Kurt and Grace Schaub
The Early Years
I was born and educated in Switzerland. My Hotel
Background started after graduating from High School in a small town called
Sissach near Basel.
Start of my Hotel
Career
I worked in a small Hotel taking care of the Wine
Cellar, later I decided to learn the trade of chef in the same Hotel. I
enrolled in the Trade School in Basel where I successfully graduated as a
Professional Chef in 1968. I had profound practical and theoretical training
in all aspects of the Kitchen and Food Management in several
well-established Hotels and Restaurants in Switzerland, working my way up
from Commis to Chef de Partie in places like Mövenpick where I was
inaugurated with its modern Food Management System.
From Guernsey to
Canada and the Cruises with the Vistafjord
In 1972 I moved for a short stint to Guernsey in
the Channel Islands to work as Chef de Partie in a Hotel during the summer
season. In 1973 I immigrated to Canada and worked in different Hotels in
Toronto where I was introduced to the American Food & Beverage Management
System. In 1975 I've joined the Norwegian America Line as Chef Garde Manger
on the M/S Vistafjord, cruising the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Fjords
of Norway.
My Asian Years
In 1976 I relocated to the capital of the
Philippines where I got the chance to conjugate with the Manila Hilton as Sous Chef. In 1976 I moved to the 750 room Nikko Manila Garden Hotel as
Executive Sous Chef where I was working my way up to Executive Chef. After
four years with Nikko I proceeded to Thailand where I joined the Amari
Hotels as Executive Chef. In 1984 the opportunity offered itself for a new
Hotel opening in China so I rejoined the Nikko Group, opening the precious
Beijing - Toronto Hotel in the Chinese capitol, it was there where I got my
vast experience in training Kitchen personnel. Working under the most
difficult circumstances I managed to make the Beijing - Toronto Hotel the
most famous one at this time for its Food in Peking. After two years in
Peking the Nikko Group decided to send me to Shanghai to open the Nikko
Longbai Shanghai. In 1989 I've joined New World Hotels in Shanghai as
Pre-opening Executive Chef, unfortunately the Tiananmen Square Incident
forced me to resign and leave the country, but not before I got married to
my lovely wife Grace from Shanghai. After Shanghai I moved to Bali where
I've been working for a Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Chain as Group
Director of Food and Beverage. The eight years I've been
spending in Bali
where the most enjoyable years in my live. Bali is a paradise and it was
very difficult to depart, but all good things come to an end.
The Recent Years
In November 1997 we moved to Spain and we live
there ever since.