Chef, 164-foot motoryacht TJ Esperanza

Date interviewed: May 2009

Originally, you had career aspirations other than cooking.
Yes, I wanted to be a policeman. Well, back when I was small, anyway. Then I decided that it sounded too dangerous, and I got into catering as a weekend job. Once I finished some schooling, I was encouraged to do an apprenticeship.

Your family much preferred that decision, I’ll bet.
Cooking is in the family. My mom and auntie have run a restaurant for 10 years in the southwest of England. I was doing my training away from them, and then they expanded the restaurant for the third time. I joined them for what was supposed to be a few months, and it ended up being a year. It’s a bistro with Mediterranean-style cooking, just good, quality food.
    I also worked for three months at a Michelin-starred restaurant where I did anything that I was asked to do. It was very different than my previous training, and it boosted my enthusiasm for cooking. I had been getting a little bored in my apprenticeship with the style of food I was doing, and this really opened up doors for me.
    I then worked for three years under a Master Chef of Great Britain, learning the type of cooking that I’m doing now. I try not to overcomplicate flavors. I try to keep them minimalistic. Let the key flavors talk for themselves.

Why did you decide to work onboard yachts?
The first head chef I worked for, he was an ex-Royal head chef for the Queen in the Navy. I had spoken to him about cruise ships, but he suggested private yachts, because the money’s better and it’s more hands-on. I feel that if I’d gone to a cruise line, I’d become like a robot, always doing the same thing.

What do you like most about cooking on a yacht?
One of the great things is that you’re always visiting different countries, different places, and the produce is always changing. I like to travel and see the different foods, to experiment with the local ingredients.
    Anything fresh is of interest to me. To go to the market, and everything is seasonal, and you’re buying it straight from the market, it’s just fantastic. I look for whatever is best, and I adjust the menu to that. I have to know a little bit of everything.

What do you think makes TJ Esperanza special as a charter yacht?
People are on holiday, and we want them to be happy. If they’re happy with the food, then one of the hardest jobs is done.
    Our boat is very friendly. You come on, and you automatically feel relaxed. The crew help that feeling carry on throughout the entire trip. We try to accommodate everything.

What are some of your specialty dishes, or often-requested favorites?
I’m known for my ice creams and sorbets. I’ve done all sorts of varieties, even a tomato sorbet and an avocado ice cream. The crew says they like the white chocolate sorbet. It’s light and flavorful, so you don’t feel terribly guilty eating it.
    Also, unless I’m in a great country like France where there’s a baker on every corner, I bake my own breads.

How do you decide the specific dishes you’ll serve?
I get the guests’ preference sheets, and then I make suggestions based on that, but I always ask about ideas that I have to make sure the charter guests will be happy. So far, I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve had maybe one person out of a group who wants something different from the main menu. We’ve had vegetarians and so forth, and we can accommodate those preferences.
    When you cook at a restaurant, you stick to a certain style. On a yacht, it’s more challenging because I get asked to do things that I haven’t done before. I prefer it. Once, for instance, I got asked to do pasta Mongolese, which is with clams. That was a fun one to figure out.

What is a typical day’s menu onboard TJ Esperanza?
Breakfast is always a buffet, and of course if the guests want it we can do eggs, bacon, sausages. For lunch, it’s nice to do a barbecue with lots of salads. We do hors d’oeuvres or canapés before dinner. Some guests like to have a four- or five-course dinner, and others prefer buffet-style. We can do either.

I understand you took an award at the largest charter yacht show in the world.
Yes, I took second place a few years ago at the Antigua charter show. I was working aboard a different yacht, a 100-foot sailing yacht called Dione Star, and the captain entered me without my knowledge. The contest was to take the surprise ingredients from a basket and rush off to make a meal in Caribbean style. Mine included a sorbet with a hazelnut sugar piece shooting off of the plate, kind of like a shooting star.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and TJ Esperanza?
We are good at doing canapé parties. We once did a canapé party for 50 or 70 people at the Antigua charter show. It went quite well.
    I also recently just did a sushi course in London, so I’m able to do that for our guests.

TJ Esperanza is part of the fleet at Camper & Nicholsons International. She takes up to 11 guests with 13 crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €210,000. Any reputable charter broker can tell you more.