Canadian-born Shaun Anthony, chef at Madam Sixty Ate in Hong Kong, has cooked in 10 countries, including five years in European restaurants with one to three Michelin stars.
My name is Shaun Anthony. I'm the chef at Madam Sixty Ate, and I spend most of my time in its kitchen. Geographically, we are on the north side of Hong Kong Island, in its most affluent area, Wan Chai.
I'm not a typical Italian, Spaniard or Chinese person. I was born in Canada on June 30, 1978. After the war, my mother's family emigrated to Canada from Germany, so I got something German from my mother. My father, who is part Irish and part Ukrainian, added a bit of both countries to Shaun Anthony.
I have been cooking professionally for more than half my life, 17 years, and I have already done it in different countries. I'm always on the move and don't belong to any one of them.
After leaving Canada, I spent five years in European restaurants with one to three Michelin stars. Then I moved to Australia, and after that to Asia. In all, I have cooked my dishes in 10 countries, a nice round number.
My family was connected with food, just like yours and every other family. Grandparents cook, and you eat and eat without really thinking that somewhere someone is building a business on food. And I dreamed of becoming a musician.
But I needed something else, and I chose cooking, so I became interested in it by accident. A few years later, my passion for food won the fight with my passion for music, and I couldn't live without it any longer!
I realized the value of my grandparents' traditional cuisine and discovered their cooking methods in Alsace, in France near the German border. I like the connection between people, their food and the place where they live. I adore the way different regions connect in a gastronomic sense, which I find very interesting!
Cooking in a restaurant and cooking at home are two different things. It's not that I eat scrambled eggs at home and duck confit at the restaurant, it's just that at home I prefer simplicity. A good barbecued rib steak, a few oysters, a simple and delicious Caprese salad, some bread and good wine are enough. That's happiness!
In the restaurant we have to cook and serve dishes in more interesting and unusual ways, and I like to surprise our guests. A dish can have three or four basic tastes and flavors, cooked and served in a variety of formats.
Whatever the form, the most important thing is to keep the basic principle: use fresh ingredients at the peak of their season. The second part of the principle is to treat them with respect.
Outside working hours (and that “outside” doesn't happen very often), my passion is music. As I said, I once wanted to be a musician, but the magic of food won out over the magic of strings and sounds. Still, magic is magic, and I like the guitar to this day.
My second (or is it the third?) passion is motorcycles. I grew up riding and racing bikes with my brother and father.
One of my greatest achievements and the most exciting adventure of my life was conquering Europe on a Ducati Monster 900. In 2007, I spent 61 days riding around Europe on my favorite Monster. It was my dream, and my dad's too.
Don't think it was a fashionable trip. I stayed in small towns and villages where people still eat the same food as hundreds of years ago, in the sense that the recipes haven't changed. We chefs change our menus from time to time, but for those people the menu stays the same year after year, and it doesn't bother them at all. I think nothing has ever inspired me as much as this stunning tour of Europe and its gastronomic soul.
I wish you to search for love in your life. Love what you do, or throw it to hell if the feeling is too weak. I cook with my soul, my heart and attention to detail, and how could I do that if I hated my job and dreamed of becoming a musician? Just try different things, and once you find what you love, you'll get your foot in the door and succeed.
The dish in the photo is duck, chanterelles gris and black pudding with pickled cherry and espresso. I chose it for several reasons. First, cherries and wild mushrooms are in season now.
Second, it is a perfect example of combining several protein products in one dish: the duck breast and the black pudding made at Madam Sixty Ate. That's the style of our restaurant!
The cherry slightly tones down the rich taste of the duck and the black pudding, while the ground coffee adds an element of “earthiness.” In the mouth it becomes moister and feels like a second sauce. Mmm, great sensations!
