delivery boy and stock boy, at an iconic grocery store in Southampton, called Catena’s known as a jeweler sto- ry of culinary ingredients especially prime meats. I would answer the phone, discovering the greatest private chefs from around the world would give me their list of ingredients. I would go around the store placing their shopping list into a box, and deliver it to the mansions. I would always ask questions like what are these little red sticks in a test-tube, and why did they cost $40. The private chefs would educate me explaining that they were not sticks, but the stigmas of the saffron flower, which was a main seasoning of paella, of course the next question would be what is paella, so my culinary training begun, I became a chef, a sommelier, a waiter, a food and beverage director, and ultimately a salesman for the special events industry. I laugh because I told the owner of Catena’s back in 1979, that I wanted to become a doctor, lawyer or an accountant because one day I wanted a house on the beach in Southampton. He informed me that no one who owned a mansion on the beach in Southampton was a doctor, a lawyer, or an accountant, that everyone of them was a salesman. So, I traveled to New Orleans, worked at Brennan’s in the French quarter for four years, traveled to England working for Trust House Forte Hotels, and landed in Brooklyn working for a small party rental company for ten years, eventually became the Executive Director of Sales at the largest party rental company in the United States for 22 years. The pandemic threw a monkey wrench into the world of hospitality and the entire industry was destroyed. A great friend sent me a plaque which read, “not every storm comes to destroy, some come to clear a path”. I was given a lifeline and as it turns out, the opportunity to work for a different type of hospitality company which I creat- ed with a man named Seth Stern, who owns a great company called Something Different Party Rental, and the SDPR Event Shop based out of my hometown of Southampton., N.,, Back where I started right next to Catena’s at 145 Main Street My analogy is that I was the captain of a great hospitality ship named the , “The Titanic”, which hit an iceberg called, “The Pandemic”, I went into the water and Seth and SDPR was the lifeboat and threw me a lifeline. Someone once wrote, “You do not need a new day to start over, you only need a new mindset”. I am starting over with a commitment to the readers of “Hospitality News”, to treat them as the most honored guests at our most important special event. Someone else wrote, “I am a lighthouse rather than a lifeboat, I do not rescue, but instead help others find their way to shore”. I look forward to our journey together, and I pledge to pay it forward, by shining the light of the “Beacon of Hospitality” on the greatest people, in the greatest in- dustry on the planet, “The Hospitality Industry”, with a renewed focus on wellness and collaboration leading to prosperity for all. It’s a new beginning and we have lots of great stories to share. Let’s get this party started! With gratitude and appreciation, Jim McManus Chief Business Development Officer Something Different Party Rental and Event Shoppe 145 Main Steet, Southampton, NY 11968
Phone 631-824-4070 Cell: 201-481-0188 Email: Jim@sdpartyrental.com
PAGE 13 / HOSPITALITY NEWS JUNE 2022
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