Post-lockdown, an a la carte menu replaced the popular breakfast buffet at Ashford Castle, but the food and beverage staff came up with a new amenity that got guests talking.
Enter the juice sommelier. After guests sit down, a credentialed sommelier wheels an elegant trolley to the table and offers them juice and Champagne to go along with their a la carte breakfast.
“Breakfast is an essential operation in every hotel, and we didn’t want to just take something away,” said Chris Murphy, F&B director of the historic castle resort in County Mayo, Ireland. “Some of our guests have been repeat guests for a number of years, and we didn’t just want to take away the buffet. We wanted to give them an added value.”
Contributed by Jeanette Hurt
In the past, on the breakfast buffet, guests had a choice of two juices, but the trolley has four, including a green blend, orange juice and a smoothie of the day, along with a selection of Champagnes. The trolley is the same one used for dinners at the castle’s George V Dining Room. “We’re a very serious hotel, but we like to have fun as well,” Murphy said. “In the evenings, we have a trolley with Champagne, and someone suggested, well, why can’t we do that for breakfast as well?”
The idea, he said, evolved from a staff discussion. “It’s about being very transparent with the team, and it’s also about involving the team and by listening to them,” Murphy said. “We get great ideas from our team because they are the ones who are on the floor. A combination of us thought, ‘How can you give someone orange juice but do it in a better way?’”
The discussion continued, and another team member suggested serving Champagne for breakfast the way they serve it during dinners, and thus the juice sommelier was christened. “It’s not necessarily about the quality of the juice,” Murphy says. “It’s about the interaction. He’s not just a waiter – he’s an actual sommelier, and he goes through the juices, and then he goes through the Champagnes. It’s been a story for them to talk about over breakfast.”
The juice sommelier and his trolley has proved quite popular. “We’ve had some guests say that will be the one thing that they most remember from their stay, and all we’ve done is give them orange juice. But it’s become an experience.”
The juice sommelier – and the a la carte breakfast menu – is also reducing waste in the hotel. “Serving the breakfast a la carte has really reduced our food waste in that area,” says Ailish Keane, purchasing manager and chair for sustainability at Ashford Castle. “If someone comes down to the breakfast buffet five minutes before closing, you don’t want to see two sausages left – you always want a buffet to look generous. But if we cook only for those few people, instead of having food sitting there, we’ve reduced waste.”