INTERVIEW WITH A CHEF: CAPTIVATING BEAUTY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
Baglietto has been committed to creating remarkable yachts that meet the needs of owners and the exacting standards of quality, style, and innovation that have set the company apart for more than 160 years. I was ecstatic to get the opportunity to spend time on M/Y C, the third-largest superyacht they have ever constructed.
When it comes to luxury and design, Italians have traditionally set the standard for everything from material choice to attention to detail. I was expecting something special. She can accommodate up to 12 guests in 7 suites, which include two master suites, two VIP suites, one double cabin, one twin cabin and one single cabin/playroom. She can also accommodate up to 13 crew members, who work to ensure that guests have a comfortable and luxurious yacht charter experience.
Even though M/Y C is quite remarkable, there was one guy in particular—head chef Tom van Zeller of M/Y C—that I really wanted to talk to. He has over 30 years of experience as a professional chef, so I was excited to learn about his career and his reputation for creating some incredible meals. Initially, during his time in school, he harboured dreams of joining the SAS. He worked in his early twenties in some of Britain's most demanding kitchens during the 1990s. "It was brutal, and I loved it," he added.
But what made him want to become a chef? "A love of food was instilled at a young age. My mum was a home economics teacher, so freshly cooked food was part of my upbringing. I got an after-school job washing up and wanted to get involved in cooking hot food, but because I wasn’t legally old enough to be let loose around dangerous equipment and knife wielding lunatics, I had to bide my time." He continued, "In due course, my girlfriend encouraged me to apply for an apprenticeship at another establishment. I got the job, and as part of the deal, I had to go to college one day a week to get a qualification. I hated the theory and used to fall asleep in class, but during the practicals, I felt alive and excited."
And Tom was no different from many cooks in general, who usually have an inspirational figure in their lives. Tom would naturally turn to Pierre Koffman, the renowned French chef who holds three Michelin stars, as he is one of the few cooks in the world to do so.
"Pierre Koffman is in my opinion the godfather of British Haute Cuisine; along with the Roux brothers, they transformed the UK restaurant scene from the ground up, but it was Marco Pierre White ‘le enfant terrible’ from Yorkshire who trained in Harrogate (just like myself) before moving to London who I admire the most. When I was a young apprentice, I picked up his book ‘White Heat’ and I was just like, Wow, this is where I want to go with my career, I want to be just like him."
Tom continued, "It wasn’t until years later that I came across a hardback copy of that book, which was filled with the most amazing food photography that was just so incredible that even today those dishes are a massive source of inspiration. I even still watch some of the grainy footage on Youtube of his first restaurant, Harveys, in Wandsworth. A master at work and slightly barmy, but you need to be crazy to want to work all these hours in a small hot room, with dead animals and your sauces."
Tom van Zeller of M/Y C
However, going from a restaurant to being the head chef on a yacht is very different and comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. So how did Tom get into yachting, and what were the differences? "By accident. I was doing some private work, and I was asked if I could help out on a yacht in Greece for six weeks. I didn’t have the correct paperwork, safety training, and certainly no certificates, but as I was signed on as a guest, it didn’t seem to matter! I loved the experience—the camaraderie, sense of adventure, and, as we were cruising the Greek Islands, the scenery, people, and local ingredients. That was it. I was hooked and finally felt like I had a direction for my career again. I went and got qualified and landed a job almost immediately on Motor Yacht Lionheart, a very glamorous 90-metre vessel based in Monaco. Before I knew it, I was cooking for Prince Albert."
"Working in a restaurant environment in comparison to working on a yacht is a world apart. It’s not comparable, but I certainly wouldn’t hire an assistant chef unless that person had a solid restaurant background. When you are stuck out in the Pacific Ocean or Red Sea for weeks at a time, organising a sea plane to drop off provisions every ten days, you can’t compare that to just going to the shop if you’ve forgotten to order your onions and then going home to see your wife and young children every evening after driving home in the car. On the plus side, we always have a couple of engineers on board to help you fix things in the kitchen when things invariably break down. Its instant expertise with all the tools and no call out charge."
I can imagine that C has had some interesting guests over the years, and as a chef, Tom has gotten some very interesting requests. "Vegetarian food for someone who is happy to eat carbonara! Honestly, it can be a real minefield sometimes. I feel incredibly fortunate to be employed by wonderful owners who just let me get on with cooking what I believe they & their guests will enjoy. It brings out the best in me, which is reflected in the food. Happy Chef, happy people." Answered Tom.
So given that the owner gives Tom creativity breathing space, I had to ask him if he has a signature dish. "No, not really. My repertoire is too broad. However, I was in a competition recently, and I’d like to think that the three dishes I produced demonstrated my love and respect for the heritage of haute cuisine."
But like any menu, it is the planning and prep work that goes into creating each unique plate of food that makes a chef great. "To do this job well, one has to plan accordingly. I don’t get second chances; it’s got to be right first time out. With regard to presentation, I’m very straight forward with it, and I don’t like to fuss about it as I see so many young chefs do these days. It seems to be style over substance, which is just nonsense. I’d rather let beautiful ingredients simply shine through."
Having now been a professional chef for over thirty years, Tom has achieved a great deal. From opening his own restaurant to working with some of the most talented chefs in Britain in the 1990's.
Tom added, "Opening my own eponymous restaurant in my hometown of Harrogate at the beginning of the 2009 financial crisis was a big risk, but who dares wins?" I had the support of David Moore, an old employer from my London days. I remember signing him up as non-exec director in his Michelin-starred restaurant on Charlotte Street W1. It was a surreal moment, and I will be forever grateful to him for the belief he had in me to make that little restaurant of mine come to life. His restaurant, Pied a Terre, has just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. A commemorative book has been published, and I’m in it alongside some very distinguished chefs. I feel truly honoured to have played my small part in Pied a Terre’s history."
"Winning The Good Food Guides’ national reader restaurant of the year in 2013 is for me the icing on the cake. They only give out one of those awards each year, so it is certainly a highlight. And it’s not just about the food, of course; it’s for the full package, the customer journey, awarded with an insight as to what it really takes to own and run a successful fine dining restaurant independently." Continued Tom.
With Tom now firmly establishing himself as a yacht chef, I wanted to get his thoughts on the yachting industry that he is now in. "It’s a fantastic career if you can handle it. Like any other profession, there are industry leaders and then there’s everyone else, so navigating your way through some of the mumbo jumbo can be disillusioning at times. There’s still way too much sexism for my liking, so it’s great to see that on some vessels there are female crew working on deck and in officer positions."
Tom went on to share his favourite yachting destination. "The Kimberly in Northern Western Australia was exceptional, one of the very few wilderness environments out there. We had crocs and nurse sharks cruising up to the boat, and we had to hire a “tinny” as our rigid inflatable was at risk of being punctured by their sharp teeth. I flew out of there on a tiny little seaplane, so I got a free tour from above, which I simply can’t describe or justify on these pages. It was just out of thise world." He shared.
As we know, life at sea can be very interesting and can throw up some stories that would make for a good story. Tom shared one of his more interesting experiences. "Circumnavigating Australia & New Zealand on a 50-year-old diesel electric explorer. It was the toughest job I’ve had on a yacht, particularly as I didn’t have an assistant to help. It was bonkers and all the more difficult for being an antique 60-metre converted pilot vessel. Luckily, I had my own cabin, (not that I used it for more than four hours a day). Fortunately, the crew was a bunch of surf mad dudes who were ultra-chilled. They were a real motley crew, that’s for sure."
With my time coming to an end with Tom, I asked him my final question, which was; How helpful is it to have detailed preference lists about food choices from charterers? "They’re a bit like someone else’s recipe—useful but not the complete picture. Cooking for guests comes down to trust, so I’d rather spend some time going through some ideas based on their preferences and then building up a bespoke experience from there. Over the years, I’ve found that one can then introduce them to new experiences that are unexpected but always memorable, for all the right reasons."
