This week's main news in the restaurant world was the ease with which René Redzepi of Noma Restaurant sold out all covers of a 10 week pop-up in Australia in less than two minutes. If you've missed the news, you may want to read about it here. Foodiva has an interview with chef Yannick Alleno. The French chef explains the reason why he never cooks anything above 88C. He says that once you go above this temperature you have a huge deterioration in flavour. Even his sauces are never cooked higher than this temperature. Here is a good list of 10 food market stalls from around the world. Former newspaper editor Tony Gallagher went to work in his favourite restaurant Moro, in London, after he was sacked. Here he writes about his experience in a restaurant kitchen. It is a very interesting perspective. We've written before about the 50 World's Best Restaurants. The New Yorker has a great article about the history of the list and how what started off as a one-off has become one of the … [Read more...]
Noma’s 10 week pop-up restaurant in Australia sold out in less than 2 minutes
Noma's pop-up restaurant in Australia has sold out all its tables in less than two minutes according to Noma chef René Redzepi and Nick Kokonas, founder of Tock, a new ticketing system for restaurants. Redzepi said that it was a new record for Noma as they sold out in Australia in under two minutes with over 84,000 page views per minute. Noma is opening a pop-up restaurant in Australia for 10 weeks next year. It will be offering a menu of Australian produce. What is innovative is that the cost of the menu was required to be paid in full at the time of booking. Kokonas who is co-owner of Alinea, Next and Aviary together with one of the world's best chefs Grant Achatz said that the tables had been booked within a minute and the system had processed over $1M in 2 minutes for the US pop-up restaurant." The system has already been tested by Alinea and Next. Kokonas said on Twitter that "Many restaurants will look at the Noma sale and say "but we are not Noma". But Noma shows what is … [Read more...]
Slow Food founder says we need to eat less meat but should avoid scaremongering
We have heard a lot about the report from the World Health Organisation earlier this week which revealed there is a correlation between red meat consumption - and even more so, processed meat consumption - and some forms of cancer. Many have expressed shock and surprise at how bacon or sausages, to mention two examples of processed meat, could be classified in the same way as cigarettes and asbestos. But this does not come as a surprise to those who have been following the food scene over the past few years. Scientists, doctors and epidemiologists have been warning about over consumption of red meat for years. And many of the world's best chefs have been moving towards giving vegetables a more central role in their cuisine. Influencers like Slow Movement Founder Carlo Petrini and writer Michael Pollan have been advocating eating less meat and more vegetables. They might not have been doing so for the reasons highlighted in the WHO report but rather because it was evidently … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura gives lesson in creativity: The future is about culture
How many times have we heard about the importance of quality of ingredients in cooking? For Massimo Bottura, the opposite holds true. "Cooking is not just about the quality of ingredients but also about the quality of the ideas." That should not come as a surprise to those who know about this Italian chef. He is known to find inspiration everywhere including in particular from the 'cucina povera'. He then takes his creations to a level worthy of the second best restaurant in the world. Many would nowadays throw away the crust of a Parmiggiano Reggiano even if it is used to impart flavour to soups. He has found a way to use it to replace pasta in his compression of pasta and beans (Pasta e Fagioli). Bottura does not need any introduction. Chef of Osteria Francescana, the Modenese restaurant that is the second best restaurant in the world, he can be a man of many contradictions. He is known to make things look very simple but that simplicity comes mainly with the benefit of … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #54
Burnt is the name of a film that is set to be released next month. It tells the story of a chef who moves to London in his bid to win three Michelin stars. A reader has sent us the following interview with chef Marcus Wareing about his role as consultant chef for the film. It is a very interesting read not only about the film but also about Wareing's involvement and what he thinks the impact of the film will have on the industry. Wareing said that while the movie is not for the industry and is aimed at theatre-goers and for people to watch at home, it is still likely to attract people to the industry. "It is purely entertainment, but it will entice people to come and look at the industry and think: Yeah, that’s pretty rock and roll,” he says. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pCqItydBuw One sixth of a supermarket ready-made meal may contain sugar according to research carried out by The Telegraph. The British newspaper found that a crispy sweet and sour chicken weighing a total of 400 … [Read more...]
Kobe Desramaults announces closure of In de Wulf in December 2016
Kobe Desramaults, one of the most internationally recognised Belgian chefs, has announced he will close his restaurant In de Wulf in December 2016. Speaking on a radio programme on Studio Brussel yesterday, Desraumaults said "I am 35 years old and I have been working hard in this restaurant for 12 years. It is now time to reflect on what to do next," he said. "I have given my all for the past 12 years at In de Wulf. I would have to be mad to continue doing the same thing," the Flemish chef said. The Flemish chef created one of the top destinations in the world for foodies (it was number 1 in the Top 100 European list of Opinionated about Dining in 2014 and 4th in 2015) in the 'middle of nowhere' in Dranouter. In De Wulf, which has a Michelin star, and which disappeared from the 51-100 list in the 50 World's Best Restaurant list this year, has been Kobe's focus for the past 12 years. Desramaults, who also has two restaurants De Vitrine and De Superette (also a bakery) in Gent, … [Read more...]
Is well-being the answer to the chef shortage problem?
Booking in sought-after restaurants may become even harder than it is today if the trend to decrease the number of sittings in restaurants catches up. In the UK, we heard last month about Mikael Jonsson of restaurant Hedone announcing he would be opening for just six sittings every week. Earlier, Sat Bains, chef of two Michelin star Restaurant Sat Bains announced that his Nottingham restaurant would be introducing a four-day working week for staff as from next month, with staff salaries and bonuses unaffected as a way of countering the chef shortage problem. But why is this trend catching up and what are its consequences both for the industry and customers? It's something we have been observing for some time now. When I moved to Belgium 10 years ago, I was surprised by the amount of restaurants that had 'strange' closing days or hours. I used to ask myself why would a top restaurant not open for Saturday lunch or even on a Saturday evening when you would expect it to be most … [Read more...]
Thousands pledge support to #SaveRummo after flooding that nearly destroyed pasta maker
A storm hit the area of Benevento, Italy, a few days ago causing floods that have caused havoc in the factory of one of the region's main pasta producers, the Pastificio Rummo. People on social media, first in Italy and then internationally responded instantly by promising to help the troubled pasta maker. A young internet user Luciano Lobosco created a #SaveRummo event on Facebook entitled "A pack of pasta makes a difference". It went viral immediately with over 123,000 supporting the event to date and leading the pasta maker to thank users for this spontaneous gesture. The pastamaker, in a message on its Facebook page this evening thanked all those who have shown solidarity following this week's flooding that caused huge damages in the factory. "We are very proud and touched by your support, that came from all over the world and are working hard to bring the situation back to normal. We count on communicating how long it will take us to get back into production to those we keep in … [Read more...]
Is there such a thing as the best cookbook? 1000 Cookbooks has the answer
Which is the best cookbook ever published? Is there such a thing as the best cookbook? What are the favourite cookbooks of chefs? Or bloggers? Or authors who've written cookbooks or books about food? That is the question that a new project by Jon Croft, a food book publisher at Absolute Press and Matthew Cockerill, co-founder of Open Access Publisher, BioMed Central, try to answer with a newly launched website/app called 1000 Cookbooks. By doing so they have come up with the ultimate list of the top 1000 cookbooks. It has been termed as the 'Spotify for Food' in the Bookseller website after a soft launch at the Frankfurt bookfair last week. 1000 Cookbooks asked over 400 people from chefs to authors, bloggers and food professionals to list their 10 favourite English-language recipe books of all time. From this list, they have curated the top 1000 recipe books of all time. Among those who voted are chefs like Fergus Henderson, Tom Kerridge, Jason Atherton, Virgilio Martinez, Wylie … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #53
Novak Djokovic is a high tennis performer. His 10 grand slam career wins put him equal seventh in the all-time list but he is unlikely to stop here given he is at his peak at the age of 28. He clearly has the two contemporary players Rafael Nadal (14) and record-holder Roger Federer (17) in sight. But why are we mentioning this on a weekly round-up related to food and wine? In an interview (Lunch with FT), Djokovic spoke about how when he was younger he used to be affected by sudden medical emergencies which occasionally forced him to pull out of games altogether. He discovered the problem was related to the food he was eating. "I had thought I was eating healthily. I didn’t eat junk food, I wasn’t drinking Coca-Cola, no alcohol...I thought about it and realised I had eaten [gluten] every single day. It is in our culture, that we eat bread with everything. So I had over-consumed it a lot...Nowadays, about 50 per cent of what I eat is raw." Is 'food porn' making us fat? That is … [Read more...]