El Celler de Can Roca, the famous restaurant of the Roca brothers in Girona has announced that they will be closing the restaurant until further notice after some members of staff tested positive. This is not the first top restaurant in Spain that has been forced to close temporarily because of COVID-19 but goes to show the plight of restaurants as they try to resume their normal activities. Considered to be one of the top restaurants in the world, the restaurant announced in a statement that the closure was a voluntary decision taken in accordance with ethical responsibility and a commitment to the people of their team and the people who had made a reservation in the coming days. "During internal control procedures to track COVID-19, we have found positive cases that do not allow us to have the peace of mind to continue to offer work in appropriate conditions. The family is fine, the whole team is fine and the positives are mild asymptomatic," the restaurant said. They … [Read more...]
Madn77: Making fresh blended tea to match your mood one cup at a time
BRUSSELS: Naina Madan developed her concept of making fresh hand-blended teas, tisane and chai customised to match moods when things were taking a negative turn in the world. That was not in March this year when COVID-19 brought about a major disruption to the world we knew. “I came up with the concept of Madn77 around three years ago. There was Trump, there was Brexit, there was too much negativity around me and I recall that my mother would have a tea for every moment,” Naina told Food and Wine Gazette. Her original plan was to focus on consumers but selling to cafes’ and restaurants picked up well and became the focus of the business until COVID-19 struck and she had to completely rethink her strategy. “I was like a very small fish in the pond and there were many more established brands but I was lucky because everyone was open to listen and when Filgranes Café decided to serve my teas it opened many doors and sales started to grow,” she said. What’s unique about Madn77 is … [Read more...]
Book review: Eat a peach – a memoir by David Chang
One of society's biggest challenges is work life balance. Can you succeed in life and have an adequate work life balance? As David Choe, an artist friend of David Chang rightly put it, being a workaholic could be the last socially acceptable addiction. In Eat like a Peach - a memoir, David Chang speaks about his battle with depression, his suicidal thoughts which come and go and says that "the paradox for the workaholic is that rock bottom is the top of whatever profession they’re in.” The first time I met David Chang was in Vienna a few days before the GELINAZ! event GELINAZ! does Upper Austria. In the span of a few days, I would get to eat next to him, to have dinner conversations, listen to him discuss what his team would cook, the tension surrounding the preparations, the stress of fine-tuning the dish amid ‘huge personalities’ and the final relief when it was all over. I’d naively told him to relax and have fun but I still recall him saying these events caused him a huge … [Read more...]
Puglisi announces closure of Relae, Manfreds: “Fighting for my freedom today means doing less”
COPENHAGEN: Christian Puglisi, chef and owner of Copenhagen restaurants Relae, Manfreds, Baest, Mirabelle Bakery and Mirabelle restaurant among other initiatives has announced he is closing two restaurants Reale and Manfreds at the end of the year. This is the second major announcement coming from the Danish capital in the past week. Last week Kristian Baumann and René Redzepi announced the closure of the highly acclaimed Restaurant 108. The chef of Italian origin who made a huge impact on the Danish scene with his sustainable approach announced the decision to close the two restaurants at the end of this year. “We came, we saw (we didn’t use tweezers) and we conquered,” he said. “In 10 years, Reale and Manfreds have changed a neighbourhood, made an impact on the global culinary scene and fought to take organic agriculture seriously. We created countless memories, emotions and unforgettable experiences for myself, visiting guests and staff alike,” he said. “I can … [Read more...]
20 year anniversary menu at Reale to continue in autumn and winter
CASTEL DI SANGRO: The 20Reale20 Menu, the star of Cristiana and Niko Romito's Reale restaurant will continue till the end of the year in its autumn and winter format. Cristiana and Niko have decided to continue the story of their gastronomic path which has been highly acclaimed over the past two months. From September 16 to November 1, the 20Reale20 Autumn menu will include 15 autumn dishes that have been served throughout the restaurant's 20 year history. It will then make way for the winter version which will be served from November 11 to the end of the year. In the first two months after lockdown, Reale has welcomed an extremely heterogeneous audience with not only previous customers but also many new customers including young people who seized a unique opportunity to take part in a gastronomic experience that tells an Italian story through the dishes that have formed part of Niko's unique cuisine. "We've never been as overwhelmed as in the past two months by booking … [Read more...]
The end of a chapter for Kobe Desramaults’ Chambre Séparée is fast approaching
GENT: That this would be an important year for Kobe Desramaults was a given. He turned 40 earlier this week and as he himself posted on social media, the fun begins now. But this year is also important because it will bring to an end a relatively new chapter, the closure of Chambre Séparée, the restaurant he opened in Gent just over three years ago. The restaurant will make way for a new construction development that has been in the pipeline for many years. He knew from the start that the lifespan of this highly acclaimed restaurant in the Belgian city of Gent would be short. The time when the restaurant closes is fast approaching. But the talented Belgian chef is not new to closures and fresh starts. He made a name for himself in In de Wulf, a place in Dranouter on the border between Belgium and France in what was the middle of no where. His distinct style made him one of the most sought after Belgian and international chefs. But come December, Kobe Desramaults does not know … [Read more...]
Noma opens reservations for Game and Forest season but warns of travel disruptions
COPENHAGEN: The first two months of the Game and Forest season have been opened for reservations at Noma. The website is accepting reservations for tables in October and November. But the announcement comes with an important caveat and one which shows how difficult it still is for ‘destination’ restaurants that mainly depend on international travellers to fill their seats at the restaurant. The restaurant warned guests that they expect travel restrictions for people travelling outside of Denmark to continue. The Game season will run from 13 October to 19 December. The restaurant is taking reservations only up to the end of November. “As we are expecting significant travel restrictions in the coming months we will be making frequent use of our waiting list when we reopen.” Most of the bookings and availability are for tables of 4 or larger. Currently Noma is open for the summer season which runs until 3 October. Last week the chef of Noma, René Redzepi, who also … [Read more...]
Dinner in the Sky in Brussels goes 2.0
BRUSSELS: Dinner in the Sky goes 2.0 for 2020 with the new generation platform. This is the first time that the new platform for Dinner in the Sky is being used in Brussels. The new platform has been called Dinner in the Sky 2.0 and is certainly more 'COVID-19 proof'. Instead of a communal table, the 'hanging' platform will host 32 people sitting at tables of 4. They will be served a 'Michelin starred' dinner 50 metres above the ground. Tables are separated by at least 3 metres ensuring there is enough distance and they are set around a large central kitchen. Chefs and their teams have more space to move around and mingle with guests. Dinner in the sky is a considered to be one of the most surrealist events in the international gastronomy scene. The Brussels edition will be organised in the second part of September. It takes place in the heart of the Belgian capital in Place de Brouckere, just opposite the Hotel Metropole. The hotel, an icon of the city, closed its doors earlier … [Read more...]
Pandemic and lack of tourists forces closure of Restaurant 108 in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN: Kristian Baumann, chef of Restaurant 108, has announced the closure of the restaurant 108 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant is co-owned with René Redzepi among others. "It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Restaurant 108. Due to the negative consequences of the global pandemic and in particular the drastic reduction in the number of international tourists visiting Copenhagen, we have concluded that it is no longer economically sustainable to operate 108 in the current location." "I wish to thank every member – past and present – of our incredible team, for helping make 108 a truly special place. I would not have come so far or achieved so much without you. I also wish to thank our guests and our friends within local and international food media, as well as those at The White Guide, Michelin and World’s 50 Best Restaurants, for their many years of support - I am forever grateful to you all," said Kristian Baumann, Headchef and … [Read more...]
Tartarun and fish charcuterie: Can the Maltese fish restaurant be reinvented?
MARSAXLOKK: When chef James Schiavone stumbled upon the way Josh Niland was working with fish he knew he had to try to do something similar. The author of the book The Whole Fish Cookbook has changed the way many think about fish. But he needed to convince his family, his parents and his brother who together run the Maltese fish restaurant Tartarun in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. His father in particular, who wakes up early each morning to source the fish from the fish market was not convinced that aging fish was something that could work. But he still approved of the purchase of a small fridge that would enable his son to dry-age fish and make fish charcuterie. Decisions at Tartarun, in particular relating to investments at this family-run restaurant that has been open for more than 10 years in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, Malta are taken by the whole family. The motto at the restaurant, but also pretty much everywhere else on the island is that the fresher the … [Read more...]