SOMMELIER OF THE YEAR
Brendon Charles, Okku Dubai
Okku’s sommelier Brendon Charles was crowned Sommelier of the Year at the 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.”
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 from MMI’s Andi Senton.
Speaking to Caterer Middle East about Charles’ impact on the beverage programme at Okku, Thesleff said: “Not only did he develop many innovative programmes and solutions to the Okku wine menus, more importantly he succeeded in making wine fun and interesting for the rest of the team.
“By involving the team in the process of assessing and choosing the wines available by the glass we were able to bridge the gap between the beverage teams and waiters with many keen to gain their own wine qualifications.”
Charles, originally from Trinidad and Tobago left home for Georgia, USA for university. After completing a Master of Science degree in International Hotel & Resort Management at Oxford Brookes University, he moved to London. He worked the 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.
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