British chef Tom Kerridge believes that the UK food scene at the moment is a phenomenal place to be in. That is not just due to the rich heritage that exists but also thanks to diversity that has emerged after 50 to 60 years of immigration from over the world which has created a wonderfully rich and eclectic mix of backgrounds and diversity in the food scene. "You can get a Michelin star for Chinese, Indian, curry houses, Japanese. All of these ingredients can become amalgamated or mixed together and could grow into our own food scene. We don’t do just roast beef and fish and chips although that is kind of what I do here at the Tom Kerridge Bar and Grill in the Corinthia London, but from a young chef’s point of view, British food is eclectic and rich and diverse so it gives room to all sorts of possibilities. We have no shackles. We are free to go wherever we want and that is exciting,” he said. In the UK, Tom is more than a household name. He rose to fame for his pub and comfort … [Read more...]
Diogenes the Dog: A wine bar in London that goes against the grain
With a laser focused vision Sunny Hodge is determined to shake up the London wine scene. He has set the bar high, wanting to turn a former pub in Elephant and Castle into one of London's top destination wine bars and after just a few weeks open he believes he is on the right track. The son of an Olympian and commonwealth games silver medalist and a graduate of Mechanical Engineering he has a contrarian vision just like Diognes, a Greek cynic who inspired the name of the wine bar. “I want Diogenes The Dog to be a place where people come to try something new and different and that they cannot try anywhere else, a place that will attract wine drinkers, wine suppliers, winemakers and that gives you a unique wine experience and a truly unique evening,” Sunny told Food and Wine Gazette when we met him at the newly opened wine bar and shop. His objective is to turn the spot he shaped with his own bare hands from a dodgy boozer in Elephant and Castle into one of the top 5 wine bars in … [Read more...]
‘London opening at the Corinthia is a big deal for me’ – Tom Kerridge
Tom Kerridge, the first ever chef to clinch two Michelin stars for pub food at his restaurant The Hand and Flowers in Marlow has opened his first restaurant in London at the Corinthia Hotel. In London, it has been considered as one of the hottest openings of the year. "It is a big deal for me personally. I know it is massive but it is not daunting because I worked in London for 10 years before I opened the Hand and Flowers in Marlow," the British chef told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview at Tom Kerridge Bar and Grill. Tom is a household name in the UK and beyond. He became popular not just for his two restaurants in Marlow but also because of his programmes on the BBC apart from having authored many cookbooks. Over the past years, he has inspired many for taking matters in hand when he turned 40, cutting alcohol competely and eliminating carbs from his diet losing 12 stones or 76 kilogrammes in weight in the process. "It is a city I know well, a city I am comfortable … [Read more...]
Sebastian Sandor and Fabio Cammalleri join forces to open Heritage in Ghent
As head chef of two Michelin star Belgian restaurant Pastorale, Sebastian Sandor is ready to take the plunge and fulfil his dream of opening his own restaurant. On the 28th November he will open Heritage, a new restaurant in the Patershol area in the heart of Ghent together with Fabio Cammalleri. Heritage will be housed in the former Pizzeria Barbaro and the opening is testament to his persistence and determination. He has managed to fulfil his dream at the age of 30 also ‘thanks to my stubbornness,” he told Food and Wine Gazette. “I was walking past Pizzeria Barbaro in Gent and saw it and fell in love with the restaurant. I met Fabio who was running the restaurant and asked if he wanted to sell the restaurant. He replied in the negative saying why should he sell.” Sebastian told Food and Wine Gazette. Like Sebastian, Fabio had also fell in love with the restaurant and moved to Ghent from Limburg to open Barbaro, a rock n'roll pizzeria in the historic part of Ghent. “We found … [Read more...]
Hans Neuner: The Austrian chef who fell in love with Portugal
It has been a hot summer’s day in Portugal. Temperatures have soared to 43 degrees celsius at the Herdade dos Grous farm in the Alentejo region which we visited with Hans Neuner, chef of two Michelin star restaurant Ocean and Kurt Gillig, the managing director of Vila Vita Parc who has invested in this 1700-acre farm to produce organic products for its hotel and restaurants. The heat is stifling. It is like nothing I’ve experienced before. But the evening promises to be cooler as we head to the Atlantic Ocean to fish for calamari. We set foot in the cold sea to board the fishing boat outside the idyllic beach in front of Vila Vita Parc and we are off to get a taste of what its like to fish for mackerel and calamari. We’re on a small fishing boat with Hans Neuner who never imagined he would still be in Portugal when he arrived here in 2007. “When I arrived, I had given it two three years to try it out and see how it goes. But I fell in love with it and stayed. You will not … [Read more...]
‘We are here to preserve what we have’ – Jorge Raiado of Sal Marim
Jorge Filipe Raiado of Sal Marim knows his salt. Since taking over the salt business in 2007 he has been perfecting the art of flor de sal or (sea salt) in the idyllic surrounding of Castro Marim, a nature reserve in the Algarve. “We are here to preserve what we have,” he tells us on a visit to harvest salt together with Hans Neuner chef of the two Michelin star restaurant Ocean at the Vila Vita Parc in the Algarve. The salt pans have been there since the Romans with canals which bring in the sea water on a daily basis especially during the hot summer months. The sea salt is drawn into the salt pans and the water is allowed to evaporate. Most of the water goes to the bottom of the salt pans and becomes ordinary sea salt but some salt crystals float on the surface of the water forming a delicate crust of crystals which is collected by hand. This type of salt called flower of salt can only be collected when it is very sunny , dry and with slow, steady winds. It is a … [Read more...]
Ana Ros: ‘Every ingredient is a challenge for a chef. The less valuable it is the bigger the challenge’
When Ana Ros, the Slovenian chef of Hisa Franko cooked at Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon earlier this month she brought dishes with very bold flavours to reflect her style of cooking. “This is my character. I am very explosive. I cannot say that 100 per cent of my dishes are like this but 70 per cent of our dishes are very intense. They call me thunderstorm and I can be very emotional but this is how my kitchen is,” she told Food and Wine Gazette after the fourth Bon Bon dinner at the Brussels restaurants. “I don’t think the cooking is extreme because it is not extreme but it is strong. There is of course a risk that people don’t like it. For me, I prefer that 80 per cent love it and 20 per cent say never gain rather than staying in the middle.” That is understandable given that she has made it to the top of the game having been awarded best female chef last year and also featuring in Netflix’s popular food series Chef’s Table. Last month, for the first ever time, she made it … [Read more...]
Q&A with Kasper Kurdhal: ‘Intellectual stimulation leads to creativity’
Kasper Kurdhal, the executive chef of Le Chalet de la Foret, a two Michelin star restaurant in Brussels loves intellectual stimulation and discussion. It is what guides him at work in his interactions with chef patron Pascal Devalkeneer but it is also something he cherishes in his friendships as you can see from the second part of our interview with this talented chef. He is at his best cooking in a fine-dining environment but away from the cooking he looks for authenticity and simplicity. For our in-depth conversation with Kasper head to our interview here. This is the second part of our interview in our usual Q&A format. Your best ever meal? I think the best ever meal was at Jean-Georges in new York. It was remarkable and the most surprising. I was with Davide Scabin, a very good friend. We created Aqua together. When I was el Bulli, his maitre d’ came to do a stage at the restaurant and the Adria brothers invited him over for two weeks to bring with him his creations. … [Read more...]
Andy Gaskin: The world is far more food oriented than it was in the past
You could say Andy Gaskin is a nomad. Born in London in 1962, his cooking journey has taken him from London to Anguilla with stops among others in Malta, Porto Cervo, Rome, Paris, Monte Carlo, Sicily, Africa, Thailand, China, the Pacific island of Bora Bora and more recently in Croatia. His love of travel has given him the opportunity to move and discover new places, get new ideas and create recipes and memories along the way. In the years he has been inspired by Professor Hubert from his culinary school, who taught him the basics, Marco Pierre White, whose dedication to top quality and perfection he immensely appreciates and Heston Blumenthal, with his creativity and constant re-examination of all the culinary aspects. Andy Gaskin does not consider himself as a cook or chef but rather a hyperactive artist with food as his medium and cooking as his chief technique. He describes his own style of cooking as innovative, light and inspired by the Mediterranean, with … [Read more...]
Kasper Kurdhal (Le Chalet de la Foret): The offer from Ferran Adria that was too good to accept
When Ferran Adria was riding the crest of popularity he offered Kasper Kurdahl, then 27, the possibility to become his sous-chef and go to Seville to open a restaurant with him. Most people would have jumped at that opportunity or pinched themselves to make sure they heard it right. But Kasper is not like that. While most people would think this is too good an offer to refuse, the Danish chef thought otherwise and reasoned that that it was too good an offer to accept so he turned it down. Were you too young I asked him. “No. I was very precise about it. If I had accepted, I would have become a product of el Bulli for the rest of my life. I did not want that. I wanted to be myself,” the Danish executive chef of Le Chalet de la Foret, in Brussels, Belgium told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. Kasper doesn’t look back at that decision and does not regret it. “I am happy with the decision I took at the time. I think I did the right thing,” he said. “Ferran was a genius, an … [Read more...]