CHEF PROFILE
TEXT
ESTHER KARIUKI
PHOTO
EATOUT
HEY
HONEY!
Kenyan ingredients
make me very
proud, I would rate
them among the
best in the world.
Chef Anthony Kimani discovered his passion for cooking at around twelve while helping
out his mother, who was in the catering business. He later embarked on the culinary
journey that has led him to Chui Lodge in Naivasha and finally his current position as
Executive Chef at Que Pasa.
Chef Anthony continually
develops new recipes unique to
the establishment he is working
at. His pork dishes are a favourite
to many. After graduating from Top
Chef Culinary Institute, Anthony
was taken on as sous-chef at Chui
Lodge in Naivasha and later Kiangazi
House, before working his way up to
Executive Chef at Que Pasa.
Being executive chef means
spending time on menu creation,
a task that Anthony does not take
lightly. His process of creating dishes
begins in the abstract, a mental
visualisation of the meal. After this
imaginative process, he will often go
on to sketch out the dish on paper,
before proceeding to prepare it.
Confident of the blending of flavours
as guided by his imagination, he
may go ahead to prepare a dish and
plate it without even tasting the
outcome - this technique has so far
always been a success. With dishes
he is fidgety about, he takes the
assignment home, where he embarks
on the lengthy experimentation
process that is menu creation.
With a notion that the best things
in life are kept simple, chef Anthony
lets this ethos reflect in his dishes.
His meals are characteristically light,
a phenomenon he attributes to the
use of vinegars and concentrated
stocks - stocks which he makes from
fresh ingredients. He admits that
butter and cream might be a popular
choice when it comes to sauces but
he counters that light dishes are
not only a healthier option but also
the lighter the dish, the better the
freshness of the ingredients is felt.
The lover of food also reveals that he
makes his own dashi (a Japanese sea
stock) but maintains that the recipe
is secret and no am