The practical experience gained when working in the kitchen of a fine-dining restaurant can sometimes mean much more than just satisfied customers.

A team compising chef Guruh Nugraha and assistant Risky Hidayah from Riva French restaurant at The Park Lane Jakarta hotel, representing Indonesia, has won a coveted place at the world finals of the Bocuse D’Or culinary competition to be held in Lyon, France, in January 2011.

Competing in the Asia regional finals in Shanghai last March against 10 other teams, the Indonesian team was placed fourth. In addition, Risky received the Best Commis-Assistant award. 

The Bocuse D’Or, named after French masterchef Paul Bocuse, has often been decribed as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games so a win at the regional stage is no small achievement. 

Tension at the competition is relentless, for entrants are cooking against the clock (with deadlines rigidly enforced) in an open “culinary theatre” using fully equipped kitchens lined up side by side facing the jury, media representatives and the audience.

At the Shanghai event the team prepared a fish dish: white sterling halibut, sea urchin mousse, polenta soufflé, vegetables cubism and watercress coulis.

The black and gold raging bull that marks the hood of a Lamborghini is absolutely, in every way, fitting for this machine: Wild, sleek, sumptuous and powerful. The sheer sound of its engine is intimidating. 

For Buce, sports cars are his obsession. “Ever since I was a kid, I've just wanted to race,” he says standing proudly next to his most recent purchase, a bright green 2003 model Lamborghini Murcielago.  

“Why green? It's my favourite colour and I am a responsible citizen, I have a 'green car',” he jokes.

With a price tag to wilt a wallet, only pure passion could convince a man to buy a Lamborghini, but it is a passion that no one seems to be able to define, “It’s a Lamborghini,” Buce shrugs, as if nothing more should matter.

On the open road from Bandung to Jakarta, in the early hours of the morning, Buce pushes this car to its limit: “My top speed is 220 kilometers per hour, but only for a minute.” 

In a collection that includes two Ferrari's and two classic Jaguars, Buce's most prized possession is the Lamborghini Miura S 1971. In production for only six years from 1966, the Miura is said to put Lamborghini on the map, and to have inspired the design of the modern-day high performance sports car, with its sleek body and mechanical innovation. 

Four-and-a-half years ago, people got to know about Maximilian Busser as someone making a name for himself in the horology industry. He successfully brought rare timepiece manufacturers Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) and Harry Winston (HW) back from the dead.

However, ultimate satisfaction still eluded him: He missed the whole start-up process and creating something from scratch.

“My life has been all about meeting incredible people,” says Maximilian. This includes JLC managing director Henry-John Belmont, who gave Busser his start in the world of timepieces.

After four successful years there, Busser went on to head the Harry Winston watch division. “I had the freedom to do what I wanted with the brand but the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. I was working 14 to 16 hours a day, wondering how all our creditors would be paid.

“After six years of hard work we managed to put HW back on the world's luxury watch map, which made me the happiest person there. However, despite the company growing I still felt empty somehow.”

The passing away of Busser's father proved to be a turning point for him. He decided, in 2003, to go it alone so that he would be very much his own boss. By 2005 he had resigned from HW and started up his own company, Maximilian Busser and Friends (MB&F), using his life savings of 700,000 Swiss francs to develop the company's first timepiece.