Yummy Magazine Vol 5 - Chinese New Year | Page 23

CHEF PROFILE text text Agnès Peillet Agnès Peillet photo courtesy TASTE OF CHINA HEAD CHEF Geoffrey Donde TASTE OF CHINA OWNER & CHEF Arty Lakhani We love it when a client walks in and asks for something that’s not on the menu. BELOW Lemon Prawns order. According to him, this is part of the challenge and of the fun. “We work well together,” Lakhani smiles. “We have the same passion for food. We like to mess around with ingredients and come up with new dishes. If we are happy with it, then we put it on the menu. We also do specials.” With their different culinary tastes, Donde’s favourite dish is the fried Tilapia in chilli garlic sauce and Lakhani’s is the Lemon Prawns. The two like to experiment and cook up new dishes which Lakhani said she sometimes tests on her 9 year old son Krishna. “He’s got great taste” Lakhani says adding, “he knows if an ingredient is missing and will tell me exactly what he likes and doesn’t like. I know he will be a cook someday”. Taste of China’s Chef bring a new twist to traditional Chinese cuisine. While the ingredients used are the same, Lakhani says the Taste of China cuisine is spicier, incorporating chilli and ginger to accommodate the restaurant’s eclectic clientele of Indo-Chinese, Kenyan and Expats. “We love it when a client walks in and asks for somethng that’s not on the menu. Then Goeffrey and I, we get to play,” she says. “A ‘Well done you guys!’ is what makes the long hours and criticisms worth it.” 23.