“You have to learn the rules to break the rules,” Chef Blake Thornley declares candidly while enjoying a cold beer at the Tipple Room at the iconic Ubud favorite, Mozaic.
Introducing a new, laid-back concept within the Mozaic complex that focuses on seasonal Indonesian produce with his contemporary and sophisticated techniques, he returns to Bali with more experiences from around the world, this time as the head chef and co-owner of Mozaic. Chef Blake breathes some whimsy and comfort into the once-conventional fine-dining space, first established in 2001.
Always one who goes against the grain, so to speak, Chef Blake’s journey from the 11-year old skater punk high school drop-out has brought him to where he is now, somehow by chance, but definitely with a lot of hard work and dedication to the craft of gastronomy.
Becoming a chef wasn’t as easy as it is now, he shares. In the pre-internet, pre-reality cooking show era, working in the kitchen was not glamorous—hidden behind steel doors, covered and unseen. The attitude in the kitchen was no different: days and nights were long, subordination was the only way to move forward, no questions asked, only hard work and dedication.
“Back in the day, there was no nurturing. You worked and you work you’re a** off, and then you might get an opportunity to learn something different.”
Chef Blake started working in the kitchen at 11 years old, quite different from most kids who aren’t so used to hard work nowadays. All he wanted was a surfboard for his 11th birthday, to which his mother replied, “go find a job.”
And so he did. From delivering the morning paper, he soon found himself working as a steward for a winery restaurant in Marlborough, New Zealand.
“I started washing dishes, and afterwards, I started falling in love with the kitchen. Being an 11-year old skater punk surfer Blake who was getting up to no good, way before chefs were celebrities, quite old school, I would have to work, 12-hour shifts as an 11-year old.”
Being the rebel that he is, he was eventually kicked out of school, and at 12 he decided to go full on in the kitchen. “I was asked to leave school when I was 12 years old, I was not the nicest kid in the world, so I just focused on the kitchen.”
When he started focusing on working in the kitchen, he then found out an uncle of his was a famous chef at the time, working in London for many years. “When I was suspended and eventually kicked out of school, instead of getting sent out on the fishing boats with my stepdad or go to the farm to work, I was sent out to my uncle’s kitchen instead.”
At 13 he joined his first competition, organized by La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, where he represented his home country New Zealand, a competition he won. By 16 years old, he had about 18 medals and a whole lot of experience under his chef’s hat.
“Being so young, I just enjoyed working and not being in school. Then I started focusing on cooking competitions. That’s what opened my eyes to the world of gastronomy.”
Besides the knowledge and experience he gained in joining competitions, he also got to travel and meet influential people such as Anthony Bourdain and Charlie Trotter whom he worked under in his Chicago restaurant for 3 months when he was 16.
“I’ve known what all these rules in cooking in a very French, European way. But working with Charlie, I would ask why he was doing things. My tutors and chefs before would kick me if they knew what I was doing, but with Charlie, it tasted good and it made sense.”
His early education came from joining competitions to learn and move forward into becoming a head chef at 21. He learned the rules of cooking early on and combined with his worldly experience in and out of the kitchen, he was now able to make his own rules in his own kitchen.
He then worked all over the world, finding himself in Europe, America, and Asia. He was in Bali from 2010 and left again in 2016. He found this time explorative, learning all the unique, fresh produce the island had to offer.
Before coming back to Bali and heading Mozaic, he was based in Shanghai and opened a new restaurant. His experience in China was eye-opening, discovering diversity in food, flavors, and spices. One of his dishes on the Botanical menu is the Steak Frites, an ode to his time in China, incorporating Asian flavors into an inventive vegetarian dish.
Now with decades-long experience and expertise, he returns to the Island with worldly influences, bringing a gastronomic experience that puts the fun in fine-dining, with the Mozaic soul at heart.
Mozaic’s food continues to focus on local produce, as Chef Blake finds ways to incorporate local ingredients on each plate. Ingredients such as kluwek into the notable Foie Gras Snow starter, and also in an elegant chocolate petit fours. He is constantly finding sustainable ways to utilize every part of an animal or vegetable. Although sustainability has been a catch-phrase of the culinary scene in recent years, Chef Blake incorporates sustainable practices in more practical terms, without having to force anything into his dishes. “If there’s flavor, I’ll use it, but I won’t push myself to it.”
Nowadays, Mozaic finds a much younger and wider demographic, anywhere from 18 to 70 years old, enjoying any or all of the four kinds of experiences that you can get from the ‘new’ Mozaic Ubud. The Dining Room that serves the Seasonal and Botanical menu, the Tipple Room to enjoy crafted seasonal cocktails with a casual yet sophisticated menu, the Chef’s Table for a personal interaction with the chef, and the intimate Romantic Gazebo.
“You have to open up to the young generation because they don’t want to sit at the table, dress formally, and sit and talk correctly — they want to have a bit of fun. If I’m spending for dinner with my girlfriend, I want to be able to have fun, talk loud, relax, I want to create a bit of mayhem, I want to enjoy,” shares Chef Blake about his dining concepts.
Sitting casually while he takes a drag, he looks back at his life in the kitchen with a smile. Having worked with the most amazing chefs around the world, learning from them, opened up businesses and restaurants. Somewhere along the way he failed and lost everything overnight. He built himself back up again, with restaurants in Shanghai and now in Bali, it seems the unapologetic Chef Blake still has a bit of punk, and a lot of grit in him—continuously breaking rules in the world of gastronomy.
