Kostantinos Bouklis, Executive Chef at My Cafe, talks about experiences that refined his palate, the excitement of opening a new outlet and more.

You’ve worked with various high-end hospitality brands such as Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, La Villa Archange in Cannes, the award-winning Le Loft and other international names. Are there any major learnings or experiences from this time that you hold close to your heart?
From my experiences working in gastronomy, I gained exposure to various food cultures, met people with different backgrounds from hospitality that opened the door to my curiosity for the culinary world. Hailing from Greece, I had access to the world of Mediterranean goodness which I grew up with. However, my experience outside my home country is what helped me develop my palate. The experience I hold close to me is what I have gained since I moved to Bahrain about eight years ago. I have relished the opportunity to work in a setup like My Cafe group who regularly invite Michelin-starred guest chefs from around the globe, such as Juliene Royer, Mauro Colagrecco, Augustin Balbi and Bruno Oger. The chance to work and exchange ideas with chefs of this calibre has had a huge and cherished influence on me.

What have been the most satisfying and challenging aspects of opening My Cafe’s Riffa outlet in 2022?
Pre-openings are always fun and opening the second branch for My Cafe came with the responsibility of keeping up with the reputation, standards and consistency that it represents in the market. Rather than replicating Adliya in Riffa, we wanted each outlet to offer something unique yet still keeping true to who we are. When coming up with the menu for Riffa we wanted to create items that were innovative and could give My Cafe a new feel but still staying true to our essence. We even added a pastry counter with really decadent desserts, we also offer afternoon tea with unique items on there. Overall, it’s been a real pleasure watching it flourish and develop. I would define the pre-opening phase as a very fulfilling experience more than a challenge. I have been dedicated to building an incredible team to contribute to delivering the ‘My Cafe experience’.

How would you define the food and experience at My Cafe?
The idea of My Cafe is to offer comfort, yet a sophisticated dining experience to our customers. Our dining space has a very cosy atmosphere, we really aim to make our patrons feel at home. Through our cuisine we wanted to define a new code of contemporary, no-borders dining with access to an eclectic menu that is put together with dishes to suit any palate. It is evident that the dishes we curate are a result of a combined source of skills and techniques influenced from different cultures. We take pride in serving a diverse and extensive menu to our invaluable customers throughout the day.

What would you say is your signature dish and why?
The Truffle Pappardelle is one of my favourite signature dishes. It represents the My Cafe ethos for delivering the finest from scratch. Our pappardelle pasta is meticulously shaped in-house with a twist of truffle and pecorino, this traditional pasta lays upon a sauce made of a porcini-truffle cheese sauce, folded with wild mushrooms such as shiitake, oyster and Portobello. Generously finished with Parmigiano Reggiano to recreate this absolute classic. ✤