My personal highlight: quotes, life stories, flavors. Woman Chef are best story teller ever!

After attending the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival this winter I could not wait to get in touch with more passionate International Chefs! For those who missed that story, you can dive into it here.

My experience at Chef Alps 2017 starts with Chef Dominique Crenn. She is a French born raised in a family of artists. You can feel her creative heritage in the way she prepares and presents the dishes and in the stories of life she tells. Today she lives in San Francisco where she runs two restaurants, Atelier Crenn (2 Michelin Stars) and Petit Crenn, a third one to be opened soon. Her easiness and authenticity inspired myself. If you feel your own fire inside, it’s what brings you forward in life. One of her attributes is the fact, that she loves to transmit a poem with food.

„Food is a language“ she says. It’s more than a sophisticated dish you get on your plate.

A focal part of my interview: Crenn’s personal story about working as a Woman Chef in South East Asia

In 1997, she made culinary history being the first female executive Chef in Indonesia leading the kitchen at the InterContinental Hotel in Jakarta. Crenn mentions during the interview that this time was one of the most challenging of her life. It touched my heart, how she approached and supported the Indonesian women staff she was managing by that time.  Giving them believe in their qualifications and professional goals. Due to the political turmoil in Southeast Asia, she returned to California in 1998.
At her restaurants in San Francisco food waste is a number one topic. On stage she presented to the audience how to prepare the marrow from the swordfish. It turned out to be a real delicacy.

Why a food blogger should visit an International Cooking summit like Chef Alps

It’s the place where creative people come together for sharing life and food stories. The event is an inspiring platform for Chefs, gastronomes, foodies and media. After attending the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival beginning of the year I was very honored to be part of Chef Alps 2017.

It’s a unique experience talking in person to world famous Chefs.

You understand, why food has such an important influence and it bridges cultures and humans.

It’s more than tasting a piece of delicious prepared meat or admire a good looking plate. It’s the procedure, the origin of a Chef, their motivation and struggles. Their complete life.

Hearing Antonia Klugmann from Italy (1 Michelin Star) explaining, how a menu is created and that it includes complex, thoughtful steps with several months of tests until it appears on the menu, left me with an open mouth. On the stage she presented two of her own original dishes.
The tomato strawberry spaghetti and the beef carpaccio aromatized with herbs from her garden at  Restaurant L’Argine a Vencò in Dolegna del Collio, Gorizia Italy. Using a variety of alpine herbs is a signature of her recipes.

“Respecting the use of fresh and local ingredients by an accurate preparation is only one parameter to be considered,” says Chef Klugmann. Further, it’s essential to be a good example for ongoing Chefs and to stay as authentic as possible.

How to be a good leader

Being a leader for the employees and sensitive enough to understand when the team needs a break is a topic that Chef Ana Roš mentions during her session on the stage. She is the World’s Best Female Chef 2017.  While traveling to Zurich she got a phone call from her Sous Chef. They were discussing the need of a break due to a very intense time at her Restaurant Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia.

Her cuisine focuses an avant-garde approach with local and seasonal ingredients from her home country. One of the dishes Chef Roš prepared on the stage is a cooked tongue of a milk cow. It came paired with a home made Dashi, pickled celery, smoked celery purée, light sweetened algae and a scallop. A complete surprise. That is how she loves to cook, creative, sustainable and full of energy.

Ana Roš achieved her international fame overnight, thanks to an episode of her cookery skills shown in the series “Chef’s Table” on Netflix. ‘The visitor numbers on the website increased from 200 to 10,000 a day. They were absolutely swamped with reservation requests.

What impresses me much is the fact, that she started her Chef career from scratch by autodidactic tools. She was a former professional skier and studied politics. Her way into cooking was completely new.

These my friend,s are more than just Chefs preparing food to satisfy guests or winning awards. These are inspiring personalities that motivate all of us to follow our dreams and passions.

Thank you for reading the Lovefoodish food stories!