As an interviewee, Bobby Chinn is a tough one. And not, I hasten to add, because the vivacious half-Egyptian, half-Chinese restaurateur and television chef is evasive or unwilling to answer my questions.
The difficulty comes because he talks very fast indeed: sentences tumble out of his mouth at high speed and he segues from one topic to another, making quips and telling tales as he goes.
When, a few minutes in, I ask him to slow down just a little, he laughs and explains that this was a habit he picked up after he left his job working on Wall Street. "I decided to start seeing a therapist, to try to work out what I wanted to do with my life, but she charged so much that I was spending more on therapy than I did on rent. I made a decision to talk as fast as possible, so that I could really get my money's worth and I guess it stuck," he explains.
Chinn, who will be appearing at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on March 9 and 10, has had a varied career, to say the least. As well as working as a financier, he dabbled in the world of standup comedy, considered returning to university to train as a lawyer and took creative writing classes.
It was only when he started working with food that things started to fall into place.
"For a good few years, I was definitely drifting," he admits. "Then one of my friends got me a job selling seafood. I wasn't particularly keen to start with, but I got talking to the chefs that I was selling to and I saw how passionate they were about what they were doing. Suddenly, I was caught up in this foodie world and it just felt right."
Passion ignited and interest piqued, Chinn began working front of house at various restaurants in Los Angeles, where he quickly moved up through the ranks, from bus boy to head waiter. "After that, I moved to San Francisco, this time working in more high-end restaurants. I spent all my time asking the chefs questions and realised that this was what I really wanted to do."
Following a visit to Vietnam in the early 1990s, Chinn struck upon the idea of opening a restaurant there. "The few western restaurants there really weren't very good at all and most of the Vietnamese ones were very intimidating for visitors, so I felt that it would work if I set up my own place."
Having decided to gain a little more experience before doing so, he apprenticed at a number of high-end restaurants, including Hubert Keller's famous Fleur de Lys, and spent time in France. However, he suffered a major setback when a back injury left him bedridden for a year. After being diagnosed as "stationary and disabled" and therefore unable to work as a chef in the United States any longer, he took this as a sign and moved to Vietnam in 1995.
Once again, things didn't work out entirely as planned and he was forced to close the first two restaurants he opened when they were only months old. In the end, though, his perseverance paid off and Chinn began to gather international attention when running the kitchen at the Red Onion restaurant at The Hanoi Towers. After that, he opened Restaurant Bobby Chinn on One Ba Trieu Street in Hanoi to much acclaim.
As the restaurant became more and more established, interest in Chinn grew: "I was approached by three different producers before I agreed to film a pilot television show for what was to become World Cafe: Asia," he explains. "I really didn't think that they were serious, until they offered to fly me business class across the world. The show basically gave me the chance to travel, meet people and eat. Now if you consider that at this point I was broke, you'll see that it really was too good an opportunity to turn down."
In 2007, Chinn hosted the first series of World Cafe: Asia, which was broadcast on the Discovery and Living Channel (now TLC). The popularity of the show - which follows him travelling and eating street food all over Asia - resulted in a second series in 2008, followed by Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia in 2009. After that, he went on to film World Cafe: Middle East, which was broadcast in 2010 and saw him visit Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt to sample traditional food and learn about the culinary heritage of these countries.
Chinn's plan never seems to run smoothly, though and four years ago, the rent at his flagship restaurant was increased dramatically and without warning, meaning that he was forced to relocate and relaunch the restaurant at his own home. Looking back on his career, Chinn is grateful but philosophical: "I'm proud that all those years ago I took that leap into the unknown. A lot of people sell out on their dreams - for someone else, for money, for status. But whatever happens in the future, at least I know that I didn't do that. Even when things get really tough, that's enough to make me happy."
Bobby Chinn will be hosting a Literary Lunch on Friday, March 9, from 12.30 to 2.30pm at Terra Firma restaurant, InterContinental Hotel Dubai (note: tickets are sold out) and will be a part of a Foodie Panel on Saturday, March 10 at the same hotel at 10am. Tickets available; for more information, click here.
eshardlow@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
