Thomas Zwar - Head Chef

Chef Thomas is certainly one that takes his food seriously but not himself. Thomas is somewhat still fresh meat here at CLAW but has an illustrious career history, innovative ideas and a momentous passion for American cuisine. The fun, ideas and knowledge that he has brought to the kitchen and team in general are the reasons why our food tastes so great and why we are What's On Dubai's top 3 Favorite American Restaurant. 

Q&A with Chef Thomas

Probably a salad with fresh vegetables from our garden. My grandpa has a whole backyard full of tomatoes, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, zucchini, potatoes, aubergine and a bunch of different berries. However since salad is not really cooking I'm quite sure it was a Penne Pasta Bake with creamy sauce and ham.

When did you realize you wanted to cook professionally?

I was always interested in cooking and worked in a restaurant during my school years for practice; I guess one thing led to the other and here I am now. I was obviously looking into the typical boys jobs back than as well but I couldn't imagine my life now without my cooking.

What’s one your favorite dishes to cook and why?

I don’t really cook much at home to be honest! Usually I make myself an easy breakfast in the morning with sauté mushrooms, turkey ham, fried eggs and half an avocado. I also make a mean chili con carne and lasagna; my sister always used to make amazing lasagna when we were young and I was always jealous that hers was better but let’s say now we’ve agreed mine is the best.

What is your most life-changing moment in your life (career-related or otherwise)?

Probably my motorbike accident back in 2009. I got hit by a car and spent some time in hospital in recovery before I went back to work. My colleagues weren't very understanding that I was gone for a month and my contract was about to finish so I decided to look for something else. That's when I decided to go travel Australia which changed my entire life.

You are right, but in terms of cooking it’s of very little influence as I only really learnt a small amount on German cuisine during my apprenticeship. Where it does have an impact is in the organization and admin side of my job, all the boring bits - It’s my German efficiency!