CITY LODGE HOTELS
CRAFTING CULINARY EXCELLENCE AT CITY LODGE HOTELS
Meet Trevor Boyd, the culinary leader shaping unforgettable dining experiences
City Lodge Hotels has been on a food and beverage journey to expand the Group’ s offering and give guests more reason to dine in their hotel. We chat to the chef leading the charge, Operations General Manager: Food and Beverage, Trevor Boyd.
EARLY CAREER CHOICE I have always wanted to be a chef from a young age. As the much younger brother, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mom, who was a really good cook, and I loved it. She taught me how to make various dishes and when your family of six sits around the table enjoying the food you made, that sparks a love of cooking. Looking back, my journey of being a chef started then, when I understood that a simple pot of mince and mash for the family gets their approval, and you can open the fridge and turn various ingredients into a meal and feed your family, body and soul.
As a newly qualified chef graduating from the iconic Wits Hotel School in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, I thought I’ d find a job where you didn’ t have to work the very long hours. However, I soon discovered that hotels are where my passion lies. You can have the toughest day and, all of a sudden, the sweetest moment happens during service, where you’ re able to delight a guest and make their day with the food you’ ve prepared. That’ s what keeps you coming back.
GROWING F & B AT CITY LODGE HOTELS When I started at City Lodge Hotels, we had ambitious plans to grow the food and beverage offering across all properties to expand from the famous buffet breakfast to include a hearty, delicious and nutritious menu for lunch and dinner too. The pandemic had struck, and guests were more keen than ever to dine in the hotel.
Fast forward to today, and all 58 hotels now offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner off carefully crafted menus to appeal to the different palates and preferences of our guests across all four hotel brands, from luxury to budget friendly. The results have proven our hard work and strategic thinking have paid off – F & B revenue has tripled. More than the business success, this means our guests are responding positively to our offering, and that is the most important thing.
Our plan has come to fruition and continues to grow, especially at our refurbished hotels. City Lodge Hotel V & A Waterfront now features Atlantic Social restaurant and Atlantic Lounge bar with their own menus. City Lodge Hotel Umhlanga Ridge has launched Umoya restaurant, bar and deck, also with its own menu. Our new concept Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City opened in 2021 with The Protea restaurant and The Highline gourmet lounge, and City Lodge Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport has expanded its food and beverage offering to serve meals almost 24-hours a day.
We were able to systematically grow this side of the business with the buy in and support of our general managers and existing kitchen staff – it wouldn’ t have worked otherwise. Also, the growth has been organic, training staff in skills and confidence to tackle the enhanced offering, and buying in new equipment to service a larger menu.
I love to teach and train our teams, and find the best way to do this is to show them what to do – we walk this journey together. It’ s all very well to have Standard Operating Procedures in place, and these are important for consistency, but to really