Thomas Touma has been appointed as the new food and beverage manager of the Gefinor Rotana Hotel in Beirut.
Touma was the assistant F&B manager at A1 Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai since 1999. Originally Lebanese, Touma graduated from the Hotel Institute Montreux in Switzerland with specialised studies in food and beverage. In 1995 he started his career as banquet supervisor of the Hotel Major Davel in Switzerland, than moved to Dubai to the Jebel Ali Hotel and Golf Resort as front office trainee. One year later, he joined the Royal Plaza Intercontinental, Montreux, Switzerland in the front office. In 1998 he came back to his home country to the A1 Bustan Hotel in Broumana as assistant food and beverage manager. The hotel has also announced the promotion of Georges Zaidan as executive chef. With a diploma in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America and a BA in hotel management from the NYC University, Zaidan has gained his experience in the United States, where he worked as executive sous-chef and executive chef, with G &G Restaurant Corporation in New York and at the Giorgio Ristorante Italiano where he also was the owner and general manager. In 1999, he joined the Abbey Resort and Fontana Spa as executive chef. Last year he came back to to Lebanon to be the "chef de cuisine" at Al Bustan Broumana. Meanwhile, Aldrin Ho Choong Keong has been named new Trader Vic's chef at the hotel. From Kuala Lumpur, the 30Ñyear-old Malaysian-Chinese chef has been previously with Trader Vic's at the Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi and at Trader Vic's Inter-Continental, Muscat. With his wide experience in Trader Vic's cuisine, Chef Keong is bringing with him a new variety of signature dishes.