Video: Chef Marcus Samuelsson On Bermuda
With his pop-up restaurant, dubbed Samuelsson at HP, open now, and a full-fledged signature restaurant set to open in May 2015, world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson has quickly made a name for himself in Bermuda, bringing his sense of taste and style to the island for the first time.
Bernews recently had the opportunity to sit down with Chef Samuelsson in order to learn more about his experience, his plans, and what Bermuda has to offer his career – and his menu.
When asked why he chose Bermuda in opening his new restaurant, Chef Samuelsson said, “Well it’s gorgeous; Bermuda’s a beautiful place, a beautiful part of the world. It’s great that it is so close to New York; you know, I always say, door to door, it’s three hours from my house to the Princess Hamilton – which is almost quicker than going to the Hamptons when you live in New York.
“And I’m also really excited about the history of the Hamilton and the Green family’s commitment and involvement in renovating and taking care of this iconic location.”
“I want to be in a place where our guests will enjoy the experience that we’re trying to build for them. When I came here, everybody’s been so nice to me in the island. It’s very clear here that the water is the big star – so we wanted to make the restaurant as close to the water as possible. And with renovating the gazebo room, we had the opportunity.
“Once you have the water as driver, you know that fish are going to be on the menu. I like natural connections, and Bermuda Princess Hamilton gives us that.”
When asked what the favorite offering has been since the opening of his pop-up restaurant last month, Chef Samuelsson said, “The catch of the day is very popular because people want to eat fresh local fish and we want to continue that once we open the restaurant, with the local feel and bringing you fresh food, of course.
“The whole menu has been very positively received. We’re very fortunate, we’re extremely busy every day; we only have 45 seats, but we have 110 or 120 customers in per night.”
When asked what unique flavours Bermuda had added to his repertoire, Chef Samuelsson said, “I think it’s a great story being this close to the States and also having the Portuguese heritage and the British influence. But, Bermuda has its own voice in terms of food, in terms of music, and in terms of culture, and our restaurant wants to capture that and present that in its best way.
“So we have done a little research over the year and half before we started the restaurant and we’re going to continue that. It’s all here locally; the environment is going to tell us what to cook.”
When asked about the local talent that he had been able to work with, Chef Samuelsson said, “Our staff is all local and we’re very happy about that and we have a great exchange programme with cooking schools and local fisherman. This restaurant will work because of the locals; there is no other way to look at it.”
Chef Marcus Samuelsson at Fairmont Hamilton Princess:
“If we’re going to have a chance to be successful, it’s because the locals will embrace us, and that’s our compass. So we’re learning and hopefully we can also teach a little bit, and in that union we can create something very unique.
“The Green family has been extremely supportive of us and you can tell their commitment to the island. Look at the hotel and look at the renovation they’re almost done with; our restaurant will be the last leg of that. This is something that we take very seriously, but we’re also going to enjoy it and have a great partnership, and provide a quality establishment, which this hotel completely deserves.”
When asked if he had any final words to add, Chef Samuelsson said, “Well, it’s pretty good being 9 o’clock in the morning in the beautiful sun and sitting in the marina being built. You realize how fortunate you are to be a part of it. Our success here is because of customers being so kind to us, and that’s something that I don’t take for granted and something I want to honour.”
Always represents himself well here and on TV, seems to be a Class act! GL to the Princess hotel!
Yes, Chef! Marcus Samuelsson most certainly is a class act to us! Enjoyed his book signing Friday night as well as dinner at Samuelsson at HP with some friends who were visiting the Island He was more than kind to my 9 year old daughter and allowed us many photo ops with him during our time there. He even personally said goodbye to us when we were leaving. The food was clean and fresh and out of this world. We all thoroughly enjoyed what we ate. Kudos to the lucky Chefs and great staff at the restaurant who bring their own experience and are being mentored by Chef Samuelsson and his crew from Red Rooster in NYC. I just can’t say enough about how impressed I am with the whole experience we had! Chef Samuelsson is a stand-out amongst celebrity, professional Chefs! Highly recommended. Both his book and his restaurant.