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To Angus Eng, owner and Executive Chef of Gastropod, it is all about combining different aspects of flavours and textures together, using the most appropriate cooking mechanism. “If my recipe calls for an Asian root, an Italian style of seasoning and a French sauce; so be it. My job is to prepare them nicely and present them in an enticing form, not to fuse them together!” Angus stressed.
From a potential architect to an intriguing chef, the road has not been too bumpy for Angus. As a young lad, he found cooking interesting and enjoyable. He believed if he paid attention and worked at it, he could cook like any good chefs. “It is all about form and beauty. Culinary art is a visual and conceptual art of taste, texture, form and beauty. I am good with my hands and I know I can do it well“.
So he convinced his parents, went to French Culinary Institute in New York and was trained by culinary Masters such as Jacques Pepin, Alain Saihac and Andre Soltner and worked as an apprentice at famed restaurants after graduation. The first stamp Angus needed to reassure he took the right path was a solid one.
After working in another top restaurant Toque in Montreal, he decided to go to Europe and began his culinary exploration. This time, he found himself working alongside Europe’s big named chefs in prestigious restaurants where he observed, learned and equipped himself with whatever it would take to become a great chef.
“I love to work with great minds and great talents. When the opportunity of running my own kitchen came knocking, I welcomed it with wide opened arms.” Gastropod opened in 2007 and was an instant hit in Vancouver’s ever-expanding culinary scene. “Running a restaurant is never easy! I’m still learning to grasp the whole picture. In fact, cooking is the easiest part.” Angus understands thoroughly that he is also running a business, and that it takes more than good food to be successful. “I cannot put something on the menu simply because I like it anymore!”
Maybe seeing through the fact that a restaurant is a business humbles Angus, but it does not take away his passion and talent in creating divine dishes. After all, he is one of the few Chinese chefs that charmed everybody with his fascinating culinary creations at the cat-walk of the culinary world, the James Beard House. |
2008 Kwong Fung Food Groups. All rights reserved