DALAD KAMBHU
“
Don’t let other people decide for you. You decide for yourself what you want your future to look like.”
Michelin Star Chef,
Berlin
Over my few years working on the Women’s business at Nike I was very lucky to meet some of the most inspiring people you could wish for. From athletes like Leo Baker, Tayla Harris & Caster Semenya to my own teammates who made me a better man every single day. Dalad is one of those inspiring people I met who has overcome critics and naysayers to become the youngest woman in Germany to be awarded a Michelin star for her restaurant, Kin Dee.
A dining room that features wonderfully creative cuisine with a focus on fresh, local, high quality ingredients. Quite a feat after modeling in New York, then just leaving it all behind to open a restaurant. Her story is super inspiring, so when this book started coming to life, she was right at the top of my list of people to speak to as Dalad’s is one of the most unique stories of believing in yourself.
Jonathan: So, Kin Dee is your first restaurant which you opened right after you moved to Berlin after living in New York, right? What were you doing there?
Dalad: Yeah, I was in New York for 10 years where I was studying and modelling. I was studying international trading and marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
How was the move to New York?
It was really hard to begin with. I was young, I didn’t really speak English and along with everything else I was having to grapple with was finding an apartment, which was so tough. If you don’t have credit history, or are new, it can be so difficult. I also was working as a hostess in the hospitality industry at this time, so that was a good way to learn English because I’d been bullied before for not having learnt already.
At what point did you realize you wanted to become a chef ?
So, I always had a love for food from an early age. I’d worked in restaurants before and found it fascinating but it was around the age of 24 that I tried to go to cooking school. However, I got so many people telling me that I couldn’t do it, mostly men. They were telling me that I was too old at 24 and I should already be qualified and working by this point. I was also told because I had worked front of house and knew that world I should stay there. They were telling me I needed the 10,000 hours and wouldn’t be able to make it now.
That taught me that you should never listen to anyone or anything people think. That’s their opinion, not yours. We should make sure we all give each other a chance to try things rather than just saying it’s not possible.
Was it hard to commit to becoming a chef ?
Well as I say there were a lot of people saying no, so I just started cooking at home for friends and then more and more friends would come over. As word got out they would ask for more food and so it kind of grew organically because of my love for cooking. Then one day my mentor Rirkrit Tiravanija took me with him to a gallery to cook for the opening and realized it wasn’t much different cooking for larger groups. It all kind of went from there and we saw the opportunity to work together to bring Kin Dee to life.
With all the people saying no, did you study as a chef ?
No, I was self-taught the whole way. It came from my family. When you learn something that way it really means it’s at a depth that’s more than studying it.
What would you tell your teenage self ?
Don’t let other people decide for you.
You decide for yourself what you want your future to look like.
What would you suggest for people who want to do what you do?
Go for it. Go for it and don’t give up.
When you got the Michelin star how was i? Did you know they were coming to review Kin Dee?
I didn’t know they were coming; they are always anonymous. Two days before the guide comes out, they have a launch party and they called me:
“Hey, would you like to come to the Michelin event?”
“Mmm, how come, why do you need me to come?”
“Well because we like to invite along the most interesting people from the new guide.” “So, we’re in there?”
“Yes, you have a Michelin star!”
And I’m just like, “Oh yes I’ll be there,” and in my mind I’m like,
“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!!”
Is that the most memorable moment in your career so far?
That’s one of them, but the thing I like more than anything else is that I get to see how food changes people. Whether that’s people eating our food, or the farms we use to get our local organic ingredients, or the people we get to hire where we are able to give people chances who may not usually get them.
So back to your family, have they come to visit Kin Dee?
Yes, it’s funny because my mom came and of course she is very proud, but she doesn’t give the biggest compliments. It certainly got me thinking how I want to be a parent because she is supportive, but without being over the top. I think that’s the good thing with an Asian mother as she really helps you solve problems on your own. Even when I came here and had a few problems I would call her and explain what I was dealing with and she would be like, “come back then, but I know you can’t do that so pick yourself up and go again.” I’m really thankful for how she helps in these situations.
Thank you so much to Augustė Tamulytė for the wonderful photos and allowing us to use them in the book.
Also thank you to Cheryl Stephenson for the connect!