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PERSONALITY
46 | FireFlyz
Service!
Fireflyz
chatswithSteveAllen, chef andCEOofTheDeliciousGroup, about his journey
towhere he is now.
Whydidyoudecide tobecomeachef?
Since the age of 7, I enjoyed baking at home
withmy grandma. Mymother used to have
a hairdressing salon at the back of the
home and I used to make them all tea and
cakes while they were waiting. I had a big
garden and we grew gooseberries, apples
and blackberries. Becoming a chef was just
a no brainer, I got my first job at 13 years
old in a local hotel working a few nights
a week and then at the weekends, and
really I never thought of doing anything
else as a career.
What was it like working with Gordon
RamsayandMarkSargeant?
Mark Sergeant was my Mentor for 8 years
and he taught me more than anyone ever
has. I would say he is the most talented
chef I have ever known and he has been
a huge inspiration on my career. Gordon
is very inspirational too and I believe he
is a great mentor for young talents. He is
honest,motivating and a very natural cook.
One of the best attributes Gordon has is
not being scared to ask about something.
I remember assisting himon the first series
of Kitchen Nightmares and I cooked some
roast potatoes for the newmenu. He came
be very tolerant and calm. I find people’s
taste buds in Malaysia to be so varied and
it is extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to please everyone.
You have gone from being a Chef to CEO.
Was that your plan to takeover theworld?
I had an opportunity to learn at the Deli-
cious group and it is has proven one of the
toughest yet most satisfying challenges
of my life. To say it’s easy in Malaysia
is completely untrue. I have gone from
running a kitchen of 35 chefs to running
a company of 200+ employees, which of
course, cannot be done the same and I have
had to adapt frommicro managing staff to
managing on a much bigger scale.
Thefoodandbeveragemarket is inaslump.
Howareyou tackling that?
The market looks like it may not pick up
until the second half of next year, which
is worrying. We are tackling the situation
by trying to have a mix of value and in-
novation. We are launching a new “Tapas
Inspired”menu next year whichwill range
from RM8 - RM18 per dish, so groups of
people can order more selections at better
value. It is very easy to get scared in this
over tasted the potatoes and said “They’re
amazing! how did you do them?” So I
showed him and 10 minutes later he was
teaching the staff on camera using my
technique. It doesn’t matter how famous
or talented you are, he showed me we
can always learn and do things better. Of
course working for both of these chefs was
not easy, it takes a lot of work, dedication
and pure hard grit. I do miss my time with
these two chefs but I’m not sure I would
want to go through it all again!
FromtheUnitedKingdomtoMalaysia.Why
here?
Inmy opinion, Malaysia is the food capital
of theworld. I have travelled to 31 countries
and find the food here to be the best. It’s
so interesting, tasty and innovative. Food
here is of good value and, above all,most of
the food has culture, with recipes that often
go back generations and I really wanted to
immerse myself in this.
Did you find the transition from different
culturesand fooddifficult?
Yes. I really wanted to go back after the
first year. Working culture here is very
different and you have to learn how to