It was a normal day at the office when Super yacht A pulled into the harbor. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood in awe of her massive size, girth and color. We all looked at each other with quizzical glares wondering who it could be and why would they anchor right in front of our restaurant. We were just setting up the garden restaurant for the evening when a flashy car pulled into the driveway and out stepped two impeccably dressed sailors, sky blue pants and crisp white dress shirts. They asked to speak to management and we happily obliged. It was the captain of super-yacht A and his first mate, they wanted a tour of the restaurant to suss out the best table for their billionaire boss.
The captain decided on table number 2 for his boss and bosses wife. He then left a €250 tip and asked that we give the utmost attention to these guests. We were all in disbelief, even the restaurant owners had never experienced something like that before.
Then came the nail-biting challenge of who was going to serve them. All eyes turned to my direction and without skipping a beat I said “yes.” I returned to table number 2 to make sure that all cutlery, glasses, napkins, tablecloths, and candle were spotless. I then cleaned the chairs and the chair legs, table legs and even re-polished all utensils.
Andrey Melnichenko is the proud owner of A. He is a Russian billionaire and the 80th richest person in the world, and I got to serve him dinner. Was I nervous? No, I’ve been doing this for far too long to be impressed by how much money one has, he’s a person just like I, only with a lot more zero’s at the end of this bank statement.
They ate delicate appetizers and freshly caught seared tuna as a main. He drank red while his wife drank white, a bottle each, which was not finished. They were the most down to earth, pleasant, respectful and kind people I’ve served in a very long time and it was a great pleasure to have been their server. They, in turn, left an extra €50 at the end of the meal.
Super Yacht A has a crew of 54, 8 decks, it’s a sail-assisted motor yacht that was built in Kiel. Its maiden voyage was the beginning of 2017 and has been spotted all over the Mediterranean this summer.
Did you see Super Yacht A this summer? Tell me about it in the comments below.