17 February 2017
Someone I met today is a VP for a hospitality company.
We went to Yauatcha Waikiki for dinner. Our interest in it was primarily because it's dim sum (yum) and fancy. While there, we initially had really great service. Our original server didn't come by a couple of times but this really nice foreign man came by.
I had a hard time hearing him because there's a loud bass sound. He was from Milano and started as a bartender, and then evolved through the ranks. He opened different restaurants, bars, and clubs for the Hakkasan Group, the company of the same club in Vegas that I had visited last February. This gentleman had lived in Dubai, Singapore, and was currently living in Las Vegas. Except he hadn't lived in his apartment for months because he was training the team here, and would be training the one in Houston shortly. He is the VP of the North American Branch of Hakkasan Group and decided not to open all the tables on Friday night because he wanted the team not to get overwhelmed.
We spoke to another guy who had opened a few other stores as well. What was really impressive to me was the dedication these people had to the hospitality service and how much they've risen in their careers.
Anyway, the service got shittier as the night went out because they completely forgot to fill our waters a bunch of times and I had to flag them down for the dessert menu and bill. It's a good thing the VP only opened 150 tables vs. 300. They would have gotten reamed.
Here's my favorite thing from that night.