Ildar Shigabutdinov, Chaikhona No. 1

The hero of our new interview is Ildar Shigabutdinov, master chef at Timur Lansky’s Chaikhona No. 1. Ildar told us about his path in the profession, the difficulties of network operation and current trends.

Tell us a little about yourself: how did you get into this profession?

I came to this profession following the instructions of my mother and grandmother - I am a third generation cook. One way or another, from an early age I was interested in home cooking, getting in the way, I was always drawn to knead, fry, bake something, so this is a love from childhood. Then there was a period when, after 9th grade, I had to go earn money, I worked for a year in construction and realized that I probably wouldn’t earn anything there except for illnesses. At a family consultation, we decided that on August 29 we could probably only go to culinary school. Now the profession of a cook has become fashionable, and colleges and schools are full, but 12-15 years ago it was a completely affordable option, a profession that might or might not come in handy. And it seems to me that it was useful to me.

And so, when I came to the Ulyanovsk College of Nutrition and Trade to talk to the director on August 30, I said that I wanted to be a cook, to which he replied that I could only do it with my own chair. As a result, I graduated from technical school with honors as a 5th category pastry chef - at that time they still gave out ranks - the rank was quite conditional, but the knowledge and skills that I received were very good - I had strong masters and practitioners. After college, I ended up in one of the best restaurants in Ulyanovsk - the Colosseum restaurant with very fashionable and popular cuisine, staged by an American chef, a beautiful interior, a banquet menu, a large banquet hall, which is called “expensive and rich”, and there I received the main cooking base. That's how I came to this profession.

What achievements in your profession are you proud of?

At the moment, I hold the position of deputy brand chief in a company that has about 20 projects, and I think that this achievement is not bad - I am satisfied with the place that I now occupy in my professional life.

What about creative achievements?

Recently, just a couple of weeks ago, I had a gastro dinner, a very new story for me and for Chaikhona. We tried to plunge into the gastronomic life of Moscow - try out a format like dinners for four hands (I really only had two) and organized it in the premises of Karaoke PRO, a new project of Chaikhona. And this is an achievement that I am not so much proud of as I am pleased with the result, because the audience that came to our gastro dinner was pleasantly surprised. One way or another, everyone associates “Chaikhona” more with barbecue and ethnic cuisine, but not with haute cuisine. We've taken the first step and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The manager of the restaurant, Yulia Miroshnikova, inspired me to take this adventure, and by the way, Complex-Bar helped us a lot - it provided us with very beautiful dishes. Everything turned out great, and we really appreciate the help of our partners.

By the way, my entire professional life in Moscow is connected with “Complex-Bar”, because 12 years ago, when I came here to work, the first place where the manager took me to introduce me to the back side of the kitchen was “Complex-Bar” on Alekseevskaya. And when I entered the showroom and saw all these shelves with dishes and equipment, I thought that I was in chef's heaven.

Returning to gastro dinners, what is the general meaning of such a name, how do they differ from ordinary dinners?

Here, perhaps, a good analogy with the world of fashion: there are mass stores, and there are stores that sell clothes made by hand according to exclusive sketches - in general, both are clothes, but the message is completely different. So it is here: gastro dinners are designed to make it clear that food is not only a source of nutrients. This is the moment when you can try something new or take a completely different look at a familiar product, its taste, aroma, combination with other products.

You can take potatoes and mash them, or you can make foam or bake an incredible brioche bun. The creativity here is absolutely limitless.

Speaking of potatoes, in our recent article on Zero waste there was a comment about using potato skins to enhance the flavor of mashed potatoes. He surprised some people greatly.

Considering the development that the restaurant industry has received recently, those chefs who exist now, the younger generation, are crazy in a good sense, of course, because the horizons for using the product for them are simply endless: you can even make a dessert from potatoes. It is very interesting to observe what chefs are offering now, how they are experimenting, looking for themselves in this or that product.

Of course, there are people who don’t understand this and will most likely never accept it. EThere are stereotypes, taste and visual preferences - they are hard to break, and, of course, fast food restaurants and mass markets work for them. And there are people who want to develop, keep up with the times and eat food not in order to replenish energy reserves, but in order to receive enormous pleasure from it - not only gustatory, but also visual, aromatic - there are chefs, who use all senses in preparing dishes.

How did you start working at Chaikhona?

Before Chaikhona, I had one network project - the French bistros “Jean-Jacques” and the English pubs “John Donne” by Dmitry Yampolsky. Then, through Khurma, I got to Chaikhona - they were looking for a creative chef - a master chef who would be responsible for developing seasonal special offers that reflected the trends and trends of modern cooking and gastronomy. At the interview, I talked with the managers, with Timur Rulanovich, did several tastings, we shook hands, and now I continue to work at Chaikhona No. 1.

She attracted me because the owner and managers of the company are very interested in not standing still, moving, developing, and the company gives a lot in this regard: courses, seminars, hikes, marketing research - everything you need as a professional. The company allows you to develop not only financially, but also professionally, and for any creative work this is very important. Plus, the company has many partners with whom it is very interesting to work, one of them, of course, is you, and you provide a lot of opportunities for creativity. Whether it’s dishes, equipment or master classes in the studio, the chef is always looking for inspiration, because without inspiration and receiving information from the outside, it’s hard to generate ideas. There are many restaurants, many chefs, you need to keep track, you need to come up with something of your own, and this must also meet the requirements of the guest, so you need to take into account many factors.

What inspires you beyond professional events and kitchenware?

This includes visiting chef tables, internships - I had internships with the Berezutsky brothers, Rustam Tangirov, Vlad Korpusov, plus various festivals - this is Gastreet, the IKRA festival, various forums. Well, and all sorts of chats, where there are chefs with whom you communicate - you throw in ideas, they give you more, Instagram... In a word, now it’s quite easy to come up with your own dish, the main thing is not to get too carried away with copying. Again, any communication - from you, for example, I learned that Troyan makes mashed potatoes with potato skins, I can imagine what a rich taste it produces.

What do you prefer – classics or experiments?

I like classics that you can experiment with, for example, Olivier, herring under a fur coat - these are classics, but you can experiment with them because people are ready - people are tired of eating monotonous food. They want something new, but at the same time they don’t want to solve an overly complex puzzle, but after trying the dish, they want to know the taste, and at the same time find something new in it for themselves - in presentation, in texture, in preparation and execution.

Your words also confirm the opinion of many chefs that you can’t completely remove familiar dishes from the menu - not everyone is ready to experiment.

Yes, when I introduce a menu, I always try to make 2-3 familiar by name and taste from the 10-12 items of the seasonal offer, but at the same time bring something modern. So that there is an understandable, familiar dish for the guest, but in a new version, a kind of remake.

Is it difficult to come up with new dishes? What guides you when working on the menu?

We have a large company: there is a management company, which has a marketing department, a production department - technologists and brand chefs - and there is an owner - Timur. We make sketches, collect all the wishes in one pile and from this we select the dry residue, from which we get a rough plan for the year ahead by season. At the same time, we focus on what the guest currently wants to receive. I won’t hide the fact that a boom in Asian food has begun again, but with the right kind – the right sushi, the right seafood – Asia has re-entered the restaurant life of Moscow. Of course, our menu does not consist entirely of Asian dishes, but one way or another we focus on this - either some kind of sauce, or dishes, decoration, surroundings.

Is it difficult to maintain quality within a network?

It can be difficult to organize work. Before we introduce anything, we have a buffer zone of one month. During this month, we train chefs, go to restaurants, see how they learned the material, identify those who learned it well and who didn’t, do a repeat tasting, check again, collect the information into a single whole and understand whether we are ready to launch the entire network or not. Therefore, we always have far-reaching plans - nWe need a little more time than non-chain restaurants, because the quality must be the same everywhere. It would be strange if in one Chaikhona a guest ate shish kebab with one flavor, and in another he received a completely different dish - this, of course, will cause negativity.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to smooth out the differences, because a restaurant is a living organism. But I think we’re doing a good job – we’re trying to work on it.

Tell us about the current kitchen trends - how actively do you follow them?

Italian cuisine has weakened a little - among purely Italian restaurants, one can perhaps name only Osteria Mario and Bontempi. And in addition to proper Asian food, one way or another, the trend for ethnic food in all its manifestations remains - Uzbek, Georgian - this can be seen in the number of restaurants that are in Moscow, for example, Novikov’s Uzbekistan or Rappoport’s Voskhod in Zaryadye. People want to eat proper ethnic food because travel has become available, and now guests want to eat proper pilaf not only in Uzbekistan.

It seems to me that guests now don’t want to see something super complicated, which is why all sorts of gastro markets are so popular - “Depo”, “Around the World” - the trick of these projects is that they provide food that is affordable, of sufficient quality, tasty, and quite affordable. large portions. Pho-bo has probably done everyone in this regard: you get a liter of soup for just a few pennies - there are still queues. I think that this trend will also continue for a long time.

In general, in our country, and especially in Moscow, they like to catch something and multiply, multiply, multiply. I was in Barcelona, and there was only one gastromarket in the whole city. One. And when one thing multiplies, it is always some kind of barrier to the development of something else. But we are a unique country in many ways, and perhaps we have our own path in developing the restaurant business, who knows :)

Again, I repeat, now young chefs are doing their job very well, and I think that sooner or later all this will bear fruit. For example, the trend towards Russian cuisine - many chefs are now going on tour to Asia and America, and this is very cool. When I was in technical school, I don’t remember anyone except Komm being famous. Now being a chef is very fashionable and cool, it is in trend, and this profession has ceased to be a spare one.

What do you consciously draw the attention of guests to?

The atmosphere in general, when you enter a restaurant, how you are served, how quickly the dish is brought, how quickly you are counted out - the devil is in the details.

Judging from my own experience: as soon as I took the first step, I pay attention to the aroma, the interior, how the staff greets you - whether you are welcome or not. Now, if you have the feeling that you have come to visit, where they are waiting for you, this is very cool. Because there are establishments where, due to high traffic or, perhaps, popularity, you are treated like an unwanted guest. Although now the story of the Soviet stone face is leaving.

The public is quite spoiled, and the public is spoiled not so much by the chefs as by the restaurateurs: now there are a lot of establishments, each has its own concept, its own feature, and if this feature is not there, then the project is doomed - a year or two, and the project dies.

Which of your dishes stand out? What should you choose in order to fully understand and experience your idea, the concept of the establishment?

I can’t say that there is a specific dish that would evoke such an association. But I want to note that the company has a fairly high level of care for the high quality of raw materials - from vegetables - Uzbek cuisine is famous for vegetable salads and sugar tomatoes - and ending with meat - we have one of the best veal, lamb, and this, of course, is incredibly impressive me as a professional. As Paul Bocuse said, it is not difficult to prepare a good dish, but it is difficult to find good ingredients for a good dish.

Can a guest's opinion influence your decision about a menu item or recipe change?

Yes, of course, always. I listen quite heavily to feedback. It would be stupid not to pay attention if you regularly receive, for example, some kind of negative comment on the same dish, but we work for the guest.

What do you think attracts your guests the most?

I think it's all in general. The brand has been around for 20 years, and if there was something wrong with this mechanism, we would have felt it.

What equipment do you use most often in the kitchen?

Here, it would probably be stupid to answer that I only love a smoking oven - if you narrow your limits in this way, then you will not receive development. I love working on completely different equipment, because these tools exist so that you can produce a high-quality dish. It's like paintand for an artist - if he uses only one, then sooner or later someone will say that he does everything the same way, so he needs to use the whole palette. And I really love sous vide for vegetables, fruits, meat, fish - for me this is a priority, because sous vide does not spoil.

Do you cook at home?

I practically don’t cook because I’m almost never there. Usually my wife and I go to eat at a restaurant. At the same time, I get inspired in my free time.

How do you approach choosing cookware? Are quality marks important to you?

Dishes for a chef are like a canvas for an artist. For me, the presentation of a dish is 50% of success, along with the taste and quality of the products. For example, some guests may not like the sound of the cutlery and plate touching, and sometimes we had to change the dishes even if we really liked them and suited the style.

Also, for me, as the chef of a chain brand, the brand of tableware is important, because this or that brand of tableware meets certain criteria. It is important for us that the dishes are of high quality, do not break or wear out for a long time, do not chip, and we choose accordingly according to these criteria. For example, a manager recommends immortal Steelite with a lifetime guarantee, we consider the economy, and if we go through it, we choose the appropriate cookware.

There is also a fashion for something specific, now these are bowls and large salad bowls. We want to be on trend and meet the wishes of our guests, so we also purchase such dishes.

What is the most difficult part of your job?

Organize the work correctly. Organization of affairs has a strong influence on the final result. If you built the plan incorrectly, or deviated from the plan, while building it correctly, this can lead to such a thing as a house of cards, like you think that the structure is strong and large, it causes mass admiration, but one wrong step, and everything ends start again.

What's the most enjoyable thing about work?

Probably the reviews and happy eyes of the guests. For example, at that same gastro dinner I had tremendous pleasure: people who knew Chaikhona were pleasantly surprised to try it from a different side. We received a lot of comments both live and on social networks, we saw joy in the eyes - this is the most pleasant thing. You understand that you did the job correctly, you received feedback, you sit down exhausted and think that everything you planned and did in your profession was right.

Again, if you don’t love what you do, if it doesn’t give you pleasure, then it will not bring you any success or moral satisfaction - it will be a daily struggle with yourself. And life is too short to spend it only on this.

What could you be if you weren't a chef?

I had a dream of becoming a dentist, I even tried to enroll, but I didn’t succeed - I failed the exam in chemistry. Then I realized that chemistry is very important in the culinary profession, so I had to catch up on my gaps. Probably, if I had suddenly succeeded, I would still not have worked in this profession for long, because it is too monotonous. If we are talking about cooking, then, of course, the flight of imagination is limitless.

What do you need to do to become a professional in your field?

Love what you do. If you are sincere about your profession, love it, live it - not necessarily 24 hours a day, but if you get a thrill from it, are able to stand on the board and “catch the wave,” then everything will work out. If you are doing something that you don’t love, then you need to look for yourself in something else, and as quickly as possible.