MODENA: The most influential Italian chef, Massimo Bottura has published an open letter to Italian premier Giuseppe Conte suggesting five immediate measures to avoid a catastrophe. He fears that without a positive sign from the government, the restaurant sector is set to suffer a fatal blow that will lead to the closure of many restaurants across Italy and will lead Italy to lose one of the pillars that is essential to its identity. "Politics is about courage and dreams, it is similar to poetry. It is made of imagination and the future. Politics needs to make visible, the invisible," Bottura said in reply to the decision taken by the Italian government to close restaurants, bars and cafes at 6pm. "We need to be able to close at 11pm, we need help with liquidity in relation to our turnover, we need unemployment benefits for staff until there is a return to European tourism, a tax deduction for 2021 given we have already used the one for 2020 and a decrease in VAT to 4 per cent for … [Read more...]
The last supper for restaurants in Italy
This evening Italian restaurants will serve their last supper. From tomorrow and until 24 November, restaurants, bars and cafeterias will be closed as from 6pm. Chef Niko Romito, the three Michelin star chef of Reale and entepreneur with a number of restaurants across Italy and also outside Italy said that for many restaurants in Italy this will really be their last supper. "Many of us will not have the strength to fight against the government's decision to close bars and restaurants at 6pm and to force a sector to renounce to over 50 per cent of their turnover for what is likely to be an indefinite period of time. For many of us, the assistance that will be provided will not be sufficient to counter the second wave that forces us to close for a second time in eight months," he said. Niko said many of his friends as well as restauranteurs he doesn't know where assessing what to do in the coming days. "Should they keep the restaurant open just for lunch and decide how to manage … [Read more...]
Stand-by mode for Hisa Franko as it closes for ‘second lockdown’
KOBARID: When the first lockdown was announced in Slovenia, the team of Hisa Franko, Ana Ros and Valter Kramer's acclaimed restaurant, all stayed in the Slovenian countryside, some out of choice and others because the borders were closed and they were stuck there. Together, as a multinational team, they faced lockdown, helping each other and using the time to work on new projects, to train and prepare the restaurant for the reopening in summer. Now as winter approaches and another closure of restaurants has been enforced by the Slovenian government, the Slovenian chef has said she will unfortunately have to say goodbye to a part of the restaurant's team forever. "A few hours from the second lockdown, I am broken hearted because I have found no more jollies in my pocket to save the work positions of some colleagues. Who is next?" she asked adding it all depended on her, you and us. This has been a difficult year for restaurants worldwide but for Hisa Franko, which was riding … [Read more...]
Learning from the lockdown: “The most important value is being human” – San Degeimbre
LIERNU: When Sang Hoon Degeimbre was forced to close the restaurant, the first time and the Belgian government announced a lockdown amid the pandemic way back in March he did not hesitate to move to the countryside. He took one of rooms that normally welcomes guests and which would remain empty throughout the course of the lockdown in the Belgian countryside in Liernu and spent most of his time there. Returning to Brussels from time to time, where he normally lives, some 45 minutes by car away from the restaurant felt surreal to him. In the countryside, there was not much sign of the pandemic. He worked together with his farming team to prepare the garden for spring. At L'Air du Temps, the Korean born Belgian chef has a garden where he grows his own vegetables, herbs and fruits which serves not just his restaurant but also some of his other restaurants in Belgium. “Nature does not stop because of the pandemic. Life just goes on,” he told me he told me in an interview in … [Read more...]
L’Air du Temps opens temporary farm shop as restaurant lockdown returns in Belgium
LIERNU: Chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre and Carine Nosal, owners of restaurant L'Air du Temps in Liernu, Belgium have announced the opening of a temporary boutique shop that will sell produce that was set to be delivered to the restaurant over the coming days and weeks. L' Air du Temps is one of the top restaurants in the country that has been hit by a second wave of COVID-19 infections in the past weeks. The shop will open between 1pm and 7pm at L’Air du Temps in Liernu as from Tuesday 20 October. “Yet again, the restaurant sector is impacted by what is going to be moment in history. It is extremely rare for generations of restauranteurs to face what they have had to face in 2020.” The Belgian government announced on Friday night that all restaurants will close for a month as from Monday 19 October. Many Belgian chefs and restaurants took to social media and posted a black image, some with the hashtag JeSuisHoreca. Sang Hoon Degeimbre said that during the next weeks, they will … [Read more...]
Small is beautiful: What we learned after closing Hertog Jan and how we plan to start again
ANTWERP: When Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens announced the closure of Hertog Jan at the end of 2018 it was a shock to the Belgian gastronomy scene. At the helm of a three Michelin star restaurant, one of just two in the country, they were at the top of their game. Many could not understand how two relatively young entrepreneurs, a chef and host, could quit at the peak. But the two had very clear ideas and over the past years they have emerged as two exceptional entrepreneurs that have created a unique L.E.S.S. Eatery in Bruges (the concept has been copied by others since) and Bar Bulot. Today, they have announced the return to fine dining with a restaurant that will create a new chapter for Hertog Jan. Gone is the 70 cover restaurant. It will also move to Antwerp from Zedelgem on the outskirts of Bruges. Instead they will create a new restaurant with just 12 seats. Ivan Brincat sat down with Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens to learn more and also to delve deeper … [Read more...]
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp: ‘A once in a 20 to 30 year project’
ANTWERP: When Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp opens in Antwerp next year, it will be an extraordinary location and in the words of Marc Alofs, the manager responsible for the development of the hotel, it will be something that is developed once every 20 to 30 years. It will be the first five star superior hotel in Antwerp and the first hotel in the city to be a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. “We have managed to find lots of people and staff members who like craftsmanship, who have one thing in common which is an incredible eye for detail. People who focus on quality not quantity, who look at every detail,” Marc Alofs, who is managing the project said. “It is going to be a unique property in Europe. Under our roof, there will be two chefs that had three Michelin star restaurants. One is Gert de Mangeleer, the other is Dutch chef Jacob Jan Boerma.” The executive chef will be Wouter Van Tichelen who will also head the Botanic restaurant. “This is going to be unique in … [Read more...]
New chapter for Hertog Jan: Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens to open 12-seat restaurant in Antwerp
ANTWERP: Almost three years after closing Hertog Jan in Zedelgem on the outskirts of Bruges, Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens have announced their return to fine dining with “Hertog Jan at Botanic Antwerp”. The new concept will be a ‘cosy’ 12 seat restaurant that will be open two weeks every month. The restaurant will be housed in the site of Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp, a 5 star superior hotel with wellness and meeting facilities that will open its doors in the historic centre of Antwerp in June 2021. (Interview with Marc Alofs here). They have also announced the addition of a second Bar Bulot in Antwerp, their Flemish French bistro that has been so successful in Bruges. When Gert and Joachim announced the closure of their three Michelin star restaurant in Zedelgem they said they wanted to create space for new ideas and businesses. The Hertog Jan Restaurant Group opened L.E.S.S. Eatery in Bruges. Chef Ruige Vermeire managed to clinch a Michelin star for the … [Read more...]
Zonfrillo closes Orana: “When we closed in March, none of us thought it would mean the end”
Jock Zonfrillo, the Scottish chef who opened Orana in 2013 as a way of researching Australia’s indigenous cuisine has announced that the restaurant will close for good. “With the lease ending in a couple of months and with the current restrictions meaning we cannot break even, our closure has become permanent,” he said. "The current uncertainty in the tourism and hospitality industry means that it is not the right time for Orana 2.0. The plans we had started discussing have been put on hold,” he said. “My journey doesn’t stop here. I’ll continue trying to make a difference through food projects outside the resaurant. And while these may be uncertain times, they need to be a time of understanding, tolerance and positivity for our industry and I’ll do whatever I can to help,” Zonfrillo said. The Scottish chef said that the ‘seven years of Restaurant Orana had moments of despair, perseverance and celebration.’ “We got a lot wrong but we also got a lot right. We achieved more … [Read more...]
Al Meni’s message of hope in the times of the pandemic
RIMINI: Al Meni, the food festival created by Massimo Bottura and his Osteria Francescana team in Rimini returned at the end of September for its seventh edition. But unlike previous editions that were held in June in the world famous 8 1/2 circus tent in front of the Grand Hotel in Rimini where film director Federico Fellini spent a lot of his time, this year's edition was not just held in September but also also moved to the city centre from just in front of the sea. Originally intended to be a big food festival to celebrate the 100 years from Fellini's birth, this year's event took place in a smaller format because of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. "It was not an easy task," said Enrico Vignoli, the man behind the organisation of the event and one of Massimo Bottura's right hand men. "The COVID-19 pandemic created a lot of uncertainties. There was always the risk that we would have to cancel the event but we worked as if it would take place. And it … [Read more...]