FoodStar ChefWe are accustomed toseeing celebrity chefs onTV be it Jamie Oliver withhis simple ingredients yet wonderfulflavours or Gordon Ramsey workinghis ways in Hell’s Kitchen. Yet oftenenough, the real star chefs are theones who cooked up a storm withhis pleasurable blend of ingredients,utilizing global flavours and a pinchof instinct and lots of passion.working in hotels around Singaporebefore joining the luxurious Eastern &Oriental Express, a train that voyagesthrough Singapore, Malaysia andThailand onto Laos, offering pristinefood & beverage services during itsdays-long journey. From there, ChefAdrian went on to work with anF&B consultancy firm, setting up freestanding restaurants around Malaysiaas well as in Singapore.For a taste of star culinary experience,meet Chef Adrian Oliver Jackson, thenew Director of Culinary for RiversideMajestic & Grand Margherita. A peekat his biodata makes you wonder whatKuching has done right to be able tohave such culinary marvel drop ontoour shores. A chef with over 18 yearsof experience, Chef Adrian started outYears later, he was invited to be thepioneer team of a Spanish restaurantchain. Over the span of 6 years, hetook the chain to new heights with hiscontemporary menus and it was alsoduring that time that he was invitedto work alongside Michelin starredchefs in Barcelona. It was then that hispassion for Spanish cooking actuallybudded.From Spanish cuisines, Chef Adrianmoved abroad to Dubai in 200742 | <strong>Borneo</strong><strong>Talk</strong>Oct-Dec2011
Foodto explore greater varieties ofInternational fares. Prior to movingto Kuching, Chef Adrian was thePre Opening Executive Chef of aninternational 5 star hotel in Putrajaya.Yet amidst all his glorious achievementsand stints abroad, Chef Adrian remainsa humble and passionate chef in thekitchen. Calling himself a ‘somewhatof-a-dictator’in the kitchen, he believesthat one needs to be firm and sure ofwhat one needs to pursue in order tosucceed. A trend setter, Chef Adrianis constantly on the pursuit of movingahead of trend by studying globalculinary styles be it online or throughhis extensive network of fellow chefs.“Another way to learn new culinaryskills is to actually dine in at prestigiousrestaurants or F&B outlets and actuallytry out their specialties. From there,I would emulate their taste andintroduce my own elements” ChefAdrian said. For that, he is willing totravel the world and pay out of his ownpocket, sometimes up to thousands ofdollars for one meal.Half Portuguese and half Indian, ChefAdrian has attributed his unimpressiveacademic performance and hischildhood days making and sellingcurry puffs as the beginning of alifelong relationship with culinary. Sincethe age of 12, he was around andabout in the kitchen, whipping up onedish after the other. Now, Chef Adrianstill dabbles in ethnic Portuguese foodwhen he is at home, perfecting hisunderstanding of his native flavours. AtRiverside Majestic, he will be sharinghis latest passion on Japanese-Frenchcuisine with the team, introducing aflair of fusion to the existing menu.“Fusion is a word used very looselyby a lot of people. Often, when onecombines an element from the eastwith one of the west, it became afusion dish. But the truth is, fusion ismore of achieving complementingflavours from varied ingredients,often from different cultural andgeographical background, achievinga global cuisine through the chef’sperfected understanding of eachingredient.” For that reason, ChefAdrian prefers the phrase of ‘globalcuisine’ to ‘fusion’, as it gives a betterunderstanding of what it represents.Coming onboard the Riverside Majesticteam, Chef Adrian is foreseen to beleading the way to creating a celebritychef team at the hotel, a task he seesas exhilarating as each chef in his newteam is a talent waiting to be discoveredand explored. As Riverside Majestichad always been well known for itsbi-weekly Japanese buffet, the potentialto actually achieve greater heights withhis current specialty of French-Japanesedelicacies is infinite. The hotel’s RiverPalace Restaurant and Coca ThaiRestaurant will certainly benefit from aninfusion of global recipes brought on byChef Adrian as well.With Riverside Majestic as the platformand the entire city of Kuching tuningin to his performance, Chef Adrian willbe putting on a show that will leave aneverlasting impression for all.Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, P.O. Box 2928, 93756 Kuching, <strong>Sarawak</strong>, Malaysia.Tel: +6082 247777 Fax: +6082 425858 Email: contact@rmh.mywww.riversidemajestic.com | m.rmh.myJalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, P.O. Box 2362, 93100 Kuching, <strong>Sarawak</strong>, Malaysia.Tel: +6082 423111 Fax: +6082 426169 Email: contact@gmh.myKuching Central Reservations Office | Tel: +6082 418911 Fax: +6082 236041Email: reservations@gmh.mywww.grandmargherita.com | m.gmh.myWatch out forupcoming promotions byChef AdrianOliver Jackson atRiverside MajesticHotel.Oct-Dec2011<strong>Borneo</strong><strong>Talk</strong> | 43