That certain smile

HIS full name is Geev Andre Bahrampoori and he’s the guy, with a smile that reaches up to his eyes, who may ask you at Radisson Blu’s Feria how the food is.

As Radisson Blu’s food and beverage manager, he gently explains that he is in charge of the food and beverage of the hotel, for all its food outlets and events. The job, he says, requires a lot of experience in operations, on market knowledge, in organizing a team while staying focused on quality and hygiene.

A Swiss national, Geev’s mother is Swiss and his father, Persian. He finished hotel and restaurant management in Switzerland and worked in Europe before coming to Asia.

He worked four years in Thailand, with Amari Coral Beach Resort in Phuket, and with the Pattaya Marriot Resort and Spa. Then he moved forward as part of the opening team at the Courtyard by Marriott in Bali, Indonesia.

The guy with that certain smile first came to the Philippines on a holiday in Boracay and fell in love with the place: He can’t quite get over the experience of stepping on the cool Boracay sand under a hot noonday sun. Since then, he has been in touch with this country, and he is happy to have this opportunity to work with Carlton Hotel’s Radisson Blu in Cebu.

He says the most important thing about working in different countries is to learn new cultures. He finds Cebu modern but not a very large city; and religion-wise, more like Europe than America. He is also making an effort to learn the language and now knows a bit of Cebuano.

As a company, he says Radisson is new and is still in the growing process in this
country.

“To establish operations, we have evaluated our goals and we are here to give our guests the experience of the culture of Radisson Blu, the first in the Philippines.

I have been four months here, and we already started Sunday brunch. Now we have a Chinese chef. All these elements are important. We are not changing the food. Executive chef Marco Amarone will continue with what he has been doing with some fine-tuning. Our focus on Chinese cuisine is for Chinese banquets, the lauriat.”

Radisson Blu is the first in Asia and, he continues, “It is therefore important for this property to reach the level of sophistication Radisson Blu stands for.

I want a really strong team and we have given them trainings to excel in their jobs.

We are in a very competitive industry. We have our own identity and we continue to follow our goal to reach our target market.”

Geev has been very busy at work and not able to do what he would want for relaxation, to go island-hopping, to go swimming, to go out of the city on a motorbike. He does go to the gym. “We are very active and we need a good balance between work and relaxation. We need good energy.”

He says he is happy to work in Cebu with warm-hearted people. Cebu is surely happy, too, to have such a warm, smiling personality in the local hotel industry.