INDUSTRY ROLE MODEL CASE STUDY – ANDRES ESTEVES, FOOD AND BEVERAGE SUPERVISOR, FOUR SEASONS HOTEL CANARY WHARF LONDON Introduction This case study is based on information kindly provided by the Four Seasons Hotel, Canary Wharf and Andres Esteves a Food and Beverage Supervisor at the hotel, and the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts website. Many thanks to Andres and Four Seasons for making this information available. For background information please see the organization case study.
The Four Seasons Hotel, Canary Wharf, London, is a quality work placement provider with Springboard’s INSPIRE scheme.
Food and Beverage Four Seasons has an award-winning reputation for excellence in cuisine. In the restaurants, lounges, function rooms and for in-room dining the Four Seasons Canary Wharf Food and Beverage team members work together to provide exceptional quality and service to discriminating guests all over the world.
Exquisite pastries
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Interview Name: Job Title: Location:
Andres Esteves Food and Beverage Supervisor Four Seasons Hotel Canary Wharf, London
1. Why were you attracted into the industry? Originally I wanted to go to kitchen school and be a chef, but then I thought I didn’t want to be working in a kitchen the rest of my life. I wanted more variety, so I looked into it, found a hotel school that attracted my attention; and here I am. 2. What was your first job in the industry? My first job in the industry (and first job ever actually) was in my family’s coffee house back in Mexico City. I must have been 15 or 16. I worked in the kitchen, at first only doing dishes, but after about a month I started taking over the actual kitchen duties as well, preparing all the food orders and desserts. After a while I moved to the coffee bar, taking care of the actual preparation of all the beverages and organising the operation on the floor. After a couple of years I was managing the place along with my mother, taking care of inventories, costs, revenues, staffing and scheduling, supplies... It was a great “training” job, considering I got to do everything from washing dishes and mopping the floor to managing the place.
The Four Seasons Hotel Canary Wharf River Room for up to 65, with view out to the Thames
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3. What educational qualifications do you have and/or training at work? How have these helped in your career? I graduated from Hotel Management School Les Roches with a Hotel Operations Degree and a Bachelor in Business Administration in Finance. On top of that there were several other diplomas and training qualifications included in the courses, such as Food Handling and HACCP. Since I started my current job at the Four Seasons I have also had a refresher on the Food Handling course, First Aid at Work, Defibrillator Training, and a Supervisory Development Programme, which included things such as presentation and leadership skills, handling complaints, delivering bad news, handling disciplinary situations with employees. I think these education and training courses are important because they give you a better idea of what the industry is about, and help to define what type of manager you want to be. First Aid is another useful training course; even though I hope I never need to apply it, it’s good to know what to do in case of an emergency, and I can take it with me anywhere I go! 4. Did you have a mentor who encouraged you during the early stages of your career? If so, who and why were they inspirational? I can probably say I had two. One of them was my dad, he always backed me up all the way, from the moment I told him I wanted to go to school in Switzerland (I was 17 at the time) all the way to getting a job and moving here to London. Even though he has absolutely nothing to do with the industry, he always gave a helping hand when I needed one, and he always guided me in the right direction. The other one was one of my teachers at school, Mr. Alexandre Gamberoni. He was a Food & Beverage Lecturer, and he also was the teacher in charge of the Practical Service semester. He had vast experience in the industry, and particularly in F&B which was the area I was interested in. He seemed to always have great pieces of advice, for things in general about the industry or for more particular things about hotels or restaurants. On top of that, he was always very friendly with us and he inspired us to want to be like that one day. 5. What do you regard as being your biggest achievement to date? Until last week I would have answered that my biggest achievement was the combination of graduating and getting my job offer from Four Seasons. Both overlapped and it was just a fantastic month. During the actual graduation ceremony I knew that I had accomplished something big, but I also knew that it was just the beginning. Now I have to say that the answer would be my very recent promotion. It was officially the first time I got promoted in a job, so it was a great personal achievement, and even though it’s only a small step, I consider it to be a milestone in my career.
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6. What industry ambitions would you still like to achieve? I really like Four Seasons as a company, and their values and philosophy are very much in line with mine, so I would like to stay with the company for a longer while to further my career, maybe until I achieve and successfully perform on a Department Head position. After that one of my biggest ambitions is to have my own place, I would like to have a beachside lounge bar somewhere, but that’s obviously light-years ahead for me.
The City Room set up for a boardroom/conference room meeting.
7. What gives you a buzz about your job? In my current position it’s the few hours before a big event, such as weddings or bar mitzvahs for 100+ pax (people). All the preparation that goes into it during the week is immense and in no way less important, but the buzz and the excitement in the few hours prior to the event is incredible. Everybody is going in and out of the kitchen, everybody is busy with something, and of course these are events that are big important dates for the guests, so we have to ensure that everything is perfect. That feeling of giving a guest their perfect day is very rewarding and exciting. 8. Why would you recommend the industry to potential recruits? First of all, the service industry has always been there and probably always will be. It is growing incredibly fast and the amount of opportunities out there is immense. Even if the service industry is not your final stop, but only a step towards what you want to achieve, it is a great place to learn about yourself, to
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absorb information and knowledge from a lot of very interesting and very experienced people, to meet and network with them, and to hone your skills for whatever it is you want to do in the future. 9. What are your top 3 tips to people entering the industry? • • •
Be flexible and open minded Networking is very important, meet and stay in touch with as many people as you can Enjoy!
10. - What are your main tasks in a typical day at work? It all really depends on what the business is like on a given day and if I do a morning shift or an evening shift. Here’s what my day was like yesterday (with approximate timings): 14.30 Arrive at work 14.30 - 15.00 Read emails, find out any updates about the day ahead, get up to speed on guests in house, previous glitches and any other important information from yesterday, today and tomorrow. 15.00 Start shift, receive a handover from the morning team as to what has been done, what needs to be done, and the business for the following day. 15.30 Assist guests on the coffee break from their meeting (River Room) 16.00 Clear the lunch buffet from the second meeting room (City Room), and clear and refresh the room. 17.00 Lunch break 17.15 - 18.30 Prepare Mise en Place for next day’s events 18.30 - 20.00 Clear City Room and refresh for the following day 20.00 - 22.00 Set up River Room for the meeting next week. 22.00 - 22.30 Prepare food requisition for following day, collect it from the kitchen and store in the relevant place. 22.30 - 23.00 Handover to the relevant departments about things pending for the evening (Security to open meeting rooms if needed, Overnight Room Service to handle F&B requirements, Front Desk to handle copying, scanning and faxes if required) 23.15 Write handover for the morning shift, lock up all meeting space and fridges, drop paperwork to the relevant departments and drop keys to Security Office. For further information please visit the website: www.fourseasons.com/canarywharf
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