Dorsett Grand Labuan awarded at 16th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013

(Standing front 6th from Left) Alfred Paulsen, the General Manager of Dorsett Grand Labuan poses with his culinary team. The hotel emerged as first runner up at the recently held 16th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013.

November 17, 2013

Dorsett Grand Labuan awarded at 16th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013

(Standing front 6th from Left) Alfred Paulsen, the General Manager of Dorsett Grand Labuan poses with his culinary team. The hotel emerged as first runner up at the recently held 16th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013.

Labuan, Sabah – Dorsett Grand Labuan, the only upscale hotel in Labuan emerged first runner up at the 16^th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013 recently.

Organized by Malaysia Association of Hoteliers (Sabah & Labuan Chapter), the annual event this year witnessed a nail-biting competition amongst its 16 participating hotels in East Malaysia.

Being the only hotel representing Labuan Federal Territory to the event and tough challenge posed by other major industry players, Dorsett Grand Labuan’s Chef Aldo Brian and Reynold Hermes were awarded with gold medal in the ‘Individual Hot Cooking and Plated Food’ categories; Nor Jannah Suharto, Suffary Yusof and Nazdran Kasman won silver medals in the ‘Nescafe Tarik, Individual Fruit and Vegetable Carving’ and ‘Display Class-Plated Food’ categories; Mat Jaiman Sukaidi clinched a bronze medal in ‘Individual Fruit and Vegetable’ category while diploma certificates in ‘Blackbox-Commis-Demi’ and ‘Nescafe Tarik’ categories were awarded to Merle Alsisto, Musa Punan and Mohd Farizey John individually.

An event that is aimed to create healthy competition among hospitality players in East Malaysia, the 16^th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2013 also serves as a platform to uplift the hospitality standards.

When Dorsett Grand Labuan’s General Manager, Alfred Paulsen was asked about the winning ‘recipe’ for his team, he mentioned that there was nothing else except for ‘brave heart and strong determination’ that the chefs brought with them.

“It can be intimidating for our chefs to compete with other international hotels’ chefs especially in a land where they may not be familiar. Despite the long travelling hours for 17 of them who represented the hotel, I am very proud that they have brought back medals and recognitions,” Alfred Paulsen said.

According to Alfred, the competition was a healthy event for his team; he personally relates this experience to the story of ‘David versus many Goliaths’.

Held from 26– 27 October in Kota Kinabalu, the event had 10 different competing categories such as the “Table Setting” category; “Professional Bed Making” category; “Decorated Dummy Wedding Cake”; “Bread Showpiece”; “Amouse Bouche”; “BlackBox: Commis-Demi”; “BlackBox: CDP-Sous”; “Individual Fruit & Vegetable Carving”; “Nescafe Tarik Competition” and “Bartender Flair – Cocktail”.

The 16^th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta is a listed Tourism and Hospitality event by Sabah Tourism Board.