by Dr. Iain
Corness
What
career does the younger son of a famous chef choose, especially when his
elder brother is also an award-winning chef? If you said, “chef” then
you would be ‘almost’ correct. Marcel Sawyere did indeed become a
chef, but later migrated from the ‘back of house’ to the ‘front of
house’ to become, these days, the resident manager of the Royal Wing and
Spa of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
He does not regret his decision, however, and in fact
feels that it helped him in his ‘front of house’ positions. “A good
chef is an artist,” says Marcel. “It gives you a good eye for
detail,” going on to describe ornamental trees as if they were asparagus
spears being arranged around a salmon steak!
Marcel was born in Zurich, Switzerland, but by the time
he was eight years old, the family had shifted to the UK. Chef Sawyere
Senior spent some time at the famous Gleneagles Hotel (played no golf but
did manage to shoot the occasional pheasant), but then the family bought a
small boutique ‘chalet’ hotel, where mother worked the front of house,
and young Marcel was gainfully employed in the kitchen after school. “I
was 12 years old when I started working in the kitchen. When it came time
to leave school, I just carried on (working in the kitchen)!”
An apprenticeship was called for, and he followed his
father, who was then working in the Savoy in London. He was also following
his elder brother who had done his apprenticeship in the Savoy as well.
However, after two years he transferred to another famous hotel to finish
four years of indenture at Claridges.
Now a fully fledged chef, he had another term of
indenture to go through. “I had to go to Switzerland and do my National
Service – or pay huge taxes for the rest of my life!” He paid his dues
to the Swiss military for 12 months, then worked in a famous restaurant in
Switzerland, until the family duty called again.
His brother had migrated to Australia to be the
executive chef at the Regent in Melbourne and asked Marcel to join him,
which he did for two years, but after that time, the family had even
larger plans that included Marcel as well. They opened Restaurant 41 in
Sydney, which was a spectacular success. “It won 24 best restaurant
awards in eight years,” said Marcel proudly. It was here that Marcel
began to branch out of the kitchen, taking on food and beverage duties, in
addition to the sauces and salamanders! He was also inevitably migrating
towards the front of house. “I felt happy on both sides, but I was
always going towards the front. Having grown up in a hotel environment, I
was used to the meet and greet routine.” He also admitted that these
days he enjoys the front of house much more.
He had also begun to have a fascination for Asia, and
had even spent some time in Pattaya on his vacations, becoming very
friendly with Alois X. Fassbind and Bruno Forrer, the doyens of the
Pattaya hospitality industry. Not only that, he had actually applied for
the position of chef for the Benjarong Restaurant in the Royal Wing 15
years ago, but did not get it – he was too young.
Thailand was still his goal, “It was my dream. The
attraction was the culture and the people. I’m a happy, easy-going kind
of person, so I get on well with the Thais.” It was time to leave
Restaurant 41, and his brother. I asked Marcel how did his brother take
the news, to which the answer was a curt, “He got over it!” When a
post came up in Singapore as a food and beverage manager, this was getting
him closer to Thailand, so he took it. After three years there, whilst
keeping an eye on the front of house, and an ear out for jobs in Bangkok,
he finally managed to gain employment in the kingdom in a Bangkok hotel in
the F&B side.
After two and a half years in Bangkok, he was offered a
job in Samui, as the general manager of a small resort on the island.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to run your own resort. But it’s a very
isolated island, and I’m a city sort of person.” Two years were
enough, but coincided with the Royal Cliff Beach Resort looking for a new
resident manager. “I had always wanted to work in Pattaya, especially in
the Royal Cliff,” said Marcel. He applied and got the job. At 40 years
of age, he was in the right age group this time!
I asked Marcel whether his parents were still involved
in the hospitality industry, and apparently up till very recently, both
were involved as roving critics for the Hotel Association of Europe. They
are also coming over to visit him in the near future. “Father will be
into the kitchens, and Mother will be telling me what to do with the front
of the house,” said Marcel with a laugh.
He has a most unusual hobby – walking. “Once a week
I walk to the Royal Garden Plaza and some nights I will walk to the Royal
Varuna Yacht Club.” He also listed reading as another favourite pursuit,
but his preferred reading is hospitality books. “I look for the latest
trends, equipment and movement of people.”
Marcel admits to no time plans, “I have no five year
plans. When it comes, it comes.” However, he does want to stay in
Thailand and one day (“when it comes”) would like to be the general
manager of a resort.
Other aims for the future include going to San Francisco to try the
restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf. “My grandfather spoke about it,”
was enough reason for Marcel. He would also like to visit the UK, a
country he has not visited for 19 years, exploring where he grew up, but
for now, he’s exploring Pattaya.
