Norbert Kostner, the Head Chef at The Oriental, has learned that anything can happen when serving Thai Royalty. Take the opening party for the Sirikit Oil Fields in Tak over twenty years ago. They were preparing a buf­fet for 800, a second buffet for 200 people and a set lunch for the members of the Royal family, all of which had to be brought in on trucks.  Due to a miscommunica­tion, the trucks were two hours late.

“The flower girl was crying,” he says, shaking his head and laughing at the memory. “The Thai chef was crying. I was still smoking then, and I was smoking two cigarettes at a time. The helicopter of the Queen Mother was already coming and we were not ready at all, but we still managed.”

The trucks finally arrived, and with them a delicate swan made out of egg whites for the Queen. Chef Norbert was aghast when he caught a man nibbling on the swan. His eyes are full of mirth as he explains: “I went to him and said, ‘What are you doing? This is for her Majesty the Queen! ‘Yes, I know,’ he said, very calmly, ‘but I am the Queen’s food tester.’ Can you imagine?”  Chef Norbert asks.

No, it’s hard to imagine cooking for the world’s most elite clientele and then discussing it with such grace and humour, but then Chef Norbert has picked up a few tricks over the years.

On a busy day, Chef Norbert is responsible for feeding over two thousand people in the nine restaurants of The Oriental. In his 34-year tenure at Bangkok’s legendary hotel, which is steeped in glamour and history, he has served royalty and rock stars, presidents, literary geniuses and Hollywood glitterati. Once, armed guards insisted on escorting him to his own cooler, to fetch the appetizers for former US president Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy. It’s all merely a day’s work for Chef Norbert, who shrugs it all off with a self-effacing grin.

“We’ve had some important people come here,” he says, in an understatement typical of his down-to-earth demeanour. We are in the Author’s Wing, which is all that remains of the original hotel that opened in 1887. The walls are covered with black and white pho­tographs of King Chulalongkorn and early guests to The Oriental, such as Crown Prince Nicolas of Russia, who visited in 1891.

“What I tell my cooks is, do not be scared to cook for this and this person,” he continues. “At the end of the day, he’s just like us.”

Chef Norbert is full of surprises: an Italian chef with a German name and a passion for cooking Thai food. The son of a shoe-maker and a wood-carver, he now works in five-star international opulence.

He is from the Dolomites Mountains, a region that was part of Austria until the end of the First World War, when it was annexed to Italy. He refers to it as, “the Italian hill-tribes” and his bright eyes are teasing, full of laughter. Born in 1945, he grew up speaking Romansch, a language also spoken in parts of Switzerland, rather than Italian. This sense of cul­tural dislocation was one the factors leading Chef Norbert to become a cook.

“I come from a little village in the valley and me having a German name, I just wanted to see the world,” he explains. “At this time it was known that if you became a cook you could see the world, because you could work on a ship, and in different countries.”

There was also the intriguing hotel next to his school, where Chef Norbert and his friends would spy on the cooks. “Once in a while we could see a cake,” he says. His eyes gleam and you get a sense of what cake meant to those children.

A yearning to travel and the sweet promise symbolized in a cake, led Chef Norbert to drop-out of school when he was fifteen to become a chef ’s apprentice, training for three years in Italian and Austrian cuisine. He worked Switzerland for several years, including three winter seasons in St Moritz. His dream was to move to California, but in 1970 an offer to work in the newly opened Dusit Thani Hotel changed his life.

“It was a mystic place,” he says, explaining his limited im­pressions of Thailand at the time. “We didn’t know much more than rice, Queen Sirikit and King Bhumiphol, and that it was close to Vietnam.” After two months in Bangkok, his company wanted to transfer him to California, but it was too late; Chef Norbert had already been seduced by Thailand. As he puts it: “The colours, the food, the way they eat, the way they cook. I loved the pace of life. It was fun. Eve­rything was fun.” After four years at the Dusit Thani, Chef Norbert came to work at The Oriental, becoming Head Chef twenty-eight years ago.

Almost four decades, a Thai wife and two children later, Chef Norbert’s initial passion for Thailand cuisine has yet to dim. His great respect for Thai cooking comes not only from the unique combination of flavours, which he describes as having “the sweet, the sour, the salty and the spiciness, but it is all in harmony.” But also from the Thai tradition of eating together and sharing food, because “in this time of emails no one talks to each other, so it’s even more important that you at least have a conversation at the table. The table is the heart of the home.”

Chef ’s Norbert’s heart is certainly in his adopted home. Of all the famous people he’s served over the years, he unhesi­tatingly confesses that his greatest honour was preparing a banquet to celebrate King Bumiphol’s 60th anniversary on the throne. With the King and 39 Royals at the table, Chef Norbert and his team worked around the clock for the two days leading up to the event, refusing to leave anything to chance. The Oriental had just completed a state-of-the-art kitchen, but even after checking and e-checking all the equipment, Chef Norbert insisted on bringing in all his old equipment in case of an unforeseen technical difficulty.

“This is the excitement. There is a time limit and you have to do it,” he says. “If I’m sweating and dirty and tired but I see my clients are happy, I’m the happiest person in the world.”

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

A Chef For All Occasions

When you come from a family that boasts four generations of chefs, one can safely assume that the talent can only be genetic. It’s like being born with green eyes. It’s there in your DNA, waiting to be made tangible.

So it is with chef Rosauro del Rosario – AKA chef Sau. He can safely say that his culinary talent runs in his blood. One of his early influences was his father, one of the few Fili­pinos of his time who studied at the Culinary Institute of America.

Armed with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from the Univer­sity of the Philippines, no less, he got his first job at the Westin Philippine Plaza as a junior chef.

Then he moved on to the newly opened Edsa Shangri-La as a demi-chef. His mentor was chef See Cheong Yan, who to this day follows up on the progress of his career. As Chef de Partie at the New World Hotel, he was again chosen to be in the opening team of the fine dining restaurant of the hotel, Bocarinos. Peninsula Hotel’s renovation gave him another opportunity to climb up higher and this time he became a Senior Chef at the age of 29 under the tute­lage of his bosses chef Jan Gundlach and Daniel Litchensteiger. Chef Gundlach saw the potential in chef Sau and after training him in kitchen management and design, promoted him to Sous Chef, one of only three in the hotel.

However, chef Sau had too much wanderlust in him to stay put in the Philip­pines. He decided to explore new horizons so he traveled to Nice on the south coast of France. Here he worked with Michelin star chef Christian Plumail of L’Univers. After a year in Nice, he went on a discovery tour around the region and studied everything related to French cuisine: Bordeaux wine, cheese making in Normandy, foie gras production in Perigord, and even meeting great chefs like Alain Ducasse in Monaco, Paul Bocuse in Lyon and Alain Reix of the Jules Verne of Tour Eiffel. In Paris, he worked with 3 Star Michelin Chef Jacques Di­vellec of the well known seafood
restaurant- Le Divellec Restaurant.

“Aside from the culinary arts, my Parisian experience gave me a deeper understanding of the culture and lifestyle of the French.” Since then, Paris has become chef Sau’s second home.

Back in the Philippines, he became the Chef of Venezia, the chill out place of Manila’s cosmopolitan crowd. Here his talent as an international chef came to the attention of food critics. Paul Hsu heard about his reputation as an excellent chef on French cuisine and hired him immedi­ately for his Elite Concepts in Hong Kong. He claimed that chef Sau was a French man in a Filipino body. In preparation for the opening of the restaurant, he trained under a Michelin Star chef from London named, Bruno Loubet of Atlantic Restaurant, Isola, Odeon.

Two years later, Europe beckoned once again. This time chef Sau traveled extensively along the Mediterranean coasts. He embraced and discovered new cuisines: Mo­roccan, Basque, Southern Italian and Greek. “Life is dif­ferent in these continents. My senses became alive!”

A year later, he was offered work in Shanghai; this time in a Mediterranean theme restaurant named Luna. It became the watering hole of the glitterati and the literati of Shanghai.

Everyone wanted to savor chef Sau’s well known cuisine.

It was during this stint that he met the people who of­fered him a challenging job at the Raffles Hotels and Re­sorts in Singapore. Chef Sau was responsible for the de­velopment, execution and maintenance of the culinary standards in all the Equinox restaurants namely: Equi­nox, the eponymous restaurant Jean, a unique French-Khmer boutique restaurant, the vibrant and dynamic New Asia Bar and Grill, plus four dining rooms. The overall seating capacity of the complex is 1,200 people.

Next stop; Manila. In November 2004, the Museum Café, fondly called M, opened with chef Sau at the helm. Fresh from his European and Asian stint, chef Sau com­bined cuisines from Europe and Asia and came up with an Asian fusion menu which was a big hit with M Café’s regular clientele.

The menu, aside from the delicious meat, poultry and fish dishes, had a noodle and vegetar­ian section. The evening clientele enjoyed a selection of imaginative cocktails and drinks. M Café is indeed chef Sau’s masterpiece.

Chef Sau revels in challenges and being stagnant in his art is not in his vocabulary.  “I love parallel parking because like cooking and open­ing restaurants, it presents a challenge to me.” What is the next challenge in chef Sau’s career? The road is open to so many possibilities. We can only wait and see what’s cooking in chef Sau’s exciting repertoire.

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

It’s In The Genes

In the 1970’s the smash hit TV show Let’s Cook with Nora opened the eyes of Filipinos to the world of food. Millions would tune in every Sunday morning, putting the Queen of Cuisine’s tips into practice and discovering a world of possibilities where once there had been mushy vegetables and crackled pork.

One  amongst  the millions  who’d stare wide eyed at the  show  would be  a  young boy
named  JA  Venturara. “She was an  icon; she uplifed food  in  the  Philippines  to  international standards with her show back  in  the 70’s.”  JA  smiles as he sips  Champaign  from  his  office above  the kitchen where his students are swifly mustering up the night’s menu.

With a fascination for cooking instilled at such a young age it’d follow that cooking school wouldn’t be  so  far  of.  “I wanted  to  study cooking  afer  I  lef  school but  in those days  there was no  cooking school in the Philippines, so I enrolled on  a  course  in hotel management.”

In the evening, while many of his friends were sat in front of the TV  or  propped  up at  a  bar  the young  JA would  be  volunteering his services as a chef’s  assistant, learning  from  seasoned  professionals, snatching  details  and noting  down their tricks and methods.

Amongst the chefs who infuenced him most were Jef Catral, Bang Ignacama and Fernando Aracama. “Tese were  the guys who  taught me  the  importance of understanding food, where it comes from and how it’s grown.” Combining his cooking skills with his qualifcations  in hotel management opened the door to a varied career.

Afer  qualifying  in  Hotel  Management he went into consultancy work before fying of to Canada in 2002 to
work in a town called Banf, Alberta, high  up  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. “Working  in  the  Rocky  Mountains was  a  great  experience. Tere was  a wide international mix in the restaurant where I was stationed so I learnt more about diferent cultures.” When I  ask  him  how  working  in  Canada differed  from working  in  the Philippines, he explains. “People were blunt, more direct. In Canada it’s OK to get mad  and  shout  at  someone  in  the kitchen  if  they  are  too  slow.  I  think it’s the same in the UK. I’ve seen your Michelin  star  chef  Gordon  Ramsey bursting  blood  vessels  and  spitting venom  in  the kitchens.  I don’t  think
he’d  be  accepted  here.”  JA  laughs, throws back another  swig of Champaign and continues.

“One  of  the  things  I  teach my  students  is  to  learn about diferent cultures  because  cuisine  is  very  much a part of  culture.  If  the  students  are interested  in studying Italian cuisine they  should  learn  about  Italian  culture. Not only where  the  food and wine comes  from but  the country’s religion, music and festivals, all these things are integral to creating the right food and the right environment.”

Banf is a beautifully located tourist town in the state of Alberta, famous for grizzly bears who linger in the woods but are rarely seen. “Unfortunately, I was too busy to spot a grizzly and afer a year I got an important phone call from the Philippines.”

The  call  was  from  San Miguel’s  head  office. During  the  few  years  since  leaving  college and fying of to Canada the young chef must have impressed a few people not only with his cooking skills but also his people skills. “I was a  little bit  shocked. Te position  they offered was  as  International Corporate Chef  for  San Miguel.”

The work  entailed  traveling  the  length of  the Philippines, developing menus  for  the diferrent branches of San Miguel. Te work was hard but what  interested  the young  chef most was traveling  around  the  country,  observing  how cultural nuances  afect  the way we  eat.  “Chinese, Malay and Spanish culture has greatly infuenced Philippine food. As you travel around the country you can taste all the diferences.”

It wasn’t long afer leaving San Miguel that the wandering chef was back on the road. With a new  project  to  open  a  Spanish  restaurant  he traveled  to Barcelona and Madrid. Again,  the importance of understanding  the culture and experiencing it frst hand took precedence over the easier option of learning from books, “Ac
tually, being in Spain meant I was able to really appreciate and understand Spanish cuisine.”

Another road trip would shortly follow, this time from Euston to Dallas absorbing the sights and favors of Alabama, Philadelphia, Maryland, Washington DC and New York. “Cajun, Hawaiian, South American – the changes in style as you travel through these places is like entering a kaleidoscope of taste and color.”

As someone who’s worked the hotels and restaurants from the far side of the US to the kitchens of  the Philippines JA  is now passing on  these experiences  to  those who will become  the country’s next generation of leading chefs. Wisdom and foundation are what JA considers fundamental toward becoming a great chef. “Wisdom comes from hands on experience, the work you do in hotels, restaurants and food companies. We’re here to take care of the foundation.”

At the Academy for International Culinary Arts students are very much thrown in at the deep end. 90% of the training is hands on in the kitchens which are bedecked with state of the art equipment.

The amicable and easy going  JA fnishes his Champaign with a broad grin. “It’s great workiing here, we have a  lot of  fun.  I  try  to  stimulate a creative atmosphere. One day each week the students will write  their name on  the board along with a  list of personal characteristics.

They’ll then create a meal that suites these characteristics. For example, if Sue is exciting and unpredictable she could create spicy fsh with a surprising twang. However, we also stimulate the pressure cooker atmosphere typically found in the kitchen environment, the type of atmosphere where people like Gordon Ramsey come into their own.”

Tonight I’m lucky enough to be dining on the students creations. A nine course meal delivered in small portions that pretty much traverse the favors of the world.

“Our aim is to provide the fnest quality of culinary training in the Philippines.” When I ask him if he believes they’re achieving that aim he replies.

“Well, you’re eating my student’s meal; you be the judge.” All I can say is; if any other school in the Philippines is producing food this good then there be my next port of call.

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

Cooking With JA