| Chaz lost its Peter |
Doolittle was referring to chef Peter Hahn, who had long been associated with the restaurant in the Raphael Hotel. Hahn has had several long stints in this hotel's kitchen -- the last one for over 11 years -- mostly during the many years that the Pistilli family operated the boutique hostelry on the Country Club Plaza.
After the Salina-based Lighthouse Properties purchased the hotel in 2005 and spent some serious dough turning the staid Raphael Restaurant into the snazzier, fresher Chaz on the Plaza, Hahn began looking for a different challenge. Not surprisingly, he's landed back with his old boss Kevin Pistilli, now running the Downtown Marriott Hotel (with veteran restaurateur Steve Cole as his food and beverage director). "There wasn't a position open for a chef in the company," Cole said, "so Peter joined us as our purchasing director. He's responsible for ordering all the food for our operations."
"It's very different," Hahn said, "and yet good. I'm still working with food, but not as deeply involved so the stress level is very, very low. And the hours are great, a lot more family friendly."
Hahn says he gets to spend much more time with his family: wife Kathy (a former Raphael Restaurant waitress who now works as a paralegal) and their 11-year-old son, Bradley.
"We now eat dinner together almost every night," Hahn said. "When I was a chef, that would have been impossible."
Hahn is also "finally writing that cookbook that I've been planning to do for years."
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