BRUSSELS: Karen Torosyan, chef-patron of Bozar Restaurant in Brussels has launched a take-away this week as all Belgian restaurants are closed due to a lock-down. The service from the Brussels 'pie-king' has proven to be successful with the Armenian-born chef announcing that he has sold out till 31st March. He is taking orders for next week and working on his preparations already. He launched the service last Tuesday saying this is what happens when he is alone in the kitchen. "You can come to pick up these from the restaurant by appointment and one person at a time," he said. Among the dishes he is serving are classics from his menu like Jambon persille, fromage de tete, his signature pate en croute with pork, duck and fois gras, as well as pots of rillettes of veal and pork and one with fois gras seasoned with piment d'Esplette. Details on his Facebook page. Karen explains that his Pâté en Croûte is 25 per cent fat and 75% lean meat when the original recipe calls … [Read more...]

NEW YORK: Daniel Humm and the team at Eleven Madison Park have set up an auction and donation page to help its staff whether the future. Daniel Humm said that 100 per cent of the proceeds will go directly to the team in New York city to help them through the uncertainty ahead. "Our biggest shared worry is the lack of clarity as to what the future holds - will this be days or weeks or months?," Daniel wrote in a newsletter. "We just don't know," he said. New York has been the hardest hit in the United States with cases increasing exponentially over the past few days. "It won’t be news to any of you that the past week has been unquestionably the most difficult in our lives, both personally and professionally.  While we always have and always will believe that we can overcome any challenge together, this crisis has impacted our team in a way that we never could have imagined. Over the years our guests — you — have been so much more than customers to us; you’re part of an … [Read more...]

COPENHAGEN: Have you ever dreamed of getting a reservation at noma but always ended up disappointed? Here is your chance to finally secure that difficult seat. In these challenging times for all sectors of the economy, the restaurant owned by chef René Redzepi is calling friends as well as future clients to buy vouchers which are redeemable against a future reservation at restaurant noma. These vouchers will be valid for two years and can be exchanged either for a visit at noma as well as for a future reservation or visit at any noma-branded pop-up restaurant or event in or outside Denmark. "We continue to face unprecedented difficulties both at noma and across our entire industry so we truly appreciate your interest in purchasing a voucher," the restaurant said. The value of the voucher may be applied to a reservation of any size, including the standard tables for 2, 4, 6 or 8 or for subsequent visits as a single diner on a shared communal table. The voucher can also be … [Read more...]

MODENA Every day, over the past days, Massimo Bottura has given Instagram viewers a glimpse of his family life in Modena as he prepared his family meals every evening at 8pm. It was his daughter’s idea two days into the lockdown in Italy to create a show that has been called Kitchen Quarantine. It shows how her family are dealing with the lockdown. Alexa is filming the show and also asking questions to her father in the Q&A that follows after the episodes. Massimo Bottura is chef of one of the most famous restaurants in the world, Osteria Francescana in Modena. The show is a mix of Italian and English. When asked why he communicates in English he said he wants to be able to communicate with the rest of the world because the coronavirus is something that is impacting the global community. The chef is always reminding viewers to wash their hands and also to stay at home. The evening show is not a masterclass but rather a glimpse of his family’s life as they deal … [Read more...]

COPENHAGEN: Matthew Orlando, the chef owner of AMASS restaurant in Copenhagen has hit out at the World’s 50 Best, Opinionated About Dining and 360 Sustainability Awards among others for not using their platforms to raise awareness about the plight of restaurants in the current crisis. “I believe that when times are tough, as they are right now, people and entities’ true colours come to the surface,” he said on his Instagram feed. “In a time when then the restaurant industry is reeling from circumstances beyond our wildest imagination, where are the lists and rating systems that make their living off us,” he said. The chef of Amass, who was former Noma Head Chef before opening Amass serving contemporary, organic cuisine with a strict focus on locally sourced ingredients asked how was it possible that ‘they can remain silent while the people that they use to justify their vanity are in danger of losing everything.” “Why are they not using their resources to at least bring … [Read more...]

The Wellington Short Rib by Alinea. (Photo courtesy of Nick Kokonas) CHICAGO: It was something that Nick Kokonas and Grant Achatz never thought possible. That they would be selling an Alinea on the Go menu. But the closure of Alinea as well as other restaurants of the group which includes Next, The Aviary, Roister and St. Clair Supper Club meant that they needed to do something to bring back staff to at least work part time. What they have come up with are simple menus. Within a few days, they have managed to sell out over 2,000 meals which means that they will be able to bring back more staff members to work on the concept. Nick Kokonas, who is also the founder and CEO of Tock, a restaurant experience booking engine, is being transparent about all this and intends to open source his business plan to help other restauranteurs in this time of crisis. The menu for the first week for Alinea to Go was a Wellington Short Rib together with 50-50 mash and a creme … [Read more...]

VALLETTA: Jonathan Brincat had everything going for him. Three weeks ago, riding the crest of the wave as chef-owner of Noni, he was chef of one of the first three restaurants in Malta to clinch a Michelin star. Three weeks later, he has taken the decision to close the Valletta restaurant Noni, despite the fact that the Maltese government had not (at the time of writing) decreed that restaurants should be closed. Like many other restauranteurs on the island, including the two other restaurants that clinched a Michelin star (Grain and De Mondion) when the Guide came out late last month, many restaurant owners have unilaterally decided to close their restaurants and urge their clients to stay at home. "I am not one for long posts but I feel it is due now that I have more spare time on my hands," Jonathan said on Facebook. "Less than three weeks ago, we were celebrating our biggest achievement as yet, winning our first Michelin star. There was not even time for the plaque … [Read more...]

COPENHAGEN: Noma restaurant chef and owner René Redzepi has announced the temporary closure of noma Restaurant till at least 14 April. "Despite the fact that being together is everything that we do, the reality is that at this time, being together is not in the best interest of our community," said the award-winning chef and one of the leaders of the world of gastronomy. "This is the hardest decision that I actually had to take in my life but we have decided to temporarily close restaurant noma until 14 April at the earliest at least as it stands right now." The chef said no one could have anticipated the developments. "We are doing our best to navigate with a united spirit and good energy. As a team, we have service and hospitality in our DNA, it is who we are and we want nothing more than continuing to serve people, giving them some escape from what's going on, welcoming them into our home. However from what we know about the coronavirus to date, reducing social contact is … [Read more...]

BRUSSELS: David Martin, chef of 2 Michelin star Brussels restaurant La Paix and an entrepreneur has launched a new Youtube channel called Martin Bonheur. The channel shows him preparing easy recipes that can be replicated at home. The French born chef who has made a name for himself at the Anderlecht restaurant but who is also an entrepreneur who previously owned renowned restaurant Bozar as well as two fish shops in Wallonia, the fish restaurant at Brussels airport and a catering company used to present his recipes on Belgian TV. Since it was launched just a few days ago, David Martin said that there had been over 200,000 views. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z28SSMYg874 Meanwhile, on his Instagram feed he put a post saying "I will be Back". This is the first of our COVID Diaries where we try to bring you the news from around the world of how people in gastronomy are adopting in these difficult times. If you want to be featured don't hesitate to drop us a line or … [Read more...]