CYPRUS GOURMET: A good bed… good food… good service…

When my Internet search showed up a good package of UK-Cyprus return flights and 14 nights bed-and-breakfast at Le Meridien, we decided immediately to take it. When we lived in Cyprus we had some good times at the hotel. On one occasion, tired of being ripped off by hotels, restaurants and drivers in Lebanon, we cut short a tour there, flew back to Cyprus and checked in at Le Meridien for a few days. Among occasions we enjoyed were: the famous, but seldom-seen-in-these-recession-days “Gala Dinners” put on by wine importers; the annual “Bichot Beaujolais Bash” to celebrate “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé”; Sunday lunches; charity fairs and events, and a surprising one-night as the hotel’s guests in the Presidential Suite. Professionally, re-doing the hotel’s wine list some years ago was an assignment I had truly enjoyed, especially because the French theme given to the Le Meridien product at that time was so attractive and would still be today, I think.

When thinking about two weeks, though, at a hotel being some distance from “where it’s at” in Limassol we did wonder about “eating in” most nights – would the food become too familiar? Or boring? We need not have worried.
Most of the reviews you read of restaurants are based on very few visits, maybe just one. During our stay at Le Meridien in March we ate in La Nautile on seven evenings. On all but one of those occasions we selected from the four-course Table d’Hôte menu. One of the meals we judged to be “good”, the other six “very good indeed”. This is very praiseworthy and a tribute to the people in the kitchen.
Creating standards like this is difficult and maintaining them more so. I think Le Meriden’s Executive Chef Spyros Elia works wonders. I asked him how he manages to produce a four-course meal such as this without enormous waste.
“Every morning”, he told me,”I check with Reservations to see how many guests there are in total, and then, of those, how many are full-board, half-board or on bed and breakfast basis. Later I check how many of guests on half-board have had lunch. Today for example, I know there are 28 guests on full board who will be dining, leaving 150 ‘free’.” Then he makes a guess, which is usually pretty close. Food remaining after service is provided for staff meals.
Such attention to daily economic detail is important because the restaurants under Spyros’s direction are profit centres with annual budgets and targets. Sourcing – what is bought, from whom, at what price and in what quantity – is the crux of a catering department’s operation. Get it wrong, one way or the other (“too much, or too little”) and there are serious problems. In the height of the season the hotel is buying and using 200 kilos of oranges a day, and in one month, August, 7000 kilos of water melon.
“A lot, true”, says Spyros, “But bear in mind that during the summer we are producing between fifty five and sixty thousand meals a month”. A logistical nightmare it would be for me, but something this executive chef take in his stride.

Spyros heads up a brigade of 67 chefs (specialists, general and assistant) and other staff in the kitchens of the five restaurants open in summer. This is reduced during winter when just two are open every day and three on a few evenings each week.
Unusually, he is also responsible for the cleaning and hygiene throughout the property, which may well be the largest in Cyprus at 45,000 square metres. In a mature property like this, after 31 years due for renovation at the end of this year, this, too, is a formidable responsibility.
This chef is a true Cypriot, born and bred. After studying at Catering College in Nicosia he cooked professionally in Ayia Napa, and has been at Le Meridien for many years. He lives in Limassol, is married with a daughter of 20 and son of 15.
I asked him what he liked to eat on his days off. “Kleftiko or Souvla”, was his reply.
In his kitchen, though, his style is international. He is as at home sending out a classic Moussaka, as he is producing dishes with a lightly herbed French flavour, or a distinctly far-eastern feel, such as a ‘Japanese broth with Noodles’ or a main dish of King Prawns Teppanyaki-style.
Desserts are generally excellent, with, as the other courses of the Table d’hôte, three or four choices. All are made in the hotel.
The meal is not cheap at 41 Euros per person, but it can be highly recommended. Certainly during our stay it was clearly an evening destination for Cypriots, Russians and other local residents.
Only one sour note: one evening when we didn’t feel like a full meal, we sat in the bar-lounge area and ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. This was just about the worst I have ever encountered and when we left we informed the two barmen/servers of the fact. They did not apologise and their smiles turned to laughter as we walked away. This was the only disappointment in our two weeks. Generally the politeness, helpfulness and friendliness of the staff were exceptional.
Our first night at Le Meridien saw us seated comfortably perusing the menu. “Good evening Mr and Mrs Skinner”, said a voice. We looked up and saw the familiar face (and shining pate) of Miroslav Kalinic, these days the manager of all the hotel’s restaurants. I first met Miroslav in 2005 when I was one of the judges at the first Cyprus Sommeliers’ Competition, which he won. He remembers that occasion with great clarity and every word we exchanged, not only on that long and testing day but every meeting we have ever had.

Before coming to the attention of a wider public as sommelier Miroslav had worked for some years at Le Meridien. He started out as a waiter, leaving for a while to go as Maitre d’ at the Carla Luna Italian restaurant in Limassol, where he also looked after the wine service. Le Meridien head-hunted him back, opening his 5-star hotel sommelier’s career. Now he is restaurants’ manager. This is a job he is clearly good at – he is cool, calm and collected and has the sweeping gaze of the professional as he takes in everything going on in the room he is in. He is unobtrusive, but with a genuine interest in his customers. He enjoys all aspects of his job, but is passionately in love with wine in all its many facets. He is remarkably knowledgeable and he is a very good taster, an imparter of what his palate tells him.
Each and every employee is a key figure in a large hotel, because one act of rudeness, incivility or incompetence by any single staff member can ruin a holiday. My summary then of the people at Le Meridien, with just the one exception above, is that they are exemplary in their appearance, courtesy and service. After restoration, when everything is refreshed, renewed, repainted, improved and small things such as quality information for guests is provided in rooms, I think Le Meridien will take its place back among the top of Cyprus hotels.