Serbian Food Is Good And Tasty, But Heavy

A chef has to be a mentally strong person, because this is a hard job

With its two restaurants THE SQUARE and EBISU, Square Nine Hotel in Belgrade offers outstanding, contemporary European cuisine and perfect Japanese dishes created by the award-winning chef Mr. Eyck Zimmer. We talked to him in Piazzetta, a wonderfully cozy hotel garden where you can enjoy his culinary specialties over the summer.

You were the recipient of the National Chef of Year in Great Britain in 2006, and twice the recipient of the Grand Prix de Cuisine. What do these awards mean to you?

I believe that if you have passion or love for something, you should share that. To me, awards are not about fame or recognition; they are about expressing and showing my love for food and cooking for others, and if they give me an award for that, then that’s a proof to me that I am doing and loving the right thing. All my life I wanted to be the best in whatever I had passion for, so I push myself every day to be better. Maybe, it’s also down to the fact that I hate losing.

Is competition important for a good chef?