INTERVIEW WITH STEFAN POYET, EXECUTIVE CHEF OF MANARAI BEACH HOUSE

How long have you been cooking professionally?

15 years

What is the weirdest request of food that you had to make?

An onion soup with no onion or taste of onion and a vegan charcuterie board

Have you ever thought of opening up your own restaurant in the future?

Absolutely, and a culinary school for orphans

How would you describe your style of cooking?

Modern mixture of classic French and Asian

When did you realize your passion in culinary world, and what triggers it?

Apprenticeship in Lyon, the chef took me to a farmer’s market and chose our products, and then we came back to the kitchen and started cooking. The freshness and the passion I saw in him made me want to be a chef.

Tell us the best compliment you have received.

A simple hug

 If you had to choose one meal for the rest of life, what would it be?

I love food too much to have to choose for 1 meal. Impossible!

 What do you do for fun during your day off?

Music, drawing, reading cookbooks

 If you could spend a day with any famous chef, who would that be and why?

It would be my first chef Joseph Viola from Lyon, a legend, just to rediscover the basics and the passion of the old classics.