André has been Executive Chef for the past two years at the ultra-luxury Corinthia London.
Previously, André has been Executive Chef for five years at Cliveden House in Taplow, Berkshire. He also worked in London with the Michelin-starred Galvin brothers, at both Galvin at Windows atop the Hilton on Park Lane, and prior to that at Orrery in Marylebone. Renowned for his elegant, modern cuisine, André is on the board of the Academy of Culinary Arts, for their annual awards of excellence, and the MCA, as well as a panel judge of the Roux Scholarship. In 2017 he was awarded 'Hotel Chef of the Year' in the Hotel Cateys.
Was there anything that you thought you wanted to do before start cooking?
I was never academic at school and hated my time there so something practical was always going to be for me, I never thought of doing anything else and when I was 15 I came home one day and told my mum I was going to be a chef, that was it.
What foods are you craving the most right now?
Right this moment we are currently in isolation at home so comfort foods are top of the list, my go to for this is roast chicken and I’m happy to say I have had a delivery today from my butcher ready for the Easter weekend.
Is there one food that you’re secretly obsessed with having at home?
I've always been a massive lover of sandwiches as far as I can remember, anything and everything can go between two slices of sourdough.
Is there a food that you hate?
I hate kiwi and fishcake.
Is there a childhood comfort food that you think about?
My mum always cooked and I often helped and her traditional baked rice pudding was a show stopper.
You’ve had so many incredible chefs cook for you. What’s your most memorable meal?
I've been so fortunate to eat all around the globe, many different cuisines and met and worked with amazing chefs but I think my most memorable would be the whole experience at The Waterside Inn a few years ago, we arrived by boat along the Thames to the restaurant and the whole day was magical on every level, truly special. Â
In your opinion, how will the hospitality industry react and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic?
I do honestly think that our industry will take time to recover and confidence also from our guests, I think that we will all become more thoughtful of convenience and not having everything all of the time, I hope that our food production in our country can sustain and people will buy more British, this will lead to more seasonality within our shops and supermarkets, I think that the chain high street restaurants will really struggle and a smaller younger breed of restaurants and independents come out of this with a much more community spirit.
Finally, could you share one of your recipes with thehotelpause? What makes you love this dish?
I’m going to share with a favourite of mine, Scottish scallops, lightly cooked with vanilla, lime, caviar and chive – we have some of the best shellfish in the world around our shores and I love all of it, this is a great example of a French inspired dish with finesse and style, but very simple, light and full of flavour, perfect for a dinner party starter, enjoy.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
8 large Orkney scallops
2 limes
Sea salt
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
30 g caviar, Baeri or Aquitaine
Cut the scallop shells open (or ask your fishmonger), clean away the frills and sac from the scallops and wash them in plenty of ice cold water, drain and set aside on kitchen paper, slice each scallop horizontally into 3 slices and lay onto a tray, finely grate the lime zest over the scallops, season lightly with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil, leave to season for 10 minutes.
Lay the scallops onto 4 small plates in a ring shape.
Chive oil:
1 bunch of chives
200 ml light olive oil
Bring to the boil a small pan of water, add a little salt and chop the chives into 2 inch pieces, drop the chives into the water and allow to cook for 15-20 seconds, drain and stop the cooking by placing the chives into a bowl of iced water, when cold drain and squeeze out the water, bring the olive oil to around 60 degrees on the heat, place the chives into the food processor and turn on the lowest setting, carefully pour in the oil and turn up the speed, allow the oil and chives to mix well together and when green decant the oil into a small container through a clean muslin cloth or very fine sieve.
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, finely diced
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig tarragon
100 ml dry white wine
1 small vanilla pod
Finely grated zest of 1 lime and juice
100 ml whipping cream
200 g diced unsalted butter
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the shallot and sweat until soft but not coloured, add the thyme, tarragon and wine and simmer until reduced to a syrup, slit the vanilla and scrape the seeds out, add this to the pan along with the lime juice, let the reduce by half, then pour in the cram and bring to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes then whisk in the butter and lime zest, taste and correct the seasoning, pass through a fine sieve and set aside in the pan.
To serve:
Heat a grill to a low setting, lay the plates with the scallops on under the grill to warm through but not to cook fully, around 2 minutes, rewarm the sauce and whisk until foamy, spoon the foam over the scallops and then split this sauce with the green oil, finally place a small amount of caviar onto each scallop piece and then serve.