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W Coffee Talk Executive Chef Erick Garcia:"Each restaurants need to have their own identity"


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Dining in the restaurants of LOTTE Hotel Saigon on this occasion, you will feel a fresh and creative breeze from the newly appointed Executive Chef: Erick Garcia.

Originally from Guatemala - a Central American country with a unique culinary fusion of indigenous traditions and rich culture, Chef Erick Garcia always emphasizes the link between cuisine and the community. Starting from Central America, his culinary journey has spread to many countries around the world, creating a very unique characteristic in each menu he drafts: deeply rooted in indigenous culture, harmoniously combining traditional flavors and contemporary culinary trends.

With a natural tendency to play with ingredients and spices, Chef Erick Garcia believes a delectable dish is not only about the engaging flavor but also about the art of performance and decoration that can touch all the senses of the diners when enjoying it. This is also reflected in his cooking: it is not a job but a passion and endless creativity.

From your viewpoint, how important is the connection between cuisine and community?

I think is one of the main priorities, If you are able to link your cuisine to the community you will make a great impact because the community will fell they belong in that restaurant.

With an extremely diverse experience: born in a Latin American country, in a family that owns a Spanish restaurant, working in many countries from South America, Africa, Asia to the Middle East, what have you learnt from this journey and how have you applied it to your cuisine?

I think from every corner of the world I had the opportunity to take something. If we talk on the culinary side, the techniques and flavors have helped me a lot to create new recipes.

Your mother is a graduate of the San Sebastian culinary school in Spain. In your opinion, which is more important when managing a high-end restaurant: formal education or self-learning in famous kitchens?

Both will help you. The culinary school will help you to set a good foundation to start your career and then is all about the experiences you have in the kitchens.

Whenever you take up a new position, you also relocate to another country. What is your motivation? What inspires you?

What inspires me is the opportunity to learn from a new culture. I think that enriches my life experience and knowledge and makes me appreciate a lot the life 

What is the best memory of your journey as a chef around the world?

My best memories are the ones that staff has given me the opportunity to experience. Such as being invited to a house to eat a traditional meal. Those experiences give you the opportunity to see how the culture is and those are the memories you remember all your life.

In 2018, you came to Vietnam to work for a 5-star hotel in Hanoi. What brought you back to Vietnam? And this time in Ho Chi Minh City?

The people and the food is what brought me back. In addition, why now in HCMC is because this is a city that is emerging very fast and soon will be compared with other major cities in Asia. In four words “The place to be”

The Michelin Guide has come to Vietnam. Besides delighting diners, are you determined to win this prestigious star with the restaurants of LOTTE Hotel Saigon?

Yes, I set that target before I joined LOTTE Hotel Saigon and a personal goal to achieve.

With Executive Chef Erick Garcia at the helm, what new, creative and interesting culinary experiences will diners expect when coming to LOTTE Hotel Saigon?

I cannot reveal much because we do not want to lose the element of surprise. However, what I can share is that we will have great theme wine dinners in our restaurants with special chefs from around the world, which will join and help us to make those dinners memorable.

How do you define an ideal dining experience at a restaurant? How would you elevate the experiences at LOTTE Hotel Saigon restaurants to the perfection in your view?

Atmosphere, consistency, service and a story behind each dish. That is what elevates this experience to perfection.

LOTTE Hotel Saigon has a diverse collection of culinary spaces. Can you share some ideas on how to maintain the original characteristics of the restaurant, while keeping creative to attract returning diners? Not just one but many culinary spaces in a hotel? How to create an impressive culinary symphony without being messy?

First, I think each restaurants need to have their own identity. If that is not set, that is the first thing to do, because that will set the success of the overall F&B experience in a hotel. Once that is in place, you would be able to create different experiences base on each identity of the restaurant. However, we always need to keep something in mind; experiences need to be created, not just simple promotions. As experiences will be the ones that will be memorable for the guest and will make him or her return or to recommend the restaurant to another guest.

Read more: Executive Chef Konrad Renggli: Passion to create news flavors from traditional inspirations


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