HOTELIER AWARDS 2012: Exec chef shortlist revealed
These five finalists will compete for the Ecexutive Chef of the Year 2012 in the Hotelier Middle East Awards to be held on October 31 at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC.
Below you will find extracts and testimonials from the shortlisted nominations for each of the five candidates...
Thirumalai Murugan, Hilton Fujairah Resort
About Thirumalai
Chef Thirumalai Murugan is not an average Executive Chef, with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and a Diploma in Catering & Hotel Management; he brings with him a scientific astute blended with an hotelier’s passion to our kitchen operations. Chef Murugan has 16 years of culinary experience having worked with Ambassador Hotel in Chennai, Emirates Towers in Dubai, Hilton Kuwait Resort, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah. He also trained in Verre by Gordon Ramsay at Hilton Dubai Creek, Park Lane Hilton London, Gordon Ramsay at Claridges London, Galvin at Windows and Galvin at Bistros London. Murugan, leading up to his Executive Chef title at Hilton Fujairah Resort in March 2011. In his role, Murugan handles day-to-day operations for all the kitchens, which serve the hotel’s 4 restaurants & bars, room service and conference & events. He is hailed as a mentor first and then a master by the 21 chefs and 11 stewards that serve under him. Chef Murugan was an instrumental support even before he joined Hilton Fujairah, while working with Hilton Jumeirah as Senior Sous Chef, he lead the Fujairah Kitchen team for prestigious Marine & Oil Ball charity event on 20th Jan 2011, organised by Angel Appeal mission to seafarers.
Above and beyond the call of duty…
Boasting a soft-spoken personality, Chef Murugan has been instrumental in a flurry of kitchen achievements, driven to no end by his strong support of making things better, rewarding efforts and assuring that he develops a winning team. Once Murugan took over as Executive Chef, he conscientiously developed the confidence of many of the chefs and encouraged them to take part in regional as well as international culinary competitions. Chef Murugan, being a very pragmatic Chef as well as eco-friendly, noticed that all the cartoon waste boxes and used oils went in the garbage, and which we pay money to clear the garbage. He encourages recycling and show the responsibility to the community organised with Union paper mill to collect empty boxes, papers and we received AED 6,000 per year. He is also one of the main driving forces behind Fujairah’s very first culinary competition supported by Emirates Culinary Guild on 9th September 2012.
Testimonials for Thirumalai
“It has been almost seven months since joining F&B team of Hilton Fujairah Resort and after working with Chef Murugan this period it seem like we are working together since many years. From the first moment I felt that next to me I have before an Executive Chef a man of word, an excellent communicator and a professional with very good sense of diplomacy. His management style it is detail oriented, very good listening skills that enabled him to be very close to the team. He is not only Executive Chef but his portfolio of knowledge enable him to give a hint or an advice in any situation occurred. It is a Chef with good sense of creativity, very good training skills and working experience that make him jump into the operation and under his supervision and leadership, bring a event to the maximum of guest satisfaction, if not beyond. Always he likes the extra mile when comes to the guest satisfaction and most of all he born with that quality skill of developing people and their career. It is a blessing to have him as colleague in my F&B team.” George Lacob food & beverage manager.
"Chef Murugan, the culinary magician! Murugan is always ready with his bag of tricks and treats, be they in the form of conjuring up a delightful spread or mesmerizing us with his lean food cost or his sleight of hand with the limited resources at his disposal. Murugan is constantly keeping us on our toes in terms of assisting him and the other properties with the best of contracts and vendors. His input is a very critical and much appreciated part of our contract decision process, as his evaluation is very thorough and honest. Always a stickler for quality of product & service, and always providing & open to creative alternatives. A Caterer award would definitely be well deserved and create a superb role model for the ones in the making!” Muhammad Ilyas Bhatti, regional manager - supply management, Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean, Hilton Worldwide.
Article continues on next page...
Emiliano Bernasconi, Armani Hotel Dubai
About Emiliano
Emiliano joined the hotel as part of the pre-opening team and was originally appointed as Executive Sous Chef, soon proving his talents and being promoted to Executive Chef in May 2011. Prior to joining the Armani team, he worked in five-star international luxury properties and comes with a track record of successfully establishing unique restaurant concepts that resound with the communities in which they operate and help position the hotels where they are located. Emiliano takes a big picture approach to managing the culinary team and is responsible for the planning, directing and co-ordination of all areas of food preparation across the kitchens, restaurants and banquet operation. His experience of working in the UAE, and ability to adapt both the operation and offering to satisfy a diverse multicultural audience has also been instrumental in bringing the culinary brigade together and taking the Armani Hotel Dubai’s food and beverage offering to another level.
Above and beyond the call of duty…
Responsible for a team of more than 135 employees representing 20 nationalities, Emiliano is passionate about delivering and maintaining a high level of supervision and management through proactive and interactive leadership underpinned by innovation at all levels, throughout every kitchen. As a key leader in the hotel team, he never fails to give continuous growth and development to all his employees by giving and providing them with training opportunities at every stage of their development. To date, the culinary team has retained an impressive 80% of its original pre-opening members and has the lowest annual turnover of all the hotel’s departments, which is testament to Emiliano’s focus on career growth, inter-departmental cross-exposure and succession planning. In addition to overseeing all aspects of the restaurant operation, Emiliano also take a personal interest and a hands-on approach to ensuring that every member of the hotel team is fed well. He personally designs the menus for the employee cafeteria and conducts regular food checks, makes sure that only the freshest ingredients are sourced, as well as cooking the food himself from time to time. Since the launch of the initiative in April 2012, the cafeteria food satisfaction rating increased by 37%. Motivation is one of his team priorities and he initiated the creation of the ‘sous chef office’, a shared space for all nine of the hotel’s sous chefs. This unique environment has further boosted team spirit among the brigade’s key players as well as productivity, and is a dedicated place where the team can discuss service issues, foster ideas, share experiences and off course respond to their emails on time.
Testimonials for Emiliano
“Often when one hears the word Executive Chef, images of television personalities screaming obscenities and throwing plates come to mind. Emiliano, in contrast, creates an inspiring environment for his 200-person team, while still demanding quality and perfection. Armani currently has 25% of its cross-training employees working in culinary, not because they all have aspirations to become chefs, but because they hear how wonderful Emiliano is to work for and want to experience that inspiration for themselves. I always find myself smiling when I hear Emiliano enter the office because of his optimistic attitude, genuine warmth and absolute passion for food & beverage, and the people under his care. Emiliano deserves not only the accolade of Chef of the Year, but Person of the Year.”
Erika Welsing, assistant director of learning and development, Armani Hotel Dubai and At.Mosphere.
“Emiliano is a true Italian both in style and his passion. He leads the team in a very empowered manner, trusting his line chefs and backs them to the fullest. His support and concern is very nurturing and he always is looking to selflessly better the department whilst maintaining the highest standards. His energy is contagious and has a great ‘never say die’ attitude. As a leader, he encourages budding chefs and guides them in his own way, pushing them to achieve better results. He is not hungry for the limelight and gives ample space and opportunities for his fellow chefs to emerge, leading by example and mentoring and motivating his subordinates to think big and be successful.”
Jitin Joshi, speciality head chef, Armani/Amal.
“I cannot thank you again for what a wonderful night you created for my special guest. The entire dinner experience was superb... The ambience was perfect, the food was creative & full of surprise and flavour. We were both blown away with the experience at the Armani Ristorante mainly due to your personal touch and exquisite service. Thank you once again. You never let me down!” Shereen Mitwalli, TV presenter - international events moderator.
Article continues on next page...
Patrick Valentine Bischoff, Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi
About Patrick
In December 2009, the challenge of the executive chef opportunity at Abu Dhabi’s Beach Rotana, the flagship hotel of the Rotana group, brought Patrick Bischoff back to the UAE for a fourth time. Looking after a team of over 160 chefs, in a five-star, 540 keys hotel, Patrick overseas the culinary teams of 12 restaurants and a busy banqueting and outside catering operation, in what is certainly one of the most well-loved and financially successful food and beverage operations in the Capital. Prior to this Patrick spent three years in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where he opened the 5 star Asara Wine Estate & Hotel, a luxury boutique property on a 200 year old working wine estate, which later proudly became a member of Relais & Châteaux. Born in Strasbourg, France in 1962, Patrick fell in love with cooking from a very young age, and still today, uses many of his Mums recipes.
Above and beyond the call of duty…
Chef Patrick has excelled in his role as an executive chef in all areas, including but not limited to personal & team achievements and awards, financial results, colleague loyalty survey results and culinary promotions. Chef Patrick actively contributes and participates in numerous corporate social responsibility and environmentally-friendly initiatives. In November 2011, one of the hotel’s long staying guests had a brain tumor and was confined to her room for two months, during which time Chef Patrick arranged for special food deliveries and, after discovering that she was struggling with her head bandages, Patrick arranged for chef hair nets which were perfect for the purpose required. He works very closely with the local Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and in November 2011, he was invited to be a guest speaker in a seminar with the topic of implementing Regulation 6. Whether Patrick is amongst a team of young chefs, guests in a restaurant, or just cooking for friends at home, he never fails to inspire others with his lifelong love and passion of being a chef.
Testimonials for Patrick
“I joined the kitchen brigade at Beach Rotana almost at the same time as Chef Patrick, and I must say it has been a real honour and pleasure working with him. Chef Patrick has been an inspirational and motivational driving force behind the kitchen brigade. With his tremendous experience and expertise he leads the team with a demanding palette and a keen sense of presentation. Attuned to the changing trends of tastes and trends in food, Chef Patrick has injected us with renewed enthusiasm to provide innovative, seasonal, and distinctive menus using fresh and top quality ingredients. When I see my peers in similar hotels being forced to cut costs to survive in the market, here I have a boss who believes in nothing but quality. Progressively improving quality of ingredients and equipment across the hotel. His contribution in creating newer concepts has been tremendous. He encourages his team to think out of the box and supports them through and through. He sets the bar very high for us (the team) and thus keeps entire team dedicated to meet his high standards He has personally helped me groom myself for the future, playing the roles of a tutor, mentor, counsellor, leader and a friend. Thank you Chef!” Gaurav Gaur, speciality outlet chef, Indigo Beach Rotana Hotel Abu Dhabi.
“It is a real pleasure to work with a true professional such as Chef Patrick. He displays true passion for his trade, not only in the preparation of food but also in the professional care that he displays towards his team and our guests. His constant support for his team and his drive towards excellence ensures that our guests enjoy excellent food at all times. You will often see him waltzing around the many restaurants, greeting and taking the time to interact with the guests, taking note of their special preferences, and he knows each one of them by name. The standards of excellence that he sets within his department, is echoed through the many guest compliments that are received on a daily basis. His team admires his strong, yet gentle way of coaching and support for them. He takes special interest in each person’s development and guides them towards their chosen speciality. He encourages them to take part in all the competitions in order to hone their talent and skills. This has resulted in the chefs, winning numerous awards and creating a strong sense of commitment, pride and camaraderie amongst the brigade. Although he can be a tough and demanding Chef, he is also fair and is seen as a fatherly figure, who is approachable and always ready to give a word of encouragement or wisdom during challenging times. As a housekeeper I value his opinion and can always count on his support. Having worked with him on numerous events and projects, I appreciate his drive and willingness to participate at all levels. He forms a valuable part of the management structure and he has played a pivotal role on various committees in ensuring employee wellbeing through monitoring and improving duty meals, menus, food quality and the overall experience.” Maryke Tredoux, director of housekeeping, Beach Rotana Hotel Abu Dhabi .
Article continues on next page...
Mark Patten, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
About Mark
One of the most respected food architects in the region, Mark Patten has embossed his name on the Middle East Hospitality culinary book. Mark is the VP of Culinary at Atlantis The Palm Dubai and oversees the day to day running of 19 restaurants. A cut above many of his peers, Mark possesses 30 years of experience in the F&B industry, with junior positions to executive position. A decorated Chef with many local and international awards, Chef Mark is intimidatingly successful and serves as an inspiration for many junior chefs. Chef Mark Patten was a pre-opening member of the Atlantis team since 2007 and has been the VP of Culinary, bringing Atlantis to the highest culinary peaks in the last 4 years since its grand opening! Chef Mark worked through the setup and implementation of all restaurants and Food & Beverage operations throughout the Atlantis property with a team of 465 Chefs, producing on average 15,000 meals a day. From setting all product lines, menus and suppliers for the operation staff recruitment, to training and developing the culinary operation at Atlantis, Chef Mark Patten is one of the main arteries to drive quality and give every guest and team member the greatest experience they will ever have- the Atlantis Experience.
Above and beyond the call of duty
Mark has presided over the most innovative and successful period for Food and Beverage at Atlantis. He has seen the successful birth of TBJ, a fast food restaurant, serving arguably the town’s best and most famous burgers and giving competition to some of the most established names. Chef Mark believes in this mantra and lives by it: “Do More than you have to do, more than your share, and do it as well as you can.” Dubai has an issue with staff retention in general and after the opening and first year of the operation we could see also we had issues in retaining the very best of our team members. Chef Mark took it upon himself to work on three initiatives to retain our very best. This has been an ongoing project since 2012 and every year, we can see more and more improved results because of the following initiatives: - Effective and regular focus groups with everyone within the culinary operation we peeled away the onion skin to find the issues and fix them. As new issues arise, we are already aware of them and are working on improving team member’s quality of life and work. As a result of his commitment to his team, the turnover percentage in the Culinary Department of the F&B division went from 2010- 37% 2011- 18% YTD- 2012- 11%! We have seen Culinary reduce their turnover year by year of close to 40% in an operation with the second highest amount of staff and now with one of the lowest turn over ratios in the resort. Marks’ philosophy is that he is a Leader first and a Chef second. Mark realizes the importance of the Tourism Sector in the Middle East. He wants to ensure that he contributes to the Middle East as a leader in the F&B industry and to ascertain that the quality of the Food and Beverage is at the highest level in terms on concept and delivering quality. He never considers himself just working for Food and Beverage. Chef Mark has definitely carved his name in the Atlantis the Palm Dubai culinary walls as well as throughout the region, and internationally, providing some of the sumptuous culinary journeys for his guests as well as being innovative and creative and firmly establishing Atlantis as a leader in the region!
Testimonials for Mark
“ Hi Mark, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU! For taking the time and show us around during the CFF Board visit. It is absolutely mind blowing what you guys have done .I am excited to bring my family one day. All my best wishes for your endeavors.” Dennis Malamtinas, CEO of Burger King.
“ With much pleasure, I am writing a testimonial in support of Mark Patten for the Executive chef of the Year. I have the privilege of working with Mark for the last 4 years as his Executive chef. Mark leads a team of about 450 chefs and oversees all culinary aspects of Kerzner ltd at the capacity of Vice President Culinary. Over these years Mark has been an inspiration not only to me but to many chefs who have worked under his leadership. He is able to guide, lead and bring out the best in everyone with his exceptional leadership skills while sharing his expertise and talent with all of us. The job requires one to work under intense pressure to meet company goals and guest satisfaction as well as maintain a stable culinary department and Mark has successfully achieved that. This award will encourage and motivate him to achieve higher goals and besides that I truly believe he deserves recognition.” Sascha Triemer, executive chef at Atlantis the Palm.
Article continues on next page...
Andrew Whiffen, Raffles Dubai
About Andrew
Andrew discovered his passion to cook at the age of seven and he has never wanted to be anything else but a Chef. He comes from a family of chefs - his father was one, his mother was a Master Baker, his brother is a Group Executive Chef and two of his sisters are qualified Chefs. This has been his lifelong passion and carrying on the family tradition as a chef is what he was destined to do and what he has done for over 27 years! Andrew began his journey at Bournemouth College in the United Kingdom where he completed a two year course which included a six month industrial placement at the Le Gavroche in London, owned and operated by the famous Roux Brothers. Andrew rejoined Le Gavroche / Roux Fine Dining as a Commis Chef when he finished college and he left nine and a half years later as a Senior Chef Tournant. Andrew then joined the Pemberton Princess Hotel in Barbados in 1994 where he was employed as Chef de Cuisine and where he was quickly promoted to Executive Sous Chef. In 1998, he joined the Lone Star Hotel and Restaurant in Barbados as Executive Chef / Director and he remained there for two years. In 2000, Andrew joined The Sandy Lane Hotel also in Barbados as Chef De Cuisine before moving back to the United Kingdom two years later. Once back in the UK, Andrew worked as Chef De Cuisine in The Durham OX in Warwickshire for nine months until he decided that the country pub business was not his passion. After this he moved to India to work for The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur as Executive Chef for three years before being transferred to The Oberoi New Delhi in the same position. In January 2008, Andrew joined Raffles Dubai in his current role as Executive Chef.
Above and beyond the call of duty…
Andrew is very innovative, creative and brings to Raffles the ideal leadership qualities for an executive chef. He excels in his role on a daily basis in such a way that it has become part of his daily work ethic. Andrew continues to go above the call of duty for Raffles to ensure success not only with the culinary department but with other departments and customers of Raffles Dubai. For guests, Andrew is pleasant and extremely flexible and he and his team will go out of his way to make sure that any special requests – however large or small - are met. For VIP guests he will personally go out of his way to buy their children a small gift, or prepare the food that they enjoy so that they feel at ‘home’. These small personal touches make a significant difference to the guest experience and this is just one of the many things Andrew does above his call of duty for Raffles Dubai. Furthermore, Andrew personally responds to any negative guest feedback to find out how we could have made their stay better. An example of this is when we were receiving some poor breakfast comments – he wrote to each and every guest to find out how we could have made their meal more enjoyable and he used this feedback to enhance what we had on offer. As a result of this for the past four months we have received many positive comments, which have included being told that we now have the best breakfast selection in Dubai! Moreover, Andrew actively takes part in charity and green initiatives and encourages his team to follow suit. As such they have participated in bake sales to help raise money for Breast Cancer and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness by designing special cupcakes to be sold in the Malls.
Testimonials for Andrew
“I have worked with Chef Andrew for the past three years in both capacities as EAM F&B and hotel manager. I have always admired his capability for initiating themes and driving them into realization, what he has done with the Queen’s Jubilee event, and the different themes of Raffles Roast portrayed a lot of creativity and the events turned out to be extremely popular with the Dubai residents. His creativity is coupled with astute financial acumen which brought great returns for the hotel both in terms of financial returns and guest satisfaction. He also shined in driving his team and developing them. Over the past three years I have seen more than 25 chefs promoted, one of them already an Executive Chef with the Leela Group and the other an Executive Sous Chef in Forte Abu Dhabi. His team always shined in culinary competitions and came back with numerous medals in addition to wining various awards with for Fire and Ice and Noble House. Andrew proved to be an indispensable asset to our executive team and definitely is a role model to a big number of our colleagues. Working with him is always been a pleasure.” Ayman Gharib, hotel manager.
“A few words to best describe Chef Andrew: an incredibly hard worker with lifelong experience, exceptional talent and outstanding interpersonal and motivational skills. He is extremely creative chef whose strong points are definitely in creating concepts, analyzing problems and finding solutions. Chef is a self-motivated person whose financial knowledge and understanding of the business paired with very high work ethics is huge asset for the hotel and the company. One of Chef’s main focuses has always been nurturing and developing talent, taking the cooks to the next level. Some joined four years ago as a commis 3 and now rule their own mini kingdoms as Junior Sous Chefs. He does this by ‘back to basics’ training, identifying strengths, developing the weaknesses and slowly giving out responsibility. He has got full support of his team and the fact very large proportion of his team has stayed with him for three or more years shows that. Chef’s kitchen really is like a school on how to become a chef, you have talent, you are dedicated and perform well, and you will reach your goal. One of the team described Chef Andrew as a ‘good human’; he is someone people from all departments come for honest and direct advice. He is always open to new ideas and with him you are allowed to bring up and discuss your thoughts. He will guide you and in a professional and he is always willing to share what he has learnt over the years. The youngest of the cooks can come to him for career advice or recipes and if the same commis is still not able to execute the dish Chef will come and show him how to do it.” The Raffles kitchen team.