I used to live in Andalusia, Spain. When I went to Gibraltar, I saw the yachts, and I knew one day I’d work in this industry. So, I googled how to become a yacht chef, left my job, and did all the relevant certificates and started applying. It wasn’t easy to find the first job, but it was definitely worth it to be patient.
To keep up the standard and motivation, I always learn new skills or search for new ingredients and techniques.
I have lots of books, but there is also lots of great inspiration on social media. I also like to visit restaurants for stage work. I’ve been in London, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, in several restaurants; that’s always very exciting — seeing other chefs at work, learning from them, exchanging ideas and recipes. I also went to Barcelona to learn more about the pastry world.
The thing I love most about my job is that we can cook different cuisines every day. We have access to the best ingredients. I love that since I joined this industry six years ago, I improved my skills, and I am more confident in many cuisines and techniques.
The most challenging part of the job is that we have to be flexible; the guests can change their plan at any time, and we have to be ready for any requests. We can’t say no. This is the most challenging part, which I really like. It is a great feeling when we make the guests happy.
My style of cooking is kind of freestyle. I love to create dishes from local ingredients. I don’t like to use too many ingredients on one plate; I like to choose an ingredient that will be the highlight of the plate, and I often present one ingredient in two to three different ways. Sometimes I combine unusual ingredients together. As a yacht chef, we always have to look for the “wow” effect; when the guests say wow, I know we did a great job in the galley.
I don’t have a favorite cuisine; I love all of them. But Asian cuisine, especially Japanese, is amazing. I love the flavors and the way they respect the ingredients. So maybe Japanese is my favorite cuisine after all! Sometimes their food is so simple, but the flavors are deep and just the right combination.
I like to cook many things, but my favorite is ramen. When I saw a documentary about ramen, I was like, wow; I want to learn how to cook that. There is a big tradition behind that soup. The best thing to eat is a bowl of ramen — it makes everyone happy.
The ideal guest is someone open to everything, who likes to eat and is not afraid to try new flavors or combinations.
I never really had strange requests. I had many lactose, gluten, vegan, even an anti-candida diet. Well, that was strange. Or any order around 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. is strange, I guess.
This article was originally published in the February 2024 issue of Dockwalk.