Jack Yoss, Director of Culinary at W Bali, felt at home in his childhood kitchen and was inspired by his father’s home cooking, so when it came time to start work, he headed off to be a saucier at Chinois on Main. There he caught the eye of Chef-Owner Wolfgang Puck, who taught him to balance flavours and make signature Chinois dishes, and set Jack off on his own culinary career. Having travelled widely and worked in several countries, Jack is back in the kitchens at W Bali, having previously served as chef de cuisine on the pre and post-opening team from 2010 to 2012.
Exquisite Taste sat down with Jack to talk about his love of the street food scene, the effect of local sourcing and his great team at W Bali.
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By Amanda Luxford
E : Jack, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Tell us how you ended up in Bali?
A: I fell in love with Bali on holiday in 2006. My wife and I were travelling and worked all over Asia and Europe in everything from chateaux in France and Michelin-starred restaurants in London, to being a guest chef in Japan and Barcelona, as well as soaking up the food and culture of Asia. I heard about the upcoming opening of W Bali when I was a guest chef at W Barcelona and was hired as pre-opening chef de cuisine for Starfish Bloo.
E : Who are your biggest influences?
A: There are, of course, the godfathers and kings of the kitchen I admire and who have influenced food around the world, but for me these days it is the sights, sounds and smells of Asia and its night market food scene. Nothing is better than street food in Southeast Asia and nothing inspires and excites me more than an evening spent at one of the night markets in Penang, Bangkok or Saigon.
E : Tell us about working at W.
A: W is a very creative environment, there’s nothing really cookie cutter about it and there is plenty of room for creativity. To create the menus, I took inspiration from my travels around the world, from the street food, from kitchens I’ve worked in and experts I’ve been blessed to have worked with. We have over 130 in the kitchens and I get them all involved. Our Indonesian chefs are great at Western cooking, they have fantastic skills all the way from mise en place, to cooking and creative plating; I could take them to the US and they’d be great.
E : Sourcing is one of the biggest challenges for chefs on the island; how does that impact on the menus you create?
A: Before I put something on the menu, I speak directly with the small farms or purveyors to make sure it’s available. I am a strong proponent of local sourcing and investigating what I can do with local products. We are lucky that we work with many small budding farmers and artisans. I adapt my recipes and get creative with what is available locally, it keeps my recipes evolving.
E : Can you tell us about your work with local farmers?
A: During pre-opening, we partnered with a few small farms in Bali that grew only for us. We had seeds imported from Europe and Australia and import vegetables were grown to specification just for us. We visited the farms weekly during pre-opening to gauge what could grow well and explain what we were looking for. I remember one time we were walking through the farm and Gede was complaining about a new vegetable he was trying to grow. He showed us where he had planted it and said, “Look it’s all weeds, the flower doesn’t grow at all. I wasted my time.” It turned out that he was trying English peas and the pods wouldn’t grow, but the pea shoots grew like weeds. I still remember Gede’s look of surprise at how good the shoots were raw and the smile on his face. He made good money off what he thought were weeds, but most importantly it taught our sous chefs, who were with us, the importance of connecting with your farmer and knowing where your food comes from. It was an accident that benefitted everyone. I have many more stories but this is one of my favourites. We still practice this same culture today even though we are much busier than back in the early days.
E : Starfish Bloo and FIRE offer two of the island’s most popular Sunday brunch experiences. With more competition than ever, how do you stay atop the Bali A-list?
A: Bali in general and Seminyak especially have world-class options in terms of restaurants so, after five years, still being a player in the field is quite an achievement. A lot of what we do comes down to the team bringing the experience to life. With over 300 people in the kitchens and on the service team, we rely on them to bring the energy and atmosphere of our Sunday sessions to life, from brunch all the way through to our Sunset sessions at Woobar.
E : There’s a lot of excellent Asian street food on the menus, have you spent a lot of time travelling to research it?
A: I have always loved Southeast Asian street food and have travelled extensively and picked up things along the way. Street hawkers for the most are so friendly and surprisingly willing to share information and generally have a chat as they are proud of what they do. I’ve learned quite a bit just watching and chatting up the hawkers.
E : FIRE serves some of the best steaks on the island, is that something that goes back to your early days in Las Vegas and San Francisco?
A: The FIRE concept since pre-opening has been a modern grill. Our team has been elevating the experience and now, with great sourcing, it has the largest selection of cuts of beef in Indonesia and will rival any steakhouse outside Indonesia as well. We have added touch points, such as the meat sommelier and the tableside showcasing of the beef cuts over the last year and really rounded out the concept together with the food and cocktail program.
E : Away from W Bali, where do you like to eat?
A: Taco Casa for great value and consistent tacos, Ginger Moon for dim sum and great cocktails, Nostimo’s for Greek pitas, Lantern for easy and quick Asian food,
It was an accident that benefitted everyone. I have many more stories but this is one of my favourites. We still practice this same culture today even though we are much busier than back in the early days.
E : Starfish Bloo and FIRE offer two of the island’s most popular Sunday brunch experiences. With more competition than ever, how do you stay atop the Bali A-list?
A: Bali in general and Seminyak especially have world-class options in terms of restaurants so, after five years, still being a player in the field is quite an achievement. A lot of what we do comes down to the team bringing the experience to life. With over 300 people in the kitchens and on the service team, we rely on them to bring the energy and atmosphere of our Sunday sessions to life, from brunch all the way through to our Sunset sessions at Woobar.
E : There’s a lot of excellent Asian street food on the menus, have you spent a lot of time travelling to research it?
A: I have always loved Southeast Asian street food and have travelled extensively and picked up things along the way. Street hawkers for the most are so friendly and surprisingly willing to share information and generally have a chat as they are proud of what they do. I’ve learned quite a bit just watching and chatting up the hawkers.
E : FIRE serves some of the best steaks on the island, is that something that goes back to your early days in Las Vegas and San Francisco?
A: The FIRE concept since pre-opening has been a modern grill. Our team has been elevating the experience and now, with great sourcing, it has the largest selection of cuts of beef in Indonesia and will rival any steakhouse outside Indonesia as well. We have added touch points, such as the meat sommelier and the tableside showcasing of the beef cuts over the last year and really rounded out the concept together with the food and cocktail program.
E : Away from W Bali, where do you like to eat?
A: Taco Casa for great value and consistent tacos, Ginger Moon for dim sum and great cocktails, Nostimo’s for Greek pitas, Lantern for easy and quick Asian food, Tiger Palm for the Penang chicken wings; I usually keep it pretty simple.
E : Being a chef always appears glamorous, but the truth is its very hard work, so in a sentence what’s the best advice you can give would-be chefs?
A: If you can afford it, go to college for something else; if not, buy a good knife and comfortable shoes, and hope for good luck!
Grilled Thai
Sausage – Stuffed Squid
INGREDIENTS
• 12 x 50g squid tubes
• 300g pork stuffing
• 12g squid ink crackers
• 2 shallots sliced thin
• 2 leek greens or spring onion julienne
• 1 long red chilli deseeded, julienne
• 20 sprigs coriander leaves
• Chilli-fish sauce to taste, per plate
PORK STUFFING
• 300g pork neck
• 30g Thai herbs (mix: coriander, mint, Thai basil)
• 15g fish sauce
• 20g garlic chopped
• 20g ginger chopped
• 20g lemongrass chopped
• 10g red chilli (hot) chopped
• 20g coriander chopped
METHOD
• Dice the pork small then marinate with all
other ingredients
• Grind 200 grams of pork meat in a meat grinder
with a course blade (or buy ground pork)
• Mix the remaining pork dice & ground pork
together, then stuff the individual squid tubes
• Seal squid tubes with a skewer
• Put the stuffed squid in plastic and vacuum seal
• Cook sous-vide or in a water bath on stove for
20 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius
SQUID CRACKERS
• 200g sago pearls
• 100g squid ink
• 200g water
• oil for frying
METHOD
• Boil the dried sago pearls with water, until soft
• Add the squid ink and mix stirring vigorously
• Pour on a baking tray and dry in an oven with
pilot on overnight or a food dehydrator
• Once dry, break into small pieces then deep
fry until crispy
• They will puff up quickly; pull from oil, salt
slightly and leave on a paper towel.
ChilLi-fish sauce
• 300g garlic peeled
• 500g long red chilli
• 500g hot green chilli
• 500g ginger peeled
• 650ml Tauco
• 1kg palm sugar
• 750ml white vinegar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3 tbsp dark soya sauce
METHOD
• Blend all ingredients together in a blender or
food processor, finish with soy to taste
FINISHING
• Sear the sous-vide squid & finish in the oven
for around 5 minutes, then rest on paper towels
• Spoon desired amount of chilli-fish sauce on
three appetizer bowls
• Cut squid in half after resting and arrange over
the chilli sauce
• Place crispy squid crackers to your liking
• Garnish with coriander, sliced shallots, julienne
chilli and green onions
