The importance of distraction by Andoni Luis Adoriz: I’ve always been easily distracted. When something doesn’t motivate me, or bores me, I drift away; my mind escapes and ends up somewhere else. At school, I was one of those students who barely passed. I did poorly even in subjects that are impossible to fail, such as gymnastics, and in religion, which even atheists manage to effectively negotiate. My mother thought that I was a kid without a passion. She perceived that I might be doomed to failure and felt the obligation to do something so that I would not die of hunger. And what better place to eat every day than a kitchen? That’s how I ended up in this profession, triggering an internal struggle within myself, between my desire to please my parents and my eagerness to find my place in the world. The secret code of unleashing the world's most amazing flavours by David Chang: My first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar, had an open kitchen. This wasn’t by choice—I didn’t have enough … [Read more...]
Gaggan Anand: The chef who reinvented Indian food and who thinks India is ready to conquer the world – Chef’s Table Review
Gaggan Anand is the man who has revolutionised Indian cuisine. With his progressive take, he has brought Indian food to the limelight, breaking perceptions and searching deep to reinterpret Indian cuisine by looking for its traditions. The Indian chef, who has set his base in Bangkok, Thailand has made a name for himself with his restaurant Gaggan, voted the best Asian restaurant in the World in 2015 and 2016 and 23rd in this year's World's 50 Best Restaurants list. He was on the brink of disaster at least two times in his career, first when he nearly lost everything when his partner in business ran away and then when riots broke out in Bangkok, just as he was about to open Gaggan. His story is an inspiring one for those who are looking for the secret to success. Gaggan has not only followed his passion but he has done so amid hard work, sacrifices including not being able to go to his brother's funeral and also a persistent goal to be the best Indian chef. This episode in … [Read more...]
‘I’ve spent a lot of time travelling to find what I wanted to do after Noma’ – Yannick Van Aeken (Humphrey)
When a young Belgian chef decided to open Humphrey in Brussels earlier this year, it immediately attracted the interests of those in the know. Young Belgian chef Yannick Van Aeken had been known in food circles particularly since he was sous-chef at Rene Redzepi's Noma for many years. He has also worked at Victor Arguinzoniz's Asador Extebarri, another restaurant that is considered to be among the best in the world and whose chef is clearly one of the top barbecue masters. So the expectations have been high not less because when we interviewed Kobe Desramaults earlier this year he named Van Aeken as one of two Belgian chefs to watch. With that pedigree, it is obvious that there is a lot of attention as to what Yannick is doing at Humphrey. But the young Belgian chef does not let this go to his head. He's opened the restaurant at a rather difficult time for Brussels just before the March terrorist attacks. "It is going well since we opened. Since the Brussels attacks, it has … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #84
Charcoal grilling tastes better than gas. It's just science: The statistics I just made up don’t lie: More people will die this summer from fighting each other over gas grilling versus charcoal grilling than all other causes combined. Americans, you see, have themselves some assertive opinions about their grilling. How did Denmark become a leader in the food waste revolution: A six-year-old sniffs asparagus suspiciously as his father grapples with a grapefruit and several women admire a selection of cabbages, in search of a bargain. “Everyone pays 20 kroner (about £2) for a reusable bag to fill with whatever they like,” says Bettina Bach, 31, of Bo Welfare, a social housing project in the Danish city of Horsens that runs the food waste pop-up shop. Wylie Dufresne: Wisdom of a New York Chef: Last year I seemed to bump into Wylie Dufresne (one of my favorite people) all over the place in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, far from his NYC base. I ran into him again in Mexico City … [Read more...]
‘Memory is really important. It is a vehicle to get to know who you are’ – Dominique Crenn (Chef’s table review)
Memory is a very important part of what Dominique Crenn does at her restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, California. "Memory is really important. It is a vehicle to get to know who you are inside." Understanding where she has spent most of her childhood has a lot to do with what her restaurant is all about. "It is not about us creating dishes, it is about us connecting everything from start to finish," Dominique Crenn says. The French born chef is the first ever female to earn two Michelin stars in the United States. She did that in two consecutive years from 2011 to 2012 (her restaurant only opened in 2010). David Gelb depicts her story on Chef's Table (Season 2) in an impeccable way as he follows her to Brittany where she connects with her roots. It is yet another unmissable episode of this series which is not just about food and restaurants but also about the story of chefs and how they discovered themselves through food. It shows how chefs use food as a vehicle … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #83
A hotel chef has been fired after boasting on Instagram that he feeds meat to vegans: A hotel chef has been fired after boasting on social media that he had secretly served meat to vegans. Alex Lambert was fired from his job as head chef of the Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derby after saying it was his “personal favourite” to serve “animal products” to vegans during an online argument on Instagram The Food-Sharing Economy Is Delicious And Illegal—Will It Survive? Renee McGhee, a 59-year-old grandmother of nine, was at home recuperating from a bicycle accident when she opened her neighborhood newsletter and saw an advertisement for home-cooked meals. A few clicks later, she learned that the neighbor who posted it had joined Josephine, an online marketplace that helps home cooks coordinate small takeout-food businesses. McGhee’s last job as the manager of a cake bakery had required heavy lifting. After breaking bones in both hands, she’d crossed anything like that job off of her list of … [Read more...]
Chef’s table review: ‘I was a punk and I became a chef’ – Alex Atala (D.O.M.)
No one has been more important for Brazilian cuisine than Alex Atala, chef of world renowned restaurant D.O.M. in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Chef's Table episode about this 47-year old Brazilian chef is a must watch for food lovers interested in learning the story of the chef who fought against the odds to make Brazilians love 'Brazilian' cuisine and become Brazil's topmost food ambassador. Cooking Brazilian food did not come naturally though. He recalls a conversation he had with a French chef who told him that he was a good chef who understood flavour but he would never be able to cook French cuisine like a French chef because he did not have the cultural background. "I felt bad. I had a tattoo, i was different. If I was not able to cook French cuisine like a Frenchman, than nobody could do a better Brazilian experience than me so I started to switch gradually to Brazilian ingredients," Atala said. The Brazilian chef's story is an inspiring one. It is incredible to think that he … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #82
The Sportsman, a seaside pub where the menu is on a blackboard and main dishes cost about £20 ($26), was named U.K. restaurant of the year, beating some of the biggest names in British gastronomy in a Top 100 list otherwise dominated by London establishments. Heston Blumenthal on taking photos of your food and his once-in-a-lifetime food experiences: HESTON Blumenthal is like a rock star of the cooking world, and so is his food. But there’s one thing he wishes people would stop doing in his restaurants — taking pictures of their food. “Chefs always have this problem now, it’s across the board and you can’t control people,” he told news.com.au while in Melbourne to film Heston Week which starts tonight on MasterChef. I would prefer if they (diners) didn’t take any photos and just enjoyed themselves at the table and certainly not take them throughout the whole meal." The ultimate grilling guide: Check out Bon Appetit's summer grilling guide with lots of recipes as well as … [Read more...]
First edition of ‘Enjoy the Pleasure’ held in Namur province
Eight chefs left their restaurants last Saturday and Sunday to cook at the first 'Enjoy the Pleasure' event that took place at the Ferme d’Achêne, a farm built in 1641 in the area of Ciney, province of Namur and which is listed as part of Belgium’s national heritage. This was the first such event organised by Roland Swinnen. The chefs that took part in the event were Régis Alexandre (Le Comptoir du Goût, Ciney), Olivier Bruckner (L’Olivier, Dave), Gregorio Clavello (Au Gré des Saisons, Achet), Simon Denis/Gregory Gillain (Le Gare d'Hamois) , Ludovic Vanackere (L’Atelier de Bossimé, Loyers) and Carl Gillain (L’Agathopède, Namur) and Frederic Rolland (Rolland-Warnon, Hamois). Despite the weather which forced the event organisers to move everything to indoors, the event turned out to be a very enjoyable evening. Together, the chefs created a series of dishes which balanced each other out and which created a perfect showcase of the produce that the region … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #81
The Italian Riviera: Italy's vegetarian heartland: The beautiful, rocky coastline of Liguria – also known as the Italian Riviera – stretches from the French border in the east to Tuscany in the west, taking in fishing villages, famous resort towns and the historic city of Genoa. The maritime Alps separate Liguria from the northern Italian provinces of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, creating a narrow strip of land between mountains and sea. Olive trees stretch as far as the eye can see, and tiny ancient villages perch precariously on mountainsides. Food as poetry: Massimo Bottura, the cultured chef at the top of the culinary world: When the World’s 50 Best Restaurants announced earlier this week that Massimo Bottura’s Modena restaurant Osteria Francescana had made it to the top of the list for the first time few in the culinary world were surprised. His rise to the top of the culinary world has been progressive and constant. What may have been surprising was the time it took for him to … [Read more...]