Creative Corner
Featuring Butlers who Apply their Creative Talents to their Art and their Profession
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Rick Fink
This painting is of the Rotunda, a folly*, looking back across the lake towards Ditchley Park, where Mr. Fink runs his butler school.
* A folly is a costly ornamental building in a large garden or park that serves no practical purpose—hence the use of a word that normally means «a foolish idea.»
Mr. Rick Fink has been in the butler profession for over six decades, is the principal of the Butler Valet School in England, and a venerable member of the International Butler Trainer Alliance. He started painting four years ago and before that, when he was in his 20 ‘s—the time in between he was too busy butling to paint!
Moving beyond the statue of the mermaid featured in last month’s issue:
Mr. Gutman leveraged it into cards for use with guests, or that could even be purchased in the gift store. It helps to know that Mr. Gutman’s resort is located near a venue in Florida that features mermaids, hence the attraction for some guests—especially as the cards are made by the staff and only available at the hotel. The idea being that the hotel’s logo can be added for fuller branding
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Which brings up the most common question Mr. Gutman receives from returning guests: «Do you still do those apples?» thereby proving that his early sculpting efforts with carved apples became part of the hotel’s brand in the minds of these guests—much like hotels and resorts have mascots—The Plaza and its iconic, fictitious Eloise, that drives multiple events and guests to return, for instance, or the Peabody’s ducks. In this case, it was the butler’s creations that added a little bit of color and value for the guests receiving butler service.
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Returning to this culinary focus, here is a a birthday cake created in liaison with the pastry chef for a guest who was a VfB Stuttgart fan—the date 1984 being the year of the guest’s birth, not the 1893 founding of the football club. Naturally, the cake and gesture were very well received.
Mr. Kobi Gutman is one of the most accomplished hotel butlers in the world, currently working as the head butler at a private resort 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.