Fresh out of the oven

Back in March, GulfWeekly revealed how work was forging ahead on refurbishing the hotel’s former T-Spoon café and Saveur restaurant with a ‘new and exciting’ dining dimension.

The aim was to create eateries that not only ‘fulfilled the expectations’ of hotel guests but also the ‘many thousands of people that walk round that corner to go into the mall’s Saks 5th Avenue’, said recently-appointed Anna-Marie Dowling, Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ complex general manager at City Centre Bahrain, at the time.

Now fully operational, the concept appears to be a winner on all fronts with the perfect place for ‘people watching’ for customers wanting to chill and enjoy the ambience as bustling shoppers go about their business.

“I’m very impressed with the outcome and all these months of hard work and meetings did pay off, FURN Bistro and Bakery is a product that has lightened our hotel and has added a unique dining addition to City Centre Bahrain. I am personally very proud of it,” she said.

“You can never visualise the outcome by just looking into drawings and renderings but, in fact, it turned out much better than what I initially expected.

“We did several focus group food tastings to determine what the market needs were before we could go ahead and implement the entire concept. This ensured that we were fulfilling the customer needs with a new dining cuisine that was targeting the Arabic market.

“Throughout the training and soft opening, we received very positive and constructive feedback from potential and existing clients that was taken into consideration and implemented.

“We did our homework prior to execution and we already knew that our guests that used to use T-Spoon Café, loved to sit in the chairs at the front of the café, facing the mall.

“There was an opportunity to expand this experience by extending the number of seats that gave guests more choice of seats to enjoy the ambiance of the mall.

“So we worked with the mall team and introduced the ‘Rotunda’ in front of Saks Fifth Avenue - this area not only offers the Bakery menu but it will also be the only place in the mall where guests can enjoy a traditional High Tea and Khaleeji Afternoon Tea.

“Both Bistro and Bakery have been designed to incorporate more theatrical elements than the previous outlets, having the chefs cooking and baking life in front of the customer is aimed to entertain the customer and get them to witness and engage in how the food is being cooked in front of their eyes, it also creates a new atmosphere and life to the venues when you see that our talented chefs are interacting with our guests.”

Khaleeji fare is the traditional cuisine of the Arabian Peninsula, often around a spread with rice, meat or fish and spiced sauces forming the centrepiece of the meal.

The spices used aren’t indigenous to the area but can be traced back to ancient trade routes linking China, India and Arabia. Ingredients such as coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and star anise are used and often combined with seafood that has historically been plentiful off the Arabian coast.

Many food writers and bloggers suggest Khaleeji cooking could become ‘the next big thing’ and that modernising Khaleeji food with a western influence has huge potential because ‘at the end of the day the flavours are there and they are beautiful dishes’.

In Arabic, the word Furn (Fur’n) simply means ‘oven’. This speaks of tradition and the time-honoured techniques of baking, roasting and grilling alongside the authentic recipes and flavours of the region. The name also aims to offer a link to the artisan chefs and bakers who use this indispensable tool to create their art.

The outlets specialise in mezza, grills and a twist on strudels which apparently originate from the Turkish Baklava pastry, alongside tea, chai, coffee and juices.

As well as the food and refreshments, the different elements and styles in seating arrangements have cleverly created additional ‘library’ and ‘gallery’ spaces. “We knew we had many types of guests that like to use this area so FURN was smartly designed to offer different customer segments several areas for their comfort - families or groups of ladies, business people etc. will definitely find their preferred corner to enjoy the menu!” added Anna-Marie.

GulfWeekly will put the food to the Eating Out page test in the near future.