I feel that sometimes, it is not necessary a great chef that makes a meal great but the ambience, company and event that makes it so.
Please do not misunderstand that I am belittling chefs – no…no…we need chefs to create that oomph of a dish and that creative artistic plating of the food we see before us in fine dining restaurants.
But what I am referring to, is that those meals of beauty and elegance often leave the diner still hungry haha! Or at least that is what majority of my business associates tell me!
I remember how a meal in an Australian outback fire tasted so good when a tripod was used to brew bush tea and a simple meal.
Under the stars, in the outback with my Aussie pals and the guide doing the cooking, the meal was simple and delicious, non pretentious.
Chefs take great pains to craft and plate a meal.
I remember Mr Docile taking me for a meal at Morsels at Dempsey Hill.
Every dish was an artisanal crafted plate.
I could literally count that singular piece on a giant plate.
Mr Docile paid a handsome price for the meal but it left us both, I am sure still hungry. I was but, being polite, I said nothing. He said nothing as well.
The cost was paid for the ambience or what we call the environment and feel as the restaurant setting was like a barn with lesser than 10 tables.
The place could not seat more than 20 persons at most without losing the circulation space.
Comparatively speaking, I was wined and dined at Cat Cora before, another restaurant by a great chef.
The restaurant was enveloped by an aquarium or a fish tank and I could see sting rays, sharks and all sorts of fishes swimming around in the restaurant as I feasted on food and the marine life.
This is by far a bigger restaurant than Morsels and the menu was more commercial I feel and lesser of a personalised ambience of a chef’s attention.
So to me, what makes a great chef is the experience I am given for that meal.
It makes it more memorable when supping with that special someone or family or commemorating a special occasion that was accentuated by the meal and the service staff.
It is about friendships, camaraderie and the laughter or tears that came with the meal.
Food is eaten when happy or sad and it is the experience we remember of the Chef who prepared it.
