Victor Borg, Art of Food’s award-winning chef, talks to Marie Benoit about food, more food and his other love, football.
Victor received his Diploma in Food & Beverage from ITS and spent the next two and a half years at The Phoenicia Hotel. By the time he was 18, he stepped in as a last-minute replacement to take part in his first international cooking competition, La Parade des Chefs, at Hotelympia and in the sixteen years that followed he annually took part in both local and foreign competitions, 8 years of which as Malta captain. Victor has won all the awards possible yet one of his most prestigious would be that of Chef of the Year in 1998, making him the youngest ever to win this award at the age of 24.
Victor took part in an international contest in Birmingham and won the Junior Gold Medal Best in Class and when he led the Malta team in the World Association of Chefs Culinary World Cup, whose football equivalent would be FIFA, Malta won Gold.
He has had ample working experience in top Michelin-rated restaurants in Europe. He was commis chef at the Bellevue Palace in Bern which is a member of ‘The Leading Hotels of the World’, a top-class club of venues renowned for its extremely uncompromising, strict quality requirements, such that no hotel in Malta has yet successfully met them. His trail in Malta took him to the Corinthia Group as well as Christopher’s then in Ta’ Xbiex, where he was Sous chef. Then there were the work stints in top restaurants worldwide which gave him an opportunity to keep abreast of new trends, techniques and methods. These include Glynn Purnell’s one star Michelin Jessica’s in Birmingham, David Everitt-Matthias’s Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham as well as Raymond Blanc’s Le Petit Blanc in Oxford, both proudly claiming 2 Michelin stars each. Another two-star rated restaurant where he completed a ‘stage’ was the two-star Bagatelle Restaurant in Oslo, Norway, whose chef is the world famous Eyvind Hellstrøm.
In 1999 when, aged 25, Victor opened the then famous Mange Tout overlooking Xemxija Bay and as its ex-chef patron and during its six years of operation, he was awarded the The Definitive(ly) Good Guide award of Best in Food and Best Overall restaurant for the entire six years in a row, and Best in Service for three years. After four and a half successful years as Executive Chef at The Phoenicia during which the restaurant also managed to win Best Food, Best service and Best overall thus taking the record up to 7 yrs.
Victor now expresses himself at Al Molo in Portomaso and at the Art of Food’s newest addition The Joint in Spinola Bay, a haven for meat lovers.
I have one sister Josette
I love eating simple dishes which I prepare using the best ingredients at hand. A plate of fresh spaghetti, dressed in a plain tomato sauce, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprig of basil sometimes dusted with some parmesan cheese can give me an ultimate thrill in food fun. My entire world is centred around food.
When I have some time to spare I enjoy football, fanatically supporting B’Kara and Inter to the extent that despite my very busy schedule, I hardly ever miss out on Ta’ Qali when my local team is in action. It’s not a matter of having some spare time for B’Kara FC, it’s a commitment I take very seriously.
My favourite holiday destination is London and any Michelin-rated restaurant around the world. Gastronomy is my occupation, my passion and my hobby all rolled into one. Whenever I’m away, you can rest assured that I will be having lunch and dinner at top restaurants. I plan my trip around such restaurants and experiences. This serves as my pleasure and amusement as well as inspiration.
One living person I admire is Gordon Ramsay, the world renowned chef famous for his culinary genius and bad temper. A chance meeting with Gordon Ramsay ended up with me working in Gordon’s Aubergine Restaurant when it already enjoyed a one Michelin star, yet during my stay there it was awarded its second. This experience was to mark me in my quest for professional fulfillment.
A character in fiction I like very much is Remy from the animated film Ratatouille, the young rat in the French countryside who arrives in Paris, only to find that his cooking idol is dead. He beats all odds in search of his culinary dream. He’s my hero.
If I could change one thing about myself it would be becoming a professional footballer who started his career with B’Kara FC rising from its nursery to becoming top-scorer in a treble winning season, then moving to Lombardy in Italy not only to feast on its famous game dishes but also to be Inter’s striker, scoring a hat-trick to beat Juve in a Champions’ League final.
My dream job is owning FC Internazionale Milano, but running a restaurant that is recognized by Michelin sounds good to me. Who knows? Who knows? Maybe one day…
My kind of music is the glugging sound of a fine Red being poured into a wine goblet at the end of a long successful night in my kitchen. Pure symphony.
My motto is “Food glorious food! What is there more handsome?” taken from Oliver Twist suits me just fine.