Not content with winning the 2024 Let’s Do Business Award for outstanding customer service, Frankie Fernando’s hard work and consistently high standards have just been recognised once again by winning Tripadvisor’s highest honour, their Travellers’ Choice Best of Best Award.
This is a significant achievement and quite an accolade for Frankie’s two local businesses, Frankie’s at The Beach and Rye Rugby Club (where at each venue he has permanent and very popular catering units) and his Canterbury-based business, The Gourmet Sausage and Burger Company which also won a Travellers’ Choice award recently.
All these awards are testament to the hard work by Frankie and all his team, be they front of house or behind the scenes and it’s also very good news for Camber and Rye where his units are based.
Fewer than 1% of Tripadvisor’s 8 million listings are awarded the Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best title each year, their highest honour for businesses, who receive a high volume of positive reviews over a 12-month period and is based on the quality and quantity of reviews and ratings.
In addition, Frankie’s at The Beach and Rye Rugby Club has also been awarded the Best Quick Bites by Tripadvisor which puts them in the number 1 position for the whole of the UK.
I asked Frankie whether, apart from knowing his business and working hard to give customers what they want, what is his secret? “Quality produce using local ingredients and a good menu with lots of choice,” was his response.
He went on to say: “A favourite with many customers is our locally supplied venison burgers and sausages, really popular, freshly made to order on a griddle and served in a soft brioche bun. Also, our 6oz gourmet Stilton and bacon burger always gets rave reviews, we use thick Danish bacon and blow torch the cheese so it’s oozing out of the bun, the theatrics always go down well with our customers.”
For those who don’t know, Frankie’s on the Beach is at Jurys Gap in Camber, just paces from the beach, a suburb location where customers can choose a coffee and a Danish pastry, a snack, lunch or dinner as they enjoy good quality food whilst savouring the superb views. Frankie’s at Rye Rugby Club offers the same high quality food and drink and is open throughout the winter. You don’t need to be a rugby fan to enjoy it but, if you are, there’s some exciting games going on there.
So who is Frankie Fernando? A boy out of South London who has spent his life so far in the retail sector, not just food and ice cream but in the earlier days running menswear shops and car show rooms. He’s a real character with “old school values” taking great care of his customers and providing what they want: good old fashioned service, value for money and quality products.
Frankie has a sound work ethic which he also expects from all his staff and feels that customer service is more important today than it has ever been. “Often you can go into a shop or business and rarely feel valued or welcomed, in fact quite often you are made to feel like the assistant is doing you a favour by serving you! Customers have the choice to spend their hard earned money wherever they like, they are the lifeline of any business and my staff are trained to respect this,” he says.
So there you have it, a great success story about two local business which continue to bring much needed customers to both Camber and Rye. However, the proof is in the pudding and if you haven’t experienced the Frankie phenomenon then give him a try, he’s a larger than life character who rolls up his sleeves and knows what hard work looks like – “enjoy” as they say in restaurants these days.
Image Credits: Nick Forman , Frankie Fernando .