The winner must be trained, but first, train yourself

The bravest participants

Elisabet Robledo from Las Rocas Restaurant-Tropical Garden Hotel, Costa Adeje (Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Ángela Marulanda from Eventos A. Chacón (Murcia); Alejandro Vázquez from the El Lago Restaurant (1 *), (Málaga) and Simón Assorín from the Gran Hotel Miramar (Málaga). Only one of these four candidates goes to the final and joins the three finalists selected in the previous regional championships, they are: Arnau Puig, head of rank at the Lasarte Restaurant of Martín Berasategui (Barcelona), Cristhian Illan, from the Restaurant Workshop Del Cacique (Madrid) and Omar Echaure from Singularis de Riojaforum (Logroño).

Who won?!

The last selected person was Ángela Marulanda, she is the winner of the 4th semifinal of the Waiter Contest of the Year 2018, so next April 19 she will compete with the other three finalists to win the title of ‘Waiter of the Year 2018’. Recall that the waiters selected in the previous semifinals are Arnau Puig, Cristhian Illan, and Omar Echaure.

Ángela Marulanda is the second woman to hold the title of Waitress of the Year, remember that in the first edition of this contest (2014) Beatriz Bravo García won, and the title is currently held by Óscar Quintana, since he was the 2016 Bartender of the Year, ¿to whom will the title be given? Surely the jury of the grand final will not have very easy to decide who will be the winner because in the semifinals the best have been chosen. For their part, the finalists must be preparing themselves conscientiously for the tests they will undergo in the championship next April, it takes a lot of practice and much knowledge, something that is achieved when you feel passion for the waiter position, and what not anyone can do.

Something else that made Wednesday a special day

Within the framework of this spectacular week in the beautiful Seville, there was also an important cocktail convention, where I had the great pleasure of participating since I was in Seville all that week with all the intention to learn and train, as well as participate as a judge in the contest. You follow me, don´t you? This is a two-in-one article, haha.

Presentation of new Monin products by Florent Martin, Business Development Manager Southern Europe, and Mediterranean Area. The products of pure Carrot, beet. Syrups of pink pepper, habanero, saffron. Then presentation of Italicus drink of the year 2017 (Best New Spirit 2017). It is a Rosolio, the etymology of the word comes from the collection of herbs in the early hours of the morning and in that magical moment in which on the herbs was the dew of condensed water. The reason why it became popular is that it had little alcohol, was consumed by women and men used to pay. Disappeared from production throughout Italy from 1780 to 1830 by prohibition with a decree law. Then nobody else does it until last year when Giuseppe Gallo retrieves it.

The recipe is taken by Guiseppe Gallo from the liquor book:

Yellow rose, gentian, lemon balm, bergamot, lavender, Roman bitter manzanilla, the shape recalls the Roman columns and the 20 faces it has are the 20 regions of Italy. The color of the bottle recalls the Italian sea, turquoise, the cap is composed of the 4 elements, black & white reminiscent of Santa Maria de Florence, the logo recalls 3 characters: Leonardo Da Vinci, Bacchus this time does not collect grapes but bergamots and, also, the face of his daughter. It is a vegan product.

And that was it for this edition

We look forward to the arrival of spring, April and the grand finale of Waiter of the year in Barcelona, I hope to see you there.

Thank you and till next post my friends.

Xavi Iglesias

We all do the restaurant, and we all do as clients