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.