Raue ended up showing Gelb around Berlin and soon after, he got an email asking if he wanted to be a part of the next season. It was the fastest yes he has ever said in his life. But the production team made the terms very clear from the beginning. In Raue’s case, it was 11 days of non-stop filming.
The show doesn’t allow for any skeletons in the closet or secrecy. The toughest part for the chef was opening up the doors to his house. He is normally not one to show people his private life, especially after his recent divorce. He volunteers that his ex-wife is still his business partner, but nothing further. Raue likes to keep some things private.
One tough pill to swallow for the German was despite the episode being about him, he had no editorial or final control over what would be screened.
“At first, I didn’t like what they showed me. The episode really displays me in the rudest way I’m living these days when I’m in the kitchen where I’m lacking my usual charm and humour. And you have no chance to say no I don’t like that, I don’t want to screen that. When they showed it to me there were three things I didn’t like and they made two of the three changes but that was it, and I had to accept that. At the end of the day, your episode resonates with people when it’s more open.”
The chef is keen to point out that he has different sides to him — some nice, some not so nice. It also shows him as a one-man army but that’s not true. “I have an entire team around me and they interviewed them for hours but eventually cut them out,” he adds.
It’s taken Raue years to get to this point. He is now confident enough to make simple dishes. “It is evolution," he adds. Had fate not taken a different turn, we might not he having this conversation in one of the swankiest, upcoming neighbourhoods in Dubai.
“There were a lot of guys my age in my 20s who were winning awards but they didn’t make it because they didn’t have the stamina to keep going. They didn’t have the determination to succeed. You have to invest more than you have — invest everything without any doubt.”
For Raue, his grit, determination and personal evolution have all been key to his success, allowing him to rise from his humble beginnings to his current status of world-famous chef. But does he think his food has evolved with him?
“I've changed my way of cooking so much before 2007 and I wasn’t sure of who I am or what I wanted to be. But since then, there is a more clear thought-out process. I’m more confident and clear-headed and my dishes reflect that. It’s a mark of who I am.”
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