Hailing from Las Vegas, Giovanni Ledon has held the post of Chef de Cuisine at Akira Back, W Dubai - The Palm, for five years, catapulting the restaurant to multi-award-winning success thanks to its fusion of adrenaline-fuelled Japanese and Korean flavours, coupled with jaw-dropping views over the city. Now, with a full-throttle approach towards culinary sustainability, Chef Gio is spearheading Dubai’s plant-based and zero-waste revolution
As a vegan, I’m excited to hear you’re hosting a Vegan Zero Waste dinner on November 1 – but what is it exactly?
We are pushing ourselves to be more sustainable and promote an eco-friendly approach to cooking whilst making delicious food. Whether it be a wonky vegetable, parts of the food item you traditionally wouldn’t use, or showcasing sustainable and eco-friendly practices with growing the food item - we just want to be able to highlight it. To show people that being sustainable is possible!
This is the first Zero Waste dinner at Akira Back, so what kick-started the idea?
W as a brand pushed this initiative out to the global team and asked us to test ourselves to see how we can push and promote something sustainable in each of our locations. We were the second hotel in the W portfolio to tackle this initiative through the first Zero Waste Dinner held at Michelin-starred Torno Subito earlier this year. So when it came time for me to do it, I got so excited! At home, I advocate a meat-free lifestyle and my family eats vegan most of the time. I wanted to test my limits in the kitchen and see how we can create an incredible, vegan zero waste dinner without compromising on taste, texture and experience. I’ve also partnered with an amazing local mushroom producer, Below Farms, and their sustainable practices got me extremely excited on how we can work together to create an unforgettable experience.
I’ve had a sneak peak at the menu, which looks incredible. Tell us what’s on there...
We’re super excited about the mushrooms we’re using from Below Farms. What’s cool about them? Well, they’re local, and they’re also grown in a fascinating way, where they use stuff like date palm fronds and leftovers from nearby farms as ‘soil’ for these little guys.
Do you host these events in response to your guests, to showcase your skillset or out of a sense of responsibility...
We feel it is an important education tool. Kitchens can have very large amounts of wasted products and produce but by creating this menu, we are ensuring we are using things that we wouldn’t normally use. It’s been exciting and it’s definitely ignited a fire in me to do more, and even include these items on our daily dinner menus in the future.
How important is it to you to promote these kind of zero-waste events?
Very important. We have included zero-waste drinks on our menu in all our restaurants since we had the first Zero Waste Dinner in March. The menus for the dinner on November 1, will also showcase sustainable menus and paper, as well as promoting local artisans and their own sustainable practices.
Who does the onus lie with - restaurants or guests - when driving positive change?
Personally, I think it is up to both of us. But people look towards the restaurants and the chefs for this. We need to be able to promote sustainable practices and be the driving force for the change within the industry.
The restaurant’s vegan menu has gained quite a cult following. Will you be doing more in the plant-based space?
Yes, for sure! As you already know, my family eats vegan and so I find myself getting out there and making vegan food that is really tasty. Vegan food has this reputation of not tasty nice, of tasting like cardboard, or having no texture or nutritional value - basically, just boring. I want to challenge that. I want to prove to people that sometimes the vegan offerings on the menu are better than the non-vegan offerings.
And lastly, you hosted a Six Hands Dinner recently with Dubai Chefs Collective, along with two regional chefs. Is it important to champion talent in and from the region?
Let me tell you, it’s a real blessing to be part of a culinary community where chefs have each other’s backs. During lockdown, I got invited to join the Dubai Chefs Collective and it’s been an amazing experience. Working with chefs from this region is special, because we’re all in it together. The camaraderie is incredible, and I haven’t seen anything like it in other cities. It’s all about supporting one another and it’s
a privilege to be a part of it.
THE GRILLING
First dish you ‘mastered’ cooking: A ham and cheese omelette sandwich when I was a child.
Chef motto: ‘If you don’t like it, quit!’
Driving force: Customer satisfaction – I’m a people-pleaser.
Dish you most enjoy cooking: Pizza from scratch for my family.
Ingredients you can’t cook without: Garlic, onion and olive oil.
Best restaurant: I can’t pick a favourite restaurant, but my favourite place to eat is at my grandmother’s table.
Favourite travel memory: Travelling to Busan in South Korea and eating a seafood BBQ next to the ocean.
Best city for food: Seoul, South Korea.
Strangest thing you’ve eaten: Fermented Skate wing.
One thing you could eat forever: Pizza.
Food you would never eat: I would try anything once!
Foodie guilty pleasure... Boba Tea!
Most memorable meal: Eating Pacific Lobster cooked in a small restaurant next to the ocean in Rosarito, Mexico. It was simply cooked with just butter, garlic and salt. It taught me that fresh local ingredients can really speak for themselves.
Greatest culinary inspiration: Chef Akira Back. I feel lucky to have worked so closely with him for over 10 years. I have learned so much about cooking, but also about management and the F&B industry itself.
Top vegan zero-waste dinner dishes: The Eringi mushroom pizza with umami aioli and white truffle, and the Pink Oyster Mushroom ceviche.