Executive Chef of Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, Marco Riva is a passionate chef who enjoys meeting his guests and encourages his team to constantly progress. The secret to his innovative touch is his aptitude for experimenting and a tendency to never play it safe when it comes to cooking.
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E: What’s your signature style in the kitchen?
A: I’m Italian, and I grew up in the business in Italy. Obviously, traditional Italian techniques are in my heart, but I like to always have a little twist in what I make and I like to influence all my cuisine with the experiences I’ve gathered. For example, in this restaurant I fuse traditional Italian risotto with tom yum, combining Italian and Thai flavours. The same with Japanese udon, which I combine with Malaysian or Singaporean laksa. I like to try something new. It doesn’t always work, but trying costs nothing and a successful combination is always worth it. I never play it safe.
E: What is your leadership philosophy in everyday kitchen affairs?
A: When I invent something, I like to involve everybody. I grew up in this environment where the chef is the king and I was required to just follow whatever the chef said. I didn’t like it when I was little and I don’t like it now when I’m the chef. I constantly ask for input from everyone in the kitchen, and I want them to feel that our dishes are their recipe too.
E: You’ve worked in a lot of different countries with people from different nationalities. What do you think stands out when working here in Indonesia in terms of the people you work with?
A: I’ve worked in Indonesia previously and one of the reasons I decided to come back now was the people. One thing that sets Indonesia apart from other countries where I’ve been is the heart of the people. Indonesians are very genuine. They really care and they don’t do things solely for the salary at the end of the month. They become chefs because they really love cooking. Growing up in this business, I want to feel excited every single day, and this is what I try to do for them.
E: What inspired you to keep pursuing a career in the culinary world?
A: To be honest, you never finish learning. For example, when I was in the United States, I learned how to fast peel a shrimp from a Peruvian immigrant in the dishwashing department. He worked to prepare tens of kilos of shrimp for ceviche every day and he had this technique of quickly peeling the shrimps with a fork. This is something that I always keep in mind – you can learn from anybody. In this business I also get the opportunity to meet the guests and other chefs, so this is something that keeps encouraging me to go on.
E: Where do you think you’d be right now if you hadn’t pursued a culinary career?
A: When I was very young, I was a semi-professional basketball player. One of my young dreams was to be a professional basketball player. But to be honest, right now I can’t tell you for sure where I’d be if not in this business. I love being a chef, but I also love to create concepts for F&B, and I’ve been doing that on and off. I would love the chance to actually create innovative F&B experiences, so maybe that is what I would have done if I hadn’t been a chef – definitely still very involved in F&B.
E: What are some of your favourite places to dine out in Jakarta right now?
A: I don’t get a lot of chance to dine out, to be honest, but Holy Smokes is a very interesting place. I took my team there once and we loved it. There’s also another Italian restaurant called GIA. It’s authentic Italian with a little twist as well. And there’s also a Japanese chef I like very much at Potato Head Pacific Place. Good technique, beautiful presentation; he is very passionate, you can feel it through his food.
E: And who cooks at home?
A: Honest answer, my wife. As a chef sometimes you develop bad habits, for example, it only takes a minute in the hotel kitchen to boil water, whereas at home it takes 10 minutes. This annoys me. My wife can cook Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Southeast Asia, even Indonesian, food. So I guess I managed to develop my own personal chef at home!
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Pan–Fried Norwegian Salmon
Ingredients
· 400g salmon
· 25g baby carrot
· 30g cherry tomato
· 5g mushroom shimeji
· 25g asparagus
· 20g baby yellow bellpepper
· 20g baby red bellpepper
· 8g nori sheet
· 60g carrot puree
· 1g micro leaf
Method
1. Prepare the carrot puree by sautéing the onion, garlic and carrot, then adding chicken stock. Boil until soft and pass through strainer, then blend until smooth.
2. Season the salmon by rolling in salt and pepper, pan fry in a non-stick pan until light brown, finish cooking in oven at 180C for 5 mins.
3. Prepare the beurre blanc by reducing the cooking cream until thick, then add butter, season with salt and pepper and add a dash of lemon juice.
4. Plate artistically.
Serves 1
