Tell us a little bit about yourself. I consider myself a fairly easygoing person. My mother played a large part in my motivation and decision to be a Chef. She was and is one of the best bakers I’ve ever met. Every day I believe I learn something new about food. I am highly driven and passionate about what I do, and I am always seeking greater knowledge. Any free time out of the kitchen I spend relaxing with my wife or working on my custom Harley. At the moment, though, I have no plans to bring my Harley to Beijing—it’s too cold and traffic is crazy!

Being a chef is perhaps one of the most highpressured jobs on the planet. How do you keep yourself and your team cool, calm and collected? At times it can be very stressful. Personally I’m a stress junkie. The worse it gets, the more I love it. But that’s just me. When the pressure is on, I know that my team is looking to me for leadership and guidance, so no matter what’s going on, I have to appear calm and focused to them. I’m very hands on in my kitchen. I like to be in there working with my chefs. Because of this I get to know each individual member of my team, along with their strengths and their weaknesses. I know how far I can push them under pressure and when to back off. I give them clear directions to keep them focused when things are getting crazy. When I see somebody’s not coping, I work alongside them.

In this issue we’re talking about the secrets of success. Tell us, what are yours? I never give up, so stubbornness is my secret to success. Hard work and being passionate about what I do certainly help as well.

You work with diverse staff. How do you go about training them? First off, I spend time working alongside my staff in the kitchen. I get to know their strengths and weaknesses. I build on their strengths and set them tasks that challenge their weaknesses. I constantly try to give them directions in the most practical ways. That could mean working closely with them or having a discussion about the reasons behind what they are doing, so they understand the task better and how it fits into the bigger picture. I place them strategically so they can learn from one another. I like to find out each of my team members’ aspirations and challenge them with them.

What do you think businesses can learn from the way a kitchen operates? A kitchen is a business. As in any other business, it is a very complex operation. Any part of the kitchen can rely on multiple other parts to operate efficiently. Purchasing, stores, front of house, back of house, sales, and marketing teams all have to work together cohesively for the operation to be successful.

You’ve worked as a sky chef for Gulf Air. What has that taught you about working with business people from around the world? Gulf Air exposed me to some extremely high income earners. Sometimes it surprised me how simple and basic their requests were. And they all seemed to have the same basic core attributes: they were driven, highly motivated, and passionate about what they do. They have goals and they focus on them until completion.

Since you have to be a master of detail in the kitchen, how do you go about keeping things organized and flowing? By being exactly that, a master of details. As much as possible I plan ahead. This enables me to give my team clear directions for what I expect of them at any given time. If there is ever a time when I don’t have enough staff, this planning helps me utilize the ones I do have in the most effective ways. Additionally I keep my staff informed of the day’s activities and any upcoming events through daily meetings.

Tell us about your upcoming event.  We currently have our lunch and dinner buffet at Beijing Bistro. Choy’s Seafood is our Chinese restaurant, which serves Dim Sum and Hot Pot. And we are going to have a big food festival – Rajasthan Food Festival – from 17th Feb. till 17 March. An Indian Chef will fly in from Jaipur Marriott at the beginning of February.

Do you have any favourite places to go in Beijing? Restaurants and bars? Tell us! I have been in Beijing for less than a month. I jumped straight into work the day after my arrival. So I really haven’t had the chance to go out and really explore properly yet. If you’ll ask me in six months’ time, I’m sure I have a long list of favourite haunts.

The Rajasthan Food Festival will take place at TADKA in the Marriott Northeast from February 17 to March 17, and will feature the secret recipes of Rajasthan’s royal cooks, the Khansamas.Tadka, 2/F, Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast, 26A Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District (5927 8888/8328) 朝阳区霄云路甲26 号海航大厦万豪酒店2层