Favorite Chef: Raymond Blanc

Favorite Cooking Show: Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets

Favorite Cookbook: Adventures with Chocolate

What experience most defined your decision and desire to get into the food industry?

The enormous satisfaction that comes from pleasing someone’s palate with a dessert.

Where is your favorite place to shop for food and ingredients in Kuwait?

As a boutique chocolaterie our main ingredients can’t be found in a grocery store. Most are bought abroad or brought into Kuwait through suppliers. However, I would have to say that Sultan Center is most definitely my favorite local store, as it has a variety of international and organic ingredients that we love.

What food most reminds you of your mother’s house, and why?

My mother is a career-oriented ambitious woman, cooking was never meaningful to her. We depended on my grandmother. So in that case I would say grape leaves remind me of her. And nothing can ever compare.

When you want to go somewhere else to eat, where do you go and why?

It depends on if I’m having a cheat meal or not. If I’m eating healthy I’d have a steak and the Greens & Cherry Tomato Salad from 10.Oh.8. If it’s a cheat day, probably Solo Pizza Napulitana. I’m obsessed with both restaurants.

Who in the world would you most like to cook for?

Angelina Jolie and her kids, that would be an unforgettable experience.

If you were to leave Kuwait and could take only one kitchen gadget with you, what would it be?

My chocolate scraper. It’s a simple tool, yet you can do so much with it.