After more than two decades as a friendly face and familiar fixture in the Gotham Steakhouse & Bar front-of-house team, Jaier Vlessing — one of the original members of the team that opened the Vancouver steakhouse in 1999 — is hanging up his server’s jacket to spend more time with his family.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Vlessing began his hospitality career as so many did — in his teens, with a part-time job in the fast-food industry. After graduating from BCIT’s Hospitality Management program in 1983, and in between traveling far and near, he cooked, served, supervised, and managed in many of Vancouver’s most iconic rooms. As fate would have it, it was while serving at Il Giardino that he met his future wife Biyun. But it would be an exciting new downtown steakhouse that captured his heart and would become his home for an extraordinary 23 year run.
Now Hy’s of Canada Chief Operating Officer, Megan Buckley was the opening GM of Gotham Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar. She recalls purposefully setting out to build an eclectic team of true professionals who could make Gotham an institution. She and Vlessing had worked together at Jonathan’s on Granville Island in the early 1980s, and crossing paths again, she knew he would be great at Gotham.
At the 2017 edition of its annual Restaurant Awards, Vancouver Magazine singled Vlessing out for one of its prestigious Premier Crew Awards that pay homage to the top front-of-house talent in the Vancouver restaurant scene. “If there’s such a thing as a classic steakhouse waiter, Jaier Vlessing is it,” the magazine wrote of Vlessing in its April 2017 edition. “He’s been taking care of business at Gotham for 18 years, and the pride he takes in putting on the white jacket is evident in everything he does. Beloved by the restaurant’s family for his dry wit and the way he delivers great experiences to guests each time he works, Vlessing is a true pro.”