Taipei Garden Hotel (台北花園大酒店) aims to attract more affluent and return customers by inviting a Michelin-starred chef to cook at its Prime One Steak House this week.
The five-star facility in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area invited chef Ebbe Vollmer, a Swedish fifth-generation chef, to entertain guests at its steak house from tomorrow through Sunday.
The steak house is fully booked for Vollmer’s special NT$6,580 per set, eight-course meal — including five glasses of wine — on Friday and Saturday night, while space remains for the other two nights, and for his special five-course lunch at NT$3,880 per person, including three glasses of wine, on Saturday and Sunday.
While private consumption has shown signs of stagnation this year, the number of diners looking for exotic fine-dining experiences is rising, the hotel said.
It is the fifth time that the steak house has invited a foreign chef to enhance culinary and cultural exchanges and secure its position as the best Western dining venue in the area.
Most guests for Vollmer’s special menu are affluent or return customers who desire variety and can afford higher charges than regular sets priced from NT$2,000, the hotel said, adding that Taiwanese restaurants remain off Michelin critics’ radar.
Vollmer designed the special menus guided by his “less is more” principle and liberal use of local produce cooked using Scandinavian methods.
Vollmer, who arrived in Taipei with an aide on Saturday last week, is to leave Taiwan next week. His restaurant, Vollmers, ranks as one of the top 30 eateries in northern Europe.
The promotion came as another local hotel chain, Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts (凱撒飯店), announced plans to add more than 700 new guest rooms in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) this year.
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