THE UNFORGETTABLE FACES OF OUR BEACH HOUSE

Introducing…Marc from Anchor & Den
 
Marc Mata, Restaurant Manager of Anchor & Den, is a familiar face at our Beach House. He moved to Cayman from Barcelona four years ago and has since worked for various departments at the resort. But it was in 2013 when Marc decided to join the Food & Beverage team as the Supervisor of Solana Restaurant (now Veranda) that he found his true calling. Here he talks about his inspirations and explains what he loves the most about our newly transformed Beach House.
 
When you spend time with Marc, one of the first things that comes to mind is how much he enjoys the opportunity to socialize with different people. He said: “Managing Anchor & Den has given me the opportunity to get to know a lot of the local community. I actually feel that when they come to visit me, I completely forget my job and it is like hosting your friends, you give them the best that you have and they have an amazing experience. It is more about cultivating friendships with the local community and having repeated and long lasting relationships. This is what I really enjoy.”
 
Another thing that becomes apparent when speaking to Marc is his love of food. He explained: “Being a foodie is a big part of who I am and my culture. Plus I like to go to different spaces with fantastic décor and music. It is all about the whole concept of a place matching the experience that you are looking for. I think that is why I made the move into bars and restaurants because that is something that I was living in my personal life. It was perfect – I was able to blend my passion in life with my passion at work.”
 
When asked what he likes the most about being part of the Beach House team, he pointed to the fact that you can be yourself. He said: “The person you are outside of work you can be while you are at work. The management team here really encourages individualism and they allow you to be yourself. It is amazing because you really feel it amongst the staff – they want to come in and work hard. You don’t dread coming into work. You feel like you are part of it and you are proud of what you do.”
 
He continued: “Talking about exciting, opening up a brand new bar and restaurant for me was something that was completely new. It was my first time being part of something like this.” Besides the food, Marc is really excited about Anchor & Den’s unique beverage offering. He explained: “Our Head Bartender got together with the rest of the bartenders and put together a list of 25 cocktails. We conducted a number of cocktail tastings and once that was done we kept tweaking things and adapting to the new trends and also listening to our customers’ feedback. For the items that weren’t as popular, we looked into what we could do to re-launch and re-invent them to make them more attractive options for our guests.”
 
So when Marc isn’t recommending the ultimate dish paired with the perfect cocktail at Anchor & Den, what does he focus his energy on? With his love for going out and discovering creative and beautiful spaces where people can enjoy themselves, he naturally gravitates towards making music as a DJ. He gushed: “I DJ for fun. I like to play music for my friends and people invite me to DJ at their birthday celebrations and events. I don’t have much time but I love it when I have a couple of hours to myself in the morning and I put on music that I really love and I DJ. It is one of the things that I love to do best. It is like when you are reading or you are going to gym and you are by yourself without any distractions – DJing is one of my favorite getaways from the pressure of work. It is a great escape.”
 
And Cayman seems to provide the perfect environment to allow him to balance all of his passions. He concluded: “What I love about living in Cayman is the fantastic culinary scene. I really enjoy going to all the restaurants and different lounges and I love to try the new seasonal products paired with the proper cocktail or wine. This is something that I feel is really fun to do. We are lucky to live on an island with so much choice.”