I would describe myself as bored most of the time.
But right now, I'm searching for the next passion.
College wasn't for me.
When I was growing up, my grandparents
had a little mom and pop restaurant
that I got to help out at.
They started with just a little trailer,
like sheet metal on the roof.
I could see myself taking over the family business,
but there's a lot more I need to learn.
I'm interested to see how a more upscale version of a restaurant
operates.
I've been doing this for about 16 years.
I've done everything from bussing to serving, bartending,
and now I'm the general manager.
I don't know anything about managing restaurants at all.
I oversee a lot of things, but my main focus
is to make sure that the restaurant is
running efficiently.
It's a fine balance between taking care of the staff
and taking care of the guests.
What really impressed me about Elvin
was his graciousness and his outspoken way
of wanting to make sure the guests had a really great time.
All right, so first things first, take off the jacket
and put the apron on.
OK.
I had him put out a fire with me.
So my hostess just told me that we dropped the ball.
Our reservation had to wait 15 minutes for their table.
So what I'm going to have to do is take this champagne over
to them, remember to smile.
His primary focus was just making sure
that everyone that came to the restaurant was taken care of
and happy.
Hey, guys.
Welcome to P6.
We're sorry about the wait, so we
wanted to give you all a little token of our appreciation,
just to smooth things over and wish you
all a happy anniversary, and your table be ready soon.
All right, that was good.
But they're already sitting at the table,
so you could have left that part out.
No big deal, great job otherwise.
They seem very happy.
What impressed me about Cole was his demeanor.
He comes from a family that has restaurants,
and you can tell that he has a passion for it.
One thing I learned from Elvin today
is that even if something goes wrong,
you can still recover and fix it,
and it's best to just face that problem head on.
I'm excited to see where he goes with this.
My name is Alejandro Munoz.
I am the chef de cuisine at Arlo Grey.
The chef de cuisine is responsible for all day
to day operations that happens within the restaurant,
as far as back of the house goes.
I love the instant gratification that I
get from watching a guest enjoy the food.
I've been cooking for 14 years.
I get to be creative every day, from conceptualizing a dish
to getting it onto the menu to the plating of the actual dish,
which there's a lot of thought, a lot of creativity
that go into those things.
My first impression of Alex was that, wow, this guy's
really energetic and passionate about what he's doing.
I'm going to have you plate the burrata with me today.
This dish is very focused on plating creativity.
People eat with their eyes first.
It has to look appetizing, first and foremost.
You want to think of the plate as kind of a clock,
so I like to plate my first bite at 6 o'clock.
That was good.
Now, that's going to be a lot of lemon.
I actually had a lot more fun plating than I thought I would.
It was fun to really get creative with it.
Cole, with his plating, did very well.
A little rough around the edges, but all in all,
it looked almost exactly the same.
It's something I'm proud of.
I like it.
Excellent.
Seeing a chef be completely in his element
and how happy that made him, that
made me excited to learn a lot more.
I'm the director of food and beverage at The Line Hotel.
The director of food and beverage
is responsible for anything food and beverage related.
So restaurants, bars, banquets, and catering
space, the kitchens.
About 80 people report to me.
I wear a lot of hats, managing a lot of egos,
and managing managers, managing chefs.
They have knives, so you have to be careful.
My first impression of Sang is that this dude clearly
knows a lot about what makes a restaurant tick.
I barely knew that role even existed.
How long ago did you start?
So I've been doing this for a little bit over 16 years.
My family was in the hotel business.
Started at the bottom.
I don't see myself doing anything else.
I loved learning that he came from a hotel family.
I saw a lot of myself in him.
Hospitality is fun.
You get to drink and eat.
Half of the revenue that food and beverage makes
is from alcohol.
This bottle costs the hotel $15.
What we pay for the bottle is what we charge the guests
for the glass of wine.
It made me think a lot about what I could bring to something
like my own restaurant.
He reminds me of myself.
Good energy, he always had a smile.
That kind of personality is extremely useful.
I could really picture myself in that position,
behind the scenes, running everything.
That's a $15 cocktail right there.
Good.
There you go.
That's what we want.
I'll definitely look back on this day as a turning
point in my career.
I really think he can go as far as he wants to push himself.
I definitely see Cole in the hospitality industry.
I could potentially see myself playing
a role similar to Sang's, I think
because it's sort of the best of both worlds.
The strictly business side and the more guest-oriented, guest
satisfaction side.
You should be very patient.
Takes a while, but it's worth it.
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