CULINARY HORIZONS
Culinary is an art, a science of transforming, creating and giving sensations, unexpectedly, delicately awakening your senses with style and character, through an inspired mind and a passion to taste the future.
Never mind the journey so long as the horizon is vast.
Christian Jean, executive chef
Born in France, I started my apprenticeship at the culinary school in the South East of France (Avignon) to become a master chef. I graduated with a C.A.P. certificate. I was eager to learn and live my passion for cooking with a clear vision to accomplish my goals. At the age of 22, I decided to leave my country to discover the world with all its fascinating cultures and peoples, in search of new ingredients, spices and varieties of cuisine it has to offer.
At first, my curiosity took me to the Middle East where I perfected my english skills and learned how to live with 30 different nationalities. Then I moved around the Middle East to get familiar with all the cooking specialties before going back to Europe to 5 stars hotels in Scotland, Portugal and Monaco. There I got the opportunities to get trained with some of the greatest chefs with Michelin star experience.
My thirst for discovering and sharing my passion with everyone crossing my path was endless.
A few years later, I enjoyed work in the north of Africa, opening a 5-star hotel on the coast of Algeria. This assignment was a great opportunity for me to develop my leadership skills in a large food and beverage hotel operation, thus preparing me for a bright future. It was also a wonderful time for personal development as this is where I met and married my lovely wife. Nevertheless, experience in Asia remained one of my priorities and when the chance knocked on my door, I flew to Shanghai.
The beautiful cosmopolitan city, the great food: I gained a lot of knowledge and it became one of my greatest experience. But this was not to be the end of my wanders: I accepted a new challenge as executive sous-chef in one of the best-rated 5-star hotels in Dubai, the JW Marriott. After a few years of hard work in Dubai's hectic scene, I was promoted as executive chef for another JW Marriott hotel, this time in Seoul. Another great learning curve both professionally and personally: an entirely new culture and the birth place of my twins, a boy and a girl.
Today, back in the Middle East, this time in Doha, for a new assignment as cluster executive chef for the Marriott International project of opening a Renaissance and a Courtyard hotel and Marriott Executive Apartments. A first and unique project of this kind in the region, it must be without a doubt the best place to be entertained and to have a great dining experience for any business traveller and for the Doha community. A challenge I am delighted to take on!
The past years around the globe, gave me great exposure, career growth, learning, sharing knowledge, living amazing experiences but mostly, it was all about the special people I met during my culinary journey. All those events and people helped me to define my style, my cuisine, myself.
There are great and talented chefs around the world who contribute to the evolution of this culinary era. This is an exciting time! My motto: "yes we can do"... whatever it takes to satisfy any customer palate. No compromise with service excellence and quality of cuisine, I constantly refer to the past, breathe in the present and imagine the future to evolve, to always keep myself inspired to reach perfection and deliver the perfect dish. Gastronomy is in a constant evolution with a lot of diversity, styles and techniques, yet always remembering the fundamentals of basic cuisine.
I welcome you to my website and hope you enjoy the culinary journey as much as I did.
I look forward to reading your comments and in the meantime, passionately, bon appetit!
Cj
