Colombo, Nov 2 (NIA) – The GRAZE KITCHEN at Hilton Colombo, is a food lover’s paradise. One of the first of its kind to be opened in this beautiful island country, GRAZE KITCHEN offers a vast variety of delicacies , ranging from Thai to Japanese and Indian to Chinese, making it an all in one restaurant.
Launched just over a month ago, replacing the Hilton’s well known Spices restaurant, GRAZE KITCHEN offers not only good food but also a calm and beautiful ambiance. Contemporary in design, the atmosphere at GRAZE KITCHEN is inspired by nature with organic sculptural features and lighting, and warm natural earthen color tones.
The birds nest inspired chandelier with four distinct venue spaces that offer guests different ambient and visual cues, lighting that changes from day to night to create a subtle change in mood and environment.
The restaurant offers live food stations, allowing diners to be a part of their cooking experience and offers them a choice to select their own ingrediets.
“We offer our diners a buffet which includes seven different cuisines – THAI, CHINESE, INDIAN, JAPANESE, SRI LANKAN, ITALIAN AND MEDITERRANEAN,” a Hilton Hotel official said.
With seven live food stations set up within the restaurant, the multi cuisines are available all day long, seven days of the week. One thing unique about GRAZE KITCHEN is that it encourages people to eat small portions of food throughout the day rather than formal meals.
“We really wanted to offer our diners a different buffet experience and most importantly we wanted a unique variety. The cuisines available at GRAZE KITCHEN are made from fresh and natural products and globally inspired flavours.”
The seven cuisines available are prepared by seven different international chefs who have all flown in from different parts of the world. Each chef has specialized in their areas, thereby offering the best in their respective food stations.
The team is led by well known international executive chef, Kazi Hassan.
In addition to the seven cuisines available at the restaurant, GRAZE KITCHEN also offers a mouthwatering desert and salad selection, which is all part of the buffet. It also offers a unique a-la-carte to its diner’s with a wide range offered on the menu, including a great option for health lovers. A variety of drinks, are also available .
All in all our experience at GRAZE KITCHEN left us mesmerized. It not only introduced us to a world of different flavours but also provided original cuisines from seven different cultures.
GRAZE KITCHEN is a must visit for any food lover visiting Colombo city.
Get to know Chef Kazi Hassen –
Among the outstanding assets of GRAZE KITCHEN is chef Kazi Hassen. In a figurative sense, Kazi is what the restaurant is – a blend of the East and West, combining the efficiency of the West with the passion and warmth of the East.
As the chef of the multi-cuisine eatery set in an Asian tropical forest conjured up in the middle of Colombo’s throbbing business district, Kazi brings to Graze the professionalism of the West where he has been living since the age of 17, and the creativity and subtlety of the land of his ancestors, Bangladesh, known not just for its rich foliage and myriad rivers, but the many splendoured Bengali culture, music and art.And
Sri Lanka’s first and only Bangladeshi chef in a top of the line hotel, Kazi sees himself as an international citizen with a passion for French cuisine.
Before joining Hilton in Colombo he had worked with top brands in Australia, Malaysia and Qatar – locales which gave him valuable experience in working with international staff and catering to diverse tastes.
Coming from a middle class Bangladeshi family which would recoil if a boy wanted to be a chef and not an engineer or doctor, Kazi was, in his young days, being pressurized to become an engineer.
Kazi was pushed into computer programming. “ But the very first program I had to write was so boring that I quit,” he said.
Thanks to Australia’ liberal culture, which allows individuals to pursue their ambitions unfettered by familial pressures, Kazi pursued his passion for cooking doggedly. And when he did make it to the big league in the trade by the time he was in early 30s, his father relented. At just 36, Kazi is already a much sought after culinary aficionado internationally.
Speaking about his experience in Hilton, Colombo, Kazi said, “I have no regrets. I have worked with Sri Lankans before and found them to be pleasant and willing to put in extra hours cheerfully,” he said. “And Colombo is cleaner than other South Asian cities.”
