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Patrick Chauchereau -Chef de Cuisine-
Nickmane: Robuchon
Patrick’s career has been driven by his passions – hunting, golf and food, each supporting the other. Born in Paris into a ‘food crazy’ family, he was lucky to begin work in an era when jobs were plentiful and the great chefs actually taught their apprentices the secrets of the trade, rather than making them chop tomatoes for years on end. Patrick moved from restaurant, a few weeks here, a few months there, working under some of the 20th century’s finest chefs in Paris, France. In October 1971 he became Chef de Parti at Le Pot-au-Feu at Asnières in Paris with chef/owner extraordinaire, Michel Guẻrard. The restaurant was an instant success, gaining two Michelin stars in 1972 with a waiting list for bookings three months in advance! On one occasion, Senator Edward Kennedy turned up with his entourage and they dined in the only space available, the gent’s lavatory! Patrick closed Le Pot-au-Feu in 1975 when the area was redeveloped and for the next four years he was the chef at Cap d’ Agde, the home of the French Open, which includes 65 tennis courts! During a hunting trip to Cameroon, he bought a dilapidated restaurant in Libreville, Gabon, starting as a pizzeria and evolving into the only fine cuisine restaurant in the city. After five years, he took a year off in Florida where he spent a year playing golf! This lead to eight years in Morocco where he took stewardship of the Golf Club restaurant before starting his own French restaurant in the old town. It was sold after 911 and Patrick was invited to Bali to open Lola restaurant in Seminyak, then later, The Ramayana in Candidasa. In April 2008, Christian Vanneque asked him to join forces to open Sip Wine Bar where he remains to this day and where we all enjoy his outstanding talent.
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Putra Puniasa -General Manager-
Nickname: Roger
Puniasa began work as a kitchen steward at the Sheraton Nusa Indah in Bali where he saved to pay for hotel school. After graduating, Putra took various positions, at the Aston in Tanjung Benoa and then at The Ritz-Carlton also in Bali. From 2000 till 2003 he was Head Bartender at The Living Room restaurant where he gained an appreciation for the wine trade and afterwards was the Senior Bartender for all the Como Group properties in Bali. In the summer of 2005, Putra left Indonesia for the United States where he occupied various positions, first at the Tomato Patch Pizzeria and Grill in North Carolina, where he was a chef during the day and a bartender at night! In the winters he would work at the Hyatt in Breckenridge, Colorado where he was a server. Such a varied career path made him an ideal candidate for management training and when Christian started to set up Sip Wine Bar, he offered Putra the Bar Manager position and then quickly promoted him to General Manager.
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Putu Wijana -Dining Room Manager-
Nickname: Lucien
Putu Wijana is a self-confident Balinese guy whose easy going style and cheerful persona, are an asset to daily life at Sip. Lucien, so named as in in-house joke by owner Christian, didn’t actually like wine before he came to Sip. “I’m slowly learning to appreciate the experience”, he says, with a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. Putu trained formally at the tourism school in Denpasar, Bali and was placed in several major hotels including the Sahid Raya in Kuta, Bali. Studies included all aspects of the tourism industry and Putu’s specialization was in bar keeping. His first job was at The Ritz-Carlton Bali but he found the commute from his family home in the mountain town of Ubud was too far. Too far? It’s over two hours each way on a moped!
With a few years commercial experience under his belt, Putu moved to the US with Putra, Sip’s General Manager and worked at the same restaurants. When he returned from the US, he worked as Assistant Captain at Mozaic Restaurant in Ubud before being head-hunted to work at Sip as Putra’s assistant where he became the great Lucien he is today! |
