Creative Corner

 
 
 
 

 

More magic created by the butler for guests. In the butler’s own words:

“Here are a few little things I made for guests in the last couple of days—fun for me, to be sure, but it is amazing how these little creations, which take very little time once you have mastered the techniques, routinely bring smiles to the guests and others.

“A lady guest staying in one of the suites left for a day and so I went on her business web site to learn that she had graduated from Alabama University. I checked online for the logo of the university and carved it into an apple and added the little sign ‘Welcome Home.’

“When I served it, she said ‘That looks like the A of the University of Alabama,’ to which I replied, smiling, ‘Yes!’

“I was surprised when she continued, however, ‘There are two universities in Alabama’ and of course, as it turned out, she attended the other one, Auburn University; naturally, there was great rivalry between the two, with the dominant one being the University of Alabama.

“She was amused rather than upset, so I quickly checked for the Auburn university logo and made it in fondant as well as a chocolate chip cookie covered with icing and then the logo placed on top, and wrapped it in cellophane.

“As a side note, the elephant I made was not related to the university story, but as it turned out, the mascot for the University of Alabama football team is an elephant!

“The “Don’t eat me” sign is because the fondant was not on the guest’s diet.

“Although the cookie was not on her diet either, she still appreciated them all and texted me the next morning, “My nightly art gave me a laugh and I’m keeping them.”

“And the story does not end there: I presented this same lady with four different sculptures as part of a fun game to raise charitable donations. Apparently, the eagle, which was one of the sculptures, is the mascot of Auburn University, so that was another coincidental winner, but she ended up selecting the Lion Family sculpture as a reward for the donation she made.”

All these figures for turndown can be made out of clay, marzipan, or fondant—I chose fondant in these food plates because there is no limit to what you can sculpt with it and because it can be dyed with food coloring, making creations that can be very colorful, and because it is edible.

This apple was made for a New York-themed birthday cake.

The little bear was served to a couple for their anniversary. 

The plate with the green vegetables was served to a guest on a diet of green vegetables for a few days; I did not plan it, but started creating as I went. 

“The guests loved their plates and judging by the comments from everyone else who saw them, I’d say they definitely spread smiles around.”

Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private hotel in Florida; he can be reached via the Institute.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.