When it comes to age vs experience, Dale Ferguson, Head Chef of Obu Pan Asian in Glasgow’s Princes Square has little of the first and plenty of the second – at just 20 years old he is the youngest head chef in Glasgow. At an age where most are just beginning their career path, he’s responsible for the menu at one of Glasgow’s prime restaurant locations as well as managing a kitchen team.
Obu Pan Asian, Prince’s Square latest restaurant, is an ambitious mix of Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and India cuisines. The menu includes favourites such as curry and sushi as well more exotic dishes like Bulgogi burgers and spichy kimchi roll, reflecting Glasgow’s recent enthusiasm for Korean food. Obu Pan Asian has already garnered a number of rave reviews from 5pm customers, with comments including “food was fantastic and fresh” and “I love Pan Asian food so thought I would give it a go based on the good reviews and it didn’t disappoint!”
Here, Dale’s own words, is why you should put your dining trust in young hands and check out Obu in Glasgow’s Prince’s Square.
Attention to detail
“Everything on the menu is made from scratch. We make our own Thai curry paste, curry sauces; nothing is predetermined or pre-packaged. Our Thai fries are hand cut, we do them fresh on the day. They are twice cooked fries. We cut them straight from a red rooster potato and toss through our signature spice, fresh spring onion and sliced chilli. It makes a difference; you can see the difference in the colour of the food or taste the difference in the texture and flavour of the food. More than anything, you can see the difference in the customer’s reaction to the food.”
Passion for food
“When I was younger my mother’s side of the family used to travel across the continent quite a lot. I found myself from the age of eight or nine being introduced to Middle Eastern, Indian, Malaysian spices and spice palettes. Taking that on, when I started my career, it was always something that I had a passion for. I came from a family of foodies and have been cooking for almost seven years. It’s what I do on a daily basis. I live eat and sleep with it. It’s something I have a deep rooted passion for.”
Experience
“When I walked into my Home Ec class at school my teacher said, “What are you doing here?” Because I already had a vast knowledge of the culinary world and institute. It was a case of she felt that I could learn more in an exterior situation so I started volunteering in restaurants in the city centre. From up until I was 16 I was volunteering in restaurants in town, not getting paid, but getting the experience. I was there after school and there at the weekends, building up my knowledge and basis of what I wanted to do. At 16, I got my first paid job in a restaurant as well as going to college and achieving my HND so I was still qualified but also learning my trade. When I was 18, I moved over to Switzerland and was working with a fabulous chef, Flavio, he’s one of the most accoladed chefs in Switzerland and the world. He showed me a lot. He has an Asian background in the sense that he was trained over there. I was over there for just over a year at which point I decided it was time to come back home and see my fiancé and spend time with the family. I was approached to take over Pan-Asian and develop it more, and I have. In amongst that, I got Young Scot Chef of the year when I was 15, Future Talent for Britain Chef, when I was 17, and I was also on The Taste on Channel 4 just before I moved to Switzerland.”
Ambition
“You want something you have to grab it and go for it. There’s no point sitting about and waiting, “I’d love to be a head chef.” You’re better going for it. Whats the worse if you do try and fail? You try to be a head chef at twenty and it didn’t work out. No one can knock you for trying, everyone can knock you for not taking it. I’m hoping to start my own restaurant and do my own food so at the age of thirty I will hopefully have a vast of restaurants. I’m making headway on that. That is the dream, getting your own place, and I’m close to achieving it. However, I’m quite happy and content cooking the food here at Obu and I don’t think anyone’s going to take that away from me.”
£12.95 for 2 courses on pre theatre menu + wine
£11.95 for 2 courses on lunch menu + glass of wine or 1/2 pint (Sun-Thur)
25% a la carte discount (Fri -Sat)
All at Obu Pan Asian on 5pm.co.uk
Chef Quickfire Questions
Dale answers our quickfire questions
What’s your number one piece of cooking equipment?
“It’s got to be the knife. Your trusty knife that you cut yourself with by accident, you cut your veg with, the boxes open to create the produce when it gets delivered. Your knife has to be the number one piece of equipment.”
Apart from Obu do you have a favourite restaurant in Glasgow or Edinburgh?
“Not really. My love for food and flavours and techniques live without the boundaries of Glasgow and Scotland. After spending time in the middle of Europe, Glasgow is a very small city compared to the rest of Europe. You have a 1000 talented head chefs in Glasgow whereas across Europe you have millions. You have a lot to learn. That’s one thing I found when I moved over there, I basically started again. Everything you’ve been taught up to the point you change country is pointless. It changes.”
What’s a go-to dish you cook when you don’t have much time?
“Risotto – I have a love for it. A nice wild mushroom risotto is my go to comfort food. Makes you full, makes you wanna sleep, and more than anything, it’s chalked full of butter.”
Three ingredients that should be in every kitchen cupboard
“Salt, pepper and butter.”
What would be your last supper?
“A nice rich veal fillet steak. It’s got to be. Again, working in the heart of Europe, beef isn’t as much of a commodity over there. It’s more along the lines of veal, pork, chicken. If you want beef, then fair enough. We know the best beef comes from Scotland. Definitely veal is a luxury.”
Favourite restaurant in the world?
“I’ve not seen enough of the world to say that. I have a favourite restaurant in Europe which would be Osteria TRE in Bubendorf in Basel. For the world though, come back to me when I’ve seen the world.”
What’s a cooking mistake you often see people make?
“Not knowing how to cook. The main mistake I see is people throwing all the ingredients to create a dish into a cold pan and slowing bringing it to the heat. You’re not achieving anything by doing that, you have to gradually add your ingredients, continuously keeping it hot, stirring it and tasting it. So the biggest mistake would be not tasting.”