Hey. Well thanks for all of you coming out today. It's great to be here and see all of your great exuberant faces
and knowing that you're gonna be
entering the hospitality world.
Which is quite crazy which I'm sure you probably already kind of have an idea.
I got started in my career, I was working at a bowling alley snack shop.
And was making the burgers and  steaming the buns and making hot dogs and all that.
And decided that I really thought
that was fun.
Ended up being a bus person and then a server and then went from just the regular server to a high-end server.
Went to a private club, did table side cooking: Steak Diane, flambes, things of that nature, Bananas Foster.
And then ended up getting into a hotel from the restaurant business after I was a general manager for several years
Made the flip over to the hospitality side of hotels.
Worked in Detroit at the Renaissance Center. Which is...It's 73 floors, downtown Detroit, it revolves three floors:
71st, 72nd and 73rd floors.
And was a restaurant manager there.
Ended up getting a calling to go to
Texas: Fort Worth, Texas.
Where I started in convention services.
From there I did convention services, catering, I went as a banquet director
And that's what I was she mentioned at Princeville on Kauai in Hawaii.
And moved from there into catering and was the catering director for several different hotels.
And ended up here in wonderful Santa Barbara.
That's kind of what happens a lot.
I'm not sure...I'm sure these gentlemen
can probably tell you as well,
but you kind of bounce around a little bit and in order to continue to rise in your level of management,
if you're willing to make a move every couple of years it really helps.
And it's a great job bump on your
salary as well.
You know, making that new adjustment and going to a different property really helped elevate my status and my salary.
So that was always beneficial.
That's kind of the short story of it.
When I got married I was a classical French horn player but I decided I needed to make money.
So, I started cooking.
And first jobs were in the hotels. I highly recommend hotels.
You can learn everything in a hotel.
There's nothing that they don't do.
So I stayed in a hotel system for about 8-10
years.
Lucky enough to get my first executive
chef job: Holiday Inn across the street from Disneyland
about, before you guys were
born, 1977, I think it was.
Yeah. You were born then? Okay. The only one here.
And, you know, we opened a few restaurants: I worked as executive chef in downtown LA in a little cafe.
Then I went into the hospital
field.
That was due to: I didn't want to get a divorced because you're in a restaurant, you get home at 2 o'clock in the morning,
Sometimes half-drunk, sometimes not, but you're home at 2 o'clock in the morning.
And, you know, you work hard and it takes a couple hours just to wind down to get to sleep.
So you're...It's a whole bad spin.
So, I decided to...I got my first job in San Juan Capistrano at a small psych hospital.
And with eating disorders, so on so forth.
Stayed there for about 10 years...No 8 years.
Went on to another psych hospital. Private.
55 bed...55 hospitals across the United States.
We got to drive...fly around in Cessnas
We...
visited every hospital, opened new hospitals then the bottom fell out of the  psych hospital field in the 90s.
Went on to Sodexo
And Sodexo I hit the hospital field.
Stayed in the hospital field for about 8-10 years.
That's about 40 years I think we're at now.
And I highly recommend that structure.
You get to work, you know, 10 hours a day, 10-12, because you're an executive chef: You are responsible for everything.
And then I went to the colleges. I was at the college UCI as executive chef for 7 years.
Then we moved to beautiful Santa Barbara.
My sister had to have us here. She's in
the symphony. So, it's good.
Every...Once a month I get to see classical music which is here at City College which is great, but...
I really recommend for your sanity and to have a steady steady steadiness of a job like Sodexo.
You start early and you'll do well.
They have wonderful resources.
You can travel anywhere in the world with Sodexo if you choose to.
And if you start early you'll
build up a good, good background for yourself.
That's about it for now.
You're welcome
Yes I am. I'm retired. This is my official retirement job. I can work 40 hours. I'm hourly so I can't be slaved.
And they will slave you. Believe me.
And I can call off a day without having the whole place fall in on me.
Because you've got the executive chef to blame.
And here's the executive chef, Vincent.
Alright. Well I'm a little bit..........I would say, you know.
Obviously I'm not from here, you know.
I was young and I didn't really know what to do and cooking was always in the back of my mind.
And you got to think, you know, that was 15 years ago.
There was no Top Chef on TV. There was nothing popular on TV, like cooking with chefs.
You know, so I told my mother.
I said, "I want to be a chef." She cried.
She said, "Why? Why? Why? Why would you do that? You could be a doctor, you know, you could be a lawyer."
"No. No. No. I want to be a chef." And, you know, I wasn't very good at school.
So that just kind of worked out.
I went to cooking school. I did a shop called raam about two years but I...
That cooking school allowed me the opportunity  to work in some of the French's best kitchens
and that was really my background.
I worked in Paris that's where I'm from. I worked in Zurich. I worked at the restaurant, you might know it, (inaudible).
Very very tiny place. 20 covers, open 4 nights only, you know, 10, 12, 14 course menu. So that is a tiny kitchen in the middle of Paris.
We would do 654 in that place a night.
And then I wanted to experience something different.
So obviously, I'm from the city and I was like you know the city is awesome, but I want to see something else.
So I went to work for (inaudible) bar which is (inaudible) style, in the middle of nowhere,
literally in the middle of nowhere.
And that was a great experience and then I departed to go back to Yun and work for 4 years at...
(inaudible)
And then, at the time I had some connection with Starwood that was, you know, pretty much doing all
the paperwork, you know, and doing visa,
all across the world actually, and so
I ended up at St. Regis in Monarch Beach, so down south in orange county.
And I went from sous-chef to executive
sous-chef. I stayed at St. Regis for 4 years.
Big, big bucks. 400 roomed hotel, 40 million dollar _________ , huge banquet operation, 5 restaurants on-site,
5-out-of-5 diamond. So extremely demanding job, countless hours, lots of pressure.
People that, you know, go to St. Regis expect the very best. They pay top dollar for it so...
But definitely different along (inaudible). After that I had the opportunity to go to the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach.
So a little bit further north then Dana Point.
And new owners had come in and basically re-did the place.
It was an old, old private club in Newport Beach. Nothing had been touched for the past 50 years. Stuck in their way.
And then the new company came in and pretty much destroyed everything and rebuilt it.
With them I got lucky enough to open 4 restaurants down in Newport Beach.
And then, you know, I got a call and it was like, "You know we acquired Bacara a couple of years ago
and we need to make some changes there. So would you like to go?"
I said, "No, I'm not moving from Newport Beach. I have my team. It was good. No, I'm not doing that."
And they were like, "Well, why don't you go check it out? Why don't you go help them out for the weekend?"
And then I went and when I walked in I was like, "Okay. I'll do it."
"I'll do it."
And so here I am. I've been at the Bacara for the past 10 months now.
We have a new restaurant opening in June. You know, changed everything: banquet menu, blend menu, come and go menu.
Pretty much everything in the restaurant has changed within the past 10 months.
So that's how I ended up in Santa Barbara.
I'd get in by 7 because I wanted to get a full hour before the phone started ringing
and other employees started getting in and non-stop. Constant, nonstop talking to clients,
having appointments, cutting BEO's. Do you guys know what BEO's are?
Not yet. Banquet event orders.
And that's basically where it's the catering or events responsibility to get every single piece of information
possible from the customer and put it on paper.
And if I don't do my job, they're gonna have a problem.
Because, if I don't ask the right questions, get the specifics that are needed for the event...
I'm sure the chefs can tell you, we have a lot of VIP menu tastings, especially for Westmont.
They have their presidents breakfast coming up soon.
And that is a chance for the client to meet with the chef, to talk over what kind of options they would like for the guest that day.
And it's really crucial that you ask all the right questions because if we...
I mean my dessert descriptions on my BEO would sometimes be paragraphs.
I'm probably exaggerating a little bit, but
because it's such a detailed portion of the culinary experience
and it's the last experience that they're going to have before they walk out that door.
So it has got to leave a lasting impression.
With my chef, he would throw all these different things and, you know, whether it's an assertion or whatever,
you know and I'd have to be taking notes on exactly, well, what kind of sauce did he say he wanted to go with that?
That's our job is to get everything down on that piece of paper and then hand it over to the operations staff.
Whether it's stewarding because they need to know what kind of dishes to pull,
whether it's the chef, whether it's banquets.
If I don't get every single piece of information on there, sometimes my BEO's will be 3-4 pages long,
just because there are so many specifics
that needed to be followed.
Whether they wanted lemon in the water or not, you know.
So anyway I'm talking, a lot of talking. By the time I get home at 7-8 o'clock at night I don't want to talk to anybody.
I like to turn on the TV, get myself a cocktail and, you know, let them do the talking because I'm done.
I'm done for the day.
It's a 6-7 day a week job. Which I'm sure these guys know about as well.
When I first started I was also doing weddings.
Which, working Monday through Friday was my typical schedule, but then I was always there on the weekends.
So I cut back and my staff does weddings but I still have VIP events all the time on the weekends so...
You're there until whenever you feel comfortable, which could be a lot shorter, sometimes, than these guys,
I could be out by 7, 8, 9 o'clock at night sometimes it was later.
Well my day is basically, I go in at 7 o'clock in the morning and make sure everybody has their proper recipes,
their proper tools and they're taking their temperatures.
That's all throughout the day and I primarily make the soups, any special deserts, and getting back to the BEO's,
they're living contracts. So, if you are doing catering you follow that line by line because that's what the client expects.
and I've gotten myself into trouble by changing green beans to another vegetable.
But, you can't do that. You can't do that.
You know, the college is really great, you get that energy from young kids and our food is good,
not as good as the Bacara because we don't have the fillets coming in and the lamb chops coming in,
but it's good and it has to be good because the client is expecting it, the kids are paying top bucks for this stuff.
So, you know, when you are a chef, if you ever become a chef, you have to go out and talk to the people,
like you were saying, talk, learn your customers, learn your customers, learn their likes, their dislikes.
It will go a long way.
Basically that's my day. It's really nice now. As a chef, as an executive chef it was 10-12 hours a day,
6-7 days a week and that's hard on everything: your marriage, your life.
Keep it simple. Keep it real and be friendly, be happy, be outgoing.
Believe me, the whole kitchen will pick up on your mood.
If you come in there in a bad mood, the kitchen will be in a bad mood.
So you've got to be positive no matter what it is. Be positive.
You know, I come in a bit later. I come in around 9 o'clock. And then there is no typical day, really.
I mean, you know, of course there is plenty of meetings lined up and those go from, you know,
financial meetings that you have to answer to: labor costs, food costs.
And then, you know, you're of course meeting with clients, then you have your own little meeting with your staff and whatnot,
and then service. That is always in the middle of that, so you have to be able to multitask and
being able to picture it: today it's a banquet for 500, lunch with the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce. Whatever it is.
And you've got to be there for that. You know, (inaudible), you've got to be there for that as well.
So, you know, your (inaudible) eating lunch are really important.
And then, you know, (inaudible), 9-11pm is my time to just catch-up, email, (inaudible), things like that, quiet time.
So, you know, 9-11 o'clock is a good day, 6-7 days a week.
That's normal.
Yes sir?
Do you manage all of the restaurants at Bacara or is it...
That's correct. I manage all of the restaurants.
Like the cafe, the Seahouse or whatever?
Yeah.
So it's 110 cooks. It's a team of 40 stewards. So, 150 people total that I'm responsible for.
A busy day? Would be a good banquet days. You know, 500 people (inaudible)
That would be a busy day in banquets. After that, you know for restaurants it would be Valentines Day.
You know we need over 2200 covers on the 14th. You know, generating a total of over  $80,000.
For a day in the restaurant that's heavy. That's quite heavy.
For all of the restaurants all together.
(inaudible)
Are you able to influence your clientele if they have a menu that you think is not quite going to match
or do they pretty well know what they want?
Can you tell them, "Well, this vegetable won't go with this fish or with this chicken" ? I mean is there...
You really have both, you know, you have clients that come in really open-minded and not caring so much
and you have clients who are opinionated about what they want and are more difficult to deal with
but at the end of the day, this is their event and I can make an accommodation
but if they don't want to listen to me then by all means this is their big day, right?
Do you have someone to match the wine with the food?
We do. We have somebody on staff that can do that for you if you want them to.
Can I ask,  how old you were when you started and how old are you now?
No no no.
I'm 30 now, I started when I was 15.
I wanted to ask Katherine, right?
Yes.
I wanted to ask you, when you first started to go back to do these events you took culinary classes, for how many years was that?
I did not.
Oh, you did not. So, it just was basically your knowledge of cooking and then  you decided to go with the paperwork,
learning the business, was it a long time for you to study about what you need
and how you have to order things and stuff like that or did that just comes naturally?
You know, things have so changed obviously now. I mean nowadays if you don't have a culinary degree
of some sort I think it's a lot harder to get where you want to go.
With me starting so long ago it was all on the job learning and, you know, I was like a sponge.
Chefs are my mentors. They are just...I can't say enough good things about chefs,
pastry chefs, all kinds of chefs.
And I just soaked up all that knowledge throughout the years. I spent a lot of time on my own, studying.
And, you know, whoever asked about pairing with the wines, it was so easy back when I started to pair wines.
You know I just knew everything there was to know about French wines and I felt like I was on top of the world.
Nowadays, you know, somebody is making a wine in their backyard right now.
It's just it's overwhelming. I can't imagine being a Sommelier in this day and age
but I guess, short answer, on the job training.
So we have the Principles of Baking class here with us today so do you have any words for the Principles of Baking class related to baking?
Starting with you Vincent.
I think that would be: Do not cut any corners.
Do not cut any corners.
I mean baking, of course, is extremely precise in the recipe. When we cook, you know, we always can adjust.
Even though there are some recipes that are not like that. But, baking is extremely precise.
You know, from the moment you weigh it in, to the moment you put it in the oven, to the temperature
results in what you get out.
If you want a perfect result, you've got to be perfect from, you know, everything from the get go.
And then, you know, just cleanliness. Cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness.
Absolutely. It's chemistry. Baking is chemistry. Leaves me out because I like to throw things together,
but it turns out good sometimes, you know. But, baking is fun. I love baking.
It's a great means. It gets your mind away from your regular cooking. It's a good thing
And it gets you further as a chef if you know a little bit of baking. You know, you could be more rounded and stuff.
But, I was lucky enough. In year 2000, I went to school so I could get the background and see if I was doing anything right.
And I found out that I was doing some things right and some things wrong.
But, it was a good learning experience.
But, one thing they taught us: you are a chef when you leave the school. And I'm telling them, "No you're not.
You're not going to be a chef until 10-20 years down the road if you're lucky, you know."
There's a lot of luck in that.
So, you know, it's hard, hard work, but
very rewarding work.
I would say sometimes the simplest things are the things that go wrong.
Like a good brownie. Seriously. I mean it's, you know you think, "Oh, a brownie." You know, chef mentioned breaks.
There's a lot of revenue in breaks and a lot of that is pastry-oriented. As you can so desire. Whether it's continental breakfast,
whether it's an afternoon break and you're putting out something savory or something sweet.
You know, we had a problem doing brownies right, there for a while and that was one of our biggest complaints.
And it's like can you just give me a good, chewy, moist, awesome brownie. That's what I want.
And then, of course, there's, you know, all the way to the other end of the spectrum where, you know,
ting ting's are coming out of it and things are moving and, you know, you got all these different sauces
and it's like, "Wow. Where did that come from?"
And sometimes those elaborate things that are the most beautiful, aren't necessarily the tastiest.
Vince, what's your favorite bakery item that you have at the Bacara?
Croissant.
They're baking them today.
Yeah, we buy French Butter.
So...
we got some good stuff for it and we have a good croissant.
And at Westmont what is the favorite desert that you guys make?
Cookies, more cookies, lots of cookies.
And cobblers, home-style bread pudding.
Guys learn how to do a good bread budding, please. It got me a long way in this world.
Savory bread puddings too.  So you can pair those with your entrees.
Everything. Anything in a book we do.
Asian, burgers, chicken, tons of chicken,
we go through, probably about 400 pounds of chicken every 3-4 days. So, we tear through that stuff.
The kids are... I'm at a Christian college so the kids don't complain. Which is a bummer because you learn through complaints.
You want to know what we're doing wrong. Not everything's, "Oh, everything is good here."
Yes. Bless you.
And it's the weirdest thing. Like when I first got there the kids would return the dishes to the dishwasher and say, "Thank you."
Okay.
People.
You know, you obviously have some bad days when, at times, not everybody is going to be happy.
You know, and like he said, you are going to get complaints and that's how you learn.
That's how you try to make things better. But, really and just the, you know, when you throw a good event,
have a good private banquet, it's the most rewarding thing that you can ever do.
I mean when we're done with dish shop and a lot of times, you know, half the management staff is back in the kitchen
because we need help for a plate up for 2,000.
You get done plating that entree and it's just like, "Oh, that's awesome!"
And then you run out to the front and everything is going well and you see your client
and there's a big smile on their face it's
just, it's the most rewarding thing ever.
Least?
You said it a couple times, I'll say it, I mean you are kind of a slave.
You are and you have to take that with a
grain of salt and you really have to learn how to...
I don't want to say manage your time because really, you don't have much time outside of the hotel.
You really don't.
But, to try and keep yourself healthy, to try and exercise and to try and have some bit of a quality life outside of work is important.
Planning is one of my favorite things to
do. So, I make lists.
A week list. A daily list. Coming to work is my favorite part: smelling the bacon cooking,
getting that fresh piece of bacon out of the oven, you know, and talking to the crew and seeing how their day is going,
and going out and talking to the client, to the customers.
Least favorite...
Sleeping and waking up with leg cramps because we don't have mats.
That's the least favorite.
But, potassium is the answer to that.
Yeah, watermelon juice. That sort of thing. But, eat healthy.
Try not to get stressed. Plan.
Your biggest asset is planning. If you plan it out, things will go to plan.
Hopefully.
Least favorite is probably the amount of time that you spend meeting, you know, discussing financial sides.
That's the least favorite part of my days because it just takes away from what we all wanted to do at some point is cooking, right?
So, that's difficult for me.
And now the favorite part of my day...
I mean, I don't know. I don't really have any particular sentiment because I don't really feel that I'm working.
I do what I love and that's the best feeling ever.
You know, I don't really have to work a day in my life. I, you know, go to Bacara, I do my thing and I'm happy.
That would be it. I think.
That's like the ultimate goal of a career plan.
It is. It is. You know, I mean find what you're passionate about and you won't have to work a day in your life.
This is a very true statement.
I would say, expand your horizon. You're lucky enough to, you know, you're a young generation you have plenty of
social media, you know, that you can reach. I mean there are so many things now: Facebook, Instagram, all those things.
You know, just follow that and look what they do: in France, in Japan, Asia.
I mean there is some really cool stuff they are doing out there.
And just get that inspiration, get that motivation to strive for that and do your best and that should be your goal.
And don't cut corners. Never cut corners.
Keep an open mind.
Keep the information coming. Talk to people, read, travel.
Travelling is the biggest asset I ever did. You know see how other people operate,
go in the back of the restaurant and introduce yourself, chefs are open, we love to have visitors and stuff.
So, you know, talking to other people. Like Kathy was saying, every couple years
there's nothing wrong with taking a job here, there, to get that learning experience.
Pick out a chef you want to learn from. You know, just keep it simple and get a good pair of shoes.
I guess I'll piggyback on Chef Vincent.
Back in my day, food cost was not so focused as it is now. It's all about food cost.
It's all about what kind of profit you're going to bring to the bottom line now and you really going to
need to know every single thing you do in the bakeshop costs you money. Every pad of butter that you use.
If you can get down the mathematics of it and really know what you're doing instead of just creating,
but oh, you know, chefs going to come to you at some point and go, "Okay, well this is what so-and-so,
Westmont decided for their three-course gala dinner and I need to know how much that desert is going to cost."
And you need to have an answer because that's how he's going to base the price of what they're going to charge the client.
I feel really sorry for chefs nowadays that, they are, it's all about the profit and loss.
It's all about the P&L and where you're landing with your food costs.
Our food cost is actually lower at
Fess Parker than our beverage costs.
Which, back in the day, food cost ran maybe in the 50 percentage. Now, you've got to be under 20 for overall hotel.
And I think that's just ridiculous to be
honest.
Kind of takes the fun out of it.
I have a question for all 3 of you, when you want to open up a restaurant is it really true the first three years
are probably going to be the hardest?
Starting your restaurant, getting things familiar with what you're going to put on your menu,
the people who are coming, what clientele will you be serving, how big your wine bar should be.
Is it almost devastating to have to work on something like that.
Research. Keep it simple. I've been going
out to Santa Ynez, now, over the hill there.
There's some wonderful new places. Open up in just factories.
You know, industrial eats.
Long tables, community seating, wonderful food, simple, great food.
You know, real olive oils, they cure their own meats, they do everything there.
Just do your research. Research, research, research.
Having a good butcher, right?
You are. You're not gong to be able to afford one.
That's true.
You know, learn to do everything. So you know if it's done right. Where you're wasting your money, you know.
But, when you plan for your restaurant, make sure you plan for your salary. Do not shortchange yourself on that.
Don't do it for free.
No. No, please. Only work for the hotels are free.
I won't comment on it because I don't have the necessary experience.
I did open a few and I think a good amount of cash flow is definitely a big plus.
And that doesn't mean it comes from you. That means you find somebody that, you know, is willing to invest in you.
And is believing in your project and what you're trying to, you know, to achieve.
So, that would be my 2 cents. You know, partner with somebody, have a good amount of cash flow and do your thing.
As executive chef, do you see a lot of losses in the places that you work?
Yes and no. Individual outlets will sometimes lose money depending on, you know, Catholic season.
But, I mean overall, I think, definitely no. I've never done one month that we lost money definitely.
I've come close to it, but never.
Well, you know, I mean there is things like construction that would just destroy your business and then it's kind of like, "Awwww."
But, I mean, it picks back up once your done.
That would depend where you would like to or where you would see yourself working.
I mean, I think that, you know, social skills. Just basic social skills and see how you interact with people.
It's probably the first thing we would look at and then if you had a little experience it would be a plus,
but, you know, we probably wouldn't start you as a server right away. Probably would start you as a food runner or a bus boy.
And you kind of make your way up.
It depends what position you are applying for.
But, I mean, I personally, I don't necessarily believe in a resume.
I believe in human beings interaction with another at that point.
See how you act. A little trick with me is that I'm going to walk you somewhere and if you're 10ft behind me I'm probably not going to hire you.
But, if you're trying to keep up with me then, you know, you have a chance at it.
So there's little things like that. So yeah, for me it's more like how you're going to present yourself, what you bring to the table,
you know, what kind of attitude do you have, you know.
And dress for your interview. That's very important.
Thank you.
