{"id":5631,"date":"2024-10-23T23:36:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T23:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/?p=5631"},"modified":"2024-10-23T23:36:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T23:36:48","slug":"niaz-caan-chef-behind-paro-in-londons-covent-garden-on-leaving-finance-for-a-career-in-kitchens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/?p=5631","title":{"rendered":"Niaz Caan chef behind Paro in London’s Covent Garden on leaving finance for a career in kitchens"},"content":{"rendered":"

What was your first industry job?<\/strong>
\nI started working in an Indian takeaway when I was 14 in Kent, so it\u2019s got to be that!<\/p>\n

If you weren\u2019t in kitchens, what would you do?<\/strong>
\nI would probably still be in finance. I turned down my investment banking job for the kitchens and don\u2019t regret it one bit.<\/p>\n

What industry figure do you most admire, and why?<\/strong>
\nProbably Danny Meyer from the Union Square Hospitality Group.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your pet hate in the kitchen?<\/strong>
\nWhen a new kitchen porter messes with the mise en place.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the oddest thing a customer has said to you?<\/strong>
\nA customer once asked if they could order a korma, but without any spices except cumin, which is crazy because a korma does not use cumin.<\/p>\n

Sum up your cooking style in a single sentence<\/strong>
\nWell prepared and well organised.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the worst review you\u2019ve ever had?<\/strong>
\nA customer who recognised me from the internet said that I had a terrible personality, but had never even spoken to me as I was in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?<\/strong>
\nJump in and figure it out as you go along. A thick skin certainly helps.<\/p>\n

Which single item of kitchen equipment could you not live without?<\/strong>
\nA swivel peeler.<\/p>\n

What would you choose to eat for your last meal?<\/strong>
\nFried chicken.<\/p>\n

\u00c0 la carte or tasting menu?<\/strong>
\n\u00c0 la carte.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve ever had in a restaurant?<\/strong>
\nI do not recall the name, but it was while I was in Budapest on a work visit as a restaurant consultant. The steak, chips and fondue were all cooked to perfection.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite fast food joint?<\/strong>
\nKFC.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the dish you wish you\u2019d thought of?<\/strong>
\nThe gochujang paste in gochujang chicken.<\/p>\n

MasterChef or Great British Menu?<\/strong>
\nGreat British Menu.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most overrated food?<\/strong>
\nA kebab.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re restaurant dictator for a day what would you ban?<\/strong>
\nMoaning.<\/p>\n

Who would your dream dinner party guests be?<\/strong>
\nIt would always be my family.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your earliest food memory?<\/strong>
\nCooking a lamb curry with my mum at nine years old.<\/p>\n

Twitter or Instagram?<\/strong>
\nInstagram.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the closest you\u2019ve ever come to death?<\/strong>
\nI fell off a jet ski in Morocco last week. Would definitely do it again though.<\/p>\n

Where do you go when you want to let your hair down?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s usually the gym at 1am in the morning.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your tipple of choice?<\/strong>
\nDoes tea count?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite food and drink pairing?<\/strong>
\nParothe and tea in the morning is a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n

What do you consider to be your signature dish?<\/strong>
\nAt the moment, it\u2019s the Paro lamb shank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was your first industry job? I started working in an Indian takeaway when I was 14 in Kent, so it\u2019s got to be that! If you weren\u2019t in kitchens, what would you do? I would probably still be in finance. I turned down my investment banking job for the kitchens and don\u2019t regret it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-restaurant-news-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}