911 Remembered

It was a day of horror that none of us within the Hospitality Industry will ever forget. Hundreds of our colleagues, whose only crime was to go to work to create, to serve, were killed for no reason except to justify hate. 

Yet as time passes it is so easy to remember only the pictures that broke our hearts of falling steel and explosing flames and forget the faces. 

We must not forget our many friends and colleagues who worked within the Towers. Each and every one of them had a name. Catherine Hernandez has not forgotten.

She has said this, "My father, Norberto, was a pastry chef at Windows on the World in Tower One.

"For ten years, he made many fancy and famous desserts, but the sweetest dessert he made was the marble cake he made for us at home...

"Whenever we parted, Poppi would say, 'Te amo. Vaya con Dios.'

"I want to say the same thing to you, Poppi. I love you. Go with God." 

If you can, call for a silent moment this September 11th and ask your staff to pause for a minute or two to remember these remarkably talented members of our Industry - how much they loved what they were doing and how we each have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward into a better world, one that we are creating by what we do each and every day. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012 

Rural Holiday Inn Express Offers True Hospitality during Washington State's Great Taylor Bridge Fire

The heart of the Hospitality Industry has always been large. No matter where disaster strikes, members of the Industry have always done all that they could to help others impacted by fear and pain, whether harmed by man or nature.

During the tragedy of 9/11 hundreds of hotels and restaurants in New York City stop service and offered everything from food to staff to the thousands so cruelly and senselessly injured.

Now, once again the Industry has shown its heart. Not this time in New York City, one of the world’s leading centers of commerce, but in a much smaller town located in rural Ellensburg in Washington State.

The Holiday Inn Express in Ellensburg is a small hotel by the world’s grand standards. And it’s also located not far from the vast Taylor Bridge Fire, now raging out of control.

Home after home has burned, leaving hundreds without shelter, clothes or lodging. And although over 800 firemen are laboring around the clock to stop this furious Fire, the flames are only 10% contained and now cover an area equal to half the size of the nearby city of Seattle.

Ellensburg’s small Holiday Inn Express, in the finest tradition of our Industry, has chosen to open its doors and, using Facebook, has asked those who could, to bring clothing, blankets, books and toys to the Inn to help the Fire victims.

They have also prepared high protein sack lunches for those in need of a meal.

This small hotel’s courage and true professionalism should be a reminder to us all that no matter where we are in this wide world, from the might of New York City to every small rural town, we are all here to care, to make a difference, to help each other, to serve those in need. 

If you are in the Pacific Northwest and wish to help sort the donations arriving at the Holiday Inn Express or give recovery funds, call 509-962-9400 and see how you can be part of the kindness that is the hallmark of our Industry.  

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012