You might have often seen me write about how the home chef movement has been one of the most inspiring stories of turning adversity into opportunity to have come out of the food industry during the pandemic. Well more inspiring stories have emerged from this sector with conventional eateries, restaurants and hotels returning to action, albeit with their wings severely clipped for now.
A lunch that we had on Friday is an example of how the hotel industry has been dealing with the pandemic world. It was sent by the Mirador Hotel, which is located in Mumbai’s Andheri East. Mirador is a 20 year old business hotel which I first came across in 2010 when I worked with a research agency called TNS. The agency had its office at the Solitaire complex opposite the hotel. My initial job interview happened there and after I joined them, I would conduct interviews myself there at the coffee shop called Biscotti. We would have the occasional business meeting and research workshops at the hotel’s business centre followed by a buffet lunch.
The buffets remained a mainstay of the hotel from what I understand though with business travel as well as business meetings coming down, the clientele for the same has reduced. Which is why they have launched a takeaway brand called Ladles at the Mirador. F&B manager, Pawan Sharma, who had brought a sampler over told me that they were trying to replicate the buffet experience for those wishing to have it at home for get togethers or even family meals.
I did lay down the food like a lunch buffet at home and navigated it the way one would a buffet feeling like a character in Dowton Abbey! The meal offered quite a variety of flavours. It left me with a bit of heavy feeling I confess. I do find buffets a bit overwhelming these days and prefer smaller meals. However, I am sure that there is a big market for such multi-course abundant meal experiences. Hotels buffets are quite the thing among quintessential ‘foodies’ and the mainstay of the hotel F&B industry. Being delivered at home means less wastage. Everything that you see in the picture was utilised in the days that followed.
 |
| Mirador Ladles menu |
Another really interesting hotel F&B innovation is from the ITC Hotels chain. They took a range of biryanis and pulaos from their banquets menus from across the country, standardised recipes, trained resident chefs and now offer the same in 8 cities across the country with packaging and pricing that is oriented towards a delivery model. We tried their fare in Mumbai and I had ordered it in for my family in Gurgaon using Zomato and the food was really good.
I know that the Hyatt Regency Kolkata offers their breakfast buffet as a package delivered home as I read about it on the social media pages my food blogger friends, Madhushree and Anindya of Pikturenama. I found this to be an interesting innovation as a grand hotel breakfast buffet has a charm of its own.
Heating so many things might be a bit of a challenge though, but as we say in India, ‘kindly adjust.’
After more than a year of being confined to their home, food lovers are looking for experiences beyond the ordinary and such initiatives are likely to find many fans.
Do you know of more such examples of hotels making innovations in F&B for deliveries? I am talking of instances apart from offering a menu which is a selection of existing dishes, which many hotels have done. Do let me know if you do. I would love to hear about them.
A video on the ITC biryani & pulao initiative:
