CHEF OF THE MONTH
May 2022 Gulf Gourmet
DER KÜCHENMEISTER The German state of Bavaria is known for its lush greenery, fresh produce and farming culture. Chef Moritz Neumann brings these elements of his upbringing as well as his inherent love for food and cultures to the operations of JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai as the marquee property’s culinary director. Meet the Küchenmeister – the German master of the kitchen...
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hen it comes to creativity, the Germans are not the first to come to mind. Efficiency more like it, with the creative crown going to their French neighbours. That’s why it is a pleasant surprise to get to know Chef Moritz Neumann, the director of culinary at JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai. You see, he combines the best of both. He’s as creative a chef as they come, at the same time, he runs a team of no less than 300 chefs with enviable efficiency. The German-born chef leads the culinary operations at the marquee property with more than 1,600 rooms, 51 meeting rooms and 15 F&B outlets. It’s hardly a cakewalk to run such a huge operation, especially when you are dealing with a large and diverse team of chefs, from as many as 50 countries.
FINANCE TO FOOD
The 37-year-old chef started at the Marriott group in Munich 20 years ago and ended up in Dubai with the brand. Born and raised in the picturesque suburb of Oberschleissheim near Munich, he had a ‘normal childhood’ climbing trees and playing in nature. “It was a cozy community. If you wanted to know who was where, you just had to check the bikes parked outside the houses,” he smiles at the memory. “There were lakes, forests and the countryside. I grew up in the lap of nature.”
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In Germany, you have to decide at the age of 13-14 what direction you want to go into. That’s not ideal because you are too young to know yourself. I went in the wrong direction for a while Although Bavaria is known to be the culinary capital of Germany, food wasn’t an obvious choice for a career. Chef Moritz went to the Munich Business School to study economics and finance. Education in Germany lays a strong emphasis on practical training. Right from the early stages of his education, Chef Moritz was put into internships. “I went to different offices as an intern and what I noticed was that there were 45- to 50-year-olds who had been in the same chair for the past two decades, doing the same job day in and day out, for more or less their entire lives. That made me wonder if an office job was really the thing for me.” Still, he applied to banks and insurance
companies for jobs, as was the trend among newbies at the time. “In Germany, you have to decide at the age of 13-14 what direction you want to go into. That’s not ideal because you are too young to know yourself. I went in the wrong direction for a while.” But fate has a way of correcting wrongs. One of the places Chef Moritz went to intern at was the Munich Marriott Hotel. “They asked me what I was interested in and offered me a chance to do rotations across departments to see which suits me best.” On a weekly basis, he went from front office to housekeeping to the kitchen. “I felt the most comfortable in the kitchen. But I was still sceptical. Can the kitchen really be a career?” Initial hesitation, however, gave way to curiosity and a feeling of belonging. The education system there allows aspirants to get a job at a restaurant or hotel and attend school part-time, to round out both academic and practical knowledge. Chef Moritz secured a technical degree in culinary arts over a two-and-a-halfyear period, all the while being gainfully employed at the Marriott.
STEADY STEPS TO SUCCESS
Loyalty to the Marriott has paid off for Chef Moritz. During his six years at the hotel in Munich, he was sent to participate in the competition at the JW Marriott in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The competition was called Cook Smart. I didn’t win there but the judge asked me what I wanted to do next. I said I was flexible and I thought
