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Meet Chef Frederik Olesen of Amber hotel. He struck me as a very friendly person and he took the time to explain the menu. He even invited us to the kitchen to catch a glimpse of how he was preparing the food. That was the highlight of my visit.

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 I asked him what inspired him to create the special menu that he did during our review of Amber Hotel.  He says, “For the Ribeye Steak, that is a French way of serving things. I have worked in French Restaurants so I drew my inspiration from there. For the Pork belly, the whole meal was skewed towards the Asian Style of service. I traveled a bit to South East Asia and that is how I got some influences in cooking. We also had Tilapia which is a classic Kenyan dish. We get our fish from Kisumu every morning and we ensure that the fish is fresh. Our Kenyan clients always enjoy this meal. We also add few ingredients to the fish, garlic being the main one. Other ingredients are kimchi salad (fermented for months) and sesame. Kimchi is from Korea and so you can see that all the dishes are from different parts of the world. You will get to enjoy his continental menu”. He fuses all these styles of cooking, but in such a way that the flavours balance. Two of his favorite meals were the pork rib eye and the whole tilapia. If you ever visit this restaurant, you can try the chef specials. There are few items in the menu that are a bit contemporary like burgers and chips etc.

I also love how we make our cheese burgers in an American style. At the moment, guests can enjoy our offers on burgers” he adds.

He grew up in Denmark and one of his favorite food memory was making cakes with his mom. Since the school system is different in Denmark, at the age of 14, he had to decide whether he wanted to go to high school or cooking school and he choose the later. “I’d always been passionate about cooking so this was a great opportunity to learn more about the skill. I did a course for four and a half years. This course included being in class for a year and most of the time we were out working in restaurants”.

He has worked in great restaurants in London and he got to a point in his life where he was looking for a change and a challenge. He got an offer to come to Kenya to start a cooking school in Massailand with a Safari camp and he agreed. He got the school running and later pursued the consulting business. He has worked in the Kenyan restaurant industry and he is currently in Amber Hotel. He loves his job and aims at preparing amazing food from his different influences.

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Crisped Pork belly South East Asian Style, spiced butternut puree, green papaya, coriander crushed peanuts.

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Grilled rib eye steak 250g rib eye, rich mushroom sauce, sweet pickle mushroom, watercress, roasted marrow bone and triple cooked chips.

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Whole Grilled Tilapa. Kimchi and cucumber salad, coconut milk, turmeric, lemon grass sauce, fresh steamed rice.

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Photography by the amazing Sylar.