Chef Roze Traore’s Global Culinary Practice

Chef Roze shares the immense impact travel has had on his career. “As a chef, you certainly can focus on the cuisine of your hometown or the foods that your heritage has taught you, but for me, travel is the main inspiration in all of my meals and the thing that keeps me motivated, evolving, and striving for greatness.” No matter where Chef Roze is in the world, he always has a chef’s notebook in hand, eager to learn and observe what the locals are cooking and how he can bring these ideas back to his kitchen.
Through travel, Chef Roze frequently finds ingredients new to him and searches for ways to combine unique flavors into a new dish. “Certain herbs and spices, like curry or cumin, are well known in Indian or Mexican dishes, but I find it most interesting when they show up in an unexpected dish,” Chef Roze continues. “At the end of the day for me, it’s not about re-inventing the wheel but more about perfecting the craft and using spices and ingredients practically and purposefully.”
Craft is an important word here—and it means something powerful to Chef Roze. He says, “The years I’ve spent practicing different types of slicing, dicing and pureeing is, in my mind, the definition of craftsmanship. Given my passion for plating dishes in ornate or aesthetically pleasing ways, craftsmanship is really important to the way I represent myself as a chef.”
Chef Roze excels in the bustle of the kitchen. While it can be a super-stressful place, he also finds it “peaceful, cathartic and inspiring.” In the moments where the kitchen is overwhelmed and piled with orders, Chef Roze channels the early morning calmness of a quiet prep kitchen, which allows him to move through the evening with sharp focus. He shares that “At the end of the day, the kitchen is my happy place and where I do my best work. I am grateful to have a space like that to call my own.”

From his time at Le Cordon Bleu, The NoMad, and the entire restaurant industry, Chef Roze has taken important lessons that have served as the fundamentals of his career. All scenarios have rebuked that “It’s always easiest to go with the flow and follow the pack mentality” in the kitchen. However, Chef Roze has always valued the importance of being an individual and cooking with authenticity. Of course, underneath, “Working at Michelin star restaurants like The NoMad and Eleven Madison Park have seriously honed my craft and made me the professional that I am.” But really, they equipped Chef Roze to pursue his own passion as a private chef.
People often wonder why private dining comes at such an expense, but they don’t see the days and hours spent in preparation for a bespoke event. Chef Roze classifies himself as a perfectionist: “I will spend hours and hours making sure my menus are perfect, that the ambiance is ideal, and that each and every detail is carefully considered. At the end of the day, the event is about my client and I want to ensure that the dining experience is perfect for them.” Putting together a bespoke private dining experience is a labor of love—one that requires much invention.