Downstairs in Rockwell's restaurant at breakfast time an American family, presumably staying in the Trafalgar Hilton above, are puzzling over a china dish which has the large label 'Brown
sauce' sticking out of it. Is the stuff inside a condiment, a dish in its own
right or something weirdly English to be avoided at all costs? Like pies.
That's the kind of challenge you face in a London hotel at breakfast, even one as smart and trendy as this. And for Diego Jacquet, Executive Chef, it's also a worry. Here he is extending his remarkable evening tapas menu concept to include breakfast with dishes such as the Gourmet Combo (bocadillo, fried egg with chorizo, smoked salmon and citrus tzatziki, manchego cheese and coppa salami, potato tortilla and olives plus sautéed wild mushrooms and herbs) and now there's every chance some idiot will dunk revolting brown sauce all over it.
The role of Executive Chef at a hotel is a remarkably difficult one. Running the flagship restaurant is hard enough but then you are also expected to take charge of the bar snacks, the breakfasts, the menu for the roof garden and probably the room service too. For Diego, a relatively young Argentinean but already with an impressive CV, that includes time spent at the legendary El Bulli in Spain , behind him it's all part of the job.
Diego has
his own concept and that is, loosely speaking, tapas. Nothing less than the
world's first Tapas Hotel, although tapas is in fact a kind of shorthand for
what he does. 'I call it sophisticated tapas, we have taken the spirit of tapas,
the idea of lots of choice, people can try all kinds of things at the table
and not be restricted to one starter, one main and one dessert,' he explains. 'This
way it's more fun, it's a different way to dine and because none of my dishes
takes more than about fifteen minutes to cook, you can order extras as you
eat. You liked that dish? Order another!'
This is labour intensive work, though.' Very difficult for the kitchen, very demanding, ' he agrees. 'These are really rather complicated dishes; many have two sauces so they are as hard as any main course. The extra difficulty is when you have a table of say six people - they could be starting off with maybe fifteen tapas, and they may order more. We have to meet that demand.' It's certainly true that the dishes don't go for the simple option, things like a garlic roasted shrimp ball stuffed with chorizo and sweet potato and served with a slow glazed pork belly, or the blue fin tuna served rare with seared scallops, Asian broccoli, tomatillos and shitake mushrooms ragout are tricky dishes. Much more so than the tapas you get in a Spanish bar.
The open kitchen also offers an additional difficulty. 'Yes we are on show,' he agrees. 'The kitchen has be to designed so that we have our 'beautiful' side to the public and this means we cannot have the kitchen exactly as we might like it for efficiency.' Nonetheless, Diego and his hand-picked team of twelve, 'just one British person, we are a world team' he laughs, move with grace and style around their rather cramped work area with each little jewel of a dish coming to the pass perfectly ready to serve.
Diego
has packed in a lot in his relatively short career. From running his own restaurant
as owner/chef back in Patagonia at just twenty-one, to stints at
great restaurants in Europe and New York . Of course every one wants to ask
him about his time El Bulli, and I'm no exception. Diego's face lights up
and his enthusiasm is genuine.
'The Bulli is somewhere that changes you as a chef,' he says. "I was so fortunate to be there, I called the Chef because I was in Spain (this was in 1998 ) and already working in a fabulous Michelin starred traditional Spanish restaurant in San Sebastian and I called and actually spoke to Ferran Adria and I was invited down to join the team.' He leans back in his chair, clearly thinking back to that time. 'It's your choice what you take from the Bulli,' he says after a few moments thought. 'For me it was to respect the food and learn to work hard. Sixteen or nineteen hour days non-stop, that was not unusual. After that I was not afraid to work the hours needed to get the result I wanted. And for sure, the guy is a genius.'
Diego is able to rattle of a list of names of Spanish cooks he rates highly, all share his belief in not being afraid to break the rules.' And this is in a traditional country,' he points out,' here in England with the enormous range of restaurants, risk-taking is perhaps easier. Even Pierre Gagnaire (of Sketch fame) whose cooking I really like is on his way a French traditionalist, some new takes on things, but recognisably French cuisine.'
'Today I
don't think we create so much as we did a few years ago, instead we interpret,'
he adds with a slight frown. 'Very interesting but nothing that is breaking
out, that is new, but then that's just like music isn't it? Just when you think
there is nothing new, bang something comes along. Of course people travel so
much and try so much, it's hard to surprise them because the chances are they
have seen such and such a dish before, or something very much like it. And
they are more critical!'
Having also worked in New York , Diego is able to spot the essential difference in the way people there and here approach dining out. 'Here it's a special occasion. In New York the day you cook at home is the day you order a takeaway,' he laughs. 'Competiton in New York is much harder, so many places to eat and such a demanding clientele.'
'I believe I have injected a new philosophy here, I have enthused the staff and we have a great team in the kitchen, we share the passion,' he sums up. 'Here everything has meaning; there is a way to do it. We are not a 'hotel restaurant', we are a restaurant. We work very hard and we get results we are very proud of.'
