Bobby Chinn Talks Food!

For those of you who missed it, Chef Bobby Chinn delighted guests at the Fairmont Nile City last month for the second year in a row with a fabulous dinner. We got to sit down with the culinary mastermind and pick his brain on how he got started in the business, what keeps him coming back for more and what to expect from him in the near future. 

You were raised in England but born in New Zealand to a Chinese father and an Egyptian mother, where do you call home? 

I am homeless I grew up in so many different places I really don’t know where I belong, I know I want to live somewhere sunny and nice. I’ve lived in Vietnam for 18 years, but I don’t see myself living there forever.

Would you say you relate more to your Asian or Arab sides?

My Arab side, I love the warmth and generosity of the Arabs.  When I moved here when I was 6 everyone took me in with open arms.

What sparked your love of cooking? How did it become a full-fledged career?

I was working on wall street and started selling fish to all the big restaurants in NYC, I then became a waiter and a funny one at that and Began talking a lot to noisy customers who love finding details about all the food they were eating  so I decided to buy the “food lovers encyclopedia” to understand ingredients…people wanted to know what was in their mushroom risotto what were they porch ini or knocci ? I decided to take a risk and entered the kitchen and basically was playing until I found that I got it!

Why did you choose to open your restaurant in Hanoi?

I opened in Saigon first, and the reason was that my father visited there and said that it was a country that was under war for a thousand years and it was finally free and very rich in resources.  My father said, you have been given too expensive of an education for you to become simply a funny waiter.

Did you ever consider settling in Egypt or opening a restaurant here?

I did almost two decades ago when I met an old friend who I told to come move with me to NYC and attend culinary school. He went, and I didn’t. I love Egypt, and I have too many fond memories which I don’t want to tarnish with these current circumstances. It’s a shame; Egypt is a great tourist location and there is good Egyptian food but western not so much.

You are very sociable on your shows and people constantly seem amused by you, were you always so outgoing?

I learned to be.  I was always the odd kid, we often look at our differences rather then our similarities and in sf I was the half Asian half Arab, in Egypt I was placed in a school where I didn’t know any Arabic so I was like “wooooooow” so quickly I discovered I had to be outgoing.  There is still a part of me that is very intimate and shy and one that is the outgoing side.

What would you describe as your all time favorite meal?

Too many, I love Vietnamese chicken noodle soup, Indian food, and Mexican. They’re all Comfort food.
-Snack? Noodles
-Drink? Bobby Chinn martini
-Candy bar? Snickers

You travel all the time. How do you feel about airplane food?  If given the chance, how would you fix it?

I was actually given the opportunity but there is a reason all airplanes have a barf bag.

What music do you like listening to while you’re cooking?

Van Morrison, stones, classic rock, some kinds of country like Willy Nelson not cheesy girls singing.

What dish did you create and taste and say “this is the sh*t right there!”?

Wasabi mashed potatoes. I only ever saw wasabi with sushi and sashimi and when I first saw a chef use it with the salmon, I thought it was genius so I played around with it myself .  But really it’s never ones own creation, its taking ideas from one chef and then another to create something new.

What is one thing you will never eat?

Endangered species

Have you ever cooked a typical Egyptian meal for Asians?

No, what’s the point? They like their rice steamed, and Egyptian rice is full of butter that would kill it right there.  Ghee doesn’t exist in Asia.

What do you think of introducing Koshari to the Asian market?

No, I need to pay bills….too cheap.

Thoughts on Indo mie noodles?

Brilliant idea, I’m creating my own version.

If you could choose to keep one spice to cook with what would it be?

Ohhhhh come on too many.

You have a cool, relaxed sense of style, are you into fashion at all?

I am but I go through decade long phases. I used to always mismatch my socks I was known for that, I’m mostly a black t shirt guy, and if I wear designer I don’t like to show it that’s why I typically go for Armani when designer, just so classic.

Favourite place in Egypt? 

The North Coast

5 course meal at Michelin star restaurant or quick meal at incredible street food stand?

Street food stand.

Do you measure your ingredients a la Martha Stewart or eyeball it?

Sometimes this sometimes that depends on if it’s a free dinner or not.

1 fact we don’t know about Bobby Chinn?

I’m pitching a new movie about food, and I have new shows coming up about low fat Indian food and going to Russia, Peru, and south Africa among other places.