A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

9am – Regardless of whether it’s been a busy night, the night before, my eyes open at 9am. I spend time on my phone, which I refers to as “my monster”. It is now that I check the reports from the previous day and review emails and messages across all my social media platforms. I like to post on social media, at least one connected to Bella and one to the other projects in the pipeline.

9.30am – I message “Buon Giorno” to my family and partners on WhatsApp to let everyone I am awake and ready for the day. This is a very important part of my day. With so many groups on WhatsApp (32 groups for family members, 27 groups for business partners, 24 groups from Bella Restaurant and Lounge and well as 35 other groups related to businesses), it is critical that I stay on top of all the messages as not only do I use this as my main method of communication, but I interact with many of our guests via WhatsApp, as many guests like to book for Bella directly with me.

10am – Having showered and reset my mindset for the day, I get into my car and head to my weekly board meeting at the Gr8 Hospitality offices. The weekly meeting is with all the business partners to discuss each new project. We currently have a new beach club project at the W Dubai - The Palm in the pipeline for October, as well as another restaurant and lounge project scheduled to open at the Opus Building in November, so it’s all systems go.

11am – I prep the team to be ready for the game (operation). Generating positive energy is very important to me as well as nurturing talent in the team. Before service begins, I also like to talk to my team to discuss any issues raised in the report from the previous day.

11.45am – Before we begin the lunch service, I have my first team briefing of the day. Service is at the heart of operations at Bella so I always instruct my team to focus. 12pm – I use the lunch service to experiment with products and menus. Every fortnight, we change the lunch menu at Bella. We want our guests to feel like they are taking a trip to Tuscany or Milan. Absorbing the feedback from the dishes at lunch is very important, so that certain dishes from the lunch menu get absorbed and added to our a la carte menu.

1pm – I like to dedicate time to each of my kitchen employees for training. I believe that spending 10 mins every day to training each employee in a new skill is very important, for the team to grow.

3pm – Meelz Meeting. Meelz is the first marketplace in the world that connects chefs directly to customers. I am working with Meelz on not only a delivery menu and recipe boxes, but masterclasses, special Chef’s Table experiences to come into Bella’s Private Dining room and selected products for the e-store. I have pasta that I have created in my own shape that will be sold exclusively online, as well as two brands of coffee that I have developed. I have also hand-selected seafood products, conserves that keep 100% of their vitamins and nutrients, honey, gluten-free products, nectar, water, flour, chocolate and nuts.

4pm – After checking my task list for the day, it’s meeting time at Bella with either the front of house management team or the kitchen management. For the kitchen management meeting, I like to block out two hours every Wednesday afternoon where we don’t look at our phones and can focus on the task at hand.

6pm – I meditate and reset every day, ahead of the evening service. I either walk or do a sport to clear my head so I can be “fresh” for the busy service ahead.

7pm – I like to refer to evening service as “kickoff” or “starting the match.” The chefs are not stopped at the pass. I want our guests to be able to put a face behind the dish. As Chef Alessandro Miceli, I know that I am representing the face of the restaurant. One of the USPs at Bella is that we serve dishes in front of the guests. That means many of our dishes are finished at the table.

12am – I makes sure to oversee the last order/dish to leave the kitchen. Before each member of the kitchen team leaves, I say goodbye personally, and then head out - I am one of the last people to leave the venue.

1.30am – My day is not yet over. I use the time on the drive home to send voice messages which include recommendations based on the days meetings and service and send reports to staff based on the feedback from the service.

2am – I get home but before bed, I work on my agenda ahead of the next day. No two days are ever the same, but I love every part of it.