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Food: The gypsy chef
Michelin-starred David Myers is called the ‘gypsy chef’ for a reason, but not quite for the reason you might think
Michelin-starred David Myers is called the ‘gypsy chef’ for a reason, but not quite for the reason you might think.
Sure, the Los Angeles-born, 48-year-old powerhouse of gastronomic lifting is a nomad at heart, travelling the world, exploring flavours. But the ‘Gypsy’ moniker wasn’t given to him by his fellow chefs. Instead, it was fondly bestowed upon him by a TV crew wondering when they might be able to pin down the non-stop traveller for shooting dates.
True to his sobriquet, Myers was recently in India to launch his restaurant, ADRIFT Kaya, featuring izakaya-style modern Japanese cuisine (informal bar food), at the JW Marriott Aerocity in Delhi, where sushi dishes and the omakase are a big hit.
The Delhi ADRIFT is the latest of Myers’s restaurants around the world, each of which focusses on the cuisines and food styles he discovered on his travels through Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia, Switzerland, Dubai—too many to list. The food at each restaurant is based on his personal takes on various regional cuisines, and he uses the flavours and ingredients he picked up on his travels to craft an assortment of winning ideas. Right now, for example, he has his eye on the tandoor, probably wondering how to incorporate this very Indian cooking technique in his repertoire.
“We already cook over bincho-tan (white charcoal, typically used in Japanese cooking),” he muses. “But I would love to learn how to use the tandoori oven.”
Greater Asia
Dressed impeccably in chefs’ whites, Myers appears calm and composed, but it’s hard to miss his buzzing energy. It’s that energy that led him to drop out of college, where he was studying international business, to pursue his interest in cooking.
In 1992, he started his cooking career at a restaurant kitchen, working his way up from the very bottom. He then trained under several top-name chefs, including Daniel Boulud, Charlie Trotter and Gerald Boyer, before he opened Sona in 2002, his Los Angeles-based flagship restaurant that offers modern French cuisine with an Asian bent, and earned him his first Michelin star.
After that, Myers gave in to his nomadic urges and took off for Asia, where he has restaurants in Japan, Singapore, the UAE, Qatar, and now India.
“I got my love of cooking through old recipes in books and magazines, as well as through growing up in a family that was committed to eating and cooking only those things that were in season,” Myers explains. “For example, I was blessed to learn how a tomato should taste at its peak.”
This is why his culinary philosophy is based on local and sustainable produce with particularly excellent characteristics. While simplicity has become the philosophical base for most chefs today, Myers has revolutionised it by embracing indigenous seasonal ingredients to create imaginative menus with distinctive flavours and a unique character.
“I love to cook as seasonally as possible and simplicity is my goal in everything,” he says. “The best ingredients, with as little done to them as possible.”
Spice bazaar
Myers’s love for travel began in 1997, when he flew to France to work at Les Crayeres in Champagne. By 2022, having covered a lot of Asia, Myers was ready, willing and able to come to India. “This absolutely was on my list of places to be,” he says.
The atmosphere in his Delhi kitchen is far from that of the constant stress one sees on cooking shows. There is a continuous gush of chaos and mood, with chefs dancing to music between orders, giving each other high fives on hearing compliments from guests, and having a drink together at the end of service.
With eyes that sparkle with glee, Myers claims to “absolutely love” India.
“The food, culture, people are so extraordinary. I simply love the energy. I have been to a number of amazing restaurants in New Delhi as well as Mumbai and tasted more dishes than I can remember. I adore the use of spices and cooking techniques that are so personal to each chef and their hometown. The culinary scene here is world class in every way!” he exclaims.
His current favourite restaurant in India is Indian Accent. “I was blown away by the creative take on classic Indian dishes that the chef presented. That, and the spectacular service, made the night all that more special. It was really fun in every way to be able to experience that food.”
Myers has only been in the country for a few weeks, but now that he has a restaurant here, he’ll soon be back. Meanwhile, he says, he’ll take a few things away with him. Particularly one thing. “Spice and the scent of those spices being made into unbelievable dishes.”
Rupali Dean is a food & travel writer, catalyst and an events specialist
From HT Brunch, December 24, 2022
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