No smile. No job. That’s Jeff Simms’ motto when it comes to hiring culinarians
to join him in the kitchens of
The Breakers. The executive
chef of banquets at this upscale
property in Palm Beach, Fla.,
doesn’t necessarily look for
highly experienced people,
but he does want them to be
naturally friendly. “Cranky cooks
talk to servers, and eventually
their attitude affects our guests,”
he says.
Thomsen, executive chef of
The Claremont Hotel, Club
& Spa in Berkeley, Calif. “I
can teach medium-rare versus
rare. I can’t teach someone
who’s had an awful day to still
want to come back the next day.”
And there can be some awful
days in hotel kitchens. For
instance, a group of 1,000 arrives
with a couple hundred extra
people. Or a tour bus pulls up
looking for lunch on the same
day that there are 10 private
parties. Those are the times when
good attitudes kick in as everyone
pulls together as a team.
previous: The Ahwahnee
Hotel, located in Yosemite
National Park, Calif.
top left: Desserts at The Breakers.
top right: The Breakers,
Palm Beach, Fla.
opposite: Pork belly served
at Meritage, located in The
Claremont Hotel, Club &
Spa in Berkeley, Calif.
Yes, once again, it’s all about
attitude. “Personality is equally
as important as skills. We can
take anyone with a great attitude
who’s willing to work hard, and
turn them into an excellent
culinarian,” says Myk Banas,
executive chef and director of
food and beverage operations
at the Chicago Marriott
Downtown Magnificent Mile.
“Desire and determination are
what I look for,” says Josh
The team at The Breakers caters
to a well-heeled, well-traveled
clientele. “They look for us to set
the trends,” Simms says. He does
that with a group of 65
employees, including a garde
manger chef, a banquet chef and
four assistant or sous chefs. The
team served 275,000 banquet
meals last year. That may sound
