Ansa Stanley
OUR GOODMAN FAMILY
Meet Ansa, our General Manager
at Goodman City
Ansa Stanley is the General Manager of Goodman City and has been part of the Goodman family since 2018. If you’re offering, she’ll have an Espresso Martini (“I call them my ‘go go juice’”), doesn’t trust people who don’t like chocolate (“I mean, why would you?”), will grudgingly confess the first record she bought was by Belinda Carlisle (“I’m giving my age away with that one”) and, when not at Goodman, can often be found binge-watching a medical drama or two, or Stranger Things: “four seasons, two weeks, didn’t even touch the sides.”
Ansa loves the world of hospitality but doesn’t really know where that came from. “My mum’s an accountant, my dad’s a wine farmer – and a sheep farmer, they’re nothing to do with hospitality.” After studying at Cape Town’s Granger Bay Hotel School, Ansa started her career “in posh hotels, before moving to restaurants” and, in 2006, moving to London.
Before Goodman, Ansa was working for another restaurant group – “all quirky salads, massive pizzas and good cocktails” – but then they held their management dinner at Goodman Mayfair. “I fell in love,” says Ansa, “and the rest is history…
“I think it’s the Goodman attention to detail, the quality of service,” Ansa explains. “I mean, Goodman is expensive, and that could scare people, thinking it’ll be all ‘stiff upper lip’ and formal, but it’s friendly, relaxed and there’s so much pride and thought in what we do.”
When Ansa first joined Goodman, she was what she calls “a boring fillet girl” but a shift in the kitchen – “a day by the Josper learning about the steaks” – changed her mind.
“Start with the scallops. Then the Goodman ribeye – it’s pure perfection – skinny fries and obviously peppercorn sauce because it’s the best there is in London. The mushrooms – they’re simple, but they just work. Glass of Cakebread. Parfait, cheesecake or sundae for dessert, they’re all great. You can’t go wrong with that. Does that make me a creature of habit? Or is it more ‘if it ain’t broke…?!’” Well, we’re biased, obviously, but we’re pretty sure it’s the latter.
CREDITS
Interview by Neil Davey
Photography by Tom Bowles