Chef Willi, born Roger C Willson
My Site for my Cooking Life
Popularly known in the hotel circles and around the world as ‘Chef Willi’ my actual name is Roger Charles Willson, and yes, with the double “L” and Willi came from my Willson last name as my given army nickname. I actually came into cooking in a very roundabout way. After looking after the home vegetable gardens and then a short stint as a horticulturist, I ended up joined the army at 17, not as a soldier but as a Cook Apprentice!!!! I was a bad soldier but the army gave me good training in cooking being based on the British City & Guilds qualifications. My start in good cooking happened accidentally. One of the first people I met was an English sergeant who had won some European medals for his culinary skills. The way he made pastry sculptures amazed me and showed me what cooking could be about, and cooking suddenly interested me. Luckily, I was put in the Officers Mess (Officers dining and kitchen) by chance and then to train in an international hotel at the Bay of Islands New Zealand. It was run European lines and it was a start, but I was a guy who did not know of Michelin stars, the Ritz, Savoy, Gleneagles or the fine European hotels, in fact, I had never eaten in a restaurant at this stage at all! But my journey as a cook and on towards a Chef had started!
The Journey Onwards
After the army apprenticeship, it was across to Brisbane, a large town and small city in those days, cooking as a CDP in a Hotel, Sous Chef in a restaurant, Sous Chef in a Hotel, Head Chef in a Restaurant and so on as I worked my way up. I then started in Sheraton Brisbane, my first truly international hotel and from there was given the biggest break in my career! Even though I was working as the Sous Chef, the GM decided to sponsor me to Germany for a training year!
So I went to the Sheraton Frankfurt Flughafen, where I worked at Papillons Restaurant, under an excellent Sous Chef, Christian, while we tried getting a first Michelin Star. It was here that finally my passion in cooking exploded and I moved from being a cook to a passionate cook! I started at the right-hand side of the kitchen, Garde Manger on the line and after 6 months was on the left side, the Grill person, head of the line with Christian always in charge!
Special mention must be made here for my time at Albion Park Raceway and Silks Restaurant. When I arrived in Brisbane in 1978, I worked around Brisbane where I was everything from Sous Chef at Binna Burra Lodge in the hinterland of the Gold Coast, to being a CDP in The Crest International, then Executive Sous Chef at The Park Royal hotel, Head Chef at Rendezvous Restaurant, Sous/Head Chef on the River Queen paddle wheel restaurant boat, Sous Chef at The Courtyard Restaurant and then Executive Sous Chef and Head Chef at Albion Park Raceway in Brisbane. From there it was Sous Chef at Brisbane Sheraton and the start of my world adventures!
The F&B of Brisbane had already moved to China and he gave me the number two job at the Great Wall Sheraton after Frankfurt, so, Sous Chef Brisbane, CDP in Germany to Exec Sous in Beijing! After Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the rearrangements that entailed, I was offered the Chefs chair! What a feeling that first time sitting as The Chef, and International Chef now, in a 1,000 room Hotel with nearly 200 staff working for you! Bali then followed, at Nusa Dua, a Sheraton opening, a swap to Holiday Inn Kuta, HI Kunming, HI Singapore and then in 1996 I landed in Calcutta for The Oberoi Grand. Three years, life long friends, the start of my name in India and a tough posting before heading to Goa for a role I was not too suited for in reopening a hotel there. But quickly back into the kitchens at The Leela Mumbai before coming to Chennai with Priya Paul for The Park opening at Nungambakkam in 2002. Marg (my late wife) and I thought six months then we would move, so who would think that now after 20 years in Chennai I am still here, minus my late wife, then Marika, through Tuscana and Burgundy restaurants, all so very popular in Chennai, then with my own business, Chef Willi’s Consultancy, including Jonah’s together with Sam Paul, a great supporter then and now, amongst many others until today when I am back working exclusively for fika Café in Adyar.
I still help people and establishments, just not under my own company anymore, but under the flag of Fika, and together we support and encourage the hospitality outlets who ask for help and offer my services where I can! The end of my career is coming up, another three, six, nine or more years to go who knows! It did however end for me in India in October 2023, when I relocated with the family four legged members to Selangor in Malaysia for the next part of my life! But great memories from India, great people I have worked with, more great people still to meet and many, many dishes cooked, tasted and presented to my guests, friends, customers and the career of cooking and hospitality could not have brought me such experiences had I stayed as a horticulturist in New Zealand! Now with Marika, my love of my life, and with friends, family, wine, food, the pets and just great social times, what could be better!