Pavel Gurjanov

For a man who is now widely recognised as one of the most respected chefs in Estonia, it’s incredible to discover that Pavel Gurjanov entered culinary school without even the ability to make a sandwich. 

He didn’t really care, after all cooking was a back up plan as his ambitions were really to be a lawyer.

“When I started studying to be a chef, I only had the thought that a man who can cook is always valuable. Love for cooking came later,’’ he admits.

Strangely enough the final career choice was not between the law and the kitchen – it was between cooking and music.

Pavel was a keen rapper but realised that music was notoriously precarious and so made the decision to follow his food dream, particularly after he was named Chef of the Year in 2013.

The founder and co-owner of KOGU Resto and Pagar, he combines Estonian raw materials with Scandinavian minimalism and French techniques, and also considers the aesthetics of food to be important.

‘’People eat with their eyes, so food must also look beautiful,” he said.

“However, I don’t think of cooking as a great art or chefs as artists, because in reality it is hard, tiring and not very glamorous work.”

Pavel has travelled extensively, always looking for new ventures and challenges, as well as testing himself by entering cooking competitions such as the Bocuse d’Or.

‘’I like to compete, but there are chefs who never take part in cooking competitions. It’s a completely different world, you have to organise yourself well and make a lot of sacrifices. When you work in a restaurant, you get paid. When you go to compete, you might get a medal, an award, prestige, but maybe nothing happens and basically you wasted your time,’’ he said.

So now he spend his days in the kitchen rather than a comfortable lawyer’s office, does he feel he made the right choice?

‘’I have no regrets, and in retrospect, I can see that the law office would have certainly been much more boring,” he said.

“As a chef, my days are always different. One day you go to the market, the next you appear on television and on the third day you travel to the other side of Estonia to cook for someone.

“There are so many different opportunities.”