Ep#85 A Pinch Of Salt With Elias Kandalaft

Hope It Helps Podcast
Ep#85 A Pinch Of Salt With Elias Kandalaft
Today’s guest is Elias Kandalaft. Elias is the Chef & the Managing Director of Pinch Gourmet, the UAEs leading catering company. His culinary journey started back in 2009 where he attended culinary school in Canada, and over the years has worked and trained at some of the world's top restaurants. Today Pinch has won multiple awards including the “Caterer” award for the past 2 years and the business has expanded to service retail, restaurants, food packaging and more.
During this episode we discuss his culinary journey and the story behind Pinch Gourmet, he shares with us his perspective on food, the challenges of running a catering company, and what it truly means to be a Chef.
And the last message he wanted to share is “Don’t let your ego get in the way, put it aside, move forward and enjoy the journey”
0:00 Intro
0:57 Elias’s background
7:10 The Pinch Story
11:28 Elias’s perspective on food
15:48 What does it mean to respect an ingredient?
20:07 Elias’s culinary school experience
30:36 The differences between a home cook vs culinary school graduate
37:30 Chef vs Home Cook
41:35 What makes a restaurant successful?
45:00 The negative perception surrounding “Comfort Food”
50:50 Catering and new menu creation
56:23 Traditional cooking vs evolution
1:01:02 Michelin Chefs
1:03:50 Supply chain & logistics of food
1:11:40 Biggest mistakes and lessons learned
1:23:30 Elia’s Dream
1:29:00 Cookbooks
1:35:22 Proud
1:37:27 Last Message
Elias:
Instagram: / thunderkaft
Website: pinchgourmet.com/
Hope It Helps:
Linkedin: / khaled-abuljebain
Instagram: / hopeithelpspod
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