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Industry Award - Front of the House: John BlakeleyMy first introduction to a restaurant was the family Sunday lunch after mass. I would dress up and practice my table manners, then order different dishes from the menu and sit patiently for 3 or 4 hours. The memory stayed with me and after finishing L'Ecole Hoteliere de Strasbourg in 1974 I found work in different summer and winter resorts in locations throughout France: Val d'Isere, Val Morel, Arcachon, Deauville, and Nice to name a few. I returned to my home town of Metz, and accepted a position at the restaurant des Roches where I learned specialty table service like flambage and decoupage. In 1981 I decided to move to Vancouver for maybe a 6 month period, my first job was at the Four Seasons Pavillon restaurant, what was at that time the restaurant of the city. Vancouver became my new home. From 1983 to 1987 I was lucky enough to work with Maurice Richez at Café de Paris and then with Michel Jacob at le Crocodile from 1987 to 1991. In 1992 I took a year off to train for the Penticton Ironman and I qualified for the Hawaii Ironman where I proposed to my wife, of 15 years, Malae. When I returned from this life altering experience, Michel Jacob offered me the position of Maitre d' in his new location; it was then that I really started to advance my wine knowledge. In 1996, I opened Diva at the Met as the restaurant manager; I then had the opportunity to work with an exceptional team directed by Brian Young and Jeremy Roncoroni. In May of 1999 I took on my biggest challenge yet : opening Bistro Pastis; during our first year Pastis won best new restaurant at the Vancouver Magazine Award and best new restaurant from the Northwest Palate magazine. Over the last 9 years, of running my own restaurant, I am very thankful of the special relationship and the loyalty I have with my customers. My ultimate goal has always been to make my guests feel comfortable as soon as they walk in the door. Interview with John BlakeleyWhat was your first job in the industry? My first job in the industry was working at the Normandy Hotel in Deauville, France. What is the most memorable moment of your career? When Trudeau came as a regular customer without any reservation and he came through the door and asked for a table for two. He did it in a very simple manner and he was the prime minister – well, he wasn’t the prime minister then but he came as a very influential person in the country and he was just like a normal person and just wanted to have a dinner for two. That was when I worked at Le Crocodile in the early ’90s. What advice do you have for people just starting out in the industry? It’s a business that has to be a passion. There’s a lot of sacrifice that needs to be made – your schedule and days off and weekends and all that. You have to have it in you and to be ready to make a lot of sacrifices. What do you think is the biggest issue facing restaurateurs today? I think the biggest issue is operating costs that are really getting very high. It’s difficult for customers to understand that we have to run a business and sometimes the prices go up and, well, we have to put our price up. What’s the next step for raising the bar in the B.C. foodservice industry? We already have great food and great service and great restaurants in Vancouver, but I think Vancouver should travel a bit more to see what’s available outside of our nutshell. To raise the bar is to lean more towards authentic food, organic food, to really educate the average British Columbian diner more about taste and about product. Interview by Jessica Scharien Click on the images below to start videos Introduction movie shown during the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame Gala, April 2008. Interview and award acceptance speech recorded during the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame Gala, April 2008. |