Cala, the restaurant of chef Gabriela Camara will be organising a charity fundraiser this Sunday to help victims of the earthquake in Mexico. Camara, who made a name for herself in Mexico City before opening Cala, her first U.S. restaurant in San Francisco is half Mexican half Italian and was recently one of the chefs at GELINAZ! DOES UPPER AUSTRIA. Named Fuerza Mexico, the restaurant will organise a brunch to support relief efforts after this week's devastating earthquake in Mexico City. The restaurant said that the brunch will be a celebration of Mexican food and culture to help victims of the earthquake. The brunch will be held between 11am and 4pm and there will be an unlimited selection of tostados, bottomless micheladas and margaritas. Guests are expected to donate $100 dollars direct to charity at the door. There will be a life performance by Diana Gameros. Yesterday, it was the turn of René Redzepi to announce a charity dinner in Copenhagen in aid of Red Cross … [Read more...]
Charity dinner in aid of Red Cross Mexico at noma Under the Bridge
René Redzepi, chef of Copenhagen restaurant noma is organising a charity dinner on 26 September at the pop-up restaurant Under the Bridge. All proceeds from the dinner will go towards the Red Cross Mexico after the horrible earthquakes that devastated the country earlier this week. Dishes will be prepared by friends of René Redzepi from Hija De Sanchez, Geist (Bo Bech), Taller, Kodbyens Fiskebar and the Noma team with bread prepared by the Hart Bakery. The Danish chef said that the best natural wines in Denmark will be served during the dinner which have been kindly donated by Rosforth&Roshfort, Petillant and Lieu-Dit. 100 per cent of the ticket price will be donated directly to Red Cross Mexico in support of relief efforts that are taking place following the devastating earthquake. Bookings can be made here. Earlier this week, Redzepi announced that because of a delay in building works due to an archaeological find, the pop-up Under the Bridge would continue for … [Read more...]
Michelin enters unchartered territories as French chef asks to be stripped of three Michelin stars
A French chef, Sébastien Bras who runs the three Michelin star restaurant Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole, France, has asked the Michelin guide to be stripped of the prestigious ranking because at 46, he wants to give a new meaning to his life and to redefine what is essential. "I have reflected on a quote and it captures my current spirit to focus on what is essential in life. I want to give a new meaning to my professional and personal life away from the constraints and pressures," the world renowned chef said. This has placed Michelin in unchartered territories. There has never been a French chef who has asked the guide to strip the restaurant of its stars. In previous cases, the restaurants had changed considerably and therefore Michelin was forced to recognise such a change. The French chef that he took the decision together with his family. "I took over the restaurant from my father 10 years ago and the restaurant has been a source of great satisfaction for us. Since … [Read more...]
Anne Sophie Pic and David Sinapian: Putting human resources at the centre of their business
More and more professionals such as lawyers and engineers are showing an interest in gastronomy says David Sinapian, CEO of Anne-Sophie Pic and president of Les Grandes Tables du Monde. "We have found that staff that do not necessarily have culinary training are not only interested but also capable of following their dreams. They want to be creative and do something different," David told Food and Wine Gazette after his presentation at the congress organised by the collective of chefs from Wallonia, Generation W. "What matters most is their motivation and not their training. We have also found that diversity is extremely important for our business. What people might lack in technical skills can be compensated by other skills such as management skills," he said. David took over the family business with his wife Anne Sophie Pic more than 20 years ago. Since then, they have grown the Pic group to include not only the three Michelin star restaurant (they got the three Michelin … [Read more...]
Archaeological find delays opening of Noma 2.0
Noma 2.0 which had to open in December will have its opening delayed due to an archaeological find, chef René Redzepi announced in a Facebook post. He said that to cut a long story short, the builders found an old wall in the ground during the works and archaeologists had to be called in. After a month long inspection, the works could continue following the granting of an approval but this means that the opening will be delayed to 2018. Redzepi said that because of this delay, the team at Noma will be extending their pop-up Under the Bridge by another 6 weeks until November 12. Joining the Noma team for the extended run to help develop a new menu for October and November, will be two of Noma's friends Torsten Vildgaard, most recently head chef of Studio, and bread will be made by Richard Hart, the former head baker of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Richard Hart will be opening a bakery in Copenhagen next year. "We are so excited to be working with both of them," Redzepi … [Read more...]
David Chang on GELINAZ! “It is stressful but it is a small price to pay for hanging around with friends”
David Chang has done it all. He exploded to the scene in 2004 with his first Momfuku Noodle bar in East Village. Since then he has turned street food into haute cuisine winning all type of accolades in the process. He won the Outstanding Chef of the year at the James Beard award, opened one restaurant after another in different cities and countries becoming a highly successful restauranteur in the process. He’s written best selling books, reinvented how a culinary magazine should look like with Lucky Peach (now defunct) and is also a television personality. In a few words, he is a big figure in the world of gastronomy and that is not just in a literal sense. So why take part in events like GELINAZ! which are bound to cause him lots of stress? Why head to Austria for the GELINAZ! DOES UPPER AUSTRIA event when he does not even know most of the chefs that are taking part in the event? “I have not done a GELINAZ! event for some time because I have been busy. But there are two reasons … [Read more...]
Six hands dinner by Gert De Mangeleer, Zaiyu Hasegawa and Hiroyasu Kawate at Hertog Jan
When Zaiyu Hasegawa, chef of Tokyo restaurant Den came to Belgium to cook at Hertog Jan, the three Michelin star restaurant of chef Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens he came with a pan and a plan. He and Hirouasu Kawate, chef of Florilège challenged the Belgian chef to cook a Japanese style rice to accompany the main dish. The Belgian chef rose to the challenge and made a rice with cepes, marrow and snails which was one of those dishes that remains etched in your memories and which accompanied the pigeon from Steenvoorde and a dashi that was made by the two Japanese chefs. This was a splendid six hands dinner that Gert and Joachim hosted with the support of Visit Flanders and Arts Flanders Japan and which was aimed to raise awareness about this Belgian region. At the moment, the Belgian chef is reciprocating the visit with a trip to Japan where he is cooking at Florilege, Den as well as Yusuke Takada's La Cime in Osaka (the latter cooked lunch with Gert on the same … [Read more...]
Manu Buffara: ‘You need to know your land, your food, your culture, then you can cook with your soul’
For Brazilian chef Manoella Buffara of Restaurant Manu story-telling comes naturally. After all, she was studying to become a journalist before she decided to embark on her career as a chef. And that is a very good thing for Brazil. Cooking in her home town Curitiba where there was nothing as she herself says, she has taken a gamble that her story will attract not only people from her home town but also world travellers. But she clearly knows what she is doing from the flour she prepares for the restaurant to her journey through the kitchens of René Redzepi and Grant Achatz. Mention Brazil and the first chef that comes to mind is Alex Atala. It was he who discovered 'Manu' as she is known and it was he who encouraged her to go out and tell the story to the world. And what a story it is. A chef with a communications' background, she is spreading her story using not only travel but also social media. "I loved journalism before I experienced the kitchen. But then I discovered … [Read more...]
Carcasse and Maru join forces for four hands dinner on the Belgian coast
Hendrik Dierendonck, the renowned nose to tail Belgian butcher who also owns the Carcasse restaurant next door to his butcher's shop in Saint-Idesbald, Koksijde on the Belgian coast invited his friends and guests for a four-hands dinner with the team of Brussels Korean restaurant Maru. There is a reason why Dierenonck chose the Maru team. It is one of his favourite spots in Brussels and he loves the Korean flavours which marry very well with his style and philosophy of cooking. As one would expect from a dinner at Carcasse, this was clearly a dinner for meatlovers and also not for the faint-hearted though the message was clear. At a time when sustainability is the talk of the town, we need to forget prejudices and if we are going to eat meat, then we need to ensure that nothing goes to waste. That was the philosophy and the story behind this four hands dinner. From the blood sausage which Hendrik prepared in front of guests to fried cock's combs (prepared by the Maru team), pig … [Read more...]
Roberto Flore, the insectologist chef, to cook at À La Piscine in Lyon
If you are anywhere close to Lyon next week, then you should consider heading to À La Piscine for a unique six course dinner. The guest for two evenings on 15 and 16 September is Sardinian chef Roberto Flore, who works at Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen with world renowned chef René Redzepi of Noma fame. Roberto is probably the leading chef in the world working to understand the reasons why people eat insects and how this is considered normal in many cultures around the world. A Sardinian, he discovered the 'holy grail' in Sardegna when he was still 8 years old. It was here that he came face to face with casu marzu, a cheese that is literally translated into English as "rotten or putrid cheese". This is a traditional sheep milk cheese that contains live insect larvae (maggots). He says that the seed of his fascination with why people eat insects was planted over 25 years ago at the end of that lunch. "A friend arrived with a piece of casu marzu with maggots jumping all around. … [Read more...]