Ever wonder how someone might go from being a psych major to clearing tables, to being a Michelin-star bartender? Join us for our chat with JENNA NORFLEET, head bartender at Francie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Jenna’s front of the house career path epitomizes how sometimes the restaurant job you have to support yourself as a student ends up being more fun–and more accessible–than the field you were studying in the first place.

Jenna has had an impressive rise through the ranks of front of the house service in the last few years, facing her fears and working hard to learn the craft.

Listen in to hear about:

~ building egg white cocktails

~ taking over an already established list

~ kicking out intoxicated guests

~ the importance of running your own race

~ being able to assess body language

~ how she gets inspiration and perspective from dining out in other restaurants

Welcome to our first DESTINATION HOSPITALITY episode with our guest ANDREA ZANA, the general manager of the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

Listen in to hear what it’s like to be part of the operational family that runs one of the world’s greatest resort hotels, how Tom Cruise helped inspire Andrea to get into hospitality, why Andrea loves interacting with tourists, what it was like to work in top hotels in Florence, London, Paris, Milan, and why he sees luxury hospitality as a world full of opportunities.

Get ready to be surprised by what great hoteliers like Andrea and the Cinque Family do to constantly evolve: including bringing a team of sixteen people from the hotel with him to Cornell University Hotel School for a week of professional development during the closed season.

Andrea shouts out the importance of mentorship with the examples set for him by Claudio Ceccarelli, Simone Giorgi, and the Cinque Family, and how restaurants and hotels can be the stage, and we FOH folks the protagonists!

This episode we welcome Ahris Kim, the Director of Operations for NA:EUN Hospitality, the multi-award-winning group behind Atoboy, Atomix, and NARO in New York. Ahris, born in Seoul, Korea, and chats about the opportunity to combine her career passions and her heritage, the impact of the awards and accolades, her start in luxury hotels, working for Daniel Boulud, the importance of self care, and how it’s good to try as many different things as possible when you’re starting out.

@hiyuwinefarms @atoboynyc @atomixnyc @seoulsalon.nyc @eparkato @jparkato @foodeducationfund