JEDDAH: Rosewood Jeddah, an important landmark on the Corniche, is once again in full swing to offer “unique and outstanding” cuisine during the holy month of Ramadan.

“Our highly trained team of culinary experts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, China, Philippines, India and Pakistan will be working hard to bring our guests a multicultural gastronomic experience to remember,” Rosewood Executive Chef Amjad Al-Ghandoor told Arab News in an interview.

“As the executive chef, I am responsible for planning and organizing the kitchen and the various dishes and cuisine, and report directly to the managing director,” said Al-Ghandoor who is in charge of a team of 40 chefs and 20 stewards, and holds daily sous chefs’ meeting and attends all the other major meetings of the hotel management.

“However, my most important task is to satisfy our guests and exceed their expectations. Other responsibilities include producing and checking booking and presentation of food, and keep up the food hygiene and HACCP standards,” said Al-Ghandoor who became the executive chef at Rosewood Jeddah in September 2014.

 “What I like about this hotel is the variety of dishes I need to offer to its guests. The hotel with 127 rooms and suites, and five outlets, including Japanese, Chinese, all-day and in-room dining, and lobby lounge attracts local guests as well as others from a number of countries.

“As the executive chef, I am responsible for planning and organizing the kitchen and the various dishes and cuisine, and report directly to the managing director,” he said.

Going by his track record, the Jordanian executive chef, born on July 21, 1980, has shown his commitment to work in a highly professional manner and has consistently carried out his duties to the utmost satisfaction of the guests on one hand and the management on the other.

One glaring quality of Al-Ghandoor is he can take up and execute multiple tasks without losing focus on his main priorities. At the same time, his innovative spirit has taken him to be recognized as a creative professional and made him reach greater heights, with his cuisine combining modernity and tradition.

That’s how he assures his Ramadan guests that they will have the privilege to enjoy a more exclusive iftar experience.

This is the occasion when the multi award-winning hotel Rosewood Jeddah will transport visitors into a world of charm and opulence during the holy month, he said, adding that the five-star hotel will celebrate the holy month by highlighting the traditional Saudi culture through a Hijazi themed Ramadan celebration at its specialty restaurants — Habsburg and Noodles.

“Guests are invited to discover historical Saudi traditions as the hotel is transformed into a traditional Layali Hijazia setting,” Al-Ghandoor said.

Habsburg and Noodles restaurants will be decorated with Hijaz artefacts such as the beautiful fanous (lanterns), mashrabiya windows and other traditional handicrafts.

Further adding to the Hijazi theme, the property will replicate traditional souks and bazaars throughout the hotel to create an essence of the old streets in the region of Hijaz.

Staff members from both Noodles and Habsburg will wear traditional Hijazi dress to greet diners while offering Zamzam water, a traditional drink in Jeddah during the holy month.

This year’s culinary additions include a buffet counter with a Turkish twist, serving delicious olive oil based delicacies. Both restaurants will feature authentic Hijazi cuisine such as gursan, jeraish, mento and lamb kabsa.

“We also serve habb soup, which is very popular among Saudis and very famous in Ramadan,” he said.

At Habsburg, live cooking stations will serve up international and local dishes such as saj, shawarma, lamb and beef liver, egg omelettes, and foul madamas for suhoor. The menu will be complemented by signature Ramadan juices such as jellab, vimto, kamar eldin, laban and tamer hindy.

The hotel will offer group booking options for iftar or suhoor for gatherings up to 200 persons at Habsburg and Noodles restaurants. 

The iftar buffet offers two options at SR310 and SR295 per person while the suhoor buffet is SR260 per person, inclusive of Ramadan juices, water, soft drink and Arabic coffee.

Al-Ghandoor’s expertise is evident from the fact that he was entrusted with the responsibility of preparations for pre-opening and opening of Shaza Hotel Al Madinah in the holy city, where he was its executive chef from September 2011 to August 2014.

Al-Ghandoor’s tasks also included developing and updating the hotel’s kitchen operation manual, creating attractive menus and preparing innovative standard recipe cards.

An accomplished executive chef, Al-Ghandoor started his career in the culinary field at the age of 20 after completing the culinary school and diploma.

“First Five years of my beginning, I spent in Amman, from 2000 to 2005, working in the best hotels of Amman city under the supervision of star Michelin chefs where I learned and sharpened my culinary skills,” he said.

His passion took him to different regions to know more about the culinary world, from the UAE to China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and presently in Saudi Arabia.

His academic career includes study in Diploma Hotel management, cooking principles and kitchen skills in 1998.

He obtained the HACCP intermediate certificate, Beijing, China in 2007. He is currently pursuing the eCornell — Executive Leadership Certification.

A linguist, Al-Ghandoor is fluent in Arabic and English, and has basic knowledge of Turkish and Chinese mandarin.

Al-Ghandoor said he initiated a Chef on the Run Program to develop a second line in the hotel’s kitchen department, focusing on technical and leadership skills. He also introduced a Magic Box Cooking Competition to enhance the guest interaction skills for the chefs.

About his plans, Al-Ghandoor said he is very much involved in redesigning and preparing a new concept for the hotel’s outlets.