Hello Peeps,
So............ Not been on for a while as December was a very busy month for us and i couldnt find the time to post, thought i had better put something on as on the 2nd i fly home for a couple of weeks and some serious adventures.
We as i said had a busy one with the highlights being a Safari Champagne Breakfast we did in the wilds of the Nairobi National Park, which the hotel overlooks.
Xmas morning im up at 5am and leave the girls sleeping hoping i can get home by Bubba's bedtime to see her open her presnts on what was her first Xmas,
I get to the hotel and start to load up the vehicles with eveything from portable BBQ and burners to water and spoons, we need to take everything to cook and serve the breakfast,
The guests who have upgraded come down at 6am to warm croissants and coffee, we have have about 34 for the breakfast with the remainder having a poolside breakfast in the hotel overlooking the park.
We leave the hotel by 6.15 to set up first-light has just come and we drive the short distance to the park gates to enter and set up, the spot where we are going to be is an observation post high up on the hill overlooking the park, we dont see any action on the way in except for a few wide awake and alert Impala's.
We set up quickly and as we do we see a lioness walking across the plain in front of us!!
The guests are having their game drive and will be with us around 9am so i tell my 2 breakfast girls and my Sous Chef Edwin to relax a while whilst we wait, we do some game watching but dont see much except what is maybe a Rhino in the far distance,
My plan is to greet the guests and get straight back to the hotel to oversee lunch and the set up, we are expecting around 120 but that could easily rise.(and did!!!)
The guests come we greet them pop open the champagne and settle them before i give the girls the final direction and then me and Edwin set off back to the hotel passing a big family of Giraffe on the way.
The F&B Manager Vijay looks after the guests and when he leaves they see a lioness take down an implala and rip it to shreds...............we missed the good bit!!!
Lunch prep is hectic and the dry ice i had got for the buffet we realise the stores man has managed to split the bag and all the dry ice is ruined.......oh well plan B.
Lunch looks real good, a nice set up and quickly gets very very busy with guest walk ins waiting for tables they hear we are good and can see the set up and really want to eat with us which is good.
3pm we are still rocking.3 becomes 4, 4 becomes 5 and we end up doing 172 not bad,
I get my guys some beers, drink one with them thank them and im off having cooked my Goose in my oven here, GM pops down to the kitchen and thanks the team,
I had already decided to try and help some of the homeless people i pass by on my way home so one of my team preps 6 take aways with a hot turkey lunch inside, i pass 2 ladies with babies most days and they will be my first drop off, but as i drive up the highway through the city i see a homeless guy and stop to give him a lunch he looks really suprised to see a Mzungu (Swahili for white man) stop and give him food but gives me his best toothless smile and im off again, my ladies are there so i give them 2 lunches they smile and send me blessings and merry xmas greetings they are happy!!!
It makes me very sad to see this and in contrast to the beggars of the UK who make a living from it, these people really have nothing and to see the warmth and gratitude in their eyes from something so simple really makes you think and i honestly have a tear or so in my eyes as i think of how lucky we all are at times.
Further on are 2 more ladies and their kids and then another one and im done, just need to drop of my Directors Turkey and bits and pieces i cooked for them (they live very near me) and im off to my girls, presents, champagne, foie grs and goose follow and by 10 im done, knackered and ready to kip.
Boxing day was busy then we slow getting ready for tommorow NY Eve!!!!
We are due to fly home on the 1st and have a lot lined up Kasia will turn one year old, we are having a big family party for her birthday christening with family coming from Scotland and Poland (and Wales) and then some serious eating out, El Bulli, El Celler De Can Roca, Les Duex Salons, Bar Bouloud and Tom Aikens amongst others with my fellow blogger and best buddy @chefbennett01 who is also Kasia's Godfather!!!
Im just worried the weather stops the flights again so fingers crossed i wont start to chill until we are in the air!!!
Anyway a very Happy New Year to you all and lets hope 2011 is good to all of us!!!
Cheers!!
Kevin
Will post some of the pics of the breakfast etc asap,
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Catch up on the last week or so
Alright All,
Not had much really to say the last few weeks, it has been very busy with both year end parties and one of the restaurants, (the fine dine is still being finalised, hope to open that in a few months)
Not feeling at all festive the shopping malls are all done up but Africa just doesnt seem Christmasy and with the heat no chance of a White Christmas!!
Good thing is we have done all these large functions and no Turkey so unlike most of you guys in the UK i havent cooked any Turkey and doesnt look like we will until i do my Beer Basted Turkey Xmas Day!!
Ha-Ha i dont miss Turkey Dinners at all...............
Had to make a decision on the crappy side of the job and let one of my Sous Chefs go i had been watching him for a couple of months and he just does not do what a Sous should, he has "lost the dressing room" to coin a cheesy footy phrase and the boys have lost respect for him along with a few other things i decided to change things around.
On the plus side my Jnr Sous Ephraim can now step up and i hope grow and i have had the chance to promote one of my CDP's George who has been with me a while to Jnr Sous he can now take on a little more and hopefully we can develop these 2 lads. its something i have been looking at for some time as i didnt want to lose him as he grew......so its up to him now we are all right behind the boys to make things happen.
On a happier note it was my ?? birthday last Sunday so i took 2 days off/together for the first time in ages and had 2 great days with Ania and my daughter Kasia who will be 1 in January, had a nice meal in a cool new Japanese restaurant on their Teppanyaki table we had the seafood menu, amonst others things we had lovely well cooked King Prawns, Lobster and Grouper and then a nice really creamy rice pudding with hot caramelised pineapple from the Teppanyaki Grill,
Until you have had Pineapple here in Kenya you havent really had it, Del Monte have pineapple farms as far as the eye can see just outside Nairobi, one of my suppliers grows for Del Monte too and when he first came in with samples i could litterally smell the fruit before he reached the kitchen, so tasty.
I have worked on a Pineapple tasting plate for the fine dine, should be nice.............
Last night we went to the new kid on Nairobi's food scene Seven Seafood Bar and Grill, food was ok but the service was far from it, it went a lot like this;
Sat for around 20mins with wine list and menu,with not much attention from anyone,
Ordered some Reisling Wine, waiter came back, Sorry and reccomended a very similar wine in a Chenin Blanc!!!!???? in place of a Reisling???!! Where's Oz Clarke when you need him!
So....ordered the grossly marked up Gerwurtztraminer and guess what............
Then we settled for an Italian Trebbiano which was nothing to Blog Home About,
Ordered food some bread came and then our starters, 2 Calamari which was tasty and well cooked with a little Salsa Verde,
They then brought some dips and oils which the lady proudly said go really well with the bread which they had cleared 5 minutes before!!.......anyway....
Main course Ania had the Giant Prawns and me the New York Striploin Aged,
Prawns were top notch, nice and fresh and well cooked,
The medium steak came woefully overcooked the juices that were left running brown!!
The manager looked in horror as he knew the cock-ups had just gone into overkill he was good and after the waiter was told it was overcooked (and not medium as he kept telling me it was)
anyhow after Ania had already started i tiold them not to worry i would go with it, to be fair it was sort of tasty and not a bad piece of meat just a bad pair of hands had looked after it.
And as i fancied something sweet onto dessert, Chocolate Brownie with nutty Semifreddo and the old favourite Chocolate Fondant with Baileys for Ania.
I noticed a cheeky Sauternes by the glass so ordered one each with Pud,
And.............guess what no Sauternes so we plumped for a Muscat which was very nice but would have tasted a lot better with the dessert and not after they cleared the table!!
All in all not bad food just poor untrained service!!
Had a cheeky Double Espresso to finish which said it came with a trio of Petit Four think they had given up then and had left the P4's with the Riesling, My Medium Steak and the Sauternes.
But was still nice evening spent away from work and with the girls....................
Im really excited as we are due to fly home January 1st and have some great meals booked with Steve-O
Im also waiting to hear if i have a table confirmed at El Bulli.!!! Watch this space for an update...............
ChefBennett01 has told me to put more pictures up as soon as im more confident on the posting of them i will do my best!
Catch you all soon,
Ill try and post at least a Christnas Wish to you all before the time,
Roll on 1st of January ive got my shorts and flip flops packed its warm in UK isnt it???
Kevin
Not had much really to say the last few weeks, it has been very busy with both year end parties and one of the restaurants, (the fine dine is still being finalised, hope to open that in a few months)
Not feeling at all festive the shopping malls are all done up but Africa just doesnt seem Christmasy and with the heat no chance of a White Christmas!!
Good thing is we have done all these large functions and no Turkey so unlike most of you guys in the UK i havent cooked any Turkey and doesnt look like we will until i do my Beer Basted Turkey Xmas Day!!
Ha-Ha i dont miss Turkey Dinners at all...............
Had to make a decision on the crappy side of the job and let one of my Sous Chefs go i had been watching him for a couple of months and he just does not do what a Sous should, he has "lost the dressing room" to coin a cheesy footy phrase and the boys have lost respect for him along with a few other things i decided to change things around.
On the plus side my Jnr Sous Ephraim can now step up and i hope grow and i have had the chance to promote one of my CDP's George who has been with me a while to Jnr Sous he can now take on a little more and hopefully we can develop these 2 lads. its something i have been looking at for some time as i didnt want to lose him as he grew......so its up to him now we are all right behind the boys to make things happen.
On a happier note it was my ?? birthday last Sunday so i took 2 days off/together for the first time in ages and had 2 great days with Ania and my daughter Kasia who will be 1 in January, had a nice meal in a cool new Japanese restaurant on their Teppanyaki table we had the seafood menu, amonst others things we had lovely well cooked King Prawns, Lobster and Grouper and then a nice really creamy rice pudding with hot caramelised pineapple from the Teppanyaki Grill,
Until you have had Pineapple here in Kenya you havent really had it, Del Monte have pineapple farms as far as the eye can see just outside Nairobi, one of my suppliers grows for Del Monte too and when he first came in with samples i could litterally smell the fruit before he reached the kitchen, so tasty.
I have worked on a Pineapple tasting plate for the fine dine, should be nice.............
Last night we went to the new kid on Nairobi's food scene Seven Seafood Bar and Grill, food was ok but the service was far from it, it went a lot like this;
Sat for around 20mins with wine list and menu,with not much attention from anyone,
Ordered some Reisling Wine, waiter came back, Sorry and reccomended a very similar wine in a Chenin Blanc!!!!???? in place of a Reisling???!! Where's Oz Clarke when you need him!
So....ordered the grossly marked up Gerwurtztraminer and guess what............
Then we settled for an Italian Trebbiano which was nothing to Blog Home About,
Ordered food some bread came and then our starters, 2 Calamari which was tasty and well cooked with a little Salsa Verde,
They then brought some dips and oils which the lady proudly said go really well with the bread which they had cleared 5 minutes before!!.......anyway....
Main course Ania had the Giant Prawns and me the New York Striploin Aged,
Prawns were top notch, nice and fresh and well cooked,
The medium steak came woefully overcooked the juices that were left running brown!!
The manager looked in horror as he knew the cock-ups had just gone into overkill he was good and after the waiter was told it was overcooked (and not medium as he kept telling me it was)
anyhow after Ania had already started i tiold them not to worry i would go with it, to be fair it was sort of tasty and not a bad piece of meat just a bad pair of hands had looked after it.
And as i fancied something sweet onto dessert, Chocolate Brownie with nutty Semifreddo and the old favourite Chocolate Fondant with Baileys for Ania.
I noticed a cheeky Sauternes by the glass so ordered one each with Pud,
And.............guess what no Sauternes so we plumped for a Muscat which was very nice but would have tasted a lot better with the dessert and not after they cleared the table!!
All in all not bad food just poor untrained service!!
Had a cheeky Double Espresso to finish which said it came with a trio of Petit Four think they had given up then and had left the P4's with the Riesling, My Medium Steak and the Sauternes.
But was still nice evening spent away from work and with the girls....................
Im really excited as we are due to fly home January 1st and have some great meals booked with Steve-O
Im also waiting to hear if i have a table confirmed at El Bulli.!!! Watch this space for an update...............
ChefBennett01 has told me to put more pictures up as soon as im more confident on the posting of them i will do my best!
Catch you all soon,
Ill try and post at least a Christnas Wish to you all before the time,
Roll on 1st of January ive got my shorts and flip flops packed its warm in UK isnt it???
Kevin
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday Mornings..........
Hello All,
Well lets jump back to Friday we had the launch of AirTel East Africa, 1200 for dinner, was only a buffet though so not so bad...................
Friday morning we are looking good, Sous Chefs have been well briefed all week, the prep has mostly been done, just the finishing needed, to be then told the guests would eat 2 hours earlier!!!!
So i rattle a few of the troops, cuss and swear to myself a bit then get down to it!!!
We will be ready!!!!! oh yes we will,
So service time approaches i final brief all the banquet team and the buffet runners, time for final checks, my plan is i stay in the kitchen with the Banquet Sous Chef a lovely fella called Edwin, and the rest of the banqueting crew.
Guests are split into 2 areas that link onto each other, In the main room i have my Exec Sous Chef Robert.
In the garden area i have my Restaurant Junior Sous Chef Ephraim, each of them has 2 buffet lines serving around 300 guests each line and 2 runners to fetch and collect the food/top up as needed,
Both the Sous's have walkie-talkies ( a first for me in a kitchen and i gotta say a litttle strange) and in the kitchen itself we have one walkie talkie, idea being as soon as something starts to run low they call us and we have it ready by the time iots needed and out there for the guests who will be lining up like mad.
So we start slowly, it picks up and we run, no we walk a little quicker sending chicken,topping up, saucing the fish, sending more salads, gettting people to jump on the pastry to help them top up, then..............
Wallop!!!!
We are done and 1193 people are fed and very very happy.
This brings to a close a function which for me started on the Monday and was looked at each day as we got closer and more ready to serve.
I can honestly say i have done canape parties for 100 and sweated more, had more stress and ran round more than we did that night, but the team is relieved and happy, for many of my boys and girls this is a first, in their past employment in Kenyas 5 star hotels, 300's yes, 500's yes and the odd 900 pax function but no-one has done over a 1000 and done it well, so i tell them look guys i didnt want to say anything or make you all nervous but i have never done a function bigger than 600 either!!!!!!!
Sunday was all about the day off, slept well and got to spend the whole day with my girls which was a bonus, we went out for the day Kasia met her 1st Giraffe (that she knew about this time) and was close up enough to feed them, well she didnt i did for her, then off lunch in the garden of Talisman restaurant, a few cheeky cold ones and back home via the dude selling pirate DVD's at the side of the road so we got Sherlock Holmes and another one i cant remember 2 for 500 shillings, or about 3 quid to you and i!!!
Cheaper then blockbuster.
A busy week not sure yet what it will bring function for 550 at the weekend, lunch is busy all week and the house is full so dinner in the restaurant should be busy too!!
Our fine dining restaurant plans are coming to a close as is the gym and spa so busy days ahead.............
Have a Good Un...
Kevin
Well lets jump back to Friday we had the launch of AirTel East Africa, 1200 for dinner, was only a buffet though so not so bad...................
Friday morning we are looking good, Sous Chefs have been well briefed all week, the prep has mostly been done, just the finishing needed, to be then told the guests would eat 2 hours earlier!!!!
So i rattle a few of the troops, cuss and swear to myself a bit then get down to it!!!
We will be ready!!!!! oh yes we will,
So service time approaches i final brief all the banquet team and the buffet runners, time for final checks, my plan is i stay in the kitchen with the Banquet Sous Chef a lovely fella called Edwin, and the rest of the banqueting crew.
Guests are split into 2 areas that link onto each other, In the main room i have my Exec Sous Chef Robert.
In the garden area i have my Restaurant Junior Sous Chef Ephraim, each of them has 2 buffet lines serving around 300 guests each line and 2 runners to fetch and collect the food/top up as needed,
Both the Sous's have walkie-talkies ( a first for me in a kitchen and i gotta say a litttle strange) and in the kitchen itself we have one walkie talkie, idea being as soon as something starts to run low they call us and we have it ready by the time iots needed and out there for the guests who will be lining up like mad.
So we start slowly, it picks up and we run, no we walk a little quicker sending chicken,topping up, saucing the fish, sending more salads, gettting people to jump on the pastry to help them top up, then..............
Wallop!!!!
We are done and 1193 people are fed and very very happy.
This brings to a close a function which for me started on the Monday and was looked at each day as we got closer and more ready to serve.
I can honestly say i have done canape parties for 100 and sweated more, had more stress and ran round more than we did that night, but the team is relieved and happy, for many of my boys and girls this is a first, in their past employment in Kenyas 5 star hotels, 300's yes, 500's yes and the odd 900 pax function but no-one has done over a 1000 and done it well, so i tell them look guys i didnt want to say anything or make you all nervous but i have never done a function bigger than 600 either!!!!!!!
Sunday was all about the day off, slept well and got to spend the whole day with my girls which was a bonus, we went out for the day Kasia met her 1st Giraffe (that she knew about this time) and was close up enough to feed them, well she didnt i did for her, then off lunch in the garden of Talisman restaurant, a few cheeky cold ones and back home via the dude selling pirate DVD's at the side of the road so we got Sherlock Holmes and another one i cant remember 2 for 500 shillings, or about 3 quid to you and i!!!
Cheaper then blockbuster.
A busy week not sure yet what it will bring function for 550 at the weekend, lunch is busy all week and the house is full so dinner in the restaurant should be busy too!!
Our fine dining restaurant plans are coming to a close as is the gym and spa so busy days ahead.............
Have a Good Un...
Kevin
Thursday, November 18, 2010
You know you are in Africa when............
Hey!!
Not much to report on we are very very busy prepping for a dinner tommorow for 1200 people we are doing the launch for Airtel who are one of the wordls biggest telecommunication operators. They bought Zain Africa for 10.7 Billion Dollars!!!
Last month i cooked for Prince William and his at-the time-girlfriend-now-fiancee Kate, very very nice people, really polite. He shook my hand and said thanks for the excellent food Chef as he left, he could have given me the scoop and told me he got engaged whilst he was in Africa as i could have made a few quid telling the Press before he announced it!! But no a guest is a guest. The British High Commision sent us a letter thanking us and that HRH was very happy with his time here.That went up on the kitchen notice board and made the team proud.
Now for the bit i was actually on here to write about, you may or may not know but my hotel here borders the National Game Park. I am told Nairobi is the only city with a game park inside its boundaries, and we are lucky enough to be one of the only hotels in Afica bordering a game park so it is not suprising to see during lunch service from the glass frontage in the distance Giraffe, Zebra, Antelopes and once or twice a lost Hippo or a Lion.
Yesterday two of my boys were leaving work when a snake, only a baby, reared up at them as they almost kicked it, they got a rock and sadly killed the little blighter only to then find out it was a Black Mamba!!!!!
Now David Attenborough i am not but they can kill you with one bite cant they?? i know i certainly tip toed out of work to my car when i left in the dark late last night.
OK its 12.15pm here better go and check the various kitchens for service and see how the prep is coming along for tommorow.
Be Good,
Kevin
Please Check Out http://thymeandplaice.blogspot.com/ for a review on Alinea thats attracting great attention, Steve was there shortly before the 3 star Michelin award and its great reading!!!
Not much to report on we are very very busy prepping for a dinner tommorow for 1200 people we are doing the launch for Airtel who are one of the wordls biggest telecommunication operators. They bought Zain Africa for 10.7 Billion Dollars!!!
Last month i cooked for Prince William and his at-the time-girlfriend-now-fiancee Kate, very very nice people, really polite. He shook my hand and said thanks for the excellent food Chef as he left, he could have given me the scoop and told me he got engaged whilst he was in Africa as i could have made a few quid telling the Press before he announced it!! But no a guest is a guest. The British High Commision sent us a letter thanking us and that HRH was very happy with his time here.That went up on the kitchen notice board and made the team proud.
Now for the bit i was actually on here to write about, you may or may not know but my hotel here borders the National Game Park. I am told Nairobi is the only city with a game park inside its boundaries, and we are lucky enough to be one of the only hotels in Afica bordering a game park so it is not suprising to see during lunch service from the glass frontage in the distance Giraffe, Zebra, Antelopes and once or twice a lost Hippo or a Lion.
Yesterday two of my boys were leaving work when a snake, only a baby, reared up at them as they almost kicked it, they got a rock and sadly killed the little blighter only to then find out it was a Black Mamba!!!!!
Now David Attenborough i am not but they can kill you with one bite cant they?? i know i certainly tip toed out of work to my car when i left in the dark late last night.
OK its 12.15pm here better go and check the various kitchens for service and see how the prep is coming along for tommorow.
Be Good,
Kevin
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Setting Up!!
Hey there fellow Chefs, Cooks and Epicures. I first thought to write about my time as Executive Chef of a 5 star Hotel in Nairobi Kenya and and my visits around the country and beyond. To the famous Masaai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Mombasa and after flying right next to Mt Kilimanjaro all the way to the island of spice, Zanzibar.I could just never work out how to keep an electronic diary!!!!!!
So in between the work and watching my little daughter grow up (she was born in Kenya much to peoples suprise!! ) I try to eat as well as can be and greatly savour the time i can get back to the UK and hook up with fellow Chef, Blogger and my Best Friend Steve.You can follow him @chefbennett01 and his great blog http://thymeandplaice.blogspot.com/. When we then go off on culinary adventures the last one was the Ledbury where Steve had manged to become friends with Brett after Chefs Eat Out with The Caterer and we had a really really great meal.I cannot now wait until January when we will meet up for Kasia my Daughter's first birthday and her christening, we have drawn up a list of places we want to go Bar Bouloud,Hix Oyster and Sat Bains to name but a few. So bear with me whilst i learn the ins and outs of setting up and running a blog, as i go through life here in Kenya i hope you will join me,
By the way the background pic is by me it was at the Masaai Mara looks like someone beat me to lunch!!!!!
All the Best,
Kevin
By the way the background pic is by me it was at the Masaai Mara looks like someone beat me to lunch!!!!!
All the Best,
Kevin
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