We spoke to Sabbi Gavrailov, our new head of hospitality, to talk about the future of food and dining at Baycroft.
Hi Sabbi. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’ve worked in the luxury hotel industry for the last fifteen years, mainly in the UK but also special assignments further afield. I gained my expertise from privately owned luxury properties part of “The Leading Hotels of the World, Pride of Britain, as well as international companies – such as Jumeirah Group and Hilton Group.
My aim has always been to be part of high-end, luxury hospitality environment, and I’ve been able to experience exactly that across different UK locations, and in all the different aspects of the hotel and dinning industry.
I think the luxury care home sector has a huge potential and widens the hospitality sector. With all the experience I’ve gained over the years, I strongly believe that it will allow be to contribute strongly to the success of the company.
Building brand is not a sprint it is a marathon and it will require a lot of expertise, consistency and determination which I am prepared to offer.
The luxury dining and hospitality experience that every resident deserves in our care homes is the main aim in this journey.
What’s your vision for hospitality at Baycroft?
My master plan! Well, we have four homes opening within the next year, and we want to make our hospitality offering stand out among the competitors and eventually become a market leader in every aspect.
At present the main focus is selecting and developing a strong hospitality team of chefs, management and service brigade who have the same aspirations as mine and are ready to join me in my venture.
We’ll have the highest standards for our residents.
Could you tell us about your ideas for the future of food and dining at Baycroft?
There are several aspects to consider when we look at the dining experience it is a combination of guest focused, engaged and well-trained team, high quality offering, prestige dining environment and consistency.
First and foremost, it has to be locally sourced and sustainable. We always make sure that what we do has as little impact on the environment as possible.
That means we’ll have local suppliers, plus regular meetings and tasting sessions with the chefs.
We’ll always have fresh produce, so our food will be delicious as well as environmentally friendly. Our chefs are incredibly creative, and we’re making sure they can work with the freshest foods.
I want our team to deliver the best for our residents, and that means listening to theirs and their family’s feedback and reflecting it. We want food that chefs believe to be great, but also what our residents tell us they’d like to see more of.
It’s also important to remember that dining doesn’t end with choosing the menus – it’s also about the overall interaction with our residents.
The food must be well presented, and be part of a whole experience that emphasises quality and care.
Each home has its own executive chef, their kitchen team, and a team of hosts. Altogether, fifteen people in each home will concentrate on the delicious food, and quality experience that we give our residents.
Thanks Sabbi! To round things off, could you tell me what your ideal dinner party would look like?
To me, it’s less about the guests that you bring, and more about the cultures that you represent.
I like a challenge. I’ve worked with many different cuisines and cultures, and I always try to understand individual customs and food traditions. I’d love to be able to be creative, and to be exciting.
Perhaps I’d invite a chef, and the evening would be about featuring different experiences that my guests could enjoy – in the way that Chef Heston Blumenthal would be creative with the food and with the whole dinner setting.
Going back to thinking about our residents, they dine with us several times a day – how do you keep that special? How do you make it an experience? Those are my goals.
You can read more about how Baycroft chefs design a menu to please all tastes here.