MALTA: Two restaurants have been awarded with a Michelin star in Malta bringing the total number of Michelin starred restaurants on the island to 5. Chef Andrew Borg and his team clinched one star for the newly opened ION - The Harbour in Valletta. On the other hand, chef Tyron Mizzi and his team at Bahia in the small village of Lija in the centre of the island is the other new entry. These restaurants join the existing one star restaurants that retained their star for the second consecutive year. These are De Mondion, Noni and Under Grain. Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides said the last year has created enormous challenges for the hospitality industry around the world. "Our hearts go out to all those facing difficulties in these trying times. Our inspectors, like the restaurants themselves, have had to adapt, but we were very pleased that they were able to spend time on the islands and find two new Michelin stars and five new Michelin 'Plates' to … [Read more...]
Tartarun and fish charcuterie: Can the Maltese fish restaurant be reinvented?
MARSAXLOKK: When chef James Schiavone stumbled upon the way Josh Niland was working with fish he knew he had to try to do something similar. The author of the book The Whole Fish Cookbook has changed the way many think about fish. But he needed to convince his family, his parents and his brother who together run the Maltese fish restaurant Tartarun in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. His father in particular, who wakes up early each morning to source the fish from the fish market was not convinced that aging fish was something that could work. But he still approved of the purchase of a small fridge that would enable his son to dry-age fish and make fish charcuterie. Decisions at Tartarun, in particular relating to investments at this family-run restaurant that has been open for more than 10 years in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, Malta are taken by the whole family. The motto at the restaurant, but also pretty much everywhere else on the island is that the fresher the … [Read more...]
Three restaurants in Malta get first ever Michelin star
VALLETTA: The Michelin Guide has awarded three Maltese restaurants with one Michelin star in the first ever digital guide published for the small island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Established restaurant De Mondion in Mdina led by chef Kevin Bonello, Noni in Valletta led by chef-owner Jonathan Brincat and Under Grain, a new restaurant led by renowned chef Victor Borg were the first ever Maltese restaurants to clinch a Michelin star. Three other restaurants, Terrone in fishing village Marsaxlokk, Commando in Mellieha and Rubino in Valletta clinched a Bib Gourmand. The Bib is Michelin’s distinction for good quality, good value cooking. The guide to Malta also includes 20 restaurants that have been awarded the Plate symbol which means ‘fresh ingredients, capably prepared, simply a good meal’. “These include restaurants that vary from classic Maltese cooking to seafood dishes, from creative modern cooking to the varied combinations of fusion cooking, there is something … [Read more...]
Impressive evolution at Risette, Valletta
In 2016, French chef Claude Bosi closed Hibiscus in London. On the closing night, Maltese chef Andrew Borg, who had worked at the two Michelin star restaurant with Claude Bosi, decided to surprise his mentor and former boss and booked to go for the final dinner. It is what the young Maltese chef loves doing. When he has the time, he is travelling in search of ideas and flavours and these experiences are starting to be reflected in Risette's cuisine. Since the end of 2017, he is at the helm of this restaurant that is housed in one of Valletta’s top boutique hotels, Casa Ellul which forms part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection. Months after the opening, you can say the evolution has been impressive. He has surrounded himself with a solid team which makes this restaurant one of Malta’s top food spots if not the best. Together with sous chef Kurt Micallef and pastry chef David Tanti, he has created an excellent dining spot making use of exceptional produce and using … [Read more...]
Esenzi to open in Malta later this year with Tim Butler at the helm
British entrepreneur Mark Weingard has the ambition to turn a new restaurant that is set to open in Valletta, Malta later this year into one of the world’s most spectacular restaurants and also one of the best in the world. The chef at the helm is Tim Butler, who is also chef and co-owner of Esenzi in Phuket. Esenzi will open in a new boutique hotel being currently refurbished on St Barbara Bastions which is considered as Malta’s best street with a spectacular view of the Grand Harbour. Mark Weingard has set an ambitious target of November for the opening of the restaurant. The 23 room hotel, Iniala, is scheduled to open around March next year. Tim Butler, the chef and co-owner of the restaurant told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview he has been visiting Malta every month since January to build his knowledge of local produce and to get a feel of the clientele and their habits. He is also experiencing the huge change taking place in Valletta with the constant openings of hotels … [Read more...]
Tim Butler in series of charity dinners in Malta
A series of dinners by Tim Butler, chef of Thailand restaurant Esenzi have been organised at the Maltese president’s summer residence at the Verdala Castle to raise money for charity over the past few weeks. The dinners are also a way for the chef to assess the local’s response to his cuisine as he is set to open a Maltese version of his signature restaurant Esenzi in Phuket while researching on Maltese produce, suppliers and also receive feedback from Maltese customers for his Asian inspired cuisine. Held in a majestic dining room in a palace built by the Knights of St John in 1586, Tim and Mark Weingard, the Englishman who has been investing heavily in Malta in the past few years and who will open the boutique hotel Iniala on the St Barbara bastions where the restaurant will be based welcomed a group of international food journalists for what was probably the first ever food related press visit on the island of Malta. Tim used Maltese produce from the sea and combined it … [Read more...]
Restoring the Valletta food market to its former glory
The closed food market in Valletta was in a state of decay, a few shops remained in what was once the place where people used to come from all across the island to shop there. There were butchers, fishmongers, cheesemongers and every family seemed to have their favourite supplier. That has changed thanks to the refurbishment of the Is-Suq tal-Belt as it is known by the locals. The food market opened its doors officially on 3 January and crowds have started to flock there first out of curiosity but also to savour the food that is on offer there. I still remember the trips to Valletta which ended with a visit to the market where my mother would stock up on anything from blood pudding to calf liver or Maltese sausage. But over time, the allure of the market was lost as people preferred to shop locally and supermarkets sprouted around the island. It died a slow death, dilapidated with just a few shops remaining that served mainly the dwindling Valletta population. Today the market … [Read more...]
Interview with Andrew Borg: A vision for Malta’s dining scene
The life of a passionate chef is not always easy, particularly when he or she needs to fight against tradition and a dining scene that is not necessarily ready for a new approach. Tradition and habit may be the hardest things to fight against because few people may understand what you are trying to do. Then there is also the business side of running a restaurant. Do you follow the crowd or do you try to persist in creating something different even if that comes at a huge expense? Andrew Borg, the chef patron of Black Pig Restaurant in Valletta, the capital city of Malta, not only had to fight tradition and habits, but also against a bank manager in order to convince him that he did not want to open a takeaway instead of a fine dining restaurant. That restaurant, unfortunately closed last month. A few days ago, Andrew announced that he had closed his restaurant and that he would be taking a sabbatical before coming back with a new exciting project next year. The intention to … [Read more...]
A different way to use sea urchins
When I was young the way to eat sea urchins (rizzi in Maltese or ricci in Italian) was to break them open at the beach, rinse them with sea water and then scoop out the custard-like orange gland and enjoy the sweet and briny flavour either on fresh bread or else just scooping them out with a spoon and eating them. They used to be abundant and we would have them for lunch. They were served soon after they were picked and needless to say, freshness here is of the essence. In recent years, spaghetti ai ricci has become ubiquitous in Maltese restaurants. At first you could find it only in fish restaurants but it has now become considerably more common. Every chef has his own version though in my view, the simplest method is the best. For a recipe you can take a look here. While this is a dish that I continue to crave everytime I am in the Mediterranean and in particular my home country, Malta, I still think that the freshness of the sea urchin is somehow ruined by the hot pasta … [Read more...]
First craft beer masterclass organised in Malta by Lord Chambray
Lord Chambray organised the first ever Craft Beer masterclass in Malta in collaboration with Lorenzo Dabove, one of the world's renowned craft beer experts who is considered as one of the most important expert on Belgian beers and who is known worldwide for promoting lambic beers and craft beers. We attended this masterclass in Malta a few weeks ago. Dabove said that the craft beer revolution, that had swept through the United States to Italy and many other countries has now reached Malta. "Lord Chambray is the southernmost craft brewery in Europe. We can now say that there are craft breweries from the Lapland to Malta". There are now over 1,000 micro breweries in Italy, 3,000 in the United Kingdom and 5,000 in the United States. The tasting started with a wheat beer or White Beer, the Blue Lagoon. Wheat beer originated from the Belgian village of Hoegaarden and has been made since the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the village had 13 breweries and 9 distilleries. In 1957, … [Read more...]