Over a weekend at The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa, we learned just how much careful thought and meticulous planning went into a meal at the property.
Our tastebuds are tricky things. They know what they like, what they don’t. They may change their minds in high altitudes (that’s why airplane food tastes so bad) and they’ve also been known to be easily affected by our other senses like our sight and smell. It’s a formula that food experts and culinary professionals have tried for decades to perfect.
The same applies to the kitchen team of The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa that works tirelessly around the clock to bring not just meals, but complete dining experiences that stay with each guest who comes their way. Their job is made doubly hard being on a tropical island due to factors like availability of ingredients, soaring temperatures, humidity and unpredictable winds.
“Planning the menu is tougher on an island because getting the ingredients that we want here is a bit more challenging. We have to plan ahead of time, source for items from the right suppliers and we have to plan it accordingly so we receive them on a timely basis,” shares Chef de Cuisine Chia Wei Jiro.
Over three day and two nights at The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa, we got upclose with the kitchen team and learned just how much careful thought and meticulous planning went into a meal at the property.
Quality and Sustainable Ingredients
A glance through any of The Westin’s menus at their four on-site restaurants – Breeze Lounge, a tropical outdoor terrace with a premier bar and killer views of the Andaman Sea; Tide, a beautiful cabana-style restaurant with stunning beach views; Splash, a scenic swim-up pool bar; and Seasonal Tastes, the property’s signature restaurant offering one of the most tantalising buffets in Langkawi – will reveal a breathtaking breadth of choice for diners.
Overseen by Executive Chef Herwig Knapen, each item is a labour of love that takes into consideration the people who bring the food to the table as much as the guest enjoying it.
Top quality ingredients are imported to meet international standards, like Black Angus beef from Stanbroke Farms in Australia. However, whenever possible, the team looks to local producers and farmers for their produce too.
“Sustainability is very important for us,” explains Chef Herwig. “If we can have high quality products from the island, we will prefer to use them whenever possible. We will not outsource it.”
There are two reasons for looking local whenever possible. Not only does it support the local food chain, the timeliness of the ingredients arriving from closer sources makes things easier to plan fresh and relevant menus. Using both imported and local ingredients allows the team to mix and match for dishes that meet all criteria of taste, variety and innovation for quality meals that leave guests coming back for more.
Wine Pairing Considerations
Equally as big a part of dining is the wining, another aspect that The Westin sees to exemplarily under the careful guidance of executive assistant manager Derek Charles Gomez, who is also a sommelier certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers and a wine specialist acknowledged by the Society of Wine Educators.
His 15 years of experience in the industry has taught him small curves to bend the rules for best methods to enjoy wine – like storing them 1-2 degrees Celsius lower than the recommended temperature.
The reason is simple: “In resorts, we store it colder because of the environment. We’re outdoors, temperatures can go up very quickly. Upon serving, once you take the first sip, it’s probably already increased by a degree.”
Balancing rules and playing with flexibility like that ensures flavours are tip-top whenever guests take a sip.
In the bigger picture, Gomez is very careful about the wines that are selected and served at the property, choosing lighter and more acidic flavours for easier drinking in the heat and humidity. At any time, he would recommend a sauvignon blanc variety over a chardonnay.
“When it’s hot and humid like this, you don’t want something big and heavy,” he tells. “You want something light and refreshing that you can serve.”
The Devil Lies in the Details
The grandest ambitions and the biggest plans will fall apart by the threading at the seams. That is why the entire team at The Westin is trained to pay particular attention to the details in their service. This covers how the meal is served, how it is enjoyed and how it is remembered at the end of it.
There are many things “unseen” to the untrained eye in F&B, like how swiftly glasses are cleared and noiselessly napkins are folded and put away in between courses.
The team at the Westin takes into consideration all of the above, beginning with practices in the kitchen – like plating.
“Plating in a resort is completely different. You have a lot of aspects to take into consideration – temperature, winds. In fine dining, you have a lot of micro things on the plate like edible flowers. Here, we do use it but you have to be careful of the wind when using it to dress up a dish. We don’t want things flying when you put the plate down,” Gomez exemplifies.
Other things begin from the moment the guests makes a reservation, when the team would ask about food restrictions. A hotel’s menu is planned anywhere between two to six months ahead, but the team must always be ready to make changes should a guest be restricted from enjoying certain ingredients.
“We also have to be very flexible. We may have our menu and we try to maintain the quality of it but still when the guests want something special for the kids or if they have allergies, we have to be able to swap out ingredients and food,” tells Chef Herwig. “We check beforehand and it’s very important that the guests feel welcomed and they come back. It’s our major goal that they don’t go out of the hotel and they spend as much time as possible in our grounds.”
All the above culminated in a wine dinner brought together by the property in collaboration with Katnook Estate wines. Food, wine and attention to detail brought to life The Westin’s spirit of wellness hospitality in seven decadent courses.
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If one thought planning a menu for a typical restaurant was hard, doing so for a tropical island resort is easily three times so due to the factors mentioned above. The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa seeks to perfect each stay of each guests, nonetheless, in every way that they know how.
The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa is now reopened for guests with one missions in mind: the traveller’s well-being. A leader in wellness and hospitality for more than a decade, it lives its philosophy “For a Better You” through the brand’s six pillars of Well-Being: Feel Well, Work Well, Move Well, Eat Well, Sleep Well and Play Well.
Learn more about The Westin Resort & Spa or make your reservation today at the official website here.
(Photos: The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa)