Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2013
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Bachelor’s Degree Training at Bar and Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris

Employment History

• Four Seasons Hotel Megève; Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris

Education

• BTEC First Diploma with Honours, Hospitality and Food & Beverage, Lycée Hotelier Jehanne de France; BTEC National Diploma Advanced with Honours, BTEC Higher National Diploma, Hospitality and Food & Beverage, Lycée Hotelier Albert de Mun, France; Bachelor’s Degree, Hospitality Management with Specialty Supervision and Operation in Luxury Hospitality with Honours, Université Paris Nanterre, France

Birthplace

• Nice, France

Languages Spoken

• French, English, some Spanish

“For me, this is not work. This is what I live for.” That’s Restaurant Director Nicolas Bragard on the enthusiasm, dedication and sheer delight he puts into shaping lunch and dinner service at Il Lago, the signature dining experience of Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva. Nicolas’ daily goal is to interact with the talent in the kitchen as well as the team he leads in the front of the house, and to make new friends of new guests and entice them to return. “I want everyone to see the passion we have for our product and inspire them to enjoy their time here as much as I do.”

Nicolas brings an abundance of Four Seasons experience to his role, including two years spent directing the service at Izumi, the Hotel’s rooftop hotspot for creative Japanese-fusion Nikkei cuisine. Working at the magnet for the cool crowd in Geneva, he used his comfort at conversation and ease with food and beverage to connect. “I have cultivated strong relationships with many of our clients. We got very close.”

Now stationed just off the lobby on the Hotel’s ground floor, Nicolas exudes the same warmth and openness to make international travellers and local dignitaries feel right at home in the elegant dining spaces of Il Lago and its convivial sister Le Bar des Bergues. He is focused on “creating a new dynamic” that loosens up the atmosphere of each venue without lessening the refined dining that customers look forward to from the longest-running hotel property in the city.

He has a team of 40 between each venue to help him accomplish it, including a handful of managers who oversee specific attributes of service. “I’m not very strict,” he says of his management style, noting that he prefers to take a personable approach to leadership, the better to spread around enthusiasm and build trust.

Nicolas traces his interest in hospitality to his childhood in Nice, France, where he grew up the son of bankers whose long, demanding days made him realize he didn’t want to follow in their professional footsteps. When his parents worked late, he would cook for his sister. “Dinner was my thing. I’d open the refrigerator and start putting ingredients together.” Thus, was born an interest in the kitchen as well as his signature dish, purée de pommes de terre et vanille fraiche – mashed potatoes and fresh vanilla. “My mother would say, ‘What are you doing?!’” he remembers. “Now, if you come to my place for dinner, you’re going to get mashed potatoes and fresh vanilla.”

Though naturally poised in his position, Nicolas is also extensively educated, having earned two diplomas with honours in hospitality management and a Bachelor’s degree in specialized management for the luxury segment. He’d hoped to become a chef de cuisine, but was steered toward the front of the house by a teacher who thought he was better suited for a guest-facing role.

Nicolas’ Four Seasons career began with an internship at Le Bar at Four Seasons Hotel Georges V, Paris. Three years and various promotions later, he joined the opening team in Megève in the French Alps as a Junior Assistant Manager at one of the restaurants, and then arrived Geneva in 2019, where he started at Le Bar des Bergues as a Supervisor before being promoted to the rooftop.

He admits to missing the scene at Izumi – “it was bit like family up there” – but now looks forward to opportunities to introduce the guests he got to know so well to Il Lago and Le Bar. “Trust me, I’m not trying to steal customers,” he notes with another laugh, adding, “I just enjoy showing off the amazing dining that Four Seasons brings to the city.”