Shane Douglas, Director of Sales & Marketing, Park Hyatt Doha
Doha: The Chefs of Qatar Virtual Food Festival requires restaurants to reinvent their menu offerings in light of the pandemic Shane Douglas, Director of Sales & Marketing, Park Hyatt Doha, told The Peninsula.
The festival, launched by the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) in collaboration with talabat and Qatar Airways, will conclude on May 12. The initiative showcases Qatar’s best restaurants and 19 chefs, including two Qatari chefs.
“It exposes restaurants to a potential new customer base with the potential to create a new word of mouth demand. It also forces restaurants to possibly rethink and reinvent their product offering to suit the new normal,” Douglas said.
“The most challenging aspects of the Virtual Food Festival are ensuring that your offering is unique enough and designed for home delivery. For example, plating up and food presentation had to change, knowing that contents were likely to settle in transit. Quality control is always a challenge the moment the food leaves the like temperature and presentation.”
Park Hyatt Doha is in partnership with Qatari chef Noor Al Mazroei, who has been a success in Qatar’s culinary scene due to her online presence and recipes, which mainly center around healthy eating.
Douglas stated that the hotel has received positive feedback on social media, especially with the Ramadan cake sales.
Qatari chef Noor Al Mazroei
“Chef Noor was graciously introduced to Park Hyatt Doha by QNTC. We immediately struck a very workable dynamic with the result well-received by the market. As a result, we are about to launch an Eid cake (Summer Strawberry-Vanilla Shortcake) collaboration with Chef Noor too.”
Commenting on the importance of having Qatari chefs in the festival, Douglas said, “Chef Noor makes a perfect role model for those up-and-coming Qatari chefs to emulate. Her passion and commitment to bringing delicious vegan and gluten-free dishes mainstream are not just about being on-trend but also making a solid contribution to the field of plant-based wellbeing with long term impact on the local cuisine scene.”
Meanwhile, Douglas said Park Hyatt Hotel, located in Msheireb Downtown Doha, is focused on delivering the best services to their guests in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Right now, our key focus remains on ensuring that we deliver on guest expectations and brand promise. It is no small challenge when COVID-19 has such a hold over our industry (hospitality) with the necessary closures of restaurants, spas, and gyms in the interests of public health.
“The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be upon us before we know it, so plans are underway to ensure we are resourced-up to manage,” Douglas added.
