Merlin Labron-Johnson is a chef who can be considered a fervent fermenter, pickler and curer, and this passion comes from his time at the cult Belgian restaurant In de Wulf which closed its doors in December 2016. Everything was done in house; all the pickling, smoking and charcuterie curing, using only traditional and old fashioned methods of preservation. These influences are clearly visible on the menu at Portland, London. This dish was inspired by Merlin's time spent working in Belgium, where he noticed that during the asparagus season, white asparagus was often eaten with hollandaise or ‘mousseline’ sauce. He has added other young vegetables that are still available as winter morphs into spring to give a more interesting variation of textures and flavours. Merlin decided to smoke the butter used in the hollandaise over hay to add an element of ‘farm’ and terroir. He uses wild herbs to add freshness to the dish which would otherwise be quite rich, and the sorrels add a … [Read more...]
“A childhood dream come true” – Hendrik Dierendonck on the opening of Brussels butcher shop
Hendrik Dierendonck, the renowned nose to tail Belgian butcher, has opened the long-awaited shop in Rue St. Catherine in central Brussels. "It is a childhood dream come true for me to open a Brussels shop particularly in the city centre." Dierendonck told Food and Wine Gazette that this was a big step for him. "I have always been working on the Belgian coast and since I was young, I have always dreamt of this step." When he was young, the Belgian butcher used to work with his father Raymond Dierendonck in St Idesbald on the Belgian coast in summer while in winter he spent his time in Brussels. The opening of the Brussels shop replaces the Jack O'Shea shop in the Place St. Catherine area which closed abruptly last summer though it has been completely refurbished in an open style to reflect Dierendonck's approach to butchery. "I want to present Brussels residents and visitors to Brussels with an old school approach. Here they will find the artisanal approach, with an … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #102
René Redzepi on Noma’s last supper – and what comes next: On the night in 2009 when his restaurant reached No 3 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, René Redzepi’s thoughts turned to aviation. “It was a great moment,” he recalls. “But it also felt like that moment when you’re on a plane after it takes off, and you’re at 10,000 feet, and you’re wondering, is this where we level off? Or are we going to start climbing again?” How A Destitute, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became The First Celebrity Chef: The bustling Paris streets were rutted and caked in thick mud, but there was always a breathtaking sight to behold in the shop windows of Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. By 1814, people crowded outside the bakery, straining for a glimpse of the latest confection created by the young chef who worked inside. Who killed the great British curry house? No one in Oli Khan’s family had ever lived in Scotland, or anywhere near it. But when, aged 23, Khan first set eyes on Linlithgow, a … [Read more...]
Book review: Food from the fire by Niklas Ekstedt
It is perhaps not the best time to review a book about cooking food from the fire given that we are experiencing a bitter patch of winter cold and not everyone has the luxury to have wood fired ovens or a fire pit indoors. But for Niklas Ekstedt, the man behind the Stockholm restaurant by the same name and author of a recently released book Food from the Fire, cooking with fire is something he does every day, winter or summer. His restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, opened in November 2011 with a fire pit, a wood fired oven and a wood stove. Plenty of people had told him that he had made things difficult for himself. Now, he has also installed a stone-age equivalent of a microwave oven, a smoker and extra fires burning as he continues to explore age-old techniques and to learn more about a lost art of cooking. The flavour that comes out of food that has been cooked with fire is different to what you get from normal cooking. But apart from the occasional barbecues we have lost the … [Read more...]
Wilder at the Villa – a new private dining concept by Maarten Van Essche
There is a new concept just outside Brussels called "Wilder at the Villa". Chef and interior designer Maarten Van Essche who has formerly worked at Noma and Hof Van Cleve has created a private dining experience in a villa that is at his disposal. "Because it is private dining, people need to make a reservation to get a seat. There is room for 20 guests at the table, and it is available from Wednesday to Saturday," Van Essche told Food and Wine Gazette. "The recipe for the evening is simple: one table, one menu, one starting hour. Nature defines the menu, we fix the matching drinks. So all the guests are eating and spending the evening together." "I created this private dining concept because we have a great villa at our disposal for an undetermined period of time," Van Essche told Food and Wine Gazette. "We want to use it in the best way we can. As a chef and interior designer, I like to create a great atmosphere to live and invite people. Since its an old villa from the … [Read more...]
Time and scarcity are today’s luxuries and will define tomorrow’s trends in food and wine
As we start the New Year, it is normally the time to reflect on the previous year but also more importantly to look at what is coming next and to try and spot the novelties that might become trends in the years to come. We have read many articles about predictions for 2017 doing the rounds from Michelin’s take of the 10 trends for 2017 to a sceptical look at the articles predicting trends. There is an obvious tendency to get it wrong and you end up with egg on your face. So instead of looking at what we think will be the top trends we focus on one issue, time, and look at how this will have an impact on the food and wine world in the coming months and years. To take a look at the future, many times you need to look to the past. The start of this article came over a lunch discussion with with Fulvio Pierangelini, Gert de Mangeleer, Clare Smyth and Peter Nillsson a day before the Gelinaz! Headquarters event in Brussels where we ended up discussing the state of fine dining … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #101
Legendary French chef Pierre Koffmann on his 50 years in the kitchen: Few mission statements are as accurate, yet leave so much unsaid, as the one that opens Pierre Koffmann's latest book. "I am a typical French chef," he says at the top of the first page of Classic Koffmann. It's an interesting opening gambit, and a reminder of the extent to which the man embodies French cooking. Even in his 50th year as a chef, and his 46th in London, he has steadfastly refused to fade from relevance, just as his country's cuisine has – even if both are operating in a different landscape now to when French food was the undisputed pillar of fine dining a few decades ago. Harrods keeps up to 75% of restaurant service charge, union says: Harrods has been accused of shortchanging its restaurant staff in the latest row over how service charges added to diners’ bills are shared among workers. The union representing Harrods waiters and kitchen staff believes the Qatari owner of the upmarket London … [Read more...]
2016 – a year of Food and Wine Gazette in review
Only a few hours remain as many uncork their champagne bottles to bid farewell to 2016 and welcome the New Year. We are sure that many will be hoping that 2017 will be better on many fronts particularly given the global experiences and challenges that we have all witnessed in the past year. On a global level, 2016 will be remembered as one that has brought about tumultuous change. It is still hard to see what impact this will have on the long term but certainly the year has regaled us with many uncertainties, only the extent of which will be visible in the years to come. The changes in the food and wine world might not have been as profound though even here there are signs that change could also be coming but we will cover that in a subsequent article on what we see as the main trends coming in the food and wine world. Clearly, there has continued to be more pressure guides and lists as more and more people start to question their consistency and reliability. We have started … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #100
Whey too popular? Foodies angered by crowds at London cheese festival: It was billed as a “fromage-themed extravaganza” but a cheese festival at London’s historic Borough Market left a bad taste in the mouth of many foodies who complained of dangerous overcrowding. More than 18,000 people on Facebook indicated they were going to the free event which took place on Wednesday night and some visitors said the large numbers who turned up, coupled with a lack of organisation, rendered it a disaster. Restaurant trends for 2017: Michael Whiteman is a striking example of a lifetime well spent in the American hospitality business. Aged 78, with a full head of hair and a wry smile, he created the first edition of Nation’s Restaurant News in New York in 1967. A meeting with the late restaurateur Joe Baum led to their consultancy business, Baum + Whiteman; together they opened Windows on the World and the Rainbow Room in Manhattan. They also introduced the concept of food courts across the … [Read more...]
Auction of aprons signed by Massimo Bottura in aid of Food for Soul
If you would like to give a food lover something he would cherish while donating to charity you might be interested in bidding for five aprons signed by top chef Massimo Bottura. The auction which started last week and which ends on 18 December is organised by Giblor's in collaboration with eBay to raise funds for the organisation Food for Soul. They are auctioning five aprons signed by top chef Massimo Bottura and all the proceeds of the auction will be donated to Food for Soul. The aim of the auction is to help Food for Soul ensure the sustainability of the 2016 projects and make those in 2017 come true. Giblor's has been supporting Food for Soul since the early stages. The Italian manufacturer, produces and donates the aprons for chefs and volunteers of Refettorio Ambrosiano in Milan, the Socialtables@ Antoniano in Bologna, Refettorio Gastromotiva in Rio de Janeiro and the brand new Socialtables@ Ghirlandina in Modena, which opened on December 5. For the very first … [Read more...]