Gaetan Christopher Biesuz, Raffles Bali

Gaetan Christopher Biesuz

In this interview, chef Gaetan Christopher Biesuz, Director of Culinary at Raffles Bali, describes the team’s vision, some stories from behind the scenes and future plans.

What do you do?

As Director of Culinary, I oversee all food and beverage operations at Raffles Bali, including our signature restaurant Rumari. I work along with my passionate team to always improve ourselves and deliver the most memorable experience. Together we have very high goals to achieve, and we aim to give the best image and reputation to the local ingredients we get from the fantastic farmers we collaborate with all around Indonesia.

How did you get into the industry?

I stepped in when I was a child, as some of my family members were already in it. So at a young age, I was already in the kitchen with my grandma, who gave me a passion for cooking. At 14 years old, I decided to stop regular school and go directly to cooking school, and this love for cooking hasn’t stopped since then.

Share with us a story from behind the scenes.

Ah, so many of them!
When I was the executive sous chef for a 5-star company, I was sent as a trainer for a new property opening. I was there to support the banquet menu and get the kitchen up and running for the opening. As soon as I read the menu, I knew we would have a problem. But no matter what, we had to prepare the entire menu (about 30 dishes) for show and tasting on a Thursday evening around 7 pm.

It turned out a disaster – of all 30 recipes, only one was good, not even excellent. The worst is that the following day at 9 am, we had to prepare to do the same show for our CEO. My corporate chef took me aside, asked me what had happened, and ordered me to recreate a full brand new menu to be presented to the CEO instead of the original. This gave us less than 14 hours to create the menu, recipes and plating for the next morning.

Fortunately, I was not alone. Two of my other colleague trainees from the other property gave me a hand. Rob and Marc stayed all night with me. The three of us recreated a menu up to the level to show to our CEO the following day. At 9 am, we were ready and in the end, the CEO was very pleased as well as the corporate chef. This showed that in the kitchen, no matter what your position is, everyone is a key element to the team.

What food memory from your childhood or travels stands out?

The paella from my grandma made me understand what I wanted to do with my life – create genuine happiness for people around a great tasty meal.

What’s the best/ worst part of your job?

The best is that I try to inspire the new generation to cook with their heart and palate instead of eyes on Instagram every day.
The worst is nothing. I am fortunate to choose my job by passion and not by obligation. Bad days happen, and they are here to teach us to be better, stronger and wiser.

What’s one of your favourite food and beverage pairings?

I could return to my classic training with fantastic wine from France. Still, I would rather go with something I could have every day – Pad Krapow Gai (Spicy Thai Basil stir-fried chicken), fried egg, steamed rice and an icy beer.

What’s one of the craziest things you’ve seen behind the scenes?

Back then, when I was very young and out of my military service, I got a job in the south of France in a prestigious restaurant. Unfortunately. I only worked for one week, and I decided to quit. It is actually the only job I quit in my over 25 years of career. The reason is that the chef de cuisine at the time passed the limit I couldn’t accept. During service, he threw plates or pans into the kitchen if he was unhappy with the result. I tried and stayed seven days straight. On the last day, I decided to give him my apron and tell him I was thankful for the opportunity, but this environment was not for me. I took this experience as great learning as since then, I have always told myself I will never have this kind of behaviour in my team and will never accept any team member if they have this kind of behaviour.

Gaetan Christopher Biesuz’s perfect day off would be…

Enjoying free time with my wife and our dog, listening to music all morning, going running on the beach and making no plans, just letting the day go by doing whatever we feel.

A day in the life of a chef is…

… waking up usually at 7 am (if not too busy otherwise, it’s 6 am), getting ready for work, checking messages in case something is important and swiftly going to the resort. Arriving at the resort, going around all the kitchens, meeting my teams, then meeting every guest during breakfast to ensure they have a great time and to see if we could prepare anything special for them.

Moving after to the morning briefing with the managing team to see what the day looks like, who is coming, any VIPs, and any special attention. After that, getting with my senior team chef and service side to review the day and any events or special requests coming up.

Days are different. Some days we have tastings of dishes or new beverages either for the new menu or special occasions. Reviewing any guest inquiries, replying to guest or supplier emails or messages.

Lunchtime goung back and forth between the restaurant to ensure all teams are ready and all food preparation is fresh and ready for guests to stand by if the restaurant is busy to support either in the kitchen or for the service side to ensure a flawless experience.

The afternoon is usually a time for planning or meetings until 5 pm to get all teams and restaurants ready for evening service, starting to go to the bar to ensure is all set before walking to the restaurant, looking at the tables before going to the kitchen to ensure all teams are set, knowledgeable of the guests they have for dinner and then starting again service splitting myself between the kitchen and the service always to be ready to jump anywhere at any time to ensure guests have a memorable experience.

What does Gaetan Christopher Biesuz do for fun?

I play a lot with my dog, run, listen to music and, of course, cook.

What’s something you’d like guests to know about Rumari?

I want everyone to know that Rumari restaurant’s goal is to deliver a unique, responsible, genuine and memorable experience. No one should be intimidated to visit us. We welcome everyone, despite not being in the most trendy location in Bali. I believe no one will regret visiting us after the team delivers a friendly, tasty memorable experience in a natural, relaxed ambience with a stunning view of Jimbaran Bay.

How has the pandemic changed your perspective or the way you operate?

The pandemic only reinforced what our plan has been since 2019. It gave us more reason to continue our project. We always wanted to be the most responsible and sustainable, working alongside local and Indonesian farmer communities and fighting against food waste.

What’s something you’d like people to know about being a chef as a profession?

It takes a great understanding of what it means to be a chef. Many have the wrong image of what a chef should be. A chef must be able to accept the sacrifice needed to work in the industry and adjust and be flexible in juggling any things that can pop up. Always expect the unexpected. But first and foremost, a chef works first with their tongue. The palate is about flavour, so a chef must teach his palate all the different combinations of flavour, and this takes years of experience.

What’s your view on the food and beverage scene in Bali?

Bali is a happening place, with lots of new trendy places opening. It has great diversity and huge potential to be on the map for quality. In the past, many tourists and domestic travellers came to Bali with the mindset that things in Bali are cheap.

But I think is time to make a change to this reputation and make the majority of tourists and domestic travellers rediscover Bali by focusing on quality and diversity instead of just a price tag. Bali has an offering that competes with any of the big cities in the region.

What practices do you currently implement or hope to implement to work towards social responsibility and sustainability in the future?

Since day one in our DNA and philosophy, we have wanted to be as responsible and sustainable as possible. We are now standing at around 75 to 80 % of the product we use are directly sourced from the rich Indonesian Archipelago. Moving forward, our menu will have a closer focus on minimum or zero waste.

What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?

2023 looks very exciting. Rumari will launch new menus and a series of collaborations with renowned international chefs throughout the year to bring unique and memorable experiences for our guests based on the exchange of flavour, technique and friendship.

Read more interviews such as this one with Gaetan Christopher Biesuz here, and stay up to date with the latest food and beverage happenings in KL here.