The recipe for success

The taro, a staple food for people in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, is one of the signature dishes at the Park Hyatt Ningbo. The hotel chefs employ an old preparation method to elevate the taste of the plant. photos provided to china daily

The taro, a staple food for people in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, is one of the signature dishes at the Park Hyatt Ningbo. The hotel chefs employ an old preparation method to elevate the taste of the plant. photos provided to china daily

For Christopher Koehler, vice president and managing director of Hyatt Hotels and Resorts China, the last thing he wants at the restaurants in the group’s 30 properties in China is a dish that looks “safe”. And by that he’s referring to common and boring menu options that can be found in most hotels, such as a club sandwich or fried rice.

“Very often, being safe comes from the attempt to try to please everybody. But what we want is to impress and surprise our guests, especially at our restaurants,” Koehler told China Daily USA ahead of the hotel group’s Asia Pacific Food and Beverage Leadership Conference held in Shanghai in August.

“Hyatt is a very food and beverage-driven company that happens to have guestrooms. Our company earned its reputation in the hospitality industry through food and that’s also the reason why we are having this meeting,” he added.

The annual gathering of the group’s hundreds of executive chefs and F&B directors from their hotels in Asia has often been likened to the Oscars of the gastronomy world, and it always features guest speakers sharing and celebrating the best of Chinese food and wine.

“It’s to inspire, motivate and encourage our chefs to walk out of the comfort zone. We really don’t worry about being safe. For us, it’s more about being locally sensitive,” said Koehler, who was formerly a chef.