The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis has a new executive chef. Azhar Mohammad, who most recently served as executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, is now responsible for The Restaurant, The Grill, banquet facilities and in-room dining at the luxury hotel in Clayton. While Mohammad has been busy the last three weeks “trying to find my foot on the ground,” he’s excited for the plans that he and his culinary team have for The Restaurant and The Grill.
Sourcing local is high on Mohammad’s agenda. He recently visited local salumeria Salume Beddu and insisted that he is “looking for long term relationships with other farmers and growers.” He and his colleagues at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans sourced fresh local food as well. “We revamped the restaurant and made it farm-to-table. It was great for the local economy and great for us.”
As a native of northern India, Mohammad has 15 years of culinary experience that spans stints in the Caribbean, Middle East and New Orleans. He told Sauce that we’ll see Indian, Lebanese, Caribbean, Latin American and Creole influences in his cooking. As for his time in Louisiana, he noted that barbecued shrimp and grits is one of his favorite dishes and that he’s itching to prepare his pork belly specialty in which he marinates the meat in cane vinegar, cooks it sous vide, glazes it with cane syrup and rosemary and then serves it with a Creole vinaigrette and cauliflower purée.
Look for these changes to appear on an overhauled menu at The Grill and The Restaurant around Thanksgiving time.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2010.