Originating from the midlands in England, Henry lived in Scotland and London before working on the QE2 cruise liner and migrating to Australia.
Henry has spent 25 years working in the hospitality industry and recently enrolled in an advanced diploma in hospitality at William Angliss.
Getting to know Henry a little better...
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Being able to share my extensive knowledge of food and wine with the customers that patronise the dining room, having spent over a decade managing venues around Melbourne I have taken great pleasure in developing food and beverage operations, the teams that work in them and a loyal customer base to frequent them.
What do you like doing when you're not at work?
Outside of work at Henry & the Fox I enjoy spending time with my partner Carol, listening to music, eating out, cooking at home, wine and beer appreciation, pilate's classes, swimming, walking, reading books, surfing, karaoke, watching TV, catching up with friends and family.
What is your favourite food? Why?
When I am feeling lazy I go for Sausages with HP sauce, they are easy to prepare and gives me a sense of comfort - I think it is a British thing! When inspired and energised, I like to create many different meals from roast lamb with all the trimmings through to Tom Yum soup. As Carol has a good appetite and loves her food we often make the most of the many eating venues available around Melbourne and again we are happy to snack our way through a variety of cuisines.
Is there any foods you dislike? Why?
I dislike Bananas, I blame it on my mum she used to almost force feed them to us as children, now just the smell of them makes my stomach turn, so much so that when I worked at The Greenhouse Restaurant in Mayfair, London, I entered a competition with our pastry chef Mark Stone, the competition was to match desserts with wine. We were presented with 6 wines and had to create a dessert menu that showed a pairing of the selected brands and the chef's food. Upon presentation to the management of the restaurant we tasted all six choices with said wines. I opted not to taste the banana dessert presented much to the distaste of Mrs Levin the managing director a ferocious woman who didn't mix her words. With much displeasure I was told to taste the said plate, thank the stars I did the matching was wrong, back to the drawing board for the chef and I, the end result was that the retuned banana dessert became the customers favourite choice and won us 2nd place in the national finals!
Do you have a role model?
Currently my role models are the people that I share my personal and professional life with. As a child my role models were my family and the community that we grew up in, upon joining the work force my role models became the people that I worked with. At the tender age of 16 it was a group of hardened female waitresses with an average age of 65 who at no time suffered fools gladly and taught me some of my core work values. As my career progressed I moved onto work with managers, sommeliers, chefs, restaurateurs and wine makers that have all inspired me to achieve greater heights.
Welcome to the team Henry!
