Chat with former Cockatoo employee

Recently, we had a brief chat with former Cockatoo employee, Favian Gonzales. He was a room service waiter from 1989 to 1994, just before the Cockatoo closed. We were excited to ask him some questions about his time there.

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CockatooInn.com: How did you first get hired?

FG: I was first hired by a friend from my hometown in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Then I found out that there were lots of people from my hometown working there in the back of the house – kitchen restaurant and front of house, front desk.

CockatooInn.com: What do you remember about your interview?

FG: The person that interviewed me was restaurant maître d’, Vern Wilson.

CockatooInn.com: What did you like most about working at the Cockatoo Inn?

FG: What I liked most was that I was introduced to American Italian food. I still look for this classy food and is now disappearing…

CockatooInn.com: What did you like the least?

FG: What I didn’t like was at the end, the quality of service and food was lost because of the last owners.

CockatooInn.com: Did you see any famous people at the Cockatoo while you worked there?

FG: We did see lots of famous people from the race track. One was Charles Whittingham. He was a horse trainer that always sat at the first table at the same time…till the end.

CockatooInn.com: Do you remember who owned the Cockatoo at the time you worked there?

FG: When I started, the Cockatoo Inn was owned by the owner of the Hacienda too. The cool thing was the Lococo family still hung out at the bar!

Many thanks to Favian for his contribution. Were you or someone you knew a former Cockatoo employee? We want to hear from you! Send us your memories at friends@cockatooinn.com!

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