People for June 2009

Diane Stefaniak is retiring from Smart Serve Ontario after 13 years as executive director.  Her retirement at the end of this month culminates a successful career of over 30 years in the hospitality industry.

“We are sad to see Diane go, but are pleased that she has agreed to stay on in a consultative role for a while,” said George Schmalz, chair of the Smart Serve Board of Directors.  “Diane played a major role in the inception and development of Smart Serve, and led it through two major revisions of its Responsible Alcohol Beverage Service Training Program in 1999 and 2009.  Certainly, her extensive background in, and understanding of, the hospitality industry played a large part in the success of Smart Serve.”

In line with measures to simplify the group’s corporate governance, and as part of his new responsibilities as Accor’s chairman and chief executive officer, Gilles Pélisson has streamlined his chain of command.

After the appointment of Jacques Stern as senior executive vice president, the various operating and corporate responsibilities in the Accor Hospitality business have been redefined. The number of large operating regions has been reduced from five to three: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

Building on his long track record of achievement in Europe and his previous North American experience, Michael Flaxman will head the new region called the Americas, combining the 1,000 Motel 6/Studio 6, the Novotel properties in the United States and Canada, as well as the hotels in Latin America.

Hotel marketing, and sales and distribution, have been combined into a single corporate department. Based on his experience in both conventional and online marketing and distribution, Jean-Luc Chrétien will be in charge of marketing and the hotel brands, in addition to distribution.

Under the new structure of Accor’s operating regions, Accor North America joins Accor Latin America, with Olivier Poirot continuing to lead North America, and Roland de Bonadona leading Latin America.  Both Poirot and Bonadona will report to Michael Flaxman under the restructured organization of Accor Americas. 

Jean-Luc Barone, general manager of The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver has announced the appointment of Michael Batke as executive chef at the hotel. Batke has served as executive chef at The Westin Calgary since 2007, working with Barone while he was GM at the hotel. Throughout his career, Batke has held various culinary positions in Alberta, North Carolina and California including serving as sous chef at the St. Regis, San Francisco, the number one rated Mobil Five Star hotel in the city.  Batke oversee the food service for the banquet facilities, Currents at Bayshore restaurant and Seawall Bar & Grill.

Robert Alldred is the new general manager of the 236-room Sheraton Ottawa hotel. Alldred brings more than 20 years of hotelier and operations expertise to the position.  He makes the move to Ottawa from the Lethbridge Lodge where he served as GM since 2006. During his time with the hotel, Alldred led the team to two Food & Beverage Contribution Awards as well as service and associate satisfaction increases. He was also instrumental in spearheading the development and implementation of a Destination Marketing Fee (DMF) for Lethbridge hotels, and was president of the Southern Alberta Destination Marketing Organization.

Alldred is a graduate of Georgian College with a three year Tourism Management Diploma. His early hospitality career took him across Canada with positions in central Ontario, Banff, Lake Louise and Lethbridge, AB. Alldred joined Hilton Hotels International where he stayed for nine years in positions ranging from revenue manager to director of business development to director of operations. He has also been a part time professor in the Tourism program at Georgian College.

Sue Brush, long-time leader of Westin Hotels & Resorts and a 30-year veteran of Westin and its parent company Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., has announced that she will retire as of December 31, 2009.  As Westin’s senior vice president and global brand leader, Brush has helped to launch a number of groundbreaking industry “firsts,” including the now iconic Heavenly Bed and the hotel industry’s most prolific hotel retail program.

“We wish Sue and her family all the very best,” said Phil McAveety, chief brand officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “With Sue’s retirement at year end, we are committed to providing continuity to the Westin brand, and we’re extremely pleased to announce that Nancy London, currently vice president of marketing for the Westin Global Brand Team, has been named Westin’s new vice president and global brand leader.”

London joined Starwood in 2001 and the Westin team in 2004. Her extensive marketing and leadership abilities coupled with her Starwood experience makes her an ideal choice to lead Westin on its evolving journey. Prior to joining Starwood, London held various marketing management positions at International Masters Publishers, Time Inc. and Doubleday Direct.

Garth Whyte has been appointed president and CEO of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA), effective June 15, 2009.  Whyte is currently Executive vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Since joining CFIB in 1986, he has held several senior positions involving government affairs, strategy development, membership and operations.  Earlier this year Whyte was identified as one of Ottawa’s top lobbyists by the parliamentary affairs journal, The Hill Times.

Whyte assumes leadership of the CRFA from outgoing resident Douglas Needham, who announced late last year that he would be departing from CRFA in June 2009, after more than 26 years as CEO.

CRFA is one of Canada’s largest business associations, with 33,000 members representing independent and chain restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and other foodservice providers. Canada’s $60-billion foodservice industry employs more than one million people in communities across the country.

Tuson leaves Sooke Harbour House

SOOKE, BC—Edward Tuson, longtime executive chef at the Sooke Harbour House, has left the hotel to open up his own restaurant in the Vancouver Island town.

The Edge started serving customers in May in downtown Sooke following Tuson’s departure from his gastronomic home for the last 12 years.

Taking over for Tuson is Sooke Harbour House sous chef Sam Benedetto.

“We have had an easy and gradual transition in our kitchen because, over the last year, Edward Tuson was increasingly replaced in the kitchen by Benedetto, and our long standing kitchen staff,” said Sooke Harbour House owner Sinclair Philip.

“He only cooked on an occasional basis here over that period. Benedetto has been functioning as co-chef for the better part of the last year and he has been in a senior position in our kitchen for several years.”

Benedetto worked with Tuson before taking a break to run the kitchen at Temple in Victoria and for an overseas stint in London, England.

Philip said the kitchen at Sooke Harbour House functions differently than most other restaurants, as the station cooks are left to independently decide what to cook.
“Our menu changes daily to reflect whatever are the best ingredients from nearby suppliers and from our certified organic gardens. Our kitchen is cooperative and we have always had a system where someone is either a co-chef or operating on an equal footing with whomever is the working chef  or co-chef at any given time,” Philip said.