“What is that wonderful aroma? Please let me taste it.” The waiter tried a shy reply: “Sir, it is just a simple meal for the staff.” “No problem, let me try it. What is it called ?”- “Salted fish, Sir:” - “Hmm, delicious.” This anecdote speaks well for Helmut Richter, who has had a 50-year international career in catering for a high-class clientèle, but who has remained attached to simple things. “I appreciate the authencity one can still enjoy in fishing villages like Baie-du-Cap.” No question about it, Helmut is fine-tuned to his adopted country. The “true Mauritius”… “I consider myself as Mauritian.”

And he could also be considered as a true citizen of Alice’s wonderland, being a … magician. He did not arrive in Mauritius after a shipwreck, like the exiled Prospero. And the illusions he displays to his friends and grandsons are just.. inoffensively charming and funny… Using everyday items as props, he performs close-up magic, with the audience in close contact with the magician. He has already practised this convivial form of entertainment with great success on very special occasions… “In the past , I did not have much time to practise. But when I retired a few years ago, I began to attend a few magician’s conventions or visit places like the renowned magic castle in Hollywood.” Helmut is also member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American magicians.

Before settling here with his Mauritian wife Marie-Josée, Helmut worked in the finest hotels or restaurants of Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA. One such remarkable experience was the President Country club in Florida. “The climate has much in common with Mauritius as you know.” But not the working atmosphere. Nor the social realities.

Helmut worked there as Food and Beverage banqueting chief executive. Operating as a private club offering facilities like golf to its members, this country club was a huge and exclusive organization, limited to the very rich. “Impressive as it could be, it was a world of mere façade.” In some of the more expensive U.S. clubs, membership fees can exceed $300,000. “It was shocking to witness a world where money was wasted and where even among millionnaires you had the rich who did not mix with the poor !”

Many clubs have additional requirements, such as limiting membership to a specific company’s employees or requiring members to reside in a particular housing community. In the case that Helmut experienced, clients lived in specific premises, villas or estates. “I had a staff of 30 people. We had to cater for 750 persons and their families. It was a very demanding job.”

It was always hard even if the volume of work varied with the seasons; not much in common with the occupancy rate of some Mauritian hotels, which hardly exceeds 50 % during some periods. “There are definitely too many hotels in the island. It is time to lower the prices too.The tourist trade in a country like Switzerland was boosted when new formulas and less costly packages were introduced.’ This did not affect the quality of the service. So isn’t this wise advice ?