Zuma in Manhattan is a nightclub where people sit and eat, not dance. Like the best nightclubs - its a Japanese restaurant by the way - it is hard wired to spike sexual behaviour: The music pulsates, the lights are forgiving, the senses bathed in alcohol and the palate honeyed by its offerings. The absence of mirrors meant that I did not see even one unmuscled hunk of a man. They were mostly big and black and cool. The women were drawn from a broader group of the human pool and came in various styles of dress and undress. They all seemed hotter than the hotate, the really large Japanese scallops that Zuma serves grilled with pickled plum, shiso and mentaiko butter. I can only speak about the latter when I say they melted in your mouth. The lobster miso felt like comfort food and was a great combination of two soups I frequently have separately. Since black truffle was in season, we had the wild mushroom rice hot pot which comes in a wooden pot and ladle. The flavours were well … [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...]
Pastorale: The Belgian restaurant serving over 150 wines by the glass
It is now possible to go to a restaurant in Belgium and choose to try wines like Sassicaia or a Chateau LafiteRothschild by the glass. Since April this year, wine lovers have a unique opportunity at 2 Michelin star restaurant Pastorle, in Reek a few kilometres away from Antwerp. Chef and restaurateur Bart de Pooter told Food and Wine Gazette the restaurant is now serving over 150 wines by the glass for their guests. Using the Coravin system which keeps the wines at their very best even after they have been opened means that this is a win win situation for the restaurant and guests. This is still relatively unique in the restaurant world though Bart said that he first saw the system in Paris. "I saw the system at the restaurant of Yannick Alleno who was serving around 120 wines by the glass." "We thought a bit more about it and decided to offer different possibilities of serving even 8cl and 12 cl so that guests can enjoy two to three glasses of wine and still be able to … [Read more...]
Bon Bon’s Christophe Hardiquest to open summer bistro in Brussels
Christophe Hardiquest, two Michelin star chef of the highly regarded Brussels restaurant Bon Bon is realising his dream of opening a bistro even if this will only be for two months. Having decided to close his two Michelin star restaurant in July and August to modernise and refurbish the kitchen completely, Christophe together with his wife Stephanie have decided to take over Chez Marie, a restaurant that has been closed for over two years in the area of Flagey in Brussels. The bistro, called Mon Bistro d'été by Christophe Hardiquest will be serving classics away from the constraints of fine dining restaurants though you can expect a very high quality given that he will be moving together with his team and will be at the helm of the bistro for the two months. This is part of his Brussels project which started last year with a reflection on how to interpret Brussels and Belgian classics. In an interview with Food and Wine Gazette last year, Christophe had said that "it is also … [Read more...]
Eleven Madison Park: Cool, fun, simple and innovative
Eleven Madison Park, the restaurant of chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara has a worldwide reputation. It has won all the accolades from Michelin's 3 stars, four stars in the New York Times, not once but twice and is now ranked as the third-best restaurant in the world. With such a reputation it is difficult to go wrong. The restaurant team and its chef are known for innovation but that innovation does not necessarily come from the cooking which is impeccable but is neither showy nor using the latest tricks to hide behind produce that might not always be exceptional. It rather comes from a boldness to be different and from creating a sense of fun in what some might consider to be the stiff world of high gastronomy. Note: This is a spoiler alert. If you intend visiting Eleven Madison Park anytime soon, you might want to skip reading this as the element of surprise might be ruined. What strikes you when you book a table at the restaurant is that there is the Tock booking … [Read more...]
Einsunternull: Forget everything you have previously tasted, seen, smelt, felt and appreciated
You know that you are in for a ride when the restaurant website tells you to forget everything that you have previously tasted, seen, smelt, felt and appreciated. Einsunternull does just that. The Berlin dining scene may be dominated by Tim Raue, the German chef who features in the third Netflix season of Chef's Table but that should not deter you from exploring what is on offer in this vibrant city with a increasingly interesting dining scene. There are many restaurants worth trying and not necessarily easy to make a choice. I decided to try the intriguing restaurant which was recently awarded a Michelin star despite the fact that the owner and chef ran away from a two Michelin star because they wanted to have the freedom not to use luxury ingredients. The restaurant named Einsunternull (or one floor below in English) is called like this because its dining room (for the evenings) is housed in the cellar. Lunch is however served upstairs in a space next to the open kitchen … [Read more...]
Revisiting L’air du temps: Winter is not a barrier to creativity
The sun is glistening and shining on the snow that is covering the fields in Liernu. Spring is still far away and the vegetable garden at L'air du temps is still resting. The first shoots from the garden will only come in late February though San Degeimbre is already preparing his February menu called "Waiting for the Green". January is not necessary the best month to visit a restaurant. It comes just after the holidays and is the month when you normally try to detox from the excesses of the previous month. And it is not the best month for fresh produce. But a friend who happens to be a Maltese chef is in Belgium and we have planned to visit Wallonia's culinary cathedral. San Degeimbre is a chef in evolution. Today, he has reached a level of maturity that one would expect from a restaurant that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. But that maturity is not stopping him from experimenting or trying new things. The creative streak is all the more visible even if it does … [Read more...]
BRUSSELS FROM/TO at Bon Bon: Deconstructing Brussels classics and modernising them along the way
What happens when you take Brussels and Brabant classic dishes, deconstruct them and then reinvent them? Can tradition meet modernity? Can humble ingredients steal the show in a top class restaurant? And what happens if you get two foreign chefs from France and Portugal to help you reinterpret these dishes at a six hands dinner. That is what happened last Tuesday at Bon Bon restaurant in Woluwe Saint Pierre, a commune in Brussels.Two Michelin star chef Christophe Hardiquest invited the inventive Inaki Azipitarte, chef of the famous Parisian restaurant Le Chateaubriand and Leonardo Perreira, formerly at Noma and now about to embark on a new journey in Porto as he prepares to open his restaurant there. Bon Bon was recently in the news as it will host 20 of the world's best chefs at the first ever Gelinaz! Headquarters event taking place on 10 November. Inaki certainty needed no introduction. He is famed for starting off the bistronomy movement in Paris which was considered one … [Read more...]
Humphrey Restaurant (Brussels): A welcome addition to the Brussels restaurant scene
Many of today's most influential chefs have one thing in common. They have all spent time working in Ferran Adria's kitchen. Massimo Bottura, Rene Redzepi, Grant Achatz to mention just a few of the most creative chefs around have spent time with the Spanish genius of el Bulli fame. Most of these chefs have gone on to develop their own style, their own philosophies and their own cuisine. There is no question that being mentored by a great chef has a lasting impact on your cooking style and also your philosophy, even if you depart from that approach. The new generation of chefs is also moving around from one restaurant to another gaining as much experience as possible benefiting from the 'globalisation' of haute cuisine. Just like the previous generation developed their own style and approach to cooking, the new generation is also making good use of the experience they have gained to take completely new directions. Chefs who were inspired by the inventiveness of Ferran Adria … [Read more...]
Black Pig Restaurant (Valletta): Where innovation meets seasonality
Time passes and with it some say also comes nostalgia. While there are certain things which take you on a trip down memory lane, there are some memories which are best forgotten. Go back to the 1980s and early 1990s and my memory of most restaurants in Malta is of them serving the same thing. With friends we remember the ubiquitous tortellini with fresh cream, ham and mushrooms or the shrimp or prawn cocktail from those retro years or a steak diane. Everyone seemed to serve the same things. There were few speciality restaurants which were really worth the detour because they were doing something completely different. Maybe they specialised in fish or were serving French classics. At the time, these restaurants were doing something different to what was the norm. Maybe it was hard at the time to go against the current but with the benefit of time, they managed to not only survive but to be successfully copied. What used to be specialised those days is now mainstream. That … [Read more...]