Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Meet Sofitel El Gezirah's New Executive Chef

Making life even more magnifique over at the Sofitel El Gezirah, the luxurious hotel has brought in renowned French chef Philippe Ture to take the helm...

Staff Writer

In Cairo it is no secret that at the Sofitel El Gezirah, life is magnifique. With a careful eye on the minutest of details, the Sofitel continues to raise the bar in terms of standards, offering luxury and serenity to its visitors. Looking to build on the already memorable experience, the Sofitel El Gezirah has reached out and found renowned French Chef Philippe Ture, to take the helm of all the Sofitel El Gezirah restaurants as their newest Executive Chef. With the buzz swarming around Cairo about this new Chef, we decided to head over to high end hotel to learn more about this talented chef and what he plans to bring to the Sofitel.

As an executive chef for the past 24 years Chef Ture has travelled the globe honing his skills and developing his cultural taste buds. Developing his skill set in France working in various Michelin Star restaurants Chef Ture joined the Sofitel in 1985 and began globally strengthening the Sofitel’s reputation for immaculate cuisine. “Working for Sofitel has allowed me to travel to places like Brazil, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Syria, and I first came to Egypt in 2004 working for Sofitel Maadi.” Since his first time working in Egypt, Chef Ture has noticed a variety of changes on the culinary scene. “First thing you do when you come to a country is you go to the market and see what produce you can find. This time I noticed that the market has vastly expanded, increasing the quality and produce offered since the last time I was here, allowing me to do more with quality.” With an increase in the quality and more ingredients to play with, Chef Ture is excited to be back in Egypt and will oversee all the restaurants at the Sofitel El Gezirah ensuring that patrons will be leaving with delicious food memories that will have them coming back for more.

In order to accomplish his mission, Chef Ture stresses that it all begins with training. “To maintain our Sofitel standards, first we have to train our employees. The problem is that you have a lot of people that don’t want to work on Saturdays and on the weekend. They don’t want to work after 5 PM. They don’t want to work on public holidays. They want to have a family life, failing to understand that becoming a true chef requires full time commitment,” explains Chef Ture. For him, he has managed to find the balance between work and family, because his wife luckily works in the same industry and understand the demands placed on chefs.

With the hotel industry continuing to thrive in Egypt, kitchen opportunities are plenty for a younger generation looking for employment. Couple that with the fact that cooking shows have become very popular on televisions all across the globe, ushering a new wave of passionate chefs. Becoming a chef at a restaurant requires culinary skills and palette; however, being an executive chef of a hotel requires an entirely different set of skills. According Chef Ture, “When you are executive chef you have to run everywhere. You have to manage more employees. It’s more administrative work and less cooking, making training essential for meeting Sofitel standards.”

Although he has been here before, Chef Ture is eager to present traditional dishes, and is not afraid to add an Egyptian twist that goes beyond adding cumin to everything. “There are vegetables and sauces that we use here that we don’t use too much in France, for example Bamya (Okra) and Taheena we don’t use too much in France, but can be adapted to create interesting dishes,” the chef elaborates. 

There is no shortage of options when it comes to hotels in Egypt. However, finding quality, luxury, and the highest standards are only synonymous with the Sofitel, and with Chef Ture at the helm, one can expect no difference in standards during this transitional period, and can look forward to his influence only enhancing the magnifique experience that patrons have come to expect from Sofitel El Gezirah. 

To learn more about what to expect at Sofitel El Gezirah click here.