In the kitchen with Jay Refugia, Hotel Montreal

This week, we chatted with Jay Refugia, the head chef of Hotel Montreal's Polo Bar and Restaurant about his go-to dinner party meal and biggest kitchen disaster.

Your favourite recipe you cook for yourself?

Bacon and eggs.

The one thing you always have in your fridge?

Japanese mayonnaise.

If you could impart one piece of cooking knowledge to everyone, what would it be?

How to make an omelette.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Bluff oysters.

Can you recall the moment when you knew you wanted to pursue a career in food?

Helping my mum in the kitchen when I was eight years old.

Your go-to dinner party meal?

Twice cooked pork belly with crispy skin.

Who is your food hero?

Anthony Bourdain.

What music, if any, do you like to listen to while cooking?

Currently, Italian songs and sometimes a bit of drum and bass.

Biggest kitchen disaster?

Leaving chicken bones in the oven when I was making chicken stock. Thankfully, someone noticed and averted a fire but left the pan for me to clean.

Your guilty pleasure?

Chocolate.

In all your travels, where have you experienced the best food (and what was it)?

In Parma, Italy where I learned how to cure prosciutto while enjoying every morsel.

Is there one cookbook you go back to time and time again?

The Silver Spoon.

The kitchen utensil you can't live without?

My special spatula purchased in Italy.

You're currently craving?

A summer berry and banana smoothie.

Any advice to new cooks?

Cooking and eating is an emotional experience. Put passion in to what you do because people can taste when you share the love and it becomes part of their memory. 

To try one of Jay's delicious dishes at home, check out the recipe for his Chorizo Al Vino Tinto.