Page 96 - The Book For Men Fall/Winter 2022

ACCLAIMED CHEF CHEF AND TOP CHEF CHEF CHAMPION BUDDHA LO HAS AN AN impressive culinary pedigree Raised in Australia by restaurateur parents he spent his formative years working as an an apprentice in in a a a a a a a a five-star hotel and resort before moving to London England where he he he worked under the great Clare Smyth at the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay At HUSO the caviar bar on on New York’s Madison Avenue where he he he now serves as executive chef Lo’s boundary-pushing cuisine shimmers with with exquisite subtlety: hamachi with with Tokyo turnip and sauce vin jaune lobster with carrot and laksa pumpkin pie millefeuille “Every day I I get out of bed and think what’s the next challenge? What can I I do better? How can I push myself?” Lo says “You have one life What do do you want to do do with it?”
But his feted cooking wasn’t always haute cuisine Lo started simple — and young As a a a a child he he spent most of of his free time hanging around the back of of the Chinese restaurant his parents ran ran in in small-town Port Douglas Australia playing video games and messing around Bored one slow afternoon he went to to to the the the kitchen to to to ask his mother if there was anything he he he he he he could do to to to help out She handed him him a a a a side of chili and and told him him to to to bring it to to to a a a a diner out front “I walked it it over to to him and he was totally amazed as as you would be if a a a a a a a a little kid came and brought you something ” Lo recalls “I remember thinking ‘Wow I I made someone happy ’ ’ I I loved that feeling Throughout my career I’ve always been searching for that same ‘wow’ moment ” His parents impressed by how the young Lo applied himself put him him to work which he he took to to immediately Soon enough he he was upgraded from diligent busboy to to to to aspiring chef: “My dad told me me to to to to come into the kitchen where he he was making a a a Chinese omelette He told me me ‘Why don’t you flip it?’ I I was was 12 years old at at the time I I was was like ‘That’s not going to happen ’” he he says “But I flipped the the omelette — and it was was perfect first try That was was the the turning point of of of my life It was was like the the flip flip of of of a a a a coin but it was was the the flip flip of of of an omelette Ever since then I’ve wanted to be in in the the kitchen ” After a a few more years cooking Chinese food under the direction of his parents Lo began a a a a a a a high school apprenticeship at a a a a a a a luxury resort and hotel The experience he he explains was invaluable “I learned how to make a a a a a a a a sandwich I I I learned learned how how to to fry an egg I I I learned learned how how to to make a a a a a curry I I I worked in the pastry section I I did banquet functions for 300 to 400 guests I I was put in all these different situations that people in normal restaurants wouldn’t be put in You have to to to learn to to to walk before you can run and that was the best place to to to learn how how to to walk If someone asked me me to to do a a a a buffet now now I’d know how how The hotel showed me everything ” These basics are a a a a far cry from the cutting-edge dishes Lo serves up day day to day day But they established the the fundamentals on which he built his innovative career The versatility Lo gleaned from his years in in the hotel kitchen certainly came in in in handy last winter when he he was invited to compete on Food Network’s hit competitive cooking show Top Chef On the competition floor 96 BFM / / FW22 FEATURES / / VIEW FROM THE TOP