Luxe Beat Magazine APRIL 2015 | Page 92

Chef Grzegorz Odalak The Magician Chef Michelin Missed By Devanshi Mody E ach time I’m embarking on a voyage, Chef Grzegor Odalak of the Park Hyatt Chennai calls. “We’re doing something new. It is very nice. You must come.” I cannot refuse the most creative executive chef of all my travels. Problem is, this “something” he’s doing, it transpires, is a volley of glamorous gourmet events, each miss-me-not, which detain me endlessly. For instance, over a fortnight, Chef Grzeg or Chef G, as he’s fondly known, orchestrated a week-long festival Masters of Food & Wine, swiftly succeeded by a chi-chi Brunello Wine Dinner, a wacky Whisky Paired Dinner and, the apotheosis of them all, a Chocolate Dinner. 92 The hotel’s new executive chef, who ha r n ti h hoo has revamped Masters of Food & Wine (MFW), a signature Park Hyatt event, making of it epicurean artistry. Moreover, Park Hyatt’s n hant or yin o r international guest chefs and produce notwithstanding, Chef G has taken to excavating world-class produce locally, ever astonishing the city’s snooty gourmets who disdain the indigenous. If Indian and French cheeses seem like chalk and cheese, th n h niff o t h ma locally (by Frenchmen, bien sûr) to tickle the snootiest French noses that wrinkle at anything but the smelliest French cheeses. Chef G is Polish but can pooh-pooh Italian predominance in pasta realms with his silken parcels of ravioli that seemingly levitate on the plate, hion o t no hi that even Michelin-starred chefs and perfect pesto made with basil from his own gardens, mind you!