Crafting World-class Menus To Drive ROIs

Chef Satbir Bakshi, Executive Chef, The Oberoi, Mumbai, talks about innovative food concepts that drive footfalls, trends, and the challenges of sourcing locally as ingredients continue to be the star of the cuisine served at the hotel

- Nisha Shukla

Chef Satbir Bakshi began his career at The Oberoi Mumbai in 2003 as a senior kitchen executive and worked his way up the ladder, to the position of the executive chef. He has helmed the luxury hotel’s kitchens since 2014 and introduced several interesting and revenue-generating F&B concepts. But at the core of his cuisine are locally produced, seasonal ingredients, even as the cuisine continues to have a global soul.

If we are to take a broader view, what are the innovative F&B concepts emerging now?

Dining, today, is as much about food as an immersion into simple, thoughtful use of ingredients and their presentation. As the world becomes smaller, cuisines are being discovered and re-discovered. One of the Indian classics, the curry, especially, has adapted to whatever environment it has been exposed to and in a way, managed to grow beyond the confines of India’s borders.

Guests today choose hotels based on their previous dining experiences. Chefs have refined recipes, created new dishes, ensured procurement of quality ingredients, and redefined presentation. They are inspired to curate menus, primarily keeping Indian guests in mind and look beyond the usual dishes to create a revolution. For example, at Ziya, our modern Indian restaurant, curated by Indian cuisine’s first Michelin-starred chef, Vineet Bhatia, you can expect a certain rhythm that encapsulates interesting storytelling via the tasting menu. The focus is on highlighting our rich culinary treasures and the regional recipes using structured documentation and uniformity of flavours. The experience is delivered through attention to detail, quiet efficiency and superlative service. Our teams endeavour to make the dining experiences extraordinary, personalising it to a great extent.

You have introduced an innovative concept called ‘Celebrating the ingredients’ at the hotel. Could you elaborate?