What British band Arctic Monkeys taught chef Daniel Calvert: the importance of defying expectations
- The head chef at French restaurant Belon became the youngest in Hong Kong to be awarded a Michelin star in December
- He talks about what he has learnt from the British band
For their fifth album AM (2013), British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys pulled out a broad palette of styles, from hip hop to heavy metal to blues. Daniel Calvert, the 31-year-old head chef at French restaurant Belon, in Central, and the youngest in Hong Kong to be awarded a Michelin star, explains how it changed his life.
I wanted to choose the complete works of the Arctic Monkeys, because every one of their albums did something for me. Their first album (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not; 2006) came out around the time I started cooking. Every one of their albums has come out at a particular stage in my life: living in London, about to leave London, living in New York, about to leave New York, living in Paris and living in Hong Kong.
After Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007; the band’s second album), people expected them to keep doing the same thing. What happened next was Humbug (the 2009 album that expanded the band’s range into areas such as surf rock and psychedelia), which no one liked, except the real fans. They did something so out of their comfort zone; without that album, you’d never have got AM. And that leads onto the newest one (2018’s lounge pop outing, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino), where they again did something completely different.
AM is one of their most approachable albums, but you still have to think about what you’re listening to. It’s the same thing with food; people who don’t really understand it, don’t see the finer details. You can make a sauce for an average guest and they’ll tell you whether they like it or not; an experienced taster will tell you why they like it or don’t.
A lot of people have expectations of what they want from the band, which they keep defying. The public don’t know what they want until you give it to them. It’s the sign of a great artist. You have to remember this as a chef. It would be easy for me to do wagyu and put caviar on everything, but it would be too easy. I used to do a pigeon dish in pastry that people would always say they didn’t want, but then they tried it and realised they did want it; now I’ve taken it off the menu and it sells more than when it was on it (the dish is available upon request).
When we first opened as a French bistro (in 2016), a lot of people asked for coq au vin or steak frites, and a lot of them walked out of the restaurant (because neither of the popular French dishes were served at Belon). Don’t give people what they want; make them realise what they didn’t know they wanted. You’re going to do things people don’t like, but that’s OK. But you have to stick with what you do and believe in it; people will get there.
Hong Kong is my AM; it’s where my career took off. Getting the Michelin star (in December) – that’s your stadium-filler. Now my restaurant’s full every day – my stadium is full. It’s a stark reminder that we need to keep challenging ourselves and never get too comfortable.
