…but one is up for an award!

Pictured here, doing what he usually does – focusing on cooking things right – is our Kitchen Manager Gonzalo Sagrero.

Kitchen Manager Gonzalo Sagrero Gonzalo is one of three finalists for The Massachusetts Restaurant Association’s “Unsung Hero of the Year” award to be presented at their annual “Stars of the Industry Gala” to be held tomorrow evening, October 28th.

This is an important awards night in our industry because it puts the spotlight on the front-line staff who make everything happen in restaurants: the dishwashers, the prep and line cooks, bartenders, servers, hosts–even valets. The one award NOT tied to a specific position, however, is the “Unsung Hero.” This is an open award for a special person in ANY position who truly excels in job performance, attention to detail, initiative, problem solving, leadership, maintaining a positive attitude under any and all conditions (something I often refer to as “grace under pressure), being a team player, and inspiring others.

A ten year veteran at our restaurant–dating back to the days we were still “Carambola”–Gonzalo exemplifies these qualities. Within a year of immigrating to the United States from Mexico, he started his career with us in 2003 as a dishwasher. Over the years, he worked his way up the ladder, learning every position in the kitchen. He focused at every step on whatever was expected, and NEEDED: developing his palate, paying close attention to all the steps in preparing not just the food but the systems and the people who make a kitchen run smoothly and prepare excellent food in a timely manner – day-in and day-out – even when he’s not there.

He absolutely earned his promotion to Kitchen Manager when the position opened unexpectedly last year. He’s an unsung hero because Gonzalo made sure we never broke stride as he took the reigns in the transition, a transition virtually invisible to our guests, as it should be. It is very difficult to prepare a team to prepare and to serve a complex, bi-cultural menu, to keep menus up-to-date, to handle sudden turnover among team-members.

My partner, Mike, recently referred to Gonzalo as a “walking dictionary” of The Elephant Walk’s menu, the ingredients and techniques of every dish on the tip of his tongue – to be of immediate use to his cooks when they hit a roadblock, and our service staff when one of our guests has a question–which is especially important to those with allergies.

We nominated him for this award passionately and unreservedly because of the quality of his work, his commitment to getting the job done whatever it takes, and for shouldering that burden with quiet humility and grace, and with consistent excellence. He does a very difficult, critical job, and he does it quietly, behind the scenes. We are thrilled and proud that the Massachusetts Restaurant Association felt he deserved to be a finalist. Tomorrow we learn if he’s the winner to them; he is already a big winner to us!