301654 Tue Mar 07 21:01:22 -0800 2006 4 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1683295 Last week I attended a corporate conference at a major NY hotel. We were served scads of different pastries, at and after dinner, at breakfast and midmorning. All were elegant, perfect decorating technique, but virtually all were tasteless and dismal in the mouth. One, an onion and apple strudel served in the morning, was actively repellant. I think something is seriously wrong when a food art is practiced with such a disconnect with the sense of taste. Help! Tue Mar 07 21:01:22 -0800 2006 0 jen kalb 1 1683304 As a non-corporate pastry chef, I of course would blame 'major hotel' as being the problem. I worked at a Four Seasons for exactly three weeks and was seriously dismayed at the lack of quality and the shortcuts taken - very different from what my expectations of what a big fancy hotel would be like. Of course the volume those places deal with puts constraints on the program, but it just didn't seem focused on quality. Sure, the guests think they are well taken care of with chocolate dipped strawberries in February, but I'd rather not have to give people crappy flavorless strawberries just because they think they want them. Hotels usually have more than one restaurant, plus banquets, plus room service, and chances are at any given time something is not going to get the attention to detail it deserves. Tue Mar 07 22:52:16 -0800 2006 1683295 0 babette feasts 2 1683361 what was striking to me was (1) the savory food coming out of the same kitchen was much tastier (2) there was enormous attention to detail in the pastry produced and enormous variety in the items- there was just seemingly NO attention to the reason we put food in our mouths, its taste. Wed Mar 08 12:29:08 -0800 2006 1683304 0 jen kalb 3 1683423 A lot of the pastries and the so called finger desserts are outsourced by local vendors. That's why the sharpe contrast in savory vs sweets. It's a common practice in major hotels. They don't want to pay people coming in at 3am to bake. Thu Mar 09 00:48:29 -0800 2006 1683361 0 theSauce 1 1683414 After 25 years of corporate functions a few pointers: 1 - breakfast - all pastries stink; buffet eggs are undercooked and flavorless 2 - coffee lousy but yet when it runs out you are angry 3 - lunch - make your own sandwich stinks, most everyhting else, ibid. 4 - dinner - "steak"/rubber chicken is inedible 5 - Read Anthony Bourdin's books before you attend...you will then understand Suggestions - Starbs/DD uually in lobby or right outside for breakfast...deal with it the rest of the day fill up on water and soda and try to sneak out right before dinner for a couple of slices. Wed Mar 08 21:31:29 -0800 2006 1683295 0 ncchowdog