Young, But Seasoned, Hotel Chefs - three highly regarded hotel chefs talk about their styles and techniques - Interview

Years ago, the mere idea of hotel food, even at many fine hotels, brought the same look of disgust to people's faces a-s airline food does today. But now people return from trips raving about the food at their hotel. What happened?

Herman Cain, the president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association, says that better food has diners returning to hotel restaurants in droves: "Many restaurants in hotels are extremely competitive in both the quality of food served and the dining service."

Since the hotel industry was shaken by record losses in 1995, it has been "looking for innovative food and beverage concepts intended to first and foremost make the hotel a center community," according to the American Hotel and Motel Association. Hotel service, including food service, must be good enough to lure guests downstairs and innovative enough to keep them from walking out the door.

So who is in the kitchen cooking up all of this good food? Meet three chefs whose guests aren't going anywhere. They are leaders in their kitchen and in their profession. They aim to please. With advance notice, they'll even whip up a special entree or dessert.

KENNETH GILBERT, GRILL CHEF

Training to be a chef evolved naturally from Kenneth Gilbert's home environment in Cleveland. When he was growing up, his home was the social hub of the community. Friends and family, dressed in their very best, gathered there to enjoy good food and good company. Frequently, Gilbert would be right there next to his father, watching him while he manned the grill. "To this day," says the 25-year-old chef, "I equate food and drink with family and fun."

Gilbert has taken the fun down South, to the Grill at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla. This is where true food connoisseurs can forgo the menu and opt for what's known as "the blind tasting." Diners are served a four-to seven-course meal composed of whatever strikes Gilbert's fancy that evening. For a more filling adventure, diners can sit at the chef's table in the back of the kitchen for similar treatment. Gilbert says that you "never know what you will be served--from curious imported cheeses to exotic fish. We give you an apron, and you eat until you can't anymore." That's usually around the 10th or 12th course.

Guests who want to take their dining experiences a few steps further can enroll in Gilbert's cooking school, located on the hotel's premises. Each month offers a different topic. December's class, "Gifts From the Kitchen," teaches students how to make jellies and preserves fine enough to give as holiday gifts. January's class will focus on Thai cuisine; February's subject will be New World foods.

Gilbert's menu changes every month, too. "We have quite a few repeat visitors," he explains. "Change is nice for them and for me, too. It keeps me engaged." The one entree that he let stay on the menu for four months was wood-grilled partridge with vanilla-roasted mango and spiced pecans.

"You must be creative with food," he says. "People have been eating forever. You begin eating the day you are born. What's new about food? That's what chefs try to figure out, and that is why my work here at the Ritz-Carlton is so fulfilling. I am encouraged to explore that challenge every day."

GAVIN WILLIAMS, SOUS-CHEF

Gavin Williams is passionate about two things: football and cooking. When he Was 14 years old, he took a job washing dishes, not knowing that he would fall in love with the energy of the kitchen. It drew him to the stove, and he's been playing with fire ever since. His favorite part of the job is venturing into the dining room, greeting his guests and finding out what is on their minds.

The 33-year-old Florida native worked at three different Marriott hotel restaurants before settling at the San Ramon Marriott, not far from California's Napa Valley wine country. His experience has taught him that getting hotel guests to dine in the hotel's restaurant, Allie's, is easy, if you know what you are doing. He holds cooking demonstrations in the afternoon, enticing guests to show up for dinner in the evening. The challenge, then, is to bring in guests who are not staying at the hotel.

Williams' strategy: Spice up the food. "Guests these days want seasoning," he says, "and they don't mind a little bit of butter." One of his most popular dishes dates back to his early days, working in an Italian restaurant: "chicken angel," which is angel-hair pasta and sauteed chicken lightly tossed with a butter sauce. "People eat right on their own all week," Williams observes, "so when they sit down at my table, they want a meal full of flavor."

It's clear to him why so many diners today are choosing hotel restaurants over independent ones: "Hotels are focused on an all-around quality experience, including the dining experience, so the food is made from scratch, the produce is fresh, and the best chefs are hired to be creative in the hotel restaurant kitchen."

DWAYNE ROUSE, SOUS-CHEF

Dwayne Rouse never planned to become a chef. In fact, his mother barred him from the kitchen when he was a teenager because he was always "burning up stuff." Now, at age 30, when he emerges from the kitchen of the 1919 Grill at the Washington Hilton and Towers, in Washington, D.C., he receives a standing ovation from his guests: "That warms my heart," he says. "I love that people enjoy food that I prepared."

Rouse was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of a kosher chef. His father loved his job; he was able to attend his son's high-school football games, and he was able to provide for his family, even after his wife's early retirement. "Our quality of life was very high," Rouse recalls. "We never wanted for anything, and Dad never, ever complained about what he did for a living." So Rouse found himself following in his father's footsteps.

When asked to describe the difference between a cook and a chef, Rouse answers: "A cook follows the recipe ingredient for ingredient. A chef experiments with ingredients, seeking complementing and contrasting flavors--just in being creative." But can this work with, say, meatloaf? Meatloaf, believe it or not, is one of Rouse's most popular dishes. "Sometimes we go through five pans a night," he says. What? "Don't be surprised. When people are on the road and everything is new, sometimes they want something familiar--comfort food.

"And," he adds with obvious pride, "people love good food, and my meatloaf is good. It took me a long time to come up with the recipe. I called my mom; I called my aunts. I asked them what they put in their meatloaf, improvised, and there it is on the menu for our guests to enjoy."

Rouse, who is a member of the White House culinary staff and a consultant for two D.C. restaurants (Utopia and State of the Union), continues to hone his craft. Several times a year, he travels around the country, visiting with chefs he admires, talking shop and sampling their creations. It's how he titillates his palate and those of his guests.

RELATED ARTICLE: Simple Flourishes

A typical holiday dilemma: What to stir up when the oven and all four burners are in use? Our three young but seasoned chefs offer the following quick and easy recipes.

Bourbon Georgia Peaches With Cinnamon and Mint From the kitchen of Kenneth Gilbert

Serves 10

8 fresh peaches, diced
1 cup sugar
3 tbsps, chiffonade of mint
1 cup bourbon
1 red onion brunoise
1 tbsp. flesh ginger brunoise
1 pinch salt
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. chopped jalapeno

Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with turkey, ham or your favorite game bird.

Sweet Pepper Bruschetta With French Baguettes

From the kitchen of Gavin Williams

Serves 10 to 12

10 oz. can of roasted red bell pepper, finely diced
2 Roma tomatoes, finely diced
1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped fine
2-3 oz. virgin olive oil
4 oz. Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. garlic, chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 French baguette loaf

Combine all ingredients except bread in a mixing bowl and let stand for at least one hour. Slice bread at a bias and put on serving tray. Spread a teaspoon of mixture on each baguette slice and serve with an Italian beer or a nice Chianti.

Herbed Cream Cheese Napoleons

From the kitchen of Dwayne Rouse

Makes 4 hors d'oeuvres

2 cups cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 tsps. chopped fresh garlic
2 tbsps, sour cream
1/2 cup your law>rite fresh herbs, chopped (e.g.,
thyme, basil, oregano, cilantro)
Salt
Pepper
12 assorted Cart's Table Water Crackers

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, garlic, sour cream, half the herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Lay out eight crackers. Spread 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture on each cracker. Place four of the cream cheese crackers on top of the other four cream cheese crackers (cracker side clown), and top them with the remaining four plain crackers. Place the napoleons on a serving tray, and garnish them with the remaining herbs.

D.T. Lee is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

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