What helped the master chef was the fact that his idol was a legendary French chef himself.
"I was trained in classic French cuisine and I idolized Chef Auguste Escoffier, who is known as the Godfather of Chefs. He was legendary during the time the Titanic set sail and he was instrumental in popularizing traditional French cuisine," explained Fernandees, who is an ethnic Goan. His family hails from from Thivim, in north Goa, but he was born and brought up in Mumbai, before he shifted continents.