Gert De Mangeleer is the youngest ever Belgian chef to achieve 3 stars in Belgium. He is the chef and co-owner of Hertog Jan together with Joachim Boudens. A few days ago, the restaurant was listed as 53rd in the World's 50 Best Restaurants making it the highest ranked restaurant in Belgium. Earlier this year, we spent some time with Gert and Joachim at the restaurant in the outskirts of the idyllic Belgian city of Bruges in Zedelgem. Needless to say, it was an inspiring time and we have distilled the lessons learnt. 1. You can plan but learn to expect the unexpected: Both Gert and Joachim were aiming towards a third Michelin star when they decided to move from their old restaurant and in many ways, they designed the restaurant with this aim in mind. They were caught by surprise when they earned the third Michelin star in their old location but it goes to prove that success sometimes comes when you don't expect it. It also teaches you not to look for excuses but rather to lean in … [Read more...]
Weekly round-up of great reads on food and wine #37
The New York Times has an article about the strawberries that grow near the Belgian village of Wepion, south of Namur. Anyone who has been to the village in spring or summer knows that strawberries here are extremely important. You will find many strawberry stands on the main road leading to Dinant with these excellent strawberries that have been picked probably earlier in the day. The strawberry growers say they are special because they are picked when they are ripe. Ferran Adria, the chef of el Bulli fame does not need any introductions. Although he is no longer cooking in a restaurant, he is constantly doing new things, though he says that he is currently not doing anything related to gastronomy. His new project is to deconstruct the idea of food, its language, history, anthropology and culture. The restaurant has morphed into a lab and he wants people to think differently. Read what he is doing here. Gabriele Zanatta has a great interview with Joan Roca, the chef at El Celler de … [Read more...]
Red Mullet with a Mediterranean salsa
Childhood memories and nostalgia play a very important role in food. We tend to love the flavours that we have grown up with or those which let us reminiscent about our childhood. Red mullet is abundant in the Mediterranean and when it is in season it is also a relatively cheap fish. I loved the taste of this fish but when I was young I was sometimes hesitant of eating this fish particularly because of the small bones. Along the years, this has changed though because of young children I normally tried to avoid cooking fish which have small bones. But when I found fresh red mullet at our fishmonger I could not resist particularly since it was a nice sunny day. Red mullet is a versatile fish and one which can be found not only in the Mediterranean but also in the North as well. I tried to retain the pure flavours of the red mullet while making it simple to eat. If I had to take the nostalgic route, I would have coated the fish in flour and then pan-fried it whole. Instead I … [Read more...]
Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon set to join Les Grandes Tables du Monde
Bon Bon, the two Michelin star restaurant in Brussels of chef Christophe Hardiquest is set to join 12 other Belgian restaurants in the 'Les Grandes Tables du Monde' list, Pierre Wynants, the vice president of the association announced when he was speaking during a discussion on a recent book he co-authored on Belgium's culinary future earlier this week. Christophe Hardiquest will join the other Belgian chefs who are part of 167 restaurants in 24 countries worldwide. It will be the fifth Brussels based restaurant on the list following Jean-Pierre Bruneau (Bruneau), Laurence and Lionet Rigolet (Comme Chez Soi), Pascal Devalkeneer (Chalet De la Foret) and Yves Mattagne (Sea Grill). Brussels lacks a three Michelin star restaurant after Comme Chez Soi lost the third star upon the retirement of Pierre Wynants. Gault Millau awarded Bon Bon 19.5 out of 20 in its latest guide for Belgium and Luxembourg. This year, Belgian chef Sang-hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps) joined the list … [Read more...]
Gault Millau changed cuisine to what we know today – Pierre Wynants (Comme Chez Soi)
Pierre Wynants, former three Michelin star chef of Comme Chez Soi, the Brussels institution that celebrates its 90th anniversary next year, needs no introduction among food lovers. There is no question that he is one of Belgium's most well known chefs. At 76 years of age, he still commands great respect among his peers having held the coveted three Michelin stars from 1979 to 2006. The Belgian capital has not had a three star restaurant since that day even though things are looking bright for the food scene in Brussels. Wynants was at the cultural centre of Uccle, a leafy suburb of Brussels, on Monday 9th June to present the book he wrote together with Philippe Bidaine called La cuisine belge de demain (Tomorrow's Belgian food). In a conversation on stage with the President of the Uccle Cultural Centre Jacqueline Rousseaux, Wynants recalled how kitchens in the past where completely different to when he had started working in restaurants. "In the old days we used to cook with … [Read more...]
Eight reasons why we think the World’s 50 Best restaurants list may be in trouble
The influence the World's 50 Best restaurants has on the culinary world has been growing every year. But that influence seems to be coming at a price and that price is credibility. The criticism on the way that restaurants are judged has been there for many years but the noise is now growing louder. Over the past years, there were many judges who have quit because they did not agree with the way the list was composed. On Monday 1st June, as the awards were announced for yet another year and the organisers announced that they would be moving to New York next year, it was becoming clearer to independent observers that the event has a credibility problem. A few days earlier, a site Occupy 50 Best was created, calling on sponsors to withdraw from the contest unless it is reformed. And chefs, who may earlier have thought twice before criticising the list, are now becoming more vociferous. Joel Robuchon, Georges Blanc, Francis Mallmann and Gianfranco Chiarini are among the … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #36
This was the week that saw the announcement of the 50 World's Best Restaurants for 2015. Just like Michelin has been taking flak in the past years for its system, this award is also finding itself at the centre of criticism. We will be writing more about this during the coming week but in the meantime take a look at Tim Hayward's article in the Financial Times on the same subject. We find ourselves in agreement on pretty much all the points he makes. We've written before about Massimo Bottura's Refettorio Ambrosiano. It is a project by one of the world's best chefs, Italian Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, to feed the poor using food which would otherwise be wasted. You can take a look at this week's launch here. And don't forget, if you want to donate to the project you can do so here. London's dining scene is on fire with many restaurants receiving lots of international press. But there is another side to the coin. This is explored by the editor of Observer Food Monthly … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura’s soup kitchen needs your help
We've written many times about Massimo Bottura's Refettorio Ambrosiano, the soup kitchen that has opened in Milan to serve those in need as well as to educate people on food and human nourishment in view of Expo Milan 2015. The Refettorio needs your help with donations and we believe that this is a really worthy cause and one worth promoting. Over the coming months, 30 of the world's best chefs will join the recently crowned number 2 in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list Massimo Bottura to feed the poor using food that would otherwise be thrown away from the pavilions of the Milan Expo. Bottura has even created a dish, bread is gold, as a way of raising awareness about the project. It is a beautiful dish which will be served at the soup kitchen. It is not only a worthy cause which will feed Milan's poor, but it is a perfect way to raise awareness about food waste with billions of tonnes of food being thrown away each year worldwide. The Refectory was once a theatre connected to … [Read more...]
Pouring the perfect beer
Did you know that there is a nine-step ritual to serving the perfect Stella Artois? There is no question that Belgians take their beer very seriously, but Stella Artois has developed a way to ensure that when customers drink a beer in a bar, they get the perfect experience. That job can only be done by a bartender who learns how to serve the perfect beer. And to do this, this Belgian brewery from Leuven has been organising a world draughtmaster competition to find the person who can pour the perfect beer. The winner becomes the global ambassador for a year, travelling the world and helping other bartenders learn how to serve the perfect beer. The Belgian final to find the representative who will be competing in the 18th edition of the Stella Artois World's Draughtmasters final in London was held on 3rd June at Stella's old brewery in Leuven. Jan Vandenplas of Bar Nine in Leuven won the competition among 20 regional finalists. The World's Draughtmaster for 2014, Belgian Marjolein … [Read more...]
Magnus Nilsson: ‘Unlike other creative industries, you don’t get a second chance in a restaurant’ – Chef’s Table review
"Unlike other creative professions, when you cook in a restaurant you don't get a second chance. You cannot go to customer and say the crab was not very good today so you should come and try it another day," says 32-year-old chef Magnus Nilsson, chef of Swedish restaurant Fäviken. The Chef's Table documentary of this talented Swedish chef is a must watch, as it depicts the story of this creative chef who is cooking in what is probably the most well known remote restaurant in the world. Listed 25th in the world's 50 Best restaurants for 2015 announced on 1 June, Fäviken is unique in many ways. Saying that the restaurant is in the middle of nowhere is an understatement. It is located in Järpen, around 750 kilometres north of Stockholm, and Nilsson started cooking there by chance given the fact that he was recruited to oversee the wine cellars as a consultant. This was after he decided to stop cooking on his return to Sweden from France. The documentary brilliantly portraits this … [Read more...]