Team WORK @ The Peninsula Manila Hotel

Agnes Ramos, a career worth watching (front and centre crouching) and the rest of the dedicated talented Pastry and Bakery team of the Peninsula Manila Hotel, with their true leader Annalyn Solano, the talented Senior Sous Chef that keeps us all in line.

I have been fortunate to have been involved with some amazing teams during my 30 plus years of cooking in pastry.
Each team has it's own dynamic, its superstars, its performers, its hidden gems and those who are "works in progress".
From Australia, to Singapore, London, Bahrain and on cruise ships I have had permanent teams, while during consultancy and franchising, I have had temporary teams in dozens more countries.
At the Peninsula Manila Hotel I have the privilege to work with an amazing team every single day.
We work a combined 24 hours a day, in multiple areas over four specific shifts, night bakery, day bakery and afternoon bakery, PM shift Pastry, morning pastry and chocolate room.
From all of this we provide delicious pastries, cakes, baked goods and chocolates for every outlet within the hotel and also the occasional outside catering.

When i joined just under a year ago, my biggest challenge apart from learning everyone's name, nickname and function, was to boost sales in our PEN BOUTIQUE, the star pastry and cake venue for sweet lovers where folks can buy and eat in with coffee, or buy and take home.

In less than a year we have achieved great things. Budgets met and exceeded much of this success has been the work of the entire team. Pen Boutique is where we sell all our chocolates by our dedicated Chocolate room staff, it is also the pride of place for our baked goods by the Night Bakers (a blog due on these guys soon) and of course our pastries and cakes.

While retaining and improving 2 all time stars of the pastry range which have always sold exceptionally, we reconsidered the offerings completely and added to the daily line up.
Thankfully we have until now been allowed incredible freedom to pick and choose what does and does not work. We have worked hard too to conceptualize what the local market might like.
In this endeavor though I was not alone but assisted by my amazing Senior Sous Chef Annalyn Solano and  by pint sized superstar of the future, pastry cook Agnes Ramos.
Having worked in France and schooled in patisserie Agnes understood what was needed to enliven the PEN Boutique and assisted me in delivering a new range which has sold better than we could have hoped.
Sadly, time comes for great teams to separate and careers emboldened with new brands and new positions, and thus Agnes must move forward.
Agnes Ramos is a star of the future, so look out for her cookbook one day and her pastry shop soon thereafter.
All young chefs NEED to move on to gain experience and I thank her for allowing me 8 months to learn from her.
The attached photos show the teams love for this important individual and we will all miss her work, her aptitude, her drive and her creativity.

And while one star moves forward another finds its place. Our team has many stars of the future. The Peninsula Manila is a breeding ground for those who have talent and wish to show it. Ill feature each one over time in their own blog posting.

I have a very laid back attitude to managing a team. I love to find an individuals strengths and allow them to use it.
On Holland America Line years ago, my Filipino crew lacked creativity and artistry during one cruise and I stated such to one of the team. They intern told me to look deeper at the background of the "ice-cream" man. "Poppsy" or Federico as he was named, had been relegated to scooping ice-cream during a shortage of staff many contracts earlier. With him in the section there where no problems or complaints, and he had been left there for years and contracts and no one ever asked of his talent ever again, assuming he was merely the "ice cream" guy. Seeking a pastry artists I got to talk to "poppy" and he showed me some of his paste irks in photos. This was one truly talented professional wasting his days scooping ice-cream. From that day forward Federico joined us in the pastry kitchen and created amazing pieces of art for all of my future buffets and presentations and from that time forward i allowed every chef under me to prove their talent and be left to run with it. I don't demand people work in particular areas but as long as staffing permits, allow people to find their own freedom and creative outlet.
Others have called this offering one enough rope to hang themselves, but that abides only for those few who fault to see the opportunity of freedom to create and learn at their desire speed.
I don't always dictate what must be made, I offer bits and bites of information and wait for team members to build upon it. I am they trainer, back up and manager. I read the emails, absorb the problems and decide what they need to know and how much the need to be told. Pastry is an artistic venue and you can't bog artists down with distractions.
I was allowed a lot of freedom in my youth and I appreciated this. If I dictate what must always be made, then staff feel boxed in and bored quickly. Artists need their freedom, just guided at times.
Allowing freedom to create they can do what they like, mentored and offered great recipes and then worked upon to see if something sells or does not.
Should the product not eventuate then I step in and offer the answer, but today with YOUTUBE, Facebook and Instagram there are multiple online avenues for my crew to self learn and advance themselves. a little self advancement makes me wish to assist them more too.

As Agnes Ramos moves forward with her career, we wish her well and look forward to what her career brings forth.
And of course coming soon, new superstars of the Peninsula Manila Hotel will emerge and the desserts, pastries, chocolates and baked goods will still keep rolling out at the Peninsula Boutique and all our other outlets.
Come and dine with us soon and tell us what you think of our delicious offerings.

The unfair photo ; Agnes requesting a moment before photos began...

Our great team.
(Ernesto, Agnes, Ryan,Ethel,Adonis, Annalyn, Ronel, Aries, Alex, Elmer, Agnes, Lawrence, Djoza, Katherine)