Extreme heat and lack of rain and moisture has characterised the 2018 Austrian wine harvest but for the most part, Austria's grapevines were able to withstand the heat. "We had an early and very ripe vintage on our hands, one in which persistent high temperatures led to consistently higher levels of alcohol and lower levels of acidity. Volume will be just above average: we are looking forward to a harvest in the magnitude of some 2.6 million hectolitres," said Johannes Schmuckenschlager, president of the Viticultural Association. The 2018 vintage will be one of the earliest harvests in decades. The vines budded later than usual this year, which in comparison to the previous two years provided the advantage that they suffered no damage from frost. The heat wave that set in just after budding in April and May led to one of the earliest flowerings since records have been kept. In most winegrowing regions, flowering was finished in May, which amounted to an enormous head start in the … [Read more...]
A truffle kerfuffle in Provence
Foodies are always on the lookout for the uncommon and the creative. This does not always work out well. I once ate at a truffle-only restaurant in the Var in Southern France. The place was called Chez Bruno and was so pretentious you could only see waiters by appointment. When we turned up and announced we were ‘sans reservation’ the Gallic horror and hand wringing was pure comedy. Had Kim Jong Un sauntered over the border yesterday and told the S Korean president ‘I’m gonna nuke your nuts’, he would have taken it better than them. My wife, who considers über-expensive restaurants to be a form of disinheritance, took one look at the assorted Porsches in the carpark and helpfully suggested we eat what was left of the melted brie sandwiches in the car. But I had spotted something worse than the automobiles: this place had a helipad !! Well, fuck-me-blind I thought, if people fly into the mountains to eat at Bruno’s I want in. Somehow we got a table. Don’t ask how, it was ages ago … [Read more...]
Konstanin Filippou: Creativity starts with quietness
When it comes to the creative process Konstantin Filippou loves quietness. As chef of a fine dining restaurant of the same name in Vienna, Austria, he finds that it is best to concentrate and to trigger ideas either in the dead of night after a dinner service or else when he is completely quiet. While he enjoys music on his days off, in the kitchen, he does not even allow music to be played because it makes him nervous. “Creativity starts with quietness,” he told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. That sense of quietness, of focus and of searching for answers and taking the time to think may be what has led this talented Austrian chef to retain his focus even when times were hard. So when Michelin called Konstantin Filippou’s name and awarded him two stars for his restaurant earlier this week it was the culmination of a dream he has laboured on quietly and within. In 2013, just when he had signed the lease for the restaurant in Vienna and signed to purchase the equipment … [Read more...]
Good 2017 for Austrian wine despite problematic weather
2017 was not easy for Austria's wine growers who had to do their utmost to cope with capricious weather during the year. And while the end result for the wine has been positive, it was not a sure thing.The coldest January in the last thirty years was followed by the warmest March since meteorological records have been kept, resulting in a very early bud-break. With the devastating frosts of 2016 still fresh in memory, a spate of winter weather caused substantial anxiety in April and parts of May. Fortunately, this cold snap did not persist for long. In addition, Austria’s growers were able to employ all imaginable means at the right time, so that there was hardly any frost damage reported. The precipitation in September and the relatively dramatic temperature swings between day and night in the autumn had an appreciably positive influence on the development of aromas. Even from the initial tastings, it could be established with satisfaction that the heat-stress of the summer had … [Read more...]
Everything needs to change – René Redzepi’s aim to reinvent the restaurant goes way beyond the kitchen
'For things to remain the same, things will have to change'. That is probably one of the most famous quotes from The Leopard, a novel written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. This is not what René Redzepi, chef of the world famous Noma has in mind. When he took the stage at Parabere Forum in Malmo last week he said that the problem is that everything needs to change. "My vision for Noma is not to be the best restaurant in the world but that it will be the best place to work in the world." The change he is looking for is not one that keeps everything the same but rather one that brings a fundamental shift in the restaurant industry. He is taking some of the most talked about issues in the world of work today such as equality, work life balance, the need to work in a comfortable and welcoming environment and improved working hours and in the process he is going through a reinvention not just from a culinary point of view but also from a restaurant management point of view. A lot … [Read more...]
Gorka Izagirre wines: Making the impossible possible
Visitors to the Basque country will have definitely tasted the Txakoli, a local white wine that is drunk everywhere you go. But outside the region, the wine is extremely difficult to find despite the fact that it washes down well with food. When you visit the Azurmendi galaxy, a three Michelin star restaurant a few kilometres outside Bilbao in the idyllic Larrabetzu, you will not only find the sister restaurant Eneko, recently awarded with a Michelin star but also the headquarters of Bodega Gorka Izagirre, a newish and enthusiastically patriotic Biscayan wine producer. And as you would expect from a wine that is served in Eneko Atxa's restaurants, the wines produced are of the highest quality white wines while remaining true to their unique identity and origins. The wines are made from the Hondarrabi Zuri and the Hondarrabi Zerratia varieties. These are Atlantic grapes that are cultivated locally in small and concerntrated clusters located on the hillsides of Biscay giving … [Read more...]
Noma 2.0: A new star is born
Every season when football players return back from a few weeks break and start their pre-season training with their club they are not in their finest form. There might be a new coach, new players, new tactics to assimilate. The first few matches can be excruciating not only for the coach and players themselves but also for the supporters and journalists. The latter have to write about those friendly matches as if they are the final of the Champions League to sate the interest of the supporters. The reality, however, is that it is way to early to form an opinion or to pass judgement. If you have to watch a team like Real Madrid or Barcelona perform during the pre-season, it will be impossible to assess how they will fare that season on the basis of those early summer friendly matches despite the fact that the teams are born to be great. The lunch at the new Noma on 23 February forms part of that same category. The food and the service were excellent but this was the start of the … [Read more...]
Inside the new Noma where René Redzepi has reinvented the restaurant
Twenty builders were still working frantically a few minutes before the opening of the new Noma in Copenhagen on 16 February. For the past weeks, René Redzepi and his staff had to pull up their sleeves, buy safety hats and help the workers with the finishing touches. The creative process had been finalised by then, the menu was ready to serve the first customers but the building works were delayed. The stress was palpable but there was no time to relax because further delays would have meant bankruptcy as René Redzepi himself told Richard Vines on Bloomberg last month. Today, just a week after the restaurant opened you would barely notice that this was a construction site until a few days ago. Sure there are still signs as you walk in to the restaurant such as the green houses which are yet to be completed but inside that frantic rush to get the restaurant ready is not visible. Guests are greeted in the Noma style and the service and the kitchen works like clock-work despite … [Read more...]
Nine top chefs to cook at Sven Elverfeld’s Aqua in Wolfsburg
Nine chefs of three Michelin star restaurants will be cooking in separate events at the restaurant of Sven Elverfeld, Aqua in Wolfsburg, Germany. The German chef of the the three Michelin star restaurant announced the events to celebrate 10 years of 3 Michelin stars on his Instagram page. The chefs are Jan Hartwig of Restaurant Atelier in Germany, Niko Romito of Reale in Italy, Andreas Caminada of Schauenstein in Furstenau, Switzerland, Rasmus Kofoed of Geranium in Denmark, Jonnie Boer of De Librije in the Netherlands, Norbert Niederkofler of Restaurant St Hubertus in Italy, Gert De Mangeleer of Hertog Jan in Belgoium, Paolo Casagrande of Restaurant Lasarte in Barcelona and Corey Lee of Restaurant Benu in the United States. "Unfortunately, we tried to get women from three Michelin star restaurants but we did not manage," he said with Maria Canabal, of Parabere Forum saying that unfortunately there are too few women at the helm of 3 Michelin star restaurants. "I hope there will … [Read more...]
Eneko Atxa of Azurmendi to launch best farmers award later this year
Imagine a world where you could find the best producer of eggs in Italy at the click of a button. That is what Eneko Atxa, chef of three Michelin star restaurant Azurmendi has set out to do this year. Called the Best Farmers award, his dream is to give farmers and producers the importance they deserve. "Today, chefs are considers as rockstars but if we can achieve that for farmers, maybe the world will be a better place," Eneko told Food and Wine Gazette in Larrabetzu. "During 2018, I want to create a platform that gives visibility to the best producers in the world. I want to give the possibility to people to look for the best produce at the click of a button. The aim is that in every part of the world you will be able to look for the best producer of a given product," Eneko said. He is not leaving anything to chance. The Basque chef, who has made a name for himself for sustainability and for his new concept JAKIN(N) which looks at the restaurant in a holistic … [Read more...]