THERE'S always a story to be told, and those working in the food industry have hundreds, if not more. Continuing with last week's interview, I had a quick and insightful chat with Executive Chef Ajoy from The Empire Hotel and Country Club in Jerudong about what it's like to to be involvedwith his current position in the kitchen.

Epic Curious: I've been reading this book, Bourdain's Medium Raw, and he's saying something about a "timeframe" for chefs. I found it really interesting, because a lot of people in Brunei like to cook, and they like to run food businesses. But for chefs, it's a completely different story. It seems like you really have to be in your prime, or start young, otherwise as Bourdain says, it's kind of too late. You can't be a chef at like 30, 40 or 50.

Ajoy: I've seen some people try it.

Epic Curious: I'm guessing they're the lucky few!

Ajoy: When I was doing my diploma in Australia in 1999, a 51-year-old guy who was an engineer and architect, quit his career and went into cooking straightaway. When I spoke to him, I could sense that he was very passionate about cooking. He wanted to learn more about culinary and he also wanted to open up a restaurant ... I think that's part of his retirement plan. He knew chefs and he knew what he was talking about. But yes, if you start young, you get to learn a lot more.

Epic Curious: When did you start thinking about becoming a chef?

Ajoy: Since secondary school when I was in Form Three.

It was a school trip to Royal Brunei Catering, the Airport kitchen. When I went in, I had a look and they were very snobbish (laughs), because they had their tall hats and they were walking around tasting things and I was like, "I want to be like them one day". So pretty much it kicked off from there.

When I finished my O-Levels, I went to Australia.

My father was from the government service ... and he didn't agree with me being a chef. So he said "Take a diploma and do hospitality" and I said "Okay" and took it. I specialised in restaurant and catering kitchen management. At the same time, I also worked part-time at night..

Epic Curious: So you came back from Australia and started working here?

Ajoy: Yes, I came back straight here, and The Empire was the first hotel. You have to know that I used to work at restaurants and cafés.

Epic Curious:From what I've read, it seems like people that work in hotel restaurants represent the elite crowd, and at the same time there's more job security than working in a restaurant.

Ajoy: Yes, that's true to a certain extent as restaurants normally represent business enterprises. When you do good, you'll go up but if you don't then you'll go down, that's for sure. In Australia, the most important thing is to be able to work in a hotel. It's not about being famous.

There's actually one hotel that does that.

When I first started out back in Australia in 2000, I worked in a restaurant that was located in a street full of restaurants and cafes, and they would all be competing with each other. Very often I get to see many of restaurants going over their blackboard menu to promote their specials ... that's when I would peek and get to know what they were preparing, so by the following week we'll do something different. This atmosphere created fierce competition.You could tell which restaurant was not doing well when there's no patron coming while the other restaurants were all packed and full for lunchtime.

Epic Curious:Did you expect it to be what you imagined it to be?

Ajoy: Yes. But when I first went for the interview, I almost turned around and walked away because I said to myself "I'm only a restaurant and café chef, that's all the experience I have". Anyway, I was determined to walk to The Empire and to give it a shot. So I walked in and here I am till now!

The Brunei Times