Since launching this blog in January, I have received quite a few emails on the posting subjects. It is inspiring to learn of guests individual culinary experiences, and equally beneficial to hear our culinary associates viewpoints on food. Though I cannot respond to every posting, I thought a compilation of some of the questions I have received might make for further dialogue. Below is the second of three installments to a few of the questions I have been asked recently:
How often are you on the road?
I travel quite a bit, and though that may sound exciting, I spend a lot of time on runways, in cabs, and just getting there. I love to go to our hotels and enjoy cooking with the many talented chefs in our company, so once I arrive in one of our hotels, all is well.
Best meal you've ever had while traveling?
Way too many to answer just one, but the best food I have had has always been the simplest food. The Dover Sole at the Wolseley in London; the Harris Ranch steak I had one night at Hawks Landing, our steakhouse at the Marriott Orlando World Center; the Oysters shucked and barbequed on the Tomales Bay California beach at the Hog Island Oyster Company; or it could be the dinner of Arabic mezze in the middle of the desert in Dubai. All great meals, all perfectly simple.
Favorite region in which to travel and eat?
Italy for the food for sure, but I love Asia, especially the food of Thailand and Singapore.
If you hadn't become a chef, what do you think you would have done?
I don’t know, but probably a little skinnier.
Do you watch any of the reality TV chef shows? If so which ones?
I will probably get myself in trouble here…but watch very few reality shows of any kind, as I rarely find them steeped in reality. Great editing and, careful selection of entertaining contestants seem to be the rigor. I prefer a more realistic viewpoint, and not one based on ratings potential. I am a huge fan however of Gordon Ramsey’s BBC series “Kitchen Nightmares”. Seeing troubled restaurants turned around by simply cleaning them up – physically, philosophically, and menu wise. So many restaurants around the world fail to remember the basic tenets of restaurant operations – serve great food, in a great environment, with great personality. That is true reality.
What's on YOUR plate today?
Comments