Sergei Khimich worked his way up from cook's helper to chef and has been chef at САД Restaurant & Lounge in Kyiv since September 2012. He specializes in European and Ukrainian cuisine.
I was born in 1978 and have been working as a cook for 12 years. I think it is my vocation. My parents were completely against it, but I chose this path all the same.
I have gone all the way from cook's helper to chef, working as a cook, head cook and sous-chef before finally becoming a chef. In other words, I know my job inside and out.
Young cooks are different: they start as apprentices, work for five years and consider themselves professionals. But you have to walk the whole path.
Alongside my main job, I used to work as a trainee in another kitchen to learn how it operated. For example, when I was a shift leader at the Chervona Kalyna restaurant in Kyiv, the Razguliayevo restaurant opened. I worked there for two weeks to get the information I needed and then quit. That is how I learned.
I have been working as a chef since 2006. My first post as chef was at a small café in the Pechersk district, where I had started as production manager. I have been working at САД Restaurant & Lounge since September 2012, and before that I was chef at the Olimpiysky National Sports Complex.
I like working at САД Restaurant & Lounge because, first, it is a well-known place, and second, here I learn from experienced brand chefs who have trained all over the world. Working with them is very interesting.
I believe that to run a kitchen you need to know every stage of production and understand how to organize everything. You can compare it to a clock: if one part fails, the clock shows the wrong time. It is the same in the kitchen: if someone doesn't work as required and things don't run smoothly, there will be no good result. And, as in any other field, the team plays an important role, because nothing can be done without it.
When I worked at Arena Entertainment, the chef there was Gary Frederic Russo, a Canadian. I learned a lot from him: how to sense and notice problems, and how to tell when a cook isn't doing something properly.
Another interesting experience was working as sous-chef at Saveliy Libkin's restaurant “Steakhouse. Meat and Wine” in Odesa from 2004 to 2005. Savva is an unusual person and quite a character, and it was interesting to work with him.
As for the future, in 10 years I'd like to have my own restaurants and cafés. Time and trends will show what kind they will be.
We have no Michelin chefs, because the quality of the products we buy is not consistent. Only a few suppliers can provide quality products, so it is difficult to make a dish that is 100% right. The dishes cooked in our country are good, but they could be better.
We should also keep in mind that the restaurant business in Ukraine and the CIS has been developing for only a short time. We need time for a new generation of cooks to come up. There are still cooks with that Soviet mentality, and unfortunately few people are ready to give everything to their work.
Many chefs chase money and prestige. But in fact you should love what you do, and it should come from the heart, which is why I think being a chef is a vocation. We need time, and perhaps in 10 years we will have Michelin chefs in our country.
For me, the biggest reward is a restaurant full of people, ideally 24 hours a day. Stars and cups are nice, but the best indicator of quality work is a full restaurant.
My work is my hobby. Besides that, I like collecting all kinds of menus. I also enjoy fishing, but I don't have enough time for it, and the last time I went was two years ago.
I'd like to wish readers to use only organic, fresh products. I don't like chefs who use chemical seasonings like Gallina Blanca and dry sauces, and I can't understand why they do it. There are tasty organic products, and our goal is to cook something delicious from them.
What I prefer is tasty food, so I don't have any particular preferences. I like Pan-Asian and Italian cuisine, as well as German, with its sausages and beer. I specialize in European and Ukrainian cuisine.
I chose the dish Rabbit with Salad, Goat Cheese and Berries because it is my own creation, developed together with Konstantin Ivlev. It is a light dish, a ladies' dish so to speak, but men like it as well.
