Day in the life: Chef to the stars’ recipe for healthiness

Celebrity chef Silvena Rowe sleeps for up to 10 hours a night and two hours in the day to ensure she has enough energy to run her five 'healthy' restaurants in Dubai.

Silvena Rowe says she has cooked up delicacies for the likes of Princess Diana, Madonna, Tina Turner and Cher. Satish Kumar / The National

Silvena Rowe says she has cooked up delicacies for the likes of princess Diana, Madonna, Tina Turner and Cher. The celebrity chef, 52, was born in Bulgaria to a Bulgarian mother and Turkish father, and settled in London in 1986 at the age of 19. She began cooking in the kitchen of the Notting Hill bookshop Books for Cooks, and as well as becoming a regular face on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen and a food writer for The Guardian newspaper, Ms Rowe was chef-patron of Quince restaurant in London's May Fair Hotel. Ms Rowe moved to Dubai two years ago and now runs five "healthy" restaurants here – Omnia by Silvena, Omnia Gourmet, Omnia Blue, Omnia Baharat and Omnia Glow. Ms Rowe will be speaking at the Women in Leadership economic forum in the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, on October 25 on the theme of balancing health, work and life.

8am

I wake up for the Fajr (morning) prayer and then sleep again until 8am. I make myself a cup of pure blue tea – as long as it’s not a Monday or a Thursday when I’m fasting, which means no food or drink for between 18 and 20 hours. I’d rather fast than give myself a diamond or a new car. The feeling is one of elation; it resettles my body clock and my insulin levels. On the days I’m not fasting, I’ll have a tablespoon of honey and cinnamon, and a shot of very high- quality matcha tea that I get sent from Japan. It’s the most antioxidant food in the world. Then I’ll take 12 specially prepared supplements for anti-ageing. For the past few years I’ve been making special foods for myself (with anti-ageing properties). I don’t use Botox or anything like that and I’ve increased the collagen in my skin by 48 per cent.

9am

I do a 50-minute workout in the gym or when the weather is better I run 6 kilometres on Sunset Beach by my home in Jumeirah. After exercising, I feel as though I’m 30 again – like I can climb a mountain. I try to remember that feeling throughout the rest of my day.

10am

I’m out the door doing my restaurant rounds. The first stop is always Omnia Gourmet and Omnia Blue in the fishing harbour, Jumeirah One. I go there to see what’s happening and to have a drink made for me by my chef that contains seven superfoods, with coconut and almond yogurt as a base, blueberries, baobab, freshly squeezed pomegranate and a few special powders. I credit this drink with strengthening my immune system to the point that even if you cough frogs and snakes on me, I’m not going to catch anything, touch wood – after all, if you believe it then you’re already halfway there. I upload a picture of my drink on to Instagram – you have to these days. My world now is run by millennials, which is great because they’re really embracing clean, healthy food.

12am

I go to Omnia by Silvena on Burj Boulevard, which is usually quiet during the day, and then on to Omnia Baharat in Mall of the Emirates. My plan is for my business is to expand into Saudi Arabia and also Al Ain. I’m here in the Gulf on a mission to change people’s eating habits. That’s very big and bold but I can do it because I’m the only celebrity chef who is based full-time here. All the others just come and go. It’s not about the money. I want to pave my path to paradise and the only way to do it is to give people a longer, happier quality of life.

2pm

I return home to sleep for two hours. I’m very greedy with my sleep. I’ve become entirely selfish, because my son just proposed to his girlfriend of three years. People say “oh how you feeling about that?” and I say “I’m feeling super cool, he’s off my hands, so now I can take even better care of myself.” I’m here in Dubai and my two boys, who are now 28 and 23, are in London. But when I’m with them, I’m pretty much a doting mother.

4pm

I do a lot of work on the computer. I haven’t watched TV for nine years and I’d never watch it again; my span of concentration is too short and the news just depresses me. Instead, I like to be on the computer writing recipes and doing paperwork and research. I get invited to events but I can’t be bothered with it. The bottom line is that sleep is much more valuable to me.

7.30pm

I usually have different food for dinner on different days of the week – sashimi or fresh crab, fish or an Emirati stew called soloona. I also like to make a wild black rice biryani with blue lobster. I only use local ingredients. I always have dessert because my desserts are very vegan and guilt-free.

10pm

I go to bed and sleep for nine to 10 hours.

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