There is a new concept just outside Brussels called "Wilder at the Villa". Chef and interior designer Maarten Van Essche who has formerly worked at Noma and Hof Van Cleve has created a private dining experience in a villa that is at his disposal. "Because it is private dining, people need to make a reservation to get a seat. There is room for 20 guests at the table, and it is available from Wednesday to Saturday," Van Essche told Food and Wine Gazette. "The recipe for the evening is simple: one table, one menu, one starting hour. Nature defines the menu, we fix the matching drinks. So all the guests are eating and spending the evening together." "I created this private dining concept because we have a great villa at our disposal for an undetermined period of time," Van Essche told Food and Wine Gazette. "We want to use it in the best way we can. As a chef and interior designer, I like to create a great atmosphere to live and invite people. Since its an old villa from the … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2017
Time and scarcity are today’s luxuries and will define tomorrow’s trends in food and wine
As we start the New Year, it is normally the time to reflect on the previous year but also more importantly to look at what is coming next and to try and spot the novelties that might become trends in the years to come. We have read many articles about predictions for 2017 doing the rounds from Michelin’s take of the 10 trends for 2017 to a sceptical look at the articles predicting trends. There is an obvious tendency to get it wrong and you end up with egg on your face. So instead of looking at what we think will be the top trends we focus on one issue, time, and look at how this will have an impact on the food and wine world in the coming months and years. To take a look at the future, many times you need to look to the past. The start of this article came over a lunch discussion with with Fulvio Pierangelini, Gert de Mangeleer, Clare Smyth and Peter Nillsson a day before the Gelinaz! Headquarters event in Brussels where we ended up discussing the state of fine dining … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #101
Legendary French chef Pierre Koffmann on his 50 years in the kitchen: Few mission statements are as accurate, yet leave so much unsaid, as the one that opens Pierre Koffmann's latest book. "I am a typical French chef," he says at the top of the first page of Classic Koffmann. It's an interesting opening gambit, and a reminder of the extent to which the man embodies French cooking. Even in his 50th year as a chef, and his 46th in London, he has steadfastly refused to fade from relevance, just as his country's cuisine has – even if both are operating in a different landscape now to when French food was the undisputed pillar of fine dining a few decades ago. Harrods keeps up to 75% of restaurant service charge, union says: Harrods has been accused of shortchanging its restaurant staff in the latest row over how service charges added to diners’ bills are shared among workers. The union representing Harrods waiters and kitchen staff believes the Qatari owner of the upmarket London … [Read more...]