The Chef JKP Podcast
The Chef JKP Podcast
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Kelvin Kelly - Humble Lessons !
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In this episode of the ChefJKP Podcast, Kelvin Kelly reveals a unique odyssey from South African family braais to becoming an executive chef in Dubai.
The episode explores childhood memories, culinary traditions, and unexpected detours, including a stint as a private investigator. Kelvin recounts his culinary school experience, leading to a remarkable rise in the professional kitchen.
The conversation delves into the nuances of South African cuisine, corporate catering innovations, and the distinctions between a "braai" and a barbecue.
The narrative takes an adventurous turn when Kelvin, seeking change, moves to Dubai, adding a fascinating layer to this culinary tale.
ChefJKP and Kelvin discuss:
• South African family braais influence on culinary journey
• Culinary school veers from becoming a doctor
• Catering reveals challenges of large-scale events
• Rapid progression from school to executive chef
• Dubai's multicultural culinary scene and gastronomic offerings
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Above all, lessons for life. You're listening to the Chef JKP podcast and this is what you can expect on today's show. I had lost my job with Ginza being a hotheaded chef that I'm was,
I made a decision and I belittled someone that was in my brigade that was lower than me or in a lower position than me. And obviously,
the company at the time did not really see eye to eye on that. So I'm assuming they went to the HR route? Yep. Reported you? Yep. You had to have the chat?
Yeah, I had to have the chat. which is always nice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and that was a painful, a really, really painful experience. Dining there changed my life.
The things those guys were doing was just mind -blowing. Turning something that's 90 % of water into a capacho is insane. Like dehydrating,
then rehydrating, then dehydrating again. Like, it's just, yeah, I think that... they had a watermelon cappaccio on the menu where it was just like, like you could see right through it, but it felt like when you were eating it just melted into your mouth,
like you were drinking a watermelon juice or something. (upbeat music) - On the show this week, I talked to Kelvin Kelly, the head chef and managing partner of the award -winning One Life Kitchen and Cafe.
Kelvin is originally from South Africa. He has had a remarkable experience. career. He discusses some of the challenges faced as an owner, as well as one aggressive incident that pushed him to look within as a leader.
Kelvin gives some phenomenal insights when it comes to being a chef patron. Listen out for a story involving a beef Wellington. Time to rock and roll. Just before we begin,
here is a small message from this week's guest. - Hey guys, I'm Kelvin Kelly and if you like this podcast, please give it up. like and follow. (upbeat music) - Welcome back to the Chef JKP podcast.
And on the show today, we have the head chef and managing partner of One Life Cafe or Kitchen and Cafe, rather Kelvin Kelly. Kelvin, welcome to the podcast.
- Thank you, James. Honestly, a pleasure to be here. I've always loved the show and I was just waiting for my turn and finally it's here. So thank you. you so much I really appreciate that. So as you know straight off the bat I want to know your earliest or favorite childhood food memory.
Honestly like I've listened to a bunch of your podcasts on here and I knew that question was coming so I kind of had a day to prepare and I couldn't quite pin the exact food memory that kind of.
of changed what direction I wanted to go in. But I would say my grandfather, there's a sausage in South Africa called the Borovos. - Mm -hmm.
- And-- - Beautiful as well. They're amazing. So many flavors. - Oh, and just fatty and juicy. And as it comes off the bri, we call it a bri. And you put that between a hot dog bun and just some fried onions on top.
- And-- man it's sensational. It is absolutely sensational. So that was probably one of the memories that my grandfather kind of with food at least gave me.
And how old were you when you sort of remember that direction? That was as early as I would say eight or nine. Eight or nine, yeah, that was quite early.
So that was a predominant thing. so with the family having a bride, was it with different celebrations, or would it just be whenever they had time to be with you? - A South African never needs an excuse to have a bride.
It could be snowing outside, and you'll see a South African brining over the thing. But no, we didn't have a specific occasion for it. We just enjoyed a world war's role every night again,
and his favorite thing to do was... a beer, a bra and a Borgos role. So that was his pleasures, which then kind of, he brought me into that and gave it my pleasure as well.
So yeah, but in terms of family, we would, I guess everything was different. We had a, I remember my great grandmother, I had the privilege of knowing both great grandparents on both sides.
I'm my great grandmother. -grandmother used to make a, it's basically in English, it translates to milk food, but in Afrikaans it's called milk course. - So what is that exactly?
- Basically just a ton of milk and you take some flour, well it's got flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon sugar. And you take the flour in a bowl and you add the butter and sugar to it and you frill it.
it. It's called frimmle. And make like little balls with your hands. Get the pot of milk going, bring it right up to the boil, bring it down to a simmer and then add that in. And that cooks for about 20 minutes.
- Constantly stirring it. - Constantly stirring it. - Sort of like a bechamel roux. - Yeah, I was thinking about that. It's exactly that, it's exactly that. But the quantity of flour to butter is not the same as a roux.
So it's like a dry, like you would make scones. Right. So it's that consistency. And then you bang that in the pot with the milk and you just let that cook. And you add some sugar in it and some cinnamon.
Sounds very sort of home comfort. It's very hearty comfort food. And then on Sundays, we'd have a family roast. So yeah, that's your beef.
And what would that consist of then? Have a beef lamb chicken. - It was different, a little bit of, I didn't enjoy pork at the time. So there was pork, but there was always beef 'cause I enjoyed the beef.
And then you would have some garden peas on it, some cauliflower gratin, roast potatoes, and gravy, and some rice. There was always rice on the plate for some reason.
- So look, one thing we have to discuss to clear the air, - Yeah. what's the difference for everyone to know between a bri and a barbecue?
Because you've got Australians, Brits, South Africans, Kiwis. What is the difference between a bri and a barbecue? There is a technical difference,
but any South African you ask, you will always tell you that the bri is... is where it all started But I would say the technical differences probably Barbecue tend to use coal,
coal, charcoal. Brih is more of a wood. We use wood. Right, okay So that's a technical difference, but it's not such thing as a barbecue. It's always been a Brih. It's always been a Brih It's always been a Brih.
There you go, ladies and gents. It's always been a Brih, okay? Just to clear the air So then then you had this incredible family time. And then I want to understand from your early kitchen life,
what got you into professional cookery? Were you always sort of into the kitchen or did you have a different path before you stepped into the kitchen? - This is an interesting story.
I never saw myself in a kitchen. I never saw myself in the hospitality industry at all. - I had a... weird, if I can call it that,
journey to getting to where I am. I actually wanted to be a doctor or I knew I wanted to be, I wanted to help people. I just now I'm helping them in a different way.
So I wanted to be a doctor and I walked into my first science lesson at the time in school. You had to kind of pick out which subjects you were going to take for what you would kind of go into.
And I walked into science and I was given a pile of papers, it was honestly a stack this big of papers and this was kind of, I was like, "Oh, are they giving us full years work?" And the lecturer said,
"No, that's just for the first term, it's the first three months." I was like... "Thanks so much. "It was been a pleasure meeting you." And I walked out the door. (laughing) And I dropped biology straight after that as well.
And I was like, "Okay, let's go back." - And how old were you when that happened? - 16. - 16. - Yeah, 16. - So that hit you in the face straight away? - Honestly, I'm not a big reader. I'll read if I have to.
More of a visual kind of guy. But yeah, when I saw that stack of notes, I was like, "All right, game, game change." game plan change. So I then just started, this is the way it gets funny.
I started working for my uncle, and this was just like a part -time thing during a weekend's holidays, school holidays, and I was a private investigator.
So my - And how old are you here? I was 16, 17. So your uncle was also a private investigator? Yeah, he was a private investigator. under a company that would bring on private investigators.
- And he brought you on as an apprentice? - Yeah, as an apprentice. - And obviously when you're family to the guy who owns the place, you kind of get thrown in the deep end and well,
here we go now, I'm not gonna walk you along, you just got a single swim. And my job was basically proving to you that you're a private investigator. infidelity in relationships.
Oh, mama. So I would be literally following people with a camera. It's quite dangerous. No, at that age. Yeah, it was. I mean, I didn't have a license.
Breaking the law, I know. But yeah, that's what I used to do. That's how I bought my first car, actually. I was a prime investigator watching. Wow. Yeah, it was. So you must have seen some sites, let's say.
Yeah, let's put it that way. Some sites. Yeah, and I kind of didn't know what I wanted to do While I was doing that like I knew that wasn't exactly what I wanted to do I did want to be how long were you doing that for for about a year and a half.
Okay, so I think My my final year of school So you're also at school as well. Yeah, it was still at school. So this was just weekends and holidays. Well, yeah What's your weekend job?
I can't really talk about it, but it's pretty cool. So, yeah, it was, honestly, the things you see kind of shocks you of what people can be like.
And this was in South Africa? Yeah, this was in South Africa. So I then knew I didn't want to do that. I was chatting with friends and kind of, I knew I wanted to do something where I'm serving people,
where I'm helping people in some way. And a friend of mine at the time, he said, "I'm going to culinary school." I was like, "Well, that's weird. "Never heard you speak about that." And it's like,
"Why don't you sign up? "If you don't like it, then you can drop it." And so I did. I went to culinary school and just the love relationships started from there.
But what an incredible... incredible change to go from one extreme to the other. And at the same time, I'm assuming here that you'd never stepped in a kitchen before the culinary school.
Absolutely nothing. So you were super fresh. Yeah, completely. You never picked up a proper knife or anything like that. Nothing. And at the time, I think a lot of the chefs that were really big at the time.
didn't really go to culinary school. They had just gone through the ranks in the kitchen and that's how I thought I needed to do this, to get the basics and learn. And I kind of was impatient to go through that and be a scholar or whatever it might be and then build on myself up from there.
And I thought it could be a cool challenge and we'll see. And if I don't like it, I'll stop it. Awesome. So how long was that program? That was a two and a half year diploma.
And was it just cooking or did you have to go front of house, bar, work, all of that? It was just cooking. So it was a culinary school, it wasn't a hotel school. So they focused only on the culinary aspects. There was six months of it where it gave you insight to business management but the majority of it was just culinary cookery.
Wow. So then... then after you graduated. - Yep. - So two and a half years, you fell in love with the kitchen, fell in love with the whole camaraderie of being in the kitchen.
So then what happens? Where do you land your first job? - So we got a backtrack to, I think, my second week in culinary school, driving on the freeway,
get off the freeway, parked at a traffic light. light waiting for the light to go green and this car pulls up next to me and it knocks on the window. He signals to knock on the window and open the window and see what's going on.
Like, did I do something wrong? Is this guy about to flip me off? And he's like, are you a chef? And I said, yeah. My chef, White, was hanging in the window in the back. And he's like, I'm looking for chefs.
Here's my card. And he flipped his card into the window. - I was like, that's crazy, drove to school, called him right away, and he's like, I have a catering company called,
I think it was called Creative Fruit Concepts. Come on, bring in your whites, let's see what you got, and maybe we can offer you a job. Why not? - So random.
- So random. Just being in the right place at the right time kinda. So my friend that actually got me into it, we used to couple together, and then we got into it, and then we got into it. we both went. And he dropped out in about two days after peeling and de -veining thousands of kilos of prawns.
And yeah, I wasn't a fan of prawns after that. We had a long time to get pro. Yeah, I can imagine. We'd get through consumer prawn after that. So yeah, did that while I was going finishing school in the morning.
going there in the afternoon, doing some work, all weekends working for them, doing events, running things for them. And then I finished, I graduated and he offered me a permanent job then.
And yeah, it was there for about a year after that, permanent. And I was just tired, like long hours, stressful kitchen, we were doing huge banquet offerings.
So when you say huge for numbers, what would you say? You're looking at about 700 to 2000. Wow. So this would be weddings or just functions generally? Just corporate events,
functions, weddings, just anything that was big festivals. And how big was that brigade at the time? At the time, it was probably about 20,
21, 21... Yeah, I was... - It's not a lot. - Yeah, it's not a lot. - Considering the numbers. - Yeah. - Not a lot. - So you were pushing. Yeah, it was extremely long hours, 17, 18 hours,
sometimes. Right, right. I would drive to an event and do the event, park the car outside, have a quick dose before I drive home, get home next at 4am the next morning in the kitchen,
busting it out, event. Event, it was extremely tough, extremely, extremely tough. - So what made you, apart from the beautiful long hours, when did you see yourself moving from that particular job?
- I felt like the menus were pretty set. We didn't really deviate from that. We did slightly when there was requests for certain things, but it was just to deal with those volumes,
the menu had to be kind of set and it was standard. - I felt like the menus were pretty set and it was standard. it was very repetition a lot of repetition And I didn't feel like I was really growing as much as I could have been somewhere else and I Kind of gave my resignation and then stuck around for a few more months after that I'm looking for the right thing because I just didn't want to enter into another
kitchen where it's the same thing and I was chatting to someone and At the time there was a corporate catering company called TS Africa and they were They were changing the way corporates Eight launch.
Okay, so in this sense playing that so in the sense like you know what a canteen is yes and When you think of a canteen you picture those stainless steel tables with a jazz bench to it fixed to it And it's just like a huge counter where someone comes around with a train you snap something in a bit like prison prison.
- Yeah, yes. - Not that I've been there, but you know. - I wouldn't judge of you. But they were changing that whole thing. It was, they were offering an experience for corporates in a way that no one else was doing.
- So what was that experience? - So there was live cooking right in front in the actual canteens. So it was like you were walking into a food hall. - Ah. Ah, right. Okay.
So, it was... That sounds really interesting. Yeah. So, it was establishing food halls within companies, huge companies, and then catering to those people that work there every day. Okay. Obviously, the company subsidizes the pricing and that type of thing.
But, and depending on which companies you place that, you had unlimited budget, really, because the client would just pay for it. And so, the Africa staff well -being is regarded really high.
or at least it was 10 years 15 years ago So that was a big shift for me Because these guys were looking for young and talented shifts and they were grabbing some of the the best shifts in the country at the time For this and I was like,
this is a great thing the menus on set They changed because you're dealing with the same people over and over again, right? Those menus are rotating constantly. Okay, so there's always new things coming up And you kind of didn't have a mini to go you made the menu the week before kind of thing So it was whatever was available whatever seasonal fruits or vegetables that you could get your hands on whatever meats you
had Whether it was a special whether it was whatever it was you you kind of was Limitless in what you could do. So what what was the position they gave you in the end when you first joined that company?
I started as a CDP okay and the chef at the time, I don't know if we're allowed to mention companies, KPMG.
So I was based there and the executive chef at the time was Jamie Sutherland, Scottish guy. Phenomenal chef, probably my first mentor in the game and he taught me and he was extremely well -traveled and worked all over the world and he kind of took me on that.
his wing and I then went into head chef after I'd say a year of being there. From CDP. From CDP. It's a big jump,
mate. Yeah. It's a big jump. Feeding about 300 people a day. Wow. Because it's subsidized with the company, no one goes anywhere else. It's great. It's great food.
You have endless options. That was breakfast and lunch or just lunch? That was breakfast. breakfast and lunch. >> Right. >> Yeah, breakfast and lunch and obviously when they have. >> Five days a week? >> Five days a week. So living kind of the dream. >> Weekends off.
>> Yeah, weekends off. >> Public holidays off. So, and that's one of the factors I decided to do that. Not only just the menu changing and learning new different things, but kind of getting some time to feel like a human again.
>> Yes, yes. >> So yeah, did that and I was then approached by it. its kind of, what's the word, competition? Competition company and they brought me in and gave me an executive chef role and that was fun because now everything was up to me.
I decided what went out. I think I did that for about two years. No, it wasn't two years. It was about a year. Yeah. So.
So that I mean, it's quite a quite a meteoric Yeah, progression Going from CDP and another then you did a year Straight to head chef fair enough,
then you did a year and another company comes in and says we'll give you we're gonna give you Exact chef. Yeah, honestly, I was I was blown away and I I really think that I was in the right place at the right time I had the right people that were surrounding me and and pushing me.
- And how old were you at that time when you got the exec chef position? - I was 24. - Wow. - 24. - So the thing I'm particularly interested in is,
at 24, it's super young to be exec chef. Did you have the mental skills to handle the mental skills to handle the mental skills to handle?
management or the HR? Absolutely not, absolutely. Because that must have been quite a steep learning curve for you. Honestly, you look at it and you're like executive chef, title, great, amazing. But when you get into the crux of things,
it's not just about cooking. There's so much more that comes with that, which you kind of aren't prepared for. Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Yeah. Is that managing people? You have to know to manage people. Then there's the finance side of it.
So food costs as an executive chef. chef is a huge one. Then the general manager dealing with upset clients, then the shareholders. I mean, it must have been a lot in your shoulders. A huge, huge amount of pressure.
I'm not sure how you were 24, but you think you're a hothead. You are a hothead. Or at least I was executive chef. And that's a corporate environment,
right? That's a corporate environment where corporates are not used to dealing with chef's side. psychopaths, and knives. So you almost have to be, how can I put it? (laughing) But you know what I'm saying,
right? So how did you find that? - Honestly, it was extremely difficult and I did lean a lot on the ops manager at the time. We became good friends and he kind of helped me through all of that,
navigating all of that, that staffing and thing and I mean, doing the menus and stuff. I don't think obviously I still don't know everything now. But I knew what I was doing and what I wanted to do,
so I didn't really need help with that. But it was everything else, and honestly without him, I think I would have fallen flat on my face. Well, yeah. And that's why I said I've always been in the right place at the right time with the right people around me.
Because we must have needed a lot of support at that time. Not physically, but I mean obviously mentally. mentally, with all of that load and learning and learning and learning as you're going, because nobody really teaches you how to be an exec chef.
- No. - Yeah, and I did that. - It was for long. - It was for long, and I did that for a year, I think. And within the same company, a position had opened for the corporate chef.
So I was looking after, as an executive chef, just one kitchen. - With how many people? - We had 17. - Okay. - So 17. And it was the most at the time in the company in any one kitchen,
just the stuff we were doing was kind of blowing everything else out of the water. So, and we were focusing on making things from scratch and not just buying it in,
which requires more stuff. - Equipment. - Equipment and all of that. - Yeah. I was an isolated case. They saw some potential in me, perhaps, I presume, and they'd let me do what I wanted to do.
And then a position opened up for the corporate chef, for the company, so going from one to looking after 80 kitchens. So I'm assuming you got the job as a corporate chef? I did, yeah. Okay. I did. So again,
another monster leap. Absolutely, yeah. Going from 17 to 80, I mean, that's a lot of people to look after. Thankfully. - Thankfully, each kitchen had their own head chef and obviously brigades and each one had their own GMs.
I was just looking after quality of food. - Did you also have to look after the hiring and firing of people as a cook or chef? - Depended on the title or the position they were holding.
Anyone from sous chef to head chef, if you ever. that kind of came down to me But anything below that that was just reporting to that direct Supervisor or HR. Did you have to fire any of the sous chefs or head chefs during that time?
I did that for Three years. So yeah, there was a it was a bit which is a tough because again Nobody prepares you know for firing somebody especially the first time and especially if they're older than you That's the thing a lot of people were older than me me,
and I felt really self -conscious about that. You must have had a lot of imposter syndrome as well. Honestly, I live with imposter syndrome every day, but exactly that, I tried to hide my age because I felt that anyone would not respect me for being in the position I'm in,
being at the age I'm in, where they are in their 30s, 40s, and some of them even older. Right. right? So I then took on the role to kind of equip the chefs that we were bringing into because the company was growing as at a pace where we couldn't bring in skilled chefs as fast as we were growing.
We opened up a training kitchen so anyone that would come in to the business would go through that training process through and we had a syllabus syllabus,
if you can call it that, that they would go through that. I think it was about a month, so it wasn't an intense thing. It was just to give them the skills to operate in the kitchens. So then I was heading that,
and as that grew, we kind of brought more trainers on. And again, looking at the best establishments in the country and taking shifts from that. Where were you based in South Africa specifically?
Johannesburg. Okay. Okay. Johannesburg. I would say this. main office of the company was in Cape Town. So towards the end of my tenure there, I was traveling a lot to Cape Town and looking after some of those as well.
But I was mainly looking after Joburg, Johannesburg. So yeah, we just, it was like cattle. And we were just pushing guys through those courses just to get them equipped into the kitchens,
which was fun, but challenging a lot. And not much cooking went. on and that. It must have been a lot of training, a lot of admin for you. Courses,
management, all the fun stuff that all the chefs love. But one thing I wanted to ask you is, so I recently, myself and my wife, we just came back from South Africa and it was my first time there.
And one thing that was very apparent to me, which part of South Africa, so we went to France. - Okay. - Yeah, beautiful. - So beautiful, it was incredible, to be honest. But beforehand,
talking to South Africans over the past 20 years, they have this kind of huge immense pride. - Yeah. - About where they're from, about the produce, about the service, about the wine,
about everything. I couldn't get my head around it and they didn't understand wine until I arrived there. - Yeah. - And it just, blew my mind. Now, I wanted to ask you,
where does this pride come from? Is it from because just going back to your childhood, is it given to you from an early age, or is it that the food that you have in your backyard, generally,
is just beautiful and incredible? Because when you come to a place like Dubai, or when I was working in Oman or in London or wherever it may be, that sense of pride with the South African specifically was all always there.
- Honestly, I don't know where it comes from. I think you're born with it. Being South African to a South African really does mean something.
And yeah, how produce is incredible. The produce that South Africa produces is just, it's really up there with the rest of the world. I don't know where it comes from,
but every South African you do speak to will tell you how. how proud they are of being South African and how proud they are of the cuisine and it's not a widely known cuisine.
That's the thing. It's not, but I went to some really incredible restaurants. Column. Yes, Petit Colombe and another one favor and it was, I mean, beautiful restaurants and it was all about the land.
Everything was about the land and I have to say it was some of the best meals ever eaten when it came to a fine dining standpoint. Of course, the wine again, phenomenal,
all biodynamic again from the land. And it's literally faultless. But at the same time, what was really nice, it wasn't just about the food, the hospitality,
and the level of service was also some of the best in the world I've ever received. Yeah. So I was just like, and then when we came back, it was just amazing, to the point that we want to go back.
But it is justified. I think the pride thing is really, really justified. I think that's nice to hear as a South African, just because when you live there, you kind of don't see it because you're so used to it. That's nice. I mean,
I've been out of there for almost 10 years and I still go back and I'm still, I'd move back tomorrow. if circumstances were different. But it's nice to hear someone say that.
So then, when did you move, or when did you decide to come over to the Middle East and cook professionally? That was about 10 years ago. Myself and my girlfriend at the time was now my wife.
We're kind of looking for a change. It just felt like it was ground hot day. Everything was happening at the same pace. pace. I don't like a boring life. I like challenges. I like to be challenged.
I like to see different things. Dubai wasn't on our radar. Middle East wasn't on the radar at all. It was probably somewhere in Europe. And the two of us went out and was like,
"All right, let's just apply for some jobs "and see where it takes us." She got an offer from a company in Dubai. And she said, "Well, this is what I've got back "and I hadn't gotten anything back." So I took a blow to my ego there.
(both laughing) And she said, "Should we do it?" I'm like, "Let's explore it, let's do it." She's like, "I have to leave in three days "if this is the case." I was like,
"Oh, wow, okay, let's do it. "Let's see where we go." And so three days later, she was on a plane and came out. I had to leave. I had to resign from my current post and serve my notice.
And then I came back and she arrived here on the 3rd of January. I came on the 29th of January. So that's a big safety net that you let go of?
Absolutely. Everything. We had home, we had cars, we had everything. And we kind of had to pack all that away. and it's a big leap of faith I honestly huge huge if you asked me to do that now today Probably wouldn't do it not because of the experience.
I have just because I don't know if I have that show faith to do it again so yeah, it was Dubai and Honestly, we haven't looked back. It's been absolutely incredible It's an incredible city for any chef that's trying to make a name for himself being here and a melting pot pot of a multi -cuisines.
It was just incredible. So then you landed your first job in Ginza? Yeah. So Ginza was a group that had a couple of different restaurants. At the time,
there was a Serifina, yeah, they had a few pizzerias around, they had Jean Georges on four seasons when I opened. opened. They had Real Madrid Café in JBR.
Yeah. And so when I was brought on, that was kind of not doing too well. So they asked me to sort that out for them. As the sort of corporate chef I'm assuming? No,
as a head chef. As a head chef. As a head chef. Yeah. I thought coming to Dubai, I would kind of need to take a step back to kind of learn how things work here. Sure. In two. at the time,
I was still young, trying to figure out, willing to take a step back to learn. So yeah, I did that. And we kind of got Real Madrid into a position where it was doing really,
really well. And yeah, I enjoyed that. And when there was chefs moving around vacation or whatever, I would then just go and slot in where they were. or what kitchen they were in and just assist their if needed.
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Now back to the episode. (dramatic music) So then, you did that for a while, you found a buy eight months, actually, only. So how did this venture one life come about?
I had lost my job with Ginza, being a hot headed chef that I was. I made a decision and I belittled someone that was in my brigade that was lower than me or in lower.
position than me. And obviously the company at the time did not really see eye to eye on that. So I'm assuming they went to the HR route. Yep. Reported you.
Yep. You had to have the chat. Yeah, I had to have the chat. Which is always nice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and that was a painful, a really, really painful experience.
What did you learn from that? I learned that I wasn't as hard as I thought I was. That one mistake, one choice, one decision can set you on a path that you might not want to go down.
And I look back at it now and I'm kind of glad I made the decision because I am where I am. And I don't regret it at all. I love one life and I eat,
breathe and sleep it. So it wouldn't, I'm glad it happened. the way it did. Because also, the one thing that they don't prepare you when you come from a place like South Africa, the UK,
Australia, wherever, the Western countries is that you have so many nationalities and religions to contend with at the same time, you're in a kitchen, you can't behave a certain way there,
then you used to, or how your previous chefs used to do it back then, right? Yeah, exactly, like South Africa. is a, it is a multicultural country and we named it the rainbow nation.
So you do get, but they are South African. They just might be Greek South African or Portuguese South African or Indian South African, but they are South Africans. So there is an understanding that goes with in the kitchen,
like these things happen. Sure. Well, when you move to somewhere like the Middle East where those things aren't are not accepted you kind of learn that very quickly and the hard way. So yeah that was that was it and I left that job and sitting at home beating myself up about how I can let this happen how I've just ruined my career applying for jobs,
reaching out to chefs that I had known, going for interviews and doing some trials and and I did get faked. responses and a few job offers.
I just didn't feel like that was where I wanted to be. I was given what, in hindsight, given what I went through, I should have just taken anything, but I'm glad I didn't. I was very selective of what I wanted to do,
and I wanted to have freedom to cook what I wanted to cook, to do what I wanted to do. So, I was at home, applying for jobs. I applied for this job, closed the laptop.
Oh, I didn't even close the laptop. Got up, went to the fridge to get something to drink, came back, sat down to apply for another job. And my phone rang and it was in a jib on the other end of the call.
It was my partner in one life. And he called me up and he was like, "Did you just apply for the job?" I honestly, I thought someone was having me on 'cause I was like, "How is that?" possible?
Literally 45 seconds after I submitted the application and he's like, are you free today to meet? I was like, yeah, sure, no problem. Let's meet.
We met in Sports City, Natalie's Cafe and Najib wasn't from the industry. He was in marketing most of,
I mean, he's a mechanical engineer. We studied that, but he was in marketing for the longest time. So it was a new venture for him as well. And I was kind of,
not kind of, I was blown away by his passion for the industry. His passion for food. I was like, this is the kind of guy I wanna partner with to build his dream.
'Cause it was his dream. dream on life was his dream. And I was just incredibly blown away by his passion for food, for using quality ingredients for his idea of what food should be.
So yeah, I... It's quite lucky also, because you don't get that many people... Absolutely. Who want to open a business. And they don't focus on the passion or the quality,
they focus more on the return So yeah, that's it for today. I'll see you in the next one. Bye. investment. - Exactly. - Yeah, they see the financial goal rather than the quality. So that must have been quite refreshing for you. - Absolutely, and I was taken back by that.
And that's probably leaving that meeting I felt really good about myself after beating myself up for two or three months. 'Cause I don't wanna say I saw or it kind of reminded me of my passion for the industry.
- Yeah. sitting across him and letting him talk about his passion for food. And I didn't think I was going to take, I mean, he didn't offer me the job at the time or in that interview,
but I didn't think I was going to take it, to be honest. So what happened and how did it all come to fruition? Well, at the time I had three offers on the table from different properties and I was kind of,
I didn't want to go back. And not that one life was going backwards. It was something new. I wanted to get something that was already established. Right. Okay. And so one life was already,
it was, there was nothing. It was just a concept at the time on paper, right? He had a reasons plan. He had locked down the location in D3. And I think there were, the time there was construction going on in the space.
space and we went our separate ways and a day or two days later, he emailed me or he called me. I can't remember the exact details of it and said, "Let's meet again." And he kind of asked me,
sitting opposite me, "What happened in your last role?" At that point, I was like, "I either tell the truth and bake it." just see what happens or I try and spin it in a way that kind of is ambiguous.
Right. And at that point I was just like, I got nothing to hide. This is what happened. And I was like, okay, cool. Glad you asked me. I knew afterwards he had really known the truth by someone he had known.
We told him and And for me, that was me being able to be open with him and him saying, "Okay, cool, that's a huge trust, right?" "Yeah, absolutely, let's take this forward and see where we go with it." So he showed me the menu he had put together and I had some ideas and he was like,
"Yeah, we can see." And he said, "Come out to the kitchen, come out the construction site at the time and let's see what you think." And so we looked at him and he was like, "Okay, cool." at the plans, the kitchen wasn't built.
I mean, the structure, the walls were built, but in terms of the kitchen layout, that wasn't decided. So I kind of planned that out for him. I was like, you can use this whether you hire me or don't hire me,
but I'm happy to join a few willing to hire me. And that was just because of his generosity, really, of accepting me for my flaws.
kind of. I was like, "Yeah, he's a nice guy that I want to kind of build his dream with." And, yeah, we opened in March 2016. And haven't looked back?
No, haven't looked back. So, for those people who are listening or watching, and they don't necessarily, or they have never been to one life, what is the concept food -wise,
first of all? So, the concepts evolved over time. and I don't want to bore you too much with that, but we started on a very limited menu. The kitchen was extremely tight.
We had about, I think, 65 seats at the time. So our menu was seven salads, nutritionally -dense salads, seven slow -cooked stews, and add on off -stake to the salad,
or add on chicken to the salad, and two desserts that were no sugar added, no natural, no artificial sugars. - So quite health conscious,
would you say? - Yeah, health conscious. - Or healthy, clean? - Clean rather. Not healthy, we don't use the word healthy at all, 'cause it isn't healthy, it's, we say clean because it is,
you know where your food's coming from. And everything is made from scratch. So we know what we're putting into the dish before it gets to the consumers all week. clean. It's clean food. So we did that,
and we thought, cool, we've locked down the recipes, we've locked down everything, and we open. And I think it was a month in and customer said to us,
"So when are you doing the next menu change?" Realizing, or maybe realizing, but not wanting to listen to yourself here.
that we gotta change it. But it's brand new and people are already bought 'cause you're dealing with the same people. - Right. - It's in Dubai Design Districts, obviously. - Which is like an incredible design hub.
- Yeah. - Almost sort of central downtown, beautiful little location. And you have some of the biggest companies in the Middle East. - Yeah, there's companies and architecture, biggest companies in fashion,
anything to do with design really. - So yeah, they were like, when's the menu changing? I was like, oh. - So what did you do? - Oh goodness. - It's just a menu cookie. - Within a month,
six weeks, whatever. - Yeah, and we slowly started introducing different items. Like we never had any bread on the menu. Sandwiches were not there.
So it was like you either having a stew or a salad. That's kind of what you had. - Yeah, we had a lot of bread on the menu. - Yeah, we had a lot of bread on the menu. - Yeah, we had a lot of bread on the menu. - Yeah, we had a lot of bread on the menu. we I wouldn't say the exact pivot But we just started adding a few items here and there and seeing what we could do with the space We had in the kitchen
and it just gained momentum Really really quickly obviously myself and the jib were there every single day building it getting to know the Consumer getting feedback from them.
That's where it started and we yeah, so we focus on clean food food as far as possible We produce in -house from scratch and I always joke with people We even make our own ketchup from from scratch and I always say like that's the probably the most inconsistent item on our menu Just because you're dealing with fresh.
Yes ingredients like a tomato and it's seasonal Yeah, tomato could come as it's beautiful and sweet and nice and red and in a week's time It's not right your apples could be juicy and good and sweet.
I mean, in a week's time, they sour. - Wow. - So it's a huge challenge to do those types of things where we believe that that's where the difference comes in. - So the thing I wanted to ask you is,
it's a well -known brand within Dubai. You've won numerous accolades, and congratulations because really, I know how hard you work. I know how hard the team works.
You have a second location. location in JVC and Dubai, which is also a booming and super busy. Now you're not just a chef. - No. - You know, you're a managing partner of the business.
So it's a different type of thinking. - Absolutely. - What's been the biggest sort of challenges you've faced so far as an owner, let's say? - Knowing when to buy metal. - So there's still,
the Kelvin hothead is still around. - Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it was. it'll ever die. I think I'm, I think it's knowing when your opinion's gonna help,
or if it's just gonna delay a decision. - Are you still very passionate in the kitchen? Would you say? - Absolutely, absolutely. The food in one life is, it's never been a,
I've never taken it on and say, oh, this is my cuisine. This is me. It's always been a collaborative effort. It's always been a collaborative decision. "Okay, this is what we want to do. This is where we want to go." And not just with myself and Najib,
but the rest of the staff, whether it's front of house, back of house, as well as customers. We have three dishes on our menu that I didn't create, but a customer created. That's interesting.
Yeah, so we have weird names, but they were names of the dishes, but... but yeah, it's a collaborative thing. It is a, we are a community space that focuses on quality and that quality doesn't stop with food,
but it continues into the service. It continues into anything we kind of put our minds to do, whether it's an event, whether it's our coffee,
we're all starting coffee in -house. - Oh wow, okay, I didn't know that. - Yeah, we're all starting coffee. coffee. Our brand is called Machete. - Nice. - You can follow that on Instagram. But yeah,
so it's always been collaborative. We find value in heads getting together. It's not just one head, but it's a few heads getting together and saying, okay, this is what we wanna do. These are the things.
Yes, the food kind is still, I still produce those recipes. I still put them together. I still do all of those things. But in terms of what we wanna do, to do on dishes, that's always been collaborative from day one.
- Wow. - And I think that's-- - Fantastic for the team as well. - Yeah, absolutely. And I was just saying to Najib, just the other day, like we had a few resignations obviously at the moment.
- It happens in the industry. - The industry is hot and there's a lot of openings and chefs leave. And it hurts, it does hurt. - Of course, 'cause we put a lot into them. - A lot into them.
- And he-- said that we're a school. And I never looked at it like that. And we are, to some degree. We had people that had come in, Sammy. He's our head chef in our JVC location.
I met him at 18 years old. He was four days out of Pakistan in Dubai, and I needed a scholar. It's like, I got a position open in the stewarding. I oughta take that,
and he did that. And he's built his... himself up. Yeah, we've all helped, but he's done that. He's taken that decision himself to be a head chef, and he's running the kitchen in one of our locations.
So it is a school in that sense, and yes, people leaving hurts, but at the same time, it's a weird feeling, 'cause it's kind of rewarding for someone to come in that knows nothing,
and you've given them the skills and they've taken it. the decision to take those skills on and better themselves is an incredible feeling. Absolutely. And it's one of those things that nobody really, again,
really teaches you as a chef. You are a mentor because all these things that somebody taught you, you teach them, so on and so forth. So it's almost giving back to the industry. But the one thing I wanted to sort of ask you and touch upon is,
when it comes to your mental health, you have have a lot of pressure from the business, making sure that that's floats from the team,
lots of external influences, whether it's media, whether you're doing weird podcasts, whether, you know, there's lots of different things. Now,
of course, as within the Middle East, we have Gomelow Mission and Guide 50 best, all of this, so many influences that are not under your control. Has there ever been a time when where you've just been like, "Okay,
I need to have some Kelvin time in order to make sure that things are on properly?" Because that's one thing as a chef or as an owner, especially at that level that nobody really talks about. Yeah.
To be honest, no. There isn't time to have Kelvin time. And I don't... It's extremely important, and I do believe in it, but I do struggle with that.
Whether I'm in one or not. of the locations or at home I'm still thinking about I'm still thinking about the business I'm still thinking about what can we do to make it better? How can we make it even 1 % better than it was yesterday and that's not something you can just switch off true So it's extremely difficult to take a step back and really take me time Because that would mean if I'm saying yes to me I'm
saying no to someone else right and I I don't know if I'm ready to do that yet. I think there will be a time where I can and I will. But right now, I think we're on a mission.
We do want to be up there with the greats and we're on a mission to do that. Whatever that might look like, so no. OK, but I suppose the other thing would be,
let's say, when you do manage to have some time off. And I think time off, let us. say, with the family or whatever that might be, that that potentially could be the sort of break, let's say, not the switch off,
but definitely time required for you to sort of back a little bit. Yeah, maybe I misunderstood the question, but yeah, I have a beautiful family, two daughters, my wife. So that is my release,
my release. Yeah, that's, that's my sanctuary, if I can call it. Yes, absolutely. I doesn't matter what kind of day I've had when I walk into my front door and my notice run to me and give me the biggest love ever.
That kind of pushes all the worries away and I'm focused on that moment. So yeah, that's my sanctuary. So I'm able to do what I do because of them and having them being there for me,
whether it's my wife encouraging me and supporting me and doing what I do. nights a lot without me and kind of supporting me in everything I do really.
- But I think also what family does, especially for chefs within hospitality and maybe also other sort of leaders, is that family can allow you to not just support you,
but that it sort of pushes you to do better. - Absolutely, absolutely. And that's not only with you, I mean. family, with your wife and your kids, but that's extended family as well, and having friends that are pillars in your life that can speak into your life,
that can really call you out on your bullshit when you do have that. - Which is important, by the way. - Absolutely, and people take that for granted, and they underestimate the importance of it.
I think it's an extremely, at least I've seen for my life. - But you need that to keep you grounded. - Yeah. - Absolutely. absolutely. - 'Cause it's easy to live with your heads in the clouds 'cause it's just human nature,
that's good. If you have people that can do that, you know, you appreciate them telling you the truth. - Yeah. - Whether you want to hear it or not. - Yeah, and it hurts sometimes, it might hurt, but you gotta know that it's coming from a loving place.
- Exactly. - So yeah. - So then look, regarding the plans for one life, I want to ask, I know that you have to... two locations and I know you're pushing hard. Is there anything else that you're potentially looking to go as in internationally?
I mean, yes, there is always that in the back of both our minds, but it would require, and maybe this is where I have a bit of a problem to release and let go and kind of say,
okay, you handle this now. I've always been a very hands -on and in the operation and in the crux. In the thick of it. - Yeah, in the thick of it. Like every single day at lunch, I'm still at the pass. - Right. - So even though there's other business to be done,
I'm still at the pass at lunch. I'm still watching every single dish go up. And Najib is at the cashier and he's engaging with people and meeting people and talking with people. So we're still in the business. So we are at a point where expansion is kind of kicking down the door and we do want to and we we have our eye on the site within Dubai and It's one life But if you visit our JVC branch,
it's a different experience. Yeah, it's it's a completely different vibe to D3 and The menu is slightly different. And so that's what the third one would probably look like as well Where it's it's one life and it's still the essence of one life and it is the first ethos behind it,
but it's different, offering a different experience. So yeah, we have our eyes on that. - Interesting. - Interesting. - Interesting. - We'll look out for that in the future. - Yeah, hopefully the near future.
- Amazing. - Yeah. - Wow. So now you're aware, I'm gonna go to the quick fire questions. All right. - First one,
top three. culinary heroes. This is probably one of the questions I didn't prepare for. I would, I mean, someone I followed and really admire in the industry is Daniel Hum from 11 Madison Park.
Legend. Absolutely legend. Like the way that guy sees a raw ingredient and is able to translate that onto a plate is just nominal. The way that he is able to translate that onto a plate is just nominal. takes risks going from an establishment or a restaurant that has earned its accolades.
The highest possible accolades as well. Yeah, the highest possible accolades. And then to turn it into a vegan restaurant. That's huge. That's huge. And still charge the same. And still charge the same for vegetables.
That blows my mind that he was able to do that and succeed. Because he succeeded. succeeded. He's blowing it out of the water. He's changed how people see everything.
- In terms of the situation. So he's definitely won. And I think of why I liked him. He was during COVID and all the rest of that. Like he's always kind of looked at ways to reach people.
- Yes. - Regardless of whether his restaurant was closed, but he was partnering with different organizations to reach them. them in their homes. And I kind of, you can see why he's in it.
It's not in it for the fame. He's in it 'cause he loves what he does. - Okay. - So yeah. - It's between him. - Then I would say, it's probably not as famous as I would like to.
Or maybe it's not famous at all. Maybe it is, I don't know, but it's me in five years. No, I'm kidding. (laughing) (laughing) Okay, no, Curtis Stone. - Yeah.
- Aussie chef, currently in the US right now. Also, again, looking at seasonal, focusing on seasonal ingredients, seasonal foods. I'm not sure if he's doing it now at the moment,
but at Maud, Maud? - Yes. - Maud, he's, let's forgive my fridge. He picked a vegetable a month, and that was the star on every plate that went out there. - Beautiful, huh? - 'Til then.
And it was just like, he found ways to reuse that quality potato in so many different ways. And he made that the hero of every single plate that went up for that one month.
Amazing. Like just incredible mind when it comes to using the quality and produce that's around that. And that's what I think I love him. I love him,
but I admire him for that because we, kind of the ethos we have at One Life, we look at partnering with local produce farms and people that are doing something different in the market that are locally.
We don't have to go out, we don't have to go very far to find those things. And the third, I wouldn't give it to one. individual.
I think just the chefs in the city, this city, goodbye. I don't think I have one particular chef that I favor, but I've been a part of the DCC,
the chef's collective and I. Just all of them are real inspiration. All of them are doing completely different things, but I'm able to really take something from them.
each one of them. So there are a handful of them there and I take inspiration from a lot of them. So it's not just one. That's really interesting also because I agree.
I think you can take inspiration from so many chefs and they can be doing completely different things that you would normally not dream of or think of. So I think that's a really big thing at the same time. Local chefs,
doesn't matter where you're from in the world, as long as you've got that sort of... of community that you look up to, I think is really important. Absolutely. So I really like that one. Absolutely. And I think it's like you said,
they might not be doing what I'm doing, they might be in a fine dining restaurant and obviously we aren't fine dining restaurant doesn't mean I can't take inspiration from them because they are, they're still passionate drives that and creativity is creativity.
Yeah. Doesn't matter whether it's in fine dining restaurant or a fast food art. whether it's whatever it might be. - So then talking about creativity, what would you say is the one meal that changed your life?
- Well, I have no idea. - That changed my life. That one, or the best meal or restaurant experience you've ever had?
- Well, that's a difficult one, changed my life. (speaking in foreign language) There was a restaurant in South Africa called the Tasting Kitchen.
- Yes. - You know what? - Yes. - Yeah, and dining there changed my life. The things that those guys were doing was just line blowing.
Turning something that's 90 % of water into a capacho is insane. - I could. Like, dehydrating, then rehydrating, then dehydrating again. Like, it's just,
yeah, I think that they had a watermelon capacho on the menu where it was just like, like you could see right through it, but it felt like when you were eating it, it just melted into your mouth,
like you were drinking a watermelon juice or something. So that, I would say that kind of changed my life. - Love that. - Yeah. - And that is an iconic place.
- It's an iconic place. - Really an iconic place. - Yeah, it was absolutely incredible. - So then from all of your experiences in the kitchen, whether this happened to yourself or somebody else,
what's the funniest ever kitchen incident that you've seen or been involved? - Oh, wow. - I don't know. I think. - Apart from you screaming at someone and then getting let go.
- A little bit more than screaming. (laughing) Let's do it there. I find things that are serious funny and I tend to when I'm nervous I tend to make light of a situation.
So at the time these things weren't funny but I would say looking back now they're pretty donna -larious. I was our first cook -off in a college at culinary school.
And way back when? when? - Way back when, and obviously 18, think you're a hothead, and arrogant as they come off the ship itself.
But doing that, doing the cook -off, and all the rest of it, and the lecturer at the time was, he was really, really going at me. And I can't even remember what it was about, but he was going at me,
and it just was like, "Yeah, that's the one, I'm gonna..." get it done." I think he was going at me because he saw that I wasn't gonna be able to put a dish up. - Okay. - I think. Yeah,
I think it was something along those lines. And I was like, "I'm gonna get it done. I'm gonna get it. It's me kind of thing." And I went and opened the elven and there was a beef wellington in the elven.
- Oh my God. - And I just grabbed the tray. - With no cloth? - Nothing. - With nothing? because I was talking and I was so angry and I was trying to say to him, "Don't worry about it, I'm gonna get it done,
I'm gonna sort it out." And I grab the Wellington out of the tray out of the thing and I turn around and I close the oven, not realizing, it's blistering my fingers and not realizing and he grabs a cloth that was on the bench in front of me and he grabs the,
he hits the tray out of my hand and at that he hits the tray, this Wellington goes flying. It was almost happening like it was in slow motion. - Oh my God. - It actually landed on the stew next to me's table.
And I just looked down and it was just red. It was red. And knowing this now, it's just, there was a 20 kilogram of butter on the counter.
- Right. - Soft butter. - I don't know why, but I just, went, I just needed to release the pain. I just went and stuck my hand right into the butter. - Beautiful. - And I kind of just stood there and I think,
I think I might have shitted you. (laughing) I think I might have shitted you. - Okay. Pretty good. - Yeah. - I have to say that's a pretty good one. - Yeah,
that's probably-- - Butter, right? - Butter. - Well, love it. - Butter. - Butter, but yeah, I've had some-- some really funny ones. I like that one though. It's pretty good to say. So then,
to top it off, what advice would you give to 16 -year -old Kelvin Kelly? Oh, wow. I kind of, I don't tend to give advice,
especially about this topic, just because it really comes across as negative and don't do it kind of thing. But no, I'd say I love what I do. do. I would tell myself at 16 is slow down.
It's not a race. Your time will come. You don't have to really take corporate chef roles, executive chef roles at a such a young age,
although I don't regret it, but slow down. Well, take it all in, enjoy it, and make way more. more mistakes, yeah. So then,
I love that because people need to understand that making mistakes are a good thing. Yeah. You know? That's the only way to learn, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, mistakes are kind of a stumbling,
not stumbling rocks, they steps to finding something. To help you in your way, yeah. So then, now you've been in the cheffing industry and the hospitality industry. industry for some time Yeah,
what advice would you give to young chefs who are up and coming and I'm talking 16 to 20 years old who are just coming out of college. I think it would kind of Be the same advice.
I would give myself Because what's what's the good of advice if I'm not gonna take it myself because everybody seems to be racing Yeah, it's and they're willing to put in the hard work work. - Yeah, it is hard work,
and maybe that's why the negative side comes out when I try and give anyone advice trying to come into the industry. It does require a lot of hard work, but there is satisfaction.
There is, so be prepared for the long hours, be prepared for the hard work, and take it all then as much as you can,
and work with as many. many chefs as you possibly can and Yeah, don't take any chef or any recipe for granted Love that so then Kelvin if people wanted to get hold of you or the restaurant on social media How can they do that my personal Instagram page is a chef Kelvin Kelly and Then one life you could follow either one life D3 or One Life JVC.
We have two separate accounts. So I'll put that in the show notes. So then, Kelvin, look, all that's left for me to say is we have gone through a huge amount, a lot.
So I really wanted to say thank you so much for being so candid. Really, it's been absolutely phenomenal to have you on the show. -Thank you. -I wish you all the very best of luck with the two locations and the potential new location in the future.
-Thank you very much. just wanted to say thank you very very much for being on the show. Thank you man I appreciate being here thank you for your time and look forward to hearing everything that comes out from this. Thank you.
I really enjoy talking to Kelvin about everything he has been through and now we all know the difference between a barbecue and a brye. It was also fantastic to hear about the sanctuary of family and a place that you can switch off but also be supported.
supported. I do feel that it is tough when managing multiple outlets at the same time you need to also be able to delegate but handing over the reins can be daunting. Lastly butter is great for so many things but not great for burns.
Make sure to check out one life kitchen and cafe head over to the show notes. As always a big thank you to JJ and the entire team at podcast now for producing the show. Don't forget that you can now watch us on YouTube.
YouTube. And if you haven't already, make sure to follow, share, and subscribe. Thank you so much to the Grilled Podcast by the staff can team for this fantastic collaboration. And finally, you,
the listener, for supporting the show every single way possible. Every single share, every single follow, really does make a bigger impact than you could possibly know. Till next time,
food is memories.