Irgendwie lässt mich die peruanische Küche nicht los. Und nun hatte ich das Glück, mit Martin Morales zu sprechen. Faszinierend, wie er zum Kochen gekommen ist. Auf sein Kochbuch müssen wir allerdings noch ein bisschen warten, es kommt Anfang März in Deutschland auf den Markt.
How was the collaboration with Steve Jobs? What did you do there exactly? What kind of job?
After working with KT Tunstall and Joss Stone and helping launch their careers at EMI, I got a call from Apple. They hired me to be in the founding team of iTunes Europe. There were 4 of us who launched iTunes Europe from an office the size of box in London’s Covent Garden. My job title was iTunes Head of Pan EU. I managed 16 countries, each with their own individual needs, audiences, musics across 18 different music types from rock to dance, from world music to jazz. Jobs was an inspiration, single-minded, perfectionist, brutally honest maniac with a dedicated passion for the ‚customer experience‘. I was there for 3 years before I got a call from Mickey Mouse and friends to join the Disney management board and work with Miley Cyrus, High School Musical, Jonas Brothers and other terrifying projects which I foolishly helped launch alongside working with The Muppets and Pirates of the Caribbean.
How did it works that you have been so successful in the music industry too?
Nietzsche said: „Without music, life would be a mistake.“ Pacino said: „All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I dont break them for anybody.“ Gandhi said: „Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.“ Seth Godin said: „Treat different customers differently.“
I’ve always tried to follow all these principles most of the time and probably that’s why I did ok.
When your decision was clear to go into the restaurant business?
When I finally heard my deep inner voice saying to me „stop talking about it and just do it. Follow your true love for cooking Peruvian food“. So through @martinceviche I tweeted „does anyone care about Peruvian food“. The response was positive with lots of wonderful curious foodies asking for more info.
So I kissed Mickey and friends goodbye and sold my house to fund the opening of Ceviche – the first restaurant in the UK of its type. People said that I was crazy as no-one had heard about Peruvian food at that point, most people never even knew where it was, or that we cooked spectacular food and have a cuisine that competes with the very best in the world. I decided to change that.
Can you still imagine another profession?
Yes, many. And I’m working on getting there!: theatre director, film producer, TV chef, music artist, CEO of a global company promoting Peruvian gastronomy arts and culture, London’s top restaurateur, global philanthropist. I think that should keep me busy for a few years.
