WHO’S WHO

Successfully Yours: Stefan Beutler

by Dr. Iain Corness

The new chef at the Royal Wing and Spa at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort is Stefan Beutler, a young but very assured Swiss national who believes that we need to be a little less materialistic in our outlook on life if we want to achieve our goals.

Stefan was born in Interlochen, in the German speaking part of Switzerland. His father was a baker, and his mother a waitress, so the elements of life in the food and hospitality business were with him from birth.

During vacations he worked in the bakery and initially wanted to be a baker like his father, but the thought of having to get up so early to go to work did not appeal. It was suggested to him that he should learn French, so when he finished secondary school he went to work in a butcher’s shop in the French speaking area of Switzerland. 12 months later he was ready to enter into an apprenticeship to be a cook. This was a deliberate career path and one that Stefan does not regret. “I think it was a good choice.” He was even more assertive, saying, “If I didn’t like to do my job I would leave. You have to like it to put in the enthusiasm and energy that is needed.”

After his 3-year apprenticeship his first job was a cook in a traditional French kitchen. “It was hours and hours and hours. You learned how to work.” After one year, he found he was in demand. By the Army! He had deferred his National Service, but now the army kitchens were waiting for him no longer!

After his National Service he took a job at the Hotel Metropole in Interlochen, not because it was his hometown, but because a famous chef was resident there and the young Stefan was hungry to learn.

After his stint there, he wanted to see the world and as he had always had an interest in ships and sailing, applied for a job on a cruise liner as a chef. He attended for the interview and found that it was carried out totally in English - a language he could not speak at all. Eventually Stefan asked the interviewer if he could speak German, as Stefan had no idea what was being asked of him. He was promptly told he had to learn English and the interview ceased at that point.

So he began to think where he could go to learn English, and the UK did not appeal, but Canada sounded interesting. He bought a travel guidebook with addresses of places to eat and sent off applications. From this novel approach he actually did snare a position in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, where he stayed for a year, becoming proficient in English, returning to Switzerland at the end of the contract.

A short while later the cruise line was hiring again and this time Stefan could speak the English language and embarked in Hong Kong. He lasted only one month. His dream of “seeing something new every few days,” turned into a nightmare of claustrophobia every day. He was medically discharged in Sydney and flew back to Switzerland.

Now with medication to quell the attacks of claustrophobia, he tried the cruise liners again. This time he lasted only two weeks before the symptoms returned. He finally understood that life on the ocean wave was not for him, so he went to work in Switzerland again - but this time found that he was getting bored.

The answer seemed to be in travel again, and he first went back to Canada, and then, as he wanted to see Asia, took a posting in Oman in the Middle East. From there, he took a vacation in Thailand and while he was here, met Walter Thenisch, the executive chef at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.

Asia was all part of Stefan’s own learning curve. “It is something different. It starts with the culture. People think a little differently. You have to learn different systems and ways.” He expanded further, saying, “Everything is quite different in the foods from what you get in Europe and America. You can learn many things here.”

When Stefan heard there was a vacancy for the chef at the Royal Wing and Spa, he applied. “I was lucky chef Walter chose me,” he said modestly. I noted that Stefan is still very young (29 years old) and asked him if that were a drawback or an advantage. “Younger people bring new ideas and are flexible as well,” was his positive response.

He comes across as a very self starting young man. “You have to keep motivated, get fresh ideas. I like to open a cookbook for the new ideas it will give me.

His long-term goal is to become an executive chef, but he has no ambition to own his own restaurant. “It’s a little bit risky today. You have to work so hard for so many years to make a profit, and in that time you can lose your energy and motivation.”

He exhorts young people to get an interest in nature and be less materialistic. “Get away from that and you will have more interest in your job. Get an interest in nature and enjoy the little things in life that much more.”

As part of that looking at nature he cites the fact that food tastes have changed over time - not the public’s perception, but the actual taste of the foods themselves. “Potatoes have changed in flavour over the years, and strawberries also,” he said, as examples. He believes that it is necessary for young chefs to know what the food they cook really tastes like. “I know how an apple tastes direct from a tree, or milk straight from the farm.”

Stefan is a philosopher in many ways, and despite his relative youth, has an old head on his young shoulders. Welcome to Pattaya, Stefan.