Meet the chef

Fernando Galbiati, the executive chef at the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai has worked with several top chefs, including Pierre Gagnaire, Claudio Sadler, Sergio Vineis and Heinz Beck, the last here in Dubai. Having moved here in 2012, he’s put in time at the Cavalli Club and at Bice, before heading to Beck’s Social at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm.

Where does your passion for cooking stem from?

In north of Milano, near Lake Como, there is a town called Seregno; this is where I come from and my passion for cooking grew out of curiosity and play, tasting and watching how much care and attention my mother paid to every dish that she prepared for the family. I then took a step forward by attending a private chef school at Collegio Ballerini.

What is your signature dish?

Pacchero pasta with fresh tomato sauce, made of three different varieties, ricotta cheese, deep fried violet eggplant and basil leaves.

What is the secret to a successful restaurant?

I believe that the best ingredients, a good atmosphere and happy staff are the keys to a successful restaurant; all the rest will come by itself.

What is the dish you enjoy cooking the most?

Cooking for me is love and memory. That is why I enjoy to cook spaghetti with Bolognese sauce; its perfume and the taste takes me back in time to Italy, when I was a child and every Saturday my mother was cooking for the whole family.

What is your favourite ingredient in the kitchen?

I love fresh basil; I like the smell and the flavour. This is most likely because in my very first job, I remember my chef on my very first working day made me clean three boxes of basil to prepare pesto… throughout that entire morning the fragrance of basil filled my senses.