Community chef
Hammond’s passion for the environment is supported wholeheartedly by Six Senses Hideaway executive chef Gerald Bergue, who is also dedicated to working with the local community and using naturally available produce.
Bergue says that this was challenging in the first six months, but that he now obtains 65% of his ingredients from the local market — honey from bee hives in the mountains, fish from local villagers and free range eggs from a farmer in Fujairah for example.
“I have really reliable suppliers who know me well. You have to eat to preserve; you have to eat or he won’t produce any more — that’s how I support all these suppliers,” says Bergue.
In addition, he also has his own supplies growing in a garden the other side of the mountains and a organic plot next to the resort.
“I grow mangos, oranges, limes, salad leaves, tomatoes,” says Bergue. “No mangos are imported, they are all from the garden and when the season is over I can freeze mangos for fresh juice.
“My next project is a mushroom hut, like at our sister property in the Maldives,” he says.
The menus at Zighy Bay have, as a result, been created based upon “what is easy to get and what is feasible,” he adds.
Bergue is also very flexible, developing menus for 18 different destination dining locations across the resort and tailoring menus to guests’ specific requirements — accommodating everything from detox plans to dietary intolerances.
“I’d rather tailor the menu; if a guest comes here they have to be happy and you get more recognition,” he says.
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Generally speaking, the cuisine is also very healthy, with Six Senses’ philosophy followed and at least six or eight dishes of spa cuisine on all the outlets’ menus.
“There are 101 no-nos — things I don’t use in the kitchen,” enthuses Bergue. “You’ll never see caviar, foie gras or red snapper on my menu and certainly no blue crab, no veal, no baby chicken — all birds need to be adult size.”
Following five years with Banyan Tree previously, Bergue says he developed his specialism in spa cuisine, which predominately inspires the menu at Sense on the Edge — a wine pairing restaurant with exquisite set menus in a simply breathtaking location.
He is also inspired by molecular technology, but focuses on extraction rather than using nitrogen or other chemicals
“My style of cuisine is very simple, I play with flavours and just blend them into the dishes so guests can really see it — if they are eating lobster that’s what they are tasting,” says Bergue.
He hopes in the future to open a raw cuisine restaurant at Zighy Bay, which would be located within the destination spa Six Senses plans to develop overlooking the resort.
The major focus, however, is to get more Omanis in the kitchen. In partnership with NHI, Bergue currently has six Omanis out of 37 chefs and an 18-person stewarding team.
“Wee are searching for more, I am trying to get at least 20 Omanis by the end of my contract,” he says.
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