Head Sommelier Timothy Connor
South African born Timothy first became interested in working in the hospitality industry aged 19. At High School he wanted to be an actor, but later studied hotel and restaurant management in Cape Town as this would allow him to perform on a different kind of stage!
His first official job was at the Ritz Carlton Beach Resort in Naples, Florida. He says that this job taught him about how to develop a relationship with a guest for life, and how to approach wealthy and famous guests.
At Bread Street Kitchen, Timothy took on his first Sommelier position and learnt from two head sommeliers about wines that were ‘new and upcoming, as well as what makes a good wine’.
One of the most memorable positions he held was at Core by Clare Smyth, here it was ‘all about polishing and refining your skills and service, pushing your knowledge and will power to its limit and finding out that when you’re at your limit you start to be onto of everything, you start to see things in a new way and notice thing before they even happen and how the smallest of details make the biggest impact’.
Timothy takes inspiration from a range of successful people, he says that ‘at the moment it would be Clare Smyth, Rob Ross, Tiago Correia and Gareth Ferreira. Their passion and drive for excellence and guest experience is just other worldly and to truly kill a guest with kindness is amazing to see which is something to strive for in everyday life’.
He is passionate about hospitality because of the speed of service making long days seem short, and the surprise and awe that guests feel when they see the attention to detail.
Outside of work, Timothy is always on the lookout for the best wines. ‘As a sommelier it’s my greatest passion to know more when it comes to both food and beverage as the more you know the better the experience you can give the guest’.