News
The Press of Atlantic City
July 27, 2009
Ventnor man longest-serving waiter at Seaview Resort and Golf Club 
Luciano Galiano works a set-up Saturday for a wedding reception at Seaview Resort and Golf Club in Galloway Township. Galiano immigrated from Sicily and has worked at Seaview since 1962.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - The kitchen door swung open, letting in a white-haired, spectacled server and DJ-spun strains of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Snow (Hey, Oh).
Luciano Galiano, 76, of Ventnor, remembers when Saturday nights meant live music and dinner dances exclusive to club members and their guests.
Since 1962, Galiano has been hoisting trays piled with delicacies - Saturday night, it was cognac-bisque-drenched shrimp, scallops and lobster known as seafood navarin - at the Seaview Resort and Golf Club in Galloway Township.
It's a little bit tiring when you carry a heavy tray, but otherwise, you know. ... I used to work (more) hours in a week, he said, brushing off the stamina required by the job.
Galiano's 47-year tenure is the longest of 288 Seaview employees. Multi-decade stays are not the norm there, the average being 9.57 years, according to general manager Hans Mulders.
Galiano's exceptional loyalty can be explained by factors unique to him and those common to the local service sector.
Galiano has worked under multiple owners and management companies at Seaview since he got the job.
Neighbors in his native Sicily, coincidentally, settled near him and his family in Ducktown, the former predominantly Italian neighborhood in the blocks surrounding Mississippi Avenue in Atlantic City.
One of those friends - whose younger brother, Natale Fiorentino, still works there, too - got Galiano the job at Seaview when he was looking for a year-round position to support his new, growing family.
The money turned out to be good and steady enough for him to pay for college and advanced degrees for three of his four daughters.
The 12-month gig at what was then a private club also meant fewer tourists and more regulars among the clientele.
Galiano said he established relationships with many of them, and those connections were a big factor in his decision to make his job at Seaview a career, he said.
They wanted me to be a supervisor, but I did not want to be. I was making more money being a waiter, so why should I? Besides, people kept … asking for me because I was friendly and gave good service, Galiano said.
Such recognition, as well as nods from the employer, make a big difference in employee loyalty, even more so than income, according to Jennifer Barr, professor of marketing and advertising at Richard Stockton College in Galloway Township.
That could explain why Galiano and other workers have stayed at Seaview, despite the casinos cropping up on the horizon beyond the golf course.
The nine-year average tenure there is double the national standard and triple the duration typical of the hospitality industry, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Marriott International also raised pay when it took over the property in 1985 and opened Seaview to the public, Galiano said.
That likely minimized staffers who left for the casinos, where unionization boosted pay above national norms, according to Richard Stockton College Dean of Graduate Studies Deborah Figart, who studies economics and employment.
I did apply in one of the casinos and got an interview and was going to go, but then I changed my mind, Galiano said. I knew what I had and did not know what I was going to get, so I stayed where I was.
While durations as long as Galiano's likely will remain atypical, the recession will bind people to their current jobs.
In this economy, I'd expect to see voluntary turnover would go down, that people would just try to hold on to their jobs and do the best job they can for their supervisor, Figart said. This recession is so bad that it's going to change behavior for a considerable amount of time.
Natale Fiorentino sets up for a wedding reception Saturday at Seaview Resort and Golf Club in Galloway Township. Fiorentino's brother helped Galiano get his job at Seavaiew in 1962.
Chefs Association dinner gala raises money for future chefs
What promises to be a gala shindig of the first order - the Professional Chefs Association of South Jersey Presidents Ball - does exactly what it's name implies: raises money to help people become chefs. It also gives chefs and other restaurant professionals - who are constantly preparing scrumptious meals and entertaining others - a chance to enjoy and be pampered themselves. In addition to chefs and other food and beverage types, business people, politicians and other officials are expected to attend the elaborate affair, with more than 300 guests expected in all. "This is the 38th anniversary for the ball," says Willie Lewis, PCASJ president and scholarship chairman. "It is a true black-tie, red-carpet affair like you would find in Hollywood." The theme is winter wonderland, so Lewis says snowflakes will decorate the setting at Seaview Resort and Spa. But it will be nice and warm inside as guests enjoy a 90-minute open bar cocktail time, six-course meal beginning with fantastic appetizers and seafood, followed by entrees of filet mignon and Chilean sea bass, all with accompanying wines. Pastry chefs from Atlantic City's casinos will provide a dessert extravaganza. Lewis says the event helps support annual $1,500 scholarships to the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing.
"We like to see young chefs coming up because chefs like myself are getting older and we're getting out of it," Lewis says. "We want to mentor them."
The organization also helps support the Atlantic City Food Bank and Sister Jean's Kitchen to the tune of about $10,000 over the course of a year, Lewis says.
Besides great food and entertainment, a highlight of the annual ball is recognition of the Chef of the Year, the culinarian demonstrating continuous commitment to the food service industry through personal and professional development, leadership and educational support to fellow chefs. At The Shore Editor and Press of Atlantic City columnist Scott Cronick hosts the event.
This year's winners are kept a secret until the night of the ball, Lewis says. Last year's honorees were Tropicana Executive Chef Joseph LaPorte as Chef of the Year and Michael D'Angelo of Bally's as Pastry Chef of the Year.
South Jersey Professional Chefs Association President Chef Willie Lewis and Seaview Resort Executive Chef Graham Weber show off dishes that will be served at the Presidents Ball on Sunday, Feb. 28, at Seaview in Galloway Township, including prime filet and Chilean sea bass, top front, and langoustine ceviche and blood-orange sorbet, right.
