Marriott in the Kitchen

The Marriott Test Kitchen is Cooking!

 

I've discussed the Marriott Test Kitchen many times in this blog.  There is always a flurry of activity in this 1st floor facility and the word is getting out about its many functions.  It was recently featured in Fortune magazine and USA Today.  As I told you a few weeks ago, BLT chef-owner Laurent Tourondel cooked burgers from BLT Burger for Mr. Marriott, who also discussed the lunch in his blog, Marriott On The Move. The main question I generally get is “what do you do in the test kitchen?”

That’s a great question with many great answers. What it is NOT is an executive dining room.

The test kitchen provides a wonderful platform for our talented hotel chefs to work with the corporate culinary team as they develop key program menu items, signature dishes, food promotions, beverage promotions, etc. In September and October, the Food and Beverage teams of the soon-to-open JW San Antonio and the under remodel Harbor Beach Marriott spent time in the test kitchen working through their menu ideas and concept strategies. There are menu program workshops, train the trainer courses, photo shoots and hotel specific culinary development. And, they all revolve around Marriott's CookSmart principles….deliver simple, fresh chef-crafted food.  In addition, the facility provides a forum for senior leadership to view and discuss the many interpretations of today's food trends and how they are incorporated into our global culinary philosophy. 

Bart Hosmer, Thomas Rebler, and the rest of the culinary team are constantly manning the stoves and shooting wonderful photos of food in development, providing actionable and realistic solutions to the challenge of keeping our menus exciting, approachable, and guest appropriate. Whether it be Renaissance targeted breakfast signatures, Marriott lounge menus, SpringHill Suites breakfast muffins, JW Organic strategies, or Courtyard Bistro seasonal promotion items, the Test Kitchen is where the ideas come to life. 

Occasionally when the kitchen is not busy developing new items, there are the hosted luncheons for development groups looking to understand the Marriott F&B roles and how it will impact their acquisition,  tours with industry executives, and sales professionals focused on marketing our great brands. Product and specification reviews are held regularly, with many vendors jockeying for a chance to show their latest products. It is a busy place that hopefully benefits all of our culinary operations in the global Marriott community and your dining experience in our hotels.

Cooking in the Test Kitchen is on my plate today.  What's on YOUR plate today?

A New Champions in Boston

A new sports bar recently opened in Boston. Reopened actually, since the Champions Sports Bar has been a local favorite for many years in this sports obsessed city. Champions Sports Bar is a global concept and in 31 hotels including Warsaw, Shanghai, Dubai, and Frankfurt. The American Sports Bar is iconic. I was just in Frankfurt and was able to watch F-1 Racing, Premier league football (soccer), and a Steelers game all at the same time, all with an order of wings and a platter of local sausages and kraut. A true global experience!

This new look Champions on the second level of the Boston Copley Marriott is filled with tv's, including a huge 12 x 24-foot screen centered in the main bar area. The bar itself is framed in a wall of screens, backdropped by fiber optics that change in a wave of color. Very cool and comfortable, a great place to watch a game. With dozens of beers, micro to macro, crafted cocktails based on fresh juices, and wines for every taste, this bar is a long way from the "pitchers of beer and greasy nacho crowd."

Sports bar food has also come a long way, and the menu at the new Champions balances tradition with  a new style of casual. No sports bar is complete without chicken wings. Here you'll find Kung Pao wings alongside three levels of spicy buffalo wings.

Mini burger sliders and sliders of a great bbq pulled pork, and a Boston mini lobster roll, perfect for social snacking. Of course, full size burgers are king, especially when customized with add-ons designed to make each a personal, custom burger.

  

The new Champions also brings marinanted skirt steak, rubbed in garlic butter; a simple grilled fish that changes depending on the Gloucester daily catch; a beautifully pressed cuban sandwich, big fish tacos, and some of the best meatballs made from the Chefs own Grandmother's recipe.

 

Mike Panasuk, Executive Chef, and Jack Rutigliano, Director of Food and Beverage, are really proud of this new Champions, and they should be as it really is a great refuge in one of America's first cities. Hotels magazine did a great review on the space . 
 

 When in Boston, check it out at the Boston Copley Marriott.

What's on YOUR plate today?