Zentan is a modern Japanese izakaya style restaurant at Kimpton ’ s Donovan Hotel in Washington , D . C ., where you can find this sea bass with spring vegetables , as well as other Japanese-inspired small plates , a sushi menu , caramelized black cod with miso mustard , and a signature side of roasted Soya asparagus . Meats , seafood and shishito peppers are cooked on the new robata grill .

Alex Taylor is focused on finding talent who will help Kimpton take stronger , more niched positions with concepts .

Food is like fashion as sooner or later what ’ s old is new again – at least that is what has Alex Taylor excited right now .

The Austin , Texas-based senior vice president of restaurants and bars for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants , who oversees more than 70 unique spaces , just had very cool experiences at what he calls an Italian , Sinatra-esque , retro The Nice Guy restaurant in Los Angeles and at chef Michael White ’ s reinterpretation of old school French cooking at Vaucluse in New York City . “ It ’ s a return or re-embrace of what everyone said was over ,” says Taylor in reference to dining rooms – even with tablecloths – serving the next iteration of comfort food . “ It ’ s a return to ‘ I do want cool silverware , a tablecloth , duck à l ' orange ,’ or something more stoic or retro .”

What has the former restaurant director for Mandalay Bay and Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas snickering is chefs and restaurateurs who say they are acting “ local ” yet don ’ t carry their weight , ruining it for those who are sincere . “ I asked an executive sous chef at a very popular restaurant in Austin about how she ’ s getting organic ingredients at a volume and consistency to put it on the menu ,” Taylor recalls . “ She said we get 20 % local and then mix it in . It ’ s like a blended scotch and a cynical attempt at satisfying a market . When I ’ m out having drinks that ’ s what we all love to hate on .”

And so it goes in the fickle arena of F & B , and even more fickle hotel F & B guests . What ’ s trending for Taylor today is social dining , mixology , large format ice and eclectic glassware , among other things . “ I was in Seattle and the price of admission is large ice , cool glasses , use of herbs and botanicals ,” he says .

Taylor also is enthusiastic about social dining , small plates an beverage-centric concepts . More specifically , he points to Izakaya because it doesn ’ t require a lot of station in the kitchen ( think efficiency ), it is clean eating playing to the trending Paleo diet , it ’ s beverage centric , and cool design goes with it .

“ It started with gastropub social dining and this takes elements of that and Izakaya is what it looks like now ,” Taylor says , who adds that Peruvian is arriving in a bigger way .

Beyond concepts , Taylor is devoting a lot of his energy toward finding and working with chefs and professionals who are not afraid to take more risks . Even in a hotel environment where it is safer to appeal to the masses , Taylor wants his team to take stronger positions on vision and be more specific about where they want to go . “ It ’ s easy to buy your own buzz . We curate talent as part of our continued emphasis on finding the very best people and empowering them to create and move toward what ’ s next in F & B .”