Q: How and when did your culinary journey first start?
A: It all started with my dad. When I was 13 I asked him to buy me something and he told me to buy it myself when I had a job. So I got on my bike and tried all the seafront restaurants, looking for a kitchen hand job. I kept trying until dark. Finally, I told the owner of Bill’s I was 15 and he let me start right then. He paid me AUD60 and told me it was for four nights’ work, saying, “You’re going to come back for three more nights, I trust you.” I was stunned. That was my first journey into food. People treated me like a grown-up and my dad was so proud. I knew it was for me.
Q: Why did you move from being a chef to management?
A: My strong point is problem solving and I wanted more than the kitchen. I threw myself into all the areas I didn’t understand so I could learn. Then at about age 19 or 20, I was over-promoted and given a restaurant manager job and a bunch of places to look after. I was completely out of my depth, but loved it and learned from my many mistakes. Then I wanted to know what else there was.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your professional life these days?
A: It’s ever evolving, ever challenging and creative. You can never sit still and take what you did 10 years ago for granted. I’ve won best new restaurant and a number of stars – in Australia they call them hats – all kinds of stuff. But you can’t tell your clients now what you did back then; they only want to know about the present.
Q: What are some of your favourite professional experiences?
A: I love the fact that I managed to start as a dish washer and moved my way from executive chef to creative director to a self-made businessman and able to work for one of the largest design firms in the world, Hirsch Bedner Associates, designing restaurants. My first food and beverage project was a USD400 million project in Baku, Azerbaijan. I also love working with Kadek, the owner of Double-Six Luxury Hotel Bali. Kadek trusting me to design his legacy hotel, Double-Six, was humbling. I love the challenge and that I’m not one dimensional, stuck at the stove cooking food.
Q: What countries has your career taken you to and do you have any favourites?
A: A lot of interesting places: Japan, China, Italy, Manila; I’ve done a lot of cooking gigs as guest chef across the world in the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Maldives. With the design firm, I’ve been to Azerbaijan, Singapore, deep parts of Saudi Arabia, Hokkaido. One of my favourite cities, even though I haven’t cooked there, is Istanbul in Turkey. I love the vibrancy, the lifestyle and that they eat really clean, fresh food that is prepared in front of you and not processed.
Q: What is your favourite regional cuisine? Do you incorporate it into your menus?
A: Probably Abruzzo in Italy, they have the most incredible wine and food that they keep very simple. They’re very seasonal and use only a few ingredients. I incorporate the Italian philosophy throughout all my restaurants, whether a bar and grill, Asian or Italian. It’s about supplying the restaurants with seasonal produce that is locally grown. Using things that are in season and embracing things that are around. In Bali, we use the beautiful Asian fern as a great replacement for chicory.
Q: In your travels, what new ingredients have you discovered that you love to use today?
A: The Asian fern; organic turmeric, which I love roasting with potatoes; wild garlic, I’m loving using black garlic at the moment; black corn is fantastic too. These are the ones I’m really in love with at the moment.
Q: What are the most unusual foods you have ever tried?
A: I’ve pretty much tried everything from snake to bull’s testicles. But I do like pig’s intestines in Rome. They cook them down in the meat packing district in garlic, olive oil and chilli with chicory. If you didn’t know what it was, you’d think you were eating pork.
Q: Nowadays, you are an entrepreneur and restaurateur, what are your future plans?
A: Right now Kadek, General Manager Praba and I are planning a red-sauce eatery in Seminyak. Imagine Nashville meets New York with live country music, bocce and classic Italian-American food done incredibly well. A super fun joint where we can hang. We’re also planning a European Coffee House here in Bali and Jakarta and a big Asian concept for a year or so from now that will knock your socks off. I also have an exciting project in Los Angeles in a few years.
Q: What advice would you give to budding restaurateurs and entrepreneurs?
A: Don’t take criticism to heart. Stay focused and believe in yourself. Don’t follow trends, they always run out. Consistency, restraint and staying true to your roots as a chef is what matters. Most importantly, stay fit, its gruelling but worth it.
Q: What Indonesian food do you enjoy?
A: I absolutely love Indonesian food. I love soto ayam, an incredibly good nasi goreng, a wonderful rendang. I would probably choose Indonesian rijstaffel, but only because you get 10 Indonesian dishes in one serving.
