Chef's table: Behind the scenes at the Hilton kitchen

KATO Chairman Peter Ngori, Cabinet Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala and General Manager Hilton Hotel John Mcaree in Nairobi during the Chef's table luncheon which was hosted at the Hilton's kitchen. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Fine dining often features tastes that are new to your palate, and at other times ones you are familiar with but you have no idea how they come about. Usually, the closest you can get to the heart of the meal is by complimenting the chef.

Enter the Chef’s Table. Not the Netflix show by the same name, but an amazing concept ran by elite hotels. This is where you literally go behind-the-scenes into the culinary process behind the creation of your meals.

Chef’s tables allow diners to watch the cooking process or at least have the executive chef personally explain how it is done in detail.

A typical chef’s table consists of ideally 10 people and usually takes place in the hotel’s main kitchen. Usually, there is also a sommelier who pairs each course with a different wine and explains what that particular wine is and why it was chosen for that particular meal.

This is the concept that Kenya’s oldest hotel, the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, chose to use to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. Coincidentally, the Hilton brand also celebrated 100 years of existence in May this year.

The hotel used several chef’s tables to mark its anniversary, with guests that included stakeholders, clientele and journalists. In its latest chef’s table, the hotel hosted Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala among other stakeholders.

The menu was a decadent four-course lunch featuring, among other foods, corn-fed Nousyian hen, balsamic caviar, seared scallops, classic beef wellington, crispy beef rib, chocolate fondant, and peanut butter ice-cream.

When the Hilton holds a chef’s table, usually everyone at the table is dressed in a Hilton-branded apron, which makes the guests feel like they really took part in the whole process. It is one that you can take home and try to impress your own guests with your own cooking.

In an interview with Saturday Standard after the table, Mr Balala spoke highly of the concept, clearly having enjoyed himself. The government owns a 40 per cent shares of the Hilton Hotel.

“Today in this celebration we were invited to the kitchen, the chef’s table, which is amazing. Usually in the hotel industry, nobody invites you to the kitchen. But this is a new thing happening, not only in Kenya but worldwide. It was wonderful. It was excellent,” he said.

The chef’s table usually features a theme.

However, it can also be used to showcase the chef’s skills. John Muriithi is the executive chef at the Hilton, and the first Kenyan to hold the position.

Two chefs

He has an expansive repertoire, having ran several Michelin-style kitchens.

He coached two of his team members who emerged number one in Africa at the Food & Beverage Masters competition designed to showcase talent within the Hilton hotels.

“What I am most proud of is that the two chefs won the Hilton competition and became number one in Africa. The two chefs progressed to Turkey, Middle East, and Africa, and they came in number three. That is a big recognition, that the Hilton Group in Kenya can produce staff that are highly competitive on the global field of cooking,” said Balala.

According to Eric Mbugua, a marketing executive at Hilton, the chef’s table will be an ongoing concept.

The event is an invite-only at the hotel’s discretion and is free of charge. The invite is by official request by the general manager and the executive chef.

Who is invited depends on why the hotel is hosting it.