Sommelier: Du skal gide noget for at blive set

Hun fandt ud af, at børn ikke er lette at gøre glade. Derfor skiftede Karina Dall kurs og blev tjener og sommelier. Et erhverv, der ikke altid er let foreneligt med rollen som kvinde og mor.

Words / Simon Verheij

Hun er den tjener, der har været ansat længst tid på Restaurant Dannebro på Comwell Kongebrogaarden, der sidste år blev kåret som Danmarks Bedste Luksushotel ved Danish Travel Awards.

Selv de mere kække, mandlige kollegaer udviser respekt og spørger hende til råds. Men faktisk er hun kun interesseret i, at alle i fællesskab giver gæsterne en god service og oplevelse. Ellers kan det hele være lige meget, som hun udtrykker det.

- For mig kommer gæsten altså først. Jeg er heller ikke bleg for at anerkende, at en gæst eller en kollega ved mere, end jeg gør. Jeg har jo ikke patent på at have ret. Hvem i alverden har i øvrigt det?

Karina Dall udstråler da også ro, når hun med sikker hånd serverer mad og skænker vin for sine gæster på Restaurant Dannebro. Det var egentlig ikke tjenerfaget, der lokkede først, men derimod en pædagoguddannelse.

YOU HAVE TO BE MOTIVATED IF YOU WANT TO BE NOTICED

She discovered that making children happy is far from easy. Therefore, Karina Dall changed careers and became a waiter and sommelier. This profession is not easy to combine with the roles of woman and mother.

She is the waiter who has been employed the longest at Comwell Kongebrogaarden’s Restaurant Dannebro, which last year was named as Denmark's best luxury hotel at the Danish Travel Awards.

Even her more self-assured male colleagues show her respect and ask her for advice. But actually, she is only interested in whether or not everyone is working together to give their guests good service and a great experience. Otherwise, as she puts it, there’s not really any point in doing it.

"The guest always comes first, as far as I am concerned. Neither am I ashamed to admit it when a colleague or one of our guests has greater expertise than I do. I don’t have a monopoly on being right. Who on earth does?”

Karina Dall also radiates calm, as she confidently serves food and pours wine for Restaurant Dannebro’s clientèle. She was not originally drawn to the waiting profession, instead choosing to train as a nursery teacher.

» - Der findes mange kvindelige sommelierer. Men deres synlighed – eller mangel på samme – hænger unægtelig sammen med kvindens rolle som mor. «

- Det var altså ikke lige mit temperament. Jeg kan godt lide at gøre mennesker glade, men børn er bare ikke så lette at gøre glade. Så jeg greb chancen i en sen alder og begyndte som tjenerelev på Hotel Koldingfjord.

Faget var ikke helt fremmed for Karina. Hendes mor arbejdede som smørrebrødsjomfru, mens Karina selv stod i opvasken. I dag er hun udlært tjener og tog siden uddannelsen som sommelier. Et fag, de fleste ikke typisk forbinder med kvinder.

- Der findes mange kvindelige sommelierer. Men deres synlighed – eller mangel på samme – hænger unægtelig sammen med kvindens rolle som mor. Det er svært foreneligt at have børn i dette fag, som er hårdt og ofte med sene og lange vagter. Du skal gide noget for at blive set. Men generelt har tjenerfaget det hårdt i disse år. Der er kæmpe mangel på uddannede tjenere. Den problematik bekymrer mig meget mere end kønsfordelingen.

Selv sværger Karina til vine fra Mosel og mousserende vine fra Champagne.

- Jeg kan godt lide bobler, og champagne rummer altså bare en spændende og god historie. Og så har jeg en hang til vinene fra Mosel, fordi de har fin balance mellem det søde og syrlige på én gang.

“It didn’t really suit my temperament. I like to make people happy, but making children happy is just not that easy. So, at a rather late age, I seized the opportunity when it arose and began training as a waiter at Hotel Koldingfjord.”

The profession was not entirely new to Karina, however. Her mother was an open sandwiches professional, while Karina did the washing up. She is now a qualified waiter and has also trained as a sommelier, a profession rarely associated with the fairer sex. “There are actually plenty of female sommeliers. But their visibility (or lack of it) is undeniably linked to the role of women as mothers. This profession is difficult to combine with motherhood, as it is hard work and often involves long hours and working late. If you want to be noticed, you have to be motivated. The waiting profession has had a tough time in recent years in general.”

”There is huge shortage of qualified waiters. This problem worries me far more than the gender distribution.” Karina’s own preference is for wines from the Mosel area and sparkling wines from Champagne.

“I like sparkling wines and Champagne has such a great and exciting history. And then there’s my preference for Mosel wines, because they have a great balance between sweetness and acidity.”