Eye Candy: We Chat with Chef Sam Chablani of No Burn No Taste and Burnt Bakes Singapore

PUBLISHED November 20th, 2020 11:06 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 02:42 pm

Sam Chablani has been active in Singapore’s culinary scene for quite awhile now. He was sous chef at Mediterranean-inspired Lolla, consulted for Bali import Naughty Nuri’s, and was the head chef at the popular – but now defunct – Fat Lulu’s. Currently striking out on his own and dealing with the unique challenges of the pandemic with equally unique solutions, Sam has started selling delicious butter and basque cheesecakes, as well as conducting private barbecues. We talk to Sam about inspirations, his new ventures, and his love for cake.

Hi Sam! How did you get into the culinary industry?

I started cooking when I was 15, but I think it started because of my dad. He used to make me chicken nuggets every Thursday. I was so attached to that. It was the only thing I looked forward to.

And then one day, he couldn’t make it cause he was busy and I threw a massive tantrum. So I decided to make them myself. I had watched how he used hot oil and heated it up and submerged the nuggets in. With no concept of what hot oil was, I decided to take control of my own life and make them on a day he wasn’t home because I didn’t get them that week. But when I tried, I smoked up the house and it smelt like burnt oil.

Thankfully he didn’t get mad and showed me how it was done. He taught me the first concept of feeling how hot fryer oil was by waving my hand above it. In a week, I managed to fry my own nuggets. I was so content. I wanted to share this emotion of nuggets with my neighbours who I met downstairs every day.

And when I cooked for them and saw they were so happy, I felt an emotion I had never felt. I made people happy. And that made me very happy. So I made it my mission to make people happy through food. It’s the same today. Nothing has changed. I crave that feeling of being able to extract an emotional response to food.

Where did the name No Burn No Taste come from?

NoBurnNoTaste was created when I was a sous chef at a Mediterranean restaurant. I had finished my stint as a butcher and started going deeper into what made a good steak great. I found out I loved the charred flavours. I had to teach one of the junior chefs there that charring steaks was what made them taste amazing. And for him it just seemed too burnt. So I had to tell him, NO BURN NO TASTE, BRO! I started to find ways to blacken food without the nasty bitter flavours.

Could you tell us some of the stories behind your tattoos?

Tattoos for me are a story of my journey as a cook. The first one I got was “live to cook”. I knew I wanted to be a chef for the rest of my life and I’d only be living if I kept cooking. I also have a sleeve that has curiosity, obsession, and clarity. It’s how I approach food.

The next one was “ be the change”. I was extremely frustrated with the F&B industry years ago. Becoming a chef was like asking to be paid a below minimum wage salary. I knew that as long as I was gonna be a chef, I’d do my best to nurture and share my knowledge with my cooks.

Who is your biggest inspiration as a chef?

Honestly, Gordon Ramsay. His relentless pursuit towards achieving something out of nothing and doing business has always been such an inspiration.

Tell us about your Umami Butter. How did you begin developing it?

I had to make a butter for my friend’s wedding. I’d tasted it at a particular restaurant but I felt I could do it better so I made my own version! People loved it and kept coming back. When I closed Fat Lulu’s, I kinda started peddling it on the side and now it’s turned into a full-fledged e-commerce business!

You’ve been doing private home barbecues too – what are some of the challenges? And since you deal in grilled meats, how did Burnt Bakes come about?

After my restaurant closed, I ended up getting a grill and some of my old customers wanted me to cook for them. So I went to their house and cooked with a grill. One party led to multiple more and I developed a whole small business around it! Best job ever.

And I LOVE CAKE. Once I learnt the basics of digital marketing during COVID, I was like okay, I wanna make cake and eat cake. And share cake! Plus, I was sick of all the bad cheesecakes in the market. Some were going at S$80 dollars and tasted like F.

I also wanted to do something different. Imagine a world where you use eco-friendly packaging made from recycled material. Imagine a world where you’d be able to support and employ staff with different learning curves. Burnt bakes works with low IQ kids from APSN delta school who help with the baking. Instead of them getting cleaning jobs, they help with layering of parchment paper, scaling, pouring and organising. And this makes me feel happy cause my team and I can make a small difference in this shitty job market.

After learning business the hard way I realised I could make change on my own terms. And create a world that I want to see. Burnt Bakes is that vision.

What does #ridethepony mean?

When I was a line cook in New York at a one Michelin-starred restaurant called Gotham Bar & Grill, work was really intense but people really were supportive. Every time I felt scared that I would not be able to keep up, my chefs and team would just be like “ride the pony!”. It was like just – go with the flow. But it became our battle cry when we felt self doubt we would just say it and it felt better!

Are you still a Taylor Swift fan?

For a while I was a Swifty. I have no regrets. Judge my food, not my music choices please!