Round table in the shell here but now, no problem. I have long talks with my suppliers. Impiazzi: The issue for many chefs is that their purchasing department will drop a supplier to save one dirham on a kilo of produce. I tell them firmly, ‘Stay out of my business!’ Gobeil: It’s our job as chefs to taste and demand quality; however, it’s corporate’s job to try to shave cents off the operation. One way round that is to do blind tastings - I don’t know the supplier or the price - and then we choice on quality. There’s nothing else to say. Pendarovski: There are incentives all over the industry to skim - the more some people skim, the bigger their bonuses! Gradnitzer: Of course, that’s on a company to company basis and you can’t make it a general statement. People always talk cost but the real issue is profitability. Impiazzi: A three-star may skim, but a five-star won’t. Christian is right - it’s about profit. Gobeil: Very often in tastings I pick the most expensive, but my General Manager wants the best quality so it’s okay. But can the market sustain higher pricing on dining out? Gradnitzer: It’s not about the product but the execution. One thing I’m looking at now is whether we can run our restaurants like standalones? We’ll be testing soon a free-standing model, out of our 128 restaurants to try and answer the question: Can I run a restaurant like Rivington Grill? Impiazzi: But that’s a concept! Gradnitzer: Everything is a concept. Pendarovski: The concept of a standalone is like that of a celebrity chef restaurant and I don’t see most hotel restaurants competing on the same ground as the best standalone. Gradnitzer: I believe that we all have potential concepts that we can develop. Dubai just needs to settle down and develop over the next two decades. Impiazzi: In my view, a typical hotel guest over a five day stay will each in your hotel once. Pendarovski: Exactly, they all want to go and try
The venue Our thanks to The Address Downtown Dubai for hosting this round table. Chefs wanting to take part in future discussions should e-mail me: dave@cpidubai.com
“Consistency of supply is critical because you can source something one week, but not the next. Our suppliers are part of our business and they probably need more support, which comes down to us being involved with them and loyal to them. We have had the same suppliers since I came to Atlantis and they are part of what delivers our success. It’s training, it’s development, but it’s an area where unfortunately they need to catch up because their facilities are not coping with the increased demand.” - Mark Patten, Vice President, Culinary, Atlantis, The Palm Dubai
the destination restaurants. Gradnitzer: But why can’t we create our own destinations? Moving on, do we expect to see a shake-up of suppliers? Impiazzi: I believe all good chefs have the same mindset and we need to fight our corner with suppliers to ensure that our guests win. However, there are so many hospitality segments that the poorer suppliers will focus on the lower end of the market. Gobeil: The hotel market is, of course, growing faster than the supplier market. Pendarovski: One real problem I see in the distance is that there will be a increasing price differential between fine dining and casual dining. For example, I love Canadian produce but to get something like halibut from there you’re having to pay a premium price. Impiazzi: Halibut certainly won’t be on every menu. Pendarovski: Suppliers also seem to be branching out to much. Impiazzi: Exactly. Stick to what you know. Gradnitzer: Dubai gives you everything you want as a chef, if you’re prepared to pay. Pendarovski: For special occasions, I’ve even FedExed bison from Wisconsin! Another issue with suppliers is sustainability and traceability. I only use meat from the US and other produce from the US, UK, Spain and Italy - sources I trust for quality.
serve the market. Gradnitzer: Some of it I think is exceptional. At home, we only eat local fruit and vegetables, but it can’t scale to serve our restaurants. It may come it’s still a fresh idea. Pendarovski: There’s nothing better for a chef than to work with a farmer. I loved my time in the upper New York state, just visiting farms. Gradnitzer: The question is: How many chefs have visited a camel milk farm, for instance? Impiazzi: To be honest, it’s not been on my list of priorities. Gradnitzer: As chefs, we need to try. We need to work with local suppliers, understand them and let them understand what we want, just as much as should be doing with suppliers. Change is in our hands.
What about local produce? Impiazzi: There’s just not enough at present to
“It’s our job as chefs to taste and demand quality; however, it’s corporate’s job to try to shave cents off the operation.” - Alain Gobeil
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