Delegates debate the importance of training in F&B at the Caterer Middle East Chef & Ingredients Forum.
Micheel agreed and said that the market will grow. “The expectation is growing, and leaning from each other, we will improve the standards and quality.”
STAFF CATCH 22
Discussing empowerment, engagement and retention, Maadad returned, and was joined by Atlantis the Palm vice president culinary Sascha Triemer; The Crystal Group area operations manager Patrice Gouty; and, SCAFA programme director Francisco Araya.
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One of the early points that came into focus was the difficulty with finding trainers for employees at the moment. “Getting teachers is very difficult. The world is full of chefs but it’s difficult to find a trainer,” said Araya. He pointed out that there’s a gap in training staff inside hotels.
Triemer warned ambitious chefs in the Middle East, saying that sometimes people get put into a position too early, which doesn’t help them, rather it destroys their career. “You don’t help them by promoting them, you’re setting them up for failure,” he said grimly.
Gouty added: “What scares me — some of the best brands are coming to Dubai, sometimes it looks like a mini-Mayfair springing from the ground in six months. So people give you a Ferrari to drive but they don’t provide you the technician, or even the driver. But then we look at the place where so much money has been invested, and it’s empty.”
He said some people like to take shortcuts but condemned this type of thinking, and added: “You don’t become a chef when you are 22, there has to be a progression. Someone wanted to ask my waiter to become his operations manager. I cannot sanctify this attitude.”
MAKING MONEY
The next session investigated whether restaurant’s operations and ingredients are keeping them open to maximum profit.
Figjam managing director Sanjay Murthy moderated the panel which included Capital Club Dubai general manager Emma Cullen; Reform Social and Grill Dubai head chef Ryan Waddell; Fine Dining Ltd (Ruth Chris’ Steak House) general manager Ghazi Azzabi; Conrad Dubai’s Marco Pierre White Grill head chef Jenny Lorenzo; and Cavalli Club head chef Ernesto Tonetto.
Cullen pointedly said that retrospect is a wonderful thing when dealing with cutting costs, but that consistency and quality is on everyone’s mind. Waddell agreed and said that as chefs, it is important to produce the best food possible. Lorenzo said she tries not to look at value of the ingredients, but what can be done with it.
Can costs be cut though, without cutting quality? Azzabi said that as a settled operation, his firm can deal with suppliers en masse and arrange prices for its outlets for the next six months, and is able to predict what it might need. “Sometimes we have to forego our costs to ensure the consistent taste for the consumer.”
He added: “Because we have a brand people are prepared to pay for that.” However, he admitted that he has had to absorb rising meat costs of over 35% from last year in order to ensure they provided the same quality to customers.
Lorenzo added: “If we are very careful minimising wastage, then we don’t have to pass that cost into our guests.”
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