On Wednesday 19 December, just three days before the last service at Hertog Jan, 6 of Asia's top chefs will be guests of Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens and cook a dinner in aid of Music for Life. Together with Gert and the entire team of Hertog Jan, they will cook a special dinner that evening in aid of Music for Life 2019. Gert and Joachim announced the closure of their three Michelin star restaurant in Zedelgem on the outskirts of Brugge in January this year. They have decided to conclude the Hertog Jan chapter meaningfully. All the proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Alexine Clarysse Fund. For the evening, there are only 26 places available and these will be auctioned. This is a unique opportunity to experience a final dinner at Hertog Jan while at the same time supporting a charitable event. 2018 has been a very special year for Hertog Jan founders Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens. Later this month, on 22 December, they will close a chapter in … [Read more...]
British chef Simon Rogan to open 2 restaurants in Hong Kong
Renowned British chef Simon Rogan is set to open two new restaurants in Hong Kong at the beginning of next year. This is the first time that Rogan is venturing outside the UK. The first will be Aulis Hong Kong.which is his first ever overseas chef's table and development kitchen concept in the heart of Hong Kong in early January 2019. It will be followed by the opening of sister venue Roganic Hong Kong in early February 2019. Simon already has five restaurants to his name including the 2 Michelin starred L'Enclume in the Lake District, 1-Michelin starred Roganic in London and the 1 Michelin starred Rogan and Co. in Cartmel. His inaugural international dining destination Aulis Hong Kong will offer an up-close and personal experience with the season’s freshest produce in a multifunctional high-tech space. The 12-seater Aulis Hong Kong comes to Asia after the successful launch of Aulis Cartmel within L’Enclume in 2016. This followed with the opening of Aulis London in 2017 as a … [Read more...]
A tour of the world in 75 recipes: San book launched
Sang Hoon Degeimbre, Belgian chef of L’ Air du Temps in Liernu and creator of three successful San restaurants has launched a cookbook called San, Around the world in 75 recipes. The book is inspired by recipes of dishes that have been served in the San restaurants since the first one opened 3 years ago in Brussels. The concept behind the restaurant is to serve food in a bowl and to eat it with a spoon. The menu changes every month according to the seasons and the travels of San and his team and is always inspired by Belgium, Korea or cities around the world. Out of over 100 dishes that have been created at the San restaurant over the past three years, 75 recipes have been selected. The main criteria has been that of ensuring that the recipes could easily be replicated at home and where quantities of certain components of the dish are not impossible to make at home. The book is published by Racine and the photography is by Frederic Raevens. It is currently available in … [Read more...]
Arnaud Donckele from Le Vague d’Or places top in Le Chef’s 100 best chefs 2019 compilation
The awards season keeps on giving. Arnaud Donckele from the La Vague d'Or restaurant in Saint Tropez has been named the best chef in the world according to the Le Chef compilation of the 100 best chefs in the world for 2019. The second on the list Michel Troisgros also came from France while Jonnie Boer from the Netherlands placed third. The Le Chef list is compiled by asking two and three-starred chefs of Michelin restaurants to provide a list of five names they think best represent the cooking profession and the one name they would like to see at the top of the list. Five of the top 10 on the worlds best chefs list were from France with Yannick Alleno, Alexandre Couillon and Emmanuel Renaut all placing in the first 10 positions. The other chefs in the top 10 as can be seen from the list below are Seiji Yamamoto from Japan who has always been in the top 10 since the first edition of the list. The others are Paul Pairet, David Kinch and René Redzepi. The list was … [Read more...]
Four new grape varieties permitted for Austrian quality wine
Four new white wine varieties are now permitted for Qualitätswein (quality wine) in Austria, via a collective amendment to Austrian wine law. Three of these are fungus-resistant new crossings known as PIWIs. Blütenmuskateller, Goldmuskateller, Muscaris and Souvignier Gris, all white grape varieties, were elevated to the status of Qualitätswein varieties during the summer through a collective amendment to Austrian wine law. This increases the total of Qualitätswein varieties in Austria to forty. The inclusion of the Goldmuskateller (Moscato Giallo) takes into account that, along with Muskat Ottonel and Gelber or Roter Muskateller, the Goldmuskateller, which is less susceptible to rot, also shows promise. Blütenmuskateller, Muscaris, and Souvignier Gris are three of the fungus-resistant grape varieties known as PIWIs. In addition to the two red PIWI varieties Rathay and Roesler, this is the first time that white PIWI wine varieties have been approved for the production of … [Read more...]
Get ready for disruption in the wine industry: How Gary Vaynerchuk and Empathy Wines plan to cut the middlemen and sell the best $20 wine
Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as Gary Vee has created Empathy Wines with a radical new way of selling wine. With the aim of eliminating the middlemen, Empathy Wines wants to sell the best possible wines at a $20 price point for wines that would normally sell at double the price. Jon Troutman, CEO of Empathy Wines told Food and Wine Gazette that staring a wine brand is something that Gary has been thinking about for two decades. "Gary finally had the right executives in place to help him. Both Nate and myself have been working with Gary across his previous wine businesses and most recently at VaynerMedia." Empathy Wines itself started materializing about one year ago. It was born out of the team's proven ability to scale consumer brands and build equity in a digitally-native way, which VaynerMedia has specialized in from the start. Industry trends have also worked in their favor - wineries are now able to get licensing for shipping direct to consumers in 43 of the 50 states. The … [Read more...]
No new 3rd Michelin star for Belgium but David Martin finally clinches 2nd star
Belgium has gone down from three Michelin star restaurants to 1 restaurant in the span of two years. Following the closure of Karmelit, the restaurant of Geert Van Hecke in Bruges in 2016 and the announced closure of Hertog Jan by Gert de Mangeleer in Zedelgem next month, the only restaurant to retain 3 stars in Belgium is Hof Van Cleve. Despite speculation that there could be potential candidates for a third star, the Michelin guide decided to retain all 2 Michelin star restaurants at that level and at least reflect for another year as to who to elect to the highest echelon in the red guide. However, there was good news for David Martin of La Paix. After having been named the chef of the year by Gault & Millau just a few days ago, his restaurant was finally awarded with a second Michelin star. Another restaurant to clinch a second star was Table de Maxime in the Wallonian hamlet of Our. Young chef Maxime Collard is the chef working there and he owes his success to Geert … [Read more...]
Brussels: Apero meets philosophy at Notos restaurant each month
In our rushed and busy times, we often don't sit down to reflect a bit about questions that impact our life, our relationships or our future. Brussels Greek restaurant Notos has teamed up with Apostrophos to organise themed philosophy evenings merged with an aperitif. Every month, on a Tuesday different themes from Greek philosophy will be explored. These will be mixed with a Greek wine and some traditional Greek dishes served by chef Constantin Erinkoglou. The first event was organised in October and centred around Philosophy vs Democracy. The discussion was very topical focusing on populism, fake news and posing questions as to where truth has gone. The next event which will take place on Tuesday 20 November is titled: The odyssey, or how not to forget: How do we not forget and how are we not forgotten. This is the theme that will be explored. The event (in French) starts at 7pm and lasts an hour. The cost of the session is 28 euros per person which includes a glass of … [Read more...]
Uliassi gets third Michelin star in Italy
Uliassi was awarded with 3 Michelin stars in Italy when the French tyre company announced the publication of the new guide for 2019 in Italy. The 'seafood' restaurant of chef Mauro Uliassi is by the sea in Senigallia, Italy between the port channel and the beach. His cuisine is defined as simple and contemporary because it uses the best of today's technology while at the same time keeping to its traditional roots. The chef describes his cuisine as one that is continuously evolving and is influenced by his travels and his surroundings. Chef Mauro Uliassi opened the restaurant with Catia in 1990 and has ratings of 19 in the Guida del Espresso (among the highest). He joins the likes of Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana, Enrico Crippa's Piazza Duomo, Niko Romito's Reale and Massimiliano Alajmo's Le Calandre with three Michelin stars. The number of 3 Michelin star restaurants in Italy now stands at 10. The other 3 Michelin star restaurants are St. Hubertus, Da Vittorio. … [Read more...]
Limited edition panettone by Niko Romito on sale
The famous Panettone Niko Romito, that is produced in the bread baking laboratory PANE in Castel di Sangro close to the three Michelin star restaurant Reale is on sale and available for distribution across Europe. Only 2,000 pieces are produced in two versions, the classic and one with chocolate. The daily baking process is long and accurate, the preparation takes place over three days and includes three progressive leavening phases. Flour, natural yeast, eggs, vanilla beans, butter, "Sulla" honey, home-made candied orange zests, chocolate pearls or golden raisins are the ingredients used to make this panettone. The process to make this panettone ensures that it is incrediibly soft and has a creamy texture. The Italian chef, Niko Romito, is known for perfecting the art of baking making bread that has become famous around the world. the bread, created in the same laboratory, is also available in his restaurants Spazio Niko Romito in Milan and in Rome. The panettone is a … [Read more...]