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...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #3
Creativity was the theme of our post yesterday and if you have missed it, we recommend that you read it. For this week's round-up we would like to start with another chef that epitomises the word creativity. No one has had an impact on today's cuisine as much as el Bulli, the iconic Spanish restaurant which closed its doors a few years ago. His brother Albert Adria, who was also heavily involved in el Bulli is interviewed here about creativity. This is a really interesting interview. He says what really motivates people is fear. And he has a very interesting perspective about meetings, which seem to be the greatest problem of the corporate world today. "At el Bulli we only had the winter to create the menu for next season. That’s why we were very pragmatic and efficient when it came to deciding on new crockery, products… We never had long meetings. Whatever you say after half an hour or 40 minutes is unnecessary." Bruges is one of the most picturesque Belgian cities and sometimes … [Read more...]
The power of creativity – inspiration can come from anywhere
Readers of Food and Wine Gazette know that we are very interested in the creative process. So as an interval from profiles of forthcoming chefs that featured at Chef's Revolution we would like to focus a bit on creativity and the creative process. What triggered our interest is the underlying theme of these chefs who in their own ways may be considered as artists. They are innovators like creators who push boundaries and find inspiration everywhere they look. As an inspiration for creativity we recommend you watch this fun video on 29 ways to stay creative. There is no magic rule to being creative. Many people ask how we find ideas to write on a daily basis. It is difficult to say other than if you allow your creativity to flow, you will eventually have a pool of ideas, some of which will work, others which can go on the back burner either to be forgotten forever or to be revived when the time is right. Writing is something we enjoy though food, wine and travel may be … [Read more...]
Richard Ekkebus (Amber, Hong Kong): Obsessed with quality ingredients
Anyone who has been to Hong Kong knows that this is a city that never sleeps. At a crossroads between East and West, its food markets can be breathtaking for visitors who are normally surprised by the quality of the produce that one can find. What I recall and which might seem odd for Europeans is that when you go to markets there, you can actually buy live fish to take home to cook alive. It is therefore no surprise that Richard Ekkebus, award-winning chef of Amber, the 24th best restaurant in the world in the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, fourth restaurant in Asia, best restaurant in China with two Michelin stars has stayed in the Chinese city since his arrival there in 2005. And he says he has no intention of leaving the city. "I have found my niche there and I am very happy." Ekkebus is a chef that takes the quality of produce extremely seriously. You could actually feel the passion with which he spoke about the quality of ingredients he finds in Hong Kong … [Read more...]
Next: When does a restaurant become like theatre?
Could such a concept work in Europe? When does a restaurant stop being a restaurant and become like theatre? Are customers ready to pay in advance for their meal just like they do when they go to a theatre performance, music concert or a sports event? Can such a concept work? Next Restaurant in Chicago is not your typical restaurant. The brain-child of the people behind Alinea and run by award winning chef Dave Beran, they have been experimenting with selling tickets instead of serving people 'a la carte' since 2011. They can probably do that given that they change the menu and restaurant concept every three months. While the concept is now 3 years old, the restaurant has an incredible business model which celebrates creativity not only in its payment model but also by completely changing the whole concept and theme of the restaurant every three months. Dave Beran, who presented the concept at Chefs Revolution in the Netherlands recently said "the restaurant is not just a … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura: a humble genius, philosopher, artist and chef
Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana can be described in many ways. Firstly a chef and owner of the most talked about restaurant in Italy, Bottura is more a philosopher, creative artist and genius than a cook. But. when he gets down to cooking, his creative genius takes over and that is why he is so talked about. Like many geniuses, he can often be misunderstood. Nowhere more than Italy is it so easy to be misunderstood. When he took the stage at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle, on 14 September 2014, many were expecting him to demonstrate his creativity by cooking some of the dishes that have made him world famous. Instead, he gave a 45 minute presentation which left those present spellbound and applauding many times as he spoke about his philosophy and passion. What no one knew, and he only recounted this to a few people who went to speak to him after his inspirational speech, was that his box in which he was transporting the ingredients and food preparations from … [Read more...]
Two Brussels food events on first weekend of October
Brussels foodies will be spoilt for choice on the first weekend of October with two food events which have become an annual fixture. Slow Food Brussels organises "Taste Walks" with a chance to visit some of the best artisan producers in the Brussels regions. On the other hand, Saveurs Toscanes celebrates its 10th anniversary during that weekend with an exposition of the best producers from Tuscany. "Fresh and local" are the basic pillars behind the concept of slow food. The weekend event inaugurates the Slow Food Brussels season. During this weekend, it is possible to participate in workshops organised by local artisans who are passionate about high-quality food and use local products. Some of the visits require advance registration. You can look at the list of events here. In particular I would highlight the presentation on authentic bread being held at Le Saint Aulaye in Rue Vanderkindere, an initiation to Belgian cheeses and beers with a tasting session at Julien Hazard, a … [Read more...]
Grant Achatz (Alinea): A genius of molecular cuisine
When Grant Achatz, chef and restauranteur of Alinea walked onto the stage at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle there was a sense of anticipation among the audience. Two days of great presentations by some of the world's most avant-garde chefs was coming to a close. In that situation, anyone standing in front of a packed theatre might panic. But then again, it must have been obvious that the organisers would leave something special as the last act? It was not even a question of time. Achatz did not fly in all the way from Chicago for the presentation and leave. Chefs have a very busy schedule but Achatz and his team had been in the Netherlands for four days and were in no hurry to leave though they were then heading to Rene Redzepi's Noma a day later and then to Frantzen in Sweden. Achatz and his team made a spectacular presentation but you cannot expect anything less from this American chef and restaurateur who is often considered as one of the leaders in molecular gastronomy or … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura, René Redzepi raise awareness on food waste – 40 per cent of all food produced wasted
Two of the world's greatest chefs Italian Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana and René Redzepi of Noma both raised the issue of food waste during their one hour presentations at the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival in Zwolle on 14 and 15 September 2014. When the Italian chef took the stage on Sunday evening in the Netherlands he called for action to reduce food waste. 1,300,000,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year (1.3 billion tonnes). "Is it possible that we can waste so much? Is this sustainable?" he asked. "I think it is not," Bottura said to large applause. Redzepi of Noma said on Monday that food waste was a horrific thing which needed to be tackled. "40 per cent of all the food that is produced is wasted. We have an obsession with prettiness which makes us abhor a crooked carrot or vegetable. One of the tasks we set ourselves was to work not only to find new pillars of cuisine but also to ferment our way out of food waste. Waste nothing is the catalyst to our … [Read more...]
Chefs (R)evolution finale – a feast of creativity and inspiration
The second and last day of Chef's (R)evolution was a great finale to the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival. Organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije together with publisher Port Culinaire, yesterday's line-up was a spectacular array of creative chefs from Noma's Rene Redzepi's to Alinea's Grant Achatz, Bjorn Frantzen, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre and Spanish Quique Dacosta. Redzepi kickstarted the day with a brilliant presentation of some of the dishes that are currently being prepared at Noma, the world's number one restaurant in the World's Top 50 San Pellegrino list. He spoke about the difficulty of preserving food when they had opened the restaurant 11 years ago as they faced a terrible winter and went on to speak about how this had led them to study the art of fermentation. Like Massimo Bottura the previous day, Redzepi spoke about the importance of eliminating food waste saying that this is one of the greatest problems and challenges facing the food industry. He said it is … [Read more...]