Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., November 06, 2009 Cheshvan 19, 5770 | | Israel Time: 01:21 (EST+7)
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Salt-baked wood pigeon, anyone?
By Daniella Peled
Tags: Israel News

Just a few meters from the grubby tackiness of central London's Bond Street, with its crowds of raincoat-wearing tourists and endless sales, lies Claridge's hotel, an oasis of gentility and Old World English class. Step inside and you're instantly enveloped in a different universe, with its own delicious, expensive smell, where the staff float across the marble-checkerboard floor and all is bathed in an ambient glow from discreet lighting. No wonder this is Shimon Peres' favorite place to stay in London. Turn right out of the art deco lounge, past guests enjoying tea and tiny pastries, and there, through the double doors, is yet another level of luxury.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's - a low-lit, purple-and-amber space reminiscent of a 1930s' cruise-ship lounge, and just as exclusive - is one of London's most-sought after restaurants. And today it's the professional domain of Yishay Malkov, a nice Israeli boy from Jerusalem.

Today, the 35-year-old restaurant director is impeccably dressed in a navy suit and pink silk tie secured with a silver clip, with a pink-striped handkerchief peeping shyly from the top pocket. His English is equally immaculate, albeit American-accented but charmingly sprinkled with British idioms. He smells faintly of expensive aftershave and has a tidy part in his neatly combed hair. In short, the embodiment of serious cultural dissonance.
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"People think I am Canadian, French, Spanish - even Bulgarian. I love it when Israelis come in and I go to them in this smart suit and ask, 'Eykh hayah ha'ravioli (How was the ravioli)?' They choke! Then I have to do the Heimlich maneuver on them."

So how did a kid raised in Jerusalem's Talpiot neighborhood end up here? Malkov makes a valiant attempt at arguing that it's not so odd to find an Israeli running a top-level restaurant, a job requiring sensitivity, discretion and finely attuned people skills. He is not very convincing, especially when he claims that the roots of his professional success lie in the six years he spent in the Israel Navy.

This job, he explains, "is like what I did in the navy, only better. For me it was a seamless transition. As a ship's officer, I was in charge of 75 people. I run a ship now with 110 people. The hierarchy is relatively strict and every day is really like a military operation and full of adrenaline."

Perhaps, but serving on a warship was not what truly sparked Malkov's fascination with fine dining and exquisite wines. It was only after six years in the service - during which he met his wife Tami, now a graphic designer - that he turned his hand to something completely different.

"I had always wanted to cook. I didn't know anything about it, but I knocked on a few doors and offered to work in the kitchen for free." Then followed stints at Tel Aviv's Kapot Tmarim - "my first fine dining experience" - Manta Ray, and even three weeks cooking on a luxury yacht owned by a Texan Jewish millionaire.

In 1999, he and Tami went to New York, where Malkov enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America for $45,000 worth of world-class training. "It was like I'd never left the navy," he recalls, with 10-hour days at school followed by 10-hour weekend shifts at some of New York's most elite restaurants. These included Nobu, where he worked with Nitzan Raz, of SushiSamba fame.

"I look back and it was absolutely mental - it put a strain on my relationship with Tami and a horrible physical strain on me, too," he says. But it also proved a life-changing experience: "I was good at it, I liked it, it was the first time I had ever enjoyed school, probably because I'm not particularly academic. I was good at the practical side and dealing with pressure. Wine was my favorite subject. I had never drunk a proper wine before; it was a real eye-opener."

Malkov graduated on September 7, 2001. "I was offered try-outs at two places, one [of which was] Wild Blue in the [World Trade Center]. I made a couple of calls on Thursday [September 6], and couldn't get through to Wild Blue, so I decided to start work at the other place." Tuesday was September 11. Malkov spent the following day in the kitchen of his new workplace, making sandwiches for firefighters.

'Gordon could've been Israeli'

After marrying - at New York's City Hall, with two friends as witnesses and "a really good bottle of champagne" - the couple moved to London in 2003. Malkov found a job by simply opening the Zagat restaurant guide and calling the top 10 highest-rated places. Starting as a sommelier, he worked in six different positions at establishments belonging to the extensive Gordon Ramsay group of businesses before becoming restaurant director at this one.

"My job is very easy," Malkov explains. "I welcome guests, I make them feel at ease and comfortable, we talk about families, the kids. I kiss and hug the guests all the time." Indeed, not just the guests. He is very tactile with the staff, too, playfully slapping a busboy on the butt and solicitously patting employees on the shoulder as he weaves his way through the kitchen.

This area, the nerve center, is starkly functional and brutally lit, with every staff member intently focused on their particular role. There is a wine cellar set to exactly 8 degrees Celsius, a beautifully stinky cheese room, and, near the ceiling, four television screens featuring a live feed of the dining room "to get the mood of the pace of the restaurant, rather than to see who's finished their first course," Malkov explains. The restaurant seats 170 for lunch and more for dinner, with a chef's table tucked away in the kitchen itself.

"I never lose my temper but I do shout," he admits. "Like in the army, we are very friendly and I'm a nice guy to have a drink with, but the hierarchy has to remain in place, sadly."

He is keen to stress that he does not run an abusive operation, with good reason. Gordon Ramsay himself may be famous for his fine cooking, but he is notorious for his foul-mouthed temper, hugely apparent on every television show he does.

"Gordon is Gordon. He has enough personality to fill 10 people," says Malkov tactfully. They seem to get on well, but apart from a young sommelier, Yael Sandler, there are no other Israelis on the staff, and perhaps it's just as well.

"If Gordon Ramsay called an Israeli chef a wanker, the Israeli would take a knife and stab him. Or at least say 'who the fuck do you think you are' and leave the kitchen. Israelis are not humble people. We are not freiers [suckers] and we know better than anyone else." Malkov pauses. "Gordon could have been an Israeli. He has got the mannerisms, the chutzpah, the swagger - all very Israeli."

But this is all part of the persona that has turned the Ramsay brand into an empire. It stretches across the whole foodie gamut, with more than a dozen venues in Great Britain alone, ranging from top-end outfits to gastro-pubs and even a recently opened boutique hotel. There are also around 20 cookbooks and of course Ramsay's numerous TV shows and advertising work. That's without mentioning the restaurants abroad, from Dubai, Tokyo and Florida to Italy and France. (There was even talk of opening a place in Herzliya, but nothing came of it). And a cookery school, a range of sauces whose profits go to charity, a best-selling autobiography, a cookware line and a column in The Times.

Ramsay's antics are also loved by the British tabloids. Last year, News of the World reported that the father of four - whose wife, Tana, also has a successful career writing about cooking - had a mistress. Additional, similar allegations followed thick and fast. All were denied by Ramsay. Earlier this year the tabloids seized greedily on the revelation that Ramsay's pubs and one of his restaurants used prepared foods on which they made huge profits.

"The celebrity culture is probably most developed in the U.K.," Malkov remarks. "Gordon is a great example. They like to build him up and then break him down, in the tabloids they get almost sexually excited over it."

Ramsay remains as famous as ever, but like many in the hospitality industry, his business has been hit by the credit crunch. This year saw Gordon Ramsay Holdings experience some serious money troubles, with profits from the restaurant group plummeting. Ramsay and his business partner (his father-in-law) had to pour millions of pounds of their own money into the company. Things are now improving, according to Malkov, although just this month Ramsay canceled a scholarship scheme he runs due to lack of funds.

"It has been a tough time financially, but we are actually in a better position than we were a year and a half ago," Malkov says. "We are very spread out. We own a lot of places. You take a risk. The profits can be very high, as they are here, but the losses can be, too. Business-wise this is one of the most successful restaurants in London."

Not just celebs

Malkov is at pains to point out that despite its haute cuisine and high prices, this is not a celebrity restaurant.

"People think all you get here is Russian models and poncy English people," he notes. "The vast majority are ordinary people celebrating a lovely event, whether it's a couple from Manchester celebrating their first anniversary or a granny from Dorset being taken here for her 60th birthday. Nobody comes here twice a week for dinner."

And that's just as well because, as Malkov says: "I don't eat this food on a regular basis, you're not supposed to. You would end up at the doctor."

Indeed, this is modern European cooking with a heavy emphasis on classic French cuisine. Absurdly luxurious, the a la carte menu offers three courses for 70 pounds sterling, with such dishes as salt-baked wood pigeon salad with foie gras, nectarine and hazelnuts, or steamed Anglesey bass with a scallop mousse, Oscietra caviar sauce and cucumber, apple and asparagus. Desserts include coffee parfait, honeycomb ice cream, poached pear and hot chocolate fondant with mint ice cream. There is a relatively budget-friendly weekend lunch menu with three courses for 30 pounds, although for this price you'll have to manage without foie gras or caviar.

Malkov's personal favorite? He admits to being partial to the lobster and salmon ravioli in a lemongrass and coconut bisque. As to celebrity diners he remains infuriatingly discreet, although he does come out with a rather uncharacteristic attack on Conservative Party leader David Cameron: "I've served him a couple of times. He is Eton through and through. Fucking disgusting."

Perhaps this can be attributed to Malkov's innate Israeli egalitarianism. He is also rather rude about flashy customers, though no doubt he is the picture of discretion itself when in their presence. In 2001, the Ramsay restaurant Petrus, where Malkov later worked, hit the headlines after it was revealed that five investment bankers spent 44,000 pounds on just five bottles of extremely rare wine.

"That does happen," he says, "but it's not very exciting. People like that aren't interested in talking about wine, they just want to drink it and fuck off. I get excited selling exciting wine to someone who hasn't had it before."

Rather sweetly, this excitement extends to introducing an Israeli wine - a fine vintage from the Clos de Gat Winery: "I always have something Israeli on the list, a little bit of patriotism."

Malkov says he is not tempted to remain in London, although there are a few Israelis who have made it big in the U.K. culinary scene. Chief among them is Yotam Ottolenghi, with four fancy London cafes, a super-successful cookbook and a very popular newspaper column.

"Ottolenghi is very different, very successful, his products are superb - and expensive. His food is very Mediterranean, I really relate to it," Malkov says. "Apostrophe [a cafe chain with 16 branches across London, founded by Amir Chen] is very Israeli, although they try to hide it and make everything very French. Actually, it's Aroma with a couple more smiles."

It is difficult to imagine how Malkov would transfer his skills back home easily. "I think I am a tiny bit soft. I'm not the run-of-the-mill Israeli macho. After years of trying I've found my place and I want something similar, but Israelis are a cynical lot, generally speaking, a very different workforce. We are not great at providing service."

Both countries have experienced something of a restaurant revolution in the last decade or so. Things have changed in England, once viewed as a culinary pub-lunch wasteland of soggy gray vegetables and stodgy puddings. Israel, too, has gone beyond the era of so-called steakiyot, felafel stalls and rubbery chicken thighs.

Malkov agrees that Israeli cooking is at its best when it's simple and not trying "to make a chicken taste like a fish," as he puts it, citing Tel Aviv's Herbert Samuel, Basta in the Carmel Market, breakfast at Manta Ray and the "wonderful" Brasserie. "We have a lot of talent in Israel, maybe even more than here. But sometimes we run a bit wild with our ideas, and we're not as disciplined."

Nevertheless, Malkov plans to leave the glamour of London behind in a couple of years and take his family back to Israel. Their son Yonatan is two and a half, and Tami is expecting to give birth to a baby girl next month. "I sometimes have no idea where I'm from," he claims, yet the more he talks, the more sabra he becomes. It's clear that there's no place like home.

"My best friend died suddenly, a month ago. I found myself crying for the first time in years and I saw how strange [my emotion] was for people here. Israelis - and it's nothing to do with Judaism - we have a sense of togetherness which is not necessarily apparent in the day-to-day, but there is a lot of warmth and support when things do go wrong. I would like my children to grow up in an environment like that."

Malkov's people skills might have once led his mother to suggest he become a psychiatrist, but he is more like an actor, from his dress - he says he intentionally tries to look "a bit gay" - to his endless solicitousness. But when it comes to the fundamental things in life - family, friends, food - it isn't so easy to pretend.

Asked what he would choose for his last meal, Malkov doesn't waste time on lobster ravioli. "Grandma's chicken soup and my dad's schnitzel," he says firmly. "And I love wine, but it doesn't go with chicken soup and schnitzel. I'd probably have a Nesher [nonalcoholic malt] beer."
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