F & B : Room seRvice
The room service menu at Kerry Hotel , Pudong , Shanghai , includes many items from signature restaurant The Cook , such as Malaysian-style curry laksa ( RMB105 / US $ 17 ).
JP ’ s Po-Boy at Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City — featuring cornmeal-battered shrimp and Tabasco mayo — aims to highlight the Louisiana roots of Chef de Cuisine Jean Paul Bourgeois .
At Esperanza , An Auberge Resort in Cabo San Lucas , Mexico , a Peruvian quinoa-and-farro cake is one popular health-focused item .
When Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City set out to upgrade its room service menu last fall , it did so with rather lofty goals . “ We wanted our menu to be different — not your normal everyday room service menu ,” says General Manager Dan Entenberg . “ We wanted our guests to get excited about enjoying a meal from the comfort of their rooms .”
Working with Union Square Hospitality Group , Gramercy Park Hotel chose to highlight the Louisiana background of Chef de Cuisine Jean Paul Bourgeois with its room service menu via a one-page biography in addition to dishes such as JP ’ s Po-Boy ( US $ 25 ) and Creole-spiced chicken wings ( US $ 15 ). Since the new menu launched , cover counts have increased 25 %, Entenberg says .
A growing number of room service menus are looking more like the menus of hotels ’ signature restaurants . Most of the room service items at Kerry Hotel , Pudong , Shanghai , come from The Cook , the property ’ s all-day-dining restaurant that features 13 live kitchens serving a variety of ethnic cuisines . “ Guests traveling abroad miss their home country ’ s food , so the items on our menu ensure our guests find their favorites ,” says General Manager Gregor Wateler . Auberge Resorts , Mill Valley , California , has built its room service menus around three pillars — sustainable , organic and local — says Vice President of Operations John Washko , in order to meet guest demands for healthier in-room choices . “ We have changed the way we prepare our food , our recipes and the way we think , always respecting the health of our guests ,” Washko notes . Rosewood San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato , Mexico , takes a similar approach . Food and Beverage Director
Octavio Muñoz says the hotel ’ s commitment to fresh , local ingredients not only contributes to the quality of its room service menu , but also keeps costs down thanks to the use of seasonal items and ongoing relationships with area suppliers .
Of course , room service menus will always include certain staples , but even those can present opportunities to be creative . “ Our salmon is miso-glazed and then broiled with brown rice , asparagus and mitake mushrooms , so it ’ s very healthy ,” says Russell Warner , director of food and beverage at Viceroy Santa Monica in California . “ We also have the obligatory pasta dishes but make them in-house daily so they are fresh and with seasonal ingredients . There are items that will never change , but the way in which they are done is where you can stay up with trends and keep guests interested .”
www . hotelsmag . com January / February 2014 HOTELS 39