With food presented to look like it’s just been dug out of the ground and flatware inspired by cracked mud, James Viles is not your average chef, says Kate McAuley
It’s playtime at last for James Viles. In 2007, following a successful two-year stint as the chef du cuisine at Vu’s at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai, he made the move to Oman’s premiere five-star hotel, The Chedi in Muscat, to assume the post of executive chef. Now, after spending nearly 10 months overseeing the introduction of his atypical cooking style into the hotel’s restaurants, the 28-year-old, Australian culinary maestro is heading back to the kitchen.
“With the 70 fully trained chefs we’ve now got working across all of our restaurants, we’ve reached the standard we need for things to operate seamlessly,” says Viles with a smile. What that means is he’s finally got some spare time on his hands to pursue his other pet projects. Chief among these is The Cellar Room, a newly built, specially designed private dining area situated within The Restaurant, the Chedi’s minimally monikered main eatery.
“We will only take one booking a night and guests will pay a set amount for a degustation menu of either nine or 12 courses, with wine chosen to match, and I’ll be doing the cooking,” explains Viles. “It’s not a vanity thing, I just miss cooking.”
The degustation menu gives Viles the opportunity to play around with some of his signature dishes. “I’m revisiting things like my scrambled egg tian, which I’ve been doing for a long time, and taking the flavours and presenting them in a different format. I’m going through a period of deconstruction.”
While other chefs are content if they can just satisfy a customers’ sense of taste, Viles aims to bring sight and even touch into play. “There’s nothing to say you have to serve food on a plate,” he says. “There might be a nice piece of metal somewhere or a slab of cracked marble. Not long ago, we were doing a dessert that I wanted all white – white chocolate and white sea salt, with all kinds of other different elements, all white – so the plate had to be black. We found something rustic and even chipped. I love for the customer to be surprised. It makes the evening memorable for them and challenging for me.”
In addition to paying homage to the senses, Viles is inspired by the natural world and attributes his unique style to being quintessentially Australian. “I was trained in the European manner, but all the restaurants I worked in at home were Asian influenced. What I learnt was that there should be no limits to cooking,” he says.
The general environment also acts as a breeding ground for new ideas. “I use ingredients like olive powder, which looks like dirt, or I make a chocolate truffle that looks as though it’s been dug out of the soil, to remind people of where their food comes from.”
Even Cyclone Gonu, which caused significant devastation along most of Oman’s coastline late last year and buried much of The Chedi’s waterfront in mud and silt, provided Viles with a new concept. “After the storm, there was mud everywhere, then, with the sun, it cracked. I took a photo of the pattern it left behind, with the leaves beneath it, and sent it off to plate designers to incorporate it onto our flatware. So now, when we plate up the food, it brings a natural feel to each dish.”
Ultimately, in addition to providing Viles with a new project to sink his teeth in to, The Cellar Room is another outlet for his creative prowess. “I want to teach people where the food comes from and what it means. My aim is to cook the food and re-plate it in its natural aspect. The diners look at it and say to themselves ‘what on earth is that?’ but it’s fun as well.”
Thoughts for food
With everything being carefully thought through, from the flavours and tastes to the arresting presentation, it’s obvious an incredible amount of deliberation goes in to the preparation of each Viles dish. Here, the chef shares the philosophy behind five of the courses he plans to serve in The Cellar Room.
White truffle cocotte with Parmigiano Reggiano mousse and smoked egg yolk
This dish is all about eggs and cheese. My idea, however, is to create a warm combination of flavours that are simple to identify but also subtley textured. It’s a little earthy as well.
Seared foie gras with espresso tuille and marinated pear
The foie gras is served slightly caramalised using Damascus sugar and surrounded with the espresso tuille – the aim is to add a pungent coffee taste as well as a sweet crunchy texture to the foie. The pear leaves the mouth refreshed and vibrant.
Pressed pork belly with mandarin jelly and pig’s ear chips
This dish resembles a pork terrine. When you eat the pressed pork, you are aware of a very aromatic citric jelly that works extremely well with the star anise and cinnamon tones I cook the meat in. To add a playful element to the dish, I added the crunchy pig’s ear, which is just like salted crackling.
Crunchy potato tubes with Boston lobster filling and horse-radish crème
This is one of my favourites. It’s so simple and pleasant. What I try to do with this dish is create an edible shell for the lobster tail. The flesh is cooked slowly in a vacuum bag with horseradish and butter. Once cooked, I place the tail inside the potato, which has been seasoned with vanilla fleur de sel. The flavours are strong and the texture is crisp, with a slight bite to the lobster.
Langoustine and seaweed with konbu stock, shaved tuna and yuzu mayo
This dish is the about the ocean. The langoustine is cleaned and I add a mild seaweed butter to the flesh. It is then moved to a dish and a hot and pungent konbu stock is poured over it, semi-cooking the flesh. The accompanying yuzu mayonnaise is creamy and light because it’s made with egg whites only. The elements are all the same texture but set apart by their easily identifiable tastes. |
