Diary of a Makeover at the Hilton Metrotown

VANCOUVER—The Hilton Vancouver Metrotown has been renovated from top to toe, with some of the most spectacular changes in the food and beverage operations.  F&B director Scott Fitch takes you through a nail by nail photo story of the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown's $4 to $5 million renovation.  He got an assist from Igor Shamraychuk of Restaurant Makeover fame and Vancouver-based Trimen as well.

THE LOUNGE BEFORE:  The lounge side of our outlet. OLD, OLD carpet, chairs, tables, art... notice in the back corner the buffet... the classic skirted buffet.  Nothing says welcome to our "restaurant", like skirted banquet tables.  We had just replaced the ceiling tiles and wall vinyl.  New curtains or "window treatment" were installed that day.
 
IGOR IN ACTION:  IGOR in a fleeting moment while reconfiguring that back bar.  I redesigned the bar to enable a smoother flow of service.  Relocated the glass washer to the opposite end, moved all refrigeration, countertops, sealed the bar with stainless walls and installed custom Reflective back bar shelving.  All plumbing, electrical was reconfigured.  Igor was honestly the FIRST person there in the morning, and the last person to leave............. EVERY DAY.  I work long hours, but this guy worked and worked and worked.  He instantly led the trades people.  Not because they "had to" or because he was "on TV", but because he knew his stuff.  He had that instant leader quality.  I love this picture.
 
BUFFET BEFORE: This is a shot of the buffet we used every morning, as per Hilton standards. (The lounge is to the left, dining room straight forward and to the right, the entrance behind you.)  This goes to show that "presentation" of the food is equally important to the product you offer.  Our comment cards (SALT) have increased dramatically since the new buffet has been implemented.
 
THREE AMIGOS: Igor, Paul Cesario (Head of Trimen), and myself standing behind the bar, torn apart, early in the morning with our HILTON breakfast mugs (after a very long night).  Thank goodness for the Hotel not being at 100 percent occupancy!!!  The use of the rooms for a quick nap and shower made all the difference.  Trimen was the contractor who made this happen for us.  Every aspect of concept, development and execution was a collaboration with Trimen.  They also did our executive lounge.

BAR/BEVERAGE COMPONENT:  Again Igor hard at work behind the bar.  Beer lines, compressors, fridges, Squirrel POS system, you name it.... Of course the BAR/BEVERAGE component still had to be an option for our guests during this.  We set up remote bars in the restaurant while this took place with every option except draft beer.  No easy task.
 
OPAL_LOUNGE: This is one part of our executive lounge under construction. Igor, Paul, myself and another electrical tradesman.  Here we implemented a similar version of the "blow-over cold" system, induction heating, plus remote refrigeration run to the roof top, granite counter tops and a complete new decor.  The views are amazing from the 18th floor! (PS. Coke did not paid a fee for this picture. LOL)
 
ALMOST DONE:  Here Igor and I sit at the end of the nearly finished lounge.  Carpet, art, beer towers are still left.  Some of the furniture had arrived at this point. Notice the FOOD Network on the TVs.







 
Scott's notes on the one-of-a-kind hot and cold buffets

A little bit about them.  They are a 100 percent custom build.  Many months of planning went into them from "what are our needs" to "how do we want them to look" and what flexibility can we get from them.  We wanted them to look like a piece of furniture, rather than the "regular buffet" you see time and time again.  We took very seriously the local health standards, and I took the approach of wanting to set a new standard.  I didn't want them to just meet the requirement.
 
Our "hot side" induction buffet (10 feet) utilizes 6 induction cook tops.  We have made them mobile for versatility (on hidden castors), with storage space beneath so we can safely and neatly tuck away our induction chafers when we are not using them.  The cook tops are flush mounted into black granite tops with matching custom millwork that mirrors our existing millwork that flows though the restaurant and lounge.  They are amazing!!!  Not to mention the positive environmental effects, the reduction of cost in chafing fuel is exponential.
 
Our "cold side" double chilled wall with blow-over cold (17 feet) utilizes 10 feet of cold slightly recessed cold frost pans and a frosted back wall.  When turned on, frost forms in a few minutes, both from below and behind the food on the smaller portion platters.  A stainless and tinted tempered glass over-shelf with LED lighting to highlight the food, acts as a required and beautiful safe guard for the food while a fan from below (in the refrigeration storage space for our mise en place) blows over the food creating an air curtain holding in the cold air. This also has the custom millwork and granite tops. It is pretty cool!!!  We use this same technology in our executive lounge (both the cold pan/blow over cold and the induction but on a smaller scale).


New name REFLECTs the lounge's new look
 
We have chosen "REFLECT social dining + lounge" as the new name for the Crystal Lounge.  We have utilized large, large ornate mirrors through out the rooms, playing on the reflective qualities of the black granite tabletops, new silverware, stemware, lighting etc.... reflect over a glass or wine, with friends etc. Our new menu has been launched recently with about 60 percent of the menu now consisting of small and share plates.  Chef and I have did a 10 percent change in our menu in every outlet in the hotel.  I am happy to say the reception has been wonderful!!!!!  Our menu price point has decreased dramatically, yet our average cheque has increased.  Our small plates are flying out of the kitchen.  We are very pleased.  At a one point I was not sure we had made the right decision, as it was a big calculated gamble, but I held firm and it has, thus far, been a success.  However my hair line has moved back a fair bit in the last two months.

See also: One-of-a-kind bar stars in Metrotown Makeover.