When Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal Stephan Azulay was a child, his parents brought him into two of the family businesses: flamenco and food. His father was a flamenco dancer who also owned several restaurants. “Food is more integrated into flamenco culture than other styles of dance,” Azulay says. “Flamenco is the performances, but it’s also the culture, the food, the wine.” Now, in addition to dancing, Azulay shares his unique take on classic dishes as a private chef.
Born in England, Azulay toured Europe with his father’s troupe before moving to Australia. He started ballet around age 10, and after graduating from The Australian Ballet School he joined the Joffrey Concert Group in New York City. “When I moved to New York, I started cooking a lot out of necessity, and that’s when it really took off as an outlet, and I started to make the fancy stuff.” Two years later, he joined Nevada Ballet Theatre and took up restaurant work to supplement his income. After three years with NBT, he joined Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 2017 and was promoted to principal in 2024.
Azulay has worked nearly every restaurant position at one point or another—bartender, general manager, waiter, baker, pizza chef, and more. Still, most of his gourmet skills, which he uses when he caters private parties, are self-taught. “I’d go down these rabbit holes on YouTube, looking up Michelin-star restaurants and their food,” he says. “I’d find a recipe and give it a go.”
Most of his private clients come from word of mouth, either through the ballet company or through friends of friends. His process starts with setting a price per attendee, and then the creation of the menu. “I really enjoy that part,” he says. “Getting a sense of who they are, what they like, and creating something that feels personal and adventurous rather than overly formal.”
Azulay is as detail-oriented and focused on technique in the kitchen as he is in the studio. “With cooking and baking, the better ingredients you get, the better the product is gonna be,” he says. He has even gone as far as making his own cultured butter for croissants. “I’m into figuring out ways to extract more flavor, layer flavors, and find techniques to develop more textures and depth of flavor.”
He likes to take classic, homey dishes and make them elevated. “My mum’s side is Portuguese, so we grew up with a lot of Portuguese food,” he says. “There’s nothing really fancy about Portuguese cuisine, but it’s really simple stuff done well.” One of his signature dishes, inspired by his family, is a stuffed squid with rice, peppers, tomato, chorizo, and spices, braised in a tomato sauce. He likes to serve it with a tomato and cucumber salad, dressed in a tomato-water vinaigrette and served with citrus gel. “It’s approachable, but it’s also very interesting for people.”
Azulay says his mentality behind cooking and dancing are quite similar. “You have to find a way to make it relatable,” he says. “As a dancer, I find that my strength is being able to connect with my audiences. At the end of the day, you’re creating an experience.”
Azulay averages 5 to 15 dinners per year, with 4 to 20 guests at each. His largest project to date was handling cake and dessert for a wedding with 150 people.
While Azulay’s more focused on dancing than his chef career at the moment, the rest of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet gets to benefit from his passion for cooking. One of the favorites among the dancers? Fluffy Japanese cheesecakes. He will also host family-style dinners for the company, usually pasta. “I’m cooking for other people to bring them joy,” Azulay says. “Dancing is the same. We dance because we want to perform for others.”
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