Facing the challenge in New York – part 21

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 back to Martel for 10 months now. Everything is cool and I am working hard; my relationship with Marty is neither good nor bad. From time to time he tells me how glad he is that I am back, but he still trusts Eric much more than me. Marty does not realise that Eric is just simply there and the kitchen actually works without him. I do everything for him because I really like him. I have the feeling that it is not important for Marty to make guests familiar with my name: I ‘only’ work but cannot build my career this way. Americans are really proud of their products and 80 percent of ingredients that we use at Martel are from the USA. Farmers are capable of guaranteeing constant good quality. It is striped bass season now, so I get to roast lots of nice large fish. My team works well in the kitchen and my relationship with the guys is great. Hurricane Irene ‘visited’ us on Saturday night but Martel was already open for dinner on Sunday – we had 170 guests between 17:00 and 22:00! My daughter Bogi has started kindergarten; I cannot believe how big she is now. The holiday season has commenced in Martel: first Eric takes a break in Spain, then Marty goes to France and before he returns I leave for Hungary. Of course this all mans that there will be extra work to do for those who are not on holiday.’