Belgian gastronomy is mourning Eric Martin, chef and owner of Maison Lemonnier who was unexpectedly found dead in his room last Saturday during a holiday abroad. His son, Tristan and the team at Maison Lemmonier said that just like Eric would have wanted, they will remain open and will continue to receive guests as they have done for the past 15 years from Thursday 19th April. The father and son duo had been working together since 2008. Their hotel and restaurant, Maison Lemonnier is found in the idyllic Lavaux-Ste-Anne in the Belgian Ardennes. Eric studied law but had already made his decision that he would cook instead. His son followed in his footsteps and after studying at Paul Bocuse Institute joined him in Maison Lemonnier in spring 2008. Eric's philosophy was always that of taking all the necessary time to prepare food and to eat food. Their restaurant had one of the most impressive wine lists in Belgium. Pierre Resimont, chef of L'Eau Vive and a friend of … [Read more...]
Afton Halloran, the roast beef rebellion and 10 European food trends
At the age of 11, Afton Halloran decided to become vegetarian. A year later, at school, she had to learn to cook during a home economics class. The class started with how to make a proper English tea but as weeks went by things became more sophisticated and the pupils learnt to make cookies, soup etc. One day, they had to learn how to make a proper roast beef dinner. “When I heard this, I went to the teacher and told her that I had no reason to learn this recipe because I had become a vegetarian. At first the teacher looked in shock, then she became angry and asked and just how do you think that you will ever find a husband.” Afton Halloran was speaking at the European Food Summit organised in Ljubljana last month. Dr Halloran has over the past 12 years built up a robust background in the field of sustainable food systems and she is also consultant to the Nordic Council of Ministers working on a project called the Nordic Food Policy Lab. Although she is no longer vegetarian … [Read more...]
Alberto Landgraf: Silence is underrated
Most chefs you speak have that aha moment when they realised cooking was going to be their vocation. For some it was cooking with their mother or grandmother or remembering something they had eaten which triggered that spark. Not for Alberto Landgraf, chef of Rio de Janeiro restaurant Oteque. "For me it was different because I went to London to study English and finish my studies. My mother was an English teacher and wanted me to finish my studies in England. For some reason, I ended up working in a kitchen," he told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. The chef who is slowly but surely putting Rio de Janeiro on the food map thanks to his work at Oteque could not crack an egg when he arrived in London. He found himself working in a kitchen to be able to extend his stay and this triggered his interest. "I thought this was the best place to be because I am a very active person, have always been involved in all kinds of sports, loved adrenaline and the rush it brings to you." … [Read more...]
Playfood 2 at L’Air du Temps: Andreas Caminada cooks for the first time in Belgium
Sang Hoon Degeimbre of L'Air du Temps (left) welcomes Andreas Caminada (Schloss Schauenstein) in Liernu, Belgium. Andreas Caminada, chef and owner of three Michelin star Swiss restaurant Schloss Schauenstein was recently in Liernu, Belgium to cook at L' Air du Temps, the restaurant of chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre. Under the theme PLAYFOOD, the Belgian chef is inviting a number of international top chefs to cook at the restaurant following the refurbishment of the restaurant last year. The first guest of Sang-Hoon was Swedish chef Magnus Ek who visited the newly refurbished restaurant with its impressive dining room overlooking the extensive vegetable garden and the countryside of Liernu. Caminada was the second chef to visit the restaurant and he will be followed by Dominique Crenn from the United States and Mauro Colagreco later this year. For the dinner, Caminada and San presented a harmonious menu which featured a number of their signature dishes. Andreas Caminada … [Read more...]
Odprta Kuhna: Bringing a taste of Slovenia to Ljubljana and the world
In his own words, Lior Kochavy did not know how to crack an egg and make an omelette for himself. If he knew how to cook, Open Kitchen or Odprta Kuhna as it is known in Slovenia would not exist. Earlier this month it opened for the European Food Summit. This year will be the seventh edition of the project, the brainchild of Lior and his wife Alma. This one of a kind food market attracts around 50 restaurants to Slovenia’s capital to showcase what the country has to offer. Every Friday from March to October, hungry visitors flock to the market to savour food from some of the city’s best establishments as well as restaurants from other parts of Slovenia. They serve sample and cheaper portions of their restaurant dishes with a number of beer and wine stalls to add to the atmosphere. Lior arrived in Slovenia in 2006 from Israel. “It was all different for me when I arrived here,” he said at the European Food Summit which was organised in Ljubljana earlier this month. “I was used … [Read more...]
Charlotte Collard: The model turned digital food entrepreneur
Food may come as an afterthought when you are modelling but for Charlotte Collard it was another story. A former model turned digital entrepreneur, she has lived in cities like New York, Los Angeles and London to mention a few before returning back to her roots in Belgium where she lived for 18 years before leaving to New York to pursue her modelling career. She has today established herself as a TV presenter and also set up a digital food business as well as a big presence on Instagram. “I’ve always loved cooking. My grandfather lived in Canada when I was young and he had a very big house with a lot of land and all the vegetables and fruits would come from the garden. He would smoke trout from the pond, he would hunt, he taught us how to bake bread waking us up at 5am. Everything was homemade so I learned to cook when I was very young.” Charlotte created a digital food business three years ago. “When I moved to Zurich in 2009 after leaving New York I decided to create a … [Read more...]
‘There will be a crash point if we don’t act now’ – Roberto Flore
The future will happen whether we like it or not and it is therefore essential to take action. “People are afraid of the future because they feel that they are not in control,” Roberto Flore who runs the DTU Skylab Foodlab in Copenhagen said at the European Food Summit. “We should design utopias or positive futures rather than speak of dystopia,” he said. Technologies, he said, need to be human centric. “We need to find people who can help to create and design machines. We do not have this concept at the moment. Machines are toady designed with efficiency but they are not efficient. They are only driven by numbers. There will be a crash point if we do not act now. The question is how can we design machines with social efficiency in mind, a machine that benefits society. Maybe we will fish less but we may be able to have fish available for more people,” he said. The former Italian chef who took over the DTU Skylab Foodlab last year after having headed the Nordic Food Lab (run … [Read more...]
Fourth edition of Foodfest to be held in Cadzand in June
The fourth edition of FoodFest, the event organised by Cadzand, the Netherlands by Sergio Herman, Syrco Bakker and Iman Soomers will be held on 2 and 3 June. The event which used to held at the former Strandkerk in Cadzand will move to the platform Maritiem Plaza next to restaurant AIRrepublic with a breathtaking view of the North Sea and the Royal Yacht Club of Cadzand-Bad. This year's festival will take place over two days unlike previous events that took place just on a Monday. For this year's edition the organisers are teaming up with the founders and creators of WECANDANCE, elrow Town Antwerp & Fire Is Gold: Wim Van der Borght & Bart Roman, CEO’s of Atmosphere Architects. WECANDANCE (Electronic beach festival in Zeebrugge) will provide the music line-up at FoodFest. A number of international chefs are expected to take part in the Foodfest though these have not yet been announced. They will also feature in lunches and dinners at … [Read more...]
The Belgian conundrum: This is not Belgian cuisine
Photo courtesy of ifeelslovenia.com At the European Food Summit organised in Slovenia last week between Saturday 16 March and Tuesday 19 March, I used the country I know second best (after my home country Malta) to make the point that collaboration today is key. Why is Belgium not so well known as a gastronomic destination? Has it been a missed opportunity as interest in food peaks globally? Food can unite, it can also divide as very well able presented by colleague Georges Desrues. The following is my speech at the conference: Speech I would like to thank Ana and Andrea for inviting me to speak today. It is an honour and a pleasure to be here. I am not a Belgian, this is not about Belgian cuisine. I am not even a food writer if you go and look at my LinkedIn Profile. So why am I here and how did a Maltese who left a tiny island in 2005 for professional reasons that have nothing to do with food end up here. More importantly what observations can I make … [Read more...]
Gastronomic imperialism: ‘Diversity is being killed by quest for success’ – Andoni Luis Aduriz
Spanish Andoni Luis Aduriz, chef of one of the most innovative restaurants in the world, Mugaritz, has warned that guides, lists and social media are all contributing to a lack of diversity in gastronomy to the extent that if chefs and restaurants want to be successful they need to follow a particular model and be the same. “Isn’t this colonialism, isn’t this imperialism?” In a passionate presentation at the European Food Summit held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the chef said that in the past, guides like Michelin or Zagat served as the mediators between what was going on in the kitchen and what came out to the public. “These guides were written or printed to connect the public to chefs. The end result, however, has been that certain models were established,” Andoni said. “Michelin in Europe defined the quality and the way that a restaurant needed to operate to be eligible for a star. If you don’t follow a certain approach and meet all the criteria you are not considered and are … [Read more...]