加载中…
亚龙湾第一餐厅的成功秘诀 专访金茂三亚希尔顿大酒店冰源餐厅经理李水平
(2008-01-31 16:18:48)
标签：
杂谈 |
http://www.grandhotels.com.cn/eWebEditor_V280_Free_sp1/UploadFile/200813116421449.jpg专访金茂三亚希尔顿大酒店冰源餐厅经理李水平" TITLE="亚龙湾第一餐厅的成功秘诀
亚龙湾第一餐厅的成功秘诀
专访金茂三亚希尔顿大酒店冰源餐厅经理李水平Best Restaurant in Yalong Bay:
Secrets of Success
Manager Stephen Li Talks about
.IZE, Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa
Interview:
Cherry Chinese Version: Clara
English Version: Cecilia Photos:
Looki
Sanya’s Yalong Bay, situated
at the southernmost tip of China’s Hainan Island, offers an
unspoiled tropical paradise, with pristine beaches extending
farther and farther along the South China Sea. The earthly heaven
is home to the prestigious Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, the
landscaping of which exhibits a subtle blending of natural beauty,
vegetation, materials and culture typical of the island and
contemporary design and detailing. Local features such as volcanic
lava stone, thatched pavilions and timber decking are set within a
contemporary-styled, natural landscape of coconut palms, lagoons,
sand beaches and rice terraces. This hotel is last month’s
cover.
Hilton Sanya’s restaurants and
bars, all in a present-day setting, reflect the traditional Five
Chinese Elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The theme
of .IZE is water, which runs through the entire restaurant from the
gargantuan ceiling-high fish tanks down to the transparent glass
floor underneath which red carps dart hither and thither. It’s
delightful to watch the fishes move about in the water. Flavorful
and authentic seafood, usually paired with top-grade wines, is its
staple offering. The restaurant’s elegant setting is inviting in
itself, not to mention the carefully choreographed shows which add
drama to the scene. No wonder .IZE is hailed as the No. 1 Seafood
Restaurant in Yalong Bay. The writer feels it an honor to have the
opportunity to meet and interview Stephen Li, manager of .IZE and
the genius behind the memorable dining experiences.
Stephen has been engaging in
the food and beverage trade over the past decade, of which the
recent two years are with Hilton Sanya where he has been in charge
of .IZE since its opening. He has an expert understanding of food
and wine, two elements that are part of his everyday life. As
Hilton Group’s only representative, he has recently attended WSET
in Shenzhen, a 15-day course teaching participants how to taste
wine and how to pair food with appropriate wines, and come back
with a certificate.
The manager’s wise leadership
contributes to .IZE’s uniqueness. In the topic of recommending
food and matching wine to diners, Stephen observed, my view is we
should respect customers’ choices in the first place, and give
them some guidance when necessary, saying things like “the wine
for today’s main course suits your need.” When we pair certain
food with a wine, we would firstly identify the texture and taste
of the food. If it is chewy and strong in flavor, as we find in
beef fillet, we’d suggest diners to take red wine or wines from
grapes cultivated in certain regions. I always encourage our
customers to ask questions whenever they feel like it, and our
servers are always ready to help. I never hesitate to advise those
who are at a loss to match the food they have ordered and
appropriate wines so that they can not only enjoy the food, but
also acquire some rudimentary knowledge on western food and
wine.
To say that .IZE is the best
restaurant in Yalong Bay won’t be too much an exaggeration. Part
of the reason is the stunning natural scenery. More importantly,
the restaurant offers highly personalized service to its customers.
Perhaps each hotel or restaurant has numerous standards, but these
standards apply only to the team members, Stephen explained, but
not to the guests who crave flexible and personalized service,
something coming as a delightful surprise. Once one of our guests
mentioned inadvertently his wife’s coming birthday, and our
restaurant service team members happened to be around him and heard
it. Then, on the date of his wife’s birthday, he received a
beautiful heart-shaped rose bouquet from us. Thanks to our
conscientious attending restaurant service team members who try
every means to please diners with something unexpected, even guests
staying with other hotels would come to us for an experience to
remember. I have developed this habit to say hello to every table
and ask the diners if they’re satisfied with our service. If I
don't do this, I’ll feel very uncomfortable.
During the course of the
conversation, Stephen showed us “Wine Story”, a manual about
wines published by Hilton Sanya in conjunction with the Hilton
Family’s “Hilton Wine Experience”. From grape to taste, from
light flavor to strong aroma, the book ushers us into a fairyland
of wines. It not only is the Bible for hotel F&B team members,
but is warmly received by guests. “Wine Story is the textbook of a
weeklong training in which the food and beverage team members would
learn how to explain menus to diners, among other things. Our
present focus is on the Chinese food, which goes perfectly with
wines as well, to be honest. Rose Wine, for example, is an ideal
match for Sichuan cuisine, because the wine tastes sweet,” said
he.
Hilton Sanya has so far
organized two wine tasting parties with great success. The first
invited the owner of Villa Antinori a prestigious Italian winery
and his daughter and the winery’s director of marketing and sales.
At the second wine tasting party which was even more successful
than the previous one, attendees met with the owner of the Leeuwin
Estate of Australia. Stephen observed, “What really matters with
wine is how you feel about it, but not the brand or price tag. The
last thing I’ll do is to recommend a wine because it costs a
fortune. The brand of a wine, like every other brand, means little
unless you really know what’s inside the bottle. I always
encourage people to taste. Tasting is a sort of expedition, and
only when you try the wine can you get to understand whether it
suits you or not, or if it goes well with the food you ordered this
evening, no matter how inappropriate the others may think of
it.”
As an ardent wine devotee,
Stephen Li drinks nothing but water and wines in his daily life. He
thinks wine is not alcohol but an alcoholic beverage fitting for
enjoyment at any time. Wine is a spice in life, and drinking wine a
lifestyle. Given this, he sometimes sent them a glass even when
diners have no intention to place an order, and some of them just
fell in love with wine. Why? Because wine can bring out the flavor
of food and accordingly improve the quality of the dining
experience. Red wine is preferred to match red meat, since the
tannin in the wine helps soften the fiber, thus making the meat
easier to digest. Stephen went on to share a tip on how to lose
weight, suggesting we take a little red wine and two to three
ounces of cheese before going to bed every night. When wine meets
cheese, the tannin will accelerate the consumption of fat and help
unleash body energy.
His favorite food, confided
Stephen, is French cuisine. He is more inclined to choose
Australian wines, when no food is involved, for its mellow flavor,
and to pair food with wines brewed in Italy, just because the
combined taste is incredible and staying in one’s memory for a
lifetime.
His goal in life is that his
name could be associated with the dining establishments he has
administered, and that his name could lend weight to those
restaurants. He said, “However rough and rugged the road ahead
might be, I am going to do my best. And I don’t think the company
would leave me behind.”
Considering the favorable
climatic, geographical and human conditions at present, we’re not
going too far by calling .IZE the best restaurant in Sanya. We
believe the restaurant and its manager, Stephen Li, would reap
bigger success in 2008, and be better known to the
world.
喜欢
0
赠金笔
前一篇：金茂三亚希尔顿完美之旅的缔造者
后一篇：点“食”成金，浪漫满屋