Linus Morgan, First Hotel Reisen
Doug’s next “Outstanding Server” is Linus Morgan who works as a bartender at the First Hotel Reisen (www.firsthotels.com) in Stockholm, Sweden.
We have had the opportunity to interact with Linus on two separate visits to this hotel – the first time was this past November (2013), while the second visit to Stockholm and this hotel was February of 2014. Needless to say, after our first visit we were certainly looking forward to our return trip and to spend some time with Linus at “his” bar.
So, what makes Linus Morgan the Fryett Consulting Group’s next Outstanding Server? Yes, it is true that he spends the vast majority of his time mixing drinks and serving them to his customers (he also serves food to those who choose to eat at the bar, which we did on several occasions), but that in no way takes away from the qualities that make up an outstanding server. First and foremost, Linus is very interested in what the customer wants. In other words, he is very customer centric. (A common theme for all of those who make my “Outstanding Server” column.) From our very first interaction with him it was obvious he was not just there to “take our order” but to find out our likes and dislikes with respect to tastes, flavours, and textures and then recommend to us what he felt we would enjoy. In other words, he was very creative. He was spot on every time. We liked some of the cocktails that he made for us so much that he even took time from his busy bar to go back to his office and print several cocktail menus for us.
We also appreciated the fact that Linus never tried to “push” more drinks our way – something that many mixologists have a tendency to do. He was always attentive to our needs and went out of his way to make sure that we were not only enjoying our drinks but enjoying our experience in Stockholm as well. And that included recommending restaurants and menu items for us to visit. Man, he certainly knows the culinary scene in Stockholm!
During the last night of our stay in the hotel, after we returned from dinner, Linus invited us to the bar to experience some new cocktail “concoctions” that he was thinking of adding to the spring menu. He wanted our honest opinion as to what we thought about them. The two that we tried were excellent, just like the service and personal touch that Linus displayed to us during our stays there. We certainly look forward to making our way back to Stockholm and his hotel to once again experience Linus Morgan’s professional touch as a mixologist and server.
