Michelin may have gone a step too far with its acquisition of BookaTable, an online restaurant reservation platform earlier this week. With the acquisition of BookaTable, Michelin becomes the European online restaurant reservation leader. But the company that is also famous for its Michelin guides is likely to face criticism for a huge conflict of interest. When announcing the acquisition of BookaTable, Michelin said that the acquisition strengthens and accelerates the development of Michelin's technology platform for online restaurant reservations. "The association between Michelin, the world restaurant guide leader with its MICHELIN guide, and BookaTable, the European leader in the online restaurant reservation market, helps restaurateurs develop their business by offering new solutions and helps customers by making it easier to book." While this might make commercial sense, the company can expect a barrage of criticism if it decides to downgrade restaurants or else decide … [Read more...]
Vivino, popular wine app used by 13 million users, raises additional funding
Vivino, a Danish-founded wine community and application yesterday announced that it has raised an additional $25 million to continue its expansion. The company, which currently has 13 million users from all over the world is an application that allows its users to scan any wine label and get results of how that wine ranks among its users. It also allows users to build a repository of the wines that they have tried and rated. The company's founder said that the news cements the company's position as a dominant leader in the global wine industry. Heini Zachariassen, Vivino Founder and CEO said "Our mission to help people, all around the world, find great wine requires significant resources across the wine and technology industries. Thanks to the incredible investment and insights of Christophe Navarre, we're incredibly well suited to continue to attack our mission in unprecedented fashion." To date the company has raised $37 million dollars. The new round of funding was led by … [Read more...]
Syrco Bakker: ‘Working step by step to create a unique experience at Pure C’
Few people would imagine that Cadzand in the North Sea would be the place for a highly successful restaurant. Until a few years, it was a beautiful but rarely visited part of Zeeland. Situated in the Netherlands, just a few kilometres away from Belgium, the location may be idyllic but it is not only out of the way but barely known until Sergio Herman decided to open Pure C there. Pure C opened in 2010, nearly six years ago and overlooks Cadzand’s beautiful beach. Since then, it has made a name for itself among foodies. After all, this is the creation of former three Michelin star chef Sergio Herman. He entrusted the kitchen to Syrco Bakker, a young chef who had worked with him at his three Michelin star restaurant Oud Sluis which the talented Dutch chef closed in December 2013. “From Sergio I learned the drive, the attention to detail and constantly striving for quality. I worked at Oud Sluis for three years and it was amazing how he was developing and changing things so … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #62
Alain Ducasse is one of the world's greatest chefs. The 59-year-old French chef has 23 restaurants in seven countries, including two in London, and a total of 20 Michelin stars. He also runs cookery schools, has written numerous cookbooks, and last year he even devised a menu for the International Space Station (bon app, Tim Peake!). Read his story in an excellent interview here. This week we have written about what we think the world of food and wine will look like in 2016. Here is an article in Entrepreneur about 5 ways your restaurant experience will change in 2016. There has been a lot of controversy in the UK following the issuance of new guidelines on the amount of units of alcohol that men and women should drink. The new guidelines suggest that both men and women should drink no more than 14 units a week and said it is best to spread them over the week rather than binge. You can read an article about the truth about alcohol here and another here about why we should be … [Read more...]
What to expect in 2016 – 10 things we expect to see this year in the world of food and wine
The start of the new year is always a time for reflections on what happened in the previous year but also a way of looking forward to what might be coming next. They say it is foolish to make predictions particularly since there is a tendency for these to go wrong. But as we look back at the previous year we can observe the trends that are likely to shape the food and wine world. Which of these will come true when we look back at the same time next year? 1. Buying tickets for a meal in a restaurant will become more common Alinea and Next in Chicago have been experimenting with a ticketing system that allows customers to pre-purchase their meal at the restaurant for some time now. It is a completely different concept to what people are currently used to when dining out and it has worked. When Noma tried it recently for its pop-up restaurant in Australia, all covers for the four-month duration were sold out in the space of seconds. Even Magnus Nillson, the chef of Faviken in … [Read more...]
Recipe: Slow cooked honey pork belly
Time is one of today's luxuries. It is something we all crave for but many seem to be short of. So when we find time on our hands, nothing beats reading a good book or taking the time to cook. In today's frantic world, it is a luxury to take hours to cook but slow cooking doesn't need to be complex and this recipe is a sure winner not only because of its simplicity but also because we rarely get to eat pork belly nowadays. It is normally a recipe that I reserve for the Christmas period when the weather is colder (though this year it was anything but cold) and you have more time on your hands but it is a dish that is perfect for a winter weekend or when you find you have a few hours at home. Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. It is popular in many different cuisines. It was used more often in the past by our grandparents and parents in cooking but it is slowly making a comeback not only in restaurants but also at home. If like me, your mother … [Read more...]
Dario Cecchini – the legendary butcher of Panzano in Chianti
No visit to the Chianti region in Tuscany would be complete without a visit to Panzano in Chianti at what may be considered as one of the most famous butcher shops in the world. Dario Cecchini, butcher of the Antica Macelleria Cecchini needs no introduction. He rose to fame during of the mad cow disease crisis when eating a 'bistecca fiorentina' or t-bone steak was prohibited for health scare reasons. He organised a funeral for the bistecca fiorentina and a plaque still commemorates the ceremony (see photo below). He has been mentioned in books such as Heat by Bill Buford and has been featured in most of the world's top newspapers and magazines over the past years. This 59-year-old legendary Italian butcher has literally made Panzano in Chianti a tourist attraction in its own right. While the hill-top village is attractive and located on a high ridge on the scenic Via Chiantigiana, many would probably not stop unless to take pictures of the beautiful scenery had Cecchini not … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #61
As we start the New Year and resume our weekly round-ups of the things we enjoyed reading after a two-week break you may want to start with this long read about an Italian chef who took on the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. It is the story of Filippo Cogliandro of restaurant L'Academia in Reggio Calabria and how he fought the battle against the Italian mafia. He will be cooking at a series of public culinary demonstrations in Europe, the United States and beyond to denounce the 'Ndrangheta while at the same time raising awareness of the true spirit of Calabria. The head chef of Noma, Daniel Giusti announced he will be leaving the famous Copenhagen based restaurant. He said he was moving to the United States to launch Brigaid, a company that will attempt to change the way schools feed their students. In this interview on Lucky Peach the chef of Italian origin says that while he appreciated working at Noma, at some point when you climb the ladder you understand what it's all about. … [Read more...]
2015 – a year of Food and Wine Gazette in review
Just a few hours remain before many will uncork their champagne bottles to bid farewell to 2015 and welcome the New Year, here at Food and Wine Gazette we would like to wish our loyal readers, followers and supporters all the very best for the coming year. We would like to share with you what our readers have enjoyed reading most in 2015. The following is the list of most read articles for 2015. Interview with Peter Goossens: 'Belgium has one of the best cuisines in the world but no one has said it yet' 10 things we learnt from Sergio Herman 10 Sicilian producers to look out for A review of Massimo Bottura's great book Never Trust a Skinny Italian chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L'Air du Temps to open restaurant in Brussels on 5 October Kobe Desramaults announces closure of In De Wulf in December 2016 Massimo Bottura's soup kitchen needs your help Gert de Mangeleer (Hertog Jan): Simplicity is not so simple Francis Mallmann 'Get out of your chair and go out' Fulvio … [Read more...]
Sergio Herman announces new project in Cadzand for next year
Sergio Herman, one of the world's most talented chefs who decided to stop cooking full time in 2013, has announced a new project in Cadzand that is set to open next year. After the success of The Jane in Antwerp and Pure C in Cadzand, Sergio Herman is opening a new harbour restaurant, pavillion and takeaway in Cadzand. The restaurant is set to open on 16 September 2016. The seaside resort in the Netherlands has been made popular by his restaurant Pure C. It will now welcome the new harbour restaurant, pavillion and takeaway for boats as can be seen by the architects' impression published on Herman's Instagram feed. Sergio Herman is the former 3 Michelin star chef of Oud Sluis. He decided to close his world famous restaurant in 2013 to seek more balance in his life and to pursue other projects. Since closing his restaurant in this small village close to Cadzand he has focused on his two restaurants The Jane in Antwerp and Pure C in Cadzand but had told Food and Wine Gazette … [Read more...]