom Bueang (a coconut stuffed rice flour crepe taco), Khao Niew Ma Muan (mango sticky rice), countless varieties of curry, and of course Pad Thai. And with prices ranging between just 10 to 100 bahts per helping (Dhs 1 to Dhs 10), these dishes most certainly guarantee your moneys worth.

The culinary, backstreet adventure of Bangkok is a complete celebration of the senses. With each and every dish, ready yourself to be greeted with fresh and fragrant ingredients like lemongrass, coconut milk, galangal or kaffir lime.

Perhaps thought an unique combination – but nonetheless irresistibly delicious – Thai cuisine presents its diners with four prominent tastes – salty, sour, sweet and spicy

(and, as a tip, saying your preference is “not spicy” to a Thai local will be taken as spicy, in standard, international terms. Be sure to insist that you don’t want your food ‘Thai spicy”, if you’re not a fan of heat). A medley of regional influence, Thai food comprises culinary components learnt from neighboring countries of Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

And what’s best? You can find it any time of day, at any point in the city. Bangkokians are known for enjoying small portions of food regularly throughout the day, meaning many find themselves tucking in at all hours of the night and morning. There’s even a midnight food tour available in the city (Bangkok’s Best Eats Midnight Food Tour, is the one I went on), which is given by tuk tuk. On this tour you explore the local favourites – places a newbie tourist would never find, including the city’s best Pad Thai at an eatery called Thip Samai, where people queue alongside an open-street ‘kitchen’ of industrial barrels and the biggest woks you’ll ever see – just to grab a seat for a few minutes.

Led by tour or not, the only way to enjoy Bangkok’s food scene is to allow your senses to do the talking – your nose is sure to lead the way through the bustling streets as you discover one of the world’s most exciting street food scenes.

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While losing yourself in glorious gastronomy, be sure to be on the look out for these dishes: Som Tam Freshly pounded papaya salad with chilies, peanuts, garlic, tomato, fish sauce, tamarind juice and a generous squeeze of lime, topped with dried shrimp or salted crab.

Gai Pad Med Mamuang Chicken stir-fried with the crunch of cashews, onions and red chilies.

Pad Thai Thai-style noodles fried in a wok along with veggies, seafood or meat, bean sprouts, fennel and egg.

Accompanied with fish sauce, palm sugar, chili powder and a sprinkle of ground peanuts.

Tom Yam Soup A clear soup made with a broth of fragrant herbs and lots of chilies.

Oyster Omelet Crisp and crackling omelets topped with glossy oysters.

Bamee Chinese-style wheat and egg noodles, typically served with slices of barbecued pork, a handful of greens and/or wontons.

Sate Grilled skewers of meat, accompanied by slightly sweet peanut-based dipping sauce.

Ho Mak Pla Baskets made with banana leaves that are layered with herbs, fresh fish, red curry paste and egg, baked and topped with coconut cream.

Khao Niew Ma Muan mango with sticky rice (you’ll find streets dotted with stalls offering this deliciously addictive dessert).

Khanom Bueang A Thai crepe that resembles a taco but is made with rice flour. They are crisp and stuffed with coconut or flavoured cream and shredded coconut.

DID YOU KNOW? Bangkok began as a small trading centre and port community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River some 200 years ago. And, while today the city has caught up with modern times, every corner of Bangkok still has an intriguing story of depth and history to tell.

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PRO CHEF

PLACES TO SEE Bangkok is not only a melting pot of cuisines, but a vibrant city that is rich in history, abundant with the friendliest of people, unparalleled shopping opportunities and interesting attractions.

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of Emerald Buddha) Located on the same site, it is without doubt that the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew are two of the most cherished and well-known attractions in all of Bangkok. A must see.

STAYING THERE Placing you in the vibrant heart of the Pratunam neighborhood in downtown Petchburi, Amari Watergate Bangkok is the perfect location for visitors wanting to be in the thick of it all, without feeling overwhelmed.

The hotel offers contemporary and convenient accommodation inclusive of 569 deluxe and grand deluxe rooms plus suites. Situated in an area known for its bustling landscape of shopping malls, markets and roadside eateries, the property is surrounded by Bangkok treasures to ensure you’re never without something exciting to do – whether it be business, leisure, or simply some family foodie fun, Amari Watergate lends an insiders hand to making the most of your stay in Bangkok.

You’ll also not be lost for food at this hotel – it has six different outlets to choose from. Serving up everything from southern Chinese cuisine at Heichinrou, flavours of ancient Siam in stylish Thai on 4, authentic grills and drinks at Henry J. Bean’s Bar and Grill, Asian and Western specialties from Promenade, baked goods and deli items from Cascade, plus day time snacks and smoothies from the poolside ‘Pool Bar’.

Room rates start from Dhs 270 ($75) a night for a deluxe twin room. For more information, visit: www.amari.com.

GETTING THERE Thai Airways offers direct, daily flights between Dubai and Bangkok. Ticket prices start from around Dhs 2,300 per person for a return journey. www. thaiairways.com.

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Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha) Home to the giant, golden reclining Buddha, Wat Pho is the site where the original Thai massage was created.

Wat Arun (Temple of the Rising Sun) Situated along the Chao Phraya River, this temple is breathtaking – particularly in the evening as its lights glisten against the river’s water.

Pak Khlong Talad A flower market like no other, supplying every exotic type of flower you can imagine.

A stunning sight to see.

Chatuchak Market With around 15,000 vendors, there’s nothing you won’t find on a shopping spree here.

Jim Thompson House & Museum The Jim Thompson House is the home of James H.W. Thompson, a self-made American entrepreneur who was the founder of the world renowned Jim Thompson Thai Silk Company.

GETTING AROUND The city quite literally offers every form of transportation imaginable: tuk tuk, train, subway, bus, taxi, canal boat, riverboat, motorbike, rickshaws, and a BTS sky-train. All are widely available and mostly, very affordable.

GETTING AROUND The city quite literally offers every form of transportation imaginable: tuk tuk, train, subway, bus, taxi, canal boat, riverboat, motorbike, rickshaws, and a BTS sky-train.

All are widely available and mostly, very affordable.

R O F Y ONL S L A N O I S S E F PRO K.A.C. Prasad Director of Culinary VP Emirates Culinary Guild for East Coast Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort - Fujairah Izu Ani Head Chef La Serre - Dubai Stephane Buchholzer Culinary Director - Complex The St.Regis - Dubai W Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai Danny Kattar Executive Chef Intercontinental - Abu Dhabi Atim Suyatim Executive Chef AFHM Hospitality - Dubai

Utensils and uniforms for Chefs E xc l u s i ve l y d i s t r i b u te d i n UA E by R ES TO FA I R R AK L LC

R AS AL KHAIMAH | DUBAI | ABU DHABI

www.restofair.ae

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PRO CHEF

Face to Face With

Alex Barrera

Peruvian chef Alex Barrera is testing Dubai’s love for rice, spice and all things nice with his new restaurant, Pollo Pollo. One of a number of Latin inspired eateries cropping up across town, the Jumeirah spot opened softly last month. Its arrival marks the culmination of years of research and a promise made between two strangers many moons ago.

I

t’s an unlikely friendship. Trujillo native Alex Barrera first met Lebanese Ali Sidani in 2013 when the Arabic businessman sought out a culinary tour of Peru. Sidani already had the seed of a Peruvian restaurant in the Middle East in his mind. After being guided by Barrera through the gastronomic highs of the country, he had found his Head Chef. Two years later the determined duo sit shoulder to shoulder in their newly opened premises, best of friends and partners in an ambitious culinary concept.

Pollo Pollo pivots around pollo a la brasa, the wood fired roast chicken native to Peru. The dish is so deeply ingrained in the country’s identity that Peru’s National Institute of Culture regards it as a culinary specialty and the government includes it in its inflation figures.

Chef Barrera’s enthusiasm for Pollo Pollo is all new, but this is not the first time he has taken his native cuisine across borders. Prior to touching down in Dubai last November Barrera was Head Chef at Peruvian restaurants in Panama and Costa Rica, as well as spending a stint as Sous Chef on a cruise liner.

Full of beans about his new restaurant and with plans for a separate fine dining concept in the pipeline, we catch up with the passionate Peruvian.

You have established restaurants in Central America, but what brings you to the Middle East?

Meeting Ali brought me here. My best friend is his wife’s cousin — it’s a funny link, but I organized a culinary tour of Peru for him in 2013. It all went from there. We spent 15 days eating our way around the country; by the

end Ali was one of us, one more Peruvian.

His mother-in-law is from Peru, so he already spoke some Spanish and understood something of the food and culture. We were stood on the beach one day talking about opening a Peruvian restaurant in Dubai and I asked him how serious he was. We have tourists fall in love with our country and cuisine quite a lot you see, so I worried he might be full of empty promises! There was a woman selling woven bracelets nearby. He bought two, put one on each of us and swore we wouldn’t take them off until the restaurant was open. I guess we’ll have to cut them off soon!

How did your relationship with food begin?

One of my earliest memories is running home from school to eat my grandmother’s lomo saltado – beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers and potatoes all stir fried together. It is a typically Peruvian meal and one my grandmother would set as a test dish for maids looking to work for us. She was a wonderful cook — if you passed her lomo saltado test it meant you could cook. If I could only have one meal again it would be my grandmother’s lomo saltado. I’m lucky that I take her hands – she gave me the cooking bug and the skills to go with it. When I applied for my first job at the Hilton Miami the Head Chef thought I was professionally trained from the way I held the pan. It was all down to her!

What native dishes really define Peru?

It’s hard to ‘define’ our cuisine because it is differs depending on where you are in the country. Ceviche is obviously iconic. But whereas tourists eat it any time of day locals

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“We have good local providers for fresh vegetables and, after months of research, we selected a supplier in Oman for our chicken.

The pollo a la brasa is the star of our menu so we had to make sure we got it right.”

only have it in the morning — in many places it’s not seen after lunch. Our seafood is so fresh that by evening it’s considered old. We like to take it straight from the sea to the pan.

In the afternoon and evening pollo a la brasa is very popular. The wonderful thing about this dish is that everyone eats it, from the President to porters. Food is a great equalizer in Peru and everyone eats well regardless of wealth.

There’s also a strong Chinese influence: hybrid dishes such as arroz chaufa fuse Chinese with Peruvian. There are also elements of Japanese and Italian in our food – a lot of dishes look Mediterranean. It’s a real crossover.

The climate and terrain in Dubai is obviously very different to Peru. How do you deal with sourcing fresh produce here?

We want to ensure we are delivering a totally authentic experience at Pollo Pollo, so we’re not willing to compromise on ingredients.

Much of our produce is imported direct from Peru, including maiz morado (purple sweetcorn), giant Inca corn and — for the first time in the Middle East — Inca Kola, the national drink of Peru. We fly in our own customized sauces based on aji amarillo. We even decided to import our special rotisserie ovens, woks and pans from Peru. We’re serious about being authentic!

Obviously we don’t need to outsource for absolutely everything. We have good local providers for fresh vegetables and, after

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months of research, we selected a supplier in Oman for our chicken. The pollo a la brasa is the star of our menu so we had to make sure we got it right. We receive deliveries from Oman every day — the chicken is corn-feed and hormone-free.

How are you hoping Pollo Pollo will be received by the local community of chefs and consumers?

I’ve been asked if I will change the recipes to cater for a local audience, but I won’t. I don’t tame flavour – it’s not a tiger. I am confident that people will appreciate what we are doing here. With Ali as CEO and myself as Head Chef I think we have got the bases covered.

We have already had visits from the chefs at Coya and Toro Toro and they’ve been very complimentary. We’re also getting lots of families coming through the doors.

Some parents say that their child doesn’t like chicken, but when I get the kid to do a ‘special tasting’ for me they always want more!

What’s next?

Ali and I have already started work on a new Peruvian fine dining restaurant in Dubai.

We’re keeping the names under wraps for now, but we start construction work in International Centre next month and are set to open in January 2016. I will be Executive Chef, so it’s a very exciting prospect for me. By offering both casual and fine dining options we hope to bring Peruvian food to as many people as possible.

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Safe storage Cases of food poisoning cost the US economy over $88 billion every year. Restaurants can face crippling legal battles if customers fall ill from contaminated food. Skimping on safe food storage? You may pay the price in court.

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PRO CHEF

L

ike most other parts of the world, the Middle East has strict regulations regarding food storage.

But that doesn’t mean accidents don’t happen. In the UAE there were six cases of people being hospitalized from food poisoning between 2007 and 2009 alone.

The final incident resulted in the death of two small children.

Be it a backstreet burger joint or a 5star restaurant, food storage is of utmost importance. Eateries are legally obliged to serve food fit for human consumption.

Negligence means lost reputation, business and — in the worst cases — a court case. Stay out of danger and in favour with customers by following these basic food storage guidelines.

Always airtight – the minute food makes contact with air it starts to spoil.

Produce left out in the open is also more likely to become contaminated by other food, chemicals or the environment.

Restaurants should look for suppliers offering a range different sized airtight containers and food pans with snap-on lid attachments.

FIFO – the first in, first out rule is designed to keep food waste to a minimum and safety standards high.

All produce should be labelled with a description of the contents, the date it was received and the date it must be consumed by. Contrary to opinion,

Under no circumstances should you store food: • In locker rooms • In toilet rooms • In dressing rooms • In garbage rooms • In mechanical rooms • Under sewer lines that are not shielded to intercept potential drips • Under leaking water lines, including leaking automatic fire sprinkler heads, or under lines on which water has condensed • Under open stairwells • Under other sources of contaminations

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“It’s particularly important to keep an eye on cooling units during the hot summer months when they have to work twice as hard to counteract the muggy conditions outside.”

this applies to dry supplies as much as refrigerated products. Food should also be stacked according to freshness, with the newest supplies at the back and oldest up front.

Monitoring the mercury – Most commercial refrigerators and freezers come with handy built in temperature gauges.

But it’s a smart idea to use a free-standing thermometer too incase the device fails.

The FDA states that refrigerators must be kept below 41°F and freezers units below 0°F, good guidance for Middle Eastern operators. It’s particularly important to keep an eye on cooling units during the hot summer months when they have to work twice as hard to counteract the muggy conditions outside.

Keep it up – the US Food and Drug Authority (FDA) requires all produce to be kept a minimum of six inches off the ground to avoid dust, dirt and contamination. Six inches should do the trick, but to be extra safe it’s a good idea to aim for twelve.

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Space to breath – beware overloading refrigerators and freezers. Over-stacked shelves can lead to hot patches and also block vents, causing the whole unit to break down. Crates of fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables, should not be touching — the food needs space around it for air to circulate. This is particularly important for produce that has yet to ripen.

Move the meat down – whether cooked or raw, meat, fish and poultry produces juices.

While they may add to the flavour of the dish, it is important to keep them separate from other food. With this in mind, always keep meat on the lowest shelf to avoid liquid dripping down and contaminating other produce.

In doubt? Throw it out – Made two batches of desserts and can’t remember which the old set is? Throw them all out. Yes, it can be tempting to take a risk and save the cash, but do you really want to face legal action from a customer kept off work with food poisoning? Probably not.

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The weight of waste Buffets are where F&B profits go to die. We’ve known it for years, and yet the institution of Friday brunch means the gluttonous practice still pervades.

With food constituting 38% of Dubai’s waste, we talk much-needed waste management techniques.

“It’s a cultural thing,” states Chef Michel Uwe, President of Emirates Culinary Guild. “In other parts of the world chefs hope guests clear the buffet. Here that is not the case; a hotel is embarrassed if their buffet is bare at the end of a sitting – it’s like they didn’t provide enough food.” In Dubai alone an average of 8,000 tonnes of waste is generated every day, with each resident contributing about 2.7 kilograms or the equivalent of almost 1,000 kilograms a year. A sizeable chunk comes from buffets.

“We usually prepare between 700 to 800 meals per day, but about 250 of them remain unsold,” reports Chef Nahar Kinan from Rimal Rotana, Dubai. These excess meals are donated to the poor via a scheme called Saving Grace, but many of the city’s

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hotels and restaurants are not so waste and community conscious.

“Many kitchens will prepare food for 80 when they have 50 covers booked,” explains Chef Uwe. But things are improving. A number of outlets are choosing smaller, individually plated potions over the traditional chafing tray. Not only is this option more presentable, but it makes a big difference to wastage. “It’s about education,” asserts Chef Uwe, “we still get people asking for a ‘proper size portion’ but it is our job to advise that actually the serving size provided will more than suffice.”

Some of the region’s F&B outlets are treating buffets with a new brush. Taking inspiration from the Brazilian trend, Gramo in Dubai’s JLT area charges customers on a weight basis: you eat more, you pay more.

“In other parts of the world chefs hope guests clear the buffet. Here that is not the case; a hotel is embarrassed if their buffet is bare at the end of a sitting – it’s like they didn’t provide enough food.”

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STATS

In Dubai alone an average of 8,000 tonnes of waste every day is generated with each resident contributing about 2.7 kilograms, which translates into almost 1,000 kilograms per person a year.

Food waste makes up to 38% of Dubai’s total waste, a figure that can rise to 55% during Ramadan.

“Out of the 1000 tonnes of waste we receive a day 300 tonnes of that is food waste.”

- Eng. Mohammad Jarar, Compost Plant Manager, Tadweer

The United Nations Environment Programme’s statistics show that annually an estimated one-third of all food produced globally — 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion — ends up in the bins of consumers and retailers.

On average, the per capita food waste in Europe and North America is around 115kg a year, while that in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia, is only around 11kg a year.

It is the city’s first restaurant to implement such a model, but with such wastage savings up for grabs, many may follow suit.

Taking things one step further, some suggest we do away with the tired trestle tables altogether. Eric Vasta, Executive Chef of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, thinks there is a place for food trucks in the world of buffets. The trucking trend has captured the curiosity and custom of diners in the US. Perhaps these mobile options will bring the disruption the region’s bloated buffet industry needs?

Regardless of whether your buffet option is big or small, high-end or budget and daytime or nighttime, it is important to implement waste management strategies to ensure your wallet is as full as your guest at the end of service.

300 million barrels of oil and 25 per cent of all fresh water is used to produce the food that is wasted globally.

198 million hectares of land are used to produce food that is lost or wasted each year — the size of Mexico.

39% of Abu Dhabi’s waste comprises food, according to a 2009 study by the Centre for Waste Management – Abu Dhabi.

5,600 megatonnes of greenhouse gases are associated with producing food that is ultimately lost or wasted.

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WHO DOES THE TITLE

OD F O OD M O G C E BB

CHEF OF THE YEAR r O f O T G N O BEL 2015?

Nominate your favourite chef from any restaurant in the Middle East, to get them in the running!

NomiNate aNd wiN! www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/awards/2015 WIN A Luxury TrIp TO SOuTH AfrIcA

with South Beach Hotel and Gondwana Game reserve, cape Town, worth $3,000!

One lucky winner can take a guest and two children to enjoy a 4-night stay (2 nights at South Beach Hotel and 2 nights at Gondwana Game Reserve), inclusive of complimentary bike rental, morning and evening safaris, delicious meals and more!

#bbcgfawards2015

Mystery Box sponsor

Celebrating the best in food from across the region, voting for the 6th annual awards is open in the run up to Dubai’s most anticipated glittering ceremony on December 16, 2015 – marking the official launch of the first ever BBC Good Food Show Dubai on December 17 – 19!

VOTE NOW! REStaURaNtS CatEGORy ❇ RestauRant of the yeaR - Dubai* ❇ RestauRant of the yeaR - abu Dhabi* ❇ best new RestauRant - Dubai* ❇ best new RestauRant - abu Dhabi* ❇ RestauRant of the yeaR - Doha ❇ best euRopean RestauRant ❇ best asian RestauRant

❇ best contempoRaRy

bRitish RestauRant ❇ best latin ameRican RestauRant ❇ best miDDle easteRn RestauRant ❇ best inDian RestauRant ❇ best steak house ❇ best bRunch

❇ best seafooD RestauRant ❇ best expeRimental RestauRant ❇ best healthy eating RestauRant ❇ best fine Dining RestauRant ❇ best casual Dining RestauRant ❇ best fooD bloggeR

CHEf CatEGORy ❇ chef of the yeaR

HOME COOKING CatEGORy ❇ favouRite supeRmaRket ❇ favouRite healthy fooD stoRe/maRket

❇ favouRite stoRe cupboaRD bRanD ❇ favouRite DaiRy bRanD

❇ favouRite beveRage bRanD

aCCESSORIES CatEGORy ❇ favouRite kitchen appliance bRanD

❇ favouRite kitchen fuRnituRe specialist

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With cons ary i d, culin ollywoo nd H a Paul s Martin s e e t a m Ja ndy B ! a show e h t t a

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www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/awards/2015 By voting, you stand a chance of winning a very special prize – stay tuned for details!

Anyone can vote! Log onto www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/awards/2015 to nominate and vote for your favourites in each category. On November 12, the top ten nominees in each category (with the highest votes) will be listed on our website.

Voting will then continue until December 3, and the winners will be revealed at our gala awards event on December 16. *Winner of the Chef of the Year will be chosen by an independent judging panel.

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SHOW DUBAI

PRO CHEF

I

n 1999, Chef Harbin began working as a Rounds Chef and then as Sous Chef across Hyatt Regency Resorts in Florida, where he was responsible for three different F&B outlets. A year after, as Kitchen Manager at Boondocks Grille & Draft House, he assisted in re-launching the restaurant and establishing new recipes and standards. Four years later, he worked in Miami Beach as Chef de Cuisine at the renowned Pacific Time Restaurant and later, in 2006, joined the prestigious Noble House at its award-winning Little Palm Island Resort and Spa. From 2010 on, he worked at Grove Isle Resort and Spa and Pelican Grand Beach Resort.

All of the above outstanding venues gave him the opportunity to explore his talents and allowed him to be involved in a variety of responsibilities from menu development, hiring, team management, quality control and many other key functions.

In 2014, he made the move to New York City and joined the Asia de Cuba NYC team, led by Asia de Cuba Corporate Concept Chef Luis Pous. In the NYC location, he was a key component for the re-launch - with his duties including kitchen planning, menu development and quality control. Now, at Asia de Cuba Abu Dhabi he leads the culinary team as Chef de Cuisine.

The eggs factor:

A Cuba libre?

Chef Phillip Harbin began his career in Military Culinary School over 20 years ago. Not having had the most common initiation into the industry, this insight into the world of food gave him an understanding of the culinary world and fueled his passion to be a successful chef. But what’s in his fridge at home?

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And in his fridge?

“Well, here’s my honest reveal as to what lurks behind my refrigerator doors at home,” he reveals. “It’s fairly common for me have a variety of meats and seafood lying in wait for me to conjure up something quick after a long day of work at Asia de Cuba, like some rotisserie chicken from any one of Abu Dhabi’s shawarma hotspots - and there’s a couple really good ones in the tourist club district, by the way. You can turn a couple chickens into a few meals, served cold the next day you could quickly shred the chicken and top a salad for a quick bite before or after work and then make a stock from the leftovers (bones and bits) for impromptu Pho Gu (Vietnamese chicken and noodle soup) in your near future.”

Anything else? “More often you’ll find a few cuts of New York strip or skirt steaks, also some lesser cuts that require low and slow cooking that are ideal for crockpots easy one, two, three, recipes that can fool any unexpected guests that might pop up and have them believing you slaved all day in the kitchen! Anyway, here’s quick breakdown on the other usual suspects in my fridge…”

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“You can turn a couple chickens into a few meals, served cold the next day you could quickly shred the chicken and top a salad for a quick bite.”

What’s in my fridge...

• Smoked salmon • Romanian smoked bacon • Lebanese spicy beef or lamb sausages • Fresh shrimp or fish • Wagyu beef • Boxes of silken tofu • The usual herbs, fruits and veggies from local grocers • Sriracha • Chulula hot sauce • Thai sweet chile sauce • Ketchup

• Hellman’s Mayonnaise • Mustard relish • Dijon mustard • Chinese mustard • Horseradish • Fresh wasabi • Soy sauce • Fish sauce • Oyster sauce • HP Sauce • BBQ sauce • Capers

• Pickles • Roasted piquillo peppers • Ginger soy vinaigrette • Feta • Swiss cheese • Manchego • Smoked mozzarella • Fresh juices • Flavoured waters • Milk • Beer • White wine

Shopping tips: • I buy my fish from the Mushrif Fish Market and my meat from the Mushrif Meat Market

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Junk food? For now, I’ll keep that part under wraps. The door closes...

PRO CHEF

Italian strata with tomatoes, bell pepper and Swiss cheese (Serves 8) Ingredients • 225g stale country-style whole wheat or multigrain bread • 1 garlic clove, halved • olive oil flavoured nonstick cooking spray • 1 cup finely shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese • 1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and torn into thin strips • 2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced • 3 large eggs • 3 large egg whites • 2 cups buttermilk • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes • 1/2 tsp dried oregano • 1/2 tsp sea salt • freshly ground black pepper Method Preheat the oven to 175C.

Wolfgang Puck As one of the lunchpins of modern American cuisine, Wolfgang Puck has managed to balance attracting a celebrity clientele in his LA restaurants with delivering dishes that are always on the money. With a evergrowing global empire, he is now focusing more and more on healthier dishes to match his own tastes, here are two of his favourites from his book Wolfgang Puck Makes It Healthy.

With a sharp bread knife, cut the bread into slices 3/4 inch thick. Rub one or both sides of each bread slice with the cut sides of the garlic clove halves, using more or less depending on how garlicky you want the strata to be. Then, cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes. ightly coat the inside of a 12x10-inch baking L dish, gratin dish, or a heavy nonstick 10-inch skillet with nonstick cooking spray. lace the bread cubes in the dish in a single, P even layer. Evenly sprinkle half of the cheese over the bread. Layer the bell pepper strips and tomato slices on top and then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the layer of peppers and tomatoes.

Put the eggs and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Add the buttermilk, red pepper flakes, oregano and salt and pepper to taste and beat until thoroughly combined. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the layered ingredients in the baking dish.

Bake the strata until it looks slightly puffed up and the top is golden brown, 45 mins to one hour. Remove the dish from the oven and let it set at room temperature for at least ten minutes before serving.

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PRO CHEF

Method In a large, wide bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, buttermilk, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.

Over medium heat, heat a heavy nonstick skillet, or a pair of skillets, large enough to hold all the French toast slices in a single layer without crowding. Dip the bread slices into the egg mixture, turning them and making sure they are completely saturated.

Spray the heated skillet or skillets with nonstick cooking spray. Add the soaked bread pieces and cook until golden brown on both sides, five to seven minutes in total.

To make the fresh berry compote, in a nonreactive saucepan combine the blueberries, raspberries, honey, orange zest, orange juice and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally and continue simmering just until the berries have given up some of their juices and have turned slightly syrupy, three to four minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and keep warm.

Buttermilk French toast with fresh berry compote (Serves 4)

Ingredients • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten • 2 large egg whites • 475ml buttermilk • 1 tbsp honey • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract • 1 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 tsp ground ginger • 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg • 1/4 tsp salt • 8 slices good-quality whole wheat bread,each about 1 inch thick, halved diagonally • butter-flavoured nonstick cooking spray confectioner’s sugar, for dusting • fresh berries (optional) • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries • 3/4 cup fresh raspberries • 3 tbsp honey • 1 tbsp grated orange zest • 3 oz fresh orange juice (from one large orange) • pinch of salt

Arrange two slices of the French toast on each of four heated serving plates. Spoon some of the compote over each serving. If you like, spoon a little confectioner’s sugar into a small, fine-mesh sieve held over each plate and tap the sieve lightly to dust the French toast. Garnish with fresh berries and serve with more berry compote on the side.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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PRO CHEF

Arroz Chaufa a Peruvian-Chinese dish (serves 4) Ingredients • 500g of cooked white rice • 4 eggs (with yolks) • 300g chicken breast (boneless and skinless) • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce • 1 tbsp sesame oil • 1 tbsp ginger powder • 50g spring onions

Recipe corner:

Alex Barrera at Pollo Pollo Peruvian Chef Alex Barrera is a passionate believer in staying true to your culinary roots. “I don’t tame flavour for anyone – it’s not a tiger,” he asserts. His recently opened restaurant celebrates pollo a la brasa, a beloved national dish, and a new fine dining venture opening in 2016 will offer consumers a more refined taste of Peru.

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Method First, chop the chicken breast and heat up the wok. Once hot enough add the chicken and oil and then sauté the chicken. Meanwhile, scramble the four eggs and add the rice to the wok. Once the eggs are ready add them as well, then add the dark soy sauce and ginger powder.

Meanwhile, chop the spring onion for garnish.

When the rice is ready, serve and sprinkle the chopped spring onion on top.

PRO CHEF

Empanadas (serves 4) Ingredients For the empanada dough: • 250g flour • 200g butter • 1 tbsp of salt • 1 tbsp sugar • 75ml milk For the filling: • 500g shredded cooked chicken • 125ml milk • 3 pieces of bread • 300g aji amarillo • 100g chopped onion • 20g garlic • 250ml chicken stock • 100g aji de gallina • 1 boiled egg • 2 black olives (cut in half)

Method Caramelize the onion and garlic until transparent. Then add the aji amarillo and turn the heat down to a low level. Break the bread into small pieces, add and stir frequently. Add the shredded chicken and once it is thoroughly cooked add the milk so it becomes nice and creamy.

In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and mix in a baking machine. While the machine is still running, slowly pour in the milk to obtain the right consistency for the dough.

Divide the dough into four circles and fill each with stuffing mix, aji de gallina, half a boiled egg and half an olive. Fold the empanada tightly and baste with raw egg, so it doesn’t open in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 170C.

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29-31 ANUAR.indd 30

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PRO CHEF

Wow wow not pow wow Route 66: a barren and beloved highway slicing through the heart of America. Barren, that is, except for a series of giant teepees jutting out against the plains. The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, offers guests a truly unique hotel experience. As the drive-thru sign above the motel neatly puts it, ‘Have you slept in a wigwam lately?’

You may recognize The Wigwam Motel from the 1990s film Dark Wind. Or, for those of you with children, perhaps the ‘Cozy Cone Hotel’ from Pixar’s Cars rings a bell? The Arizonan novelty hotel has graced the silver screen on more than one occasion. And it’s found its way into the history books too; in 2002 the site was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.

Designed and built between the 1930s and ‘50s by Frank Redford (father of the current owners), the Wigwam Motel started life as one of seven ‘villages’ dotted between Florida and California. Now only three sites remain.

This, the best known, straddles Route 66 – the iconic highway made famous by Bobby

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Troupe’s blues song – and is home to 15 concrete teepees.

Staying in the teepees means going native.

Literally. Each of the 32 foot high structures houses a bed, small bathroom and not much else. But The Wigwam Motel’s USP is its old school Americana charm and unique location, not 5 star decadence. Adding to the ambiance, each teepee has its own vintage car pulled up outside for the perfect photo opportunity. And if that isn’t enough, you can buy a model wigwam from the on-site museum as a memento of your stay.

It’s described in online reviews as ‘shabby’, ‘atmospheric’ and everything in between. But at $62 a night, it offers a cheap and kooky place to get your kicks while travelling Route 66.

ANNOUNCING THE THIRD ANNUAL PRO CHEF ME AWARDS!

NOMINATIONS OPEN 1.9.2015

www.theprochefme.com/awards Nominations will be accepted only from people active in F&B from chefs to sommeliers, marketing to suppliers. You may nominate in as many categories as you wish, but multiple nominations for the same award will be disqualified.

The Pro Chef ME Awards 2015 will be presented at an evening banquet to be held at the Habtoor Grand in Dubai on 11.11.2015.

To reserve your seat at the Awards evening, please contact: amy.linney@cpimediagroup.com kimberly.gamarro@cpimediagroup.com