{"id":313062,"date":"2019-11-29T06:07:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T20:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=313062"},"modified":"2019-11-29T06:07:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T20:07:25","slug":"making-things-happen-at-the-hyatt-with-food-and-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/making-things-happen-at-the-hyatt-with-food-and-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Making things happen at the Hyatt with food and friends"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Hyatt Regency Saipan executive chef Hartmut Kehm, who\u00a0hails from Frankfurt, Germany, is not a newbie to \u201cisland\u201d’ challenges. (BEA CABRERA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hartmut Kehm is the new kid on the block. As the newest face to join Hyatt Regency Saipan just four months ago, Kehm, who is Hyatt\u2019s new executive chef, took over the post left vacant by Gabriel Colombo, bringing with him 30 years\u2019 worth of experience working at Hyatt in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

He is not a newbie, however, when it comes to working on an island. Kehm, who hails from Frankfurt, Germany, has worked for many years at the Hyatt Regency Guam.<\/p>\n

In the short time he has been in the CNMI, Kehm has become quite familiar with the \u201cisland challenges\u201d that he and his team encounter every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing challenges is but normal in this industry\u2026the biggest problem is our supplies that come from the U.S. mainland. When bad weather comes in, the containers get stuck in Guam,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we are always up to the challenge and we always look for other opportunities and alternatives. If it is necessary, we adjust the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Hyatt executive chef, Kehm is not only in charge of everything that goes on in the kitchen but is also in charge of menu development at the hotel\u2019s six restaurants and bars: Miyako, Kili Caf\u00e9 & Terrace, Teppanyaki, Giovanni\u2019s, Splash Bar and Skipper\u2019s Bar.<\/p>\n

In a for-instance, Kehm said that he and his team had just changed the menu of the Splash Bar. According to him, they took a very close look at it and modified it a bit, maintaining the dishes but changing the presentation. \u201cWe added dishes to make the menu more \u2018island-centric,\u2019 putting items that [residents] like such as the loco moco,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Sunday brunch, we modified the buffet, adding more healthy options as the focus here is to be \u2018health-centric.\u2019 \u2026We have always had it but they were displayed differently. \u2026We also modified our cakes and pastries now available at DJ\u2019s Corner,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Khem\u2019s 30 years of experience is also at play. He creates innovation and take opportunities to provide better service at the Hyatt. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur guests will see many improvements that are on the way, starting with our room service menu linked to Kili\u2019s Caf\u00e9 & Terrace. A new menu at Giovanni\u2019s is also on the way as we made it simple but our guests will still get the true Italian food experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to do a lot of fusion and introduce local ingredients and themes. \u2026This makes Hyatt\u2019s culinary operations on-the-go and we are always exploring new ingredients and flavors for the guests and community to enjoy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As part of Hyatt\u2019s vision of care for guests, this extends to \u201cmeet-and-greets,\u201d with Kehm or executive sous chef Zen Tomokane visiting every table at all of the restaurants at Hyatt where they have a brief chat with diners. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe always seek feedback and we take it positively. \u2026We want to know because that will help how we can improve and train our team,\u201d Kehm said.<\/p>\n

Feedback and suggestions from guests also help create standards and pushes the Hyatt team to meet that standard. \u201cThis helps us get better,\u201d Kehm added.<\/p>\n

According to Kehm, celebrating Hyatt\u2019s 39th anniversary is an exciting time for the hotel and Saipan. \u201cThirty-nine years is a milestone and we are going to enjoy this year and a better way to celebrate it is with a new team of talented chefs\u2026and old friends that I worked with at some point in the past in other Hyatt brands: general manager Nick Nishikawa and Josephine Mesta in Guam, Ty Pauling in Canberra, Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to continue to provide the best for our guests and the local community. \u2026I hope next year on our 40th, we can celebrate the renewal of the lease. \u2026It is not easy and the hotel needs assistance and help for its age. We know that we need to refresh and update but Hyatt Regency Saipan, no matter what, always serves with a purpose,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hartmut Kehm is the new kid on the block. As the newest face to join…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-313062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supplement","tag-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}