Chef Paul Brown with Prince Albert of Monaco at the Royal Palace in Monaco

When I read my fabulous friend’s interview with Paul Brown, the former Executive Chef to the King of Bahrain on her blog She Goes, I was so fascinated by the idea of being the chef for a Royal that I left this comment:

“What an interesting job! I’d love to see what it is like behind the scenes of a royal kitchen so I’d probably talk the poor man’s ear off “

Which led my wonderful friend to asking me whether I’d like to talk to Paul Brown myself and find out a bit more about working for a Royal and not just any Royal but a Middle Eastern Royal! Now the Executive Chef at Stamford Grand in Glenelg, Brown created one of the signature desserts featured in every Sir Stamford, the Chocolate Implosion and later Mr NQN and I got to try one of those too.

So, how did you arrive to be the Senior Executive Chef for the King of Bahrain?

The general manager of palaces was asked by his majesty to find a new Exec Chef. He wanted an Australian Executive Chef because his son the Crown Prince had one and he was very impressed by the way he turned the kitchen around. He asked who are the up and coming chefs in Australia and my name was dropped into the hat.

Club Des Chef Des Chef with chefs from Germany, Greece, Bahrain (Brown) and Canada

Was it a long process?

It was a very long process. It took months and months. First of all were the interviews and everything was agreed and then we were asked to come over. I resigned my position and we were waiting around and one month goes by, two months goes by and three months goes by and we’re wondering “What’s going on?”. I thought this isn’t going to go through so I actually accepted another job back in Sydney. So I was back in Sydney and I got a lease on a house and then they rang me up and said “OK we need you tomorrow”.

Tomorrow?

So I said no problems at all, chucked in the job and you have to lose 3 months of rent on the lease. They said you’re leaving on these flights and we pick up our tickets from Gulf Air because His Majesty owns Gulf Air and they said “No that flight left yesterday”. We changed over our first class tickets to bummy economy just to get over there!

Then we meet the General Manager of Palaces and he said “Welcome to Bahrain, Our Majesty is about to go away on a Summer vacation. We’ll be back in contact soon”. A month went by and we were staying at the Sheraton. They said everything is looked after you just have to pay for alcohol. One month went by with no contact from anybody at all. My wife was starting to stress and we’re wondering “Do we have to pay for this hotel room?”. Our hotel bill was $25-$30,000 but it was a short time later that I got the call saying “OK we need to sort out your medicals and we’ll send a driver around”.

Obviously there had to be background checks. Do they probe deep?

Yes they probe very deep, a lot deeper than you’d think they’d probe. They obviously look into the places you’ve worked for and family background.

Did you travel with the king?

The majority of the we didn’t travel with the king. The kitchen had its own planes so we would travel separately so we’d try to be a day in advance at least or at least half a day in advance. We’d try and get to the destination and have everything ready for when he arrives. We would have multiple teams running to try and always be one step ahead of him. We had lots of planes we could use from the kitchen point of view.

Tell me about the King.

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Memory is a funny thing. There was a restaurant that I visited about a decade ago called Bel Mondo. It was owned by Stefano Manfredi, one of the biggest chefs in Sydney and we had a wonderful meal there. It was hidden in a little lane way up a flight of steps out of the way in The Rocks area, a stairway that you may not know was there as there isn’t much else up there. The foot traffic that passes is often tourists wandering around our fair city. And as a result of this hidden away location, when Manfredi left and the business was sold, people didn’t know that it was still there.

Bel Mondo’s chef Andy Ball is from London, ex Claridges and The Ritz and has been cooking here for about two years. His menu is different from Manfredi’s Italian cuisine, it is more Modern Australian. Today they have opened up Bel Mondo just for Ed and I which feels all rather Hollywood! We are trying the degustation menu which for the modest price of $77 you get five courses of food which has got to be one of the best value degustations going on in Sydney at the moment (and the price is valid even on Friday and Saturday nights).

We start with the bread rolls which are filled with swirls of sun dried tomato pesto and coated in herbs. They’re delicious and warm which is just how I like the bread to be.

Amuse Bouche: Potato and leek soup with creamed leeks and saute scallop

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I’m confused and wandering around the Botanic Gardens. I want to ask someone directions but everyone else looks like a tourist. My phone rings and it is Christie. She too is lost too. Joggers are everywhere with earphones so I am loathe to stop them although I figure they are locals. I stop one that has no earphones and ask him directions. “Oh I’m sorry” he says with a friendly American accent “I’m a tourist”.

“Are you lost?” an English voice chimes in behind me.

“Well…yes I am” I admit.

“What are you looking for?” I tell her the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool and she is amazingly headed in the same direction. Even though I was born and bred here, I am directionally challenged and it takes a friendly visitor from overseas to lead me to the door where I find my fabulous blogging buddy Christie.

We’re about thirty minutes late for our booking and it’s pretty crowded. Downstairs, swimmers are bathing and doing laps . There are families still on holidays with their small kids and tanned gods (yes it’s said to be a popular gay haunt) strutting around in very small swimmers. Upstairs is  the cafe and we take a seat on the bright orange seats. We’re hot after our little traipse across the Botanical Gardens and all I want is a cold drink and the lukewarm tap water does little to cool us off.

We take a quick look at the menu but are too busy catching up. It’s been over six months since we last saw each other and the waitress really seems to want to take our order so we have a quick look. We’re both trying to eat healthier so we choose frappes and salads. There is a breakfast menu which we presume is available now as they’re presenting us with it and a lunch menu which is broken up into small plates with items such as Manzanillo olives, artichoke dip with crostini, zucchini flowers and lamb cutlets and then there are the mains which features salads, a prawn spaghetti and battered flathead fish and chips. Prices reach up to the low $20’s for a main.

very good looking men

Lychee, Strawberry and Cloudy Apple Frappe left, Blood Orange and Mango Frappe $6 each

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