Olly Ceulenaere, Publiek

Olly Ceulenaere, owner and head chef at Publiek in Ghent, how do you allow each member of your team to grow?

– We believe in respecting everyone’s differences. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and you have to bring out the positive and allow each individual to grow within their areas of interest. We all have something we can share and teach others. We really love what we do; cooking with love and passion is what brings us together.

Do you ever have interns joining the team?

– Yes, of course. I think it’s our obligation to teach and educate newcomers – both for the individual and the industry. We have quite a lot of interns, and they keep us alert. They might ask something as simple as how to cook a potato – why in water and not milk? And to us, it’s obvious, but the conversation that follows makes us try new things and continually develop.