Opinionated About Dining this evening announced the list of the top 100+ European Restaurants for 2018. Andreas Caminada managed to top the list for the first time, surpassing last year's no 1 Alain Passard of L'Arpege in Paris who placed fourth on the list. The second placed was Magnus Nilsson of restaurant Faviken while third place was Etxebarri. Eneko Atxa of Azurmendi placed fifth while Kobe Desramaults who opened Chambre Separee last year in Gent placed 6th. Jonnie Boer from De Librije in Zwolle placed 7th. The OAD list claims to be the only restaurant ranking system that determines the experience level of the people contributing reviews to the site. Each reviewer is assigned a weight that reflects the number of restaurants he/she has visited and those restaurants’ rank on the OAD list. “While this system affords anyone who would like to participate the opportunity to do so, the final rankings reflect the opinions of reviewers who have demonstrated a higher level of … [Read more...]
‘Heroes of Oud Sluis’ to take part in 2018 Foodfest in Cadzand on 4 June
Syrco Bakker and Sergio Herman have announced that this year's Foodfest will take place on Monday June 4 in and around Strandkerk in Cadzand-Bad. This year, Syrco and Sergio have decided to invite a selection of former colleagues who worked with them at Sergio's restaurant Oud Sluis in Zeeland. They call them the 'heroes of Oud Sluis'. Most of these chefs today work in some great restaurants in the Netherlands, Belgium and even further afield such as New York and Singapore among others. Together, they will be working with beautiful Zeeland products that they had used when they worked at Oud Slouis. "We are very much looking forward to working with them on 4 June. During Foodfest, they will all make their own dish with the produce from our region," said Syrco and Sergio. 75% of the tickets for the event have already been sold out. Foodfest is a festival where in addition to art, music and inspiring talks, good food and drink takes centre stage. After two successful early … [Read more...]
City of Gastronomy festival to be held in Parma in June
Parma has announced a series of events that will be taking place this year as Italy celebrates "Year of Italian food". The main event is the City of Gastronomy Festival, an event that aims to offer a 'taste experience' and express the creativity of the region. Temporary restaurants, show cooking by chefs from all over the world and a number of meetings and discussions will be held in the heart of Parma. The event takes place in the first weekend of June. It will showcase not just the produce of Parma and the region Emilia Romagna but also those of other Italian and international cities. The festival takes place on Saturday 2 June and Sunday 3 June. The festival aims to give a 360 degrees view of the world of food focusing on traditional produce and on made in Italy with the aim of sharing knowledge and flavours. A workshop for children and young people is going to be organised in collaboration with food museums and it will be linked to food preparation, its origin and … [Read more...]
Italian chef Niko Romito wants to change the way we eat in hospitals and canteens
Every one of us has a horrendous experience of ‘canteen’ food. Whether it was in a hospital, at school, in an airport or at the workplace, canteen food has the tendency to be not only unappealing and unappetising but also not healthy. Niko Romito, chef of the three Michelin star restaurant Reale at Casadonna in Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo, Italy believes this should not be the case. He believes the nutritional aspects of food are often forgotten even when it comes to simple things like vegetables and he has set himself the task of changing this with a project he has been working on with the University La Sapienza and the Group Giomi/Gioservice to tackle hospital food. The aim behind the project is to improve the nutritional aspect of the food while respecting budgetary considerations. It is a project that has the potential to be applied to any time of 'canteen' or large scale cooking. “A top down approach is more interesting than a bottom up approach,” Niko Romito believes. And … [Read more...]
Enrico Crippa’s right hand man Antonio Zaccardi is moving to Puglia after 12 years at Piazza Duomo
Antonio Zaccardo who has been working closely with Italian star chef Enrico Crippa for the past 12 years at one of the world's best restaurants Piazza Duomo announced yesterday that he would be heading to Puglia to the region where his wife was born. He will be joining chef Maria Cicorella at Pasha di Conversano, a Michelin star restaurant in Puglia. "It is time for me to change even if it is with sadness that I leave Piazza Duomo, Enrico, the territory and a family that I have loved (the Ceretto who are owners of the restaurant," he said in a note published on Piazza Duomo's Facebook page. Zaccardo was Enrico's right hand man and has worked closely with him for 12 years. "I joined him when I was 28 years. Carlo Cracco, who I had worked with for a few years, had told me about Enrico and his restaurant as the natural place for me to grow and gain experience." "During the past years in Alba, we have created many dishes and I have been able to learn so much by being in … [Read more...]
Gaggan in Bangkok takes no 1 spot in Asia’s 50 Best restaurants awards, Zaiyu Hasegawa in second place
Gaggan, the restaurant of Indian born chef Gaggan Anand in Bangkok has clinched the no 1 spot in the Asia's 50 Best list for the fourth year in a row. The restaurant debuted on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2014 and has risen to no. 7 last year. Japan won most of the accolades when the list was announced in Macao at the award ceremony organised at Wynn Palace. Now in its sixth year, the 2018 list included eight new entries with Japan having 11 restaurants in the list. The event is sponsored by S. Pellegrino and Aqua Panna. Den (No.2), the restaurant of chef Zaiyu Hasegawa rose nine places to earn the title of The Best Restaurant in Japan, replacing five-time title holder Narisawa (No.6). The top 10 also includes Florilège (No.3) and Nihonryori RyuGin (No.9). Tokyo- based Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin is a newcomer to the list, landing at No.28. La Cime in Osaka makes its debut on the list at No.17, earning the Highest New Entry Award. With a menu dedicated to modern … [Read more...]
A dream come true for San Degeimbre as renovation of L’Air du Temps is close to completion
Six years after opening L'Air du Temps in its current idyllic location, in the middle of the Belgian countryside in Liernu, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre is set to embark on a new journey as he reopens the newly refurbished restaurant which will open the doors to many new possibilities. With a new dining room that is between the kitchen and the garden, clients are expected to get a completely new experience when they visit the restaurant next time. "It is what we wanted to do from the start," San told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. "When we moved six years ago, we wanted to have the dining room that was connected to the garden but unfortunately, we did not have the budget to carry out that project. We wanted the guests to be connected to the garden." Ultimately this may prove to be a better decision because San and his team today know the farm which houses the restaurant inside out. "We now know the restaurant and the space better and we can therefore plan the new space in a way which … [Read more...]
Six international top chefs to cook at L’air du Temps this year after renovation of restaurant
Sang Hoon Degeimbre, chef of L'Air du Temps has announced that six top international chefs will be cooking at the newly refurbished restaurant in Liernu, Belgium throughout 2018. The newly refurbished restaurant will be inaugurated on Friday 13 April. The announced chefs that will cook at L'Air du Temps under a new series called PLAYFOOD are Anne Sophie Pic, chef of 3 Michelin star restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic in Valence France, Dominique Crenn of 2 Michelin starred Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, USA, Emmanuel Renault, chef of 3 Michelin star Flocons de Sel in Megeve, France, Mauro Colagreco of two Michelin star restaurant Mirazur in Menton, France, Magnus Ek of 2 Michelin star restaurant Oaxen Krog in Stockholm, Sweden and Andreas Caminada of three Michelin star restaurant Schauenstein Schloss Restaurant in Switzerland. "The playground for these unique dinners will be our vegetable garden," San announced. The restaurant moved to its new location give years ago. This new … [Read more...]
New Japanese contemporary cuisine in Milan with opening of Kanpai
A corner of contemporary Japan has opened in the heart of Milan. Named Kanpai, the new restaurant, designed by Milanese design studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners proposes Izakaya rites and atmosphere accompanied by dishes from popular Japanese cuisine. Kanpai brings to Milan a mix of food, sake and Japanese culture but no sushi. It also has an oriental style cocktail list and is set to be a place to eat and drink late into the night. The aim of Kanpai is to recreate the post-work Tokyo evenings and the restaurant and bar could easily inhabit one of the Japanese metropolitcal city with installed screens which transmit pop images typical of today's technological and urban Japan. The restaurant and bar is only open in the evening from 7pm till late and the kitchen does not close before midnight. The project is the result of the passion for Japan of the three 28-, 32- and 33-year old Italian business partners who have brought together food, culture and sake with the idea of … [Read more...]
Good 2017 for Austrian wine despite problematic weather
2017 was not easy for Austria's wine growers who had to do their utmost to cope with capricious weather during the year. And while the end result for the wine has been positive, it was not a sure thing.The coldest January in the last thirty years was followed by the warmest March since meteorological records have been kept, resulting in a very early bud-break. With the devastating frosts of 2016 still fresh in memory, a spate of winter weather caused substantial anxiety in April and parts of May. Fortunately, this cold snap did not persist for long. In addition, Austria’s growers were able to employ all imaginable means at the right time, so that there was hardly any frost damage reported. The precipitation in September and the relatively dramatic temperature swings between day and night in the autumn had an appreciably positive influence on the development of aromas. Even from the initial tastings, it could be established with satisfaction that the heat-stress of the summer had … [Read more...]