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Magnus Nilsson: ‘Unlike other creative industries, you don’t get a second chance in a restaurant’ – Chef’s Table review

June 2, 2015 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

"Unlike other creative professions, when you cook in a restaurant you don't get a second chance. You cannot go to customer and say the crab was not very good today so you should come and try it another day," says 32-year-old chef Magnus Nilsson, chef of Swedish restaurant Fäviken. The Chef's Table documentary of this talented Swedish chef is a must watch, as it depicts the story of this creative chef who is cooking in what is probably the most well known remote restaurant in the world. Listed 25th in the world's 50 Best restaurants for 2015 announced on 1 June, Fäviken is unique in many ways. Saying that the restaurant is in the middle of nowhere is an understatement. It is located in Järpen, around 750 kilometres north of Stockholm, and Nilsson started cooking there by chance given the fact that he was recruited to oversee the wine cellars as a consultant. This was after he decided to stop cooking on his return to Sweden from France. The documentary brilliantly portraits this … [Read more...]

Francis Mallmann: ‘Get out of your chair and go out’ – Chef’s Table review

May 16, 2015 by Ivan Brincat 2 Comments

"I am a cook that uses cooking to send this message of a way of living. I am always cooking in remote places in the wild with fires. So the message is get out of your chair, sofa or office and go out," says the most influential chef from Argentina. When I sat down to watch Chef's Table documentary on Francis Mallmann I was intrigued by the visuals of the trailers which showed Argentina's arguably most high-profile chef cooking lamb with fire in snow with a stunning landscape as the backdrop. That intrigue was not misplaced. This documentary, produced by David Gelb is an exceptional portrait of a chef who has really returned to the basics of cooking, using fire in all its possibilities to produce simple dishes which are full of flavours. Mallmann explains that today we educate children to be settled and once they have a job, a car and a place to sleep the dreams are dead. "You do not grow on a secure path. All of us should conquer something in life. It needs a lot of work, it … [Read more...]

Gordon Ramsay hated Noma but was nice about it – Redzepi on Reddit Q&A

April 21, 2015 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

Gordon Ramsay had visited Noma and hated it according to the award winning chef René Redzepi who was answering a question and answer session he organsied on Reddit called Ask Me Anything. "But he was nice about it," Redzepi said with a smiley. The AMA (as Ask Me Anything is called on Reddit) is full of incredible insights from one of the best chefs in the world. Here are some of the highlights, but if you are interested you might want to check out the whole session here. Redzepi is a chef from Denmark and the son of an Albanian Muslim immigrant and a Danish mother. He trained in many restaurants around the world before returning to Copenhagen and opening Noma in 2003. The restaurant celebrates the Nordic region's ingredients and aims to present a kind of cooking that expresses its location and the seasons, drawing on a local network of farmers, foragers and purveyors. Noma has held 2 Michelin stars since 2007 and was voted best Restaurant in the world in 2010, 2011, 2012 and … [Read more...]

Bo Bech: Easier to remember the truth than the lie

February 16, 2015 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

Bo Bech, of restaurant Geist, is a bubbly personality who knows exactly what he wants. Having made his name in Copenhagen at Restaurant Paustian, where he was awarded a Michelin star, he decided to set up Geist in 2011 because he did not like the way food was going. When Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, of two Michelin starred Belgian restaurant L'Air du Temps invited him for a four-hands dinner in Liernu he replied immediately without hesitation. Bech is well-known in Denmark for the Danish answer to Kitchen Nightmares. But he is also a chef who leaves a huge impression. Both Sang-Hoon and Olivier from L'Air du Temps tell us how this restaurant has left a really great impression and they highly recommend that we visit if we are in Copenhagen. You can understand why from the cooking style of Bo Bech, but also from his philosophy. While he is making the sauce, which is about to accompany what seems like a simple dish but has incredibly complex flavours (the cauliflower with truffle and a … [Read more...]

De Librije opens its doors in new location in Zwolle

January 20, 2015 by Ivan Brincat 2 Comments

De Librije, the three Michelin starred restaurant of Jonnie and Therese Boer in Zwolle, has opened the doors in its new location within the Librije's hotel today, 20 January 2015. Jonnie and Therese Boer told Food and Wine Gazette that after more than 28 years, in their restaurant they wanted to change. "We wanted to get new energy and new inspiration. Moreover the building which housed the old De Librije was old and required major changes. So instead we opted to change the restaurant and move it to De Librije's hotel which is an old prison from the 1700s," said Therese Boer, who leads the front of house and is a trained viticulturist and wine specialist. The Dutch chef is known for putting the Netherlands on the culinary landscape with his love of ingredients and his consciousness for food waste. After his presentation at Chef Sache in Cologne I ask him how he finds inspiration and comes up with new ideas. He told me that a lot of inspiration comes from experience and … [Read more...]

Bjorn Frantzen: An impressive feat preparing 19 dishes in 44 minutes

December 17, 2014 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

There is no question that one of the most impressive cooking performances I have ever seen was Bjorn Frantzen's show at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije earlier this year. Together with his team, they prepared 19 dishes which are normally take three and a half hours to prepare in just 44 minutes. He assured the audience that 'we have not trained for this before,' which made it all the more impressive. The Swedish chef who has two Michelin stars for his restaurant Frantzen in Sweden and is listed 23rd in the World's Best 50 restaurants said that he ends up traveling too many times to tell the restaurant story and what he really wanted to do was cook so he was trying a new experiment which is to showcase the dinner they prepared in the restaurant the previous Saturday. Frantzen serves one tasting menu of 19 dishes and it is changed every day according to what is fresh, local and seasonal. Anyone who follows this Swedish chef on Twitter … [Read more...]

Rene Redzepi (Noma): Taking care of his customers long after the bill is paid

November 17, 2014 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

In a few days time, the restaurant Noma will be celebrating its 11th anniversary since it opened its doors in Copenhagen and changed the culinary world in Scandinavia. There is so much to say about this chef and it has taken a while to get down to writing about Rene Redzepi's exceptional presentation on his food philosophy at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije. Rene Redzepi needs no introduction. His restaurant in Copenhagen is number one in the world and he is not only a chef but also a great innovator. Like many of the best chefs on the scene today, he also spent some time working at Ferran Adria's elBulli, but while the latter was innovating with techniques when the restaurant was still open, Redzepi is mainly innovating with new flavours and also heavily experimenting with fermentation. Last year, at Noma they invested in what they call "fermentation bunkers". Instead of building a state of the art facility which would have cost 5 … [Read more...]

Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi) – My restaurant, my home

October 31, 2014 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

Eneko Atxa’s restaurant Azurmendi perched on a hillside just outside Bilbao is one of the most talked about restaurants in the world at the moment. Ranked 26th in the World’s 50 Best restaurants, it is also the winner of the sustainability award and has 3 Michelin Stars. This Spanish chef is making a name for himself for many reasons. His inventive cuisine is among the most innovative in the world but he is also extremely conscious of the environment. At Chef Sache, in Cologne, Germany, Atxa spoke about what makes his restaurant different. He started off by showing different photos of the 'complex which includes the restaurant, his house, a wine cellar, a hall which serves as a venue for large events, a garden and a small bistro. “The restaurant is designed to pay industrial homage to the old steel industry of Bilbao," Atxa says. The complex has been built in a way which integrates with the surrounding environment. But it also follows the basic principles of sustainability. It … [Read more...]

Quique Dacosta – from washing dishes to one of the most avant-garde chefs in the world

October 1, 2014 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment

Quique Dacosta's story is an intriguing one. He started working in a pizzeria at the age of 14 washing dishes. Not having any culinary tradition in the family he recalls that working in a restaurant was not romantic but rather a means to making money. "I started to make some modest money but it was enough for me to start discovering gastronomy." This is indeed a prime example of "Where there is a will, there is a way." Today Quique Dacosta is the chef of a restaurant that is called by his same name and considered by many, particularly after the closure of Ferran Adria's elBulli to be one of the new leaders of avant-garde cuisine in Spain. He has won awards and accolades and his restaurant has been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars. Unlike most chefs who have travelled the world and worked in various kitchens, Dacosta has only worked in one place, his restaurant. He started working there at the age of 17. It was in 1989 and he joined a family restaurant by the name of El … [Read more...]

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