CHAR has added a bit of Venezuelan flavor
Print Edition
WILL Colmenares started his career as a chef in his hometown in Venezuela. Now, with more than 17 years of experience, he joins the CHAR restaurant at Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund as head chef.
Colmenares started cooking when he was very young. It has always intrigued him since then.
“I remember the first fried egg I cooked when I was 7 years old and my first French toast which was also around the same age. Initially I did it for myself and later on for my whole family. That was something quite interesting,” he said.
When Colmenares was 16, he enrolled in a cooking school just to kill time during holiday. A week later, he had taken up a job as an apprentice and since then, food has been a passion in his life.
Colmenares has worked at some of the best restaurants in the world and with great chefs like Andres Madrigal at Balzac in Madrid and the 3-Michelin stars El Racó de Can Fabes by Santi Santamaria in Sant Celoni-Barcelona. He then moved to London and worked at the Sketch Restaurant by Pierre Gagnaire, the Langham Hotel, and as executive head chef at Wyndham Grand Chelsea Harbor among others.
In 2014, Colmenares came to Shanghai as the chef in charge of elEfante Happy Restaurant & Bar where he brought signature Spanish tapas and Mediterranean dishes while maintaining his own cooking style.
From Venezuela to London and now Shanghai, Colmenares described his cooking style as flexible and constantly evolving.
“I have worked on quite a diverse variety of restaurants — Michelin stars, fine dining, Moroccan, modern French, modern brasserie, hotels, Spanish, Italian and Mediterranean. Having all this different concepts have helped my cooking skills and opened my mind to a series of new techniques and flavors that are reflected in my dishes,” he said.
He loves to work with fresh produce, picking what’s on the market on the day. There are so many things a chef needs to take into consideration, and for Colmenares, cooking is an art that requires skills and also gives pleasure. “There is something amazing when you get your first batch of asparagus or you bite the first figs of the seasons or when you get your strawberries freshly picked. I love to prepare dishes that reflect that,” he said.
CHAR is a contemporary steakhouse and bar that delivers dishes of quality products, bold flavors and playful presentation.
The restaurant is located on the top three floors of Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund with some of the best views of the city. The outdoor bar and terrace overlooks the Huangpu River and the skyline.
The signature dish “Char Indulgence” uses the best tenderloin from David Blackmore, a premium Wagyu beef producer in Austria. The restaurant has also compiled a selection of six of the finest natural salts to compliment the steak dishes.
Colmenares’s vision is to create a dining experience as soon as the guests arrive. “All kitchen and restaurant have their challenges, their routines and their feelings, a new chef has to integrate all that,” he said.
Opening hours: Seven days a week from 6 pm
Tel: 3302-9995
Address: 585 Zhongshan Rd E2
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
