More than ten years ago, when you only saw a handful of chefs on TV, I realized that there are thousands in the country and that some of them are very good but have no promotion. I looked them up and wrote about them. With many I remained friends, with some even at the buckle. Now, through this initiative supported by The Bogdan domain and National Federation of Certified Tasters, I somehow go back to the beginning and try to promote a new generation of chefs with potential or who are already performing. They are chefs today, but many of them will be the great chefs of tomorrow. Today Bogdan Vavrița, from whom I have eaten several times in recent years and who makes the best eggplant salad I have ever tasted.
Cincluding how you started, where you worked (especially important places) and the bosses you learned from.
I started when I was 18 so that I wouldn't go to the country in the summer with my parents and do farming and stay in Cluj, make some money and drink with the boys during the vacation (as much as I could). One of my flatmates who worked in the field, said he knew someone who was looking for help in the kitchen for the summer, so I went to an interview and started the next day... it was love at first sight...
During the student period, I had quite a few short-term jobs, after which I went to Bucharest (Stadio Group and Joseph by Joseph Hadad).
I drunkenly applied for a job for Brasserie Blanc and left after two weeks for England. There I managed to work and study for several years in some of the best restaurants in the world: Sosharu (Jason's Atherton Social Group) with Alex Craciun head chef, Story -1 michelin (now 2) & 5 aa rossetes, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal 2 michelin, 5 aa rosettes (38 in the top 50 best at that time), after which a lot of freelancing work with Alex Craciun and on my own: events for the royal family of Saudi Arabia, Crazy Beach, Nomad - Aarbella, etc.
What level are you at now? What did you major in?
It's a question... kind of like an interview like Chefs with knives. The level at which I perform should be given by the customer reviews and the recommendations of collaborators (restaurant owners, managers, partners, etc.)
I have cooked in quite a few restaurants with different specialties, modern cuisine is in constant adaptation and change, especially when you work as a freelancer & consultant, you have to master a fairly clear palette of techniques, tastes, influences... I also made sashimi, I also opened a Mediterranean restaurant, in Romania you also know which one goes specifically: the international one 🙂
How do you progress in the kitchen, how long does it take you to level up?
There is only one safe and well-beaten path to advancement (and not only in the kitchen, in any job)... if you respect yourself, the job and want to keep doing what you do forever: work, work, work, study, work , the work. From my experience, only those who persevere in their work managed to really progress
There is no predetermined time and there is no magic formula to pass from one level to another... if tomorrow you will be better prepared than today, you will have cleaner slippers than yesterday, if you will be on time every day, already you are one step ahead. There are some who quickly acquire certain skills, there are some who learn the theory faster, there are people who work for 20 years to master a single craft to perfection and become masters of it. It needs to be better defined what it means from one level to another, I think it's a discussion that requires much more depth, it's easy to fall into this trap of speed...
How much school/how much practice. What you will never learn in school/courses. What does school help you with?
Phew, another topic that you can write novels about!! (better sit down for a few drinks until we finish the discussion) which school/practice? That depends on what you learn in school and more importantly, what you do in practice... if in those 3 months imposed by school, you only peel potatoes and bread the schnitzel, you probably need a lot more practice to come out with some useful knowledge (but here , again, it all depends on your attitude to the practice and how willing those people will be to show you if your attitude is disappointing). At Dinner, there was a clear scheme for the interns... they had a clear number of hours dedicated to each department (including a day with the supply man... because that's where everything starts) after which they were seated at the table and offered a lunch of 4-5 types of food, to understand what they worked for and what their work looks like at the end... so I think we should walk a little to this idea and structure of "practice"
You'll never learn at school what it's like to be desperate in service (ahahah), and to have to make 20 decisions per second, you'll never learn what the camaraderie in the kitchen or its military structure means, you won't learn how holy beer is after a service of 200 people on a Friday night or how bad it hurts to be the one who ruined everything, you won't learn that after 16 hours of work you have to clean the moon and light the kitchen, you can't really learn to master the skills or information learned in books/school, there is no way to truly love and respect the job until you start practicing!
School in any form (books, courses, internships or even if you are self-taught) helps you to understand the basics, to understand the primary information, to learn the basic, classic techniques that are extremely important.
Where do you work or what are you currently doing + future plans?
I am currently based in Cluj-Napoca, working as a freelancer as well as with Alex Craciun, from time to time, for various consulting projects/openings
Future plans…. fuck knows (ahaha) there is a lot in my head, it changes constantly. I only know that I would like to find/create a place where I know that I can end up creating an environment and a team with which I can be proud and happy with every plate taken out of the kitchen. I think I want to try some solo projects in the very near future, maybe some take-overs where it will require me to cook more.
How do you see the state of HoReCa in Romania in 2023. What should we change?
Like a dog running in a circle after its own tail.... an endless vicious circle
You returned to Romania. Why?
I came back because I had reached a burn-out, I couldn't stand the weather in London, the life there, etc. Why did I stay? fuck knows... probably the comfort of the house, personal life
What did your colleagues from abroad know about Romania. What did they know about Romanians? What did they know about Romanian gastronomy?
From my experience in the UK, in the restaurants where I worked, I don't think much was known about Romania, apart from nature and mountains. I had enough English colleagues who came to Apuseni on hikes, about Romanians, like Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians, etc... that they are mostly serious, hardworking people, coming from a poorer country, to get a better living. But you rarely see them as top of the game (MVP), considering that I worked with many French, Italians, Spaniards, countries with a more well-known/developed gastronomy... (and let's be serious, rightly there are many Romanians who only they want: to play the piano, not to sing to it) About Romanian gastronomy, honestly, I didn't hear much news while I was abroad.
Have you cooked Romanian food outside the country? In what context and what feedback did you have?
Yes, I cooked, at Dinner. On the last day, you didn't do service, you did staff food for the whole kitchen/front of the house... and I cooked several times for colleagues on my days off, I lived with people from Chile, Brazil, UK, it was a kind of cultural exchange , more than a simple act of offering food.
What do you think the Romanian gastronomic identity should look like?
Here I think you are better able to give us directives and ideas... our job as chefs is to value as much as possible what we have around us, to relate as much as possible to the locality, seasonality, and why not authenticity, at the same time producing new, modern food, easy to understand and adopted by the people who actually and constantly frequent the restaurants of the homeland (sic!)
What would you say about the older chefs you worked with?
I have nothing to reproach them with... maybe only me, everyone does what they can"
Have you surpassed your teachers?
As much as I would like to create controversy and jokes between my teeth with: go in @#$% (i really do…. i really like to do stupid jokes) I will not answer this question. I want to think about those who, no matter how much I work, no matter how much I evolve, somehow I'm still one or two steps ahead.... i really like to look up to this kind of people (it is extremely important to have a real mentor/mentors in this job)
What do you prefer: old Romanian kitchen/grandmother's or modernized?
To eat, whenever with love and appetite, the old Romanian cuisine... to cook it never ever forever... it's not for me, period.
What would your restaurant look like? What about the menu?
Although probably perfectly unsustainable from a financial point of view, something small 30-40 seats. The menu (hmmm) hard to say now. I only know that I would like a food that is easy to understand, to go with the idea of comfort food, but at the same time a little more than meets the eye (that easy not easy. For example, Fallow in London is inspirational for me: michelin background chefs & fucking simple delicious food.
What current world trends do you follow/like?
Don't know; I try to keep my eyes open as much as possible in any direction
What accounts do you follow (all social media); what books do you recommend; what hashtags do you use?
Nush... from most of the rest/chefs in the top 5 best, to all kinds of restaurants on the corner of the block, which have a clear idea and direction on what they do... anything can be inspirational
On food and cooking, the science and lore of the kitchen – Harold McGee (this is the Bible, not an ordinary book)
Gastrophysics - Charles Spence - another bible
Kitchen mysteries – Herve This
Borago - Rodolfo Guzman - if we are still advertising at one of these heavy ones, this really has a very different approach to applied techniques, ultra-seasonality and localism, etc.
Secret service – Fred Siriex (something also for front of the house) and more. It wouldn't hurt for any crasmar to read it before opening his birt ????????
About:
Age: 34 years
Social media accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/bogdan.vavrita
https://instagram.com/vavritabogdan1?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw== (I only use it to follow restaurants and chefs)
English 
Romanian 