'Tiger Woods wanted Thai food...'

Jean-Luc Vila, head chef of Bateel, on being a private pastry chef to big names like Beyoncé, Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Your favourite memory of food.
I've enjoyed cooking since I was a little boy. My grandmother and her traditional, countryside, homemade food with ingredients from the garden are what inspired me. It was back then that I learnt the most important lesson: good food is simplicity and quality ingredients lead to amazing taste!

You've been a private pastry chef for some big names, like Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Beyoncé, Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Jordan (to name a few). What was it like to cater to celebrities like renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti or for Tiger Wood's wedding?
Pastry is my passion. Depending on the occasion and the products available, the recipes I create are always slightly different from what you will find in regular restaurants or cafés. So, while Mr Pavarotti wanted dishes like his mama would make at home - traditional tiramisu and simple fresh berries tart with ice cream - Tiger Woods wanted Thai food and we often served him fresh mango with sticky rice and coconut milk. For his wedding, however, we tailor-made an eight-tier cake with eight different flavours!

How different was serving celebrities from serving regular folks? Is there anything you had to watch out for?
I always bake and create with great passion, no matter if it's for a celebrity or simply for my wife or kids. When you do what you do with love, it will always be great. Of course, you have to watch out for certain food allergies, intolerances and preferences, and we do that with pleasure. Incorporating something a celebrity likes into my recipes is a great experience. The best moment is when you see them eat it... and love it.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge in your line of work?
Constantly innovating to stay updated with trends and flavours is challenging. Thinking outside the box, creating new recipes, improving existing ranges of products. The industry is in a state of constant evolution and the minute you stop, you are obsolete, so that is challenging but also a lot of fun.

Favourite comfort food?
My mum's potato flat omelette with garden fresh herbs, and Rougaille corn beef from Mauritius with rice and lentils.

One ingredient you can't stand?
Cucumber.

If you could choose a last meal, what would it be?
Fresh mushroom risotto and tiramisu.

Your favourite culinary destination, and why?
I've travelled a lot in the last 25 years, so I love many different food cultures - Spanish, Indian, Mauritian, French, Italian. For the precision and the perfection with which they work, however, I like Japan as a culinary destination. They are always looking for the best-quality ingredients, from farmer to retailer.

Pastries and desserts are often seen as guilty pleasures. Do you have any advice for how to keep a sweet treat healthy without compromising on taste?
Many of the pastries we create are healthier than the standard variant, because we use date dhibs to sweeten them instead of refined sugar. Also, I never work with preservatives or additives - only pure, high-quality flour, fresh butter and cream, fresh fruits or fruit purée etc. Additives are the really unhealthy part of sweet indulgences. I have a great trick: eat a salad for lunch and then a pastry for dessert for perfect balance! A sweet treat here and there is very important for quality of life. Why live, if you can't indulge once in a while in a mille-feuille or a Paris-Brest?

If you had to invent an unusual pastry, what would it be?
A Kinder Bueno and Banana Spring Roll!
- Staff reporter

• Food and Dining