Reviving five-star dining experience with bistro touch

French chef Mikolajczak Yann prepares a frog dish. [Photo by Jiang Wanjuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Restaurants in five-star hotels are not just for rich people and fine dining, that's the message that more hotels want to send to their guests. Bistro, the French concept of having simple meals with great value in a modest setting, has been introduced to many high-end restaurants, including the recent transformed Vic Bistro in Sofitel Wanda Beijing.

While continuing to serve breakfast and lunch buffet, the restaurant has replaced its dinner buffet that used to cost 420 yuan ($67) per person with a much more casual and affordable a la carte menu. At the same time, they added "Bistro" after the original name VIC.

"People are looking for something different, as you can't come to eat the buffet every single day of the week," Jeremy Aniere, the hotel's general manager, said during restaurant's opening last week. "What we want to create is use the talent of our chefs to provide a home-style dining experience that people can enjoy regularly."

The Australian hospitality veteran with a French heritage feels that the concept of "bistro" has become universal, despite its French origin.

"It is not fine dining, or just snack, but simple food with good value of money," he said. "It is the kind of food that you can eat, that you have a choice of, and that you used to cook at home and eat with your parents. It should be easy to order and simple to prepare, but always very flavorsome and with really good value of money."