Anton Kovalkov is acclaimed for bringing Russian cuisine to the forefront of the industry and is currently the head chef of 'Depo' project in Moscow.

The Russian native has staged at some of the world’s best restaurants including Rene Redzepi’s Noma which was named World’s 50 Best Restaurants four years in a row and held two stars in the Nordic Cities Michelin Guide until its closure.

After a stint as head chef at Bezuhov, the owners gave Anton his very own restaurant, The Kitchen, which specialised in contemporary Russian gastronomy. From there Anton travelled to the US to train in some of the most celebrated kitchens in the world, including working with Dominique Crenn in San Francisco and at Eleven Madison Avenue in New York which was recently named the world’s best restaurant in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, before heading up the revolutionary restaurant, Fahrenheit in Moscow.

Anton is now working on developing a complex consisting of a bakery, food court, cheese factory and a cooking school.

The Staff Canteen caught up with Anton to talk about bringing Russian cuisine up to the next level, the challenge he faces sourcing ingredients and collaborating with Alyn Williams at this year’s CHEFstock.

What made you want to become a chef?

My Mum, she told me I should go and become a chef because you will always be around food and can always enjoy wonderful meals. She wasn’t wrong.

What was it like working for Rene Redezpi at Noma?

It was immensely inspiring. It’s unlike any other kitchen on the planet and an experience I took a huge amount from.

What did you take most from that experience?

I think the main thing which I took from Rene is an appreciation for the land and nature that surrounds me. I am always looking forward to each different season, and try to forage ingredients during the summer which I can keep throughout the winter and serve to our guests.

How did it feel to have your own restaurant created for you? (The owners of Bezuhov set Anton up with his own restaurant, The Kitchen)

I’m still in the process of working towards opening a place of my own and of course it’s a big thing for a chef. You try to incorporate a piece of yourself and your ethos into every element of the restaurant, so it sort of becomes an extension of your personality.

What is it about Russian cuisine that you enjoy?

I enjoy Russian cuisine because it’s the tastes of my childhood and I want to highlight that through my cuisine, whilst bringing it on to the next level. My food is rooted in Russian heritage and traditional Russian recipes, but I’ve given everything a contemporary, experimental twist – changing the typical presumptions made about the textures and flavours of Russian ingredients and often adding an element of surprise.

You draw a lot of inspiration from Asia, how is this incorporated into your dishes?

I found that Asian influences work very well with Russian cuisine. For example, I do Chawanmushi with a plate of cold Borscht with a spicy Russian bresaola and fermented vegetables.

How have you refined Russian cuisine? And how do you combine this with the traditional elements? What makes your dishes stand out from other Russian cuisine?

The main thing we do is aim to get the best from Russian ingredients, produce sourced from all across the country which then comes together through my dishes. Russian cuisine is really seasonal. Next, I add some new notes and techniques, not necessarily traditional to Russian cuisine but with the intention of making the dishes lighter.

How would you describe your food style?

Modern Russian cuisine with Asian influences.

How difficult is it to source ingredients?

It’s quite difficult because Russia is huge and sometimes when you try something (scallops for example) to the west of the country, you then need to think of the logistics of how it will be delivered to Moscow. It becomes a lot easier when more restaurants in the city have a shared interest in certain ingredients.

What’s your favourite ingredient to work with?

It completely depends on the season, it’s impossible for me to pick just one.

You’re doing a guest chef night at Alyn Williams’ CHEFStock, what is it about guest chef events that you enjoy?

It’s always a great honour to present your cuisine somewhere else on the planet. I’m very flattered to collaborate with Alyn and bring part of my culture to the heart of such a gastronomical capital.

What can people expect from your night at CHEFstock?

I think it is always amazing to collaborate with great chefs, and a good opportunity to see how chefs from different cultures use familiar products. I’m planning to bring some Russian delicacies with me to London, things I’m preparing in Moscow, which I’m sure most people won’t have tried before.

>>> Related: Alyn Williams, Chef Patron, Alyn Williams at The Westbury

You’ve worked with some amazing chefs around the world, where has been the most inspirational and who has been the most inspirational to work with?

I can say every chef that I have had the pleasure to work with or stage with has taught me something. The one fantastic thing about our profession is that I can always learn. That’s the reason why I'm so excited to work with Alyn in London I'm pretty sure he will show me a lot of new things.

How important is travel for a chef?

That’s the second reason why I'm in love with our profession. For me, travel is a huge source of inspiration.

How does travelling inspire you and what has been the biggest thing you have brought back from your travels that you use for your dish creations?

I always take inspiration from travel, that's the biggest thing and a different culture can bring something new to your mind, especially with food combinations - whether that’s street food in a restaurant - there's no difference in these moments.

What’s next for the future? We've heard you are working on developing a complex featuring a restaurant, bakery and cookery school, how that going?

Yes, it’s true but it’s a huge project and the first step is to open the restaurant. I hope that by the end of the year we will open a bakery, food court, cheese factory and next year I’d like to open a cooking school. I will be involved in all these projects in different roles, so it’s an amazing experience for me.

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