In May 2014, less than five years ago, I made a promise to myself. A number of attempts at starting to write after a long journalistic hiatus had dismally failed. That promise was to show up and to write and to keep at it even if the odds might be heavily stacked against me. With the incessant support of my wife Giulia, I am proud to have reached a first major milestone. What you are reading is the 1000th article on Food and Wine Gazette. This website took off in September 2014 after weeks of brainstorming with Giulia as to what the name of the website should be. When we decided on Food and Wine Gazette, we took the plunge without necessarily knowing what direction the website would take. All we knew was that this would be a way for me to express my creativity and feed my curiousity for stories, people, food and places. With no stretch of imagination on that September did I imagine that I would get to where I am today. One article at a time, most of them written after the … [Read more...]
A new chapter begins for Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens
Gert de Mangeleer (left) and Joachim Boudens (right) Silence reigns in the kitchen that used to be so hectic in Zedelgem at Hertog Jan, the three Michelin star restaurant of Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens. The kitchen has been empty since the last service on 22 December. On Instagram stories, Gert is maybe feeling a bit nostalgic after the holidays. The kitchen is completely empty and on a photo of the empty kitchen he writes ‘It’s oh so quiet’. The next post however shows that the two are not resting on their laurels. The new Bistro L.E.S.S. will open in the centre of Bruges in the coming weeks and the works are going on at full steam. Just under a year ago, Gert and Joachim shocked their Belgian and international followers when they announced the decision to close their flagship restaurant in December last year. Many could not understand their decision and some still cannot understand why they walked away when they were at the top. Some still wonder what made them … [Read more...]
Why 100 judges from across the globe are lending support to the World Restaurant Awards
The judging panel This is not another list, Joe Warwick and Andrea Petrini repeat as often as is necessary to point out why the World Restaurant Awards is different to what is already out there. Does the world need another list is often the question they are asked time and time again. We have become accustomed to lists from this year’s top books to the essential places you need to visit before you die, to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the La Liste, a data driven list, the Best Chef’s list, the Chef’s Choice for chef of the year and so much more. It is exhausting to keep track but unfortunately it is what generates clicks, interest and buzz in the age of social media. So what’s different and what’s new with the World Restaurant Awards and why have some of the world’s top names in the restaurant world from Massimo Bottura to Elena Arzak, from René Redzepi to Clare Smyth, from David Chang to Ana Ros, from Dan Barber to Helene Darroze and from Yotam Ottolengi to Manu … [Read more...]
The hunt for that elusive Belgian third star
When Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens announced they would be closing their flagship three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem, Belgium at the end of this year many started to speculate as to which restaurant or restaurants would clinch the third Michelin star. The closure of Karmelit, the restaurant of chef Geert Van Hecke in Bruges in 2016 had already been seen as a blow to a country that takes gastronomy so seriously. But, after last year’s announcements that the guide had visited a number of restaurants many times with international inspectors including Brussels restaurants Bon Bon and Sea Grill as well as La Paix (at the time 1 star), many where speculating that this would be the year that Belgium would get a new 3 Michelin star restaurant if not more. But when the tyre company announced the publication of the new guide for 2019, there were no new announcements at the top end. The rumour mill doing the rounds had been mentioning in particular Christophe … [Read more...]
Impressive evolution at Risette, Valletta
In 2016, French chef Claude Bosi closed Hibiscus in London. On the closing night, Maltese chef Andrew Borg, who had worked at the two Michelin star restaurant with Claude Bosi, decided to surprise his mentor and former boss and booked to go for the final dinner. It is what the young Maltese chef loves doing. When he has the time, he is travelling in search of ideas and flavours and these experiences are starting to be reflected in Risette's cuisine. Since the end of 2017, he is at the helm of this restaurant that is housed in one of Valletta’s top boutique hotels, Casa Ellul which forms part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection. Months after the opening, you can say the evolution has been impressive. He has surrounded himself with a solid team which makes this restaurant one of Malta’s top food spots if not the best. Together with sous chef Kurt Micallef and pastry chef David Tanti, he has created an excellent dining spot making use of exceptional produce and using … [Read more...]
What I have been up to this summer
I’ve spent over a month in Malta and writing went on the back burner for a few weeks. Despite the good intentions, including the desire to wake up early morning to write and exercise, the tiredness and heaviness of the previous months took their toll. I did not realise the extent till I found myself waking up late in the morning on the first days of my vacation without any energy and desire to do anything other than cook and be lazy. Add to that a WIFI free house and the stifling heat of a Maltese summer and you will sympathise with my plight. But that’s the point of summer after all. Most of the time was spent cooking (and sourcing ingredients), reading, swimming and recharging energies which should enable me to get back to the usual routine. Cooking this summer was spontaneous depending on what I found in the shops close to home without much planning or following recipes. This spontaneous cooking meant that I didn’t even bring out the barbecue this summer since I … [Read more...]
Dealing with loss: Cherishing the memories of a loved one through food
A few Christmases ago, my father was standing next to me at the stove as I was preparing the traditional Christmas lunch which I’ve been cooking pretty much since I met my wife in 2000. He asked me a very simple question. Where did your love for food and for cooking come from? And while that might look like a very simple question, my relationship with food, as Facebook would say, is complicated. It is a question I’ve often been asked and the best answer is probably centred around the key people in my life, that is my wife, my parents and my parents-in-law. This is maybe the closest that I’ll get to answering this question for the time being. The story is much longer and includes many twists and turns and stories along the way but you’ll get the gist below. A few weeks ago, as readers of the Food and Wine Gazette newsletter know, I lost my mother-in-law. For my wife who lost a mother and for me who lost a second mother, it was hard, very hard, made more complicated and difficult by … [Read more...]
No brunch, no well done steak and no fish on Monday: RIP Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain, a cook, a writer, a traveller, a TV personality and producer, a foodie at a time when food was barely on the radar screen and one of the main instigators of today’s culinary travels is no more. He sadly took his life away in what is an apparent suicide. It’s hard to think that someone you have never met could impact you so much but that was the case with Anthony. His two seminal books Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour where what triggered an interest in me for food, food books and food writing. He was a cook when he wrote 'Don’t Eat before reading this', a seminal piece in the New Yorker which was the prelude for his career as an author and TV producer. In that article he gave tips on what to avoid in restaurants from doing the restaurant a favour by ordering a well done steak (they will serve you the worse piece of meat you can imagine), by avoiding the dish of the day (it is what restaurants needed to sell lest it is thrown away), the dreaded brunch or … [Read more...]
Less is more, make that your mantra – Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Isabel Gilbert Palmer interviews food writer Nancy Singleton Hachisu about food in Japan. Phaidon will be publishing her third book called Japan the Cookbook on 6 April. Nancy says that Japan the Cookbook is not an examination of regional cooking traditions, as much as a curated experience of Japan's culinary framework from a specific moment in time. Using both line and generous strokes, she said she has put together what she hopes is a broad and rich picture of the food of this island nation. Three years in the making, the book hs a collection of over 400 recipes of authentic and traditional Japanese dishes and explores every part of Japan home cooking through soups, noodles, rice, pickles, one pots, sweets and vegetable dishes. Nancy I was introduced to your work by a chef in Malibu, Los Angeles, last summer who on one of his free days, picked Japanese farm food off a friend’s bookshelf, not because he’s a cookbook reader, but because of the title. He had spent 14 years living in … [Read more...]
Is Sebastien Bras’ decision to give back his Michelin stars a one-off or the start of something bigger?
In France, the Michelin guide is big, bigger than anywhere else in the world. It is the benchmark by which chefs and restaurants are judged. And for the French public its a bit like the bible. So when Sébastien Bras took to Facebook to announce that he wanted Michelin to take back his three Michelin stars and did not want to be listed any longer in the Michelin guide he shocked many. In France, and in many other places in the world, no one has the audacity to counter the red guide. They have the ability to make or break you. And they also have an impact on the bottom line. Moving from one star to two stars or from two stars to three stars means an increase in turnover for the restaurant. Some restauranteurs calculate this at 20%. On top of it, three Michelin stars are also scarce. He is one of only 27 chefs and restaurants that have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars in France. And many more aspire for that accolade. But away from the fanfare is another reality and … [Read more...]