Honesty, truth on a plate

Profile | Marc Briol

Marc Briol started his career at the age of 17 with an apprenticeship at a hotel in Germany, but his experience in the kitchen started at 12, when he had to cook his own meals after school. The young chef with Belle-Vue, the European restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Shenzhen, believes a chef has to be honest and true to his food.

"If you look at the plate, it says exactly what I have done. You cannot cheat. If you try to take a shortcut, you will affect the taste," he says. "It is also what I appreciate in my job - direct communication with my customers."

At just 23, Briol was appointed chef de cuisine of Belle-Vue in September, when his enthusiasm and inspiration won recognition.

"I am so pleased to welcome Marc to lead the culinary team at Belle-Vue. His creativity and passion will bring new inspiration to the restaurant, and create exciting dining experiences that are approachable and fun," says Martin Riehl, executive chef of the hotel.

Briol creates and combines classic dishes with his own understanding and his signature dishes are featured in the Best of Belle-Vue selection as well as the restaurant's a la carte menu. Most of the dishes are presented in two colors - green and red.

"It is a nice contrast with the white plate at the moment. And it reminds me of something happy and merry."

The colors are updated according to season, and also on request from regular customers.

Although Briol has only been in Shenzhen about three months, he has fallen in love with Cantonese food.

"I love dim sum - all the steamed vegetables, chicken soup and black tea."

One interesting thing about Shenzhen is how people treat food, he says.

"If you go to the local market, you will see things such as snakes, which would belong to the zoo back in my country."

He says that in China, everything has a reason. People respect food, which is not always done in Europe.

"In China, if you eat something, it is because it is healthy for your body."

As for the cooking, he says, it is not easy to get raw materials for a European restaurant in Shenzhen.

"It took me about a month to get the fish I want for my cooking. We had to call Shanghai or Hong Kong to ship the food here," he says. "When I worked in London, the process was much easier."

He gets much of his inspiration from food blogs and friends.

"About 80 percent of my friends come from restaurants, and they are bakers, chefs. We will meet and talk to get new ideas for food." Other sources of inspiration are traveling and cookbooks.

During his day off, he will also try to explore new restaurants in Shenzhen.

"Food is all my life. You have to pay lots of effort to get it done, to improve yourself."