Previous Post: New addition!   Next Post: hollandaise : an emulsion of thoughts

November Chef Feature: Christophe Widmer

November 29th, 2009

This month we feature a Swiss-born who also holds a French and Australian passport who is currently based in Dubai! (now that’s going global!). A pastry chef, food lover, food blogger and talented photographer. My friend Christophe Widmer, he is currently the Executive Resort Pastry Chef of the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, UAE. With 44 restaurants, bars and a highly regarded conference and banquet facility Chris has more than his fair share to chew, but has taken the time (the great guy he is) to share a quick word with us.

We met when I was working at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and he also shares his love of great food and photography through his very well-known food blog Sugarheadblog.com.

The property looks amazing. How are things at the Madinat Jumeirah and how is everyone holding up?

Dubai is certainly on recovery pad but I still believe if we continue to deliver our guests an experience in their lifetime we will succeed. We just have to work harder as a team.

This place isn’t small! 3 hotels and 44 restaurants and bars. Wow. What’s your biggest challenge in overseeing such a large property?

Communication and working towards a common goal, constantly having the edge.

How big is your team what do you look for in a new hire?

I have three teams, each between 11 and 23 team members. Here in Dubai we are fortunate enough to draw from a large pool of talents, internationally but what I am looking for is passion and a drive to make a difference.

Growing up in Switzerland, your parents desperately wanted you to take up a solid profession. So, it was off to culinary school and a three year pastry apprenticeship. Soon after you landed your first job in Saudi Arabia. What was that like?

I should not say that; if I would have listened to my parents I would not have gone to Jeddah, KSA and probably would have never seen the world. However, I wanted to experience working abroad and told my parents if it was really that bad I would return to Switzerland. I never did and that was 28 years ago!

Along the way you’ve worked in Olso, Sydney, Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo. Just to name a few. Did you find that travel was instrumental in your development as a chef?

Yes, of course, I am exposed to all sorts of cuisines, culture and language. How else would I have learned Kransekake

in Oslo, Lamingtons in Sydney, Bibinka in Manila, Tab Tim Krob in Bangkok, Nonya Kueh in KL, Pandan Doughnuts in Singapore and Wasanboon Sugar in Tokyo? This just as an example. No, it was and still is one of my passions to learn other cuisines, trends, language and get to know the local language.

As we’ve heard from many chefs, in order to be an effective kitchen leader, one must be culturally aware. What is your approach in Dubai?

It certainly can’t be a Hell’s Kitchen like portrait on TV, one has to deal with as many as 28 different nationalities. Respect and a good portion of humor and TLC will get you a long way. Dubai is not much of a different place to work in as let’s say Kuala Lumpur.

How do you keep current on pastry trends or are you someone who relies heavily on various interpretations on the classics?

I am following numerous Food Blogs from around the world and get from there a very good indication of trends in our food industry. These Blogs are not necessarily from professionals but from people with a driving passion and love of food. Over the years I have formed friendships with those foodies from every corner of the world and communicate on a daily basis some ideas. Of course; classic dishes are classic and I do not understand why a Heston Blumental has to destruct a Black Forest and make it his best? There are only a very few ingredients but they have to be the best!

Do you have a favorite ingredient?

I am a chocoholic, so I do not have to mention that ingredient. I love Japanese Green Tea Powder, Passion fruit, Yellow Raspberries and a sugar from Japan called Wasanboon.

Sometimes overseas assignments can be challenging with respect to ingredients and equipment. How is Dubai?

Equipment wise we can get any part from anywhere in the world; it just takes time since not all suppliers have all the equipment on stock. Same with the ingredients; most of our ingredients are from abroad since very little is produced locally. So we can get any food ingredient we wish to use at any time of the year. If Apricots are not in season in Europe we will get it from Australia for example. We got no restrictions at all.

Besides being a world-class pastry chef, you are a true culinarian at heart. Have you always had an appreciation for the savory side or is it something that developed over the years?

I do have friends over those years who are trained Pastry Chefs who made the move to the “other side” and became Executive Chefs, and very good ones. However for me I love what I am doing; that’s my passion and love. I do a fair bit of cooking at home and love to prepare a meal over hours but that will be always remain that way; cooking for friends.

In your opinion what city has the best food? We know this is a tough questions but there has to be one that stands out?

Tokyo & Kyoto in Japan, this is not at all a tough question to answer once experienced. Those cities are made for

foodies like me; in Tokyo I can choose from over 300’000 restaurants, from Australian fine dining to Zimbabwean Bush food! Serious. Kyoto of course for its traditional Keiseki dinners with 23 odd courses, this is just amazing and a lifetime experience.

What do you make of the influx of “celebrity” chefs to Dubai? Was it too much too soon?

Celebrity Chefs? Are there any in town? I bet you none of those chefs are more than five days a year here in Dubai. I have eaten of course in some of their restaurants like Nobu, Ramsay, Rostang and Rhodes but find nothing really special about their food. It is all marketing and I am happy for those chefs that they are able to sell their name but it is not their food. The only true Celebrity chef in my books is Tetsuya Wakuda-san of Tetsuya, Sydney. To eat his food one has to go to his restaurant; a true chef!

We hear Oriol Balaguer is opening a chocolate boutique in Dubai? Probably not the best time?

I have heard that he is bound to open his shop at Souk Al Bahar but until now the shop is not open neither have I seen him. Perhaps he is still busy with his shop in Tokyo where he just opened for business.

SugarHeadBlog.com is your food blog. Where does “SugarHead” come from?

My boss and mentor called me during the opening of the Peninsula Bangkok his “SugarHead” and since then the name stuck and I stuck with him, worked with him in three properties around the world.

Your photos are amazing. When did you take up photography?

I am a visual person and I always have been like that. When I was about five years old I was drawing pictures of people and landscape and my parents noticed my gift only when I was entering school and where “alerted” by my head teacher of my skills. I was always interested in light and shadows and my drawings where almost always three dimensional. One day I got hold of a Polaroid Camera and from then on it was taking pictures of my surrounding, to dismay of my parents since Polaroid was expensive that time. My first camera, a Canon F1 I bought when I was about 19 years of age and never stopped since.

What advice can you give to other chefs who are interested in photography and blogging?

First of all see the end in mind, see the dish how it should appear best on a picture. Never shoot food with artificial light unless one has a studio like setup to control the light. Always make sure the shadow of the dish is to the front or slightly to the side, never to the back! Control aperture and shutter speed manually, programs give you just a picture. It’s like cooking with a microwave oven or cooking on the stove.

For Blogging one has to know the purpose; is it just for fun to communicate or is it to contribute an interesting content? Remember, anyone from around the globe can access the Web Log (Blog) at any time. Secondly, how much of time one has spare to dedicate to a personal Blog? It does not take much time nowadays with an open source platform such as WordPress to blog but to maintain a Food Blog it takes some dedication to be successful. (Like with any activity) Once all established find a host, register a domain with a Linux based hosting package and choose or even better, build your own Blog theme. Keep it simple and clean, choose what you are most comfortable in and most of all; have fun with it!

Living and working in Dubai is very convenient for travel to Europe and Asia. Any trips planned in the near future? Are you looking forward to eating anywhere in particular?

I just returned from Singapore and Bangkok, spent some time with blogger friends there and ate at “White Rabbit”,

Dempsey road and “Rocks” at Marina Boulevard in Singapore. In Bangkok I like street food and traditional Thai fair. Next trip will be Switzerland in January, I was planning this for a long time and I have my list of places to visit, Fischerzunft by Andrė Jaeger in Schaffhausen is on the top of my list and can’t wait for this experience!

Do visit SugarHeadBlog.com for more sweet happenings!!! All photographs are courtesy of Christophe Widmer.