what's the big deal with HOTELS

[chef khoo]

Originally Posted by siserilla

Well I'll be working at a Ritz in Florida. Florida really doesn't have any unions, so I won't really have to worry about that.

I decided to go for a hotel for my extern mainly because I've never worked in one before and I wanted to get that experience under my belt. The Ritz I'll be working at is also less than 5 years old, so that's pretty exciting.

Which Ritz in Florida...?hmmmm less that 5 years....is it Orlando?

[siserilla]

Sarasota. I'll be starting sometime in November.

[chef khoo]

Originally Posted by siserilla

Sarasota. I'll be starting sometime in November.

Frederick Morineau is the Chef. I know him. I have cooked there before, 2 times during their wine festival.

[chef.assassin]

i feel slightly out of the loop. i work at a hotel and i don't find it all that terrible an experience. the banquet side of things sometimes grates on me (what, you want 250 mignardise?) but all in all it's not so bad.

[siserilla]

Originally Posted by chef khoo

Frederick Morineau is the Chef. I know him. I have cooked there before, 2 times during their wine festival.

Can you tell me anything about him? I've never met him in person, I've only talked to him a few times on the phone. I met their Exec Sous Chef when he came to our Career fair.

[chef khoo]

Originally Posted by siserilla

Can you tell me anything about him? I've never met him in person, I've only talked to him a few times on the phone. I met their Exec Sous Chef when he came to our Career fair.

He is a 'down to earth person'. Have not so called 'worked' with him but he attended our Winter Wine Festival a couple times and I attended the ones he organized at Sarasota. I assume you are from the CIA.

[siserilla]

Originally Posted by chef khoo

He is a 'down to earth person'. Have not so called 'worked' with him but he attended our Winter Wine Festival a couple times and I attended the ones he organized at Sarasota. I assume you are from the CIA.

Yes I am. I had the opportunity to do my externship at either the Ritz in Naples or Sarasota, but I just liked the vibe that I got from the people at Sarasota more.

[siserilla]

I figured I'd bring this thread back instead of making a new one.

I'm going to be starting in the Garde Manger kitchen on Friday at the Ritz. My chef told me to make sure I study. What do you guys suggest I refresh myself on?

[kuan]

Originally Posted by siserilla

I figured I'd bring this thread back instead of making a new one.

I'm going to be starting in the Garde Manger kitchen on Friday at the Ritz. My chef told me to make sure I study. What do you guys suggest I refresh myself on?

Salad dressing. Seriously.

[RAS1187]

One thing I love about hotels is that because they are huge money-generating establishments, we have great benefits, pay, raises, human resource, free/discounted rooms, etc.

Another thing I like is job security. I know the Marriott I work at is never going to close unless it starts on fire and burns to the ground.

It is nice to know the basics of executing banquets for large parties.

[Blade55440]

Originally Posted by AprilB

So, while 'he' wasn't impressed ("not up to his standards") they were going to "give me a chance" at $7 per hour! Uh...excuse me?

Whoa, they were wanting to give you a chance at $7? I get paid 8.50 and that was me "getting a chance", and all I do is work Fry side at TGIF. If I was going to be "given a chance" at a hotel, I want a MINIMUM of $9/hr, and let's not get into the opportunity for advancement, pay raise after my "chance" was confirmed and over with....

If you ask me, you should tell them to go take a flying leap off the top of their hotel.... but that's just me.

[foodpump]

Originally Posted by Blade55440

Whoa, they were wanting to give you a chance at $7? I get paid 8.50 and that was me "getting a chance", and all I do is work Fry side at TGIF. If I was going to be "given a chance" at a hotel, I want a MINIMUM of $9/hr, and let's not get into the opportunity for advancement, pay raise after my "chance" was confirmed and over with....

If you ask me, you should tell them to go take a flying leap off the top of their hotel.... but that's just me.

Mmm, 9$ an hour being a "drop chef" (the guy who drops stuff in the fryer), or the guy/gal who opens up bags of tomato sauce, splashes it in a cold pan, and heats up cold pre-blanched pasta in it, maybe making Ceasar with pre-bagged greens and commercial dressing; OR an opportunity working under a real Chef, in a real kitchen, with real cooks, and real food. Nobody says you've signed a life-long contract to work for $7 an hour, and nobody says you can't take that work experience with you when you go to bigger and better places and use it as a bargaining chip.

Meh, who am I to say? It's your life, your opportunities, your future. But I do want to say this: When I see people throwing a cold chix breast in a cold pan, THEN turning on the heat, and then drizzling over some oil as an afterthought, or dumping cold pasta in cold sauce and then turning on the heat, or invent a "new way" of sauting in the deep fryer, they won't be working the hot side in my kitchen for a while, or even at all.

[GloriaJeans]

My friend owns a mini hotel. He has about 15 employees total, and he says that if you hire anyone who is actually "smart," you will lose a bunch of clients. It seems from what he says that the people who will usually succeed in the hotel business as employees are those who don't think too much and simply follow instructions.

I personally met some smart people at different hotels and...who knows, maybe he just needs to own a bigger and classier hotel so that smart people will want to work for him