Hired as the Hyatt Regency's youngest and most inexperienced chef, Ryan Bailey-after only three years-has proven himself a cut above the rest. The 21-year-old employee from St James, who boasts being the only local sushi chef at the Hyatt, said he "started off" his career as a kitchen apprentice when he was just 18 and credited himself as "the only chef who worked in all the departments at the Hyatt." These areas were identified as the kitchen, cafeteria, banquet restaurants, main restaurant, butcher section, pastry shop, pool bar and his all-time favourite-the sushi bar. Bailey said: "A lot of people are shocked that I do sushi rolls because I'm Trinidadian and they say they've never seen a non-Asian making sushi because it is strictly Asian cuisine, with every other sushi chef at the hotel being from the Philippines."
One such chef-Joel Del Pastillo-was lauded by Bailey as the person who helped him learn the art of sushi which was described as a "specialised skill," one which the young chef planned to mix with Caribbean cuisine in order to create his own unique blend. Marketing communications manager at the Hyatt Neemah Persad-Celestine described Bailey as a "quick learner" and a person in whom much potential, "love for craft and passion for cooking" were seen. She attributed those factors to his success and rapid elevation in the organisation. Bailey, who earned his first promotion as a commis chef after just two years in the field (at age 20), said he hoped to be promoted to a chef de partie (supervisor) in the "near future." This career path, Bailey said, was particularly satisfying to his mother who "was big against" him becoming "a soldier." He said: "I told her, Mommy, I'm either a soldier or a chef; She's pretty glad with my latter choice."
A taste of Miami
In June this year, Bailey was part of a team which represented T&T at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's Taste of the Caribbean Culinary Competition held at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, Florida.
He had earned a silver medal in the Junior Chef of the Year category for his culinary concoction at the event. "For my dish I made pepper jack dumplings (dumplings stuffed with pepper jack cheese) with pan-seared chicken (seasoned with herbs, chadon benni, pimento and garlic) with a mango chow which was shredded to look like pasta," he elaborated. According to Bailey, there were individual competitions for each member of his team which consisted of six chefs and two bartenders-all of whom incorporated local ingredients and cooking methods indigenous to T&T. He told the Sunday Guardian that his team, who went up against nine other Caribbean nations, were the proud recipients of the Team of the Year Award-the most coveted title of the competition.
An upper hand
Bailey said from the age of 17, he "got a lot of training" from his uncle "who was a chef" but never actually attained any formal certification prior to his entry into the industry. Both humbled and thrilled over the fact that one of the most exclusive hotels in T&T hired him without any certified culinary training, Bailey said he, too, was uncertain as to what the mitigating factors for such a decision were. "After some time had passed I had asked my interviewers (whom I grew accustomed to) how come, out of everyone you hired me, and they said I seemed to have an eagerness to want to work and a passion for wanting to learn," he said. Bailey, who attended Fatima College, said he believed that familiarity in the various departments at the hotel gave him "the upper hand" during his probation as it allowed him to function effectively "whenever a kitchen was busy and they needed a chef."
