By Mini Ribeiro
People are becoming increasingly passionate about food, and not just about eating it. Whether it is understanding ‘the Sous Vide’ techniques, wine making and tasting or rolling the perfect sushi, food is arousing the curiosity of consumers today. And catching on this trend, hotels too have come up with a way to capitalise this by conducting master classes. These intimate sessions allow guests to cook dishes with hands-on guidance from chefs and, thus, understand various cuisines better and even cook these at home. It makes for a great interactive tool for hotels and is an important innovation.
Cooking is no longer viewed merely as a profession for chefs, but has caught the fancy of many others too. Thus, more and more people are coming forward to brush up their culinary skills. And it is not only housewives we are talking about. Vikas Sharma, director, food and beverage, Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai explains, “It is already a popular trend because chefs are a great inspiration.Today, culinary skills are not only looked upon as a profession but as a hobby as well. It attracts aspiring chefs and high society audience that seeks a signature recipe or trend-setting cuisine for their own family and friends.”
Andreas Kraemer, general manager, Hilton Shillim, adds, “Hotels organise master classes as an extension of their outreach programme. A move like this helps them bridge the gap between customers and chefs, which creates a sense of loyalty. Another reason, perhaps, could be that there is an increased curiosity about the creation of ‘restaurant-style dishes’, which could be due to the emergence of food-based reality shows and the rise of food blogging.”
Mohit Khattar, managing director, Godrej Nature’s Basket is of the opinion that master classes are a focused effort in reaching out to those consumers who are genuinely interested in food, new ingredients, recipes and techniques.
While reaching out to guests and consumers seems to be the unanimous sentiment, Indrajit Saha, executive chef, Sofitel Mumbai BKC, views it differently, “There are two main reasons for master classes at Sofitel. One, this is our way of sharing and giving back to the community in a small way. Second, we create awareness for the hotel through the participants of the master class, who then become our brand ambassadors for business growth.”
Gary Mehigan, the host of MasterChef Australia, recently conducted a master class at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai to promote Tourism Victoria. As expected, his presence proved to be a crowdpuller. Famous names have that affect.
“A celebrity chef certainly adds to the value of the class and usually the market impact is increased,” says Lars Windfuhr, executive chef, Park Hyatt Hyderabad.
A celebrity chef may increase the glamour quotient of a master class, but she or he must be a master of that cuisine too. Chef Vicky Ratnani feels, “A specialist is always better at explaining and communicating the subject of her/his expertise.”
Ravitej Nath, executive chef at Oberoi, Gurgaon, adds, “It is important to know that celebrity chefs bring with them the expertise of another cuisine and culture, but it needs to be relevant to the audience.
In the end, it is the food that matters, the ability of guests to try them at home with simple ingredients and ease in preparation. Recently, The Oberoi, Gurgaon conducted a Chinese promotion at threesixtyone, where Chinese master chefs from all over The Oberoi Group had flown in to pay tribute to the versatile cuisine of China. Between them, they had over a 100 years of experience in delicacies from Beijing, Shandong, Sichuan and Guangdong.”
Expertise is indeed the key here. Saha concurs: “Flown in from Krabi Thailand, a few months back, we had chef Naowarat Charoenwong with us to tantalise the Indian gourmand with her specialities. She is known for her gastronomic innovations in international restaurants like Arma Thai Restaurant, Blue Ocean and Red Snapper Restaurant. The festival commenced on Women’s Day with a master class which enabled participants to learn authentic Thai cuisine and the tricks of the trade.”
Khattar reiterates, “There are several
factors including the choice of chef who could do justice to what is intended to be shared with the audience or what the brand intends to achieve. It is almost akin to finding the right actor for the right role.”
A master class gives culinary enthusiasts of any skill-level an opportunity to experience both the front and back end of the restaurant industry. What’s more, it is not predictably women who are always the audience. The attendees are as varied as the topics of the classes. These sessions are not merely cooking classes anymore, teaching women how to cook, as was the case in the past.
In fact, roles are often reversed. Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre organised a special master class with chefs Rama and Keshia. This was held at the rooftop bar Evviva Sky Lounge where women enjoyed a drink while the men sweated it out learning how to cook.
With a carefully chalked-out menu, the chefs taught men how they could impress the women in their lives and make them feel special on International Women’s Day.
Men perfected the art of making lemon vinaigrette, white sauce, pasta in alfredo sauce and grilled tiger prawns. Hotels, too, realise the need to be flexible when it comes to the audience. Windfuhr of Park Hyatt Hyderabad says, “It depends on the topic of the cooking class. Some classes are perfectly for women, some for men or even children. In fact, we had organised a Felchlin chocolate- making class for women and kids. Italian cooking sessions also target both men and women.”
Saha goes a step further and says, “We target cooking enthusiasts, expats, inhouse guests, corporates, housewives, students from culinary schools and anyone who likes to benefit from cooking tips to secret recipes.”
Chef Vicky Ratnani adds, “Young housewives, people who entertain at home, food bloggers, enthusiastic foodies and home cooks attend master classes.”
Whoever be the audience, for Chef Lars, “Master classes should be more for the fun of cooking, less for product launches. Combined with a food promotion it makes sense to have your guests participate and learn about different cuisines and its flavours.”
Khattar agrees. “I am not sure that master classes can help product launches unless the launch is that of a recipe book or of a food product that is seen to be genuinely unique and rare. Else it could be seen as too gimmicky. They can help food pairings for sure.”
Sharma of Four Seasons has a different opinion. “We have capitalised on a master class at San-Qi, which was conducted live in front of bloggers, guests and social media contest winners as a part of the promotional activity for our vegetarian menu and we did gain real time reach to get the word out immediately. Master classes do have a way of communicating with the target audience and media alike.”
While these master classes may seem to be a boon for guests and consumers, it is equally a winning situation for hotels too.
Kraemer candidly admits, “When you eat at a star hotel and speak to the chef about the ingredients in a dish that you liked, the conversation is very short-lived, even though it may be memorable. But to watch that same chef take you through a step-bystep process of making this dish is a completely different experience. These master classes also encourage a lot of debate and discussion on food, sourcing of ingredients and cooking styles. This helps us gauge what our customer is thinking and what they would like to eat. Often these master classes give us ideas for future activities. Furthermore, these draw a number of people to our property and makes it an ideal setting for us to showcase Hilton Shillim to our guests.”
Ravitej Nath of Oberoi Gurgaon adds, “The master class is a unique way to either introduce a new chef, the season’s new menu highlights, or present a new food promotion in an informative way. Residents of Gurgaon and New Delhi, culinary enthusiasts and spouses of existing clientele and in-house residents are the main focus for these classes. For example, holding even a simple demonstration on Indian cuisine for the ladies of the Japanese community in Gurgaon can help them acclimatise and get comfortable in a new country. Cooking demonstrations explore the depth of ingredients, authentic cooking techniques and creative presentation methods.”
For retail players too, it is beneficial. Khattar of Godrej Nature’s Basket reiterates, “We were quick to realise the potential offered by master classes about four years ago. At that time, it was hardly a big trend. As an activity, it helps us connect with the right consumers and expose them to the range of products that we carry. It sensitises them to ways of combining these
ingredients to make new recipes. Most importantly, it evokes a sense of them being the ‘chef they always wanted to be’ for their families. For Nature’s Basket, this is one of the most critical marketing elements.”
With master classes becoming a popular platform for engaging with guests, hotels carefully plan these with much thought and deliberation.
Ravitej Nath suggests, “While planning a master class, always try to remember to create something new, the class should be planned well, with just the right number of dishes so that the class is neither too lengthy nor quick and gives the audience enough time to appreciate the skills of the chefs.”
Kraemer of Hilton Shillim adds, “Popularity of cuisine, roping in a chef or expert, timing of the class, number of attendees, the kind of dishes, decision to serve a full course meal or conclude with a tasting session, are some of the key factors to be considered when planning these.”
Popularity of cuisine, chef profile and reputation, ingredients available and feasibility of conducting the master class are of paramount importance, according to Vikas Sharma, whereas chef Vicky Ratnani considers the chef, choice of cuisine, content, offerings and price to be critical.
Master classes may be helping the hotel in its branding and positioning but are these commercially viable?
Chef Nath explains, “Master classes should represent a polished, refined and intelligent presentation of the skill and expertise of the chefs. The time, organisation, creativity, skill and media support enables a successful effort. We are also able to track the additional footfall and incremental revenue within our system. If conducted within a group of hotels, they can reduce the costs to the minimum and conduct regular sessions to engage with guests.”
Saha of Sofitel avers, “These are factored into the promotional budget and is not always a tangible revenue source that can be measured. At times, the master class is sponsored, which generates direct revenue for the hotel. Master classes are very much aligned with Sofitel’s core brand pillar of gastronomy and therefore these unique platforms definitely generate interest and patronage from our guests.”
Khattar opines, “Some retailers and organisations charge for these classes and some don’t. There are those who do try and offset the cost of the class by charging participants while others tend to take it as part of their marketing budgets.”
Sharma of Four Seasons is clear when he says, “The intention of conducting a master class isn’t to be commercially viable but to leverage the opportunity to get the target audience together and showcase the brand and chef.”
Chef Nath sums up succinctly, “Master classes are like ‘familiarisation tours’of the hotel. A guest experiences the hotel and its services first-hand, and hopefully turns into a brand promoter. That works very well for us.”
