Edward Scissorhands has nothing on Kenyan-born Strater Hotel sous chef Arnold Safari.
In the 1990’s fantasy film of the same name, Scissorhands, played by Johnny Depp, uses his scissors-sharp hands to sculpt art from the ordinary. Trees, shrubs, coiffures and even poodles are clipped into eye-catching masterpieces.
Walk into any catered event at the Strater, and you just might catch Safari sculpting an elephant from butter or carving a watermelon into a tropical flower. And yes, what you will see really does look too good to eat.
“He’s really amazing,” owner and general manager Rod Barker says of the talented chef he first encountered in 2008, when he and his wife, Lori, were vacationing at a five-star Zanzibar resort in Africa. The well-appointed resort had second-generation hotelier Barker impressed with the attention the staff paid to artistic detail.
“I was so intrigued by what they were doing, by the Arabian influence, the architecture and all. It was so exotic, especially the themed costumes that changed nightly,” Barker said.
By week’s end, he’d talked with all but the executive chef, Arnold Safari, the guy behind the scenes who had been orchestrating the resort’s colorful, nightly feasts for eight years.
On the final night of Barker’s stay, both he and the chef were indeed curious enough about each other that Barker asked to be introduced to Safari, who equally welcomed the opportunity to meet the inquisitive American hotel owner.
According to Barker, the rest is history.
Safari said he’d always wanted to learn “California cuisine,” Barker said of their fateful initial conversation. Instead of California, Barker said he could land him first-hand experience in Colorado cuisine, where game is plentiful.
In 2010, Barker sought Congressional help to get Safari a visa, enabling him to spend three weeks in Durango’s Strater kitchen.
The Kenyan chef treated locals to beautifully plated elk, ostrich and even crocodile that was farm-raised in the San Luis Valley.
“The whole kitchen was drawn to him because he’s so magnetic. He loves to teach and he loves to learn, too,” Barker said.
Safari dazzled the staff with delicate sauces made of chokecherry and other Colorado-grown products. He also demonstrated his “incredible knife skills,” which he used to sculpt vegetables and fruits into three-dimensional garnishes.
Safari said he learned the art when he was 18, while enrolled at Nairobi’s Utalii Culinary College, where vegetable and fruit carving is a required course.
“The first thing I carved was a butterfly. I carved it from an apple and a turnip,” the 44-year-old chef recalled.
Fruit-carving students learn by using pictures to capture perspective, but experienced carvers never use pictures, Safari said.
He spends 15 to 20 minutes on a carving. More complex displays can take up to 50 minutes.
“A balance of color and having the image clearly in your mind is key,” he said.
The origins of vegetable carving are usually traced back to the 14th century in north central Thailand. Food historians reference Thailand’s annual Loi Kratung festival. A servant of King Phra Ruang who was eager to decorate her raft for the festival created an intricate vegetable carving of an exotic flower paired with a bird. The king was so impressed that he decreed every woman learn this new art of grace and beauty. To this day, Thai students are taught vegetable carving from age 11 through secondary school.
Safari uses pineapples, melons, radishes, beets and carrots, emphasizing that the medium always needs to be fresh and firm.
While there are specific professional tools for food carving, Safari uses just one blade.
“I was trained on a turning knife,” Safari said, explaining that the 2-inch blade is similar to a common paring knife. Keeping it sharp is critical to success.
Safari also sculpts animals – especially lions, elephants and giraffes – from butter. He earned recognition at the 2013 Chocolate Fantasia for monkeys he molded from chocolate fondant.
“The most important thing for success is to invest some time into doing it,” Safari said.
kbrucolianesi@durangoherald.com
