By Bikramjit Ray
BW HOTELIER got the chance to catch up with Siddharth Savkur, (see photo) General Manager of Alila Diwa Goa, part of the Alila Hotels and Resorts chain headquartered in Singapore. The Alila Diwa, is a boutique South Goa property, Savkur told us, and like all Goa hotels, they feel the pinch while trying to compete with the local shacks and restaurants.
’The first thing you need is a Zen like calm to deal with the situation,’ Savkur told us. On a more serious note he added that like all hotels in Goa, Alila also sold the destination. ’If someone comes to Goa, we would not encourage guests to just dine in my hotel. Martin’s Corner for example, is just 150 metres from the hotel. If during a three night stay, the guest has three meals with me, I am happy,’ he added.
Perhaps, it was because of this need that Savkur’s hotel introduced a new Food and Beverage concept (new for Goa at least), at their award winning Indian restaurant, Spice Studio. Called ’Dine in the Dark’, the concept is not as easy to carry out as you would think.
’Our restaurant is built around a banyan tree, it is partially open air with a show kitchen,’ says Savkur. All of which have to be masked so that diners get to eat in pitch darkness.
’We do this as a pop up concept once a week during winter and once a month during our traditional ’off-season’ which is summer and monsoon. All lights switched off, all ambient lights including those in the lobby, dimmed; the show kitchen is also masked. You have to be led by hand to your table. Your only choice is a vegetarian or non-vegetarian thali. The items change every meal and everything from the kebab to dessert to breads is places on the same plate (or thali),’ he explained.
The concept was introduced as a one-off for Earth Hour in 2014, but it worked so well, that Alila decided -to do this more often. ’The thali is priced at Rs 900 plus taxes do that it does not seem too prohibitive for the non-five star crowd, who may want to try it out,’ Savkur concluded.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
BW HOTELIER got the chance to catch up with Siddharth Savkur, (see photo) General Manager of Alila Diwa Goa, part of the Alila Hotels and Resorts chain headquartered in Singapore. The Alila Diwa, is a boutique South Goa property, Savkur told us, and like all Goa hotels, they feel the pinch while trying to compete with the local shacks and restaurants.
’The first thing you need is a Zen like calm to deal with the situation,’ Savkur told us. On a more serious note he added that like all hotels in Goa, Alila also sold the destination. ’If someone comes to Goa, we would not encourage guests to just dine in my hotel. Martin’s Corner for example, is just 150 metres from the hotel. If during a three night stay, the guest has three meals with me, I am happy,’ he added.
Perhaps, it was because of this need that Savkur’s hotel introduced a new Food and Beverage concept (new for Goa at least), at their award winning Indian restaurant, Spice Studio. Called ’Dine in the Dark’, the concept is not as easy to carry out as you would think.
’Our restaurant is built around a banyan tree, it is partially open air with a show kitchen,’ says Savkur. All of which have to be masked so that diners get to eat in pitch darkness.
’We do this as a pop up concept once a week during winter and once a month during our traditional ’off-season’ which is summer and monsoon. All lights switched off, all ambient lights including those in the lobby, dimmed; the show kitchen is also masked. You have to be led by hand to your table. Your only choice is a vegetarian or non-vegetarian thali. The items change every meal and everything from the kebab to dessert to breads is places on the same plate (or thali),’ he explained.
The concept was introduced as a one-off for Earth Hour in 2014, but it worked so well, that Alila decided -to do this more often. ’The thali is priced at Rs 900 plus taxes do that it does not seem too prohibitive for the non-five star crowd, who may want to try it out,’ Savkur concluded.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
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