Demonstrations of cutting, buckling… There will be a show at the Ferrandi campus in Saint-Gratien (Val-d’Oise), this Wednesday afternoon. Students from the prestigious hotel school are organizing for the second year an open day dedicated to the arts of table service, in order to make their profession known.
Often neglected in the field of catering, in particular vis-à-vis cooking or pastry regularly highlighted in television programs, table service nevertheless has many attractions, according to these future professionals. “What image do young people have of room service? Asks Nikolay Lax, 18. They think he’s a plate carrier, like you see in big chains. But in a starred, gourmet or bistronomic restaurant, this is not the case at all”.
Room service “a little forgotten”
For the young man, the activity requires “skills because you have to remain smiling in front of a customer, even if he asks for complicated things”, explains the student in the final year of the vocational baccalaureate in commerce and restaurant service license. You have to listen and always have a positive attitude. You also have to be flawless. There is a posture to have. When I enter the room, I enter the stage. And there is the know-how and knowledge, especially at the product level. »
For the apprentice at the restaurant Le Tout-Paris, at the Hôtel du Cheval Blanc (Paris I), it is “a real passion”. “I love to talk and help people, blows this resident of Frémainville. Room service includes everything I love. And the job helped me assert myself. Before, I was very shy. Three years ago, I wouldn’t have found the words. »
And he does not understand why his job is “frowned upon”. “The profession has been suffering for a few years, he slips. But it is not emphasized enough. When there is a competition, it is the great chefs who are put forward. The room service is a bit forgotten. We need competitions like Top Chef. Everyone knows great cooks, but we don’t talk about great butlers. If the kitchen is a jewel, the art of the table is its setting. »
An opinion shared by Yann Arhan, graduate last year at Ferrandi, and now governing butler at the Fauchon hotel (Paris VIII). “The table service is a spectacle, asserts the young man (20 years old). There is an actor, showman side. He is the loyal gentleman of the ceremony. The inhabitant of Mériel also highlights “the diversity” of the profession. “Every day is a new challenge, he breathes. It’s always full of surprises and the unexpected. »
Wednesday March 29, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Campus Ferrandi, 17, boulevard Pasteur in Saint-Gratien. Mandatory registration on ferrandi-paris.com.