Specialising in world-class Kyoto cuisine, Chef Takagi Kazuo will be serving
his signature best at the Crowne Plaza restaurant for the next two weeks
By Umer Nangiana
For the next two weeks, Aramede at Crowne Plaza, Doha, is celebrating Japanese Chef Takagi Kazuo. Ambassador of Japan to Qatar Shingo Tsuda himself flagged off the event with some of Kazuo’s signature best including tartar yellow tail tuna sashimi and crispy vegetable and seafood tempura at an opening dinner on Sunday.
From October 12-25, guests can expect to taste appetising dishes from Kazuo’s repertoire. Specialising in world-class Kyoto cuisine, Kazuo has enjoyed an inspirational career. Starting out at the age of 23, he turned passion, dedication and incredible talent into a string of culinary accomplishments.
Dubbed the Master of Japanese Cuisine, his dishes showcase exceptional balance and precision, their delicate flavours winning his Kyoto restaurant, Takagi, two Michelin stars.
“He has really put together a fantastic menu which is accessible for international food lovers to experience the authentic Japanese flavours and truly enjoy the Japanese cuisine, one of the oldest in the world,” Robbert Manussen, Resident Manager of Crowne Plaza Hotel, told Community.
“It is really a craft to produce Japanese food. Chef Kazuo has really been able to put a menu together that everybody can enjoy, bringing its authentic taste on the table,” added Manussen.
Kazuo comes from a culinary family. His mother was a culinary school instructor and became his mentor in Kyoto cuisine. Chef Kazuo’s ambition was clear to him from an early age — he knew he wanted to be a chef from the age of three.
Chef Kazuo has a deep respect and love for Japanese culinary traditions and hopes to bring a greater understanding of them to a wider audience.
Crowne Plaza Doha The Business Park has introduced an exciting selection of new recipes to its menu at Aramede Restaurant, the hotel’s all-day dining. Seven celebrated international chefs have been appointed Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) Culinary Ambassadors to develop a repertoire of unique signature dishes for guests dining in IHG hotels across the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) Region.
Crowne Plaza Doha The Business Park Executive Chef Dominique Morin and his team will re-create Chef Kazuo’s dishes including tartar yellow tail tuna sashimi, and Japanese pepper beef and miso marinated grilled cod for the main courses. “We are in the fifth stage of our culinary journey and we are happy to see that the success is continuing. Again a lot of visitors are experiencing the cuisine as well as the leaders and the ambassadors who visit us and enjoy our food,” said the resident manager.
He said guests now think of Crowne Plaza as a great place for food. “Our brunch has been fully booked for the last week which is fantastic and the sea food night is really picking up. People who hear about Crowne Plaza, come over, experience the product and start to come back,” the manager added.
In advance, the team does food tastings to make sure that the food is really as per the recipes and the quality level are correct and the presentation is exactly as the chef has it in mind. Manussen credited his team for the effort.
“I must say our team is doing an excellent job. You really get great food on the table and the honour really goes to them for creating great guest experience,” he said, adding that this journey is a great success because of the passion and the enthusiasm of his team members.
“The enthusiasm that the kitchen team puts in there to learn new cuisines, for example, they are not familiar with Japanese. They have to acquire the skills, they have to learn the menus and they have to learn the recipes and test cook to make sure that the dish is 100% authentic,” said Manussen.
The service team is also putting a great effort. Without them, he said, this journey would not have been a great success like it is. The hotel is left with two more ambassador chefs, the German and the Italian, coming up within two and the four weeks’ time.
FLAVOURS OF KYOTO: Chef Takagi Kazuo has put together a menu accessible to international audience.
