The Sky’s the Limit: Interview with Daniel Guevara Quintero, Chef de Cuisine, Grill 79
After more than 14 years working in Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, chef Daniel Guevara Quintero is bringing his own brand of creative cooking and flavor pairings to the kitchen at Grill 79, perched on the 79th Floor of Guomao’s China World Summit Wing, Beijing.
What is the most exciting kitchen you have worked in?
It would have to be Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain because of the philosophy and passion of Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. It’s not easy to have a unique philosophy at that level. It was a very multicultural kitchen with people from all over the world doing apprenticeships and when I was there in 2005-2006 the level was particularly high.
What city would you say has the best food experiences?
I am lucky enough to have traveled a lot in my life, so it’s impossible to say. Even when I was younger and not looking at a country though the eyes of a cook, I was still able to see the culinary riches of each place.
How would you sum up your food philosophy?
My food philosophy is a compilation of all the people I have worked with and all the kitchens I have worked in. It’s a story. Perhaps in five years, I will cook dishes that tell the story of the time I spent in China.
What is your take on modern Spanish cuisine?
Thanks to incredible chefs like Ferran Adrià, in the past 20 years modern Spanish cuisine has become famous around the world. I am part of a generation of Spanish chefs that has a very open philosophy. There are no boundaries; a Spanish restaurant can use Peruvian ingredients or Mexican ingredients mixed with Spanish products.
What new ideas and concepts are you bringing to the menu at Grill 79?
I want to apply some of details and techniques I have picked up from visiting other kitchens to the menu here. The kitchen staff here have good basic skills and are interested in learning, so I would be happy if I can impart some of the knowledge I have picked up.
What do you like to cook when you’re not working in a professional kitchen?
Often when I’m cooking for myself I try to re-create the flavors of my mother’s cooking, although I never quite get there!
What is on your culinary bucket list?
To be honest, I’ve been to so many places that there aren’t many left, but I would like to travel to Australia or New Zealand. The produce there is just fantastic.
If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It would have to be my grandmother’s traditional Spanish paella.
Chef Guevara has prepared a creative three course lunch menu and five course dinner menu (RMB 568) at Grill 79. The menu is full of surprises, including cauliflower couscous, poached saddle of venison and cold-glazed marinated banana.
Photo: Courtesy of China World Summit Wing, Beijing
