Whissle Hospitality Group founder & managing director Markus Thesleff, Andy Senton from MMI and Whissle brand manager Pavlos Frensis.
Okku's sommelier Brendon Charles was crowned Sommelier of the Year at last night's Caterer Middle East Awards.
Charles' nomination entry noted that "through his passion coupled with fun and interactive training, knowledge throughout the team has advance beyond recognition. As a result, this quickly translated into sales and growth. By involving the team in the process of assessing and choosing the wines available by the glass, Okku was able to bridge the gap between the sommeliers and the team making them junior sommeliers in their own right."
Andy Senton from MMI presented the trophy.
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Charles unfortunately couldn't make it on the night but the award was collected by Whissle Hospitality Group founder & managing director Markus Thesleff and brand manager Pavlos Frensis.
Charles, originally from Trinidad and Tobago left home for Georgia, USA for University studies. Whilst visiting vineyards in Napa - Charles developed a true passion and appreciation for wine. After completing a Master of Science degree in International Hotel & Resort Management at Oxford Brookes University, he moved to London. He worked at Bar Battu, an organic wine bar and Vintry for the Fuller’s Group. From there he went to Intercontinental Park Lane working in the Cookbook Café as a Sommelier and at the Theo Randall - learning from some of the city’s best Sommeliers, namely - Alex Arestides of the Cave Wine Bar and at Hakkasan under Olivier Gasselin, before joining Okku Dubai.
Highly commended in his catergory was Abhijit Hati from Cave, Conrad Dubai.
The other shortlisted nominees were Lorenzo Abussi- Rüya Dubai, Abhishek Rai - Rare Wood Fire Grill, Desert Palm Per Aquum, Isaac Adam- La Tablita, Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights and Sourav Dutta- Izakaya, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai.
The Caterer Middle East Awards 2017 is sponsored by DMK Group, GEMCO, TSSC, Ronai, Unilever, Meat & Livestock Australia, Bragard, MMI, Aramtec, SIAL, Party Social, Newby Teas, Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino.