Restaurant International hires manager

By Kristen Page-Angle

page0079@algonquincollege.com

In October, the School of Hospitality and Tourism held a job competition that required applicants to have both a passion for food and wine as well as plenty of restaurant experience.

Mark Tandan proved to have exactly what they were looking for. The competition for Restaurant Manager of Restaurant International had criteria that included a minimum of nine years of experience within the restaurant/ food sector, six years of managerial experience, effective leadership skills, excellent client service skills and an ability to work under pressure. Out of 12 applicants, Tandan’s long list of front of house experience in restaurants and bars demonstrated that he was the more than qualified for the job.

“My entire working career has been in restaurants, from bus boy to bartender to sommelier,” says Tandan about his recent win. Tandan is also an Algonquin College graduate, having taken the Sommelier course from 2001-2003. After graduation he spent some time working as the sommelier at Brookstreet Resort before returning to teach the Sommelier program at Algonquin in 2005.

 Now reporting to the Chair of the School of Culinary Arts, Tandan has just started to adjust to his new responsibilities, which include setting staff schedules, dealing with customer relations and managing inventory.

“You need very strong people skills but at the same time we’re looking for someone who will run a tight ship financially,” says Michel Savard, Chair of the Culinary Arts, the department responsible for running Restaurant International.

The restaurant opens its doors to the public for lunch and dinner but has the exceptional characteristics of being a hands-on learning experience for students in the Culinary Arts program.

“He also has a very good understanding of what the restaurant is all about,” say Savard in response to having chosen Tandan for the position. Both Savard and Tandan agree that the biggest challenge is recognizing that the restaurant is both a classroom as well as a viable business. According to the restaurant website it, “provides an excellent training facility for students in the School of Hospitality and Tourism at the same time as offering our guests a chance to experience fine dining at modest prices.”

As for Tandan, his fine dining experience is mostly about variety.