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Park News
www.parkworld-online.com
ParkBloggin’
Executive chef joins
by Dr Jack Samuels
Morey’s Piers
After featuring last summer in a Food Network TV
Making Your Park’s
programme, Jack Morey of Morey’s Piers in
Dinning Unique
Wildwood, New Jersey, turned to Wally Jurusz to
improve his boardwalk food offering.
The food service at Ocean Park in Hong Kong is the most inspired
Wally, a longtime local resident, trained at the
I’ve ever seen in a theme park. If ever you visit, be sure to check out
famed Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New
the Bayview Restaurant and Terrace Café (pictured). The park’s
York and has worked at The Four Seasons Hotel in
management describes them as dining “experiences” …and it is right.
Philadelphia, the Washington Inn in Cape May, New
Recently I also visited two local restaurants in Vancouver that
Jersey, Havana ’59 in Richmond, Virginia, and The
illustrated perfectly the type of places people in the attractions industry
Pelican Club and Lucky Bones Backwater Grille,
Wally Jurusz
should visit to capture the essence of exciting dining. Few operators
both in Cape May.
other than Tivoli, Disney, Universal and Ocean Park seem to capture
For Jurusz, jumping from gourmet dining to the boardwalk fare offers not only a
that.
major challenge, but also the chance to spend more time with his family in the off-
Bin 941 is a tightly-seated tapas bar with some very unique tapas,
season. So how do you marry a stellar culinary education with boardwalk food?
while Kitanoya Guu, also in Vancouver, is another “small plate”
“I’m classically trained, I love fine dining,” says the chef, “but I’ve always loved
restaurant that invites diners to sample a wide variety of Japanese
food. No matter what, it’s still about the food and the experience.” A number of
dishes. Both of these attract a youthful (theme park?) clientele that
new menu items are now planned at Morey’s as a result of his arrival.
enjoys a vibrant, entertaining atmosphere.
Here, for me, is what made these establishments great:
1) Unique and Inviting Atmosphere. You can’t eat
The world’s s only amusement
atmosphere, but in our business it is very important. All three
restaurants highlighted are in busy locations and areas that may be
park with Michelin stars!
thought of as hip. The cliffside location at Ocean Park is
extraordinary, while Bin 941 features music that fits the pace of
Dining has always formed a large part of the offering at Tivoli. And now the
dining.
famous Copenhagen amusement park has just received its latest Michelin star.
2) Customer Service/Buzz. Customer service in these places
Chef Thomas Herman set himself the goal of achieving such an honour
extends beyond simply how your order is taken. Perhaps the best of
when he opened his gourmet restaurant within the Nimb building, and now
the three is Kitanoya Guu. Here the staff – the entire staff including
he’s got one! Herman takes as his starting point traditional Danish cuisine, but
the cooks in the kitchen – greet you in
applies a radical reinterpretation. Not
Japanese, with a “sayonara” when
as a gimmick, we are told, but as a
you leave. I’ve never seen anything
declaration of love.
like this in a restaurant before.
Next time you’re in Copenhagen
Throughout the meal there is the noisy
why not book a table at Nimb Herman
buzz of commentary from the waiting
and sample a dish such as “Shooting
staff and the “show kitchen,” which I
Star” (plaice and shrimps) or “Burning
am sure would be even more
Love” (potatoes, bacon and onion)?
entertaining if only I knew a little
Tivoli’s first Michelin Star was given
Japanese!
in 2003 to chef Paul Cunningham at
3) Unique Food. At all three of
The Paul. Inside the same building as
these restaurants the menus were so
Nimb Herman guests will also find a
varied that you simply couldn’t wait to visit again. I ate in Kitanoya
brassiere, wine bar and hotel.
Guu three times in a five night visit and still did not get round to
www.nimb.dk
Thomas Herman
sampling half the food I planned. It’s worth remembering that no
matter how fine everything else is about a restaurant, the food is
ultimately what brings you back for more. Many in our industry have Gold Coast’s gourmet guests
forgotten this at their peril.
A group of Japanese students training as chefs, pâtissiers and nutritionists were
4) Pricing. Unfortunately, too many parks and attraction operators
recently given insight into the food & beverage operations at Sea World Resort &
subscribe to the captive audience theory; people have to eat so the
Water Park on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
price/value relationship is not always good. All three of the
The appeal of the initiative was two-
restaurants I visited make you walk away saying “great experience,
fold; it helped improve student’s English
great food, great value!” You don’t hear that in many theme parks
language skills, and it provided practical
these days, or even some upscale restaurants. Your food service
exposure to the hospitality industry
operation can be a key factor in determining the public’s overall view
outside of Japan.
of your facility; so don’t make a meal of it!
The Sea World Resort was recently
voted “Best Family Experience” at the
Dr Samuels has written over 200 articles for the amusement industry.
He provides diverse consulting services in marketing, promotional activities,
2009 Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards.
facility development, customer service, crowd and event management. He can
be reached at
samuelsj@mail.montclair.edu
Students are treated to a demonstration
from executive chef Sebastian Kuhn
8 JULY 2009
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