Aqua Restaurant in the Four Seasons at Nile Plaza in Cairo is going French under the direction of Executive Chef Christophe Gillino.
Unagi sea eel and foie gras with glazed soy and sweet gingered peach salsa, rich seafood bisquebouille with star anis, braised vegetables and ginger aïoli followed by a wild blueberry crème brûlée are just a few examples of the delicacies guests will be treated to during the two-week French promotion.
The French-born culinary master who learned in Michelin-star restaurants with the finest in the business is working hard these days. Finding time during his 14-hour workday for an interview, Gillino orders a double espresso. It is 11 am.
“It’s my third or fourth today, he laughs. Here is a perfectionist at work determined to see Aqua’s transition into Cairo’s best modern French dining experience succeed – don’t worry, the renowned sushi stays on the menu.
“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I didn’t have the right ingredients, and quality counts maybe for half, even more. I wouldn’t have opened a French restaurant if it were to be only the third or fourth best in Cairo, no. If I do it, it has to be the best, Gillino said, explaining why he didn’t attempt to introduce modern French cuisine earlier.
Now he can find most of the high-quality ingredients he needs locally and whatever is missing, such as delicate patisserie, is imported from France. “I change the menu very often, sometimes every three days, sometimes every two months. Some products, like figs, they are available three months of the year but they only taste good during three weeks. So I adapt. Also, the feeling of the menu has to be right, he said.
His culinary compositions come from the heart, not from cookbooks. “I never do what I did before, I never write down anything Gillino explains vigorously. He paused and continued more subdued, as if hesitant to admit: “A dish has to reflect my feelings, the state of mind I am in. He turns to his espresso cup.
His handsome rugged looks seem at odds with his sensitive soul, the meticulous perfectionist in contrast with his creativity-spattering mind. Yet, he appears to have successfully mastered and fused the opposites of his character. Mystic serenity flows through the instrumental compositions of the chef’s latest CD. Yes, Gillino under his artistic name Chris Milano, a play on his son’s name Ilan, has also composed a CD.
Music is another of his creative outlets besides composing dishes. “But I was smart, you know, he said. “I didn’t make a career out of music – cooking, you earn better, he laughs.
His father got him into it, playing piano and later guitar, the drums and a variety of other instruments at the age of five. After playing in bands himself as well as writing several songs for other French bands, he started composing music for himself at the age of 28 – at that time he was already first chef cuisinier for two years running, one of the youngest France had ever seen.
Just like with ingredients in the kitchen, Gillino experiments with music from pop rock, jazz, and currently, oriental tunes, drawing inspiration from his sensations. His CDs are mostly concepts capturing a specific theme.
“Songs from the desert, which was launched at the beginning of Ramadan this year at the Four Seasons, reflects his impressions of Egypt, the Pharaonic history and culture.
The songs are just like he wants his dishes to be, “sober, no distracting frills, only high-quality ingredients: For the lounge music of his Pharaonic tales he was sure to enlist professional musicians of classic oriental instruments. It just wouldn’t have felt right if he had played instruments such as the oud, the darbuka or the kawala himself.
The underlying harmonies are of his making and the overall compositional was honed at his own studio.
Only reluctantly, he offers details about his next project, a CD he hopes will appear in 2010. The oriental sounds have not ceased to inspire him. “Oriental R-Evolution is what he wants to call the album because “I think to fix the misunderstanding between Westerners and Orientals, we need a revolution of thinking.
Not only in his Mediterranean-grounded cuisine but also in his home he combined what too many perceive as irreconcilable.
Between the sentences, he mentions his happy marriage to a “Muslim lady from Marrakech who has captivated his heart. But the gentleman understandably doesn’t want to dwell on their private life and cites instead the ease with which he found himself at home in Cairo.
“I just like the people, the Mediterranean people. You know, I’m from Aix-en-Provence, I’m the same, I’m one of them. If I walk here in the streets or in Marrakech or in Italy – people will talk to me in their native language.
Half jokingly, I ask him if he had ever considered painting since he seems almost overflowing with emotion and inspiration. “You know, I actually thought about it. he answers. “I thought about how I’d approach it and I think I’d do it just like composing a dish: I’d put the canvas on the table in front of me and then start painting – with knives, spoons and forks.
A character like him so open to the world and its pulsations seems hard to keep in one place. But where he might move next or with what material, tunes or ingredients he will experiment is not of the chef’s concerns at the moment. He’s here right now and that’s all that matters.
He will most certainly be at Aqua’s every night for the next six months to make sure that the French transformation will turn out a 100 percent the way he wants. And I will most certainly give his culinary compositions a try.
