Conversation
Jason Atherton Michelin Chef and restaurateur
The British superstar chef talks exclusively to EDGAR ahead of opening his first Dubai restaurant, Marina Social
Once a cook always a cook I was born and raised a cook, and I’ll die a cook. I don’t even like using the work ‘chef’, as you have to earn that right. When I worked with [three Michelinstar chef] Ferran Adria at el Buli towards the end of his career, his knowledge and command of the kitchen validated people calling him ‘chef’. Despite the fact that I run several restaurants, I am still a young man and I am constantly learning about food and restaurants, so calling myself chef would only feel right when I have mastered all that.
I am naturally inquisitive, and I like to keep my finger on the pulse, but let’s just say that you’re unlikely to see a trendy Peruvian Food Truck by Jason Atherton driving around New York anytime soon!
Fire breather
I am not a ‘celebrity chef’. I don’t hate that label; I just don’t agree with it. Chefs exist to cook in kitchens, not solely to appear on TV. Sure, you can do it for promotional work, but it is not the purpose of my career. For me a celebrity chef is someone on TV whose job it is to entertain people through food – there is nothing wrong with that, but that is not what I do.
To be a restaurateur, you have to have fire in your belly and wake up everyday thinking ‘I will make this a success’. You cannot be taught that desire, it has to be naturally within you. At my flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social in London, our staff go outside every morning and physically clean the whole street. I want my guests to enjoy every second of their experience; even before they walk in – that’s the kind of commitment you need to succeed.
I was last working in Dubai 11 years ago as the Head Chef at Verre. I loved living here, but things have moved on very dramatically since then – Dubai Marina was a desert! These days its much more like London where the city has different, self-sufficient communities that have everything you need.
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Star power
Back once again
The dish I am most famous for is one that helped me win the TV competition Great British Menu. It was a modern,
Last supper I try hard to eat healthy and to keep my weight in check, but if I was only allow one final meal it would be an amazing rib-eye steak with blue cheese dressing, duck-fat chips and an amazing bottle of Cheval Blanc. After that you could chuck me off a building. Details: Marina Social, Intercontinental Dubai Marina, Dubai. Opening late 2014. For more visit ihg.com or jasonatherton.co.uk
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“For me the term ‘celebrity chef’ refers to a TV presenter that works on cooking shows”
liquid adaptation of a BLT. I must have sold thousands of those, but I no longer include it on my menus. My philosophy is that you should never rest on your laurels and push yourself to creative. The industry moves so quickly, that you have to move with it, or get left behind.
“The new restaurant, Marina Social, will be opening at the end of the year at the new InterContinental Dubai Marina. Although it will be part of my ‘Social’ restaurants family, we want it to take on its own form because the minute you leave Britain, it is hard to hold on to the tag ‘Modern British’ cuisne. Instead, what we have done is take the sensibilities of what British food is and adapt it to the
produce available in Dubai. We will use the same techniques, presentation and flavour profiles, but will let it organically grow into the local market. People here love to share food, where as in the UK it’s very much the ‘if you want some, order your own’ principle. Over here it is all about fitting as many people around a big table as you can and sharing. We want to harness that, but do it in our own style.” – JA
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