NEW YORK—Executive Chef Ashfer Biju is now wearing two toques at The Pierre, A Taj Hotel, New York, adding the additional role of food & beverage director to his existing position as executive chef for the 189-room hotel on Central Park. Now responsible for all culinary and beverage operations at the hotel, Biju is a man on a two-fold mission: to deliver inventive, seasonal, sustainable options for a diverse array of discerning palates from around the world, and ensure that all food and beverage practices and ingredients are of the highest quality. All of this, while also overseeing all restaurant, banquet and in-room dining service staff, and directing a culinary team of 50 cooks and seven sous chefs that perform daily afternoon creative sessions devoted to testing and tasting new concepts.
“We are pleased to recognize the leadership and insights that Chef Ashfer has demonstrated during his nearly three-year tenure with us at The Pierre by also naming him as our food & beverage director. The timing couldn’t be better, as we’ve just been awarded the prestigious AAA Five Diamond award for the sixth consecutive year. Under Chef’s skillful direction, I know he and his colleagues will ensure that all guest dining and entertaining experiences at The Pierre shine in keeping with our impressive accolades,” said Heiko Kuenstle, general manager.
Biju will continue to curate seasonal menus for Two E, the hotel’s bar/lounge, with a focus on sharing plates to go along with Two E’s cocktail menu. He will also further develop new dining concepts. Biju will continue to provide customized in-suite dining experiences for hotel guests in each of its 11 Grand Suites, where feasts for special milestone celebrations and one-of-a kind banquets are implemented.
Another focus area for Biju is to maintain The Pierre’s 24-hour in-room dining, available to guests in each of its 189 rooms and suites. The 21-page menu offers international cuisine (US, Japanese, Indian, Middle Eastern and Latin American, as well as gourmet picnic baskets, a pet menu, wellness menu, mini-degustation menu and a pint-sized menu for toddlers and infants.
Biju will now also oversee the hotel’s independent modern Italian restaurant, Sirio Ristorante, where contemporary interpretations of traditional Italian dishes are inspired by the Tuscan standards of Sirio Maccioni’s youth, created by Chef Massimo Bebber.
