Success through training
View(s):Two former chefs offer expert advice on ‘contemporary culinary trends’ for Sri Lanka’s growing hospitality industry
By Sandarangi Perera
Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry is growing in leaps and bounds. The end of the three-decade war that ravaged the North and the East of the island has brought in many investors and with it, great new prospects for the trade.
 Chaminda Liyanage |
 Ranjith Morugama |
However, while investors provide the financial backing, it is the responsibility of the hoteliers and entrepreneurs to handle the operational aspects of their ventures. Unfortunately, due to the lack of experience and practical know how in operational areas, ventures tend to fail.
With the correct professional advice, guidance, knowledge and expertise these ventures can be turned into lucrative businesses, and this is what Okura Hotel Services (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka’s first consultancy company for hoteliers, sets out to do.
Founded last September by culinary experts, Chefs Ranjith Morugama and Chaminda Liyanage, the company has been operating for a little over two months but has already started working on three upcoming hotels.
“We’re professionals, we have experience, and we know what’s happening in the hotel industry around the globe. We’re well versed in health and safety, food hygiene, HACCP standards which are all factors that the international customers pay attention to,” Mr. Morugama told the Sunday Times.
“So far we have had a good response from the hotel industry because most of the hoteliers know us and they want to work with us, especially to receive advice about how they can improve.”
Chef Morugama joined the hotel industry in 1984. He has received numerous awards, including a gold medal for excellence in Sri Lankan cooking, silver medal for cold food preparations and a bronze medal for gastronomic cooking. He steadily rose through the ranks, becoming Executive Chef and later Director of Catering at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo until his retirement this year. A former president of the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka, he is now the Managing Director of Okura Hotel Services.
“I’ve worked at the Cinnamon Grand and Lanka Oberoi for the last 30 years. So I want to share my experiences and knowledge with new investors and beginners in the hotel industry,” Mr. Morugama said.
A graduate from the Oberoi School of Hotel Management in New Delhi, Chef Chaminda Liyanage, Director of Okura Hotel Services, too has nearly two decades of experience in the hotel industry. Having represented Sri Lanka at international events, he was Executive Sous Chef and Executive Chef at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.
On an international level, the hotel industry is evolving constantly. In order for Sri Lankan hoteliers to keep up with their global counterparts, they need to embrace these changes. The two culinary experts believe that Sri Lanka has great potential in the industry and that it’s only a matter of “stepping out of the box” that the Sri Lankan hotel and hospitality trade has limited itself to.
“We give advice and a total solution on internationally evolving contemporary culinary trends in the food and beverage segment. We want to set hoteliers who aren’t doing well on the correct track,” Mr. Morugama said.
“Basically our main idea is to be a company that will expose newcomers to new concepts, educate them about good management, and overall show them how to be professionals in the industry.”
Okura Hotel Services provides a range of services for their customers including knowledge about the industry, cost effective and efficient kitchen and restaurant designing, menu design, training on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), avoiding wastage, auditing etc.
There are a few different areas that hoteliers must pay attention to when venturing into the hospitality industry. Two main areas are the menu and the design of the restaurant or hotel. “A menu is an unwitting subconscious reflection of the character of the restaurant. The menu conveys the very personality of the restaurant and exactly who you are,” Mr. Morugama explained.
They believe it’s vital for a restaurant to have a unique interior design concept and layout. “Without knowing the concept of the restaurant you can’t design the kitchen, so you should firstly know what type of food you’ll be serving and what will be the time that the restaurant operates in. It’s only then that you’ll be able to design the kitchen according to your requirements,” Mr. Morugama said. Eye-catching décor and the correct setting create the perfect ambience that will draw customers in, and they design interiors and layouts that will set the restaurant apart.
Okura specialise in both consultation and delivery to create a variety of restaurant and café concepts to suit today’s up-market needs.
“This I think is the first time that two chefs have got together and formed a hospitality company of this sort,” Mr. Liyanage noted.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus