Chef Gregoire Berger of Ossiano is one of the most influential chefs of his generation. His culinary style is deeply rooted in the rich traditions of French cuisine and the diverse array of flavors. During his travels, Berger refined every aspect of his craft, resulting in dining experiences that transcend expectations. Berger’s career took a significant leap forward in Dubai, where as the executive chef of Ossiano at Atlantis The Palm, he gained international acclaim.
The Best Chef: What inspired you to become a chef?
Gregoire Berger: I must say that I became a chef by mistake. I didn’t know I would be a chef. Some of my friends were working in an award-winning restaurant back then, and I decided to follow their path because I had no other option. I wasn’t good at school, so I had to do something. And it ended up being the best decision of my life.
The Best Chef: How did you start your journey at Ossiano and the progression of your career in Dubai?
Gregoire Berger: There are two different journeys in Ossiano. It all started when my wife and I moved to Dubai and opened a restaurant that unfortunately closed on its opening day. So, after that, I had a very strong book of pictures because I had already been doing photography. I got into Ossiano in 2014, recognizing the potential of this place. It’s a beautiful place, but it could turn very quickly into a tourist trap due to its setup. However, I knew that we could create amazing fine dining here. In 2017, after traveling to Copenhagen, New York, and Japan, I came back and I was like “I need to tell my own story”. And what’s my story? I didn’t want to do a seafood restaurant. I didn’t want to do a French restaurant. What I wanted to do was to tell my own story through travels, and then we created these “tales and travels through food” concept.
The Best Chef: What inspires you the most during your travels?
Gregoire Berger: So, the inspiration are memories, moments, feelings, travels, products, and seasons obviously. For example, we had a dish we used to call ‘Nostalgia,’ which referred to my own feelings of nostalgia. So, I created the dish from my childhood, from an emotion that I had, trying to convey the feeling to the guests, to the customer. It can also be an amazing product that I cook in Japan or a producer that I met in Poland, for instance. Then you realize that it’s a cuisine of the instant that is here to tell stories through food. So, through my cuisine, I’m basically giving my life, by sharing my life through it. Although it’s very much French, if you think. So, it’s like the combination of French techniques and different flavors from different countries.
The Best Chef: How do you see the gastronomic scene in Dubai?
Gregoire Berger: So, the way I see the gastronomy scene in Dubai, it evolved over time. I came in 2014, and back then, nobody believed in Dubai. “It’s fake, it doesn’t make sense, there’s no products, there’s no terroir.” Yes, fair enough, it’s new. But it’s not fake, it’s just new. We’ve seen an era of time when many chefs were coming from abroad because they were working well in other cities and Dubai thought it was the best to bring them in. Because when you don’t have the expertise on something, you bring talents, and this is what Dubai did very well, right? Then, certain chefs, myself, Mohamad Orfali, for instance, Himanshu from Tresin Studio, we’ve been pretty much starting at the same time into creating something more homegrown, chef-y concept. Then, we understood that the clientele would prefer that because the chef is here, the chef is serving them, and the chef is preparing every day. It’s not only an international concept with a big name, it’s also someone who has values and understands the market. Then COVID hit pretty much, and I would say that it washed out a little bit of many restaurants that weren’t working well or certain concepts that weren’t meant to be here. At this point, every chef who had already been working in the shadows for many years, like myself, started to really rise and bloom, because it was the right time for it. The Best Chef came to town, and plenty of other things gave the spotlight to our cuisine and our experience.
The Best Chef: During your career, how did you manage your work and your team? And what differences do you see compared to the past?
Gregoire Berger: This also includes the place that you are in, for instance, in Europe, it will be different from Dubai. Back then, I learned a French way, and it was great. I used to love it. I think it was discipline, it was working hard, and not everybody could do it. Today, times have changed, and I would say that we need to be a little bit more patient, especially in Dubai. In my kitchen, we are working with 16 different nationalities. So, it’s more about being a mentor than being a chef itself. That’s the way I see it, we need to mentor people, we need to spend time with them, we need to understand their own struggles, where they come from, their background, their culture, and then you have a chance to make them great chefs. Because in France for instance, we all have pretty much the same school, and we learn the same thing, and we understand the same way. But when you have a chef coming from Sri Lanka, he doesn’t understand what is a Lièvre à la royale, or even a good mashed potato. He doesn’t necessarily understand because it’s not part of his culture. So, you take someone like him, and then you bring him to another level of understanding of food. And in Ossiano we are not preparing food that is common, so everyone coming here will have to learn something that they never did before.
The Best Chef: What advice would you give to the young generation of chefs?
Gregoire Berger: That’s a very good question. I think that what young chefs should do is – to be patient. Right now, a cook wants to be a chef in five years of career, but it doesn’t work this way. To me, you have to work at least ten years as a great cook on the line— filleting fish and preparing products, and cooking, and making sauces, and learning your craft — before even thinking of being a chef. It’s not enough to just look nice on your social media. It doesn’t make you a good cook. You need to know the standard flavor, you need to understand the products, you need to travel. It takes time, so you need to be patient, but many are unwilling to wait.
The Best Chef: What gives you the main satisfaction as a chef?
Gregoire Berger: I think the best satisfaction as a chef is to make people happy. Because sometimes we forget the guests in the world that are racing. We rarely speak about guests. We speak about chefs. But a chef becomes successful because he makes guests happy and it’s something that we never forget. We’re here to serve people every night. Tonight we are fully booked. How many guests will be here? Maybe 50. How many guests will be happy? Maybe 49, and this is the most rewarding thing we can have. That’s why we started to be chefs. There is an image of the chef right now where we are all superstars and everything. It’s amazing. But why are we amazing? Because we do beautiful things, because we look fashionable, because we look great? Or because we make good food for people that pay for it, right? The guests’ happiness every night when I go to the table, when I meet the guests, and the guests tell me that it was amazing, I had a great time, my wife is so happy, and it’s one of the best meal of our life. I’m like, okay, this is the real achievement. Let’s not ever forget that. If you forget that, everything will go downhill, I believe.
The Best Chef: What is your strategy to connect kitchen and service together for the perfect experience?
Gregoire Berger: I think the best way to bring the kitchen – the back of the house and the service – the front of the house, is simply not to call it back and front. It’s one team, one dream, we always say that, but that’s reality. When you look at Ossiano, the storytelling is even more important than the food sometimes. It should be at the same level, such as the music, such as the temperature of the room, such as anything that you bring should be part of the whole. The thing is that most of the time it’s all about the kitchen, but why? Why is the service not as important as the food? Because when you go to the restaurant and you get respected and well-welcome, do you think that it matters for the heart as much as the food matters for the belly? So in my place, there are no boundaries in between. There is no front and back of the house. There is one team, and any of my restaurant managers can come into the kitchen and do whatever they want. I don’t mind. My team can go on the floor and serve the food, there is no problem with that. I always say that they are the extension of my own. I create a dish and they tell the story from the dish.
The Best Chef: Given the challenges faced by the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, how did these circumstances impact the gastronomic scene here, in Dubai?
Gregoire Berger: So there’s something we need to understand a little bit about Dubai, and why I love to live here, and being part of Atlantis. Genuinely, during Covid times, it has been very difficult for the world, right? And the place we’re working in, Atlantis the Palm, and Ossiano, really took care of the old staff for months. Meanwhile, other companies were firing people like that from day one. Here, they kept the staff as long as they could, supporting each other. If some people had to leave, they hired them back when the situation was better. Dubai is a place that is super resilient and doesn’t fear anything. I think this is why I love working here. It’s because there is this mentality of family in a way, where everybody is supporting each other, despite what people abroad may think.
The Best Chef: How do you see the evolution of the demographic of the local guests?
Gregoire Berger: We see the evolution of the demographic of guests. Through all the years, I would say that back then, people were coming because of Dubai, because of their work, and not necessarily for the gastronomy. Now people travel, and because of the award as well. They travel to come to our restaurant, they travel to be able to visit a place that is unique. They put their expectations on the side, and they just come. So the evolution is tremendous. We can see that there is a big gap compared to before. But, Dubai has different seasons as well. During winter, it’s a very upscale, high-hem clientele. And during summer, it’s a little bit different, but I think every country that was in Portugal has the same thing. It depends on the period of time, right? But people don’t travel for food in Dubai.
Artykuł #FOODMISSION 2024 – Gregoire Berger – Ossiano, Dubai, UAE pochodzi z serwisu The Best Chef.
