FAIRMONT KENYA INTRODUCES KARAN SURI AS NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF
Filling the shoes of an acclaimed predecessor like Hubert de Marais is never going to be easy but Fairmont Kenya went out of their way to secure the services of Karan Suri, who going by the feedback received while in Kenya over the past 10 days, could just be the man for that job, turning those shoes into a jet bigger size.
Last Friday, while already on other assignments, Fairmont held a tasting session at the Norfolk Hotel, and a real miss it was going by the feedback from my Kenya grapevine it seems.
A group of journalists was invited to the Norfolk last Friday to sample some of Karans creations and give a glimpse into the culinary direction he will take the Norfolk, the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Mara Safari Club to as he establishes his own footprints on the menus.
From information received Karan served previously in similar positions at Oberoi Hotels, at the Raffles Fire and Ice in Dubai and the Leela Palace in Dehli, before being recruited by Fairmont to become their main food man in Kenya. It left Karan apparently self confident enough, displaying brass when amongst the selection of starters, main courses and desserts on offer he laid down his personal challenge when including one of his predecessors signature dishes, the Morendat Striploin. Daring perhaps but I can only go by the feedback from a fellow scribe who shared his culinary impression by saying he could never have imagined that beef could taste so spectacularly good.
Well, there you have it the first test was passed and the lesson for this correspondent was not to make appointments and other arrangements when food tasting at Fairmont The Norfolk is in progress, as that is and has always been a highlight for the palate. Next time when in Nairobi a personal visit to the Chefs Table is perhaps in order, to give my readers a more adequate description of Karans abilities, than having to relay on hearsay and PR releases inspite of their glowing descriptions. Watch this space.
