If there is one story you must find time to read this week, it is the story of Ben Shewry, the New Zealand-born public face of modern Australian cooking, running one of the world's top 50 restaurants. Widely regarded as the best chef in Australia, he had to battle with depression. Allan Jenkins writes an inspirational portrait of this chef, who has also been featured in David Gelb's Netflix documentary series Chef's Table. Hélène Darroze has been named the 2015 Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef. Here is an interesting interview with her in the Financial Times where she speaks about what drives her, her ambitions and personal life among others. Andy Hayler is unique. In 2004, he managed to eat at every three Michelin starred restaurant in the world. In this interview he says that not all restaurants are the same and there are distinct differences between the way in which countries are assessed. Read what he has to say about the most consistent country (some may be surprised) and … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2015
Francis Mallmann: ‘Get out of your chair and go out’ – Chef’s Table review
"I am a cook that uses cooking to send this message of a way of living. I am always cooking in remote places in the wild with fires. So the message is get out of your chair, sofa or office and go out," says the most influential chef from Argentina. When I sat down to watch Chef's Table documentary on Francis Mallmann I was intrigued by the visuals of the trailers which showed Argentina's arguably most high-profile chef cooking lamb with fire in snow with a stunning landscape as the backdrop. That intrigue was not misplaced. This documentary, produced by David Gelb is an exceptional portrait of a chef who has really returned to the basics of cooking, using fire in all its possibilities to produce simple dishes which are full of flavours. Mallmann explains that today we educate children to be settled and once they have a job, a car and a place to sleep the dreams are dead. "You do not grow on a secure path. All of us should conquer something in life. It needs a lot of work, it … [Read more...]
Guests will not know who will cook for them as Gelinaz Shuffle tickets are now on sale
Tickets for the Gelinaz shuffle are now on sale for what promises to be one of the major gastronomic events of the year. The event, which takes place on July 9 sees a global collaboration of 37 of the world's best chefs taking part. More details of the event have emerged as the tickets were put on sale. Chefs from countries like Japan, Chile, Brazil, Slovenia, France, Turkey, Sweden, Thailand, Australia, UK, Italy, Peru, Spain, Canada, Belgium and Denmark and all throughout the United States will take part in an unprecedented international restaurant swap. Each guest chef, after having found out the results of the Gelinaz! ballot will travel of the country of destination three days prior to the event to prepare his or her unique and unrepeatable 8-course menu. They will not take ingredients from home; they will prepare dishes combining their culinary approach with what they find on location. It will therefore be a fusion of 2 remarkable chef's personalities. You therefore … [Read more...]
Maxime Colin (Villa Lorraine): Bringing the best out of top quality ingredients
Maxime Colin, 27, is full of passion for top quality ingredients and you can see it in his face when he proudly displays a piece of Kobe beef. He speaks passionately about what makes Kobe beef so special, explaining the attention to detail the Japanese give to raising the cattle for what is considered the best meat you can buy. We met Maxime in the kitchen of Villa Lorraine which serves as the kitchen for both La Villa and La Brasserie. The Villa Lorraine, on the edge of the Bois de la Cambre in Brussels, houses two restaurants owned by Serge Litvine who purchased the restaurants in 2010 and is working to make it shine again. Villa Lorraine is a Brussels and Belgian institution having been the first restaurant outside France to get the coveted 3 Michelin stars in 1972. Maxime Colin has been head chef there since August 2014 and retained the 1 Michelin star that had been previously awarded to La Villa under Alain Bianchin in November 2013. He explained the philosophy behind … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #32
There are a number of interesting reads in this weekly roundup from an interview with legendary restaurant critic AA Gill to Nathan Myhrvold's views on the next big thing in food, a list of some splendid bars, a guide to Emilia Romagna and some recommendations on places to eat in Venice. Food Republic has an interview with legendary restaurant critic AA Gill. He says that he wants blander food in restaurants. "Everything is overflavoured now. We've been dominated by the East and Latin America and these enormous, big flavours. This style of cooking is fantastic and I love it. But when was the last time that I ate a blanquette de veau that was just white, and just soft, and wasn't shouting at me," he said. Nathan Myhrvold, the founder of Modernist Cuisine says the next big thing in food is not about importing new foods but inventing them. "Invention is always how we have developed new cuisines," he said. Myhrvold also believes that we are in the midst of a major shift regarding all … [Read more...]
A year after the Osteria Francescana experience
At this time last year, I was eating a pizza with two dear friends in Modena. Hard to believe after a 12 course lunch at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana a few hours earlier. It was an experience that I will always cherish and it is one of the reasons (though the story is much more complicated than that) why Food and Wine Gazette was born. We are still months away from our first year anniversary of Food and Wine Gazette, but 9th May marks a very important milestone for me. Years earlier, when the word foodie was still not mainstream as it is today, I had set myself two targets when it came to experiencing Italian cuisine, that of eating at Fulvio Pierangelini's Gambero Rosso and at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana. Both chefs have been extremely important for contemporary Italian cuisine though the styles cannot be more different to each other. Having eaten at Gambero Rosso a few years before it closed for ever, the visit to Massimo Bottura marked an important … [Read more...]
Chef’s table review – Massimo Bottura: A recipe as a social gesture
Massimo Bottura sees the world like few others. His passion for food is not only compelling but it is also contagious. You only need to see him in action live or on a television programme to realise that he has this capacity to stir emotions in people which is second to none. That he is passionate about cooking and food is no secret. But what few know is that one of the biggest secrets to his success is his wife Lara Gilmore, an American who he met in New York. This Italian restaurant in the city of Modena is probably one of the most famous restaurants in the world. It is listed as the world's 3rd best restaurant in the World's 50 Best Restaurants, has three Michelin stars and has really put Italy at the top of the world's league. While many are in love with Italian food, very few tend to associate Italian cuisine with innovation and avant garde cuisine. What Massimo Bottura has done is change all this in a country which does not like to mess with 'grandmother's recipe' as … [Read more...]
Tim Raue: Western cuisine is too complicated
Tim Raue is one of the most prominent German chefs in Berlin if not the whole of Germany. His restaurant Tim Raue has made it to the 40th position in the recently published Opinionated About Dining list, moving forward from the 62nd place. The German chef is unique in his style and in his approach. His two Michelin star restaurant serving Asian inspired cuisine has been awarded 19 points by Gault Millau. His cuisine, as he himself says, reflects his character. We caught up with him a few months ago but had not yet published our interview and we feel this is the right time to bring to the fore this talented chef. But why would a European be cooking Chinese food in the German capital? "What I am looking for is basic, traditional Chinese dishes. What I love is that they are so pure and simple. In Western cuisine we are doing things which are so complicated and using too many techniques. At the end of the day, what I want to do is bring everything together. What I look for in a … [Read more...]
Opinionated about dining release Top 100+ list of European restaurants for 2015
Opinionated About Dining has this evening announced the list of the top 100+ restaurants in Europe. Eneko Atxa, the Spanish chef of Azurmendi a few kilometers away from Bilbao has won the top spot in this awaited list. He takes the top spot from Belgian chef Kobe Desramaults of In De Wulf who has placed fourth in this year's list. Many of our readers will note that Food and Wine Gazette is not necessarily influenced by lists or guides. We consider them important to help you discover new places but should only be taken as guidance. Nevertheless, this guide, which is based on dining surveys that factor experience of the respondents into the rating system is rather unique. The 2015 results are based on over 160,000 reviews contributed by more than 4,500 people who registered for the survey. For the detailed list, visit their site where you can discover the 200 leading chefs in Europe according to this survey. The following are the top 30. The chefs with hyperlinks have been … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #31
The past week saw the launch of Milan Expo. The theme is Feeding the Planet Energy for Life. Much has been written about the event, including the incidents that took place in Milan, so we are not focusing on this event in our round-up. So we start this week's roundup with a restaurant review with a difference. As we've said on Twitter, we do not always agree with Jay Rayner but in this case, we really shared his pain. See what happens when he asks some innocent questions after eating out at Jinjuu Chris Dwyer has a report on the Madrid Fusion Manila in which he reports on the biggest food event that ever took place in the Philippines. Spanish chefs like Elena Arzak, Luis Aduriz and Quique Dacosta were there. Dwyer reports that the Philippines are known for using all parts of the animal in its cuisine. This was taken to the extreme by chef Margarita Fores who presented tuna sperm as the highlight of one of the dishes; which was followed by a demonstration of the versatility of … [Read more...]