There has been little time to write this evening. However, this is a teaser of what to expect in our next post. Grant Achatz of Alinea, gave a splendid display of his creativity on Monday evening in Zwolle, Netherlands at Chef's Revolution and we will profile and write about his superb presentation. Alinea has been universally praised for its innovative approach to modernist cuisine. I hope the video above gives you an indication of what to expect in our next article. It is really worth watching and was used as an introduction to the presentation by Achatz. Our post will profile the American chef who runs this restaurant which has been named the Best Restaurant in America for three years. He gave an incredible presentation of creativity and modernist cuisine and talked about how the restaurant and his team approach the creative process. This is really a post worth reading not only if you are interested in gastronomy but also in particular if you are interested in creativity and … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2014
Massimo Bottura, René Redzepi raise awareness on food waste – 40 per cent of all food produced wasted
Two of the world's greatest chefs Italian Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana and René Redzepi of Noma both raised the issue of food waste during their one hour presentations at the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival in Zwolle on 14 and 15 September 2014. When the Italian chef took the stage on Sunday evening in the Netherlands he called for action to reduce food waste. 1,300,000,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year (1.3 billion tonnes). "Is it possible that we can waste so much? Is this sustainable?" he asked. "I think it is not," Bottura said to large applause. Redzepi of Noma said on Monday that food waste was a horrific thing which needed to be tackled. "40 per cent of all the food that is produced is wasted. We have an obsession with prettiness which makes us abhor a crooked carrot or vegetable. One of the tasks we set ourselves was to work not only to find new pillars of cuisine but also to ferment our way out of food waste. Waste nothing is the catalyst to our … [Read more...]
Chefs (R)evolution finale – a feast of creativity and inspiration
The second and last day of Chef's (R)evolution was a great finale to the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival. Organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije together with publisher Port Culinaire, yesterday's line-up was a spectacular array of creative chefs from Noma's Rene Redzepi's to Alinea's Grant Achatz, Bjorn Frantzen, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre and Spanish Quique Dacosta. Redzepi kickstarted the day with a brilliant presentation of some of the dishes that are currently being prepared at Noma, the world's number one restaurant in the World's Top 50 San Pellegrino list. He spoke about the difficulty of preserving food when they had opened the restaurant 11 years ago as they faced a terrible winter and went on to speak about how this had led them to study the art of fermentation. Like Massimo Bottura the previous day, Redzepi spoke about the importance of eliminating food waste saying that this is one of the greatest problems and challenges facing the food industry. He said it is … [Read more...]
Chefs (R)evolution – superb first day
The first day of Chefs (R)evolution in Zwolle, Netherlands was a huge success. Presentations by some of the world's top chefs including Massimo Bottura, Jonnie Boer, Richard Ekkebus, Tim Raue and Dave Beran were incredibly well received by a very attentive audience. Bottura, the renowned Italian chef of Osteria Francescana stole the limelight with a passionate one hour presentation on fostering creativity. Aimed mainly at young chefs, many of whom were in the audience, he spoke of the importance of following one's passion, of being oneself and of being authentic. His rallying call, which was welcomed by the audience and which drew huge applause was "Study, read, follow your interest whatever this may be." Taking inspiration from music and contemporary art, Massimo Bottura announced that he would be working at the Milan Expo to raise awareness about global food waste. Boer spoke about the importance of producers. "Chefs are always in the limelight but it is the producers and the … [Read more...]
Good service: Wine mistakes in restaurants
We were having a dinner at a restaurant in a five star hotel some time ago when the waiter who came to serve the white wine asked who was going to taste the wine, a ritual which rakes place every time you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant. As soon as I nodded the ok, and as I continued with my conversation, I noticed that he had literally emptied the whole bottle into four large wine glasses we had at table. It was wrong on many counts and this is why. First, we were dining al fresco on a hot summer evening and this was white wine so it would have been better to pour just a bit of wine and leave the rest in the wine cooler. Second, maybe there is someone at table who just wants to have a very small glass and therefore that wine may end up going wasted. Third, you might understand that restaurants or hotels may want to up sell but this is way in your face and actually urges you not to order a second bottle because you are afraid that the same thing might happen … [Read more...]
Chefs Revolution in Zwolle – follow us during the week for reportage on this gastronomic festival
Food and Wine Gazette will be at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle, The Netherlands for the first day of the Dutch Avant Garde Cuisine Festival on Sunday. This gastronomic festival provides among other activities cooking demonstrations supervised by international chefs such as Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura, Grant Achatz and Quique Dacosta among others. The festival is organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of de Librije, one of the top 50 restaurants in the World. The cooking programme tomorrow (Sunday) includes Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, Jonnie and Therese Boer the organisers, Richard Ekkebus of two Michelin starred Amber in Hong Kong. There is also Tim Raue of two Michelin-starred Restaurant Tim Raue Germany and Dave Beran of Restaurant Next in Chicago USA. Apart from that there is also a farmers market where we can get acquainted with the rich variety of Dutch products and ingredients used by some of the best chefs in the Netherlands. We will also watch an interesting … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine
As wine makers start to pick up the grapes for the 2014 vintage, this week's main news in the food and wine world has been the seizure by Italian police of 160,000 litres of fake Tuscan red wine. The cheap wine was set to be passed off as prized reds such as Brunello di Montalcino. This is just the latest in a series of scandals that has hit the country's premium wine sector. 220,000 wine bottles would have been involved in this scam, the third to hit Montalcino over the past few years. You can read about the news here in this article from the Telegraph. Wine fraud is becoming a huge problem particularly at the top end and you need to be extremely cautious about the provenance of the wine. It is becoming essential for the discerning wine buyer to look for value and quality and not to necessarily be allured to price or big names which can be hit by such fraud. It is a pity but unfortunately that is what is happening in high-end markets pretty much in every industry. In the … [Read more...]
In search of better service in catering
We go to cafés or restaurants to enjoy ourselves, to unwind and to socialise with friends or family. Or we go to eat things which are close to impossible to emulate at home. At Food and Wine Gazette, we take great interest in excellent service and in quality. We believe that service and quality should not be the hallmark of five star hotels or three Michelin star restaurants. We think that anyone who is proud of the service or product they are offering, whether it is just making coffee or a sandwich should deliver it in a perfect way. There are many things which make us cringe but one of the worst is how some people in the catering industry handle glasses and cups. A few mornings ago, at an espresso bar, the barista making the espresso spilled a bit of coffee on the outer rim of the coffee cup. Accidents do happen. He tried to clean it up with his finger without giving a second thought to the fact that this is not done. Not to mention that he was also handling cash. This is … [Read more...]
Pistolet Original – the not so dangerous Belgian sandwich place
Are you allowed to rave about a 'sandwich' shop? Difficult to say but Pistolet Original seems to be one of the places you wish you had next-door to your office (wherever that may be). I am sure that the thought of grabbing such a great sandwich for lunch would put a smile on many faces. If there were a top 50 places list of great sandwich bars, I would say this would probably be very high up on that list. So despite having seen the name around over the past months, I had never really looked into it thinking what could be so exciting about a sandwich place? What changed everything was the trip to Dierendonck, easily one of the best butchers we have visited in Belgium. We picked up Dierendonck's newspaper the Summer Times and in it was a small snippet about how Pistolet Original in Brussels uses his meat for some sandwiches. A quick visit to the Pistolet Original website confirmed our expectations. We became more and more excited when we read the list of suppliers. Cheese from … [Read more...]
Famous Parisian macarons compete with the best in Brussels
There are things in life which are just not done. In football terms, could you imagine a Juventus supporter walking into the Inter club in Milan or vice versa, or say a Real Madrid supporter sitting among Barcelona fans all clad with his Real Madrid memorabilia as he watches a game his side is playing against their arch-rivals. When French chocolatier Patrick Roger opened in Place Sablon, Brussels there was nothing short of an uproar. How dare a French open a chocolate shop on the Belgian square most famous for its chocolatiers. Then again Pierre Marcolini has also opened a chocolate shop in Paris. Now, there is another reason for some to worry about. The famous French patisserie Ladurée, known in particular for its macarons opened last Friday on Place Sablon. Competing with Wittamer and Pierre Marcolini, this makes the Place Sablon all the more interesting for foodies. A Michelin starred restaurant Senza Nome is also set to open on Rue Royale just off Place Sablon later this … [Read more...]