I started the J1 program at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in March 2007. I spent 6 months working as Assistant Manager of Studio Café which is the coffee shop (24/7) of the Hotel, only 3 months upon my arrival in this department, the Executive Director of F&B and the Vice President of F&B asked me if after my working visa and my program I would like to stay at the MGM and I said why not, it will be great to have more opportunities… the restaurant is extremely big because of the size of the MGM Grand (5,000 rooms), I learned a lot about management tools and techniques as well as working for the fist time ever in an unionized environment. 6 months after starting at Studio Café, I was placed as Assistant Beverage Manager for the MGM Grand Beverage Department which employed more that 550 staff members including cocktail servers, bartenders, barbacks and bar porters (17 bars and lounges in total), I was involved in the different aspects of the operation such as training of the employees, hiring process and disciplinary action too…, and was an active member of the F&B Innovation Force Meeting for MGM Grand. For the last 6 months I was Assistant Restaurant Manager at Seablue a Michael Mina restaurant where I was involved in the daily and monthly budgetary goals….

So after my program, my visa was renewed and I got a O1 visa which is extremely hard to get since you need to give proofs of extraordinary abilities (lol) no joke, it is very hard since only actor, doctor, celebrity chef… are subject to have one not a 25 years old guy! But I guess having a BS and MS as well as different awards help a lot.

I was promoted in late September, Restaurant Manager for at Grand Wok and Sushi Bar which is a Chinese, Pan-Asian and Asian Fusion restaurant, I loved it a lot, I was my boss, I only had to report to Directors and my Vice President, I didn’t have any Assistant General Manager or General Manager above me, so I was in charge of everything from P&L to Budget, from Requisition to Purchasing, from Hiring to Disciplinary action, from training for employees and my assistant managers to employee engagement program, scheduling….. I stayed at Grand Wok for 8 months in total, I was told 2 month prior my departure from Grand Wok that I will be promoted to Assistant General Manager in a very fine dining restaurant still at the MGM, at this time I didn’t know where I was going so I started to think where should I be soon, I figured that with our 8 fine dining restaurants at the MGM Grand only 4 of them didn’t have a Assistant General Manager at that time so, I told myself time will tell and I am sure it will be great since my leaders love what I do and they will not put me in a place where I could feel uncomfortable so, I let it go… 3 weeks after being told by my Directors and Vice President about the promotion, they finally met with me and…. Mr. Joel Robuchon and told me that I will be the Assistant General Manager at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, you can imagine how exited I was, I thanked all of them for trusting in me and for giving me the opportunity, I also asked them that they had interviewed a lot of people for the position and they answered even if the position was open for several months, the position was warming up for me since all of them wanted only me for the spot, they also added that the fact to be French helped a lot (Mr. Robuchon likes French people managing his restaurants), as well as my background with Alain Ducasse in London and Monaco and finally the work well done that I have done while being a J1 and the Manager of Grand Wok.

So I started at L’Atelier early July 2009 and I have to tell you that I love it, I am having so much fun, I like the entire operations and I am so glad to be at 26 years old only 2 steps ahead of a Director position. It is a fantastic restaurant awarded AAA-4 Diamond and 1 Michelin Star, The French cuisine of the "Chef of the Century" is reasons enough to visit L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Add the unique counter service where your dinner is prepared right before your eyes, and you have a combination that is unlike any other. It is Las Vegas fine dining at its best. You can enjoy tapas, 2 tasting menus ($75 and $148), and wines from around the world in a friendly and interactive atmosphere.