Dmitri Haljukov

“I didn’t want to become a chef,” admits Dmitri Haljukov, brand chef of the Estonian supermarket chain, Selver. It was a career in engineering that was his first job but fate took a hand and he found himself at cooking school instead. 

It turned out one vocation wasn’t enough so Dmitri trained as an estate agent at the same time, juggling both jobs through the early years of his career.

Dmitri’s cooking style is an Estonian- French-Italian fusion.

“To be honest, I don’t know what my cooking style is. I don’t have style, I have passion. A passion for good flavour,’’ he said.

‘’The most important thing is high- quality raw ingredients. Either Estonian raw ingredients or European raw ingredients made in an Estonian way.

Also, what I always say - Season well, don’t forget the salt.’’

It was during the pandemic that Dmitri made a major career change, leaving his position as

head chef at the restaurant CRU and becoming the chef responsible for the Selver’s Delice stores.

This has allowed him to have a work life balance that he never had before.

“Although working as a chef is really exciting, it is also very difficult,” he said.

“ Now I even have time to ride my bike and also dream of starting a small cognac production in France. This seems like a pipe dream but you never know.”

His current job brings with it a huge amount of variety.

“Sometimes I’m in the office, sometimes in the kitchen, other times I’m at a promotional event and then I need to deal with marketing,”

“ Even so, my soul still longs to make gourmet food, but once every two months I also find an outlet for that, and I get my so-called gourmet food making needs satisfied.”

IT seems Dmitri has really found his niche, enjoying a job that showcases his skills but takes him out of the culinary rat race.

”I got off that carousel. Life goes by quickly. I don’t need any more achievements. I just want to be, to enjoy my life.’’