Message from the Chairman
by Steven Ferry
This past month I have been focusing in the Maldives, and will next month in Cap Ferrat, France, on supporting privately owned, boutique hotels that are pushing the envelope on the difference between private service butlers and hospitality butlers. The level of service expected in private estates can and is being offered in public hotels—a logical and inevitable path that has been a long time in coming…
Butlers in the Media
by Steven Ferry
“Home energy butlers” and a hotel package that includes a robot butler delivering an engagement ring and bottle of champagne together with an on-screen proposal for marriage are some of the latest pieces of ill-conceived creativity involving our august profession. The mis-steps of the butler to Jeffrey Epstein continue to be revealed, making it clear that he knowingly supported and facilitated the…
Letters to the Editor
An Alex Parker just completed a series of emails/letters with the editor in order to write an article on the new lead character in the Batman movies—his butler! “I’m working on a piece about the character of Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s butler, and I’m trying to obtain some background on how the professional role of butlers has changed. Do butlers like Alfred still exist?” We will run this series of emails with the editor’s responses…
Professional Standards of Performance, Applications #19: A Worthy Foundation (III)
by Prof. Richard Ratliff
Two previous articles on the foundational principles undergirding the butling profession addressed (1) the butler as master of relationships and (2) what constitutes high quality of life. This third installment addresses the profession’s moral imperative—how to recognize a moral issue, what is moral or not, and why it is important. Several conditions must be present for an issue to be one of morality:-Moral issues have to do with behavior, things that people do or don’t do; – Someone is affected by…
The Wisdom of Butlers Past, Part 28: Food & Beverage
by Steven Ferry
Advice concerning the kind of items used in the dining rooms of private houses includes how to manage cut-glass jugs and basins—the jugs mainly being used for “spring water for the dessert.” So they drank spring water, and particularly with dessert—but why not at other times, one wonders? Key advice is not to allow the cut crystal to become dusty, as it is difficult to clean thereafter. The solution in those days…
The Butlers Speak: Paperwork and Digital
by Steven Ferry
(1) In response to the question, “In the digital age, what paperwork still needs to be kept?” we find an almost universal reliance on, and appreciation of, paperwork, and a utilization, slightly begrudgingly in some cases, of digital files. This one might expect from a traditional profession such as ours. “When reading these questions, I am—once again—faced with the uncomfortable truth about my disinterest in modern technology…
Staff Training: Feedback
by Frank Mitchell
Feedback is used in training to assist the learning process, guiding and correcting participants. After each practice and after the final assessment, we tell the participant what they did well so that they will keep doing it. We also tell them what can be improved, how to improve it, and why our way is better. Corrective feedback that does not include an explanation and a suggested alternative, amounts to little more than criticism…
Let’s Talk Mixology, Part 47: Gimlet
by Amer A. Vargas
This time we travel back in time to review and enjoy a very classic cocktail that is thought to be first produced about nine decades ago! The gimlet is a concoction famous for its tangy and acidic taste, a consequence of using lime juice (although some more modern versions use lime cordial) as a mixer. The preparation is really simple, as it is served directly in a highball or lowball glass filled with ice. Add 45 ml/1.5 oz of gin, followed by…
Consulting the Silver Expert: How to Polish Chain Mail (Mesh)
by Jeff Herman
Chain mail (also known as chainmail or chain maille) is one of those items that can perplex most collectors when it comes to polishing. Some will reach for a chemical dip because it removes tarnish quickly, but will bring about unwanted results such as these two knife handles that were tarnished. The top was gently polished with Earth Friendly Silver Polish, the bottom was left in Tarn-X for exactly 20 seconds, then neutralized in water with dissolved baking soda. You can see that virtually all patina…
Creative Corner
featuring Kobi Gutman
The mold of Mephistopheles that was featured in the July issue has been utilized to make a plain chocolate version and a chocolate version with gold and red cocoa-butters (pictured)—with some assistance in airbrushing from one of the chefs (a gold-medal winner of the Young Chef competition in the US) at Mr. Gutman’s hotel. A cast was also made from resin & plaster, with a small magnet embedded at the back…
In Their Words: How Those Trained by the Institute’s Trainers Feel about Their Experience, or Their Managers about the Results
We do expect to change lives with our training. In one case recently, one student, after just three hours of training on the EQ skills, used them to save a man’s life who was seconds away from committing suicide. Congratulations and all power to that butler for being bold enough to use the skills he had been taught in a most-pressing of situations. Below are successes from some of the recent butlers graduates at The Nautilus...
Recent Hospitality Graduates
We welcome to our growing family of butlers worldwide, these recent graduates from the Caribbean to the Maldives. Prof. Steven Ferry shared his knowledge and expertise with the ladies and gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico, as well as with the team members of Milaidhoo and The Nautilus Resorts, both in the Maldives. Some of these trainees were “refreshers” (just being polished on their skills), some were new graduates. To all of them, our best wishes for a brilliant future…
Placement and Job Vacancies: Butlers for Hong Kong Family, Junior Butler for Scottsdale AZ, PA for England and Europe-Couple for Miami-EM for US and Europe
Will be tasked with managing the household, F&B service, housekeeping, some travel involved. 65K USD base salary p.a., health insurance, etc., and annual flight ticket home. Mandarin language skills a plus, Occidentals welcome, m/f; In Scottsdale AZ there’s a vacancy of a live-in position for a younger male butler who is detail oriented, eager to serve. Live-in chef and multiple contractors maintain the 9,500 sq. ft home. A recent graduate from a butler school or someone with a few years experience could be perfect…
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. Contact us for all your training needs via email at enquiries@modernbutlers.com or via telephone: USA 1-813- 354-2734. We invite you to also visit our website www.modernbutlers.com for more information.
Please email the editor of The Modern Butler’s Journal at newsletter@modernbutlers.com with any article ideas, concerns, comments, or suggestions.