Emergentesala 2024: The competition, conceived by journalists Luigi Cremona and Lorenza Vitali, identifies young talents under 30 in room service in our restaurants.
At the end of January, I was invited to to be part of the jury of the national competition “Emergentesala“. This is a format aimed at identifying young talent under 30 in the room service of our restaurants.
The competition has three stages: northern selection, central southern selection, and national final. The one in which I participated was precisely the part relating to central southern Italy, which was held in Rome during a very interesting two days.
The age-old problem of room service
It is only fair to bring this up because it is now public knowledge that there is an endemic hall emergency, viz. the acute lack of qualified dining room staff. For a country like ours, which makes a planetary flag of its cuisine and standard of dining, this is a problem of enormous magnitude.
There are many reasons why we are in this situation, but certainly two main directions: a very low public investment in training sector schooling (Hotel Institutes) and working hours, wages and quality of life of the workers concerned. Not to mention the very little social consideration Toward those in the waiter’s trade. You can think as you like, but, for example, in France, doing this job enjoys a very different social prestige, which is followed by dedicated schools and training courses of great value and with great public investment.
The aggravation of the pandemic
The boil has erupted because of the biennial pandemic from Covid, which broke certain operational habits and created the panic situation that the industry is now experiencing.
I honestly have to say that something is changing, but not as much as it should and with exasperating slowness. Restaurateurs seem to have not yet realized that that pre-Covid world and type of working relationships no longer exist. If they do not adjust their work organization very quickly and if they do not analyze with managerial flair their own economic performance, they will be wiped out very quickly(.
I had discussed this extensively here
).
Emergentesala
In all of this,
journalists
Luigi Cremona and Lorenza Vitali
,
husband and wife, creators of Emergentesala, have meritoriously played and are playing a supplanting role, which in my opinion should be up to the state. With this competition, for years and years, they have been positively emphasizing the our young talents, who bring so much luster to the restaurants for which they work, providing a highly professional performance. That is why I am very proud to have been asked to serve on the Jury for this competition.
The two-day event in Rome was divided into a practical service rehearsal, during a dinner, and a theoretical rehearsal the next morning. Rightly so, contrary to what one might think, in the formation of the final ranking, the theoretical test weighed much more than the practical test, showing that theoretical training and culture are very important for those who want to pursue this profession at a high level (as well as true knowledge of foreign languages, at least English language).
During the theory test phase, we jurors were able to watch a self-promotional video that each candidate had produced, and we could freely ask him or her questions about technical aspects or approaches to their work. At the end of each contestant’s rehearsal, each of us jurors would give an overall grade that was 30 at most. The sum of these ratings resulted in the final ranking.
They will go on to the national final
Of my own, I have to say that I found these girls and boys to be really easygoing, prepared And with a great desire to do. Without selfishness, without squabbling, they teamed up, had fun and filled my heart with hope for a professional future different from the past.
Of the 11 participants in the two days in Rome, only 4 qualified for the final round of the competition.:
- Carla Barone – Fattoria delle Torri in Modica (RG)
- Italo Da Ponte – Origin of the Grand Hotel in San Gemini (TR)
- Angela Magnolo – BIVIUM at Hotel Six Senses Rome 5*L in Rome
- Giorgio Manni – Pulejo* in Rome
Final to be held in May, in Monza, during which they will compete with the other four who emerged from the competition in Northern Italy:
- Gianluca Grossi of Glam in Venice.
- Andrea D’Alonzo of Il Fenicottero Rosa Gourmet at Villa Abbondanzi in Faenza (RA).
- Alessandro Scarsi of Trattoria Contemporanea in Lomazzo (CO).
- Alessia Rivano of Hostaria Ducale in Genoa.
To all of them send our warm wishes for a fine performance during the finals and also for a professional life filled with satisfaction and recognition. They deserve it!
