Gonzalo Bueno Appointed as Director of Food and Beverage at Four Seasons Hotel Doha

Four Seasons Hotel Doha announces the appointment of Gonzalo Bueno as Director of Food and Beverage. Stationed at the beachfront urban retreat along the Arabian Gulf in the capital of Qatar, Bueno leads the operation of all onsite dining and drinking outlets, including 10 world-class restaurants and lounges. He also oversees in-room dining with an extensive menu available around the clock and banqueting for gatherings of all types within the Hotel’s 2,146 square metres (23,099 square feet) of meeting and event space.

A new arrival to Four Seasons but an experienced hand in Doha, Bueno relishes the opportunity add fresh energy and new ideas to a dining scene that is firing on all pistons. “I didn’t really come here change anything, just to add my touch to what is already working so well,” he says, adding, “I’ve always believed that hospitality works best when it keeps moving.”

Bueno has a long record of success to back that up. Hailing originally from Mexico City, he travelled far from home starting in his teens, with summers spent in Canada, boarding school in Ireland, a sabbatical in Florence to learn to speak Italian, and hospitality school in Switzerland where he specialized in Hospitality Management.

After launching his career in the rooms division of a lifestyle hotel in Mexico City, Bueno switched to food and beverage, drawn by the creativity it enabled him to express. His management path took him from overseeing quality control at an independent restaurant in Quito, Ecuador, and then to supervise banqueting on the pre-opening team of The St. Regis Mexico City. “That,” he recalls, “is when things started to get serious.”

A little over two years later, Bueno followed the same hotel brand to Doha for the first of what has been a continuous string of positions in the Middle East. They included directing food and beverage operations on a resort island in the Arabian Gulf in Abu Dhabi, managing the opening of the independent restaurant Peyote by celebrity chef Eduardo Garcia in Dubai, and overseeing food and beverage operations for a major luxury hotel brand first in Dubai, then in Doha.

His fondness for the Middle East climbed steadily along the way. “I’ve been impressed by how the region is eager to open it up and grow. People here want it to be the best in the world, and they’ve attracted a lot of amazing hospitality talent to help them do it.”

Now in his first turn with Four Seasons, Bueno is pleased with the opportunity the ultra-luxury leader has given him, as well as with the time he has to explore the booming food and beverage scene in Doha. Meanwhile, his mother, who sent him around the world, is thrilled with his success. “She sometimes regrets making me travel so much, but it paid off.”