For the past year, I've been trying to define who I want to be as a chef, by launching my brand Belly London. I've designed my own recipes and delivered my own food to Londoners via housebites, I've done street food festivals, including the Canada Day Festival in London, UK, I've done recipe testing for a large corporation, I've flown out to Ibiza to be a private chef for a week and I've even written for Digest Mag. It's been a whirlwind trying out difference areas in the culinary world and trying to figure out what fits.
My dream has always been to have my own restaurant and serve up my own food, but I've always struggled with what to label my food. I just want to make food, the kind of food I want to eat, but everyone else need to label it, will it be Asian, Fusion, Contemporary, Southern and so on. In some ways, my dream of owning my own place feels further away than ever, thinking about marketing, price points and business plans. Yes, all of that is important and absolutely essential to success but first you need passion and a clear idea what you want to serve up.
So I realized I needed to get back into the kitchen, hone my culinary skills and be inspired again. So I've packed my knife roll, my belongings, bid farewell to London and am hitting the road less travelled. I'll be travelling through North America and Asia in search of new skills, new experiences and more importantly, something to eat.
First stop, New York.
First stop, New York.