Orla Fox Colleran, restaurant manager at the G Hotel in Galway, describes her day
I’VE BEEN AT the G Hotel for three years. I started a month after it opened. It’s owned by the same people who own Ashford Castle, but what I love about our restaurant is that, even though it’s in a five-star hotel, it’s quite a casual dining room.
I started out working in IT training, but I knew pretty quickly it wasn’t for me. After college I travelled around the world and came back to a job in a restaurant where my mother was chef. Then I got the job here.
It’s about a 15-minute drive from my home, in Claregalway. I try to make sure I’m in at least once a week by 6am, to check breakfasts, but my typical start time is anywhere between noon and 3pm. I run room service, too, so there’s always lots to check up on. The most popular item at 3am is our G burger and chunky chips – for the soakage, I guess.
We only serve lunch on a Sunday, and, as for any restaurant manager, dinner is the big passion. I can’t bear people talking about the “dining room”. I really do cringe. For me it’s vital that we are seen as a standalone restaurant.
One of the first things I’ll do each day is check advance bookings and move the tables around to suit. We cater for about 120 each Saturday night.
Then we have to go through checklists to make sure all the cleaning and set-up is done properly. I have between 15 and 20 staff each evening, and one of the most important tasks any of us can do is polish the glassware. It’s mundane and boring but so essential.
As the evening goes on the buzz grows to the point when the atmosphere is electric. I love that sound of chat and background music.
Most of our guests are great, and we’ve had lots of support from the locals, which is terrific. If a difficulty does arise, my job is to make sure it is nipped in the bud. Only twice have I had to tell a guest that they can’t speak to our staff in such a way. Most people are lovely.
We’ll be full for Valentine’s tonight. In fact we’ve been booked up for the past month, even though we’ve opened up extra space to cater for demand.
We were recently named as one of the top three luxury hotels in the world by Condé Nast, and that has probably helped increase demand, which is great.
On a big night I’ll stay until around 2am before driving home to my husband. I can’t remember what it’s like to be out on a Saturday night, but I like the hours I work. It means I get to spend my mornings at home with our baby.
Orla Fox Colleran is restaurant manager at the G Hotel in Galway
In conversation with Sandra O’Connell