Denis VaynerCommunity profile

Denis, you're from St. Petersburg, but you've worked all over the world – in Italy, Egypt, and Morocco, including with the renowned chef Israel Aharoni. Tell us about that experience. Aharoni was my first head chef when we opened the Le Meridien hotel. He created a very impressive signature restaurant there, which operated from 6 pm to 12 am. The menu changed every two weeks. Ingredients arrived at noon because the chef personally selected everything. And this process repeated day after day. With this approach, the kitchen was able to completely eliminate the use of freezers. Unfortunately, that's not possible in Voronezh, at least because the sea is too far away, and it's not always safe to buy certain seafood fresh. But in any case, this experience gave me a clear understanding that ingredients should and can be purchased fresh every day, and there's no need to be afraid that you might not have enough for a dish. What was the most important thing you learned from Aharoni? The most important thing was his way of thinking. Not just how to cut something, but the way he thought. The speed and creativity with which a chef creates dishes, and then accurately recreates them on the plate. In general, this is not enough in a kitchen, because every chef's assistant needs to be able to plate the dish exactly as the chef did. It's not common to find restaurants in Voronezh that consistently serve dishes in the same way; it's a very labor-intensive process to train people to cook identically. I always dedicate a lot of time to training staff, and we constantly refine our skills and speed. The kitchen is my life, and the people who work with me in the kitchen and in the dining room are my family. I browse my Instagram, and 90% of the accounts I follow feature not just food, but dishes that are so impressive that you wonder, "How could someone come up with this?" For example, take something as simple as a caramel. If you drop it onto a hot pan, it will melt in 30 seconds and turn into a beautiful, even circle with bubbles and holes. It hardens and becomes a beautiful garnish for any dish. And it looks modern and stylish, even though it started as a simple caramel. It's interesting to see how people arrive at these creations. Do you have a favorite restaurant? Yes, it's the Italian restaurant Cossa. It's a Michelin-starred restaurant that impressed me from the first time, especially its service. When there are four guests at a table, there's a maître d'hôtel, and four waiters standing nearby. With just a slight nod of the head, they simultaneously serve the dishes to the guests. It's a captivating performance. There are many such restaurants in Europe, and I don't know when something similar will open in Russia. It's a culture that hasn't reached us yet. We're not yet fully accustomed to restaurants that are "just about the food," or to long, elaborate gastronomic experiences. But I'm sure that in 7-10 years, our people will embrace this culture. The trend towards healthier eating has already begun; people no longer want to eat greasy, unhealthy food. I sincerely believe that this is the first step towards classic haute cuisine. Our restaurant is also moving in that direction. In the past year, we've changed the presentation of all our dishes, we've modified some recipes, and we've also created a menu of healthy options, but we'll talk about that later.