Student News: Launching the ‘Inside Scoop’
AIHM is proud to attract and foster some of the brightest young minds in the hospitality field. We enjoy a front-row seat, a look into the talents and drive of the future leaders of the hospitality industry. As AIHM’s students take the first steps of their journeys, our faculty and associates are happy to play a role in their development and hospitality education. We get to watch students put their new knowledge into practice and apply it to their own ambitions. A prime example of this sense of initiative, second-year AIHM student Andrew Rohrbach has recently launched his own website called the Inside Scoop of Hospitality. We’re already enjoying his first articles and look forward to many more to come.
The Inside Scoop of Hospitality with Mr. Andrea Accordi
I had a great opportunity to interview the Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Bangkok, Mr. Andrea Accordi, a successful Michelin Star Chef at the age of 25 years old and has been with the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts since 2007. I am honored to meet him and to be able to get into the mind and ideas behind his wonderful creation of all specialties. It was a wonderful and inspiring moment I cannot wait to share with fellow students.
Mr. Andrea Accordi is a talented Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Bangkok with an impressive track record of success in his career. He has been working with the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Company for 15 years first beginning in 2007 at the property in Prague, then to Saint-Petersburg, Hong Kong, and now in Bangkok, Thailand for the last three and a half years. Prior to that, he has rich experiences working in London, St. Moritz, and St. Tropez. He is the first chef to receive a Michelin star in Eastern Europe and was awarded the fourth-time Michelin star in his career. It is an honor to have him as our special guest in the first "Inside Scoop of Hospitality" monthly article and we can learn tremendously from his extensive experiences and positivity in his working and leading style.
Why have you chosen a career in culinary arts, particularly as a chef?
Mr. Accordi chose to pursue his career as a chef, he claims he was inspired by his family and had the desire to follow his own passion in the world of culinary arts. Since an early age, he was highly keen on the F&B line, he would always offer to help his mother with cooking chores in the kitchen. As his passion and love for food developed tremendously, he later decided to join the Catering School I.P.S.A.R Verona, Italy. During his educational years, he was very driven, and his keen interest resulted in him landing an internship in a Michelin restaurant at just 14 years of age. Within his later teen years, he shifted to London as this was the perfect destination that would foster international and cultural exposure for him to expand his knowledge and skills within this field.
“I felt big passion because of the right mentor who invested in me teaching different skills and knowledge. My passion matures throughout the years until now becoming a leader working in the luxury hospitality industry overseeing and managing a big team while creating new ideas and dishes. As an Executive Chef my passion for cooking never died, the passion, when I was a 14-year-old kid, is still in me to this day. I thank my family for seeing the passion in me since when I was a child and always supporting, motivating, never giving up on me, and pushing me to be the best version of myself” Mr. Accoordi said.
What skills does a chef require to have while working as an Executive Chef?
For Mr. Accordi the skill set that is important and required for this role is not only about experience and knowledge, but to succeed in the role, one needs to be skillful in both cooking and managing a team. Moreover, as a chef, he travels around the world in various countries experiencing new people, diverse cultures, traditions, and ingredients which helps widen his experiences. Most importantly, whenever working in new countries he always needs to prepare to work with a new team.
”As a leader, you need to understand your team member’s needs and wants, and learn their cultures, to ensure that you will be successful in coaching them, from then you know how to approach your team, support them, and mentor them to be the best version of themselves that is the key crucial skills an executive chef should have and for any other leaders as well”.
How do you describe your overall cooking philosophy?
“It is all about being authentic in what you do. I travel around the world to many countries, learning to use different products, various ingredients, and techniques and turning them into new creations, but you need to be very original in what you do that is always my line”.
Mr. Accordi added that he always respects the culture and products when creating new dishes, especially when sometimes there are more than 20 ingredients needed in a new creation, it is important to recognize each ingredient and its originality. In summary, cooking with fresh ingredients in different seasons, and respecting the products while using the suitable cooking method and techniques to announce the flavors of each ingredient in the dish is his philosophy.
Describe the team building techniques that you use to help the team members engage during a stressful situation.
With his vast experience transitioning from small to big properties and operations, Mr. Accordi recognized the evolution of his management style. He recalled the time when he managed his team in a Michelin star restaurant where he had to be tough with his small team to ensure the set standard, yet he kept his honesty and positivity towards the team.
Moving into a bigger team and operations where he has to manage about 150 team members, planning and organizing skills are key. He needs to be very well organised and that takes time, which he has to balance with other duties.
“Make your team know their roles and responsibilities, you need to know your own people and how they can be productive and happy at work because if you are happier, you enjoy your work and you are more productive. The next is that when you go home you are looking forward to coming back to work. It is not only about today’s work, but it is a career you enjoy every day. So, to be successful organising, it is how can I make my team happy working here with me, as well as be able to deliver positive vibes into their work for our guests.
How do I manage? I like to have fun working with my team, for example, today we have 500 waiting in lines for dinner, so we go into the kitchen telling funny stories, creating smiles to keep the team motivated to move on, and being fun but always ready to adjust along the way. As we know, nothing is perfect, but it is a moment when the team thinks “can I be better” and understand their mistakes. I always tell my team that we address the problems because we want to be better, it’s for the company, for the guests, and for yourself as well. One day you want to grow and to grow you will need to learn and overcome those mistakes.”
Mr. Accordi believes that working environments need to be full of energy, enthusiasm, and happiness. Sometimes stressful situations may take place but there is always an opportunity to tune the stress down and turn them into a joyful moment where the team can benefit from the learning. It’s about understanding the people and their personalities as an individual, appreciating their strengths, and mentoring their weaknesses, knowing your people is the key success factor. He added that the team is very important and sometimes when you are busy, you may forget about the people, but eventually, they are the ones who make things happen, you need a team to succeed – it is team success.
What do you think is a trend in the food and beverages section in the hospitality industry?
The trend is about creativity, the trend can be noticed when somebody creates something in the industry, either a beverage or food, and then someone follows and copies it. For example, the European trend is now more on gastronomy which depends on the chef’s creativity to come up with a great and strong concept.
Nowadays, there is a lot of stuff in the market, from everywhere, the question is how to be unique in the market to deliver an experience one cannot find elsewhere, but with you. With such a mindset, it is important to understand customers’ needs and wants, and to create unique products and services that satisfy the customers – that is how the trend starts. There is a lot of study within the market behind the creation of a unique dish that customers want to come and taste, and consistency is the key. Mr. Accordi added that customers can experience the restaurants and bars at the Four Seasons Bangkok and that the hotel has its own strong concept itself that customers are looking for.
“My answer is that the trend is to wow the guests. It is your creativity to design an emotional connection with the guest by creating a unique experience that is remarkable and unforgettable. Once we can offer such experience, people may not expect that they will remember it forever, but they will and want to share their experience with others”
How do you control the quality and consistency of dishes to ensure customers' satisfaction?
To control the quality and consistency of the dishes for customers’ satisfaction, the standard is important and needs to be strengthened. Cooking standards and presentation are always part of the work. Chefs train their teams on such standards and need to perform a daily checkup to ensure that the standards are followed and strictly adhered to. This is the most important step to create consistency.
“The standard is a big element because people tend to hurry and sometimes decide to take the short cut and that is the gap where the standard is dropped. Chefs need to make sure this does not take place”.
The interview I had with Executive Chef Andrea Accordi may end in an hour, but the impression I have will last forever. He is now my role model, a true example of a talented chef, an amazing leader, and an amicable individual you feel grateful to have an opportunity to get to know.
Dreaming of a career as a hospitality leader?
Learn about the Bachelor of Business Administration in Global Hospitality Management at AIHM.
