Neil Wager, Executive Chef of North Island in the Indian Ocean, Seychelles, claims he has the best chef job in the world. With 20 years of experience working in 6 out of 7 continents, in some of the top kitchens around the globe, he recently returned to paradise.
“I feel I’ve come home. As soon as I stepped off the boat, I knew I had come back to where I should be cooking and creating. Since my departure to the UK in 2008, I became more involved in the business side of the culinary world and I can’t say enough how delighted I am to be back in the kitchen.
The most amazing thing about North Island is the tranquility it brings out of you and the way it gently suggests you use what you find around you in your cooking. I’ve been building a repertoire of ideas and experiences, like opening a Pintxo bar and thinking on my feet what dishes to make out of the abundance of fresh local ingredients.
The purity of the sea here is unique to this region, which has inspired us to create our own sea salts that we use for flavouring in the cooking process. We smoke our own fish and use vegetables from our garden; the chefs here nurture and care for their produce every day. We consider Creole history and utilise spicy island ingredients – of course that includes any number of chills varieties!
In line with our Island’s ethos of a refined experience balanced with nature, I am looking to reflect this philosophy by balancing the natural gifts of sea, land, flora, smell, beauty and calmness with hints of fusion.
We want guests to leave North Island with the memory of walking with either myself or Vincent (our gardener), discovering the true beauty of what nature has so generously provided. Join us as we walk to West Beach and pick Indian Mulberries; grab a Natchi from the tree and eat as we walk and discuss your culinary interests, likes and dislikes.
Our ‘any menu, any venue, any time’ concept is progressing to the next level of development. I sit and engage with the guests to draw upon their individual preferences, incorporating them into each dish. This is a unique concept in food preparation and we hope North Island will set the precedent for this type of culinary experience, inspiring the rest of the world.
We aim to achieve the highest standards and quality equal to those of internationally acclaimed restaurants. My aim is not only to be the best kitchen in the Seychelles, but recognised globally for our Island food philosophy.
We are in the conservation business and the Island is a gift to us all. We make every effort to minimise our energy use in the kitchen, reducing our carbon footprint by utilising all we have here – this means relying on few non-indigenous ingredients as possible. Not only can we feel good about we do as far as sustainability – it pushes us to test the boundaries of creativity in our cooking.”
(Another Chef comes in and whispers something to Chef Neil)
“Apologies, I hope you will excuse me! I’ve just been asked to head back to the garden and pick some fruits for a special honeymoon couple. Lots of passion fruit!”
North Island recently introduced a Chef Exchange program bringing in chefs from Melbourne Australia, London, St. Lucia, Spain, Tokyo Japan and Argentina, to name a few.
PO Box 1176
Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
Telephone: +248 293 100
Facsimile: +248 293 150
email: info@north-island.com
http://www.north-island.com/
