Interview with Chef Andrea Alimenti, Executive Chef of Le Midi, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

French Italian restaurant, BSC
Chef Andrea Alimenti, Executive Chef of Le Midi

Chef Andrea Alimenti, is the new Executive Chef of Le Midi. Here, he spends a few minutes with The Yum List sharing his kitchen stories and philosophy on food.

What do you do and how did you get into the industry?
I’m a world food lover and executive chef. For almost 35 years I’ve spent time in the kitchen learning habits and techniques of master chefs and experiencing cuisines from around the world. I love art, music, fashion, and culture – all items that I find easy to combine with my dishes. 
Share with us an interesting story from behind the scenes. 
When I was a boy I spent part of the summer in Pesaro at my father’s grandparent’s house. There I loved Sunday lunch. Everything started early in the morning. There were people preparing fresh pasta, homemade tortellini, ravioli with minced meat and Parmigiano cheese. The oven wafted aromas of delicious meat roasting slowly with vegetables and potatoes. Bread and dessert were also homemade. Everything combined perfectly for the family and the guests that crowded the table. I started to understand that the table was the belly of the family – it’s where the past, present and future is discussed and for many things, a kind of life thermometer.

What’s the best/ worst part of your job?
I love traveling and learning about other cultures and food habits. Time passes too quickly though and when I go back home I find that my children are growing and time cannot be reversed.
What’s your personal favorite meal at Le Midi?
I love raw food and fish. That means that I have to use only the best and the freshest that the season offers.  

What’s one of the wildest things you’ve seen behind the scenes?
Once a Lady from Russia called me for a dinner in Tatarstan. She told me that she would explain what she wanted during the journey. When we arrived I had one night to buy food, rent a restaurant and make her day become special. When she called me the next day she offered me a job to open her new spa with three restaurants and five bars! 
The perfect day off would be… one without any problems.  

A life in the day of a chef is… to transmit passion and love for this job to the people that work with me and for the guests to understand that we are all humans and that we try the best to make it happen. 
What do you do for fun? 
I love to play my guitar and take pictures with my camera. 
What’s something you’d like guests to know about the cuisine prepared at Le Midi? 
We select the best products that the fresh market offers and we work hard to make authentic good food. 

How do you select your ingredients and why?
We try to mix the local produce to the authentic ingredients of the Mediterranean traditions. The result is a logical fusion of good food. 
What’s your view on the KL restaurant scene?
I have just arrived in KL but for what I have seen so far there is large variety of proposals, all well distributed, to give tourists and locals a wide choice of food experiences.

Check at some of his dishes here,

One Comment

  1. Looks a bit like that guy on TV…minus the hair.

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