Chef Tiffany Sawyer is always on the go – when she’s not traveling to a new hotel opening or working with one of the many hotels in the First Hospitality portfolio, you might catch her sky diving, BASE jumping, kayaking or race car driving…if you can keep up! We managed to grab a quick chat with this Aussie Beef Mate and heard about some pretty awesome dishes with Aussie beef and lamb.
What should our readers know about your background?
I was a youth with a lot of energy – but found a channel for it in art and the creative process. Becoming a chef continued that, and I started cooking at about 14 years old. I also love learning, and have done my somm training, including becoming a sake somm! I’ve done a lot of hotel openings and concept development in my time, working for Disney, Gaylord, Kessler and now First Hospitality, where I am Corporate Director of Food & Beverage, overseeing about 100 hotels, restaurants and bars.
Now that it’s been a minute, what are some lasting memories from your trip to Australia? Any moments/experiences that stand out?
It’s pretty special to get to be engaged with production all the way from the farms to the cut room, to the table in the restaurant. To get to sit down and eat with the actual producers is amazing. Who gets to do that? To see the level of care at every stage, how clean and safe it was gives me a huge level of confidence in the integrity of the meats we get from Australia.
The scale of it also stands out. There’s just so much land and space that’s perfect for grazing animals, and so few people compared to the US.
How do you use Aussie proteins at First Hospitality?
Every quarter we do F&B contests with supplier groups - we’ve now done both Aussie beef and lamb with our chefs. It introduces my team to Aussie product, and shows them the high-quality product that’s available. We get some pretty fantastic menu items, and the guests get to try them and give us feedback, too. Aussie lamb is always at the top of the list when it comes to quality product, so we use a good bit of that in chops and shanks. One of the best beef dishes in that contest was a koji-rubbed grassfed skirt steak with a red chimichurri, at the Hotel Laveque in Columbus, OH. So good!
What do you like about Aussie beef and lamb?
The size on the lamb is great for plate presentations, it’s not too big and always consistent in flavor and tenderness. The newer products we’re seeing like the Alba and Margra brands are amazing, it’s like the Wagyu of lamb!
On my trip to Australia I fell in love with the beef cheeks. We had them served in bonito broth, braised in a miso-mirin liquid. Just beautifully presented, not heavy at all, and incredible naturally beefy flavor, full of umami.
These days especially, and when I’m wearing my procurement hat, I love the availability of Aussie product. Knowing what I can source across our network at scale is so critical with red meats.
Good onya Tiffany! To see some of the dishes with Aussie meats at First Hospitality and other hotel concepts, check them out here.