Pop-up restaurant Jars on Grace Bay serves all dishes — including spiny lobster ramen with ginger pasta , snow peas and sesame broth — in jars .
Not every successful restaurant has to be a fixture at a hotel — many properties are generating interest with F & B outlets that are here today but gone tomorrow .
This past February Grace Bay Club in Turks and Caicos opened Jars on Grace Bay , an open-air restaurant offering a menu of hyper-local cuisine served entirely in jars . Highlights include yellow and red tomato gazpacho with a manchego scone ( US $ 11 ), spiny lobster ramen with ginger pasta , snow peas and sesame broth ( US $ 22 ) and coconut panna cotta with papaya and pistachio biscotti ( US $ 8 ). Jars follows the success of another pop-up restaurant at Grace Bay Club — Stix on Grace Bay , which served everything on sticks — and after Jars closes shop later this summer , another pop-up will debut in the fall .
The Fairmont Hamilton Princess in Bermuda is using Samuelsson at HP , a
PoP goes
the restauraNt two-month pop-up restaurant this summer , to preview Marcus Samuelsson ’ s new permanent signature restaurant slated to debut at the hotel in May 2015 . The pop-up will feature a 42-seat indoor dining room in addition to outdoor seating for up to 60 diners and a menu celebrating Bermudian culture and history . Dishes will include raw options such as rockfish crudo with pickled cherry tomato , radishes and jalapeno oil as well as entrees such as grilled head-on shrimp with ginger-scallion sauce , sweet soy and cilantro .
“ Pop-up restaurants provide a win-win scenario for all parties involved ,” says New York City-based consultant Arlene Spiegel . “ Hotels can try out new concepts without long-term commitments and have a ‘ cool ’ reason to get new people on property . Guests and local residents win with an exciting , yet limited , dining experience .”
New rules of eNgagemeNt
Modern-day dining is hardly a passive affair , and hotels are looking to engage restaurant guests in new and innovative ways .
Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza in Spain this summer is set to open Sublimotion by chef Paco Roncero , billing it as an outlet where “ culinary art and technological innovation come together to create a complete and unprecedented emotional experience .” Open to just 12 guests per night , Sublimotion will stimulate all the senses via specially controlled temperature and humidity and carefully selected musical ambience .
Lebua at State Tower in Bangkok is attempting to predict the look , taste and feel of Chinese dining in the year 2020 with its interactive China 2020 menu at Breeze . Available until October , the menu — crafted by Executive Chef Sam Pang — encourages guest participation , whether through mixing their own cocktails or cracking open a box to get their entrée .
Specific menu items include Back In Time — lamb shank with Chinese cabbage , mushrooms and homemade spicy sauce served in the traditional style ; Excitement — Japanese Omi beef tenderloin served with a “ lucky ” sauce guests choose via a roll of dice ; and cocktails such as Fire — rum , macerated dried fruits , cognac , raspberry , sorbet and fire .
“ At all of our restaurants , we aim not only to offer truly world-class cuisine and service but also an emotional experience like the China 2020 menu that guests cannot find anywhere else ,” says Deepak Ohri , CEO of Lebua Hotels and Resorts .
The China 2020 menu also includes cutting-edge cocktails such as Fire , with rum , macerated dried fruits , cognac , raspberry and sorbet set aflame .
Diners at Breeze at Lebua at State Tower roll dice to select a “ lucky ” sauce to eat with Japanese Omi beef tenderloin as part of the China 2020 menu .
www . hotelsmag . com June 2014 HOTELS 41