Wine Uncorked: My guide to the world of wine

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Three years ago, Thompson’s daughter, Daphne, was born; Thompson took 11 months maternity leave and then returned to Scott’s part-time. Again, this is “unconventional” in hospitality, which demands long, antisocial hours. Thompson gives credit to Caring for being open to the idea and she hopes that her experience will be helpful to other women in a similar position. “Yeah, I’m definitely flying the working-mum flag,” she says. “I didn’t want to pretend it was going to be OK and then totally crash and burn. Hopefully I’ve proved the fact that it is possible.” Elena Salvoni at the Little Italy restaurant in Soho, London, 2011. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose for Observer Food Monthly From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: of the many opportunities in this industry. It opens doors to so many things. You can travel the world as a waiter. Fred Sirieix ( French pronunciation: [siʁjɛks]; born 27 January 1972) is a French maître d'hôtel best known for appearing on Channel 4's First Dates, and BBC Two's Million Pound Menu. Sirieix grew up in Limoges, France and trained to work in front of house in a Michelin-starred restaurant in France before working at La Tante Claire in London. Until 2019 he was the general manager of Michelin-starred restaurant Galvin at Windows at the London Hilton.

Glennon’s distinctive dress sense started to take shape when she moved to 34. “It’s helpful especially with so many different restaurants to be, ‘Oh right, you’re the woman with the big glasses, yes,’” she says. It is, though, very much a uniform. “I dress completely different away from work. What did I wear today? Jeans and trainers. And I love hats, so I’ll constantly be wearing hats around.” I am biased to a good bottle of bordeaux. I recently had a Château Batailley 2014. That wine, oh my God. Bordeaux, when it’s well made, it’s just something else.One Jeremy thing I love is that you go through the room and you physically touch each table,” says Glennon. “It puts people at ease. It says, ‘Can I help? I’m here if you need…’ It’s not the customer’s job to ask; it’s our job to offer.” We don’t value hospitality in this country, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of examples to show that: it was labelled as low-skilled only recently. If you speak to a career adviser, they wouldn’t recommend hospitality as a career for kids. But it’s just incredible what you can do in hospitality. Also, it’s a meritocracy. That’s what I say when I do talks in catering colleges: if you work hard, you’re going to go all the way to the top. It’s your time now. In Wine Uncorked, Fred decants a career's worth of expertise, revealing how everything from percentage to vintage impacts what ends up in your glass, how to decipher a label and the optimum temperatures for serving. He then takes you on a tour of the regions, showing you how the landscape and climate work their magic on the wine produced around the world, highlighting key producers to suit all budgets along the way. Any customer is good. I like people. There are those who come by themselves once a year and those who come three times a week. It doesn’t matter how often they come or why. They are all deserving of good service.

a b c d "Fred Sirieix - General Manager: Galvin at Windows". www.galvinatwindows.com . Retrieved 16 February 2017.José Etura has arguably the hardest job in London restaurants. As the man in charge of service at the trio of Barrafina tapas restaurants, he has to manage some of the city’s hungriest queues. Since the original opened on Soho’s Frith Street in 2007, Barrafina’s food, overseen by chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho, has been acclaimed as some of the city’s very best Spanish cooking. But with all the restaurants boasting non-reservable counter seating only, getting to eat it isn’t always easy. “Sometimes people queue for over two hours,” Etura says. “And when people have queued for that long, you have to work 10 times harder for them, because they have huge expectations, and they have to be fulfilled.” Delgado, Kasia. "First Dates maître d' Fred has gone from matchmaker to musicmaker". RadioTimes. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015 . Retrieved 11 April 2017. A great restaurant is as much about the service as the food. It’s about the smile when you arrive, the way you’re seated at your table, the glass of your favourite wine appearing as if by magic. Nothing is too much trouble. The art of perfect service may seem effortless but what’s really going on behind the scenes…? If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us

Fred Sirieix knows exactly where his interest in service comes from: his parents’ careers in the French equivalent of the NHS in Limoges, where he grew up. “Every day before going on the night shift my dad would shave,” he says now. “I asked him why he did that. He told me it was to make the patients trust him. The conversation around the dinner table was all about patient care. It was about making sure people had a good experience.” If a customer is drunk and is touching a member of staff inappropriately, if they are using foul language or if their behaviour becomes threatening, then that is unacceptable.

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Danielle Thompson smiles a lot. This is partly just her generally sunny disposition, she thinks, but also she has found it a useful tactic at work, as general manager of Scott’s in Mayfair. “If stuff is going wrong, smiling almost makes you more relaxed in a way,” she says. “Maybe there’s a booking that’s gone in the wrong night and you’ve got six guests standing in front of you with no table. Or maybe a tray of main courses being dropped. It’s a live environment; this is how it is. But, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter what has happened, it’s how you deal with it.” From belligerent Michelin-starred chefs to Bollinger-swigging managers, Britain’s best-known, best-loved maitre d’ is here to lift the lid on life behind the scenes of the world’s best restaurants. With over 25 years’ experience of charming guests, Fred Siriex has seen and heard it all, and as always, he’s here to help. If you have ever said, 'I wish I knew more about wine,' this is the book for you. Read more Look Inside Details