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, Marian Pintea – walked through the kitchens of quite a few European countries, specialized in food waste.
Cwhen and how did you start, where did you work (especially important places) and who did you learn from?
I started in Timisoara, around 2011, I was still in the food industry high school and I specialized through (local) cooking courses, where I didn't learn much. I met a chef in an Italian restaurant and I was very determined to start this path, and now that I had the possibility and practice, it was perfect.
I worked for 8 months without any payment, only practice and theory, 7-8 hours a day, as I was also at school. Then immediately after finishing high school, I went to Moscow (I know it sounds strange, but I didn't know anyone, except a girl and not a word of the language, I wanted to see what it was like). I stayed there for almost 2 years, with small trips back to the country.
I worked for a few months at an Italian restaurant, in black, because I didn't have documents, then at the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya, after I got the documents. There, for the first time, I had the experience of meeting chefs with international experience. We had a Swedish chef: Alexander Litzell (he was and is one of the best chefs in Sweden), he was at that time in some projects in Russia, also part of the Swedish national team.
We also collaborated with many local chefs Yaroslav Nedumov, Andrey Volkov, who are now very big hotel coordinators in Russia. Leaving Russia, I arrived in Germany, where I worked in a very old bakery, for a family acquaintance. I worked at night, but I learned to make quality bread. Then I found a place for a season at a restaurant in the Michelin Guide, in the Black Forest mountains, where I had my first experience with the Guide.
Leaving Germany, I went to Romania, thinking that we can develop something in gastronomy. I worked in a restaurant in Timisoara, totally disappointed with the system and the patron, many blockages in terms of collaboration, a lot of negativity, a lot of bad food and people who didn't want to try a new experience.
I left the country again, I arrived in Iceland, where I managed to be part of the team that opened a Jamie Oliver restaurant (Jamie's Italian).
It was in its prime, it had the most servings in one day, of all the restaurants in Iceland (850 portions a la carte). There I worked for Johaness Johannesson, a pioneer in the Icelandic national team, with whom I collaborated to serve the guests at the 2018 Icelandic national chef competition.
Leaving Iceland, I arrived in Norway, where I started in a Michelin Guide restaurant, Grand Cafe, as Chef de Partie.
The restaurant is part of the same restaurant chain as Maaemo. I worked for Roar Sandvik, a very well-known chef in Norway, also a pioneer in Franco-Scandinavian cuisine and known in the media, but also with other very well-known chefs who continued projects outside the restaurant.
I spent the last 5 years here, where I connected with different training techniques, from molecular to classical, from Scandinavian to Japanese.
What level are you at now? What did you specialize in?
I specialize in food waste, that's what I've been doing most of the time. I participate quite regularly in events like this and talk to important people in Oslo who manage waste in a sustainable way.
As for the kitchen, I was also sous-chef, chef de partie, garde manger, entremettier or in other terms, I did everything. I also specialized in the Japanese technique of cooking with Koji, in the modern one of centrifugation, but I am most interested in the food waste part. It is the first factor, in the category of the most important factors in a kitchen.
How do you progress in the kitchen, how long does it take you to level up?
There are 2 options:
1. School, famous courses, education (where you already have advanced training included, you just need experience, but it will be acquired after you get the position).
2. Do like me. You go anywhere, get out of comfort, meet new people, work near them, with them, for them, "steal" the ideology, the idea, rewrite it, write it, keep it the same, apply it until you learn it and all this with the only condition is that the people for whom you provide such services must be of high quality.
In both versions, you grow in position, in a kitchen. In the 2nd version it is very difficult because you sacrifice many years, but you accumulate through practice and theory and financial gain at the same time.
How much school/how much practice. What you will never learn in school/courses. What does school help you with?
The school helps you find a stable and safe job and a vast knowledge about the subject, before you put yourself in a position of responsibility in a restaurant (we are talking about schools outside Romania). You practice in a school, because every school collaborates with at least one restaurant or with restaurant chefs who have the knowledge and time necessary to offer you experience in exchange for a sum of money. (It is necessary and I advise anyone to start such an investment, if they have the opportunity).
As for what you will not learn in a school, it is the psychological, constructive, communicative part at the stress level, in different situations, circumstances and constraints. Don't prepare yourself for the real culinary experience from different cultures, nor about the implementation methodology, which changes very quickly in each period. (Culinary Trend, Culinary Methods, etc.)
So practice beats theory, from my point of view. Very few schools have implemented food waste structures. ????
Where do you work or what do you currently do?
Currently, I collaborate with a team in a social canteen, where we fight food waste in Oslo, Norway.
How do you see the state of HoReCa in Romania in 2023. What should we change?
After the COVID experience, which created a big "chasm" in the middle of HoReCa in Romania and beyond, I think that many people have detached themselves from places of comfort or from the field itself.
What I see that would change the situation is the collaboration between chefs. Taking the ego out of the equation and more projects between chefs. I think I saw 2-3 projects in a year, then nothing. In Iceland, there is a hub of chefs who travel together to different countries and cook with other chefs and share their experiences. Even more, they gave up the ego of Chiefs and National Teams precisely to eliminate the competitive mentality!
Have you returned/are you returning to Romania or not... why?
I came back 2 times, and I left 2 more times and I stayed because the salaries are low, the costs are high. The employers do not respect the contract, the employee's rights, the working hours, the salaries on time, and to do a business now is the worst decision, from my point of view.
The situation of collaboration with different chefs would remain, but it remains to be seen, at the moment I haven't found it, as I live in Timisoara.
What did your colleagues from abroad know about Romania. What did they know about Romanians? What did they know about Romanian gastronomy?
To tell you honestly, many did not reach us. Many consider that we are still 200 years behind, and others do not even know much about its location on the map.
There were people who traveled and they really liked the scenery and the food (little ones, sauteed cabbage with sausages, cozonacs, mamaliga with fish), but that's about it.
What do you think the Romanian gastronomic identity should look like?
Simplified, we have to look at the serving, the serving method, the appearance, the ambience and the ingredients.
What would you say about the older chefs you worked with?
Vice makes man weak. Everyone was good and is good for them, but the vice breaks you in two in this job.
The very bad temperament of some of them, but on the other hand, it is complemented by the acquired information.
Have you surpassed your teachers?
Yes, to creativity and speed of implementation. That's exactly why they easily chose me to be with them. As for another context, never.
What do you prefer: old Romanian kitchen/grandmother's or modernized.
Modernized, but not by everyone.
What would your restaurant look like? But the menu (something more detailed).
Small, 10 tables, very pleasant atmosphere, traditional Romanian style from the Banat countryside. Local ingredients, local wines and respected the 4 seasons.
The menu made for 4 seasons - from animals to vegetables and herbs. In every season, the environment also changes.
So from the beginning, the restaurant must contain the easy transit method in the construction itself. Nothing stable and everything can be different.
What current world trends do you follow/like?
In principle, those to combat food waste: Goaragon, Matsentralen, Greenly, etc.
What accounts do you follow (all social media); what crecommend books; what useful hashtagsknow
@Alberto Landgraf
@Carlo Cracco
Massimiliano Alajmo – Ingredients, 178 Hours In Brazil, Fluidity
Enrico Bartolini – Classico contemporaneo
Clelia D'Onofrio – The Silver Spoon
Michel Roux – Desserts
Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique – Institut Paul Bocuse
Ferran Adria – What is Cooking, The Family Meal, The origins of cooking, Modern Gastronomy: A to Z
Massimo Bottura: Il Pane e oro
Alex Atala: DOM
+ many others.
General information
Age - 30 years
Social media accounts
Instagram: pinteamarian
Facebook: Marian Pintea
Sarmales with beef, baked peppers, bulgur, ginger in pickled vine leaves
Served with yogurt, turmeric and smoked paprika
English 
Romanian 