Everything you've always wanted to know about cooking, but were too afraid to ask
Posted in Personal on May 11th, 2010
I received a letter about 6 months ago that brought to my attention a possibility that never occurred to me for a second as something that may be true. The letter made compliments to my autobiography Chef’s Tales, they wrote to tell me how they had enjoyed the book and lamented on how it had [...]
Posted in Personal on Sep 22nd, 2009
I read in a magazine that even picking up kids late from school on a regular basis can have a negative and long lasting impression on children and should be avoided when ever possible. As I was reading this article I could not help but think that the writer was overreacting somewhat and thought to [...]
Posted in Personal on Sep 10th, 2009
This musing was first published in Flavours magazine and is not in Chef’s Tales the book: Did I ever tell you about the time when I was working in Kuala Lumpur and went for my very first visit to Sabah to introduce myself to my in-laws? On announcing the master plan to visit the wife’s [...]
Posted in Chef's Tales, Personal on Jul 22nd, 2009
Michael wrote to me today and sounded as if he was heart broken due to the fact that, after he has now reached a certain level, has been over looked for a promotion as he has been told that he does not have a formal education in the culinary field. He explained to me that he has been [...]
Posted in Chef's Tales, Personal on Jul 18th, 2009
I always wanted to be a chef; I don’t know why it just happened that way. I remember the first time I walked through the back door of a hotel on my very first day of employment and it was like walking into a totally different world. A world of madness, lunacy and endless stress [...]
Posted in Chef's Tales, Personal on Jul 16th, 2009
As in any venture, business or private, if you are to be successful, you must listen to your circle of friends, advisors, readers or customers and include their constructive criticisms to your growth formula. I started Chef’s Tales wanting it to be a very basic blog, thereby trying to teach readers the cooking fundamentals needed [...]
Posted in Personal on Jul 12th, 2009
If there is one thing that I have learned over the past 30 years is the fact that words are extremely powerful. If we are to use people skills correctly, we have to read people and try to understand what drives them to go to work every day. One never knows what is happening in [...]
I urge non trained chefs to go to their local bookshop today and purchase any cook book that is filled with fantastic food pictures. Take the first recipe and picture that catches your eye, follow the recipe and instructions to prepare the dish. Lay the dish on chosen crockery and compare the finished dish with [...]
Posted in Personal on Jul 3rd, 2009
The first time I walked through the back door of a hotel, I was 15 years old and I walked in with visions of romance, dreams and glamour…I still have those visions today as they have never changed. After finishing cooking school, I left England and set off to Canada starting my life’s adventures that [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 26th, 2009
Just click on the My Guestbook link to sign my guestbook. Or sign it right here, it’s your choice. Thanks very much! ~ Mike [slideguest id=3170534137690964147&w=550&h=425]
Posted in Chef's Tales, Personal on Jun 24th, 2009
For the month of July, I am willing to give away signed paperback copies of Chef’s Tales. All you have to do is send me proof of purchase of a copy of the hard back from Amazon.co.uk plus the postage fee and the complimentary signed paperback, which you can give away as a gift, will [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 15th, 2009
We have just had two wonderful days at our beloved hotel, The Eastern & Oriental with Singapore’s Minister Mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. As you can imagine, not everyone who walks through our doors on a daily basis qualifies for being outstanding members of the international community, but this man does. Obviously having him in [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 12th, 2009
It is never too late to change if you do not entirely admire what you see in the mirror, every single person is a “works in progress” and we should all help each other develop, feel better about ourselves and become better people……otherwise what is the point of having friends.
Posted in Personal on Jun 10th, 2009
When I was working in the Bahamas, a few friends and I rented a sea plane, the small propeller type that lands on the sea. The pilot flew us to a remote & secluded tiny island and dropped us off so we could enjoy a very private barbecue. It really was a tiny island with [...]
Posted in Chef's Tales, Personal on Jun 8th, 2009
Can you imagine the pressure of catering for a young couple about to get married and relying on you to make sure it’s a day they will always remember with pleasure rather than one to forget? Hoteliers, and more especially restaurateurs within the hotel industry, are a breed on their own, living a strange lifestyle [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 4th, 2009
I remember many years ago I worked for a very “old style” hotelier who never cut me any slack, he used to constantly berate me at every possible occasion, belittling me daily. This constant harassment made me think at that moment in time that my life was worthless. I was working my butt off, he [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 3rd, 2009
Being a hotelier has provided me with experiences that money could never buy and memories that time can’t erode. I’ve worked with people across the globe and come to understand and appreciate the religions and cultures of the many countries I’ve worked in and visited. As a result I would like to think that this [...]
Posted in Personal on Jun 1st, 2009
I love watching many of the chefs on television cooking up a storm and teaching people how to cook themselves at home. I respect most of them and think that they are doing a good service to our industry, I do wish however, that the ones who are always screaming, belitteling and swearing at colleagues [...]
Chef Emmanuel just conducted a cooking demonstration in the hotel where I work, the E&O here in Penang. He was really great, setting a fantastic example to other celebrity chefs…I take my hat off to you chef…great job!
Posted in Personal on May 16th, 2009
If you work in an environment with ten people and nine of them think you are a good person whilst one thinks that you are not, the chances are, you are probably a good person. If five think you are a good person and five think you are not, you may or may not be [...]
