There are different kinds of customer during a pandemic, a hotel general manager observed. There are people who are less concerned and want the full experience, there are people with young children and senior parents who are very cautious, there are people who don’t want to come out at all.
So how does an establishment encourage and assure customers of their safety?
“We’re creating concepts and novelty, making people feel good about coming back to hotels,” Simon McGrath, Hilton Manila general manager, said in an intimate and physically distanced interview at the reopening of Kusina Sea Kitchens restaurant on June 18.
As the Safety Seal-certified restaurant in Pasay welcomes diners back – albeit only for dinner in the meantime – it highlights its dampa grill station and turo-turo format, dubbed The Market Place 2.0, which offers the buffet experience of picking the dishes they want with the least contact as possible.
First tested al fresco by the Vega Pool, Kusina’s The Market Place features multiple themed all you can eat sections within the buffet area, where guests are required to wear their face masks and face shields and sanitize their hands upon entering.
Only 15 diners are allowed at a time to check out the artisan bread station whose choices include breads popular in Filipino bakeries (putok and pan de regla, anyone?), Japanese corner (sushi, maki rolls, sashimi), and the Dampa grill station featuring fresh seafood (tiger prawns, giant freshwater prawns or ulang, oysters, fish, squid) and meats (sausages, chicken, pork, beef) cooked a la minute over a grill of lava rocks.
Being a 95 percent Filipino restaurant, McGrath is optimistic that Kusina’s dampa-style format is ideal for the current situation. “We thought it’s going to work for us because it’s cook-to-order food,” he said.
At the grill station, the diner picks the meat and seafood, then instructs the chef how they want those cooked. The chef cooks the items, once done, the buzzer given to the customer will buzz signaling the order is ready. The diner may opt to collect their order or have a Kusina team member serve it to their table.
With trays in hand, buffet guests can head to the Chinese dim sum station, international specialties station, and Filipino station featuring classic and regional cuisines from Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao. The Taste of Hua Yuan station offers select items from Hilton Manila’s Shanghainese restaurant, while the Noodle Hut serves Malaysian laksa and Vietnamese pho.
“Kusina serves Filipino food in all respects, but it’s always had an international mix because Filipinos have their favorite international food, too,” said McGrath.
The salad bar in the middle of the buffet area has a make-your-own and single serve options from the hotel’s Sustainable Garden. Sliced fruits and single serve desserts also have their own spots.
Kusina’s ice cream and candy corners hark back to the ‘80s and ‘90s with Selecta, Choc Nut, White Rabbit, Ricoa Flat Tops, HawHaw Candy, and Mik-Mik Milk Powder, among other sari-sari store staples. Completing the buffet are the halo-halo and samalamig stations.
Keeping the guests’ mind at ease as they dine, the trays are sanitized after each use, while utensils and napkins come in plastic packaging. Kusina operates at 50 percent capacity, but McGrath “hopes” to increase the allowed guests at its F&B outlets to above 75 percent come Christmastine.
“Looking at the level of confidence particularly in the NCR, and the fact that we are allowed to accept leisure guests again and that antigen testing for leisure guests has been taken away — there still some restrictions on age and a few other things — I’m hoping that by the time we get back to Christmas this year we can at least have some normality in regards to social events, function rooms, restaurants,” he said.
Hilton Manila is recognized by the Department of Tourism as the only 100 percent staycation hotel within Resorts World Manila; other establishments operate as a quarantine hotel or 50-50 quarantine and staycation. Hilton Manila accepts staycation guests including fully vaccinated seniors.
Kusina is open 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. serving a premium dinner buffet at P2,350 net per person on Saturdays and Sundays, and P2,050 net on Mondays to Fridays. Call (02) 7239-7788 or 0917-826-6442, or message them on Facebook through m.me/hiltonmanila for inquiries and reservations.