INTERVIEW - NICOLAS CAUPAIN, DIRECTOR OF FOOD & BEVERAGE, THE LANA DORCHESTER COLLECTION DUBAI: “WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT THIS JOB IS MANAGING TEAMS” (United Arab Emirates)
Nicolas Caupain is to open a much-anticipated property in Dubai. At the age of 36, he will become F&B Director of The Lana, the latest addition to the Dorchester Collection |
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INTERVIEW - NICOLAS CAUPAIN, DIRECTOR OF FOOD & BEVERAGE, THE LANA DORCHESTER COLLECTION DUBAI: “WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT THIS JOB IS MANAGING TEAMS” (United Arab Emirates)
Nicolas Caupain is to open a much-anticipated property in Dubai. At the age of 36, he will become F&B Director of The Lana, the latest addition to the Dorchester Collection |
Category: Middle East - United Arab Emirates - Industry economy -
Hotel projects - Interviews
Interview made by Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine on 2023-12-18
 Nicolas Caupain, Director of Food & Beverage The Lana Dorchester Collection Dubai
Photo credit © The Lana, Dorchester Collection, Dubai
As he embraces the challenge of opening the tenth Dorchester, the Frenchman continues to pursue his goals. He applies all his expertise to The Lana's F&B strategy, and uses his knowledge of all the departments in a hotel, to touch on his next objective.
For the Journal des Palaces, Nicolas Caupain talks about his passion for the finer things in life, the forthcoming opening of The Lana, and above all the virtues of a career abroad.Why did you choose a career in the luxury hospitality industry?When I was 16, I had the opportunity to meet the director of the Negresco, Pierre Bord, so I asked him what I had to do to one day reach the position of general manager of a hotel. He told me that it wasn't quite so obvious to work in England or in the major French hotels, but that I should go to the Middle East, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and work in the great Asian destinations of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
At the time, that conversation had a big impact on me. That's why when I had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong I jumped at it, as I did to open a hotel in Abu Dhabi (the Jumeirah, Etihad Towers). That helped me along the way, and it was a wake-up call.
I realized that I was passionate about luxury cars, I loved wine, watches and cigars, all of which are very popular subjects with clients, and I specialized. I read many books to have conversations with this upmarket clientele. And that's how you build relationships.What are the requirements for success in the world of food service in luxury hotels?You have to be highly motivated, and you have to listen to your guests and colleagues. A colleague may report to you but may have the best idea, so you have to put your ego aside.
You also need to enjoy a challenge, to respond to a very demanding clientele who may raise a problem that you haven't anticipated. You have to be as positive as possible.
What I like most is when things seem almost impossible because that's when a palace makes the difference with another hotel. We work with clients who will be in New York on Tuesday, Paris on Thursday and Tokyo on Friday. You can't necessarily impress them with products, but you can impress them with details, and that's where you have to work.What are the stages and prerequisites for pre-opening restaurants in a luxury hotel? How far have you got with the Lana?You have to be well-organized, know how to delegate to the right people, choose department heads whom you trust, give them the rules and allow them to develop and do what they like to do.
Steve Jobs said, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do”. So you have to leave some ballast to the people.
In Dubai alone, there are 13,000 restaurants, so the competition is enormous. Some 5-star hotel restaurants serve 1,200 to 1,300 breakfasts. It's all about excess, and that's what attracts people here. So we have to concentrate on concepts, offering something different that will attract customers.
Then you need to recruit the right people, not just heads of department, but a bar manager, a head hostess who knows how to call back customers and ensure that the tables are profitable, and so on. Then there's a good sommelier and good head waiters. The most important thing is to have colleagues who run their department like their own business.How does recruitment work?I'm involved in all recruitment, except for waiter positions, which I delegate to my number two and the head of department. I like working in hotels where I know the first name of each member of staff, I go to say hello to them every morning, I shake their hand, so they feel good, which is also one of the fundamentals that I like so much about the Dorchester Collection.
Recruitment remains a challenge, even for us. There are numerous 5-star hotels in Dubai, and we have high standards. Secondly, the most critical thing is to train the people we recruit, to offer ongoing training, to ask questions so that we can really maintain the hotel's standards.What will the Lana's restaurant concepts be?We will have six bars, from 'Bitter Honey's', located in the lobby, dedicated to the creation of alcohol, the use of honey, the sustainable aspect, to the bar on the theme of forbidden fruits, with activations every week around a jazz group. The 'Riviera Bar', on the 4th floor of the hotel, will be dedicated to the Mediterranean, around the different coasts, from the Cinque Terre in Italy, to the French Riviera in France, via the Spanish and Portuguese coasts conceived with Jean Imbert.
The 'Jara Bar by Martín Berasategui' will be a tribute to the Basque Country, with Spanish beers, Cherry, Calvas and more. We will also have the exclusive Pol Roger champagne by the glass from the United Arab Emirates. The 'Txakolina' will have a speakeasy feel, with bossa nova-style music on vinyl, a cigar lounge with very rare cigars, exceptional spirits and fine cognacs, chartreuses and tequila. This really will be the place for aficionados.
Finally, on the rooftop, Jean Imbert has developed 'High Society', where we will be offering the finest champagne list in Dubai. I'm a champagne collector myself, and champagne embodies festivity, life, and celebration.
On the restaurant front, 12-star chef Martín Berasategui will open Jara by Martín Berasategui, a Basque restaurant. “Riviera by Jean Imbert” will feature Mediterranean cuisine, and we will be the only restaurant to offer breakfast à la carte, as at Plaza Athénée. Finally, we will have “Bonbon Café Angelo Musa”, a pastry and bakery concept with takeaway service.
We also have 39 residences with services for our residents, including private and wine dinners and cocktail courses. We shall also be organizing dinners on their yachts, as we have the Marina right opposite, so there will be plenty of personalized experiences.Are there any differences between managing restaurants in France and abroad?I'd say it's mainly open-mindedness. You have to be flexible with your management. I have over 30 nationalities in my team, whereas in France, that would be less the case. At the hotel, we'll have 60 nationalities. It's a challenge, but I find it very interesting. For someone who has only worked in Paris, for example, it may come as a shock at first.
We offer a six-day off per month schedule, basically one week with one day off, one week with two days, and we're flexible by giving people who want to work more the opportunity to work for events or banquets on their days off.You have 250 employees to manage. How do you organize yourself to ensure good management, not only of the customer experience, but also of the staff?The most important thing is the staff because if they're not happy, they won't look after the customers and the customers won't be happy, and neither will the management. It's a triptych. At the Lana, we pay a lot of attention to this. I welcome each new employee at the airport. I accompany them to the staff residence, and we spend the first week having one-to-one conversations to make sure that everything is going well, to find out if they need anything, which really builds people's confidence. For example, I take on young French girls who are apprehensive because it's their first time abroad.
I also do a daily follow-up with my managers to give them instructions. Then, every month, I have one-to-one meetings where we talk about everything. So the employees really give their best because they know they have a leader who is there to help them.
The most important thing is to set an example by rolling up your sleeves. If there's a room service tray to take out, or a breakfast table to clear, I'm there, and the team appreciates that.What do you enjoy most about your job?What I like most about my job is managing teams. Competition also stimulates me, whether they have a better wine list, a better afternoon-tea, and so on.
Of course, I enjoy making guests happy. Guests who come for their wedding anniversary and have a good time will give you good feedback. When they thank us when they leave and congratulate us on the quality of the experience, I really like that, and it motivates me to always do a little better.
What's more, no two days are the same. If you're looking for a career in an environment that's not boring, that's perfect. Discovering the world of gastronomy, new wines, new dishes, talking to chefs, and so on, and finally, travelling. I've been to almost 50 countries now, and I love travelling; you change your mindset, you see new things, which you can then apply in your restaurants, bars and so on.Your career is firmly rooted in the restaurant business. Do you plan to manage a hotel in the future?Absolutely. Dorchester will be opening hotels in the future, and I'd love to develop within this group that I love so much. I'd love to manage a hotel one day, and even better if it was at the Dorchester. There really is a spirit of understanding and of listening carefully, a philosophy of 'Care'. There really is that Dorchester Collection spirit that I haven't seen anywhere else. I will give 150% to achieving this goal.What advice would you give to luxury hospitality industry professionals who want to work in Dubai? And to young people just starting out?Don't hesitate, there's so much to be gained from it. You shouldn't be afraid to take the plunge, and Dubai is only a six-hour flight from Paris and offers great security.
I think young people should do it as soon as possible, but if you already have a family and have never been away before, it can be a very interesting and incredible experience too. It brings a real open-mindedness, a language, and if you have a family, it offers a good experience for your children, something that will leave a mark on them for life in a good way.What advice would you give to a young person looking for a career in the luxury hospitality industry?I would say, don't be afraid of the hours, here we offer contracts of 50 hours a week and beyond for managers.
Get out of your comfort zone. Of course, in Europe you'll earn a bit more, but the impact on your CV of opening at the Lana will change your life. It's essential to look at the long term. So the advice is also to think about a career plan.
It's important to set yourself a goal. My goal is to become a general manager. What do I have to do? What do I need to learn? There's also an objective that I follow and that I advise: if you're very good at one subject, that's fine, but try to develop yourself in a subject that you're not too good at. Personally, I spend hours understanding profitability and trying to really think like a finance professional. My speciality is F&B and wines, but I'm learning every day about marketing, rooms division and sales, etc. And the most significant thing is to be able to think in terms of profitability.
And the most important thing is to have fun and make the most of these extraordinary professions that are gastronomy and the luxury hospitality industry.
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