FLAVOUR PROFILE
Heading his culinary team in Dubai is probably one of the most natural and down–to–earth people in the regional industry, Colin Clague, who arrives at JG Dubai from his previous role at Arabesque restaurant Qbara.
Vongerichten explains that Clague runs both teams, with Geoffroy van Hasbroeck the sous chef, who has arrived from New York, and the chef for JG Dining Room, Daniel Everts, from Sweden. “They all came to New York and trained with us for four months. We want them to express themselves as well, but to start the restaurant we want them to get the right flavours.
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“For example, here you get different chickens from the ones in New York — some are from France, some are local. At the end, the flavour profile has to be the same because a restaurant is all about consistency.
“If guests like a dish, they want to come back and sample it. That’s the most difficult part about restaurants: it’s not only about creating the dish but being consistent. Otherwise people say: ‘Oh this place is going down, it’s not the same’.”
He smiles and adds: “My role is to create cravings so that you come back.”
Stressing the importance of choosing the right people to trust, Vongerichten says he’s in constant contact with the team on the ground even from New York through Skype, and adds that it’s important for him to visit regularly to ensure everything is running smoothly.
Vongerichten breaks off to snap a photo of my notes in shorthand and continues: “People are very sophisticated in this town, in terms of their eating habits, and the different things they want to eat. And it suits our food. I spent five years in Asia so I used a lot of spices. I feel we blend right in with our flavours. My background is French, and my travel is my inspiration. The five years I spent in Asia — Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan — really helped me to start blending things when I went to New York.”
He is quick to say his cuisine is not international, but global. And it’s not just him forcing his style on the region, but he’s keen to learn from it as well. In JG Dubai, the menu already has local twists of its own, no doubt ably supported by Clague’s experience with elevating regional cuisine to a new level in his prior role. Vongerichten himself reveals: “After Colin took me to Qbara, and I saw the menu… now I trust him with my spices even more so.”
For example, JG Dubai has a white bean hummus, an Italian bean dip with sumac as a garnish, while Vongerichten’s self–admitted favourite spice, za’atar, is used for the squab dish with smashed peas and vinaigrette.
“Coming here, it’s about bringing a new concept but also bringing back some expression to New York. So I really want to bring back the Middle Eastern flavour to New York. I think people there will have a taste for it,” he says.
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