Chef Chavez talks black truffles, Roger Federer and market cuisine

World renowned masterchef Santi Santamaria will be opening a new restaurant in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands soon. No name has been released and the date is no more specific than May, so mystery surrounds this much awaited addition to the Singaporean food scene. But we do know that it will be helmed by Daniel Chavez, a 30-year old Peruvian who is no stranger to the Lion City. He was working with Gunther Hubrechsen at Les Amis in year 2007 before he packed off to Dubai to take the reign as chef de cuisine at Santi’s Ossiano restaurant there.

We had a chat with Chavez when he flew into town recently for the Spanish Arts Festival held at St. Regis Hotel Singapore to find out more about his plans for the new restaurant, and also poked our noses into his own personal dietary habits.

The camera-shy chef Daniel Chavez.

Daniel Chavez: I left Peru for Florida in the year 2000. It is because my family decided to move to USA to search for new opportunities. One week after we landed in the Sates, I started my studies in Florida Culinary Institute. I was inspired to pursue culinary art because I was not good with academic stuff.

CNNGo: How did you get to join Santi Santamaria’s team in Spain? What was it like working for Santi?

Chavez: I headed to Spain because I believed (and still do) that all good cooks should train in Europe. After doing a one-year stint with La Sucursal, a 1-Michelin star restaurant, in Valencia, my chef de cuisine decided to send me to Can Fabes to train with chef Santi. I did six months as a trainee and then was fortunate enough to be hired by chef Santi as chef de partie. Working for chef Santi was definitely a life-changing experience. I was exposed to a whole new level of professionalism in the kitchen and now understand his cooking philosophy.

CNNGo: In 2007, you joined Santi’s Ossiano restaurant in Dubai as chef de cuisine. What was it like working in Dubai?

Chavez: Working in Dubai was a great experience, especially opening a restaurant with the caliber of Ossiano. Dubai is quite a cosmopolitan city -- in fact, I have never seen so many different nationalities gathered together in one place.

CNNGo: Any famous names we might recognize from your days at Ossiano?

Chavez: We served a lot of VIPS from famous sportsmen like Zinedine Zidane and Roger Federer, to people in the food industry such as Mr Jean Luc Naret, director of the Michelin guide. The princess of Dubai also dined there three times, and a lot of members of the royal family too.

CNNGo: What extravagant food items do the Dubai guests like to indulge in?

Chavez: Black truffles and caviar, for sure! I believe few places in the world have higher guest checks than Dubai.

CNNGo: What were some of the most bizarre requests you have received from restaurant guests?

Chavez: In Dubai, a guest wanted to eat 50g of black truffle with his bread. Another ate 32 raw oysters and wanted to have oyster sauce with them!

CNNGo: Do you cook for yourself at home? What is a typical home cooked meal for you?

Chavez: I love to cook at home -- usually I make different kinds of pasta and also Peruvian food. My favorite Peruvian dish is ceviche, which is marinated raw fish in lime juice.

CNNGo: Now that you are coming back to Singapore as chef de cuisine of Santi’s restaurant, how do you feel? Can you tell us something about what Santi’s cuisine will be like at his Singapore restaurant?

Chavez: I feel very excited to come back to Singapore to open a great new restaurant with chef Santamaria. Santi’s cuisine is cocina de Mercado, meaning "market cuisine." The menus revolve around what is good in the market and always with the style of chef Santi, which is not to mask the natural flavors of food and showcase their seasonality.