The Head Chef Of Indochine Dubai On Culinary Success And Following Passion
Chef Steve Nguyen dishes out a flavoursome flair of French-Vietnamese cuisine at Dubai’s Indochine with panache. He shares his insights on success in an unchartered territory
If there were three words that could best summarise chef Steve Nguyen’s cooking philosophy, which has seen him rise through the ranks and create his own standing, they are: time, creativity and balance.
As the head chef of Indochine Dubai in DIFC, Steve has been instrumental in continuing the legacy of the 35-year old French-Vietnamese restaurant which first opened in 1984 in New York’s SoHo district, frequented by celebrities and A-listers including the likes of Calvin Klein, Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Donatella Versace and many others.
An interior view of the restaurant which comprises potted plants, rattan furniture and big green palm fronds
“Opening Indochine started for me in the summer of 2019, having spent seven days in New York,” he recalls as he shares the beginning of the journey with proprietor Jean-Marc Houmard, who invited him to stay in a hip studio apartment just above the restaurant.
Having tried everything on the menu and touring the various other restaurants that Jean-Marc was involved with, chef Steve began the work of formulating the Dubai menu, ensuring that it retained its quintessential and flavoursome charm and yet, carved a new palatable niche.
Delicious caramel black cod cooked by chef Steve at Indochine, Dubai
This being the first and only outpost of the legendary restaurant in the world, he took the reins in his highly creative hands, with no prior experience in fine dining and armed only with a fearless passion to lead the way forward.
Of the many questions he sought to address, the most significant was this: “What type of story do we want to tell that’s not only a spiritual continuation of the original but also a unique direction of our own?” he says, adding, “After a year and a half now into our operations, I feel like we’re finally coming into our stride and we’re pushing forward with something new.”
Chef Steve at Indochine, Dubai
As a first-generation Canadian and child of Vietnamese immigrants, Steve is not a man who is unfamiliar with the study and practice of Asian food traditions and cultural influences to create what he terms as ‘hybrid’ new dishes. “From my experience in art school, I was taught to throw every idea on the board however crazy or ridiculous it was,” he recalls.
“At my initial ideation stage, I aim to answer one question: what will the guest enjoy? And what we enjoy as humans lies somewhere between the novel and the familiar. To create a hit item, I try to strike a balance between something that is comforting and familiar but with an interesting twist.”
Indochine’s rustic outdoor décor transports one to the tropical lands of Asia
And balance, is the one thing that he credits his success to. The other being time for creativity. “At the heart of it, I am trying to take my family heritage and filter it through my own experience to create something wholly unique but an anchor to my cultural roots,” says the fearless and passionate chef.
For someone who looks at food as a narrative, a possible story on a plate and one that can involve all elements of human sensation: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, there’s very little left to chance or opportunity, because it all boils down to creative energies, hard work and the ability to learn and push through to the next level.
“To be stagnant and inflexible is to die; to evolve is to survive and thrive,” he expresses. “There is a deep-rooted desire to produce or create something uninhibited by others as a true expression of me. What will it be? I don’t know.
Wholesome seafood dishes merge flavours of the East and West
I just hope it makes me independently wealthy and saves the world at the same time. From each opportunity, I didn’t have any previous experience to prepare me but it was through my dedication to hard work and ability to learn that I was able to push through to the next level.”
Unbothered by new challenges and unfamiliar territory — evident from his first venture in Dubai — such raw passion and ambition are the only two ingredients required for success and if the soaring popularity of Indochine Dubai is anything to go by, this is one chef to follow not just for the taste of his dishes, but for the novel experience that merges fine dining with cultural highlights.
For more information, please visit indochinedxb.com
Photography By Aasiya Jagadeesh; Images Courtesy Of Instagram/aindochinedxb