Summer restaurant in Aasiaat was a succes due to positive guests, flexible staff and cooperation
This summer, Hotel SØMA in Aasiaat opened its doors to a summer restaurant where hotel guests, visitors and locals have been able to enjoy a gourmet experience built on Greenlandic ingredients. One of our hotel’s conference rooms has been transformed into a charming summer restaurants where our guests came to taste a piece of Greenland.
“We wanted to investigate what could happen, if we eventually establish a full-scale restaurant” says Lisbeth Hansen, Hotel Manager at Hotel SØMA in Aasiaat, and she adds that “together we worked hard, and this means, that the restaurant has gone beyond all expectations. The guests have been overwhelmingly positive, and the cooperation between the employees has been amazing. In this way, we have succeeded with the restaurant.”
We have learned a lot, which we will take with us onwards, so that we can give the guests at Hotel SØMA as well as the local citizens a good and different restaurant experience here in Aasiaat“
Lisbeth Hansen
Hotel Manager of Hotel SØMA Aasiaat
Cooperation between Summer Restaurant and cafeteria
In order to set the restaurant off to a good start, the project began by close cooperation with Hotel SØMA in Nuuk, where the gourmet Restaurant SØMA opened permanently last year. Our head chef in Nuuk, Jacob Kjeldsen, helped the restaurant in Aasiaat to get started and a local chef was hired along with two waiters specifically for this project.
“They have had to collaborate a great deal with our permanent cafeteria staff, and they have shared the facilities, but everyone made it work in a fantastically good way with ongoing dialogue and a good mood” says Lisbeth Hansen. She continues to say: “I am really proud that the permanent employees from the cafeteria have been flexible and good at accepting the new initiatives in the kitchen. At the same time, I am also really proud that the restaurant’s staff have worked professionally and with a high level of service. All have done a great job.” Despite the restaurant success, Lisbeth also says that a possible permanent restaurant in Aasiaat will not replace the wellknown cafeteria – the two things should complement each other, so that there is room for everyone, as this is what our values stand for.
Improvisation was necessary
The restaurant required different ingredients than Hotel SØMA in Aasiaat normally works with. It has sometimes been a bit of a challenge because the deliveries from all over the world did not always arrive on time. This applied, for example, to a delivery of wine which did not arrive until the opening day. “In general, we had to improvise a bit. Butthanks to the cooperation between chefs and waiters, we still managed to succeed, if we were flexible and adjusted continuously. We have learned a lot,” says Lisbeth Hansen.
The joy of the result
The Hotel Manager will take these learnings to her heart, as another Summer Restaurant opening is being planned in Aasiaat again for 2024. This is also thanks to all of the positive feedback the restaurant has received from its guests. “It has been hard work, but it has gone well, and we have received a lot of kind words from our visitors. Especially locals from the town have even come back several times during the summer to try more of the dishes, and we are really proud of that. We have learned a lot, which we will take with us onwards, so that we can give the guests at Hotel SØMA as well as the local citizens a good and different restaurant experience here in Aasiaat” concludes Lisbeth Hansen.
