Interview 24 hours with Shahaf Shabtay

The Chef Shahaf Shabtay

 
Award wining international Chef, Shahaf Shabtay, is currently dazzling Praguian´s palates with SaSaZu dining concept. It is based on South East Asian Daily life and consists of 5 styles of Asian cuisine: SAMBAL, OTAK OTAK, FLAME, ROTI and TAI – TAI GRILL.
The Chef received his degree from the prestigious École Grégoire-Ferrandi in Paris. Since then he has traveled the world acquiring experience in New York City and Bangkok, and later working in top restaurants like VAKZUID in Amsterdam, ZENZI in India, MINNA TOMEI in Israel, GINGER, CAMELON and DIVA in Serbia.
The Chef has a home in England alongside his wife Emma, and beautiful girl Romi.

Restaurant SaSaZu opened more then 2 years ago since that SaSaZu restaurant have been winning award by award (Euro, Hospodarske noviny, Tyden, Prague post, Maurers Grand restaurant, Michelin`s Bib) and is being considered as the best Asian restaurant in Czech republic.

Shahaf:
At a summer season we have two SaSaZu restaurants open and I have to make sure that everything is working as it should, so I spend a lot of the time in the plane. My day doesn’t start in the morning.

SaSaZu  Prague
19-20.00  we have briefing with all the waiters, I explain what special meals and drinks we have for this day, I explain that they can also offer a Vietnamese massage to our customers . Today`s special is a Vietnamese dish: hun fish- small fish eaten like a chips with banana roll and ginger soup, other special is SaSaZu Brandon beef- curry beef made in Indonesia that we roll and eat with Paratha bread (with a corn inside).i explain what is a chef table for the day and special drink which is for today carrot coconut fresh juice.
Then we go to the kitchen to check all the food to be fresh, all the stations : Roti, Flame, Sambal, Otak Otak, Tai-Tai grill – five techniques that we use in SaSaZu.
Meanwhile DJ comes to the restaurant, people start coming.
I am making a phone call with Rhodes.


20.-22.00 We have to be ready for servis and operations for the club. Today there is a corporate event in SaSaZu venue for 300 people. I check if everything is ready in the club- ice, market (the way we serve food there to make people feel like they are at he market) and then we are ready to start.
After dinner people are also invited to see the kitchen how we prepared their meals. I am very welcome to show them everything. We also offer them our cooing classes or Asia Trip. We invite a group of coulinary enthusiasts and adventurers for an unforgettable trip around Asia. When SaSaZu was being born the main idea was to connect it with the local community as much as possible, to not have any secrets in front of our guests and share all the inspirations and ideas with them. Now we are continuing with this pursuit by taking twenty to twenty five people to the origin of SaSaZu to experience the culture, people, art, food, music, life and flavour of the exotic Asia.

For those who are interested we also take the name of the guest and we let make the special SaSaZu chop sticks for them (they are ready in 7 days)

operation club and restarant

22.-00.00 organization, preparation for the next day
we clean the buffet in the club and we serve our desert Tiramisu coconut. People are ready there for a show. In the kitchen I talk to my sous chef and the team about the day after. About specials, about what vegetables we should order. It is going to be a chicken lemon. I show them how to prepare it. Meantime we clean the club, restaurant is still busy.

00-1.30 I say bye to some of the guests, I am going home to pack my suitcase and I am going to the airport

3.00-5.00 – flight to Rhodes. Trying to catch some sleep.

9-10.00 calling home to my wife, daughter (I speak to her before she goes to school) and then I make phone call with the GM of Cambodia where there is going to be the new SaSaZu open soon. 
meeting greek team, I also brought some people from the Czech team to Rhodes. We talk about last week, how everything went, they talk about what people like, about problems with suppliers. I ask how many people we have for the cooking school.

10.00-11.00 marketing meeting  Today about how to sell the kitchen out. We are going to have two big parties soon. We offer catering (kitchen out), that is something new.We close all the interviews that we have etc. Marketing meeting I also have regurarly in Prague with a Czech team. Prague is a base so all the strategies come from Prague.

11-15.00 operation SaSaZu beach, supliers
I meet my team at  SaSaZu swimming pool, we do briefing, open the station. we serve two dishes every day for sunbathing people there. Papaya salat and hanoy shrimps today.
12-15 SaSaZu beach is open. Mean time a meet a purchasing manager for Rodos, we talk about a supply.
Right now I have the new idea to have a SaSaZu chewing gum, so I talk about flavours and packing.
Calling my wife  and SaSaZu Prague.

15.-16.30 SaSaZu cooking school. We have group of 12 people. We give them SaSaZu aprons. We teach them 3 dishes and one cocktail. Same cooking classes we also regularly do in Prague. Then people eat it together.

16.30-17.20 meeting journalist from Athens for interview. I explain about opening a new SaSaZu in Cambodia.

17.20-19.00 preparation for night, briefing. I check all the tastes.

19.- opens SaSaZu Rhodes
welcoming guests, we start the servis.
I call Prague to see everything is working and my wife and daughter again.