Things You Don’t Know About Hotel Food!

[Shining Wizard]

You can order any food offered in the hotel as room service (we don’t care, as long as the restaurant is open, you can order that food to your room)

High end hotels are usually the breeding ground for the best new chefs. They are usually paying pretty well, so talented young chefs are attracted there. I won’t even go into the list of world renowned chefs who started in the big hotels

Everything costs. Everything. I once argued up and down because we were charging $15AUD for a bucket of ice. Highway robbery. I got my bosses to realise that free ice was a perk. It costs us pennies and it makes us look better in the guests eyes

It’s almost impossible to shake the “oh, it’s a hotel restaurant” stench. My restaurant was considered the best place to eat in town. We struggled to fill the place because we were attached to a big hotel. We were semi-independent, because we served room service too. But the food was excellent.

 

[Kathleen]

I sometimes wonder: Are there foods that chefs would never order when going out? One of my friends had a sister who had the world's shortest career as a chef. (In short, she had issues with how things were done in large kitchens....I don't know more than that.) However, he told me that she would never order pasta or marinara when she was in a restaurant that was NOT known for their pasta or marinara.

To those of you who work or have worked in big kitchens, are there things you would not order when dining out?

 

[dragnlaw]

and you don't have to post your real name - just in case....

 

[dragnlaw]

It’s almost impossible to shake the “oh, it’s a hotel restaurant” stench.

Hotel's, in my mind, have always had excellent restaurants!
Stayed in a Motel in Maine once, the attached white cloth restaurant was also the local watering spot with the bar separated by a railing with live entertainment. The food was fantastic - the 4 of us were absolutely amazed! The ambience was great, fun - not rowdy at all, at least not during the supper hour. Might have gotten louder later on but we were traveling and headed for bed.

 

[Kathleen]

I've never had a bad meal at a hotel, but was curious about what chefs do when they go out.

 

[pictonguy]

I sometimes wonder: Are there foods that chefs would never order when going out? One of my friends had a sister who had the world's shortest career as a chef. (In short, she had issues with how things were done in large kitchens....I don't know more than that.) However, he told me that she would never order pasta or marinara when she was in a restaurant that was NOT known for their pasta or marinara.

To those of you who work or have worked in big kitchens, are there things you would not order when dining out?

Well, sure, it's hard to beat truly great Italian pasta offerings but for a budding chef to end their career because where she worked didn't do it to her specific criteria is very short sighted, and only talking from my past experience with people like that and there's been a few, they were never a good fit to begin with, they'll always find something wrong which is still very evident in cooking school where for example our class consisted of 35 students and only 7 graduated from that original group by the end of the second year, that's just my opinion.

As far as food in Hotels, well there's different standards with the hotels and the control required to maintain a kitchen that might put out thousands of plates a day will require certain purchasing requirements that demand consistency and a lot of the time these foods will not be of the highest standards compared to a high end restaurant that thrives on seasonal and local ingredients and livestock where menus can change daily.

The top restaurants within those hotels will have a brigade of experienced chefs for these more intimate spaces that far exceed the experience of the main kitchen staff and where the chef will also procure local foods and put out some of the best plates in that particular area or city and are renowned internationally.

So, it's kind of a mixed bag of ready made and brought in pastries and mediocre breakfast and lunch buffet's in the many spaces that offer food when compared with trying to get a reservation in their top restaurant where it may take 3 months.

 

[pictonguy]

To answer your question Kathleen of what chefs don't order, well that depends on what their expectations are and how well acquainted they are with the restaurant. As well as how experienced and knowledgeable that visiting chef is because that make a big difference too. There really is not a specific type of food per se, and it's again more about who's critiquing the food and how well they understand the craft or the nuance of a dish or cuisine they are about to eat and may not have a lot of experience with it and then make an assessment.

Personally I will either know where I'm going and what to expect and know what not to order or I'll investigate as much as I can before I decide to try a place I've never been to before. The average restaurant has Sysco pulling up to their back door and people fill these places so what do I know, lol.

 

[Shining Wizard]

One of the hotels I worked in had three specialty restaurants and two of them were leased out to private contractors. They ran their own operation but were still obliged to meet the standards of the five star hotel.

* never order milk from room service. You will be charged four or five times the amount it would cost you from the nearest 24/7

* be aware that when you ask for suggestions on good local restaurants, the concierge will be getting kick backs from the restaurant they advise. The concierge staff make good money off their suggestions.

* a lot of the higher end hotels place a significant importance on their breakfast offerings. The clients are usually in-house stay guests, so they are seen as a captive audience. I was the breakfast chef for a while at my last hotel, and the GM was fierce about our breakfast. We had many guests who would come to us from other hotels because we were known for our great breakfast.

 

[dragnlaw]

* be aware that when you ask for suggestions on good local restaurants, the concierge will be getting kick backs from the restaurant they advise. The concierge staff make good money off their suggestions.

but are they generally good restaurants? Concierge can get a kickback as far as I'm concerned as long as it is a "good" restaurant. Want good food but not willing to pay thru the nose. Don't mind paying but there is a limit. Believe you me - I'd let him know if it wasn't.
Or... if I wrote reviews... would say "don't listen to the concierge at 'such and such a place' because...."

I would think a really good concierge would know several restaurants based on both quality and price - he/she should be able to judge the client.
But I also think guests could exercise a bit of due diligence. Often hotels already have suggestions printed out or the travel agency does.

 

[Lee Vining]

I've never had a bad meal at a hotel, but was curious about what chefs do when they go out.

I had a few hotels for customers and I'd ask the approachable Chefs that question.
Before they became renown:

Roy Yamaguchi:
The Apple Pan
10801 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064
STEAKBURGER
Our Original—1927. Served with our own sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce.
With melted natural Tillamook Cheddar $1.00.
Double cheese $2.00.
Double patty $5.75.

Rene' Lanois:
The Three Dolphin Inn. Malibu Calif. Owner since retired and close the biz.
Famed for having a sign on the dining room wall "The Customer is Always Wrong."

 

[Jyotingto]

I once stayed at a 4 start hotel near orchard and noticed how different the room service food tasted compared to the buffet. One of the staff later told me that buffet food is often prepared in larger batches way ahead of time, while room service meals are usually made to order, which explained why it seemed fresher and better seasoned in the room.

 

[Lee Vining]

I sometimes wonder: Are there foods that chefs would never order when going out? One of my friends had a sister who had the world's shortest career as a chef. (In short, she had issues with how things were done in large kitchens....I don't know more than that.) However, he told me that she would never order pasta or marinara when she was in a restaurant that was NOT known for their pasta or marinara.

To those of you who work or have worked in big kitchens, are there things you would not order when dining out?

Look what else is on the menu if you order meatloaf.
Wanted to order it at the Rock Cafe’ in Stround Ok but things on the menu that may be illegal to serve in some places.