By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Seoul says that restaurants in top local hotels hold too many promotional events to the point where they are failing to have much impact on customers.
``Everybody in the city does a promotion but at the end of the year, what do you remember?'' Eric Costille said during an interview with The Korea Times. ``Too many specials can become just common and not truly special anymore.''
Special events should be held when a restaurant makes the best of everything on the regular menus and wants to offer something as the regular menus become boring to customers, he said.
So the chef is directing the hotel to only have highly selective promotions such as two recent ones put on by chocolate and cheese masters, which were well received by customers.
He also emphasizes the importance of the basics in cooking rather than trying to offer something extraordinary.
``The food industry is changing so fast. And it is quite challenging to create something new and something that people recognize as a trendsetter. But it's like, go back to basics,'' he said.
To offer what customers want, the chef simply said it is important to have direct contact with them in restaurants.
``I want to talk to customers as much as we can. Promotions can be good for two weeks or a month. But when it ends, everything's gone, too. We should focus on our menu and try to know what they want,'' he said.
To fulfill guests' high expectation for the restaurant, he plans to send his chefs to other countries to learn more about related culture as well as authentic dishes.
``It is important for local chefs here to be culturally-exposed to the countries where the dishes come from,'' he said, citing the more a chef knows about culture and ingredients, the better he or she can cook.
The faith originates from his experience as a young man.
Growing up in Cannes, France, he believes his hometown background as well as his father's encouragement is what lay behind his successful career as a chef.
Famous as the town where the Cannes International Film Festival is held, the region has a perfect natural environment that offers good quality ingredients. Costille's father was a chef in a small restaurant and Costille used to help him there.
``It's like a natural evolution for me,'' he said.