A Spanish Revolution

Celebrity chef Omar Allibhoy is known as the Antonio Banderas of cooking, and for launching the Tapas Revolution restaurants, including one in Windsor. We caught up with him ahead of his new opening

Do you remember the moment you decided to become a chef?

I felt inspired by cooking from a very young age. My mother was a big influence. I was four years old and I would help her cook. One of my earliest food memories is cooking crème caramel with her in the kitchen; I can still remember the aromas coming out of the oven and being totally transfixed, so this dish will always remind me of my childhood.

Where were you trained?

I learnt to cook in Spain and have been doing this since I was a kid; much of my training was making dinner at home for my family. I never went to culinary or hospitality school, but I started working very young. I took evening cooking classes whilst I was at school and worked at restaurants near where I lived in Madrid. I then trained under three Michelin starred chef Ferran Adrià and I learnt a lot about technique and creativity from him. Working under him and learning was incredibly inspirational. He took Spanish gastronomy to a new level with his ground-breaking ideas, deconstruction, sous vide, foams – things we’d never seen before. It was a really exciting time to be working as a young chef in Spain. I learnt how to run a kitchen, and some of my dishes today have a level of technique that comes from my days of working under him. I’ve been lucky to have worked with such professional chefs over the years, before developing my own style.

How did you get to where you are now?