And tradition he says is very important to him: “As a pastry chef I am very picky on tradition. It’s very easy to make pastry these days by just mixing powder. Here (at the cafe) that doesn’t exist. We do everything from scratch – we make our own bread – it takes more time but the result is much better.”
Clair has had gigs at Ritz-Carlton Doha, Shanghai and Japan as well having worked in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Macau. But Dubai is where he says he saw himself settling and predicted his first solo project would be conceived.
“With all respect for Europe, Europe is old. Asia was booming from the end the 80s to the mid 90s before the crash. Then everything moved to Dubai – Dubai slowed down but it is coming up again and you have everything you want in Dubai. It’s a new city and the people are lovely,” he says.
| Advertisement |
His 420sq/m dream kitchen feels fresh and new, with sparkling white walls and cold metal counter-tops.
“The kitchen has all been designed by me from A-Z,” says Clair. “I’ve been in the industry long enough to know how to foresee a project.”
But he’s realistic about its gradual growth as opposed to overnight success, especially with it being his first solo project: “In a retail mall, it’s magic, because you have everything, a cafe and a production site – we’re not expecting to make millions from the cafe, but expect to have our regular customers,” he says.
Once up and running, Clair expects a significant portion of revenue to come through tie-ups with major hotel chains, where, he hopes to supply his confectioneries. He’s currently proposing what this will look like, getting mock-ups of boxes which he can demonstrate to clients, but assures he is not rushing this aspect and wants to approach it properly.
Going solo is not going to be easy. This is something Clair is fully aware of: “It is challenging, nothing comes with a bucket of roses,” he says.
“Dubai is a place where when you want to establish yourself as standalone, it can be pretty tough because of the rules and regulations. At the same time it is very good – because everything is clear in terms of matters of hygiene, registration of trucks and drivers to municipality. The rules applied in Dubai are very good.”
What makes Clair’s cafe stand out is its quality and the reasonable prices.
“Three quarters of (our) ingredients are from France – a higher cost but nevertheless we are not going to kill the client because we want them to come back, so we are reasonably priced.
We want to be recognised as having quality and that everybody can approach us and come and buy something. We don’t just want one class of people coming over, we want everyone to come and enjoy what we do.
“It is me who is the chef, I am creating the recipe and I think those three things separate us from the competition. My thing would be quality standard all the time because I’ll be monitoring the quality of all the products that are coming out.”
To deliver this quality Clair has recruited his finest team of chefs from Indonesia and the Phillipines, many of whom he has worked with before.
“They know they are coming to work with the devil, but they love it. Like I said – hard work pays and I intend to make them understand that they are not in office work which is completely different.
They are working with different circumstances where people are going to order something right now and you have to stop what you are doing to deliver, right now.”
That’s important he reiterates. Finding a dedicated team of kitchen staff in this day and age is highly challenging.
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
