Meeting News - April 20, 2009 - (Page 15)

Chef Talk Johnson & Wales MBA Leads a Hotel Kitchen by Example By Rayna Katz It’s no secret that chefs are an ambitious lot. Many of them get extensive training, travel the world to learn, and constantly work to enhance their skills. But executive chef Megan Barnes-Reichman takes ambition to a whole new level.After getting a bachelor’s degree from prestigious culinary school Johnson & Wales University, she went on to receive a master of business administration in hospitality from the university. She held several posts before recently landing at Paradise Point Resort & Spa, in San Diego, where she’s synthesizing everything she’s learned. Perhaps, then, it’s no accident that BarnesReichman is only the second woman proﬁled for this column. She is elevating the “fairer sex” by leaps and bounds, and proved it in a recent chat with MeetingNews. Q A Q A We have done chef proﬁles for 16 months now, and you are the ﬁrst woman we’ve found running a hotel kitchen. Why is that, do you think? It doesn’t surprise me, though it would 10 years from now.When I graduated in the early 1990s, there were far more men than women. Now, with all the television shows about chefs and the hype over the industry, there are more women. But will they stay? I think many women get to a certain age and want to focus on family. Here in San Diego, a lot more women are taking control of kitchens. Hopefully that will continue. over for dinner. Her husband prepared a most memorable swordﬁsh crudo and plantain dish with arugula and olive oil. Today, in Paradise Point’s It reminds me of the restaurant Baleen, I serve grilled importance of employees longline swordfish with a having the right education and smoked tuna and plantain training.One way we ensure that hash, long beans, and cilantro is by bringing in outside profesChimichurri. I didn’t try to sionals to give lessons.For examrecreate the meal, but it ple, we might have a local inspired me to use plantains seafood purveyor demonstrate and swordﬁsh together. Megan Barnes-Reichman knife skills,or a sommelier teach And, working on a boat made Executive Chef the staff how guests can get the me resourceful. We had Paradise Point Resort & Spa most for their money. We do demanding guests with unlimrole-play on how to resolve guest ited wants and needs, but the issues, and we have weekly meetyacht could only fit so much ings on knife skills, cost control, and butchering. aboard—whether it was food, beverages, linens, or We train our staff with the idea that we all need ﬂowers—so I had to be creative. I often had to to be creative and pay attention to details; we want jump on a Jet Ski, in my chef outﬁt, to “outsource” to empower the staff to resolve guest issues. It’s from another boat. important for our team to determine what guests Much is the same when working with groups. want—that’s how I want to challenge them, all the You meet the client and listen to the needs and time. wants, paying special attention to the details. You Education, training, communication, and team- plan, and then you plan for the unplanned things work are the tools we instill. That can only enhance that could happen.The hotel has far more resources the guest experience. available than a yacht, but I miss the Jet Ski. How does your education impact how you manage the kitchen and, by extension, the guest experience? Q A You went for the MBA in case you wound up with a briefcase instead of knives. How would it have helped, and how do you use it now? Q A You cook a wide variety of cuisines. Do you recommend certain types for certain kinds of groups, like, say, the budget-conscious? I would either be a corporate food and beverage director or own a catering company. The extra two years expanded my contacts and afforded me hands-on experience in front- and back -ofthe-house positions and in management. Q A Valhrona trufﬂe cake with “distinguished” Madagascar bean ice cream and “passionate” berries. www.meetingnews.com How does your experience as a chef on a luxury yacht, and then at a catering company, inform what you do today? Food shouldn’t suffer because of budget, as long as you don’t bring in expensive exports. We have a lot around us; we can get good products. You have to look at what’s frivolous,and at changes that don’t hurt the quality of your food or event. For example, instead of cutting a table full of hors d’oeuvres due to budget, how about having them passed? Then, we can control what’s served. Traveling around the world and experiencing different cultures inﬂuenced how I thought about food and running a business. For example, while we were anchored off the Amalﬁ Coast, I met a local ﬁsh purveyor while buying swordﬁsh. She invited my husband and I Q A What’s your favorite food? The style of cooking that makes me happy is anything that’s fresh for the region, with a lot of bold ﬂavor. H Contact Rayna Katz at rayna.katz@nielsen.com April 20, 2009 MeetingNews 15 http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - April 20, 2009

Meeting News - April 20, 2009
Contents
What’s Up in the MeetingNews Community
Inside the Industry
People Making News
Thirty Under 30
Hotels & Resorts
Chef Talk
Convention Centers
International
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Meeting News - April 20, 2009