When Martina Liverani, writer and founder of Italian food magazine Dispensa (which means pantry in English) created the bi-annual publication in 2013, little did she know that it would eventually reach a global albeit niche audience. "It was only in 2015 during the Milan Expo that we came up with the idea to have a bilingual publication and today this is unique in that it brings many of Italy's beautiful stories to a wider audience," Martina told Food and Wine Gazette. In an age where food has become ubiquitous both online and on TV, it takes courage to go counter-current and launch a paper 'bookazine' as Dispensa is called. Martina explains that she has always been anti-conformist. "That is the reason why I wanted to create a magazine. We are living in a golden age for paper. Paper is showing that it can still compete with digital and inspire people even when people though that it was dead.' "The main difference between paper and digital is that people want to touch paper, … [Read more...]
Everyone likes a bad review: the scathing restaurant review that went viral
Jay Rayner's scathing restaurant review of Paris restaurant Le Cinq has been the talk of the internet since the article appeared online on Sunday morning in the Guardian. It went viral pretty instantly confirming that there is nothing that readers like more than a bashing particularly if this has colourful language and has made the writer angry. Jay Rayner's website collapsed as visitors flocked to get the back story to the Guardian review. Readers on social media were urging their followers to read the article saying that this would be the best thing they read that day and the article instantly went viral. By the time of writing the article had over 2,700 comments on The Guardian. When the restaurant critic termed this his worst experience ever readers got curious. They were amused with the colourful language. It was no wonder with gems like "never did I think the shamefully terrible cooking would slacken my jaw from the rest of my head," or "my lips purse, like a cat's arse … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #110
Escape to Valletta: Culinary delights in the next European Capital of Culture: Valletta is one of Europe’s most diminutive cities. Bang in the middle of the Mediterranean, ravaged by extremes of weather and world war, Malta’s small jewel of a capital is also the furthest south – a historical comeback kid that continues to punch above its weight, as it has done for centuries. Le Cinq Paris: Restaurant Review: There is only one thing worse than being served a terrible meal: being served a terrible meal by earnest waiters who have no idea just how awful the things they are doing to you are. And so, to the flagship Michelin three-star restaurant of the George V Hotel in Paris, or the scene of the crime as I now like to call it. In terms of value for money and expectation Le Cinq supplied by far the worst restaurant experience I have endured in my 18 years in this job. This, it must be said, is an achievement of sorts. Food has replaced music as culturally central, at least for … [Read more...]
First international gastronomic congress of Wallonia to take place in Namur in July
The first international gastronomic festival of Wallonia will take place on 1, 2 and 3 July at the Citadel of Namur. The congress is being organised by Generation W, the collective of chefs from Wallonia led by chef of L' Air du Temps, San Degeimbre. The congress, which brings some of the world's best chefs to the southern region of Belgium will be held on Monday 3 July. During this unique seminar, professionals and students of gastronomy will be able to meet with their peers as well as people working in the field of gastronomy, the members of Generation W. They will discuss the latest trends in gastronomy. The focus will be on the human, on the importance of management, team spirit, creativity, social issues, women's place in gastronomy and the management of international restaurants. Among the confirmed speakers are Benallal Akrame, chef of Restaurant Akrame and Atelier Vivanda (Paris and Hong Kong), Bo Bech, chef of Restaurant Geist in Copenhagen, Denmark, Quique Da Costa, … [Read more...]
New York’s Eleven Madison Park named World’s Best Restaurant for first time
Eleven Madison Park in New York, the restaurant of chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara has been named the best restaurant in the 2017 list announced today by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. This year’s winners were revealed at an awards ceremony at the historic Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Last year's number one Osteria Francescana of chef Massimo Bottura placed second while El Celler de Can Roca of the Roca brothers placed third. This year's list features nine new restaurants, six making their debut and three returning to the list as re-entries. France, Spain and the United States each could six restaurants on the 2017 list. The highest climber in the list is Blue Hill at Stone Barns which rose 37 places and is now in 11th place. Mauro Colagreco's Mirazur rose to fourth place continuing the Italo-Argentinian's chefs rise while Central, Virgilio Martinez's restaurant in Lima, Peru finished in fifth place. Martinez was recipient of the chef's choice award. Now … [Read more...]
Thousands rally to save Ron Finley’s urban farm in South Central LA from foreclosure
More than 21,000 people have signed an urgent new Care2 petition to save Ron Finley’s urban farm in South Central L.A. The petition, launched by two natural food giants - Actress Nell Newman, founder of Newman's Own, and John Foraker, President of Annie’s Homegrown - started the petition to save Finley’s “gangsta garden” after learning that Finley only has seven days to save the small strip of city land in front of his residence from foreclosure. The petition calls on Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, and Strategic Acquisitions Inc, the company behind the foreclosure, to take action to save Finley’s organic farm, located in South Central L.A.’s food desert. “What Ron has done is incredible, really,” Foraker said. “His vision for a healthier world has not only provided nourishment, it has bolstered a community. I hope the support of my Care2 petition will convince the property owner that Ron’s project is valuable and ought to stay.” After the previous owner of Finley’s property … [Read more...]
Seventh edition of Dispensa published
The seventh edition of Dispensa, a biannual independent bookazine created in 2013 by Martina Liverani has just been published. The main theme of this edition is childhood. As adults we all like to think of our childhood and also of the dreams, the sincerity and honesty of children. Martina Liverani writes about a nine year old girl who is taken to dinner at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana and reports about the experience. She tried the fois gras ice-lolly, a famous dish of Bottura. She was then served with Tortellini in a creamy Parmigiano Reggiano sauce. "Had you ever had tortellini like these?" she was asked. "I can taste the Parmesan and the tortellini, but the meat not so much. The sauce is the nicest. I'd eat it every day, they are the nicest toretellini I've ever tasted in my whole life." There are articles about the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle and chefs have been asked to reveal their dreams from the past. The ones who answered Dispensa are Antonio Marras, … [Read more...]
11 new entries in 51-100 list of the World’s Best Restaurants
This year’s 51-100 list of The World’s Best Restaurants welcomes 11 new entries after the number of overall votes was significantly expanded. The diversity of the list is enhanced by the wider reach of the voting Academy in 2017. The list released today includes restaurants from 24 countries with the USA leading with nine restaurants. Spain and France count four entries each. The highest new entry is Disfrutar (No. 55) in Barcelona which this year also won the One to Watch award. The 2017 list includes debuts from Mexico (Sud 777, 75), USA (Atelier Crenn, 83), Russia (Selfie, 88), South Korea (Mingles, 89), Denmark (Kadeau, 94), Japan (Sushi Saito, 97 and Florilège, 99) and Brazil (Olympe, 100). Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia, is also among the first-time entries. Fronted by Ana Roš, named The World’s Best Female Chef 2017, Hiša Franko placed 69th. New York’s Momofuku Ko makes the most significant climb, rising 39 places. Among the nine USA restaurants in the 51-100 list, … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #109
How Shipwrecked Champagne Is Changing Winemaking: In 2010 Dominique Demarville, cellar master for the champagne house Veuve Clicquot, got what he thought was a joke call: 168 bottles of likely the world’s oldest champagne had been found in a shipwreck beneath the Baltic Sea. Soon Demarville was sniffing and sipping the 170-year-old champagne, which he found sweet and fresh, although some tasters described its initial scent as “wet hair.” The dark, cool sea had preserved it in what researchers called “close to perfect” conditions. Four years later Veuve Clicquot launched Cellar in the Sea. Some 350 bottles were submerged in the Baltic, to be retrieved and analyzed periodically over 40 years. Why Lucky Peach Is More Than Just a Magazine for Food Geeks: In 2012, Lucky Peach published a story, purportedly based on a series of emails from a writer named Sydney Finch, who claimed to have found evidence that the Chinese invented spaghetti with tomato sauce. It was an amusing, irreverent … [Read more...]
Trudie Styler and Sting launch Il Palagio tasting tour at ProWein in Dusseldorf
Trudie Styler and Sting have launched the Il Palagio Tasting Tour at this year's ProWein, the world's leading trade fair for wine and spirits that was held in Dusseldorf, Germany from March 19 to 21. The traveling caravan has been designed to create a welcoming atmosphere for wine lovers from all over the world as they stop to taste Il Palagio wines and learn more about the Tuscan estate and winery during Sting's tour. The Mayor of Dusseldorf and the Prowein team welcomed Sting and Styler at the Prowein fair on Sunday. During the event, Sting also paid tribute to the late, great Chuck Berry, playing Johnny B. Goode at the fair. Il Palagio, the winery owned by world renowned singer Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, a film producer, director and human rights activist Featuring wines named Sister Moon, When we Dance, Casino delle Vie, Beppe Rosato, Message in a Bottle White and Message in a Bottle Red, the first stop of the traveling caravan was in Dusseldorf. The … [Read more...]