F & B
BACK INTO THE
Kitchens
F & B LEADERS RETURN TO THEIR RESTAURANT AND CATERING DEPARTMENTS WITH NEW RULES , IDEAS AND MUCH FLEXIBILITY TO MEET GUEST AND STAFF DEMANDS .
Contributed by JEANETTE HURT
“ Unfortunately , we had to release a few members of staff due to COVID-19 and lockdown ,” says Steen Kaspersen , executive banquet chef . “ Work tasks have been divided and shared between more departments .”
The d ’ Angleterre Michelin-starred restaurant , Marchal , operated an extremely popular take-away program through 2020 and much of 2021 , but the restaurant has recently reopened . “ We are quickly getting back to the normal , pre-pandemic times and business is returning ,”
Philipp Vogel , Johannes Linster in the kitchen at Hotel Oriana in Berlin .
Kasperson says . “ Due to the operational resources , we have had to discontinue the take-away going forward , even though it was an enormous success .”
KITCHEN TEAM WORK During the first and second lockdowns , Orania . Berlin ( Hotel Orania in Berlin ) had fixed teams , which operated completely separately from each other . “ That way , we could change the whole team in case someone came down with COVID , which luckily never happened ,” says Philipp
Vogel , managing director and chef at the Orania . “ Now , as all of our chefs have had their vaccinations , we can mix the teams again .”
The Orania , he says , tests all staff members regularly , and everyone still wears a FFP2 mask , and all touchpoints like door handles are disinfected every 30 minutes .
For the reopening of the Salisterra restaurant at The Upper House in Hong Kong , logistics were a challenge . Jun Tanaka , who collaborated in opening the restaurant , is based in London . “ He was kept apart from our ( Hong Kong team ) by travel restrictions ,” says Yvonne Cheung , director of restaurants . “ Jun and Chris Czerwinski , our chef de cuisine , and our team in Hong Kong had to work virtually to develop the concept and the menu .”
“ From the beginning , we were open and realistic about the unlikelihood of in-person collaboration , and we made very decisive contingency plans for the worstcase scenario , which ended up being our reality ,” Cheung says .
Using sophisticated video and audio and working with ingredients that both
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