Chef Richard Abou Zaki, the judge of “Chefs at knives”, has an impressive life story: “I cried for eight months”

On March 18, Antena 1 will inaugurate the 13th season of Chefs with knives with the judges Richard Abou Zaki, Orlando Zaharia, Ștefan Popescu and Alexandru Sautner, the masters of gastronomy who will compete in the heated arena of amulets.

Before the marathon premiere of the new Chefi la cucite season, Antena 1 revealed some of the life stories of the four chefs.

That of Richard Abou Zaki, currently the owner of four restaurants in Italy, is touching.

Chef Richard Abou Zaki: “I cried every night and lost ten kilos”

Richard Abou Zaki has been passionate about cooking since he was a child.

He has been cooking since the age of eight, having to fend for himself when his mother worked in a factory, arriving home late.

“The first thing I made I think was a pork neck with fries. That's how cooking started for me, like a game. But I always told my mother that I wanted to make this a career, and she always supported me”Chef Richard told about his childhood years after leaving for Italy.

“He told me I shouldn't end up serving tables”

And he followed his dream, despite his father's expectations.

“On the other side, there was my father, who lived in America and whom I saw very few times in my life. He, being a banker, would have wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He told me that I shouldn't end up serving tables, that this is a weekend job to pay for my studies”, says Chef Richard.

He enrolled in a chef's college, and the chance really smiled upon him with the occasion of a two-month internship in London, at the prestigious restaurant Le Gavroche, where he later stayed to work.

“This is how my story began in London, at three Michelin stars, in the team of Michel Roux, one of the greatest Chefs in the world. It was a huge kitchen, with over 30 cooks, and I was the last of the last. It was the hardest time of my life. For eight months I cried every night and lost ten kilos because I couldn't eat anymore“, confesses Chef Abou Zaki, remembering the tense atmosphere and the great pressure he faced at the beginning of the journey.

The episode that marked him: “I was sick all night! But since then, my life at Le Gavroche has changed.”

One of the episodes that marked him at Le Gavroche was after the mistake of a chef who asked him to sous-vide some beef organs, but he forgot, Antena 1 reports.

“In the morning, when I returned to the restaurant, the Chef started yelling at me angrily: <>. They were spoiled, they could not be given to anyone. I found then the greatest courage of my life. This is the scene that changed my life. I put salt and pepper, fried them in a pan with butter and ate them. I was sick all night! But since then, my life at Le Gavroche has changed. In a short time, I became one of the youngest Chef de partie in the history of the restaurant. Gordon Ramsey and I were the youngest Chiefs of Party, only 19 years old“, says Chef Abou Zaki.

He later returned to Italy, in Modena, where he worked as sous-chef alongside the famous Massimo Bottura, at Osteria Francescana, a restaurant with three Michelin stars.

Three years later he opened his own restaurant, Retroscena, which received a Michelin star only eight months after its launch, Chef Richard currently has four restaurants in Italy.

On March 18, from 8:30 p.m., on Antena 1, Richard Abou Zaki will inaugurate the 13th season of Chefs with Knives together with the judges Orlando Zaharia, Ștefan Popescu and Alexandru Sautner.