Harvey
Prior to the opening of Harvey there was two years of careful planning and working out ideas to ensure that the concept was executed in accordance with the owner's vision of the restaurant. The name of the restaurant was the nickname he was given while studying in California so the golden 'H' initial became the restaurant signature, sitting boldly on the wall of the entrance lobby to greet guests on their arrival.
"Most of our patrons are Thai", says Nathawit Chinthanapoompaisal, Restaurant Manager, "they did not want us to be another French or Italian restaurant so being Californian Inspired allows us to freely deliver what we want".
"Coming to Thailand from overseas was initially challenging to get to know the Thai palate profile", says Brandon Davis, Executive Chef. "It is my responsibility to adapt to the local market and not to expect them to fall 100% for my personal style of cooking. Therefore, the food we are serving is Californian adapted for the Thai taste with the focal point on sweet, sour and spicy tang. I am cooking as healthily as possible through the use of local ingredients whenever I can. The imported ingredients we use are beef from Australia, scallops from Japan and cold water lobster from a variety of locations".
"I quickly discovered that I cannot be too radical or adventurous in my cooking style and need to be more conservative than I had been in the past. Perhaps with time I will be able to introduce more out of the box dishes, but not now".
"Our signature dishes are Foie gras terrine with onion & fig chutney, Capriccio of Hokkaido scallops and Chocolate fondant".
"My previous experience both here in Thailand and overseas has taught me of the importance of exceeding our customer's expectations", says Nathawit. I have put together a list of over 1,000 different labels plus we only generally apply a moderate markup of a few hundred Baht per bottle and as a result customers feel comfortable to order a second bottle with their meal".
"We have a 1-to-2 staff guest ratio", he adds, "I make it crystal clear to my team that it is the customer not the restaurant who pays their salary, therefore making the effort to exceed their customers' expectations ensure a good paycheck at the month's end. At the end of each service, the captains must write the preference of each table to update their guest history".
The restaurant has two separate wine cellars, one for red wines and the other for whites, each set at their ambient temperature. Rather than guests ordering their wines from the list, we prefer to invite them into the cellar to make their personal selection".
"As pouring the right wine into the right glass affects the taste experience", he says, "we have 23 different variety of wine glasses by Schott Zwiesel to match the diverse wine characteristics and grape varieties".
"Our success comes from a commitment in exceeding guests' expectations, the quality of the ingredients and the sense that the meal was value for money when they leave", he concludes.
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