Dear Readers,
We start a serie of blogposts to share industry professionals’ publications on Hospitality trends. As part of 2017 Hospitality guide to what’s hot in categories like technology, sales and marketing, development, design and wellness they present what’s new and what’s hot in F&B. Today: Grab and go goes big; what’s that you’re drinking?
Source: http://www.hotelsmag.com
Grab and go big or go home
Grab and go. A concept that for years in the mid-level market was more akin to an elevated convenience store. But hotels are starting to stock up on local specialties and investing more in physical spaces. The Orlando World Center Marriott’s new Central Pantry offers bakery items, salads and flatbreads, with self-serve wine and craft beers. Guests will still find their favorite potato chips, and the hotel has added hard-boiled eggs and protein packs based on feedback.
Following a move to amp up its Hilton Garden Inns with a new design, Hilton gave the brand’s grab and go a facelift. Offerings skew local and healthier and include a self-serve coffee bar at the Pavilion Pantry, which launched in several U.S. properties, as well as in Krakow and outside London. “The ultimate goal is to produce an increasing, more profitable revenue stream for owners,” says John Greenleaf, global head of Hilton Garden Inn, “and to generate higher levels of guest satisfaction for the people coming through our hotels.”
The fats are here to stay. The good fats, that is. Ingredients like coconut and avocado are migrating away from the cabana and making more elegant appearances in cocktails.
Making use of those ingredients is the non-meat fat washing trend, as declared by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in its 2017 trend forecast.
Fat washing, a fancy term for infusing alcohol with fats – typically meat-based ones like bacon or duck fat – has come around to alternative ingredients like milk, peanut butter and coconut.
At Kimpton Gray Chicago’s rooftop bar, Boleo, a Coconut Negroni infuses the South American brandy Pisco with coconut oil, then mixes it with sweet vermouth and Campari.
And while vegetarians and vegans can reap the benefits of these drinks, they’re not necessarily what’s driving the trend, according to Kimpton’s Director of Bars Mike Ryan.
“It’s more driven by bartenders’ quest for flavor, for doing something different,” Ryan says. “Trying to get something that’s a little bit brighter. Because a lot of these meat-based fats tend to be pretty heavy.”
It isn’t just fats getting a makeover. JW Marriott Chicago consulted a nutritionist for its Cocktails with a Purpose program. One of the top-selling cocktails, the Green Mountain Dynamite, contains elements of the lemon, maple and cayenne detox diet, including organic maple bitters.
At Vancouver’s Rosewood Hotel Georgia, head bartender Robyn Gray created a Turmeric Fizz with fresh turmeric infused into honey and blended with tequila and dry vermouth, lemon and orange juices, and topped with cracked black pepper.
“The beauty of alcohol is that it has the ability soak up minerality, thus it’s being used as a medium to transfer the attributes of botanicals,” Gray says, adding that botanicals are a hit with guests. “If you put acai or pomegranate or turmeric in a cocktail,” adds Gray, “the reaction is, ‘Yes please!’”
Source:
http://www.hotelsmag.com/Industry/News
By Chloe Riley on 7/6/2017
