Chefs Reveal the Secrets They’ll Never Tell Customers About Hotels

Think twice before you decide to go for a midnight buffet at a hotel.

You gotta agree; at some point in time, all of us have been floored by the impeccable service offered to us at most of the greatest hotels. But have you wondered what goes on behind the closed kitchen doors?

We spoke to a few chefs who revealed some of their dark, dirty kitchen secrets!

What Happens to the Leftover Food?

We all have had this question – what does a restaurant actually do with the leftover food?

Is it trashed or given to the staff?

Or recycled for the next course?

While most chefs spoke about how standards have to be maintained and how the restaurant cannot take a chance with recycling or giving it to charity, Paul Kinny from the Taj Group of Hotels said, “Each chef has a budget to maintain. So he ensures there is minimum wastage. You may see a lot of dishes displayed on a buffet and may expect the other half to be ready in the kitchens, but that’s not the case.”

He explains how dishes back in the kitchen are only half-cooked and kept until they are actually required to be refilled. So if a salad is to be prepared, the vegetables are just chopped and stored in a temperature-controlled environment. Only when the salad is ordered, the dressing is added. “The staff does take in some leftover dishes but that’s only sometimes and if the food has not crossed the ‘danger zone’!”

Chef Arindham Bhattacharya from Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort and Spa, talks of another innovative way of preserving his dishes. He explains how he uses the leftover starters to make the mains. Dishes like butter chicken that need ‘tandoored’ or charred meat, do well with leftover chicken tikkas or tandoori chicken starters.

Midnight Buffets aka Leftover Food

While the concept of a midnight buffet is pretty cool, especially with the late night party revellers, it is actually a repackaged version of “poore din ka khana”. The food is edible but it’s leftover, excess food from several kitchens in a hotel that makes its way to the midnight buffet. It’s best not to fall for it, confesses a chef, who works for a restaurant dishing out the midnight buffet!

So the next time you go for a midnight buffet, think again!

How to Deal With Difficult Customers?

Sathish Reddy, Executive Sous chef at Courtyard by Marriott Chakan, Pune, reminisces about how a patron requested an oil-free puri.

There isn’t a technique to make oil-free puris. We just ensured the puri was made in less oil and dabbed it with a tissue before it was served to the guest.

Chef Sathish Reddy

Chef Arindham Bhattacharya remembers how one of his guests wanted pizza without cheese while another was okay with cheese on his dosa but not butter.

What do chefs do when a customer cancels a dish? Chef Raja from Courtyard by Marriott , Hinjewadi, said, "In most cases we have to discard the dish but if the customer requirement is more specific, like that the dish be low on salt or spice, we amend it accordingly”.

But he does let slip a little secret: There are times when the chefs know the dish is perfect but the customer still wants changes, they just heat the dish and offer it to them again. And guess what? They love the dish.

(A freelance food and fashion blogger, Pranjali Bhonde Pethe aims at getting people and their favourite food and style closer through her blog moipalate. Email her at [e-mail] and follow her on @moipalate.)