An artist of smells and tastes, but, above all, an excellent cook — that is David Valíček, who opened a restaurant and cooking classes in his native region on his way to his dream. David has been lucky enough to gain inspiration and creative insight from chef Jason Atherton at the Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai and Berners Tavern in London.
For the gourmet, good cuisine is paradise. And you have cooked in a London restaurant. What is the English paradise of flavours and aromas?
My dream was to travel, explore foreign cuisine and gain experience from famous chefs. However, I was most attracted to England because it has always been referred to as the Mecca of gastronomy. I thought, I have to cook there! I wanted to come to England prepared, so I fi rst gained experience abroad and learned English. Then I wanted to experience something new, so I knocked on the door of Berners Tavern, which is Jason Atherton’s restaurant. There was a surprise waiting for me! I saw the face of Chef Phil Carmichael, whom I had met when I cooked in Prague. He gave me the job almost without an interview, and I got the position as one of the sous chefs. I cooked in a large team of chefs with whom I prepared beautiful fresh gastronomy.
The postponed EXPO 2020 World Expo begins in Dubai. How is the cooking at one of the Burj Al Arab’s tallest hotels, and what is the standard of the Arabic cuisine?
Located on a private island, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah offers seaview suites, nine signature restaurants and a full-service spa. To experience true luxury, head to one of the hotel’s restaurants. At the hotel, I had the opportunity to work as a Chef de Partie in the main kitchen, where my specialities were sauces, meats and large buff ets. The variety of food in the UAE is overwhelming, which is mainly due to the different ethnic groups that live in the territory. Arabic cuisine is well represented, complemented by Moroccan, Thai, Chinese, Iranian, Polynesian, Mexican, Lebanese and Japanese cuisine.
You approach cooking as an art. What makes the Food Atelier concept unique, and what does it offer?
In England, I really got a lot of inspiration, which I still draw from today. The result is, for example, the concept of business breakfasts that I launched at Food Atelier. I have one goal — to do things honestly and diff erently! I hope I am doing it right… You can judge for yourself. Food Atelier is a reflection of my dream to cook for a small number of guests, to fully engage with them, to pass on the experience and to show the flavours I have discovered on my travels At the same time, I hope that Food Atelier will bring together the region’s top chefs to inspire culinary enthusiasts and the upcoming generation of young chefs.
Thank you for the interview.
