Boat_International_-_April_2016

http://www.boatinternational.com | April 2016

Winner

Yachts 48m plus

SCOTT DICKSON

50m Inception

Winner

Yachts 38 to 48m

BEN DINEEN

43m Lady J

After being classically trained in Ireland, Ben spent time on numerous superyachts
as well as a year in Tokyo working at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant as it strove
for its first Michelin star. Ben’s Irish-themed menu focused on bringing traditional
Christmas flavours to the Caribbean and incorporated modern techniques, such
as hay-smoking venison.
The biggest challenge working on a yacht is coming up with fresh ideas.
It’s great when you’re in a marina and can meet
other chefs and get ideas flowing. Sometimes,
I call my buddies at home, and I read lots of
books and magazines. You can’t get stagnant.
Clients want a variety of cuisines while on
board. You wouldn’t want to go to a hotel and eat
at the same restaurant for breakfast, lunch and
dinner for seven days. So I try and give charter
guests variation between different cool themes.
To keep myself inspired I took time off last
summer to go on a food tour. I spent time in
Russia, Tehran, Vietnam and Beijing and took
a seven-day one-on-one professional cooking
course at the Blue Elephant in Bangkok. I’m
lucky my captain understands that I need to stay
on top of different styles and techniques.

“My captain

understands that I

need to stay on top

of different styles”

Starting catering college at 15, Scott built his

culinary career at Michelin-starred restaurants and

well-regarded country house hotels before he took

the plunge and headed into the world of superyachts.

His French-inspired menu impressed judges

with its combination of big, bold flavours and

classic techniques.

The biggest challenge of being a yacht chef is that

instead of having eight or ten chefs below you,

you suddenly have to do everything yourself.

I try to keep up my skill set by eating out at lots

of different places. I have eaten at numerous

one-star, two-star and three-star restaurants to

keep myself inspired and see different things.

I try to keep up with the latest trends and

incorporate a little bit of that into my dishes. I also

cook varied dishes, such as Indian, Thai, Japanese

and Spanish, for the crew.

Every day is school day and I want to be inspired

and keep bettering myself. I class myself as a good

chef but you can never stop learning.

The most important thing I’ve learnt is that the

cooking has to be client-driven. If the client wants

a burger, then my job is to make sure it is the best

burger he’s ever eaten.

The strangest charter client I had would come

to the market with me in the morning and buy

everything he could – tongues, calves liver, all

kinds of offal. Then when we got back to the yacht

he wanted it all cooked straight away and would

happily eat tongue

for breakfast. He’d

continue to graze

non-stop all day and

it wasn’t the usual

sorts of food he was

requesting. That was

long and interesting.

“I class myself

as a good chef

but you can never

stop learning”