The 22nd TOKYU HOTELS Cooking Contest Finals were held
Eight hotels from 34 hotels nationwide will advance to the finals, and the grand prize winner will be decided!

TOKYU HOTELS & RESORTS CO., LTD. (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; President and CEO Jun Murai) held the finals of the 22nd TOKYU HOTELS Cooking Contest at KICHIJOJI EXCEL HOTEL TOKYU on Friday, February 9th. Finalists from eight hotels that had won preliminary rounds out of 34 hotels nationwide competed in the showdown to decide the Grand Prix winner.

The challenge this time was to use "Miyagi Salmon" as the main ingredient and to include at least one element of the SDGs in the cooking process. The judging criteria were taste, appearance, presentation, cost performance, theme of the dish, and naming, and the contestants, who were cooking staff, were paired up to compete. The contestants brought the ingredients they had cooked and prepared to the venue, finished them within the time limit, and then served the dish together with the service staff, captivating the audience with a presentation that made them want to try it, such as letting the aroma of the food waft through the air and playing music that matched the food.

KICHIJOJI EXCEL HOTEL TOKYU, KYOTO TOKYU HOTEL, NAGOYA TOKYU HOTEL, THE YOKOHAMA BAY HOTEL TOKYU (in alphabetical order)

After a rigorous judging process, the Grand Prix went to CERULEAN TOWER TOKYU HOTEL, the Runner-up went to SHIN-OSAKA ESAKA TOKYU REI HOTEL, and the Special Jury Prize (originally awarded to one hotel, but two were awarded due to the same rating) went to SHIBUYA EXCEL HOTEL TOKYU and THE HOTEL HIGASHIYAMA. The winning restaurants were awarded a certificate and trophy, as well as a bonus prize of financial support for cooking training and restaurant inspections. Ikeda from CERULEAN TOWER TOKYU HOTEL which won the Grand Prix, said of the dish, "This dish is targeted at overseas guests and evokes the spring cherry blossoms. We made it with the hope that they would be glad to have come to Japan at this time of year." He also spoke of his feelings for his team, saying, "We were able to win thanks to our seniors and teammates who have supported us until now. We want to return to the hotel soon and tell everyone the good news."

Our president, Murai, said, "We were pleased that a wide variety of unique dishes were created under the same theme, and that all the contestants expressed their gratitude to the staff who worked with them. This year marks the 22nd year of this contest, and I feel that the level of the competition is improving every year, not just in terms of culinary skill."

We call ourselves "TOKYU HOTELS of Food" and encourage and support the participation in various cooking competitions, not only pursuing cooking techniques and service but also placing importance on training young chefs. As part of this, this competition is held with the aims of "creating an opportunity to pass on and improve cooking techniques and service skills," "improving the skills to cook and serve efficiently in a short amount of time and the ability to present products," and "fostering pride in working in the food industry at TOKYU HOTELS." The fact that the top prize-winning restaurants in this competition were selected from multiple brands operated by our company could be seen as a result of our efforts to raise the bar on food, regardless of brand.
TOKYU HOTELS & Resorts will continue to focus on human resource development and will link the career development and skill development of individual employees to increased customer satisfaction.

In addition to the "TOKYU BRAND HOTELS" that include THE CAPITOL HOTEL TOKYU, TOKYU HOTEL, TOKYU RESORT HOTELS, EXCEL HOTEL TOKYU, and TOKYU REI HOTEL, there are "DISTINCTIVE SELECTION" hotels with unique personalities such as BELLUSTAR TOKYO and HOTEL GROOVE SHINJUKU, and "MEMBERSHIP-TYPE RESORT TOKYU VACATIONS that operates nationwide (62 hotels in Japan, 4 PARTNER HOTELS in Japan, and 3 overseas).