MIC2-1 0:11

Hello everybody and welcome. You are listening to The Restaurant Guys. I'm Mark Pascal and I'm here with Francis Schott. Together we own Stage Left and Cathal Lombardi restaurants in New Brunswick, New Jersey. We're here to bring you the inside track on food, wine, and the finer things in life.

MIC1-2 0:25

Hello there, Mark.

MIC2-1 0:26

Francis, how are you?

MIC1-2 0:27

I'm great. I'm excited for our guest today. Our guest today manages one of the best hotels in the world, the Jerome Hotel, uh, in Aspen, Colorado. we We recorded a bunch of stuff down there for people from the Food and Wine Festival, but we actually sat down,

MIC2-1 0:41

In the Hotel Jerome in one of their three-bedroom suites and recorded a, a great show with Stefan

MIC1-2 0:47

what's interesting is the group that he worked for, the Auberge Collection, it's a s- it's a small collection. Well, it's not, it's not a big hotel chain. Mm-hmm. They have a lot of hotels, some of the best hotels in the world, but they're all about running properties that are either historic

MIC2-1 1:01

Each of them are, are, are a boutique hotel. The first one was, in Napa, California. that's where this group sprung up from. And, uh, and I remember early in our years of running the restaurant, people talking about, Auberge du Soleil in Napa and what a special place it was, and it was just a, just a retreat kind of from everything, right? Yeah, yeah. that's kind of the philosophy of this group. Anyway, so it's-

MIC1-2 1:24

Anyway, so it's gonna be interesting to talk to him about how you run an organization like that. and plus he, he wound up being a super charming guy and very gracious, and,

MIC2-1 1:31

Not surprisingly

MIC1-2 1:32

ton of fun. Um, but we went, without him, we went to I think what was clearly far and away the best cocktail bar in Aspen, at the

MIC2-1 1:42

There, there's, we went to a bunch of them obviously. That's what Francis and I like to do is, cocktail bar hop. Bad Harriet is a speakeasy, a true speakeasy. You know, walk into a jewelry store, open the wall and go into the bar, uh, downstairs. Really, really special place with a really, special group of people running it

MIC1-2 2:02

it. Yeah, it's funny. We, we, we went there on Sunday night, which was the quiet night, and, uh, they told us we were glad we did that because-

MIC2-1 2:08

Mm-hmm And, uh, they told us we were glad we

MIC1-2 2:09

But the cocktails were great, the people were great, and the room is elegant and beautiful. The Jerome Hotel's a place I recommend overall. But if even if you're not staying at the Ro- Jerome, Bad Harriet's a pretty cool

MIC2-1 2:18

Yeah, it was really great. And y- you always know a place is great, there's one product, Francis, when you see it on the back bar, you know you're in a great place.

MIC1-2 2:27

curious to what you're gonna say.

MIC2-1 2:28

say. I'm gonna say Hans Reisetbauer Carat Eau de Vie

MIC1-2 2:31

de Vie. That's right. We had a cocktail w- and it said Carrot Eau de Vie, and, uh, Carrot Eau de Vie is, um, Carrot Eau de Vie is brandy made from fruit. Not flavored with fruit, but made from fruit. And then this guy, Hans Reisetbauer, who's a friend of ours, um, pioneered making eau de vie out of carrots, which is v- impossible because carrots don't have a lot of moisture anyway. Uh, when it had the Carrot Eau de Vie, we knew it was his, and then we asked them if, if it was Hans Reisetbauer, and they brought the bottle over, and then we took a picture, and we sent it to Hans, and he texted us back, and-

MIC2-1 3:00

It's, it's just a, it's a very expensive, product that if you don't know, you don't know. And when you see it, it's, you know that someone's paying attention. The moment you see some- that product, you know that someone's paying

MIC1-2 3:12

That's really great. All right, listen, we're gonna come back in just a moment. On the other side, we'll have a wonderful conversation with Stéphane Lacroix, a hotelier of small boutique hotels, and it was a really fascinating conversation, so stick with us. You can always find out more about us at RestaurantGuysPodcast.com.

MIC1-1 3:27

Hey there, everybody. We are starting off our Aspen Food Wine Classic adventure at the Jerome Hotel because, well, where the hell else would you start off your Aspen Food Wine adventure than at the Hotel Jerome? Uh, Stephane Lacroix is the general manager of the Hotel Jerome here in Aspen. Conde Nast says it's one of the 20 best hotels in the world. It holds a Michelin key. It's on the National Register of Historic Places, and it's awesome. Uh, Stephane took over about a year ago, a little more than a year ago, and he comes to Aspen from a, a long career. We wanted to talk to him,

Speaker 4 3:58

partially

MIC1-1 3:59

because of the pedigree he brings to this place and the waves you're making here. The Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, the Ritz in Paris, the Ritz in San Francisco, the Bellagio in Vegas, the Bel-Air, the Baccarat in New York City, and wow. So we're here to talk about hospitality with you at one of the most historic hotels in

MIC2 4:15

Amazing. Well, Good morning. Good morning. Yeah. Welcome to Aspen and welcome to

Speaker 7 4:18

The Jerome. Great to have you.

Speaker 4 4:19

Well,

MIC1-1 4:20

you're welcome. Super,

MIC2 4:21

super, super fun weekend ahead. and actually super, super fun season ahead. When I hear the little background that you

Speaker 7 4:27

just

MIC2 4:28

mentioned and shared with the audience here,

Speaker 7 4:30

uh, I should essentially retire. it sounds

MIC2 4:33

it sounds like I've been in it

Speaker 7 4:34

for a little-

Speaker 4 4:35

oh oh

MIC2 4:35

a mi- for a minute. Oh,

MIC1-1 4:36

on a second. we're here till Monday. You can't

MIC2 4:38

retire till Tuesday. All right. All right.

Speaker 4 4:38

Tuesday. All right. All right, all right, all right,

MIC1-1 4:39

at the earliest.

Speaker 4 4:40

I'll work the

MIC1-1 4:41

You're responsible for our whole weekend. Well, you know,

MIC2 4:43

Well, you know, I would say I've been in the US now 32 years. I came here in

Speaker 7 4:48

1994. At the

MIC2 4:48

time, I'd been very fortunate to, you know,

Speaker 7 4:51

go through

MIC2 4:51

a hotel school, hospitality school, four years, then two years of sommelier school, which is when the fun

Speaker 7 4:56

begins. And

MIC2 4:57

And I was fortunate at the time, and maybe still now, those amazing hospitality school, you

Speaker 7 5:02

know,

MIC2 5:03

get you into those amazing restaurants. So working with Roger Vergé at the Moulin Mougin back in

Speaker 7 5:08

1988. Two weeks later, Alain Ducasse, Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Hotel de Paris. At the time

MIC2 5:13

in France, you had no choice, but you had to go through your military service one year. Okay. And I spent two, my first two months, uh, near the German border, very close to Nancy and, Nancy and Metz. See, I'm taking

Speaker 7 5:26

the English accent.

MIC2 5:27

Nancy and Metz. Um- and then I was for 10 months in Paris. Not a bad, place to be.

MIC1-1 5:32

Yeah, I've heard it's a, uh, it's a nice little town, that Paris. Yeah. Got a few nice restaurants there. So,

MIC2 5:36

Paris was so fun because it was military service, but was really working at what they called at The time, the Cercle National des Armées, which is all- where

Speaker 7 5:44

all-

MIC2 5:45

The global armies, armies from around the world

Speaker 7 5:49

but, you know, the top

MIC2 5:50

the generals, would stay and dine and meet. It was, um, in the eighth arrondissement near Place Saint-Augustin, and you worked

Speaker 7 5:59

eight hours, maybe even less, I think- In,

MIC1-1 6:01

in a kitchen? In a,

MIC2 6:01

less. No,

Speaker 7 6:02

front of the house.

MIC1-1 6:02

Front of the

Speaker 7 6:03

a maitre d' type of-

MIC1-1 6:04

the military? Yeah, in military. That's the job I want. in the military? Right? Yeah, Carrying a gun on the front line

MIC2 6:09

Forget about this. Yeah. No, no, no. no. I'll take care of the militaries

Speaker 7 6:12

no. I take care of the militaries safely. Uh,

MIC2 6:13

but what it did for us, it allowed for us to have time to also pick up shifts. So worked at the Ritz Place Vendôme back in 1991 for about a year on call, and that was, you know, the Ritz bar, the Ritz club, and it was just an amazing

Speaker 7 6:26

experience, a lot of fun.

Speaker 4 6:28

Yeah.

Speaker 7 6:28

And

MIC2 6:28

I was meant to, uh, when I was done, go back to Chef Alain Ducasse team in Monte Carlo, and I said, "You know, I love to speak English

Speaker 7 6:36

fluently." I still don't, but-

MIC2 6:39

said, And I and I, don't feel like, and I don't feel like going to England. He's like, You know what, Stéphane?" One of my best friend, Jean-Louis Palladin.

Speaker 7 6:44

have

MIC2 6:45

the same accent, those two. And we see... we used to see Jean-Louis actually come to Monte Carlo quite a bit for events or just fun. Sure. And I ended up at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC back in 1994. Wow. ......And was there

Speaker 7 6:55

there for 18

MIC2 6:56

18 months.

Speaker 4 6:57

Fun time. Wonderful place to be. Fun time. And that's what brought

MIC1-1 6:59

you to the United States, was

Speaker 4 7:00

going to the Watergate?

Speaker 7 7:01

I never looked back pretty much. Yeah.

MIC2 7:02

you know, I got my J-1 visa. I got here. I spent a year and a half. I lived on George Washington campus,

Speaker 7 7:09

two blocks away from the Watergate, so easy in, easy out,

MIC2 7:12

no commute. On campus, fun time. Welcome to the US. Yeah. And

Speaker 7 7:17

I just never went back. I, you know, met a girl- Ah, these things happen and then the

MIC2 7:21

rest is

Speaker 7 7:21

history.

MIC3 7:21

these things do happen, for

Speaker 7 7:23

sure.

MIC2 7:23

how You learn the language.

Speaker 7 7:24

Now

Speaker 4 7:24

an American girl?

MIC2 7:25

Yeah. an American

Speaker 7 7:26

girl. Oh, that was her. Yeah. Initially.

Speaker 4 7:28

Oh,

Speaker 7 7:28

that's great.

MIC2 7:28

that's cool. An American girl. We were together for a while, and, um, I think- She did not quite understand that hospitality is actually a career. Yeah. Because as she went through her, you know, university, college, she picked up shift. That was to meet people and

Speaker 7 7:42

have fun, and make some money, but have fun. Mm-hmm,

Speaker 4 7:44

sure.

MIC2 7:44

she assumed my career was just fun every

Speaker 7 7:46

day.

Speaker 4 7:47

Right.

MIC2 7:47

Weekends, holidays, Valentine's Day working, and so, well, we were together

Speaker 7 7:51

for five years-

MIC2 7:52

Yeah. It was fantastic. We had fun, and she was like, "Okay, Nice to- Yeah. And, uh- nice

Speaker 7 7:56

to meet you." Yeah, "Nice to meet you." Well, in fa-

Speaker 4 7:56

Yeah in

MIC2 7:57

accept that a lot

Speaker 4 7:58

...of people say, "I don't want this life."

Speaker 5 8:00

Yeah. 100%. People have to... People

MIC3 8:01

do, in this business, when you immerse yourself in this business, right? And there's a faction ...of us who immerse ourself in this business, and when you do that, the person you're with has to either be immersed in it with you or understand that this is a lifestyle.

MIC2 8:17

It's a

Speaker 7 8:17

commitment- Yeah. of time, and You can't fight it, I

MIC2 8:21

guess, right? And then I, you know, a few years later, I met Estelle. Uh, we've been married now for 21 years. I should know that, right?

Speaker 4 8:29

You

Speaker 7 8:29

better. 2005,

MIC2 8:30

right? October 9. 21 years.

Speaker 7 8:33

And,

MIC2 8:33

uh, well, she was

Speaker 7 8:34

in the hospitality industry. Yeah. And, uh,

MIC2 8:36

she is somewhat still in the hospitality industry, but now she does consulting. Yeah. And so she understand. She never ask, "Hey, what time are you going in? What time are you leaving?" And

Speaker 7 8:44

just knows. She just knows. She's Swiss.

MIC3 8:45

She just knows. And she's- My my wife my wife asks- She does? Yeah. but, but She knows it's a lie.

Speaker 5 8:49

Yeah. Right? But,

MIC3 8:50

But, it's not a lie to her. Yeah. It's the lie I'm telling myself.

Speaker 4 8:53

yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 8:54

Right? Yeah, yeah.

MIC3 8:54

That's, not a... Is that truly a lie when it's, when you're lying to

Speaker 5 8:57

yourself? Can I, can I

Speaker 4 8:57

say, I'm not married, I'm single. but I'm here in, uh, Aspen, Colorado for the next few days. I'm just, it's-

MIC1-1 9:02

putting out advertisement out there.

Speaker 4 9:04

Uh, available. uh, no, but one of the things when I... I have had a couple of long-term relationships, and one of the things that Mark came up with that I think probably was great for your relationship, from what I understand, and certainly made me feel better about myself was, our office is in the basement. We have two, sto- two stories of restaurants, two 125-seat restaurants. Mm-hmm. And we'd be in

MIC1-1 9:24

our office

Speaker 4 9:25

'cause of course you stick your office in the non-revenue generating spot, you know. Right. We're next to the furnace, right?

Speaker 5 9:29

Right.

MIC3 9:30

in the deepest, darkest hole

Speaker 5 9:31

you can find- Right, Right, ...where

MIC3 9:32

where you would never want a

Speaker 5 9:33

customer. Right, right.

Speaker 4 9:33

Right. No one would want to sit there anyway. And we used to say, "Okay, honey, yeah, I'm, I'm on my way home. I'm

MIC1-1 9:39

leaving now,"

Speaker 4 9:40

And, you start, and you walk out of your office, and you walk up the stairs- Oh and the busboy runs into you And, says they need something there, and then the person from the wine shop runs into you, and then the bartender needs your attention, and the sous chef needs to tell you something, and then the pump broke, and then the air conditioning's not working, and you go home three hours later. You're like, "I said you were leaving right now," and you're like, "I thought I was leaving Mark's rule, I call from the car.

Speaker 7 10:02

That's What I do.

Speaker 5 10:02

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7 10:03

Mark and I are the same. I have left.

MIC2 10:04

do not send a text

Speaker 7 10:05

with an ETA until I'm actually driving.

Speaker 5 10:07

Well,

MIC3 10:08

Mac and I have the same rule. That was cellphone. I have not-- I do not send a text with an ETA until I'm actually driving. Well, back then,

Speaker 7 10:08

Yeah

MIC3 10:09

Jennifer used to s- used to ask, "What phone are you calling me from?" Because if I was at the host

Speaker 5 10:16

phone That's why, you're almost out. You're almost out. by the front door- You're almost out.

MIC2 10:17

you're almost

Speaker 5 10:18

close. Doesn't

MIC3 10:18

not you're close. Doesn't mean you're out. You're not out. yet.

MIC2 10:20

just never know. And I, and I really believe it's whether- ...it's the gas, whether it's

Speaker 7 10:25

the pipes, whether Mm-hmm ...it's the hood, whether... Right? To me,

MIC2 10:28

one of the biggest lesson in leadership is your leaders, your team members, when they see you at time, they will wanna ask you a

Speaker 7 10:36

question.

Speaker 4 10:36

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7 10:37

You

MIC2 10:37

no once because you're on the way out. You say no twice because you're

Speaker 7 10:40

busy.

MIC2 10:41

There won't be

Speaker 7 10:42

third. Mm-hmm. Correct. Mm-hmm. They will not

MIC2 10:43

ask you again. Right.

Speaker 7 10:44

Correct. They just assume you're just don't

MIC2 10:46

talk to them. Right. And so

Speaker 7 10:47

one of my,

MIC2 10:49

I dunno if it's a pet peeve, but with leadership is

Speaker 7 10:51

even

MIC2 10:51

if I'm on the

Speaker 7 10:52

way out

MIC2 10:52

and someone needs to talk

Speaker 7 10:53

to me-

Speaker 5 10:53

You have

Speaker 7 10:54

to be available I make the time.

MIC3 10:54

You have to deal with it

Speaker 7 10:55

So- And

MIC2 10:56

that's why I won't text ETA until I'm actually in the car, and the car is actually moving. and

MIC1-1 10:59

yeah, exactly.

MIC2 11:00

Yeah. ...I'm already down

Speaker 7 11:01

with it. Like, cause if, you look in your rear view mirror, they'll be chasing you. If I don't go.

MIC3 11:04

I will. say older me will occasionally now say, "I can't talk to you right now, but

Speaker 5 11:12

be here tomorrow at 2:30

Speaker 7 11:14

Mm

MIC3 11:15

and I, I'll schedule you a, a moment to speak with me at that time and we'll talk about

MIC2 11:19

But don't you feel, Mark, I mean, for me at least,

Speaker 7 11:22

least,

MIC2 11:22

day I get here very early. I get here at 7:15 in the morning. And I get the day going, and I

Speaker 7 11:26

go around the property, the

MIC2 11:28

drive, the courtyard, you name it, saying hi

Speaker 7 11:30

to the team,

MIC2 11:31

kitchen,

Speaker 7 11:31

stewarding.

MIC2 11:33

I know what my day's gonna look like when I come in at 7:15. By 8:30, It's already a new day.

MIC1-1 11:38

Mm.

MIC2 11:39

day already. Yeah. It's like you have either calls or meetings- or guests you need to

Speaker 7 11:42

follow up with or catch up broadcast, who knows, right? And so it's your day is

MIC2 11:49

not your

Speaker 7 11:50

day anymore- Mm very quickly. Yep. Very,

Speaker 4 11:52

very

MIC2 11:52

Yeah early, early in, I feel. Yeah.

Speaker 4 11:53

Well, I wanna t- I want to talk about this hotel because our listeners may not be familiar with it- Oh, yeah how extraordinary and, and historic it is. Right, Right, Um, and I wanna talk about your philosophy of hospitality. Cause you have this, and we'll talk about this in a second, your career is generally going to some

MIC1-1 12:08

of

Speaker 4 12:08

world's best places- Right and they hire you to make them better. That's a pretty good- It's fun place in, the industry to be. Yeah. But I wanna talk about this hotel, and I wanna let Mark start

MIC1-1 12:18

off talking about an experience at this

Speaker 4 12:19

hotel

MIC1-1 12:20

many years ago

Speaker 4 12:21

to

MIC1-1 12:21

kinda give

Speaker 4 12:22

people

MIC1-1 12:22

an idea of

Speaker 4 12:23

the long-standing

MIC1-1 12:24

hospitality of this place.

MIC3 12:26

hospitality of this place. So we're booking Aspen, Julie's our director of operations- And she says, I have to tell you a story about the hotel Jerome, and we've gotta make this part of our trip because it's one of the most important hospitality stories of my life." Julie says, I was seven years old. It's 29 years ago." And she tells me this story.

Speaker 5 12:49

So

MIC3 12:50

don't know, uh, most people have seen The show The Bear, And in The second season of the Bear,"

Speaker 5 12:55

Richie

MIC3 12:56

overhears somebody say that they're in Chicago, but they're not gonna have enough time to, have deep dish pizza,

MIC2 13:02

Mm-hmm.

MIC3 13:02

So Richie sends somebody to get the most famous deep dish pizza in all of Chicago, and they bring it back to the kitchen, and the chef makes it absolutely beautiful. And they bring it out, and they present this family as a mid-course, the deep dish pizza, And they show off the deep dish pizza to the people, and they're all excited, and, "Oh, it's this wonderful... What a gesture."

Speaker 5 13:24

And the

MIC3 13:24

restaurant's has gone to this extraordinary effort to make these people feel like they didn't miss- an experience.

Speaker 5 13:31

Yeah.

MIC2 13:31

Memorable moment. Yeah.

Speaker 5 13:32

So

MIC3 13:33

is seven years old.

Speaker 5 13:35

Her cousin

MIC3 13:38

is a persnickety eater, And he's complaining that all he wants is McDonald's, and they're taking him to this fancy restaurant, and why does he-- why can't he just have McDonald's?

Speaker 5 13:47

the

MIC3 13:47

entrees are served,

Speaker 5 13:49

And

MIC3 13:49

this is 29 years ago, so you beat the bear by 27 years. Right. Okay? The entrees are served, and the cloches come out, and they op- open up Julie's,

Speaker 5 13:58

Julie's,

MIC3 13:59

and she has a wonderful, beautiful filet mignon, And Julie is the happiest seven-year-old that ever lived.

Speaker 5 14:04

And

MIC3 14:05

they uncover her cousin's plate with his

Speaker 5 14:07

cloche, and

MIC3 14:08

a set of McDonald's french fries and burger, and he is as happy as he could possibly be. And It just imprinted on her what hospitality really is, and

Speaker 5 14:20

hospitality really is, is making

MIC3 14:23

the customer feel like

Speaker 5 14:25

they are the most important thing- Right ......in

MIC3 14:27

the room ......at

Speaker 5 14:28

that moment. Right.

MIC3 14:29

This is their moment to be really important. And that happened here at the Hotel Jerome

Speaker 5 14:34

29 years ago, Amazing.

MIC3 14:36

and she is a hospitality professional- Right now, partially because of that moment at the Hotel

MIC2 14:42

And how

Speaker 5 14:43

many

MIC2 14:43

times has she told that story

Speaker 7 14:44

Two,

MIC3 14:44

that story two or three times. Yeah, exactly. right? Absolutely. To me, at least four.

Speaker 7 14:48

And you told that story

MIC2 14:49

20

MIC3 14:50

And you've told the story maybe two or three times. I've told it at least two or three myself,

MIC2 14:51

I jacked the story.

MIC3 14:52

like that story. So you said this-

MIC1-1 14:53

So you--

Speaker 4 14:53

So this is what you're walking into. Now talk to us about this hotel. Right. It's on the National Register of Hi- Historic Places. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7 15:00

It's

MIC3 15:01

part of the Auberge Collection, which is a big deal.

Speaker 4 15:03

Yeah. And, this was a hotel when Aspen was a mining town.

Speaker 7 15:07

Right. So- I mean,

MIC2 15:07

Aspen started around 1882, I think, the silver boom, and then, uh, Jerome B. Wheeler, who was, who

Speaker 7 15:13

well, he was married to

MIC2 15:14

the Macy's family, um, decided to come to Aspen, entrepreneur, right? There's silver, there's, there's resources

Speaker 7 15:21

here.

MIC2 15:21

decided to build a hotel to actually compete with some of the finest luxury hotel in Europe. And I think

Speaker 7 15:28

at the time

MIC2 15:28

he was mentioning The Ritz in Paris. Mm-hmm. And he wanted to have this amazing hotel. He

Speaker 7 15:33

could feel The

MIC2 15:34

destination was, you know,

Speaker 7 15:36

world-class.

MIC2 15:37

the

Speaker 7 15:37

hotel

MIC2 15:38

west of the Mississippi with actual power, with actually heat, with actually elevators. So that's

Speaker 7 15:43

1889.

MIC2 15:44

And so- Wow. That's amazing. you know, that was 137 years ago now. But there's something to be said to me about a property that has soul, that has character, and, um, you can't, you can't build that. And over the course of my career, I've been fortunate to open brand-new hotel, which is kind of fun because you somewhat position, introduce a new product. But I've been

Speaker 7 16:06

very

MIC2 16:07

fortunate to work at properties such as The Ritz, uh, such as the Beverly Hills Hotel, such as Hotel Bel-Air, uh, such as the Hotel de Paris that are iconic historic hotel. And what I love about those properties is

Speaker 7 16:19

you're not

MIC2 16:19

looking at creating, inventing history. What you are, you're just an innkeeper that's coming in to say-

Speaker 7 16:25

to say, "Hey,

MIC2 16:26

let's assess. We wanna keep the history, We wanna keep the character, we wanna keep, what we call the soul of the place-"

Speaker 7 16:31

at Auberge." once you get

MIC2 16:34

on property, The biggest focus is the culture Mm-hmm. The

Speaker 7 16:38

The culture and

MIC2 16:38

the community. and so

Speaker 7 16:40

it's not coming in and say, "Okay, what, what could I

MIC2 16:43

do with this property?" It's more

Speaker 7 16:44

embracing the

MIC2 16:45

history, getting to immerse yourself. Tony DeLucia, who was actually the general manager here for 32 years so he should get the credit for that beautiful

Speaker 7 16:55

McDonald's

MIC2 16:56

burger and fries, right? 29 years ago. Um, I got to spend some time with Tony when I first got here, and actually when I got here in February of 2025. I met with Christian Clerc, who was longtime Four Seasons Hotel

Speaker 7 17:09

executive. For 12 years, he was the president

MIC2 17:12

Four Seasons Hotel worldwide, and he joined Auberge Collection back in September of

Speaker 7 17:16

2024.

MIC2 17:18

I had drinks with Christian at the Beverly, uh, Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles in January

Speaker 7 17:23

2025, And he convinced me that this was the, the right

MIC2 17:28

path, the right next chapter in my career.

Speaker 7 17:30

And so we talked about what happened in the past, but we

MIC2 17:33

really talked about what's the vision for Auberge Collection as a luxury brand, um, scaling and really taking the time to activate, launch unique one-of-a-kind properties around the world. And so I joined Auberge May 11, 2025,

Speaker 7 17:50

right? it's been a

MIC2 17:52

year and a month now, and It's been such a fun journey to first connect with the team.

Speaker 7 17:58

of

MIC2 17:58

the team members and leaders have been here for 5, 10, 15, 21 years, 30 plus years, stewarding dishwasher, um, and connect with the community. Mm-hmm. It's a small town, 8,000 residents. Yeah. and I like to remind myself and the team, when you're in a small town, when they

Speaker 7 18:16

love you, they

MIC2 18:17

tell the whole town. When they hate you,

Speaker 7 18:19

they tell the whole town. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

MIC2 18:20

Absolutely. and so being gracious host, being kind, being available, leading with, uh,

Speaker 7 18:26

being humble

MIC2 18:27

always, um, and celebrating the history of the property And so we have the luxury of closing the property

Speaker 7 18:36

spring break every year- Mm-hmm

MIC2 18:39

I would say, April the 15th, we reopen May 21st, five weeks.

Speaker 4 18:42

Oh, that's

MIC2 18:43

and each and every time, I mean,

Speaker 7 18:44

what luxury hotel

MIC2 18:45

has that luxury? That's wonderful. You always, once you

Speaker 7 18:47

you open.

Speaker 4 18:47

Yeah.

Speaker 7 18:48

we hit the pause button, we

MIC2 18:49

refinish

Speaker 7 18:50

all

MIC2 18:50

the hardwood floor, we renovate, we, just unveiled a new pool experience. Last w- uh, last year we

Speaker 7 18:58

unveiled the garden room, and

MIC2 18:59

we always look at what are those moments, how do we stay relevant is one, how do we protect the integrity of the guest

Speaker 7 19:06

and the history of

MIC2 19:07

the property, and how do we ensure that at all time that stage

Speaker 7 19:12

is pristine?

Speaker 5 19:12

But

MIC3 19:13

stay relevant is one. How do we protect the integrity of the guest experience and the history of the property? and how do we ensure that at all time that stage is preserved? But what's wonderful about that is

Speaker 5 19:16

you're not just giving

MIC3 19:17

the hotel a chance to reset,

Speaker 5 19:20

you're giving the people who work here

MIC3 19:21

chance

Speaker 5 19:22

100% ......to

MIC3 19:22

reset.

Speaker 5 19:23

And I, one of the things I, I talk to my

MIC3 19:24

staff about all the time is, first of all, I want them to have two weeks, two, two days off every week.

Speaker 5 19:30

Right. And

Speaker 4 19:31

why- Which is more

MIC1-1 19:32

common now, but when we started that, it was ...six days a

Speaker 4 19:34

was

Speaker 5 19:35

the

MIC3 19:35

restaurant

MIC1-1 19:36

Most restaurants- restaurant

MIC2 19:36

Was the restaurant standard.

Speaker 5 19:37

and the first rule is you need one day to

MIC3 19:41

care of your stuff,

Speaker 5 19:42

and you need one

MIC3 19:43

day to become an interesting person. Right.

Speaker 5 19:45

And I want interesting people who work for me. Right.

Speaker 7 19:47

If

MIC1-1 19:47

who work for Right. If you work six days, your seventh day is spent doing laundry and going to

Speaker 7 19:50

cleaners and mopping the

MIC2 19:51

not just that that seventh day you're already thinking

Speaker 7 19:52

the next day Exactly. going back to work. 100%. Exactly. Your, your mind doesn't stop,

Speaker 5 19:56

when you give your employees

MIC3 19:58

five weeks off, and you're

Speaker 5 19:59

tell me if I'm right or wrong, that gives them

MIC3 20:02

a chance to become more interesting people,

Speaker 5 20:04

Because now I can go to Europe for two

MIC3 20:06

or

Speaker 5 20:06

three weeks. Right. I can go to, to some other property- Right ...to some other interesting place. I can reconnect with my family. I can do things that make me a more interesting person- Right ...which in in turn, makes me more interesting to the guests. Right. And I, I think that's a, that's a... it's a I,

MIC3 20:24

I wish we could close for five

MIC1-1 20:26

year and and,

Speaker 4 20:27

like that, and and, uh,

MIC1-1 20:27

to just to interject, it not only makes you more interesting to your guests, it lets you

Speaker 4 20:30

put-

MIC1-1 20:31

yourself in your guests' shoes,

Speaker 7 20:33

right? 100%. And

MIC2 20:34

I think what it does, it allows the team to disconnect, recharge, spend time with family, travel. They come back super excited. Yep. They know as soon as they come back, it's gonna be busy. They actually would not wanna be here- if we were open during that time. There's nothing happening,

Speaker 7 20:47

right?

Speaker 4 20:47

So let me ask you a question

Speaker 7 20:48

Ed. The snow is melting.

Speaker 4 20:49

Yep. You, you

MIC1-1 20:50

raise, you raise an

Speaker 4 20:51

point about... Or we've been talking about e- employees putting themselves in

MIC1-1 20:55

others' shoes.

Speaker 4 20:56

a lot of people would say that the Hotel Jerome is the center of, of food and hospitality in Aspen, and for this weekend of June every year, Aspen is the center of food and hospitality for the world. Right. So we know what that implies, right? Right. Right. But what is interesting to me and what I

MIC1-1 21:12

really wanna

Speaker 4 21:12

ask you about is being

MIC1-1 21:15

at

Speaker 4 21:15

center of a, festival like the Food Wine Classic- Right. Right which is amazing. Right. You have all sorts of wealthy clientele, you

MIC1-1 21:21

have

Speaker 4 21:22

of repeat clientele, you have locals, people from abroad, and people with high expectations who expect you to be worth your stars- Right.

MIC1-1 21:29

your- Right.

MIC2 21:29

Right.

Speaker 4 21:30

mentions.

Speaker 7 21:30

Exceed their expectations,

Speaker 4 21:31

actually. Exceed their expectations. Right? Right? But you also have a tre-

MIC1-1 21:34

trem- a tremendous collection

Speaker 4 21:35

of

MIC2 21:35

a tremendous collection

Speaker 4 21:37

other hospitalitarians,

MIC2 21:38

hospitalitarians,

MIC1-1 21:39

hospitalitarians,

Speaker 4 21:40

So the best chefs in the world. Chefs, for sure. Other restaurateurs.

MIC2 21:43

here right now.

MIC1-1 21:44

And so they

Speaker 4 21:45

come in and what's it

MIC1-1 21:47

like to

Speaker 4 21:48

them? And my follow-up question, I'll give you both the same

MIC1-1 21:50

time, answer any

Speaker 4 21:51

way you like I f- I love hospitalitarians

MIC2 21:54

hospitalitarians

Speaker 4 21:55

when they're into the restaurant for dinner because they

MIC1-1 21:58

bring, uh,

Speaker 4 21:59

with very rare exceptions, the ability to be great customers. Right. And I think that the best restaurant experiences are when you have generous hospitality-

Speaker 7 22:09

Right

Speaker 4 22:10

and generous guests receiving it. Agreed. So your thoughts on, on having those people, and so many of those people- Mm-hmm ...in your town where you're still working and they've flown in from wherever.

Speaker 7 22:19

Right. Right. I think it's another day and

MIC2 22:22

what I mean by it's another day is if your focus each and every day is to be a gracious

Speaker 7 22:27

host,

MIC2 22:28

and you ha-- You mentioned it, you have

Speaker 7 22:31

ve-

MIC2 22:31

extremely wealthy travelers coming

Speaker 7 22:33

us. The

MIC2 22:34

average rate at the Jerome for

Speaker 7 22:35

year- Yeah it's about $1,800 a night.

Speaker 4 22:37

Okay.

Speaker 7 22:38

Does not

MIC2 22:38

include parking

Speaker 7 22:40

You still get

MIC2 22:41

charged for a $60 resort fee, does not

Speaker 7 22:43

include breakfast. Includes nothing,

MIC2 22:45

actually. Yeah. And so that means that guests are paying anywhere between

Speaker 7 22:48

$895

MIC2 22:48

$895

MIC1-1 22:48

$800 and $95

MIC2 22:50

to up to 10,

Speaker 7 22:50

10, $12,000 a night.

Speaker 4 22:52

Yeah.

MIC2 22:52

Nobody stays for one night. right. Yeah. Many guests stay

Speaker 7 22:55

three nights at least. Some of them for

MIC2 22:57

two

Speaker 7 22:57

three

MIC2 22:57

weeks. And so

Speaker 7 22:59

what

MIC2 22:59

it does, what I love about it, it allows the team to be in focus. There's tremendous pride in ensuring that you deliver precise service execution, high level of engagement extremely consistently. And you know that all these world-class chef-- They're in the kitchen right now. We have four chefs tonight for our night of Chez Nino in prospect. And they are all Michelin-rated, James Beard Award-winning chefs.

Speaker 7 23:22

It's fun to work on them. Yeah. Melissa Perello

MIC2 23:25

Melissa Perello, who has one Michelin star in San Francisco, just flew in. Got here at 8:45,

Speaker 7 23:29

picked her up at

MIC2 23:29

airport. I greet her

Speaker 7 23:30

her in the lobby.

MIC2 23:30

She's

Speaker 7 23:31

"Stefan, I have

MIC2 23:31

no makeup on." I was like,

Speaker 7 23:33

Good morning."

Speaker 4 23:33

Yeah.

Speaker 7 23:34

Welcome to Geronimo." Yeah,

Speaker 4 23:35

yeah.

Speaker 7 23:35

And most of them

MIC2 23:37

have never been to Aspen. Many of them have never

Speaker 7 23:38

never been to Aspen.

MIC2 23:39

Aspen. We had three chefs, so I don't know if you saw our little party yesterday, the kickoff

Speaker 7 23:43

courtyard

Speaker 4 23:44

Mm-hmm

Speaker 7 23:44

party of our- Wonderful ......it began about 300 attendees. My marketing team, probably more than our associates said, "Oh, it's gonna be on the floor." Well, guess what? They

MIC2 23:52

showed up.

Speaker 7 23:53

Nobody left. They're like, "This is fun." Five piece band, country

MIC2 23:56

music, folk, amazing champagne,

Speaker 7 23:59

And-

Speaker 5 23:59

It

MIC3 23:59

was a great vibe. I w- I was

Speaker 5 24:00

there for two hours myself. And we- It was a great vibe I was flying in,

Speaker 7 24:02

I

MIC1-1 24:03

was flying

Speaker 7 24:03

an airplane-

Speaker 4 24:04

and you guys had a

Speaker 7 24:05

little- Hey, you made it little portable tent

MIC2 24:06

You made it. You made it. I was like, "We're gonna make it." But we had three chef

Speaker 7 24:09

from OVERSEAS Collection properties Mm-hmm

MIC2 24:11

that

Speaker 7 24:11

most of the resident from Aspen and most of the

MIC2 24:14

attendees

Speaker 7 24:15

to this weekend have

MIC2 24:15

never been to. You had Michael from

Speaker 7 24:17

Den in

MIC2 24:18

South Carolina. You had uh, Cornelia from, uh, White Barn Inn in Maine, and then you had Anthony,

Speaker 7 24:24

Chef Anthony from Stanley

MIC2 24:26

Ranch in Napa.

Speaker 7 24:27

And

MIC2 24:27

the food was

Speaker 7 24:28

unbelie- was amazing. And people were like- Yeah, it was nice

MIC2 24:30

like,

Speaker 7 24:31

What's happening?" And so what I

MIC2 24:32

love about this

Speaker 7 24:33

is we

MIC2 24:34

hosted those chef. I gave them pass to go and enjoy

Speaker 7 24:37

Aspen Food Wine Classic.

MIC2 24:38

They're in the kitchen.

Speaker 7 24:40

They had dinner last night out in

MIC2 24:41

town, and they're like, "What is

Speaker 7 24:43

place?" None

MIC2 24:44

of them have

Speaker 7 24:44

have been to Aspen before. Yeah. That's great. And so

MIC2 24:46

what I love about

Speaker 7 24:46

It's great is allowing anyone who's coming

MIC2 24:48

in-

Speaker 7 24:50

High profile travelers, world-class chef to immerse themself and be like, is this town? What

MIC2 24:55

What is this

Speaker 4 24:56

Do you know what's fu- do you know what's funny about this hotel is, so I know the, tariff, right? and I know the, the, that this is very wealthy people.

Speaker 7 25:03

Right.

Speaker 4 25:04

Um, we just had coffee in your coffee shop, and the place is top-notch. Everything's perfect. Nothing

MIC1-1 25:10

is showy, nothing is ostentatious-

Speaker 7 25:13

Right,

Speaker 4 25:13

right and nothing is outwardly would tell you that it's $1,800 a night to $10,000 a night. Right, right. Uh, in the hotel, it j- it feels like a very homey, like, I don't know. It, it It

Speaker 7 25:24

feels like

Speaker 4 25:24

it's been here forever. Yes.

Speaker 7 25:25

Feels like

MIC2 25:26

forever. It is it, is...

Speaker 7 25:26

it is... you know, and

MIC2 25:27

you, you mentioned earlier, I forgot what you... To me, it has a strong sense of identity to the location. yeah. Which can be rare, uh- ...in hotels and hotel brand Well, some hotel brands want- ...that are opening around the world

Speaker 5 25:37

hotel brands want your hotel

MIC3 25:40

experience in New York City to be the same as your hotel experience in Miami, to be- your same

Speaker 5 25:44

in San Francisco. Or- That's what they want ...Which

Speaker 7 25:45

mean you wake up in the

MIC2 25:46

morning, you don't

Speaker 7 25:46

know where you are. Or you When,

MIC2 25:47

When, you wake up here,

Speaker 7 25:49

Well, and this isn't a

Speaker 5 25:50

sh- Well- Well, hold on. The, our, our guests can't see it, but- Can't ...when you wake

MIC3 25:53

up in the morning and you look out that window and-

Speaker 7 25:55

There's a mountain

Speaker 5 25:56

you know, uh,

Speaker 7 25:57

there's a beautiful mountain. there's Jesus mountain Yeah, There's a high

MIC2 25:58

a high of a... I mean, think of it, you're at 8,000 feet elevation

Speaker 4 26:01

Yeah.

Speaker 7 26:01

And you're about 12,000 feet

Speaker 4 26:02

there. Yeah. Right? Well, I

MIC1-1 26:04

guess the,

Speaker 4 26:04

the, other thing is, I mean, there are... And

MIC1-1 26:06

this isn't a shot

Speaker 4 26:07

on these types of hotels or anyone who may own those types of hotels- No, no but you

MIC1-1 26:11

don't have a golden escalator. Right There's no

Speaker 4 26:14

gold or Right ...diamonds or whatever. And I think that's understated and, and, beautiful. How many employees to guests? Mm-hmm. How many employees do you have here? How many guests do you have at a time? Right.

Speaker 7 26:24

So We

MIC2 26:25

have 101 room and suites. we have 350

Speaker 7 26:28

employees. That's- So

MIC2 26:30

think of this, right? Yeah. When I was at Hotel Bel-Air, Beverly Hills Hotel, opened the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, we did not have three and a half employee per key. Yeah and so

Speaker 7 26:38

it's one

MIC2 26:38

thing to charge a rate-

Speaker 4 26:40

Yeah

Speaker 7 26:40

it's

MIC2 26:40

another to have a

Speaker 7 26:43

culture

MIC2 26:43

of excellence and a mindset to deliver a world-class product.

Speaker 7 26:47

And so you talked about

MIC2 26:48

Felix

Speaker 7 26:49

Shop, right?

Speaker 4 26:49

Right.

Speaker 7 26:50

Felix is only

MIC2 26:51

in New York. you you've been to some of their coffee

Speaker 4 26:54

Yep.

Speaker 7 26:54

And in Aspen. And

MIC2 26:55

Matt, the owner, is flying in because he wants to be, he's arriving today at 2:00 PM.

Speaker 7 26:59

wants to be here during

MIC2 27:00

Food Wine because, well, the town is

Speaker 7 27:02

fully activated. Yeah. But what

MIC2 27:04

I love is

Speaker 7 27:05

the

MIC2 27:06

locals love to go to Felix. the locals love to go to the J Bar.

Speaker 7 27:10

you are connected to the community.

MIC2 27:10

you're gonna see the courtyard open for lunch today. Mm-hmm. 80 per- 80% of the guests are

Speaker 5 27:15

What

MIC3 27:15

I was just about to say is what I've noticed-

Speaker 5 27:17

in my 36

MIC3 27:19

hours here so far

Speaker 5 27:21

is the locals are very much intermixed with

MIC3 27:25

everything that's happening in this town right now.

Speaker 5 27:27

It is not-

MIC3 27:28

Just the tourists- and just the people who are, who are out and about and are in the shops

Speaker 5 27:33

and in the stores. Right.

MIC3 27:34

It is everybody.

Speaker 7 27:36

And maybe- It's a, it's a total mix and maybe

MIC2 27:37

that's the magic

Speaker 7 27:37

Aspen. Mm-hmm.

MIC2 27:38

Right? To have truly a community where it's all about The residents. Mm-hmm. The residents are here, and They are

Speaker 7 27:45

out, and they

MIC2 27:45

they are

Speaker 7 27:46

welcoming. they are gracious. I mean, I spent 13 years in LA, four

MIC2 27:49

years in New York. You come to Aspen, It's this is la, la, land.

Speaker 7 27:53

It's clean. It's

MIC2 27:54

safe. You can walk around

Speaker 7 27:55

street- Yeah ...at 4:00 in the morning. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, there may be a moose.

Speaker 4 27:57

Yeah.

Speaker 7 27:58

There may be a bear. Right? Right. But you're

MIC2 28:00

fine. Your

Speaker 7 28:01

your bag are safe,

Speaker 4 28:02

Yeah, Yeah,

Speaker 7 28:02

yeah. For sure. And so something to

MIC2 28:04

be said, but I was back in LA a

Speaker 7 28:06

few months ago, just for a week. Loved it, but It's

Speaker 4 28:08

Oh, yeah

Speaker 7 28:09

it's- a different, it's a different-

Speaker 4 28:10

It's an urban-

MIC2 28:11

different town, sensibility. It's a different town, right? And when actually, when I walked in a year ago,

Speaker 7 28:17

and

MIC2 28:17

I connected with chief of poli- w- of fire department chief, local businesses, city official. They said to me they say, "Stephan,

MIC1-1 28:25

said, "Stéphane, don't,

MIC2 28:26

don't change a thing."

Speaker 7 28:27

And actually they, they, said the J Bar is... Don't start taking the TV out or-

Speaker 4 28:32

Mm-hmm people just love.

Speaker 7 28:34

Yeah. We have the World- we have the World Cup right now happening. Actually- Oh, yeah

MIC2 28:37

Oh the US is playing

Speaker 7 28:38

this afternoon, be ready, Yeah. Against Australia. J

MIC2 28:40

Bar is gonna be packed.

Speaker 7 28:41

People are gonna be watching the game. That's great. And they're gonna go back and enjoy wine tasting. That's great There's, ...There's

MIC2 28:45

...there's so much to do. But to me, the key to success

Speaker 7 28:49

is you have an historic

MIC2 28:52

legacy property.

Speaker 7 28:53

There's already a culture that is here. It's not about reinventing the wheel. It's about understanding that culture and see, how can we further elevate, improve, enhance, and ensure

MIC2 29:05

that

Speaker 7 29:05

everyone on property

MIC2 29:06

understand how to spell

Speaker 7 29:08

luxury?" Because

MIC2 29:10

that's truly what

Speaker 7 29:11

the guests are expecting from

Speaker 4 29:12

us. All right. So, so we agree that culture beats policy seven days a week, right? Right. Yeah. But I have a couple policy questions for you. Right. Because there's, you're like, okay, I got the right culture, but I'm an operator. We operate our own restaurants, Right in New York. But you also have to have the wherewithal as to like, "Okay, this is our culture, and then here are

MIC1-1 29:30

the steps

Speaker 4 29:31

service by which we can implement them." Right. And, and I've already heard you say that you, you've, you've got to have, have policies of things that you do- Mm-hmm and procedures for things that you do- Mm-hmm ...that leave your employees enough wiggle room to make ad hoc decisions for when people need stuff- Right that doesn't fit in the policy. Right. But you still need those policies there. Right. So one of the first people we interviewed when, when it was a radio show, when The Restaurant Guys"

MIC1-1 29:52

was a radio

Speaker 4 29:53

20 years ago, we went to the Inn at Little Washington For sure. Yeah where Patrick O'Connell was first starting out. Yeah. And he shared with us some of his little systems, you know, which, you know, every... The, all the gentlemen are given a

MIC1-1 30:04

boutonniere.

Speaker 4 30:04

Mm-hmm. Well,

MIC1-1 30:05

the boutonniere is a different color depending on how

Speaker 4 30:07

days you've been there, so everyone knows how many days you've been there. every, time

MIC1-1 30:10

you interact with

Speaker 4 30:11

staff member, whether it's a concierge or the restaurant host or the, waiter or the bartender or the bellman, a report, there's a a, a central report is kept on you, and that employee rates your mood from one to 10. And their job is every time you interact with someone, our goal is to move them up a notch. Right. So you have to leave a certain number of notches before you- Right. And so these- Three,

Speaker 5 30:34

three notches before you- leave.

Speaker 4 30:35

Right. So these-

Speaker 5 30:35

are- We want

MIC3 30:36

we want you three

Speaker 5 30:36

points better than you were when you walked in.

Speaker 4 30:38

Right. So if you're a seven, you

MIC1-1 30:38

need to

Speaker 4 30:39

jubilant.

MIC1-1 30:39

if you come in

Speaker 4 30:40

you're depressed, you need to be better. Right. So those are concrete systems that he put in place- Right. Right that his employees could use- Right to make that

MIC1-1 30:50

happen. What are your

Speaker 4 30:51

tricks? What are your systems? There's a

Speaker 7 30:52

lot. I

MIC2 30:52

won't

Speaker 7 30:52

be able to share all of them.

Speaker 4 30:53

One or two? Just give us one or two. Yeah. One or two.

MIC2 30:55

I think the key is how do you, welcome the new team members and leaders? So we have what we call circle, which is a one-day orientation onbo-

Speaker 7 31:04

on boarding So many

MIC2 31:06

properties do that, right? There's nothing new there. But ensuring they understand the culture of

Speaker 7 31:10

Auberge, we call that the

MIC2 31:12

Auberge Promise, focusing on heartfelt service, So being genuine, being yourself. Yes, we're gonna

Speaker 7 31:18

look at where you've worked before, and that's great.

Speaker 4 31:20

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7 31:21

that's yesterday.

MIC2 31:22

Today, what's your personality like? We

Speaker 7 31:25

will

MIC2 31:25

share with them our standards, our standard operating procedure. We'll ensure that the first week, they spend one week, with a trainer in each and every venue,

Speaker 7 31:34

do a catch up. You know,

MIC2 31:35

uh, we, we...

Speaker 7 31:36

I call that coffee chat, no coffee. One-on-one, right? Right.

Speaker 4 31:40

Right.

Speaker 7 31:40

Just to

MIC2 31:40

ensure you're in

Speaker 7 31:41

great place. And

MIC2 31:42

then 90 days later, we'll do somewhat of a

Speaker 7 31:46

follow-up to ensure you're in

MIC2 31:47

a great place, you have all the tools,

Speaker 7 31:50

you understand, you are having fun, and you

MIC2 31:52

able to be yourself. One thing we won't provide them is script.

Speaker 7 31:57

There's no- I love that. We

MIC2 31:58

don't want

Speaker 7 31:58

robots. We want them...

MIC2 32:00

They are hired for their personalities. And I would say if I look at, I've been fortunate to work with so many leaders by now, the most successful one

Speaker 7 32:08

to me,

MIC3 32:09

to me, the

Speaker 7 32:10

the first day

MIC2 32:10

they met you, they meet you,

Speaker 7 32:12

they trust

MIC2 32:12

you, 100%,

Speaker 7 32:14

right? And then try

MIC2 32:16

not to lose that trust.

Speaker 4 32:17

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7 32:17

But I also

MIC2 32:17

work with leaders that

Speaker 7 32:19

when you start, they trust you 0%. You have to... You have to earn

Speaker 4 32:22

their-

Speaker 7 32:22

You have to prove, you have to prove yourself. Yeah. And so

MIC2 32:24

to me, empowering, um, leading with a glass

Speaker 7 32:28

full, positive reinforcement, getting to know them. And guess what? Stefan, as

MIC2 32:33

a general manager spends an hour and a half during that orientation that first morning, not just to say, Hello,

Speaker 7 32:39

good morning. Welcome," to talk about the culture, to talk

MIC2 32:42

about the soul of

Speaker 7 32:43

place, to talk about heartfelt service

MIC2 32:45

and what does that mean, to bring it to life. And so it's not just a slide

Speaker 7 32:49

say you went through the orientation It's how

MIC2 32:51

do you bring this to life? And then

Speaker 7 32:53

it's every day, just like any relationship, right? If my wife is listening, it's every

MIC2 32:57

day.

Speaker 7 32:58

You have to invest so that they are fully

MIC2 33:01

engaged.

Speaker 7 33:01

And

MIC2 33:02

I spend 80% of my day when I on the stage,

Speaker 7 33:06

20% in my office. Mm. Email is one thing- Mm but email is just a communication tool.

Speaker 4 33:10

Yes.

Speaker 7 33:11

I could come to work and do emails all day. Yes and go home and tweet, "Well, I was so busy." Yeah. "What did you do?" I responded to

MIC2 33:16

email. I filed email." It's like, Is that

Speaker 7 33:18

job? Mm-mm. so spending time in the front drive, in the

MIC2 33:20

courtyard, inspecting

Speaker 7 33:22

room, inspecting suite, but not just different. With the team. And connecting

MIC2 33:25

with the team.

Speaker 7 33:26

With

Speaker 5 33:26

the team. They're connecting with

Speaker 7 33:27

people. Coaching,

MIC2 33:27

mentoring, igniting, inspiring, bringing it to life.

Speaker 7 33:30

Having fun.

Speaker 5 33:31

Those are the

Speaker 7 33:32

Those are, the, most important. things. Having fun.

MIC2 33:32

You know what I say to them all the time? They've heard it a thousand times.

Speaker 7 33:35

Hospitality is

MIC2 33:35

is not the word hospital.

Speaker 7 33:37

look at me like... It's, it's about

MIC2 33:39

being hospitable, being gracious, welcoming, j-

Speaker 7 33:42

being yourself. Yeah. But

MIC2 33:43

it's every day you have to repetition, repetition. You have to keep saying it until they really hear it, and then

Speaker 7 33:49

really- and then you stop keep saying. it And then they live it

Speaker 5 33:50

Yeah. You,

MIC3 33:51

you know, you talked about two things that I talk about with my staff

Speaker 5 33:55

constantly.

Speaker 4 33:56

Right.

Speaker 5 33:57

And the first one is trust. you came here for the right? reasons, right? In our

MIC3 34:02

organization, almost everyone starts at the bottom and works

Speaker 5 34:04

way up, Right. And

MIC3 34:05

and some people, can

Speaker 5 34:05

it very quickly, Mm-hmm ......and some people, it takes a long time. Mm-hmm. But you don't do that generally if you're an experienced person if you don't believe in our place, if you don't believe in the mission of, of our

MIC3 34:16

place.

Speaker 5 34:17

And so what, the first

MIC3 34:19

thing I tell people

Speaker 5 34:20

all the time, and, and most people don't believe me, but if you're working here, I trust in you, I believe in you. That's why you're working here, Okay? And you. have to understand that, the only time I'll stop trusting you or believing you is if you

MIC3 34:37

give me a reason- to stop believing you.

Speaker 5 34:39

and trusting in you Right, right. And that's very new for a lot of employees- 100% ......for a lot of people. 100%. for you to say, "I trust you."

Speaker 7 34:46

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 5 34:46

I, now I wanna teach you The way we do things, and I wanna teach you our, our, how it's, how our place is. Right. But that, that's unusual in the restaurant business. And to hear you. say that was- Right ...was very gratifying for me. Right,

Speaker 7 34:57

right.

Speaker 5 34:58

The other thing you

MIC3 34:59

said is

Speaker 5 35:00

It is a

MIC3 35:01

relationship.

Speaker 5 35:02

Every employee and I, every employee in my building and I-

Speaker 7 35:06

Mm-hmm

MIC3 35:06

have a relationship.

Speaker 5 35:08

And, people say

MIC3 35:09

all the time, and I hate this expression, "Well, it's business." Okay? My business is about

Speaker 5 35:16

being personal. Right. It's

MIC3 35:17

about the... It, it is about being personal. And yes,

Speaker 5 35:20

the numbers have to add up at the end of the day. Sure. and yes, you need to

MIC3 35:23

make a certain amount of money in order to, to, pay your bills and be happy.

Speaker 5 35:27

But realize that I take it personally- Right that you need those things.

Speaker 7 35:31

Right.

Speaker 5 35:31

and I loved hearing what you said because I don't hear enough people

MIC2 35:35

people say that. You know what I like, you know, what I like to say to them as well is

Speaker 7 35:38

I want it to be mis-- I I

MIC2 35:39

want you

Speaker 7 35:39

you to make mistakes.

Speaker 5 35:40

Mm-hmm.

MIC2 35:41

And actually, here is what we do.

Speaker 7 35:43

I

MIC2 35:43

remember hearing Jean-Claude Vrinat from Taillevent saying, we are one of the

Speaker 7 35:45

best

MIC2 35:46

restaurant in the world,

Speaker 7 35:47

but we probably make as many mistake or more, but we are very good at hiding- Mm-hmm and focusing on recovery and resolution." Mm. So what we

MIC2 35:54

do is whenever there's

Speaker 7 35:56

what we call a glitch or a

MIC2 35:57

service recovery, a guest, you know, we... There was

Speaker 7 36:00

delay to get them into their suite, or the burger was

MIC2 36:04

overcooked,

Speaker 7 36:05

or- Mm-hmm they went to Felix and there was a long line, doesn't

MIC2 36:08

matter.

Speaker 7 36:09

We tell the whole property. We

MIC2 36:11

have a

Speaker 7 36:12

technology, right, that we use, and it's G

MIC2 36:16

Chat.

Speaker 7 36:17

All

MIC2 36:18

the operations are connected,

Speaker 7 36:20

and whenever

MIC2 36:20

we have Mr., uh, Peter Miller checking in

Speaker 7 36:25

as, an issue, right

MIC2 36:26

away we say,

Speaker 7 36:27

"I messed

MIC2 36:28

up.

Speaker 7 36:28

I took them to the wrong

MIC2 36:29

room,"

Speaker 7 36:30

or, "I gave them the wrong key." And from

MIC2 36:31

that point on, that guest become what we call

Speaker 7 36:33

a notable guest, and we

MIC2 36:35

won't stop

Speaker 7 36:36

monitoring them and catching up with them. Not overly doing it. So you keep- Monitoring. So- You keep- Mr. Miller

MIC2 36:43

is heading out

Speaker 7 36:44

to have dinner at San Campos tonight. Great. In housekeeping, good time to tear down. Mr. Miller is joining us for breakfast. Great. Staff has to go, "Mr. Miller, how was your day? How was your

MIC2 36:52

stay?"

Speaker 7 36:53

We are over-communicating and paying close attention- Mm to everyone, not just

MIC2 36:58

VIP.

Speaker 7 36:59

Everybody is a VIP. And so

MIC2 37:01

before you check in,

Speaker 7 37:02

there's a picture that's being circulated. How

MIC2 37:05

are you staying?

Speaker 7 37:06

What do we know about you? What room you're gonna be in? And then from

MIC2 37:09

that point on, that communication won't stop

Speaker 7 37:11

until we take you

MIC2 37:13

to the airport.

MIC1-1 37:13

airport.

MIC3 37:14

know- So- the-

Speaker 4 37:15

the one of the things that we talk about- Yeah this place is a much smaller level, obviously. Right. Right. a restaurant experience is two hours, a hotel experience could be two weeks. Right. Right. So you guys keep it up and you do an amazing job here. the thing that's corollary to that is, uh, we tell our staff when we make a mistake, and we will ev- inevitably make mistakes- Every

Speaker 7 37:31

day

Speaker 4 37:32

the natural inclination of the new waiter, the new maître d', the new bartender is to run from the problem. I can't go

MIC1-1 37:37

there. I can't face them."

Speaker 4 37:38

Right. No, no, no. Right. You-- now we have to over- Deny. Oh, deny ...over

MIC2 37:41

"It did not happen."

Speaker 4 37:42

no, we ne- we don't have that problem very often. Right. But even if they they're like, "Oh, I'm so sorry," And but they, they go to

MIC1-1 37:47

the table less cause

Speaker 4 37:49

they feel

MIC1-1 37:49

uncomfortable every time they go to

Speaker 4 37:50

table.

Speaker 7 37:50

Right.

Speaker 4 37:50

No, it's just the opposite. You have to go more. Right. Embrace it.

Speaker 7 37:53

Embrace it. Embrace it. Embrace it. Uh,

MIC2 37:55

and give your

Speaker 7 37:56

team the ammunition.

MIC2 37:57

We just

Speaker 7 37:58

$600,000 to modernize all our

MIC2 38:01

elevators.

Speaker 7 38:03

There's only three

MIC2 38:04

and four floors, huh?

Speaker 7 38:05

not a high rise. And through the renovation, we were hoping to have those elevators back and active before we reopen. Well, as we all know- Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't Sometimes it's not in our power. So,

MIC2 38:18

you know, one inspection, two inspections, suddenly you are, you know, inconveniencing your guest. Well, that morning before the guests are checking in, give the team somewhat of the messaging.

Speaker 7 38:28

Apologize as soon as the guests get here. Want to apologize for the inconvenience. We are still waiting for

MIC2 38:34

the inspection. We just

Speaker 7 38:35

our elevators. Here are the options. We have sets of elevator that

MIC2 38:39

are in the north building that

Speaker 7 38:40

have access to your

MIC2 38:41

room As,

Speaker 7 38:43

an apology to the inconvenience, we're gonna waive your daily resort fee. So the guests get you- Yeah before they've been inconvenienced, you're already saying, "I'm sorry."

Speaker 4 38:50

Mm-hmm.

MIC2 38:50

I apologize." Mm-hmm. And they're like, "Wow,

MIC3 38:52

"I'm

Speaker 7 38:52

And they're like, "Wow, They care. you. they- All they

MIC2 38:53

s- all they hear is, "We care.

Speaker 7 38:55

We see you. You're not just a

MIC2 38:56

room number." Right.

Speaker 7 38:57

100%. "We're

MIC2 38:58

gonna ensure that your experience

Speaker 7 38:59

flawless, seamless, even though we have to deal." with whatever we have to deal." But give your team, not just say, "Apologize to guest." Give them the ammunition so they are... So only if you have the knowledge, I always feel the knowledge is confidence. Yeah. And then they can really be themself. Yeah,

Speaker 5 39:12

yeah. Right? The other thing you mentioned was you have systems in place because people will make mistakes. People are human beings.

Speaker 7 39:19

Right,

Speaker 5 39:19

right. there are systems in every great restaurant- Mm-hmm and every great hotel, I suppose- Mm-hmm because

MIC3 39:23

I've

Speaker 5 39:24

run a great hotel-

MIC2 39:24

Gate-

Speaker 7 39:24

gatekeepers. Gatekeepers,

Speaker 5 39:25

yeah that where where you can try and mitigate those problems. Right. Doesn't mean you will never have them. Right. But you, if you can catch those- Right the, the first mistake Right before it's customer facing- Right, right you've solved so many problems. I

Speaker 7 39:37

also

MIC2 39:37

feel that if you empower the team,

Speaker 7 39:39

that's a great feeling when you get empowered. Mm-hmm. You feel you have the authority and the freedom, and it's quite rewarding to have an impact

MIC2 39:44

on a guest experience, and know that at any moment

Speaker 7 39:47

you can go above and beyond and make a difference. and that's where you're like, "Wow."

Speaker 4 39:50

Well, I

Speaker 7 39:50

also- Tremendous sense of pride there, and I'm feeling good. And if

MIC2 39:53

I see something, I wanna do something about it because not only am I gonna do something about it

MIC3 39:57

not only am I

MIC2 39:58

guests who check

Speaker 7 39:59

out will give us feedback Mm ...most of them, and most of the

MIC2 40:01

feedback is fantastic.

MIC1-1 40:03

fantastic.

Speaker 7 40:03

want

MIC2 40:04

to celebrate anything. Oh,

Speaker 7 40:06

Jack upon check-in was fantastic.

MIC2 40:07

gave us some recommendation. The next day

Speaker 7 40:10

we have what we call daily rally. First with all the leaders on the fourth floor balcony looking

MIC2 40:15

at the mountain,

Speaker 7 40:16

talk about the arrivals, talk about all

MIC2 40:18

the wins, but also

Speaker 7 40:19

opportunities. Who do we

MIC2 40:20

need to pay attention to?

Speaker 7 40:22

But

MIC2 40:22

celebrate Jack.

Speaker 5 40:23

Yeah.

Speaker 7 40:23

Because when

MIC2 40:24

you celebrate Jack, Jack's gonna be like,

Speaker 7 40:25

Wow, I'm feeling good here." That's right. Not only that, the

MIC2 40:27

team around him

Speaker 7 40:28

is like, "Wow, I want to get some of that

MIC2 40:31

attention too.

Speaker 7 40:32

Now suddenly I'm going above and beyond." And so

MIC2 40:34

that positive

Speaker 7 40:35

culture

MIC2 40:36

of reinforcement acknowledgement, and celebrating even the small wins,

Speaker 7 40:39

instead

MIC2 40:40

of saying,

Speaker 7 40:40

I caught you making a mistake," "Well, great. Shit, now I'm scared to make a mistake." "Well, I caught you doing something amazing." "Well, now I

MIC2 40:47

wanna do more amazing things." So

Speaker 7 40:49

I just think that positive reinforcement is very powerful, I guess I would say. So

Speaker 4 40:53

in, in the spirit of that, and we're running a little short on

MIC1-1 40:56

time, I have

Speaker 4 40:57

You

Speaker 7 40:57

have to

MIC2 40:57

extend your stay. The, the-

Speaker 4 40:59

You got caught. Hey,

Speaker 7 40:59

you got

Speaker 4 41:00

caught we'll be back, we'll be back again tomorrow. So Julie, uh,

MIC1-1 41:04

who is our director of operations,

Speaker 4 41:05

we mentioned earlier, did buy me a roll of stickers once that said, You got caught doing something good," and suggested that I hand them out to people. Oh. So she believes in that philosophy as well. Listen, I've learn, we've learned

MIC1-1 41:15

something from you today

Speaker 4 41:17

I

MIC1-1 41:17

think luxury used to mean flashy stuff,

Speaker 4 41:20

...lots of stuff, more stuff. Uh, and

MIC1-1 41:23

I think what, luxury means

Speaker 4 41:25

what you helped define is the people that are taking care of you. Right.

MIC1-1 41:28

Absolutely. Human interaction. Celebrating people and making it great. I think you do it great. here. We

Speaker 4 41:33

talk to you literally for days, but I'm

MIC1-1 41:35

gonna go

Speaker 4 41:36

some cocktails in the bar.

MIC2 41:37

I love that. I love that. And listen, to me it's luxury is

Speaker 7 41:41

quiet luxury. Ah.

MIC2 41:43

Understand who your guests are, and be there. when they need you, and just let them be when they don't want you

Speaker 7 41:49

be there. And so

MIC2 41:50

it's paying attention and always looking at it's not what you're gonna say to people. you make them feel? How do you make

Speaker 7 41:57

feel? How do you make them feel? We knew this interview was gonna be fun. I didn't know I was gonna make a new friend, so thanks

Speaker 4 42:01

for

MIC2 42:01

And it's still early. Yes. great to have you. Welcome to

Speaker 7 42:04

Aspen. Truly our pleasure. Have a

MIC2 42:05

our pleasure. Have a lot of fun at Aspen Food Wine Classic, And uh,

Speaker 7 42:09

we'll be here for you.

Speaker 4 42:10

And Michel, we're gonna put all the information up on this hotel and any of the other crazy stories you've mentioned throughout this interview in the show notes. Uh, stick with us, we'll be back in just a moment. You can always find out more about the Restaurant Guys at

MIC2 42:20

restaurantguyspodcast.com.

Speaker 4 42:22

restaurantguyspodcast.com.

Mark OUTRO 42:23

What a great conversation with Stephane Lacroix

Francis OUTRO 42:25

Yeah, an old-fashioned hotelier is amazing. The rooms are, it's, I, we, th- we didn't do it justice,

Mark OUTRO 42:30

You know, one of the things that I loved most about our trip to the Hotel Jerome, because obviously we went there before we interviewed Stefan, was the way the people who worked for him spoke about him. yeah. You

Francis OUTRO 42:43

y-

Mark OUTRO 42:43

Absolutely. Every- everybody talked about, you know, he's a hands-on guy. He wants to be on the floor. He wants to be talking to the patrons. He wants to be talking to the staff. He wants to be involved with what's happening. And to be honest with you, not all hotel managers act that way

Francis OUTRO 42:58

Well, and, look, you can't. I mean, if you don't have the kind of staff and experience that he has, uh, and there's a lot of resources there. I mean, people have a right to expect that with the amount of money they pay for it. And but even that being said, he goes above and beyond. And everybody says, people who've worked in the restaurant business for a long time, in the high-end hotel business, say he's, the best they've ever worked with. Everyone who was there said he was the best they'd ever worked with.

Mark OUTRO 43:21

Everybody says people who worked in the restaurant business for a long time in the high-end hotel business say he's, uh, the best they've ever worked with. Yeah, he- Everyone who was there said he was the best they'd ever worked with. Yep. He's one of... Y- you could feel it. He's one of those first in, last out guys.

Speaker 10 43:23

Uh, I do wanna talk a little bit about Aspen, because one of the things that you get warned about when you go to Aspen is, oh, you know, The elevation is very high up.

Speaker 8 43:32

Oh, yeah. It is.

Speaker 10 43:32

Uh, but the thing that I didn't hear about until we arrived was you need to drink a lot of water.

Speaker 8 43:39

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 10 43:40

One afternoon, I was not feeling great. I had seven glasses of water, and I was like, "That was it." Yeah. "Now I feel better." It was, it was absolutely amazing, that the altitude removed water from your system like that. It's just not something you expect.

Speaker 8 43:55

Well, we, we looked it up, and turns out that that's a thing. and it can affect you. But it also, I mean, I think the oxygen affects you. Mm-hmm. I thought it was great that when we got there they gave us little oxygen kits. They're very serious about the oxygen up there. You can get, uh... They have IV salons, so you can- There

Speaker 10 44:09

is an IV salon in downtown Aspen-

Speaker 8 44:13

Well, they're everywhere now,

Speaker 10 44:14

but- where you can... Well- There where you can go and get oxygen and IV fluids to get you all caught up

Speaker 8 44:20

Yeah. I love that. I love that. And they have little cans of oxygen. It worked for you. It didn't work for me.

Speaker 10 44:24

Oh, the cans worked, absolutely.

Speaker 8 44:25

Isn't that crazy?

Speaker 10 44:26

Cleared me right up. Let's go.

Speaker 8 44:27

Well, listen, we had a great time when we were there. Uh, the hotel- I brought some home. We don't need it here. You're at sea level, for God's sake. anyway, I, I had, I had a great time over there. The Hotel Jerome is truly spectacular, truly unique, and it was a privilege to be there, and if you're in Aspen, you should go, but not if you don't have a lot of money. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this. I'm Francis Schatt.

Speaker 10 44:49

I'm Mark Pascal.

Speaker 8 44:50

We are The Restaurant Guys. We'll catch you next time at restaurantguyspodcast.com.