Jonathan K. Berntsen is not just a chef but also a sommelier. Hit by the terrible year his Michelin-starred restaurant CLOU had to close but he has now returned with The Samuel, a restaurant located in an old historical villa from 1891 north of Copenhagen in Hellerup. What makes Jonathan special is that for him food and wine are in symbiosis and hence they need to be precisely equally weighted. These means that he often selects the wines before creating the dishes. This devotion to pairing has been acknowledged with numerous awards such as winning the Copa Jerez 2013 and again at the Copa Jerez 2019; the most prestigious international competition in food and wine pairing. His passion for wine is so big, that he actually uses it as a starting point for almost every dish he creates for The Samuel. Like the ‘Squid Pollock’, a dish born out of the notes from a very special Oloroso Sherry from Sacrastía AB from Antonio Barbadillo – a type of wine that isn’t traditionally consumed … [Read more...]
Gelinaz! returns louder, bigger and ‘hopefully bolder’ on August 29 with 150 chefs in 25 cities worldwide
Over 150 chefs in 25 cities worldwide will join forces to conclude the last chapter of the Grand GELINAZ! Shuffle Stay in Tour. What started on 3 December will be finalised on 29 August when some of the world's greatest chefs pay tribute to chefs that have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic either because their restaurant was forced to close or because they were in between projects. GELINAZ! curator Andrea Petrini, a food writer par excellence told Food and Wine Gazette that this event has been the most complicated to organise. "The second chapter had to be held in January. We then moved it to February and then to May but most places were in lockdown. We have now scheduled it for 29 August and hope that we manage because the reality is that no one believed that this could be done," Andrea said. Earlier this month, three Austrian chefs (known as the Healthy Boy Band) played solo in Vienna as a way to prepare for the final second chapter. Restaurants in many cities around … [Read more...]
Alchemist reloaded: “It is almost like opening a new restaurant”
An introspective live music performance, a surreal pink disco experience and edible impressions that include ant-cheese, pig’s blood and raw jellyfish. These are some of the new items on the menu as Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist once again opened its doors on May 4. ”It almost feels like opening a brand-new restaurant”, says Head Chef and co-owner Rasmus Munk about the approaching premiere. Having faced 8 months of lockdown during the restaurant’s first two years, Rasmus Munk is more than eager to once again run a house buzzing with staff, performers, visual tech, sound effects and above all: expectant guests. “When the second lockdown hit, we had just finished work on two completely new installations in the restaurant, both of them in different ways linked to the pandemic. Now we will finally have guests in the house to experience them”, he said. The initial installation is centred around a solo violinist performance and is a collaboration with the symphony orchestra, … [Read more...]
The New Cucina Italiana: a book that takes us to Italy at a time when we cannot travel
What do you think of when you think about Italian food? Some might think about pizza, spaghetti al pomodoro, cacio e pepe or carbonara. Or even of dishes that have been created outside Italy but which have little to do with what Italians really eat. But that is far from what a new movement of Italian chefs are working on. For those like me who follow the Italian scene rather closely some of the names of this movement may sound familiar. For others, these are chefs that are still under the radar but who are slowly but surely establishing themselves as the new frontier of Italian cuisine. Niko Romito, for example needs no introduction internationally. Paolo Lopriore, on the other hand, has worked under the international radar for a very long time even if for many young chefs in Italy today, he is a guiding light. I’d heard about him in passing but rarely delved into depth about what he has meant for Italy. At Spessore a few years ago, all the young chefs were raving about this … [Read more...]
Ta’ Betta Winery: ‘The ride of a lifetime’
What makes two professionals, highly respected in their fields put all their life savings into a project to create a boutique winery in Malta making top quality wines? How do they find the time to manage a wine business despite their professional commitments? That’s the story of Dr Astrid Camilleri, a gynaecologist and Prof. Juanito Camilleri a former University rector and former CEO of a mobile operator who have set up the Ta’ Betta Winery in Malta with the aim of making fine wines with personality that have ageing potential. “It’s a long story,” Astrid tells me. It is not a problem for me. It is a beautiful albeit windy summer evening at Ta’ Betta winery, a gem of a place the two have created over many years of hard work. You could call it their life or passion project but it has turned out to be much more than that. “We met in Cambridge while we were studying. I had started working there and Juanito was reading for his PhD. We got to know each other and we got married within 2 … [Read more...]
Sixty year anniversary for Santa Margherita’s Pinot Grigio
Sixty years ago, Santa Margherita’s Pinot Grigio made its debut. It launched a real revolution in taste and in wine-drinking pleasure. In these first sixty years of history, Pinot Grigio has become the leading Italian white varietal wine worldwide, and the Pinot Grigio from Santa Margherita continues to be one of its flagships: a wine that has made a huge contribution to the development of Italian winemaking, revolutionizing both the national and foreign markets. The story began towards the end of the 1950s when, preempting future trends, the visionary and forward-thinking Count Gaetano Marzotto began looking for a new type of wine that was no longer a cliché: one that was able to stand out due to its originality and distinctive taste profile, and had a strong varietal/ territorial identity. He was looking for a different approach to wine, one which would become the real protagonist of the contemporary dining experience. His quest for a perfect combination between … [Read more...]
Italian winery Venturini Baldini recruit winemaker Riccardo Cotarella in first ever Lambrusco project
Venturini Baldini, premium Italian sparkling wine producer based in Emilia-Romagna, has announced that Riccardo Cotarella has officially joined its winemaking team as Consulting Winemaker. Riccardo Cotarella will take on the role previously held by Carlo Ferrini who has acted as Venturini Baldini’s Consulting Winemaker for the last five years. Bringing decades of wine experience and expertise in Italian winemaking, Cotarella and his team led by Pier Paolo Chiasso will work alongside the longstanding team at Venturini Baldini to produce the winery’s 100% organic Lambrusco wines. Further, Venturini Baldini is the first winery specializing in Lambrusco that Cotarella will work on as winemaker. Over the past five years, the estate that is based on a 321-acre property in the food valley of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy has been elevated to new heights through the ownership of Julia and Giuseppe Prestia. As Lambrusco has enjoyed a recent revitalization, Venturini Baldini has … [Read more...]
2 cocktails for Valentine’s Day with Royal Belgian Caviar
BRUSSELS: Glen Ramaekers, chef and a fervent mixologist of Brussels restaurant Chez Pias has created two cocktails for Valentines Day in collaboration with Belgian caviar producer Royal Belgian Caviar. Royal Belgian caviar is a company that has been producing top quality caviar for the past years serving some of the best restaurants not only in Belgium but also around the world. Over the past months, the 'black gold' company has been seen as a way of supporting the local economy. " Using or serving Belgian caviar is a way of making a declaration. You are not only supporting the local economy but you are also choosing real flavour and authenticity," said Cedric Paquet, spokesman of the Belgian company. The company has been producing caviar for the past 30 years and to date they are the only Belgian producer. "The closure of the restaurant sector during the pandemic has impacted our business but we have seen an increased interest from Belgian consumers for our products which … [Read more...]
Everything must change – a new book by Yannick Alléno
French chef Yannick Alléno has just launched a new book in French called "Tout doit changer" or Everything must change. During the past few months, the chef of the Pavillion Ledoyen in Paris and Cheval Blanc in Courchevel among other establishments has used the time to reflect on the future of fine dining restaurants and how they need to transform themselves. The result is a book that discusses the future of fine dining and gastronomy. It looks at the importance of the well-being of staff, how to run a restaurant like a modern business and how to really address the needs of customers by starting a conversation before they arrive at the restaurant. The book is written in the form of a conversation with Erik Perey. The French chef said that everything started with his ill famous comments during a congress organised by World's 50 Best in Paris when responding to a question about women in fine dining restaurants he said that many only wanted to work at noon because in the evening … [Read more...]
Food on the Edge founder launches ebook Cooking After COVID
Food on the Edge founder Jp McMahon, a chef, restauranteur and author has launched a new book Lessons from lockdown: Cooking after COVID. In the foreword, JP says that the year 2020 struck many of us as unprecedented. For some it was expected. “Pandemics happen. But for most of us, we believed they would not happen in our time, that they were a thing of the past. Whatever we thought about our contemporary way of life, the way in which we go about our daily lives, how we work, has utterly changed,” the Irish chef of Aniar Restaurant in Galway wrote. He created the book after cancelling the annual gathering in Galway in October 2020. Food on the Edge had become one of the top events in the field of gastronomy with the Irish chef inviting many top names in the world of food. Instead, he has invited many of his friends to write a message in this ebook that is available to people who are subscribed to the Food on the Edge newsletter. The list of contributors is huge and includes … [Read more...]