F�ilte Ireland Careers

What were the main 'career decision' milestones in your life so far?

I have been working in hospitality for 8 years, which doesn’t seem like a long time, but I am 22. So, hospitality has been a big part of my life, which I am very happy about. Through those eight years there have been a number of decisions that have influenced my career. I would however say that the most influential career decision was to study to obtain my bachelor’s degree in culinary arts. It offered me the opportunity to access the most influential people and opportunities in the industry. This degree really was a big key for me to unlock a door to my future. It is of course not necessary to obtain a degree to be successful in hospitality but for me I really felt it gave me the foundation I needed to build my career.

Who are the people who most influenced your career direction?

My career path, I am fortunate to say has always been clear to me. Initially I fell in love with cooking through my grandmothers. Being shown how to make scones by my nana, when I wasn’t even tall enough to see over the kitchen counters is an experience that forever stays clear in my mind. Watching how she took the simplest of ingredients and turned them into something that people would drool over. Watching her hands delicately turn the dough in the bowl and the love and care she put into the product for no other reason than to make her family happy really changed my perspective on cooking. I would always notice the joy it brought her to see her family sitting around the table enjoying the delicacies she had created. I too found my purpose in these experiences.

I fell in love with hospitality through my auntie Phyl, her love for hosting and making family gatherings the best they could be really stuck out to me. I always wanted to be involved and would ask her for jobs to do. Little did I know that little me, was writing my future through these acts.

Choosing a career isn’t an easy task, how are you supposed to know what you want to do with the rest of your life so early on? I knew, I doubted myself at times considering pursuing a career in emergency medicine, but I knew where I was destined to go. I, being so excited to begin my career, was met with a lot of negativity towards my choice. Consistently knocked down, my excitement ignored everyone I told about my future career path attempted to convince me out of it. ‘Its not a career for a woman’ ‘It’s too strenuous of a career’ ‘ There are no prospects for you there, you are too clever to do that’ are just a taste of what I faced. Through support from my great friend Daniel Mguire (who also loves hospitality) and my amazing parents, I never wavered from my decision. I knew that this industry is where I would be happy. I can say now, looking back, it has been the best decision I have ever made, I couldn’t be happier with my life and career. I give credit to past me who knew what I wanted and didn’t give in to the negativity.

How did you go about getting your current job?

I found my role in café Riva through an online posting. I interviewed for the job, completed a trial shift, and found out shortly after that I was successful in my interview through a phone call from my now employer. This was new environment for me as it was my first taste of catering compared to my previous roles in restaurants. My role as director was one both my business partner Daniel and I have been developing for many years now.

What are the main tasks and responsibilities?

In Café Riva there are various aspects of the business. My day-to-day tasks consist of interpreting the orders and discussing with my colleagues what we are planning to deliver. We then get to cooking and preparing the food products. We get to work with some amazing Irish products which is one of my favourite parts of the job. Its always a pleasure to be able to support local Irish businesses through our work.

At Dublin Food & Wine we too find great satisfaction in promoting Irish producers and shining a spotlight on the work they do. Consulting with Daniel about business operations is a big part of my role as director. With our business in its infancy we are making a lot of important decisions that will form the path to our future as a company. This means my role here is consistently exciting.

What are the main challenges?

Facing challenges can be a daunting task, however I find the beauty in them. they offer you a new opportunity to grow and learn. I find enjoyment in trying to figure out how to deal with challenges.

In my role as a chef, I find challenges present themselves in different ways. Supply chain issues can be difficult to dealt with as they are very much out of my hands, finding a way to deliver the required product when these issues present can be difficult at times.

What do you like most?

I believe the best thing about my job is that everyday is different. No one day is the same, this means its quite difficult get complacent in your work. I find I’m constantly kept on my toes which I love. I find a lot of satisfaction in making people happy through food and changing people’s experiences with food. Working with good products and supporting Irish businesses through my work is an amazing thing to be able to do.

Is there anything that isn't great?

If I was to mention the few negatives about my current role, I would be honest and say as much as I love starting early and finishing early because it suits my life style, It can be quite difficult to convince myself to get out of my bed at 4am. But once im up I reap the benefits so it’s just the initial difficulty which I feel is probably a universal experience.

In the nature of what I do, failures are abundant. Sometimes things just don’t turn out how you want them to. When I started in my career, I let these things get me down, feeling as though these failures defined my skill level as a chef. As I have grown in my career and maturity, I have realised that failures are just a part of life. No matter how hard you may try somethings will just not go your way, and that is so oaky, and it doesn’t mean you are a failure. I personally have found pride in my failures in recent years because I believe that failures are proof that you are trying. If you don’t try you don’t succeed.

What particular skills do you bring to your workplace?

I think my ability to be a team player and give my all are vital characteristics that I present to my current role. Time constraints can be difficult in my current workplace and being able to turn products out in a timely manner is key. Working as a team ensures that we can deliver the requested products efficiently. I believe being a team player is vital to any chef’s success. Professional kitchens are not a place where you can get away with being selfish in your work. It takes a village in this industry, and everyone must work together to ensure the success of a hospitality business.

What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?

In secondary school, although I knew what I wanted to do, I opted not to take home economics for my leaving certificate, which tends to shock most who ask. I chose to do this as it was not a practical enough subject for me. I love to work with my hands, and the theoretical side of that subject just didn’t suit me. I chose to undertake construction studies instead and was very successful in this subject. I don’t think these choices had a huge influence on my career but were defiantly the right decisions for me at the time. I think its important to study subjects that you enjoy, as if you enjoy them you will be okay with giving them more time and thus be more successful in them.

What is your education to date?

The education I have obtained to date is:

Junior certificate, Leaving certificate, BA in Culinary Arts at TUD. I also have achieved various certificates in food safety, fire safety and first responders. I am currently undertaking my master’s in hospitality management in TUD as well.

What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?

As I had mentioned my BA in Culinary Arts was very influential in my career. Some modules have proven to be more applicable than others. We did take a class on sandwich making, that at this point in my career I am still waiting to apply to my career. But many other modules have proven vital to my day to day such as Advanced wine studies (knowing what wines work with what dishes is beneficial to be able to suggest for clients). And obviously all of my practical training modules in this course are very important. A module I didn’t think would be relevant but has proven to be vital was, Culinary Science. Looking through microscopes and completing lab studies was not what I expected when I signed up for the course initially. However to know the scientific explanations as to what happens when you are cooking really takes your career up a notch.

What have been the most rewarding events in your career so far?

I am proud of many achievements in my career. My graduation being one of the bigger ones. To be able to show my parents that all our hard work paid off and the sacrifices that were made were worth it. Graduating beside my best friend and now business partner Daniel is something that I will always remember. To look back on our progression together is something I will never not be proud of.

I was selected for and took part in the Taste the Atlantic Young Chefs programme ran by BIM and Chef Network in 2023. This was an experience that money cant buy and has proven to be such a positive influence on my career.

I achieved a scholarship for my final college year of my BA. That was something that I believed was out of reach for me. I was over the moon when I got the news and still am so grateful for that.

Being a member of the Chef Network advisory Council is something that is forever stimulating in its work. To work alongside some of the most influential people in the hospitality industry is amazing in itself. Delivering the work, we do as a council is brilliant, a team of professionals working towards making the industry the best it can be is profound.

Ill finish with starting my own business, this is something that I had always deemed of and now to be finally be able to say I am a business owner filles me with uncomprehensible pride.

What personal qualities do you have that helps you in your career?

I think my ability to be a team player and give my all are vital characteristics that I present to my current role. Time constraints can be difficult in my current workplace and being able to turn products out in a timely manner is key. Working as a team ensures that we can deliver the requested products efficiently. I believe being a team player is vital to any chef’s success. Professional kitchens are not a place where you can get away with being selfish in your work. It takes a village in this industry, and everyone must work together to ensure the success of a hospitality business.

What is your dream job?

I am in the very fortunate position to say that I currently hold my dream job. But some of the things I dream to be able to do in this role are to be able to promote and spotlight Irish producers. I think the work they do is often times underappreciated or overlooked and I would love to change that.

I dream of making a long-lasting positive impact on hospitality, to set a standard of positive industry culture and to be able to make hospitality a great place to work and build a career in. I would like to promote a Hopeful Hospitality sector.

I think my end goal is to make hospitality an industry, that when people choose to study and persue it, they are not met with a slurry of negativity like I was.

Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?

My current role allows me to have a lifestyle that I am happy with. It gives me the opportunity to live the life that I want and be happy. I really love what I do, and I think that that alone bring me a lot of satisfaction. My job in ‘Café Riva’, catering for private jets, starts early in the morning this is great as I attend college in the afternoons as I am currently obtaining my Masters degree in Hospitality Management (did I mention I love hospitality). My role as director of Dublin Food & Wine is something that has be a dream job of mine for years, so to say I finally hold my dream role is something amazing. This role allows me to interact with clients and deliver some of the most amazing events. I find great satisfaction in making our clients happy and helping them create lasting memories. Both of my roles allow me to live a life that I am very excited about.

What advice would you give to someone considering this job?

If you enjoy looking after people and have an interest in cooking, I think you should definitely look into beginning this career. A great resource is Chef Networks Open Kitchen Programme which gives those a taster of the industry before they decide to dive in. I think one of the main qualities I find important in this industry is always wanting to learn and being the best you can be, consistently developing yourself. Communication and team work is key to this role too but can be developed as you learn and work.

What are the three most important personal characteristics required for the job?

Without these characteristics I probably wouldn’t last a day in my jobs:

Communication, Being a team player, Creativeness, Thinking outside the box, Passion, Organisation and Cleanliness.

Have you undertaken, or do you plan to undertake any further training as part of your job?

I have undertaken some brief upskilling courses, however I would love to take part in a fishmonger masterclass and butchery. I feel as though these are dying skills in our industry and I would love to be able to practice them. I also plan on completing my WSET (Wine Qualifications) in the coming year too. Upskilling and additional courses are only beneficial to your career and I am of the belief that you can never stop learning there is always new developments and areas to learn.

What kinds of work experience would provide a good background for this position?

The beauty of hospitality is that there are so may various aspects to it, so many avenues that can be pursued. Depending on the aspect you have an interest in the answer to this question varies. I would say, if there’s somewhere you like frequenting for coffee or food or anything like that, that would be a good place to start for some work experience. If you enjoy the service that they deliver it would be a great interest to you what goes on behind the scenes.

What is your current job title?

Fiona Keyes is Chef / Director for Dublin Food and Wine Luxury Catering & Events.