Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Service with a passion for hospitality Government
Noel Morreale was recently named vice president of food & beverage at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, from his previous role there as director of restaurants. He’s comfortable with the new role and more responsibility, he says. In the past, in addition to working for other venues, Morreale was also founder and president of his own culinary ventures. While some lessons learned were harder than others as a business owner, Morreale’s 360-degree scope helps him define perspective, an important skill in the workplace, he says. Most of all, says Morreale, he is extremely passionate about hospitality, culinary arts, and serving people.
Why my job is important: Everyone is in training for this role at a young age when we learn to say please and thank you, hold doors open, and offer food and drink in our homes. In business, hospitality is key to the consumer experience, including in the gaming industry.
Resume
Experience: Station Casinos, assistant room chef, beverage manager, restaurant general manager; Mortons of Chicago/Bertolini’s, restaurant manager; Fiamma Steakhouse, founder, president; Bambino Bar & Kitchen, founder, president; NY Yankee Steakhouse - Coconut Creek, general manager
Education: attended Canisius College, Buffalo N.Y.
On the job
What I do: I manage 700 line level employees and 73 managers/supervisors. Simply put, it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone in my department has the tools necessary to service our guests, from training and mentoring, to recognizing and rewarding.
Personal professional goal: Building relationships with everyone on my team.
What’s new: styles, trends, and appetites, all of which change very quickly.
Advice to young professionals: The very definition of hospitality is the willingness to be interrupted at any moment. If that’s not something you can embrace, then it’s not for you.
On the side
Reading: “Service Included: Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” by Phoebe Damrosch pioneers from 10 southeastern states. Championing water conservation, Wilson grows native desert and drought-tolerant plants. Wilson also reduced his chemical use by 80 percent by implementing air blast sprayers that atomize pesticides into fine droplets. Wilson began his first fiveacre nursery when he moved to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1972. He now runs the 30-acre nursery which produces plants that are sold throughout North America and exported to the Caribbean.
Equestrian
Katie Johnson will be a seasonal polo instructor at the Palm City Polo Club in Boynton Beach, from December until April, as an instructor for the polo school and coaching chukkers. Johnson is an instructor for her family’s Meadowview Polo Club in Lowell, Mich.
Lifestyle
Erickson Living has named Kathy McCrossin as director of sales at Devonshire at PGA National, in Palm Beach Gardens. She was most recently sales director at Maris Grove, an Erickson Living retirement community in Delaware County, Penn. Gov. Rick Scott reappointed Mario J. Bailey, senior government relations consultant with Becker & Poliakoff ’s government law and lobbying team, to the South Florida Regional Planning Council for a two-year term. The council helps determine policies that result in more prosperous and equitable communities, a healthier and cleaner environment, and a more vibrant economy.
Recognition
The Florida Atlantic University Alumni Association recently hosted its fourth annual Outstanding Young Owls reception to honor exceptional young alumni at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. The program recognizes alumni under the age of 40 from eight of FAU’s colleges for their personal and professional accomplishments. They are: Corey A. Hancock, director of the program office at the United States Agency for International Development in Côte d’Ivoire; Karrie C. Prehm, founder and chief executive officer of Global Regulation Advisers Corp.; Jessica Dornblaser, owner of The Everglades Architecture Group in Boynton Beach; Charlene N. Bobb-Smith, manager of talent development and employee engagement for the Worldwide Services Organization at Citrix in Fort Lauderdale; Ryan D. Wheeler, a project manager with Caulfield & Wheeler Inc.; Caitlin Saladrigas, an associate at Akerman LLP in West Palm Beach; Daphne C. Hanson, director of quality and risk management at Kindred Hospital of the Palm Beaches, and Chandana Buddhala, a senior scientist with the Department of Neurosurgery at Washington University in St. Louis.