Magazine: Parallel worlds

From 2009 our magazine has been following the life chef Roland Oláh in New York for two years. At the end of summer he returned to Hungary for a short visit and we asked him to tell us what has happened to him since then: ‘Back home in Hungary, even if just for a few days! It was great to see our families again. In New York I still work at Martel, I have been the head chef there for six years now. I have never worked at the same place for such a long time before.

I feel alright there but I do hope that one day I get to open my own restaurant. There are many reasons behind the fact that several Hungarian cooks leave the country to work abroad. I think that the majority of cookery schools should be closed and the remaining three or four should offer the best conditions and education. As for my own progress, I am sure that I can cook better now than before I left Café Erté.

I have learned a lot and I must admit that despite being 32 years old I had many things to learn at Daniel! In spite of the hardships I think that every cook should go and work abroad for a while. I am really happy that I could prove my worth in the USA. I have met and worked with extraordinary people from various parts of the world. The most important lesson I learned was that if one wants to achieve something very much and works hard for it, they will sooner or later succeed.’