They know each other by heart, and have been friends since childhood. Damien the self-taught (34) is Food & Beverage Manager, Brian the temperate (31) is Restaurant Manager. Complementary and passionate, these two brothers from the N’Joy family have been running the restaurant since it opened.
Delphine Raimond
Your journey
Brian Brian: As a teenager, I didn’t lack for anything, but I wanted to earn a few bucks. Extra money meant 150 rupees, drinks, food, girls! (Laughs.) At 15, I left school to work in a factory, while dreaming of working on an ocean liner! From the age of 18 to 22, I lived with my aunt in Belgium and obtained a diploma in cooking. Two years later, I embarked on the Princess, before joining Club Med in Albion, my first job here.
Damien : When I was very young, I was already doing extras. When I was 14, I was offered two careers: jockey or catering. I chose the latter, to travel. I joined some big hotels and restaurants, then Club Med in Albion, where I was the youngest manager. After a year in France to see something different, I missed the restaurant business! On my return, I played an active role in the launch of some of Mauritius’s finest addresses; I even did personal service for Prince Edward!
What you admire in the other person
Brian His love of the job and his discipline! Damien is straightforward and upright, an example for me. But in the team we form, I’m the good guy, he’s the “bad guy”. (Laughs.) When he’s angry, he can hurt people… so I forget, because he doesn’t mean what he says.
Damien Brian is honest and loyal, and has never let me down. I’m closer to him than to my brother! Our training is similar, our passion for the job identical. You either do it right, or you don’t do it at all!
What drives you in this business
Brian Brian: Being with my staff, my first family! I spend more time with them than with my own. I’m a “little heart”, I listen to them, sponge off their worries and pains… They need me to keep their jobs, I need them to work in good conditions. N’Joy is a real challenge, but we get there and surpass ourselves every month!
Damien : The joviality, the atmosphere, the daily adrenalin! (Laughs.) I need to live at 100 an hour, to see people. Even if my duties aren’t directly in the service department, I run around with my teams, I’m a participative manager. This job is my whole life. I live to work, not the other way around! Today, we’re at the top and we’ve got to stay there!
