Noel Azzopardi

1. Tell us about your educational background and your work experience to date.
I started my culinary education at ITS Malta and continued my studies in Scotland where I worked for 2 years in a luxury hotel. When I came back to Malta, I started working in a 5 star hotel making my way up to the Head Chef position at Hilton Malta, and Hotel Juliani and later as an Executive Head Chef at Hyatt Regency Malta. Currently I am the Chef Patron at Kaiseki, a new restaurant in Valletta where I will showcase my love for flavour, texture and creativity in the culinary world.

2. Why are you so passionate about being a Chef?
To me cooking is not only a job, but it is also my hobby. I’ve always had a love for food, creating a new dish for others to enjoy is always my aim. When I cook I share my passion for the industry and the raw ingredients that I work with on a daily basis. Watching a simple mushroom, cut of meat or fruit turn into an elegant dish gives me a lot of satisfaction and joy!

3. Mention five words to describe yourself and your work ethic.
Passionate, Hard Working, Creative, Dedicated, Motivator.

4. Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Recently, I just opened my restaurant with a Mediterranean and Asian Fusion twist and hopefully in 5 years we will be a place where people come and enjoy our cuisine. Kaiseki is the culmination of the cuisines I love and want to explore further, hopefully entertaining a good flow of diners who will enjoy my creative dishes in a fun and relaxing environment. The next 5 years will be my journey towards that.

5. Can you mention Chefs who have inspired you? What do you admire most about them?
A Chef that I really admire is Ken Kawasaki, who moved from Japan to Paris, and offers diners sofisticated cuisine that straddles 2 continents and that is were I got inspired for my restaurant. The fusion of Mediterranean and Asian cusines has always been interesting to me – they’re the flavours I grew up with and the flavours I always got excited about – Mediterranean and Asian respectively. Kaiseki is a love note to my past, present and future.

6. What is your favourite dish to cook and why?
My favourite dish to cook is a nice roast, which reminds me of Sundays at home when I was younger. The simplicity of the feast paired with the warmth of family is always a good reminder to give life your best shot while making sure to surround yourslef with people who inspire you and make you feel good about yourself.