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.
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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.
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