Iñigo Inchausti, from Biscay, started as a waiter in his town on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika. That's where a passion was awakened in him that he has been perfecting during the 25 years he has been living in Lanzarote.
Inchausti is currently a head waiter at events he organizes, a hospitality consultant through his company Frelanz Learning, and a master of ceremonies at secular weddings. In an interview on the radio program Mas de Uno Gourmet on Radio Lanzarote, he defends the waiter profession and the importance of training to access management positions in the hotel industry.
- How did you get to Lanzarote?
I came 25 years ago with Francisco Martínez, when he was the director of Los Zocos, and I started working in the tent in front of the Meliá Salinas. In a year, I found myself working with 20 waiters at large events.
But my true passion for the hotel industry arose in the famous and emblematic Marina Colón restaurant in El Cable, whose head waiter at the time was one of the people who most instilled in me the love for the dining room, the attention to detail, the dedication, and the delicacy in the service.
"If people chose to train, a dining room professional earns between 1,800 and 2,000 euros"
- How has the dining room service evolved in these 25 years?
Unfortunately, I think it has gotten worse. Before the 2008 crisis, to put it one way and exaggerating, there were many builders and few waiters in Lanzarote. After the crisis, many people got into the hotel industry to earn money. I have always said that whoever works in a restaurant must have a passion for the trade.
I know that at the end of the month you get paid a salary and it is a job like any other, but if you don't feel it inside you and you don't like what you do, you will always be working reluctantly. You have to feel the hotel industry, you have to love it, you have to live it, you have to like dealing with the customer and the dynamism it offers.
- What is needed to offer top-quality hospitality?
The fundamental pillars for the service to work are, first, training, and second, and most importantly for me, leaders. In Lanzarote right now we don't have a shortage of waiters, there are people who want to work if you offer a good shift, a good salary, 8 hours, two days off, but there is a lack of leaders.
There is a lack of trained and humble managers. I can be at an event with a jacket and tie, but I might be the one collecting all the plates and taking out the trash. We have to be there through thick and thin.
If 90% of our island's income comes from tourism, where is that hotel school where they teach a person to love the profession?
"There are people from Las Palmas and Tenerife who take a trip to Lanzarote just to go to several restaurants"
- What would you say to those who think that being a waiter is a bad job?
It is true that we have to stand and smile for eight hours, but it is a job as dignified as any other. If a waiter earns 1,400 or 1,500 euros for 8 hours, they are already earning more than someone who restocks 8 hours a day in a supermarket loading boxes.
In addition, if people chose to train, a dining room professional earns between 1,800 and 2,000 euros. When we meet with the hotels, they always tell us that they lack head waiters, second waiters. There is a lack of qualified hospitality staff, who earn a more than decent salary.
- How do you see the gastronomy positioned on the island right now?
In Lanzarote we have three very important things. First, we have a local product that no one else has, such as the prawns from La Santa, cheeses, or wines. Then we have true tourism professionals and finally we have a unique climate and landscape.
There are entrepreneurs on the island who are betting on innovative projects. More and more tourists are coming to Lanzarote just for the gastronomy. There are people from Las Palmas and Tenerife who take a trip to Lanzarote just to go to several restaurants.
"In an event with everything contracted, the client doesn't have to ask, and if they do, we have a problem"
- How can you manage to have such a large team as you have and that they always deliver?
The first thing to do is to train them. As they acquire knowledge, they acquire seniority. We organize special 4-hour training sessions. Then you have to create a family. When they have a problem, you have to be there. You have to know how to understand them.
I have a company organizational chart where there are a series of categories and the better the attitude of the worker, regardless of the aptitude, the more work they get, due to their involvement.
- Do you currently also advise the Tourist Centers on dining room matters?
Yes, I am a consultant and what I always try to do is implement service mechanics for two clear objectives: improve the quality of the service and optimize times.
For me, it is very important that the waiters anticipate what the client is thinking so that never, under any circumstances, does any client have to ask for anything.
There are two types of hospitality. One, in which you sit in a restaurant, take a menu and order, and another, when it is an event with everything contracted in which you take care that that person does not lack anything. There the client does not have to ask and if they do, we have a problem.
- Now you are also a master of ceremonies for weddings, what is that like?
Many people know me because I sang at weddings. Because of my work, I have attended many weddings and I saw that the masters of ceremonies, in the secular celebrations that are held after people get married in court, did not put the passion, the emphasis, the affection, and the surprise that I thought appropriate.
There was a lack of passion. One day I tried, another day I tried, and now it seems that I don't do badly at all because all the brides I have married are delighted. To do things in a different way, there is nothing more than putting passion and affection into it.