Step into the world of a modern day chef

Angus Harrison
Aug 15, 2016
3 min read

Musing with Drift

People are becoming more intrigued by the lifestyles of modern-day chefs and the various methods behind their genius. “How does he make his food taste so good?”

For years there was this separation between the creator and the customer. There was a whole mystery about what happened in the kitchen.

This has changed with open kitchens and celebrity chefs. Their attitude is to give a complete package and a total interaction with the customer.

They’ve introduced private chef's tables and intimate cooking classes to share their art and knowledge. This has taken off in other parts of the world but is something I want to explore here in Malaysia.

I’ve already hosted a series of cooking classes at Drift titled Cooking with Ink and my aim is to take this interaction between the chef and customer to the next level.

As a younger chef, I really became mesmerised by the theatre of the kitchen. I loved how there was no hiding and how you could engage in conversation.

It got to such a point that I wouldn’t accept positions at restaurants if it didn’t have an open kitchen and I couldn't see and feel what the customers were experiencing.

Cooking classes really took this intimacy to another level where I could share my knowledge and entertain people: the conversation starts, the wine flows and the evening becomes an all-in-one experience.

But like anything new that people experience, it can sometimes be a hard sell.

They think cooking classes are an elaborate event, with a fancy chef who wears a fancy hat, talking about fancy food. For those who know me, that is definitely not what I am about.

Instead, I break down the barriers and encourage people to step inside my world.

As a result, my cooking classes start with how to make a basic salad, which might be boring to some, but when you explain processes that people were not aware of, you are able to capture their imagination.

This was no more clear in a recent Cooking with Ink class I did with an architect, a writer, an engineer and a graphic designer — people of creative minds.

They could somewhat relate to what I was doing through their own professions and creative processes they use in their daily careers — how I layer the textures, align the colours, balance the flavours.

Whether they didn’t know that much about food, they could all relate to my passion and the how and why of what I do — essentially being a modern-day chef is an art form.

Because of this, my cooking classes would go for longer than expected and would turn into more like a personalised dinner. The customers had no idea three or four hours had passed as the experience was so amazing.

That’s why I have now fashioned the concept of my Private Chef's Table at Drift Dining and Bar. They are a little different from the ones pioneered by the first celebrity chefs, which were still held in the kitchen.

I will be front and center with the customer, talking to them about their day, their children and any questions they have ever wanted to know about food. No hidden secrets; a raw one-on-one experience with food as the central theme.

It’s basically like going on a blind date but with the head chef of one of the best bars and restaurants in KL. It’s not your black or white, my way or the highway style of cooking. It’s a complete interactive experience, with plenty of questions, plenty of learning and plenty of fun.

The way I see it, this is my way to grow the industry here in Malaysia and put back into the culture of what I’ve been blessed and so lucky to grow up with in Sydney. I am now able to go to another country and transfer this culture and transform how other people think, act and feel.

And all of this stems from my passion. So many chefs are happy staying in their box, but if you want to succeed as a chef in today's world, you need to approach it like an entrepreneur — promoting the restaurant, the food and yourself.

They key is wanting to do this and not everyone has that in them.

For me, this is what drives me: the lifestyle, the camaraderie, the creativity. The chance to get out of the kitchen and share my knowledge with people about things they would never know or realise.

This is what I love and the reason I have made this my entire life.

>>>>> For more information about Angus Harrison’s Private Chef’s Table click the link. <<<<<