A swirl of the glass, I smell the wine and I get that preliminary 'animal' smell which indicates that this is a natural wine. Within minutes, the smell mellows down to reveal a stunning 100% Tempranillo. We had no idea at this stage that this was a natural wine though I could suspect from the smell. But this is one of those wines which really challenges your perception of what a natural wine should be. While natural wines may get away with being 'unstable' this was neither unstable nor does it have any sign of oxidisation even though it has been open for more than three hours and has been double decanted. Last week, I tasted three wines made by Spanish winemaker Goyo Garcia Viadero at a wine-tasting of Ribero del Deuro wines at a wine club I am member of. Present for the wine tasting, Goyo, the Spanish winemaker, told us that for 50 years he had been working in vineyards. "I've worked all my life in vineyards for others. I was a bit of a 'mercenary' but I had this idea of the … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2016
Kobe Desramaults to reinvent dining experience with new restaurant in Gent
Belgian chef Kobe Desramaults may well be closing his renowned restaurant In De Wulf at the end of this year but he is certainly not stopping there. After announcing that he is closing the restaurant that became a world famous foodie destination, he wants to create a completely different restaurant from In de Wulf and has already found a location in the Belgian city of Gent. "I want to have the complete essence of what I did at In De Wulf but I will change the frame of the restaurant. Over the past months I have reflected a lot about what I like about my job and I will translate that into the new restaurant," he told Food and Wine Gazette. Desramaults is already present in Gent with his restaurant De Vitrine and his bakery/restaurant De Superette. "The new restaurant will have an open kitchen and we will be working with fire because the latter is something I really like. I also do not like cooking for a lot of people at the same time because that is not cooking. I want to be … [Read more...]
Five French chefs in top 5 places of OAD Classical and Heritage Restaurants list
3 Belgian restaurants in top 100 Opinionated about Dining has released the list of Top 100 Classical and Heritage Restaurants in the World. Michel Bras has won the top place with his restaurant Toya in the Japanese island of Hokkaido. French chefs have taken all the top five places of this newly released list, the first time Opinionated about Dining has classified the top 100 Classical and Heritage restaurants. This guide is based on dining surveys that factor experience of the respondents into the rating system is rather unique. The 2015 The top five chefs in the top five positions are Michel Bras, Michel Trois Gros, Alain Ducasse, Régis et Jacques Marcon and Michel Guérard. Three Belgian restaurants have made it to the top 100 list. These are Comme Chez Soi of Lionel Rigolet which placed 31st in the list, Karmeliet of Geert Van Hecke which placed 38th and Le Chalet de la Foret of Pascal Devalkeneer which placed 73rd. OAD said that Michel Bras Toya, located in the … [Read more...]
Kobe Desramaults (In de Wulf): ‘Adapt, create, evolve’
Kobe Desramaults, chef of restaurant In De Wulf, Dranouter, has a credo which he likes to use in his kitchen. "Adapt, create and evolve." And that is what he seems to be doing after his shock decision to close the world famous restaurant in December 2016. He tells Food and Wine Gazette that he had reached a point where he needed to decide whether to buy the property from his mother or not and he thought for very long whether he wanted to take a loan that would tie him to a place for at least another 20 years. "I think there was a time when chefs were making decisions for life. But we are in a different age and we see what is going on in the world. We see different things and I want to try different things," he says. The Flemish chef became world famous for a style of cooking that is pure, natural and has no classic dishes or traditional sauces. He is one of the most internationally recognised Belgian chefs and has created one of the top destinations for foodies in the world. (His … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #74
You can buy a cheap chicken today, but we all pay for it in the long run: Have you ever asked yourself why an everyday “value” chicken can now be cheaper, pound for pound, than bread? Cheap chicken has become the “healthy” meat of choice for most shoppers and sales are booming, up 20% since 2000 in the UK. But is it really either cheap or healthy? Enigma chef Frantzen to open restaurant in Dubai: Swedish chef Björn Frantzén has revealed further details about his new venture in Dubai Design District (d3), following the news last month that his restaurant Frantzén is one of the culinary concepts set to open in the freezone this year. In an interview with Caterer Middle East, Frantzén, who is currently in residence at Engima in Palazzo Versace Dubai, said the restautant will "be a Nordic brasserie called Frantzén Kitchen". You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Jeremiah Tower: For a man who has just seen his life pass before him, Jeremiah Tower is handling things with complete composure and … [Read more...]
Chef’s table trailer released: It’s not about food, it’s about something more
Netflix has released the official trailer for Chef's Table Season 2 and the season promises to be as mouth-watering as the first. Just watching the trailer makes you want to sit down and binge watch. Unfortunately for food enthusiasts, they will have to wait till 27 May for the new season to be released. Using stunning visuals and in-depth interviews with chefs from various top restaurants in the world, it tells the stories and philosophies of the chefs behind these restaurants and explains what makes them tick. The documentaries feature the daily lives of these chefs from their diverse backgrounds to the evolution and craft of their chosen cuisine as well as their quests for sensory perfection. The documentaries are created by David Gelb and his team. The second season will be followed by a third season later this year and a fourth season in early 2017. The chefs featured in the second series are Alex Atala of restaurant Dom in Brazil, Ana Ros from Hiša Franko in Slovenia, … [Read more...]
Father and son Eric and Tristan Martin work in symphony at Maison Lemonnier
Father and son Eric and Tristan Martin are passionate about food, wine and the region they live in. It is therefore no wonder that they work together in an idyllic setting in Lavaux-Ste-Anne in the Belgian Ardennes where they run a hotel and restaurant which has been open for 10 years. Eric has been cooking for more than 25 years while his son Tristan who studied at the Paul Bocuse Institute joined him in Maison Lemonnier in spring 2008. The father studied law but had already made his decision that he would be cooking. In his words, his love for nature and the region was such that cooking was the only obvious choice. You can see that passion in the philosophy of their cooking, the love for the region and its ingredients, the need to try and make their gastronomic restaurant accessible to young people (but not only) through a 'subsidised' menu on the chef's table and their hospitality. It was on a sunny Saturday morning that I drove to Maison Lemonnier in Lavaux-Ste-Anne in … [Read more...]
Tensions rise as Brussels restaurants struggle to recover from bleak period
These are not easy days for Brussels. As the city tries to return back to normal after the terrorist attacks last month, restaurants in Belgium's capital city are facing tough times. While many have been putting up a brave face over the past few months, more and more Brussels restauranteurs are starting to feel the pressure following months of difficulties, and tensions seem to be rising. Only this weekend, Lionel Rigolet, chef of two Michelin star restaurant Comme Chez Soi said that "Brussels is dying," in Belgian newspapers l'Echo and De Tijd. And in a sign that tensions seem to be rising, the Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur, was asked to leave a gastronomic restaurant in the city centre because the chef was angry with him. The pedestrianisation of the Brussels city centre in summer last year was heavily criticised by restaurant and shop owners in the city centre with many restaurants reporting considerable drops in turnover. But the situation is far more complex than this, … [Read more...]
Frites Atelier Amsterdam: New Sergio Herman chain aims to create best ‘fries’ in the world
There is no stopping Sergio Herman, one of the world's most talented chefs. After deciding to stop cooking full time at the end of 2013 when he closed his three Michelin star restaurant Oud Sluis in the Netherlands he has now decided to put his name on a new project with the aim of creating the best 'french fries' chain in the world. After opening Pure C in Cadzand (Zeeland, the Netherlands) and The Jane (Antwerp, Belgium), Herman will launch a new concept called Frites Atelier. The aim behind the new chain is to turn the humble potato and the common fast food into something good. Herman has been researching potatoes to find the best varieties that he will use for the chain and the sauces that will accompany the fries will change according to the seasons. The five first sauces are expected to be basil, pepper, truffle, bearnaise and mayonnaise. The first shop will open in the Hague in July and four others are expected to open in the major cities of the Netherlands including … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #73
First came the parent-and-toddler dining club at Michelin-starred restaurants — and now, kids can ditch the adults for a children-only meal at restaurants like Per Se, Del Posto, and Blue Hill, part of Danish culinary star Claus Meyer's new New York project Kid's Table. At the event, children aged 7 to 14 eat a three-course meal for $30, sans parents. Meanwhile, each restaurant incorporates rhubarb, lamb, and turnip in the dinner and treats the tots and teens like regular diners. You can read the story about how Meyer, the co-founder of Noma, is trying to bring in a new generation of food-aware people. How food became pop culture: Mario Batali writes that pp until the late ’70s/early ’80s, nobody in America thought of dinner as much more than something they did before they went out to a game or the opera or the movies. Gastronomy was only important to, maybe, a small group of people, and even then, it was a frippery. No one cared about consuming the information as well as the … [Read more...]