`Passion, if you like'.

(From Bangkok Post)

Byline: HARRY THAMANAN

One evening some five years ago, Mohammed El-Fayed, owner of the Ritz Hotel in Paris came into the Pacific City Club restaurant with its chairman, Mr Arsa Sarasin. El-Fayed looked at the restaurant manager, thought for a moment, then said to him, ``I know you. You worked for me at the Ritz. If you ever want your old job back, just let me know.'' The restaurant manager was Artur Kluczewski, today the maitre d' at the New York Steakhouse at JW Marriott Hotel and formerly of Ma Maison. Born in Poland, where his father gave up a military career to become an hotelier, Artur went to hotel school in Cracow. His ambition to succeed in the business was obvious to his fellow students. ``You'll be maitre d' of the Ritz by the time you're 30,'' one of them prophesied. ``More like 50,'' said Artur, but in fact, he was only 28 when he was offered the job, to be remembered by the hotel's owner. ``Don't make a big deal of this,'' Artur cautioned as I plied pencil to notebook. ``I had a restaurant director above me and I was in charge of the day-to-day running of the hotel's restaurant. But it was a great opportunity to learn about the lifestyle of those exclusive guests who travel from palace to palace. Did I ever tell you about Gregory Peck's kidneys?'' I shook my head, wondering what kind of clinical anecdote was coming next. ``Gregory Peck always enjoyed the kidneys which I used to flame at the table for him,'' he told us. ``One day, he said to me, `Artur, you are the only one I want to make my rognons flambes!' Of course, there are many name-dropping opportunities in this kind of work, but that isn't the point. It's a great source of pride in the job to know that you have pleased someone whose life is spent in the best places, and who recognises when they're getting a bit more than simple, good service. ``I take a craftsman's pride in my work, like a watchmaker or a designer of shoes or a super-chef. If I had a philosophy, I think it would be: every job offers you the chance to make it the best job of your life.'' A Russian speaker, Artur arrived in Paris when he was 20 and found work in Russian restaurants and singing in Russian cabarets. Then he was promoted to be the manager of an old restaurant, Auberge d'Armaille, owned by the chef to the last Tsar. Its fading fortunes quickly blossomed anew, and only two months after its re-opening it won the Marco Polo Casanova Award for Best Foreign Restaurant in Paris. Two years later he was at the Ritz, from where he went on to work in some of the finest Parisian restaurants, like Taillevent. ``Altogether, the Michelin stars awarded to the restaurants I worked in added up to 12,'' he said. When he made his first appearance in Bangkok Artur was still in his early 30s and maitre d' of the classic restaurant overlooking Nai Lert Park, Ma Maison. His youthful appearance was accentuated by the round glasses he wore and his learned manner. I don't think many of us had been exposed to such culinary erudition before, but his arrival signalled a high point in the popularity of Ma Maison. And the somewhat studious demeanour softened under the influence of living in Thailand. ``One night, Adnam Khashogghi came in with two beautiful ladies. I'd seen him before and I knew he liked Russian songs, so I greeted him with one. He was delighted, and the evening ended with a sing-song and Khashogghi, the two beautiful ladies and the maitre d' all dancing together.'' Artur left Ma Maison for ...