The Heart of Hospitality: Building an Effective Team

I was very lucky to have been born into the business that I love; my father was my first mentor in the industry, and still, to this day, I reach out for guidance and support. Our love of hospitality came from my Abuelita Lidia, my dad’s mom.?

Our story starts in Quito, Ecuador, South America. Nestled in the foothills of the Andes mountains, a town built on the foundation of an ancient Incan city. My Abuelita was a proud mother of four, a graduate in the culinary arts and known for her exquisite knitting of baby clothes for the newly pregnant mothers in the neighborhood. She would pick up jobs around the city including: local baptisms,? weddings, and even cooking for the ministry of defense. She would often employ her kids to help chop, mix, shred and peel to create unbelievable family style meals for dozens of people out of her small kitchen.?

However, as most third-world countries go, the economy wasn’t strong.? She knew that the best opportunities in life for her children would come by moving to the United States.? Their first residence was a four-story walk-up in Astoria, Queens, in the early ’70s; this is where my Father’s American story began.? The New York chapter is a much longer story—I may get back to that someday—but by the mid ’80s, both sides of my family had settled in Houston.?

Although my father’s work took us all around the country, I would spend every summer in Houston at my Abuelita’s home. I would often wake up to the clatter of pans in the morning hearing her sing her favorite limerick: “Bueno, bueno bueno… bueno, bueno bueno”. Her fame for cooking the best meals in the family still lived on; I was always in awe of the huge family dinners she would pull off almost daily. Tíos and tías, along with close family friends, would come from all over Houston to eat Abuelita’s food and then slip a few dollars into her hand to take lunch for the next day. Later in life, during my time in college, I even ended up living on her couch for a few semesters—that too is an epic story that we’ll skip today—but even all the way into her late 80’s she was the Queen of the kitchen; I still dream about her food.

It was due to this love of food and hospitality that my father developed a similar zeal for the food and beverage industry, and it was both of them who inspired my own passion. Thanks to my father’s relentless pursuit of excellence, and my mother’s unwavering support of his dreams, he became one of the industry’s most formidable executives, making the cover of industry magazines, running international cooking competitions, and even being memorialized in a sociology textbook for 11th grade students in thousands of schools across America as the subject matter of the rise to success of an immigrant in this country through the support of family and his strong will to reach the American dream. ?

It’s because of my father’s work that I was given the rare privilege of dining at some of the best restaurants in the world before I even made it to university. These experiences built a solid foundation of attention to detail and luxury service in my career.?

In this article, I want to focus on two experiences I had at the legendary Chef Thomas Keller’s restaurants, The French Laundry and Per Se. It was my 18th birthday, and my wish was to go to Napa Valley. That trip turned out to be one of the most memorable of my life, but the night at The French Laundry is where I witnessed how leadership can move a team to excellence. During our tour of the kitchen, Chef Keller was working with his team with the kind of precision and dedication that defines his reputation. For those of you who know me, silence is not my forte, but there I stood quietly, watching him lead his brigade.

The team worked seamlessly, not just because of technical skill, but through a united front in their shared mission to deliver excellence at every moment. When we sat down at our table, that same sense of commitment and teamwork shined through in every aspect of the service. After dinner, the team surprised me with the handwritten menu, pictured on this post, of every course written and signed by the Chef. This elegant, simple gesture spoke volumes about their culture.

Leadership wasn’t about overseeing every step; it was about creating an environment where the team felt trusted and valued. Even without being physically present for every action, Chef Keller’s influence was evident in every dish that left the pass, every smile from the staff, and every detail that made my birthday unforgettable.

Years later, I visited Per Se in New York. Chef Keller wasn’t in the kitchen that day, which shook my expectations at the start of the meal, but the experience was just as spectacular. The precision, warmth, and diligence were on par with what I had experienced in Napa. The team’s seamless coordination and commitment to excellence further demonstrated how Chef Keller’s influence had become woven into their culture, making excellence the baseline—not the exception.

This is the inspiration we need to bring into our every day: creating an environment where your team feels capable of greatness. Leadership isn’t merely a title or position - that’s why we have words like “managers” and “directors” which merely define the expectations of employment. Instead, leadership is an abstract construct - an opportunity to share your experiences, offer support, and empower your team to grow and succeed, with the hope that they, in turn, will take the baton and pass that knowledge on to the next generation of leaders.?

My understanding of leadership has evolved over the years. When I first started working full-time in a hotel, my focus was simple: check the boxes, meet expectations, and do it well enough to earn a bump in title and salary. Over time, though, I realized that true excellence in hospitality isn’t about hitting personal goals or climbing the ladder - that’s just a positive side effect.?

When you focus on building a culture of trust, respect, and empowerment, you create an environment where excellence becomes the standard. In hospitality, it’s all about the details, but the most important detail of all is the people who make it happen every day.

On my way out of The French Laundry, we bought a copy of his famous first cookbook. Inside, Chef Keller states, “A great leader is not just one who gives orders, but one who inspires others with passion for the work they do”. By investing in your team, you’re investing in the future leaders of the industry. When each individual feels valued and empowered, that’s when the magic happens. That’s when you move the guest experience from underwhelming to unforgettable.