My Métier d’Excellence ?
I’m the Restaurant Manager for La Vague d’Or restaurant at the Cheval Blanc St-Tropez. I’m in charge of guest welcome and service for the restaurant, working in the dining room alongside my teams. Like an orchestra conductor, I do everything to enable my colleagues to practice their métiers in order to achieve perfect harmony. I guide them and set a tempo. The work and the technique should be invisible, letting the music dominate. I think it’s essential to be present in the room to support the teams and do the best possible job working together with great precision in order to fully satisfy and delight all our guests.
The most important things you need for this métier
A certain sensitivity, because our métier is very people centered. We do much more than simply serve and remove dishes. We share emotion, doing everything to ensure that our guests enjoy the best possible experience. So you have to love making others happy. You also need a keen sense of observation to identify the expectations of our guests. I’d also say a sense of curiosity, a certain perceptiveness.
What I love most about my métier
To spark emotion in people, to bring pleasure to others. My biggest reward is to see someone’s eyes light up and know that they have been transported with delight.
Passing on the métier to new generations
I think this is absolutely essential, we couldn’t simply leave without passing on what we’ve learned. I want young people to practice this métier differently, to do more than simply serve dishes. I want to show them how to open up and truly share emotion. But before you get to that point you have to master the technical fundamentals, the approach and different gestures, which is something I love teaching.
An anecdote
Once when I brought the check to customer who had finished his meal, he simply handed me his credit card. I was surprised that he didn’t want to verify it. He looked at me and said “The evening I just spent and the pleasure you gave me was worth much more than what it will cost.” That really meant something to me, because it showed that my team and I had really accomplished our mission.