LONDON: Fresh from his success at the World’s 50 Best restaurants awards which were announced in London earlier this week, Alberto Landgraf, chef of restaurant Oteque in Rio de Janeiro has announced the opening of a new restaurant in London later this year. His restaurant placed in 47th place in the 2022 edition, an impressive result given the pandemic and the lack of travel over the past few years.
Since its opening Oteque has won all accolades quickly reaching the 100th spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in its first year of opening in 2018. Now, three years and a pandemic later, it has reached 47th spot in the list making it one of the top rising restaurants in the list.
Alberto will bring his Brazilian city flavours and soul to London giving his own personal touch. Alberto Landgraf said: “I am really happy that my first international project is going to happen in London. It is very emotional for me as I started my career twenty-two years ago in this city. When returning to Brazil six years later, I never thought I would come back where everything started to open my own restaurant. It seems like a wild dream to bring Brazil not only to London but to Europe. I want to make it really special, so I will bring to the city the best part of my Oteque team. As you can imagine, it will not be a traditional place, but it will also not be the second Oteque. We will pamper you with contemporary Brazilian food and a very strong wine and cocktail list in a fun, relaxed, warm atmosphere and I really hope you will enjoy it.”
The son of a German farmer, Alberto Landgraf was raised with great respect for nature and good produce. His mother, Japanese, instilled strong ethics and discipline combined with a love for arts, which Alberto carries into his cooking.
After graduating with a degree in Physics in the early 2000s, Alberto moved to London to learn English. At the time, he had no plans for a culinary career, but, like many, started working in hospitality to be able to stay in the city. After working with Tom Aikens and Gordon Ramsay, among others, he returned to Brazil in 2006 to open his first restaurant.
Epice was launched in Sao Paulo in 2008 and very quickly won accolades including a Michelin star. It has also been listed as the Best Contemporary Restaurant in Sao Paulo by local magazines, while Alberto has been named as a South American Rising Star in FOUR Magazine. His naturalist Brazilian cooking focused on vegetables and relied on sourcing the best ingredients while incorporating both modern and traditional techniques to enhance their natural flavours.
In February 2018, Alberto relocated to Rio de Janeiro and opened Oteque, which celebrates his Japanese heritage, not through the ingredients, but through the simplicity and precision of his techniques, as well as its ethical approach to cooking. Alberto’s creativity strives not only for culinary excellence but strongly supports fair trade and respect for all those involved.
Oteque has been a great success from the start. Just a few months after opening, it won a spot on Latin America’s 50 Best list as well as its first Michelin star. This was followed by the second star just a year later. It was also named the Best Restaurant in Brazil and has won many local awards, including Best Contemporary Cuisine in Rio. Alberto was also named as GQ Magazine’s Man of the Year in the Restaurant Business as well as Chef of the Year. In June 2019, just a year after opening, Oteque was listed as the 100th best restaurant in the world (on the 50-120 list of World’s 50 best restaurants).
Read our interviews with Alberto Landgraf in the links below:
Leave a Reply