Awards countdown: Chef of the Year
We have celebrated the stewards, the managers and the sommeliers, but it is now time to raise our forks in salute to the pin up boys of the culinary world – the chefs.
Sponsored by Nestle, Chef of the Year is the award that celebrates the individuals who embody the spirit, passion and stamina to make it to the top of the kitchen.
Once it was the famous guests at restaurants that drew crowds, but now it is the chef that is the star and the region is fortunate enough to be blessed with some of the finest in the world.
An independent panel of judges selected by Hotelier Middle East will judge the nominees, with the winner to be announced at a glamorous awards ceremony on October 14 at Madinat Jumeirah.
The 10 nominees that have reached the long-list all report significant achievements and a dedication to their role, but who is your favourite to win?
Matthew Pickop
Executive head chef
Hilton Dubai Creek
Matt became a chef by accident, an accident foodies have been rejoicing ever since it happened.
He is hailed as a mentor first and then a master by the 35 chefs and 15 stewards that serve
under him and since his appointment as executive chef in October of 2007, Matt has been the driving force behind the hotel’s prolific F&B accolades.
His zealous passion and unending strive for perfection has certainly impacted the team’s definition of quality and consistency.
Credited by many of his peers as a catalyst for elevating the quality of produce available in the market, Matt’s qualities as a leader and motivator shone at their brightest during
2009 when the economic downturn posed a challenge for fine-dining establishments.
Instead of shifting the focus on constraints, he devised a three step ‘recession-proof
Recipe’ for his team — he asked his team to manage stock, to partake in training and
to provide the best guest experience possible.
He set up cross training seminars between service and kitchen teams, with a dual focus on menu development, hygiene and safety protocols and his direction and motivation resulted in a record 20% reduction in food wastage, lowering yearly food costs to 28% beating their target of 29%.
The best thing about Matt is that his passion is palpable and infectious. His love, dedication and belief in what he does has done wonders for the region’s culinary scene.
Anthony Gallo
Executive chef
Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara
Anthony joined Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara when the resort opened in October 2008 and he quickly became accustomed to late bookings.
The resort offers a unique Dining by Design concept for guests to enjoy private dining in
secluded locations around the resort with an on-hand chef.
It is therefore up to Anthony to use his expertise to pull together a three course gourmet dinner and five star set up, off site, with a dedicated team on hand.
Being based on an island poses the biggest challenge for Anthony who is a master at planning F&B orders.
The island is still very close to the heart of the royal family and Anthony is often faced with visits from VIPs and Sheikhs from the UAE with little advanced warning.
Despite the demands and unpredictability of some of the requests, he uses his capabilities to smoothly present a different mouth watering banquet each and every time.
He is always looking for ways of going over and above what is expected from F&B outlets of this calibre, creating a world class experience on a desert island.
Olivier Biles
Outlet chef - Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire
InterContinental Dubai Festival City
From the Middle East to Asia, from the United States to Europe, the dishes prepared by Chef Biles have been celebrated by critics and customers alike.
There is a passion and dedication in his work that even chef Pierre Gagnaire has come to respect.
Olivier managed to generate a true passion in the 18 chefs that assist him, installing in them a respect for the ingredients, a flair in the way they work and an understanding of the formal rules that allow them to flourish.
Pierre Gagnaire has recognised Olivier’s talent as one of the finest interpreters of
his style and has let him express his own personality through his menu.
The menu changes more than eight times a year, twice per season, in order to get the best products from the French markets, fuel creativity and offer a new
experience to regular customers.
The restaurant was also the only Middle Eastern restaurant to enter the San Pellegrino Top 100 Restaurants of the World and the Top 10 Hotel Restaurants in the World for Hotels magazine in America.
Gagnaire fans are now flying to Dubai to taste Olivier's food a — an amazing achievement for such a young chef.
Lionel Boyce
Executive chef
Desert Palm
Over the past 18 months Lionel has worked tirelessly to update and improve all aspects of the culinary experience at Desert Palm.
Through creative menus, training, cost control, improving supplier relationships, maintaining the highest standards in products and overall presentation, he has significantly impacted guest satisfaction.
Lionel is also quite happy to pitch in whenever needed and spent a month on night shifts working as the baker while the hotel appointed baker was on emergency leave.
One of the challenges that Lionel recently faced was catering for a five day wedding with only one week’s notice — the original venue had six months to arrange everything.
With the recession, there has been a lot of pressure to minimize costs without affecting the guests and without affecting the products or services offered, something Lionel has been able to creatively deliver through more effective use of staff time and training.
Lionel is always looking to improve what he offers to guests and is like a sponge when it comes to information, attending events and conferences within the region to see what other skills he can draw from and use to train his team.
Uwe Micheel
Director of kitchens
Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek
When taking over the hotel from Intercontinental in October 2006, Chef Uwe was one of the department heads that choose to stay on at the hotel, under a new flag.
Totally dedicated to his job, quality conscious, hard working and always concerned to make sure whatever comes out of his kitchens is only the best, he is proud but humble.
Uwe manages his chefs and stewards with a strong hand but always with the human touch.
During the Salon Culinaire in February 2009, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek’s team successfully won more than 50 medals and merits.
As the president of the Emirates Culinary Guild , Chef Uwe also contributes greatly in raising the awareness of the culinary art in Dubai.
He works closely with the DTCM in many of their events to promote Dubai and has a very high involvement in the UAE National Day celebrations, the Dubai Summer Surprises and the Shopping Festival, to name a few.
Furthermore, he introduced a tradition in the hotel whereby a gingerbread house is decorated for children - an event held during the festive season, where all funds go to a different children’s charity every year.
Above all Uwe is a very approachable person and has an open door policy for staff and guests alike.
Jean-Luc Morcellet
Executive chef
The Palace - The Old Town
Jean-Luc has more than two decades of experience in the hospitality sector having worked with international hospitality operators in several countries including Zimbabwe, USA, UK and France.
This experience has afforded him the ability today to perfectly manage nine food and beverage outlets within The Palace - The Old Town.
Jean-Luc serves up to an average of 1300 covers per day while leading a team of 93 associates including chefs and stewards, ensuring quality service at all time.
He has also put in place a strong training programme allowing his team to develop themselves both personally and professionally.
Jean-Luc’s leadership is driven by the quality of the product and quality of his people and every month he offers 18 hours of training to each individual.
He also dedicates a full day every two weeks to teaching his associates the basics on each outlet’s signature
recipes.
In addition to awards success, Jean-Luc has received many other internal and guest satisfaction recognitions making him an undeniable culinary star.
Takashi Ando
Head chef
Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
One of the latest additions to Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates’ team, Takashi, the hotel’s Japanese master chef, has enthusiastically thrown himself into popularising his passion for authentic Japanese food with immense success.
Takashi firmly believes that the secret to success in the food and beverage industry is to find a master in what you want to learn and that is exactly what he did, training under acclaimed Japanese master chef Nobutoshi Kiura from Nadaman restaurant.
A specialist in Kaiseki food, he modelled his skills after those of his master - Japanese cuisine focusing on individually served dishes, such as sushi, sashimi, hot dishes and pastries which he has introduced to the Dubai culinary scene.
Whether cooking for heads of state, celebrities or the man off the street, Takashi prepares his meals with passion and care.
He is licensed in the preparation of Fugu (Puffer) fish, a difficult and precise qualification awarded by the Tokyo F&Bindustry, which is usually given only after two years of rigorous and intensive training in the art of Fugu preparation.
Due to the toxic nature of the ingredient if incorrectly prepared, this qualification is only awarded to highly trained chefs under stringent controls.
Chef Ando’s ability to prepare this acclaimed delicacy places him in an elite circle of world-class chefs, making him one of the few true masters of Japanese cuisine in Dubai.
Liang Ming Yeh
Executive sous chef
Hilton Kuwait Resort
Liang is described by his colleagues as an “Asian sensation”, due to his extensive knowledge and expertise having revolutionised the menus and outlets of the Hilton Kuwait Resort.
He took the very best of Thai, Chinese, Korean and Japanese gastronomy and put together a truly Eastern promotion that was a great success in the local market.
Liang is not only involved in the kitchen side of the business as he also works with the PR and marketing team to put together successful events.
His passion is food and he is always looking for new dishes that he can add to the menus in order to share love with others.
Not only has Liang focused on enhancing the fine dining experience he has also incorporated new European delights into the main restaurant.
Liang has made such a positive impact on the team at the Hilton Kuwait Resort that he was awarded the Most Valuable New Team Member of the Year 2009
award at the annual party.
Gilles Perrin
Chef de cuisine
Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi
Gilles’ food is both unique and controversial, whether he is re-creating legendary Escoffier dishes or creating his own personal dishes.
Putting his heart into each dish, the result is an extraordinary vision of colour and beauty
that tastes as wonderful as it looks.
Gilles has pushed the boundaries of Abu Dhabi's culinary scene and ensured that Bord Eau has become the ultimate destination for serious foodies.
Gilles can often be found sitting at a table in the restaurant with a group of guests talking about food and wine after last orders with such a passion that he motivates all around him.
Gilles insists on using only seasonal fresh produce imported from France and spends a great deal of his time on the phone to suppliers or inspecting deliveries
personally to ensure that every ingredient is of the highest quality.
An exciting young Swiss chef who has a great deal to offer the UAE and the chefs working around him, Gilles has just been promoted to executive sous chef and will be leaving Bord Eau to work across all of the restaurants at Shangri-La Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
Andreas Kurfurst
Executive chef
Renaissance Dubai Hotel
In his 12 years as executive chef of the Renaissance Dubai Hotel, Andreas has achieved incredible results.
His leadership has been recognised by Marriott worldwide management on more than a few occasions, especially when it comes to developing and discovering culinary talent.
In charge of a brigade of 57 chefs and 22 stewards and maintaining six outlets including banqueting, operations and outdoor catering with a wide variety of cuisines ranging from American, Arabic, Asian to Italian, Thai, Japanese and more, Andreas is always ready to take up challenges.
Furthermore, he is always a willing mentor to young people — many staff members, not even involved in the kitchen at first, have gone on to have incredibly successful careers as hotel chefs around the world.
As vice president of the Emirates Culinary Guild (ECG), he is in charge of logistics for both Middle East Junior Chef and Salon Culinaire competitions.
The Hotels clientele know about his ability in concocting creative and innovative menus and for this reason, he helps the sales team close many banquet events - a true asset.