Jevgeni Ševtšuk

For Jevgeni Ševtšuk, cookery is art – and each dish must be as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.

In a 20-year career as a catering chef, his skillful creations have graced the banqueting tables of kings, prime ministers and presidents the world over. 

And, although he started his career in restaurants, catering is his true love … and an arena in which he can really bring his artistic side to the fore.

‘’Compared to a restaurant, working in catering is a completely different world,” he said.

“Events with different concepts have to be catered all over Estonia and even abroad and every outing is like a little adventure; you arrive and you don’t know what awaits you and I definitely enjoy it more than the daily routine of a restaurant.’’

As a young chef working in various restaurants in Tallinn, Jevgeni didn’t really feel engaged in his work – but all that changed when he landed a job with the highly successful Frens Catering company.

“From that moment on, my cooking life changed completely and I not only became passionate about cooking but I could also see that it was an art,” he says.

“It wanted to create delicious food – but I also wanted it to be beautiful and for the first time in my cooking career, I gradually started to experiment more.

“And through that – through experimenting with my own ideas and recipes - I went from being an ordinary boy cook to a chef. It was an amazing time and I am very grateful for that opportunity.”

He had been interested in art since childhood – “I’ve always liked to draw, for example, or sculpt something” – and that appreciation of colour, shape and composition has greatly influenced his cooking.

“It’s important for me that the food is beautiful to look at,” he says, “but of course it has to taste as good as it looks, otherwise it won’t work.’’

But even with so many years of experience at the highest level under his belt, Jevgeni, who now works as a chef at Nordic Catering, believes it is also crucial to keep an eye on culinary trends.

‘’Catering is very influenced by trends,” he says, “and as every event is different and each menu requires a different degree of creativity it is vital that I am constantly evolving my cooking techniques and my presentation.

“Flexibility is crucial, so I read, I travel and I experiment. I put my heart into the food I make and I hope the results speak for themselves.”