February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Back in the Cocktail Terrace, afternoon tea is served, and a group of Irish people gets stuck into elegant tiers of buttered scones with jam.
Usually this particular group does not have time for afternoon tea at the Waldorf, because they are too busy making the Waldorf run smoothly behind the scenes: there has been an Irish presence at the Waldorf for many a year, but none more so than today, as Garrett Ronan, himself a Limerick man and assistant food and beverage director, pointed out.
“The food and beverages team tends to attract the Paddys,” Ronan said. Before introducing his Irish colleagues, he went through some names in his head.
“There’s a couple of servers in Oscar’s,” he said, referring to one of the Waldorf’s famous restaurants, the other being the Bull and Bear. “Rita is talking about writing a book about her experiences here at the Waldorf. She’s been here the longest. And in room service, there’s James Clarke, from Cobh in Cork.
“In the management side of food and beverages,” he continued, “we are probably the largest contingent. Traditionally it was done by our French colleagues, now there’s five or six of us.”
Along with Ronan, who helps oversee the restaurants and bars at the Waldorf, there is now a sizable family of Irish at the world’s most famous hotel. As one of them puts it, whenever friends visit from Ireland, there is no need to give directions from JFK or Newark airports, other than “tell the taxi driver to take you to the Waldorf.”
While they agree that it is a privilege to work there, the talk over scones and tea is about service and dedication.
Cathy Grahame of Killeagh, Co. Cork, manages the Waldorf’s executive lounge.
“Irish culture is often one of service,” she said. “We are proud of our heritage and we take pride in all that we do.”
Her colleagues agreed, although Anton Moore, from Ballina, Co. Mayo, added that Ireland’s tourist industry is so well-established that it not surprising that so many Irish people shine in the hospitality field.
“I grew up in the hotel industry,” he said. “The Irish network both here and there in the industry is so strong.” The others agreed.
What does it take to succeed in a place like the Waldorf? The answers come quickly from the group.
For Rita Devane, it is “dedication.” For Aaron Mansworth, “professionalism,” for Cathy Grahame, “chutzpah.”
That is all well and good, but it becomes clear that just “being Irish” can help as well.
They support each other to start with. When Grahame came to the Waldorf a few years ago, she did not know anyone, “so it made sense, you ally yourself with your Irish colleagues.”
Devane, with 36 years of service, knew the value of that only too well.
“We’re very dedicated,” she said. “I can speak for all of us, because I’ve been here the longest and I’ve seen a lot of people here.” Her colleague in Oscar’s, Grace Diaz Villa, who is originally from Gweedore in Donegal, said that when she came to the U.S. a long time ago, “we never dreamed we’d make it to the Waldorf.”
Aaron Mansworth said that what helped him when he started at the Waldorf recently was the discovery that “actually there is a very strong Irish culture here.” The St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast is held at the Waldorf, for example, and the ICCUSA Celtic Ball only last week hosted President Mary McAleese.
Other Presidents have stayed at the Waldorf as well — by tradition the U.S. president of the day stays at the Waldorf’s Presidential Suite when in New York, ever since President Hoover.
Most recently, George W. Bush stayed several nights, and, though not known for his New York sympathies, he assured the staff that he “did look forward to coming back,” Ronan said, grinning.
Serving President Bush is just part of a day’s work at the Waldorf.
“There is no average day,” Grahame said. “We’re always on duty.” The staff often work six-day weeks and agree to be on call on the seventh day if needed.
“We feel like we’re surgeons,” said James Clarke, speaking from a room-service standpoint. It was the Waldorf Hotel, the one that stood on the spot where the Empire State Building was built in 1931, where the concept of room service was invented, long ago.
“We serve 1,500 rooms in the hotel. Imagine all the different scenarios and dietary needs,” he said. Breakfast, he said, was served in exactly 25 minutes. The surgeon reference is accurate — this job requires precision and timing.
Moore nodded: “There is a not a day goes by that you are not shocked, amazed, by what people achieve here.”
Moore, whose work is in sales with the Waldorf Towers, the part of the hotel that is available for permanent residents, noted that the hotel’s standards are so high that it sets a benchmark for training throughout the world.
Ronan said that hiring rules at the Waldorf required as many as eight to 10 interviews, after which if there is not “unanimous agreement among the interviewers, we will not bring the person on board.”
A measure of the Waldorf’s professionalism occurred last year. It was an event that the Irish staff speaks of proudly: the hosting of the World Economic Forum.
“When you get an inquiry like that, it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Moore said.
Often, the staff explained, an event such as that might take up to three or four years to plan and carry out effectively, given the complex security arrangements. In this case, there was as little as three to four months.
“We have the advantage that our sheer structure is so flexible,” Ronan said, “both the building and the staff. During the WEF, we had a wedding booked long before the WEF that went ahead, with 500 guests. A very high-maintenance wedding as well.”
Moore took up the story: “The family of the bride had never been told ‘no’ in their lives. And that wedding was obviously as important to us as the World Economic Forum itself. So, we all kicked in.”
The result: all WEF events were shipped out of the Waldorf for one afternoon and evening. All evidence of the WEF’s presence was expunged from the main ballroom, and replaced with the exquisite finery and trappings of a New York society wedding: as Ronan put it, “banners down, flowers and silks up.”
At 4 a.m., more than 100 workers started and by 6 a.m. the Waldorf was back in WEF mode, as if the wedding, an unforgettable night, had never happened.
In such a hectic environment, being Irish sometimes has magical powers.
“The brogue can sometimes get you out of tricky situations,” Ronan said with a twinkle in his eye. “One in 10 people seems to have a direct Irish connection, either they’re been there, or they just came back from there, or they have friends there. “It’s a great ‘get out of jail’ card.”
Said Clarke: “It’s an icebreaker.”
Grahame concurred: “We Irish people have a sense of humor that appeals to people. It puts them at ease. We promote Ireland when we are at work, just being Irish. And Ireland compliments us in return. And it’s wonderful having Irish colleagues. It can make your day that much easier.”
There is a deeper reason for the tight-knit Irish community at the Waldorf. The Waldorf still leads the world in its standard of hoteliery.
One recent example, according to Mansworth, is that the Bull and Bear restaurant started stocking Black Angus certified USDA prime beef, one of two restaurants in North America to stock what is considered some of the finest beef in the world. “The difference is unbelievable,” he said. The others agree. Somehow it feels as if it would be wrong for the Waldorf not to stock the best, as it does with its staff. As Ronan put it, “You are operating on the edge of your abilities all the time.”
And that, he said, looking around at his Irish colleagues, “requires a great support network.”