Dolce Hotels And Resorts New Food Initiative Pushes The Meeting Forward

The meeting is stalling, your eyes are drooping and everyone is surreptitiously checking their phone under the table. Wouldn't it be great if your upcoming coffee break could provide you with better fuel than instant coffee and a soggy pastry? Wouldn't your meeting run more smoothly after eating some real food and sipping on a proper cup of coffee or tea? That's exactly what Dolce Hotels and Resorts aims to do with its new 'thoughtful foods, thoughtful minds' food program, which was introduced throughout the hotel chain last year.

If the term 'thoughtful food' conjures up images of tasteless diet meals, think again. The head chef at each resort creates a menu that highlights the best locally available seasonal foods, from fresh New Jersey peaches to fish chosen at proper harvest times. Meals, which are served buffet style, provide guests with plenty of options to suit special diets and personal curiosity.

'Thoughtful' applies to everything from the preparation to the presentation. Instead of giant, self-serve buffet tables, foods are displayed in single portions designed to look beautiful on the plate. Even the dining room is designed to encourage thoughtful eating, with low lighting and comfortable seating that allows you to settle in and relax after a grueling day of negotiations.

While many restaurants are rolling out farm-to-table programs, Dolce Hotels and Resorts' approach doesn't exactly follow the trend. Their aim is simple: make good food, eat good food and don't go overboard. To help guests stay excited about what they're eating, options are consistently rotated with no single dish repeating within a two-week period. That means you're out of luck if you want to have the espresso-braised short rib more than two days in a row, you'll have to dry the seared scallops instead.

In a world where knowledge about food is constantly increasing and customers are becoming ever-more discerning, Dolce seeks to provide a way to bridge the gap between the slow and deliberate way we know we should be eating and the current realities of our everyday life. As chef Paul Bogardus says, "Respect the food!"

Hospitality was provided to the author by Dolce Hotels and Resorts.