Restaurants have been a popular destination for the public for decades, allowing them to explore exciting dishes from other cultures and enjoy a labor-free meal. However, successful eateries understand that not only is it important to serve delicious dishes but also that it is imperative to serve meals that will keep the consumer free of illness. 

To satisfy this crucial criterion, restaurants need employees who are knowledgeable about food safety and regulations and proper kitchen sanitation. These employees allow customers to eat an amazing meal at a restaurant and feel great afterward.

Rustani’s Contributions to Restaurants and Hospitality

Medina Rustani has made several contributions to the food quality, safety, and customer service of multiple popular restaurant chains for years. Through her dedication and hard work, the restaurants she has worked with have met their goals, enhanced customer service, and improved food quality and sanitation. 

Her commitment and effort have earned Catch22 — a restaurant she used to work for — a grade “A” during inspections by the Dubai Municipality, which was later publicly recognized by the CEO of the restaurant. Additionally, she has served elites such as American singer, songwriter, and dancer Jason Derulo, and she has been involved in business collaborations, such as the collaboration between Brunch and Cake and the ice cream brand Smize and Dream by American model and TV personality Tyra Banks. 

Her experience with restaurant-related hospitality has helped her make excellent decisions for the restaurants she has worked for that have ultimately improved the restaurant’s reputation in the eyes of the public.

Developing Knowledge of Food Safety

Medina Rustani was born in Kavaja, Albania, where her family owned a small pie business, where Rustani’s passion for hospitality developed. The besa, an ancient Albanian code for hospitality that emphasizes faithfulness, trustworthiness, and protection, as well as the welcoming and generous hospitality of Albanian culture, heavily influenced and founded Rustani’s character, which ultimately affected her choices surrounding her career.

When she was 18, Rustani moved to Tirana, the capital of Albania, to pursue her university studies. As a top-grade student, she won a scholarship for Senior Laboratory Technician, and while she studied at the university, she centered her studies around microorganisms. 

She was fascinated with small organisms in food and their growth, identification, and how they could cause diseases and other health hazards when consumed. During her time at the university, she was employed by the Era restaurant in Tirana as a floor manager, where she participated in activities including quality assurance, staff management, and food safety maintenance.

Applying Her Knowledge and Skills to Successful Restaurants

In 2017, Rustani graduated with a Master of Science in Technical Laboratory. Afterward, she moved to Dubai, a global leader in tourism and hospitality, and was hired by Doors Freestyle Grill as a guest relation specialist, where she managed reservations, organized events and marketing campaigns, and hosted occasions for several individuals. 

Furthermore, Rustani managed ingredients and food product usage and helped keep the restaurant compliant with the Dubai Municipality’s hygiene and food safety regulations. While she was working at Doors Freestyle Grill, Rustani helped serve celebrities such as Jason Derulo and several other elites.

Rustani became the training and quality assurance manager of Brunch and Cake in 2019. Brunch and Cake began in Barcelona, Spain, and expanded into Dubai, beginning with one location. With Rustani’s help, the restaurant managed to open three more successful locations in Dubai. 

To help with the expansion, she presented the brand mission and vision to the staff and trained them to achieve and succeed in both the mission and the vision. 

Rustani focused on training the new members in hospitality and attention to detail, benefitting the restaurant’s service quality and providing customers with an excellent experience, she also assisted in ensuring that the new branch followed all food safety guidelines to ensure the location’s success and excellent customer satisfaction. Her proficiency at completing these tasks elevated her to the global training and quality assurance manager in 2022.

Her first challenge as the global training and quality assurance manager was opening a new branch of Brunch and Cake in Saudi Arabia. She helped train the new staff and emphasized the values and goals of the restaurant, and as the company kept expanding, Rustani was put in charge of ensuring food quality and consistency across all the branches. 

In January of 2023, Tyra Banks launched her ice cream brand, Smize and Dream, in collaboration with Brunch and Cake. Rustani helped the partnership succeed through her microbiology and food safety knowledge. 

Rustani was put in charge of handling the new product, helped create the allergen list, ensured team members’ understanding of its qualities, and ensured the ice cream carts, temperature, and equipment handling aligned with the food safety code.

After successfully opening a Brunch and Cake branch in Saudi Arabia, the restaurant set its sights on opening a new location in Egypt, which became possible through a partnership with GK Hospitality. 

In March of 2023, the new branch opened, and Rustani continued to help train the team to support the brand image, ensure that all food safety guidelines were met, and focus on food quality, consistency, and presentation. The new branch succeeded through Rustani’s hard work and dedication to leading Brunch and Cake along a path of success and expansion.

Catch22, a fast-growing and popular food chain employed Rustani in May of 2023 as their operations manager. Her main goal was to focus on improving one of the restaurant’s locations at Dubai Hills Mall, and she successfully enhanced the company’s concept and systemized its operations at the new location she ensured that all food preparation, cooking, and packaging methods aligned with the UAE Food Safety Code. 

Her focus on ensuring quality and food safety was recognized by her CEO after Rustani’s location received a grade “A” during Dubai Municipality inspections, further reinforcing the trustworthiness of Catch22 among the public. 

Due to the publicly recognized success of the inspection and Rustani’s dedication to ensuring food safety, Catch22’s Dubai Hills Mall location became incredibly popular and became one of the safest places for guests to dine.

Continuing to Improve Customer Service, Food Safety, and Hospitality

Rustani remains committed to offering world-class hospitality by ensuring that customer service, food quality, and food safety remain at high standards and by training new employees to represent the restaurant and its vision. 

To continue enhancing the hospitality of restaurants, she plans to begin a consultancy business and continue to work with famous restaurants, and by improving her mindfulness and empathy, she plans to better her ability to work with individuals from several backgrounds and cultures, a trait that has been crucial to her success. 

She believes in challenging herself to get out of her comfort zone to better herself as a person and to improve her innovation which helps her enhance hospitality, and that by improving and gaining new skills, she can become a better person. 

As Rustani continues to further her skills that make her adept at improving food safety and quality and customer service, she seeks to contribute to the restaurants globally using her talents and knowledge to help better the hospitality industry as a whole by setting higher standards that can satisfy more customers.

Published by: Holy Minoza