Australian born Kurt Zdesar is taking the world over one dish at a time. But he certainly didn’t start from the top.
At sixteen he was knocking on McDonald’s door and started from the bottom.
“Like all employees, I started from the bottom. I did everything I was asked from cleaning the toilets, goods receiving, learning how to operate all of the cooking stations to finally working the pass,” said the talented chef in an exclusive interview with Flair.
At eighteen he became the youngest manager at the KFC franchise (Southern Fast Foods) but it was a few years later that his entrepreneurial flair really propelled him into the limelight.
He was approached by Nobu to establish their first European restaurant in London. Ten months later the restaurant received a Michelin star; the UK’s first Michelin star for Asian cuisine.
Next was Hakkasan, London’s 2nd restaurant to receive a Michelin star. Then came Ping Pong, Chotto Matte and his latest venture Fucina.
Kurt always had a love affair with food telling Flair “I have always lived by the philosophy that you should do what you love so it made sense for me to get paid to work with food.”
To find out more about his achievements, regrets, pieces of advice, and so more, you can order online our November issue.
