Constance Festival Culinary 2023

4/17/23, 2:59 PM

Jérôme Faure – the Indian Ocean's Mr Motivator | JancisRobinson.com

to Jérôme, she came across an advert in a trade publication for a head receptionist at a hotel on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. In Jérôme’s head, this meant his wife wanted to move to an island, whereas in fact she simply wanted to work ‘in a nice place that wasn’t France’, Sarah told me. He, on the other hand, could not imagine working anywhere that was not within striking distance of vineyards. The things we do for love. As a result, in 2004 they moved to the Seychelles, he taking up the role of sommelier at the Constance Lemuria hotel at a time when there were just two qualifed sommeliers in the entire hotel group. Sarah’s role was assistant project manager and head of complaints. (Very enlightening, apparently.) Then in 2005 they moved to Belle Mare Plage on Mauritius, he as corporate sommelier for the group and she as the spa manager, before she stopped paid employment to bring up their two daughters, Margaux, now 15, and Elaura, who narrowly escaped being called Ornellaia, aged 13. In the last 18 years, Faure has had a huge impact on Mauritius and other islands in the Indian Ocean. Some might cite as his most obvious achievements the Constance hotels’ impressive wine lists: treasure troves of fne European classics as well as a constantly changing selection of wines from mainly South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, or the crowded but perfectly air-conditioned 29,000-bottle cellar at Belle Mare Plage, or his direct buying and managing of 35–40 reefers (refrigerated containers) full of wine from around the world every year, distributed to all the Constance hotels and their many restaurants. However, it is his infuence on people, especially young people, and the spread of that infuence beyond the hotel group, in terms of both skills and character, that is the more lasting legacy. Indian-born Sanat Kumar, previously head sommelier of Belle Mare Plage and now the hotel’s food and beverage manager, came to Mauritius because there was so much more scope to learn about wine than in India and he is clearly grateful for the opportunities Faure has opened up for him. Kumar tells me that Faure has given status to the métier of the sommelier, not least by establishing the Sommelier Association of Mauritius (a member of the international sommelier association or the ASI) in 2008 and instigating the Best Sommelier of Mauritius competition in 2010. (Faure is a big fan of competition as a way of both promoting and rewarding learning and ambition.) The hotel group now has 96 sommeliers and needs more. His two deputies, the always smiling Jorald Julie (above), assistant corporate sommelier, and Shani Ramasawmy, sommelier and wine event co-ordinator, are both from Mauritius but come from very diferent backgrounds. Their successful paths epitomise Faure’s democratic and enabling leadership style. Julie left school and went to work in the bar of the Prince

https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/jerome-faure-indian-oceans-mr-motivator

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