Go. Eat. Leave.
That’s the three-step process used by restaurant and banquet guests at the Hyatt Downtown, but it doesn’t address what happens behind the scenes to make that possible.
That part is the responsibility of Executive Chef Scott Brittingham and the culinary team at the hotel.
Brittingham, who grew up near Philadelphia, discovered his passion for the restaurant business when he was in high school. He took a part-time job as a dishwasher and soon began working his way up in the kitchen.
“The chef liked my work ethic, so he trained me to be a prep cook,” said Brittingham.
After high school, he was accepted to study at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.
After graduation and working in restaurants in Boca Raton and Oklahoma City, Brittingham joined Hyatt in 1983 in Detroit and has since worked at eight of the brand’s properties.
He moved to Jacksonville in 2005 from Baltimore when Hyatt took over the former Adam’s Mark Hotel.
Of the 450 people who work at the Hyatt, about 30 work in the kitchen, which is open 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
The food service operation prepares meals for the banquet and catering department, Trellises Restaurant, Currents Lounge, Jaxx Sports Bar, Einstein Bagels and room service.
Brittingham said on average, the staff feeds 30,000 guests a month and as many as 2,000 at a time.
“To be in the culinary field, you have to have a passion for it,” he said.
That passion includes schedules that can change from day to day, flexible hours and spending a lot of time on your feet, Brittingham said.
“Eight hours can easily turn into 14 hours and we’re always busy on holidays, because that’s when people want to go out to eat.”
Brittingham said the biggest change he has seen since he became a chef is how much less time is spent cooking and how much more time is spent in administration to make sure all the pieces fit together to maintain Hyatt’s standards for quality and service.
“I have a very strong team. My goal when I came here was to have the best culinary team in town and I think we have reached that pinnacle,” he said.
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