What's Cooking?
State Banquet Chefs from the Grand Hotel in Taipei
The Grand Hotel of Taiwan
One of the Ten Most Famous Hotels in the World
The Grand Hotel of Taiwan was built in 1952 for the single purpose of entertaining foreign dignitaries, providing their lodging and dining needs. Its palace-like architecture and royal service impressed all the state guests it received.
Later, the hotel was opened to the public. Due to its unique history and its innovative as well as multi-facet services, the hotel has been very popular in the highly-competitive hospitality industry; thus, proving the transition a great success.
In the past, the state banquets and the presidential inauguration banquets were held either in the Presidential Palace or the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hall in Yengming Mountain. The Grand Hotel was chosen as the venue to host the presidential inauguration banquet for the first time on May 20, 2000, with guests totaling 300. After that, the Hotel has also been the venue of the state banquets honouring foreign heads of state in numerous international summit meetings, with the number of dignitaries served ranging from 200 to 450.
During President Lee Teng-hui’s reign, the cuisines of the state banquets were all prepared by the chefs at the Grand Hotel. The cuisines were masterpieces, combining traditional flavours with contemporary creations, and taking into considerations of the guests’ special needs and favourites.
Aside from its famous cuisines, the professionalism and smiles of the servers, nurtured through the tradition and experiences, are also part of the Grand Hotel’s trade mark.
Chef Lau
Chef Lau grew up and received his training in Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong. His strong determination, hard work and creativity have helped him excel in the field. He left Hong Kong for Taiwan to further pursue his love for culinary arts eighteen years ago and was hired to work at the Grand Hotel in Taipei. His skills and innovative ideas in creating tasty and elegant Cantonese dishes have earned him great acclaim from food connoisseurs everywhere.
In his 34 years of devotion to culinary arts, Chef Lau has successfully adopted traditional Cantonese food in western styled presentation. Because of his accomplishments, Chef Lau has served two Taiwanese presidents in preparing dishes to be served at state banquets on the island. Besides, he has been the executive chef for many important banquets.
Chef Yen
Chief Yen, a seasoned chef, specializes in Shanghai & Si Chuan cuisines, two of the most popular Chinese cuisine styles. He is of Hakka decent, and has inherited the Hakka traits of being hardworking and thrifty. Having an uncle who works for the famed Grand Hotel gave him all the advantages, but he has kept his humble nature. Chef Yen always tries to cater to the needs of his customers, making sure his dishes are tasty, presentable, and, most importantly, healthful.
Chef Yen specializes in converting ordinary dishes into something elegant and grand by adding special touches. He also enjoys making delicious snacks for his family and being rewarded with great smiles on his children’s faces.
Having worked at the Grand Hotel for more than thirty years, Chef Yen has served four presidents in Taiwan participating in the preparation for the state banquets. His presence at the 2008 TaiwanFest will offer the audience a rare opportunity to see a great chef at work, demonstrating his specialties.