Mikhail Marchuk, chef at Touch Cafe in Kyiv, was a good painter as a child and now calls food design his passion; he names Michael Evan as his teacher.
What inspires me? Bright colors and the wonderful aromas of fresh produce. In my head, I create intricate gastronomic puzzles to please the restaurant’s guests. I’m Mikhail Marchuk, chef at Touch Cafe.
Actually, my attraction to cooking and creating dishes wasn’t always that obvious. I built up experience, learned new methods, and got a special education. As a child, I was a pretty good painter, and nowadays I create palettes of dishes and decorate them before serving.
Food design is definitely my passion. It lies somewhere between themed serving, table setting, and performance, and something as commonplace as eating tasty food becomes a fascinating experience. I adore bringing fantasies and bold solutions to life, but I love the genuine delight of a restaurant guest even more: it’s the guests who motivate me most.
Who is my teacher, the person who inspired me? No, it’s not my mother or grandmother, it’s Michael Evan, a world-famous chef de cuisine. My path to recognizing myself as a chef wasn’t simple or clear. It took a long time to become a professional: I tried different fields and even countries.
I even gave up the kitchen and was sure it was forever. But the well-known saying “you can’t escape your fate” turned out to be true, and I got another chance to realize my ambitions on the kitchen stage. And here I am, a happy chef, and I’m not planning to stop!
What’s my hobby? Enjoying life! I’m very active, and my kitchen mates often complain, in a good way, about my pace of work. I love picking up new culinary tricks, teaching, and learning.
I can’t boast of working on international projects yet, but I’ve visited lots of countries on gastro tours. It’s so great to discover a country, its culture, and its history through taste, aroma, and the techniques of combining them. That’s how I fell in love with China one day.
Eastern cuisine and Eastern philosophy as a whole are very close to me. There is no place there for accident or negligence, only for professionalism, precision, and unlimited creativity. That’s why my plans for the future involve development, growth, and, of course, cooking.
