Facing the challenge in New York – part 20

Roland Oláh earned himself a good reputation in Hungary and has been working in the United States for nearly two years. He regularly shares his experiences with our readers: ‘I have been working at Martel for eight months and it is getting a bit boring. The partly new menu card is a success but Marty still favours Eric. I try numerous new combinations in ‘offer of the day’ and sales data proves that guests like what I do: at weekends I sell 60-70 meat or fish main dishes as offer of the day. The only problem is that I get no feedback at all from Marty. He does not inspire me at all, instead he keeps looking for mistakes so that he can prove he knows everything the best. On the other hand, he is a fair boss who pays everyone in time. The restaurant is flying high but it gets on my nerves that Eric practically does nothing. It is a pity because I like him as a person. It is great news that Trade magazin invited me to Hoventa – I am going with Daniel this time as well. I do all kinds of work in the kitchen, I feel I still have a lot to learn. I do not play the boss who just keeps yelling orders: we work hard together and at the end of the day I thank my colleagues for their work. Good restaurants keep opening in the region, Mario Batali opened one in Westport and Danny Meyer, who became legendary in Gramercy Tavern, is also starting one. Chefs start to discover Connecticut because here there is solvent demand.’