High-quality ingredients, fresh, local — it’s what diners want right now. And some dinner buffets are delivering that now. That’s right, a dinner buffet.
At the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, Executive Chef Jeffrey Szombaty created the new Buffet at Hyatt to showcase local Hawaiian cuisine using high-quality and organic foods, including a made-to-order poke and sushi stations, Kauai shrimp and laulau (pork wrapped in taro or luau leaf), among other options.
Contributed by Debbie Carlson
Dinner buffets remain extremely popular with both guests and local residents, Szombaty says, and by focusing exclusively on Hawaiian dishes, he “wanted the buffet to have a sense of place.” Food is made throughout the night — not only does that meet diners’ growing desire for freshly prepared and customized meals, but it also cuts down on waste typically associated with buffets.
The Macau at the Sheraton Grand Macao’s Shao Kao Street Barbecue, focuses on local fare as well, including an authentic Chinese street barbecue featuring live charcoal-grilled seafood.
Hyatt’s buffet debuted in February, and while it’s still too early to say what returns they’re seeing, Szombaty says already their average cover counts are steadily rising.
Patrick Willis, founder and managing director at Innovative Restaurant Concepts, says while he’s not a fan of buffets, diners in general want products they may not necessarily locate or eat often.
“To me, it’s all about quality. If you have quality and you build your reputation on that, people will come. People will stay,” he says.