Chef Mike Bagale on ending stint at three-star Michelin eatery Alinea, travelling to finding new culinary inspiration

It is not every day that a great chef at a world-renowned restaurant, who is the creator of a floating green apple taffy balloon filled with helium, gives it all up to rediscover and reinvent himself.

Chef Mike Bagale, former Executive Chef at Alinea, the only three-star Michelin restaurant in Chicago, recently resigned, “in order to travel, explore the world, learn about different food cultures and discover new ingredients.” His recent pop-up at Masque, Mumbai in collaboration with Chef Prateek Sadhu, where they explored raw and fine ingredients, is one such activity which excites Chef Mike, and he would rather do many more of these.

He confesses, “I want to inspire myself again through cooking. I have been cooking for the last two decades and now want to learn and discover new ingredients, find new inspirations, travel, collaborate with talented chefs from around the world and reinvent my cooking.”

Mike recognised his passion for the culinary arts in his mid-20s and cooked to bring pleasure to guests and freely express his creativity. From thereon began a unique journey, until recently when he decided to follow his heart. Great chefs are not always born and nurtured in culinary schools. Mike Bagale certainly proves that. After quitting film school in Toronto, where he was studying, he joined Four Seasons in West Palm Beach and in a short span, grew to the coveted post of Executive Chef. Next came Alinea in 2009, which is founded by Chef Grant Achatz.

Mike is happy to have learnt on the job. He is entirely self-taught. Experimenting with ingredients and cooking techniques and bettering his skills owing to his deep-seated passion for cooking has been his mantra.

Alinea was a life-changing experience for him. He admits, “My tenure at Alinea taught me to be disciplined, dedicated and driven to excel. Each and every team member there is passionate, and after working with them, I have learnt that with hard work and commitment, the results are extremely rewarding.”

Collaborating with Chef Prateek Sadhu, who has worked at Alinea too, seemed the logical thing to do as they both share a similar philosophy towards food and ingredients. At the pop-up at Masque, Chef Mike created food that displayed his techniques and passion, yet paid homage to the Himalayas.

To craft the menu for this unique culinary collaboration, Chef Bagale began with a trip to the Himalayas with Chef Sadhu, who took him foraging for fresh produce from Kashmir to create a menu that revolves around the season. In keeping with Masque’s quest for using products in their prime state of taste and nutrition, the duo returned with the freshest apricots, plums, peaches and other seasonal produce to craft a one-of-a-kind culinary experience.

The menu included teas, herbs, botanicals, mushrooms, Himalayan sea salts, fresh turmeric and much more. Ayurveda added a lightness and additional dimension to the dining experience. He elaborates, “Diners were served food made with ingredients that they had seen, and some which were new to them. Yet, all of these were presented in an innovative way. Though the flavour profiles of some dishes might have been familiar, the experience was intended to be unique.”

From edible balloons to abstract dessert paintings, Chef Mike Bagale has done them all. He seeks inspiration for his dishes from things around him. “Life in general inspires me. I am inspired by art, colour, texture and travel. When creating a dish, I try to represent food in an artistic way, but without abusing the ingredients. The edible balloon is a great example of how two simple ingredients — apple and sugar — can be presented in a delicious, creative way, while being respectful to the ingredients.”

As someone keen to learn and absorb, Chef Bagale says, “This culinary collaboration has been extremely educational and we both were excited to learn from each other and share cultures, ideas and experiences.”

Apart from wanting to collaborate and learn, coming to India was the chief attraction for Mike. “India has always fascinated me — the spices, colours, ingredients. So I was delighted to be a part of this culinary collaboration. Personally, I am always seeking unique and educational experiences as I believe they are very beneficial to me and to the community as a whole,” he reveals.

Ingredients are always the hero in a dish, as far as Chef Mike is concerned. Naturally then, when in Mexico and Japan, he is drawn to soy, seaweeds and vinegar. He adds, “The ingredients in India are very different from Europe and America. In fact, on this trip I have discovered over five ingredients that I have never used or seen before, and this really excites me. I cannot wait to experiment with them in my kitchen.”

Among other things in India, Mike has taken to Indian breads, especially the puri. “I absolutely love puris, for their flavour and texture. They perfectly compliment the cuisine,” he quips animatedly.

“I have a thing for breads. In fact, it was my love for bread and butter that got me interested in cooking at the age of 10,” he reminisces. At home, Mike enjoys South American, Japanese and Asian food. “I love everything from the Pacific too, so sea food, fruits, chillies, fresh vegetables — it really is a broad mix,” he states.

For the moment, he is happy playing around with the season’s culinary sensations in India. And it is this relentless drive to excel and constantly be inventive that keeps Chef Mike Bagale going.