‘Willi’ Wonka: Mozzarella, Chennai and Fika

Renowned Chef, Willi Wilson, sits with us for a cup of coffee at his new café, Fika, to talk about Chennai, the Asian art of living, staying away from family and more

Bhuvanesh Chandar, Aneesh Dey & Parimal Dagdee

(Originally written on 28/10/2019 as a part of our ACJ curriculum. Feature image credits: Lifeandtrendz)

“When Vasco Da Gama landed in 1492 in Goa, I was there behind him in a ship, saying ‘You go Vasco, you go. Go get those black peppers, I’m right behind you’”, he jokes, as he takes the last sip of a cup of Espresso. Chef Willi, as he is popularly known, has spent most of his professional years in India.

Brought up in a lower middle class family in New Zealand, Willi Wilson is the Chief Operation Officer of Food and Beverages at Burgundy Restaurants, Fresco Gelato and Tuscana Restaurants. His latest venture is Fika, a café located in Adyar, Chennai.

Talking about his early catering school experience in New Zealand, he says that he was put under “varied, and intense catering school training, where I learned everything from butchery to pastry, and everything in between”

“People don’t get that chance anymore”, he sighs, “to work your way up the ladder. And the desire to put in the effort needed is diminishing over the years.”

Talk veers towards Fika’s menu and he elaborates on how the restaurant’s offerings were customised to cater to how Chennai eats, “It depends on which customer you’re talking to. Three customers might have three completely different takes on pizza, so how should I change the pizza, to suit all of them, or should I go for what I think is a good balance for all of them. I don’t use the imported mozzarella for the pizza, because there are so many textures and characters for different mozzarellas”. He uses a particular brand of mozzarella from Delhi, because “it’s tastier”.

“Even in Tuscana, I had a 60:40 mix, to add to the stringiness and to add to the taste. So it’s good for the Italians, but it is a little bit tastier for the local people as well.” Willi, also adds, excitedly, that his favourite dish – Grilled Chicken and Bacon with Burrata, will soon be on the menu at Fika.

Having spent most of his culinary career in India, Chef Willi really seems to like the lifestyle here. “While the detriment is that it’s unruly and unlawful, the good part is that it’s unruly and unlawful. I like the more relaxed, Asian way of life over the Western, British or Australasian lifestyle”

But staying away from family has been tough on Willy. It’s been his life for the past 40-odd years. “If you’re a hotel chef, there won’t be much time for family. I wasn’t there when my wife died, I wasn’t there when my mother died, and I wasn’t there when my father died.”

Willi stood at a hotel door, in China, waving his wife goodbye, as she was flown out to Hong Kong for a medical operation. “But I was still working. Everyday you’ve to go inside and say “Hey guys, ramp up. Cooking works by passion.” Your team is out there ramping up the passion and you can’t be there complaining about your personal life.”

So what does Chef Willi looks forward to in his life? “My Whiskey, my Scotch” he replies with a big wide smile.