A Few Words With: Jordi Valles Claverol, Executive Chef at Agua Restaurant

This year our 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards have four personality-based categories: Best Chef, Best Manager, Restaurant Personality of the Year, and Food Entrepreneur of the Year. During the voting period that runs through March 8, we’re profiling a few of this year’s crop of nominees.

This time around we present Jordi Valles Claverol, executive chef at Agua Restaurant, who has been nominated in the Best Chef category.

TBJ: Tell us how about how you got to where you are today.
I came to Beijing in 2007 for a fantastic project with a Michelin starred chef, but it failed. The restaurant’s name was Marenostrum and it was located at the Vantone Centre next to Central Park.

That lead to where I am today, at Agua. I have to thank the Agua Group, which has believed in me since the beginning. It’s not easy to find a solid company that allows you to grow for a long time, especially outside of the hotel business. The most difficult part of working in an unknown country is having to adapt yourself to the culture, to understand the needs of the locals and respect them, because without this, you could never deliver the knowledge you have acquired in the past.

I’m where I am today thanks to the wonderful team we have created, and thanks to all the professionals that have worked at Agua Restaurant. Consistency is the secret to success, and you can’t have this if you don’t have a consistent team close to you. Most of our team members have been with us for more than five years, which is very difficult to find in a standalone restaurant, as the staff turnover is typically so high. Once you have this team, you need to totally understand what the customers’ needs are, and cook for them and not for yourself, as many young chefs do at the beginning of their careers. Never forget who are you cooking for!

TBJ: What dishes are you most proud of?
The dishes that we have evolved the most of the years are our juicy lobster rice and our crispy suckling pig. These two dishes have helped Agua earn its reputation, along with the 50 plus other dishes available on our a la carte menu.

TBJ: Tell us about your biggest kitchen disaster.
It was a power shutdown in the summer, on a Friday night. You really need to be an eager problem solver, otherwise the customer can suffer more than you expect. We had the restaurant full, with four to five tables were ready to order, and the exhaust oven and fridges stopped working. The lights went out, no air-conditioning. At times like that, stress starts.

We split the problem between three of us. One of my colleagues went to the management of the building, another talked to each customer, table by table, while I tried to find out how to get all the smoke from the kitchen without ventilation, because don’t forget that I was still cooking during this time! We went to our warehouse on the rooftop and brought two big fans to the kitchen. The temperature in the kitchen started to go up i will say 45-48C and started to became dangerous. I will say this is the biggest kitchen problem I have ever had in my cooking life. But after half an hour the power came back, thank God.

TBJ: How does Beijing rate on the scale of international dining destinations?
It’s a long process, but it’s happening. More and more international suppliers are coming to Beijing, and plenty of international chefs are opening, with more planning to open. There will be more and more international interest because this is the capital of the world’s most populous country.

TBJ: Tell us about one of your favorite places to eat in Beijing, aside from your own.
I’ll say Transit, a Sichuan restaurant at The Village North in Sanlitun. It balances its spicing well, so that it’s not too mild but also not too hot.

Click here to read previous editions of A Few Words With, whereby we profile some of the top players in Beijing's food scene in the run up to our 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards.

Image: Agua