I am acutely aware of my softer, self-indulgent attitude to dieting now. After a summer spent on the water or beside it, invariably ending the day in a good restaurant, I decided to give it a bit of a break. This does not mean swapping to a diet of dust and greens. Indeed, I have been in the company of too many good men who started out that way and then dined on wine, leaving their plate looking like a garden in autumn: strewn with basil leaves. No, I only resolved to refrain from going to restaurants for about six weeks. This seemed reasonable and manageable......two weeks ago. Tonight I decided to follow Oscar Wilde’s (rather than my wife’s) advice on dealing with temptation, and yielded to it. Off I went, protestant spouse in tow, to Pepe Nero’s latest addition to a fast growing chain of restaurants. It is the Lebanese place in Tal-Ibragg on the premises of the historic Jessie’s bar, which opened here in 1921. Jesse stayed in the family business and her long years as a kind … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2018
Bon Bon sommelier Antoine Lehebel to represent Belgium in Best Sommelier competition
Antoine Lehebel, sommelier of Brussels restaurant Bon Bon will be representing Belgium in the 15th edition of the most prestigious sommelier competition in the world. The Best Sommelier in the World competition takes place in Antwerp in March 2019. Lehebel has already been crowned the best sommelier in Belgium in 2014. Born in 1982, he has vast experience having worked in Longon at Rasoi Vineet bhatia (1 Michelin star) and at three Michelin star restaurant Les Pres d'Eugenie in France. He has also worked at Michel Chabran and Charlemagne (both 1 Michelin star) before moving to Belgium in 2013 to work at Villa Lorraine. He moved to the two Michelin starred Bon Bon in May 2018 to work with one of Belgium's best chefs Christophe Hardiquest. The restaurant has a 19.5 score in Gault & Millau and has two stars. The sommelier has diplomas from WSET as well as Advanced Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommelier. He took part in the competition that was help in Argentina in 2016 … [Read more...]
Going, going, gone: 15,000 euros for a bottle of Riesling
The last bottle in the estate cellar of the Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Trockenbeerenauslese 1921 vintage has been sold for a record EUR 14,992 becoming the most expensive German riesling ever sold. This was the last bottle of the wine that remained in the Rarities Cellar of Gut Hermannsberg, a bottle that that is not only historical but also comes from an exceptional vintage. vintage. The neck of the bottle is decorated with a banderol, where one can read the ornamental script: Presented as a celebratory libation to honour the President of Germany, General Field Marshall von Hindenburg, at the liberation festivities in Cologne, on 21 March 1926. Bidding on the wine opened at 350 Euros, and ultimately found a new owner for 14,992 Euros. Estate GM and cellar master Karsten Peter could barely believe it: ‘That is an unbelievably high price, even for a one-of-a-kind item’. And this coming from the man who set a record price last year with his 2015 TBA which sold for 10,600 … [Read more...]
Perfecting the Hierbas de las Dunas, a liqueur created by chef Syrco Bakker
When Syrco Bakker created Hierbas de las Dunas he did not give it much thought. He combined 18 different types of herbs, flowers and plants from Cadzand’s dunes to create what would turn out to be a versatile drink that had a pure salty-sweet flavour that made it perfect for an aperitif, after-dinner drink or even a cocktail ingredient. The chef of Michelin star restaurant Pure C in Cadzand-Bad who works closely with Dutch celebrity chef Sergio Herman created the liqueur in his kitchen taking inspiration from a drink he had tried in Ibiza but he had no idea how to distribute it or the difficulty to compete with the marketing budgets of the giants in the industry. That naivety may however be the success of this product which is sought after by some of the leading cocktail bartenders. “I spoke with my father and with Charlotte how he would distribute it and we decided to form a company. The beauty of it is that all of us do this in our own free time,” he said. Today, two years … [Read more...]
Loimer to release Langenlois ‘blanc des blancs’ sparkling wine
In 1991, Fred Loimer, the Langenlois winemaker experimented with bottle fermentation to produce Sekt for the first time. Three years later, he launched his first Winzersekt (grower sparkling wine) on the market. Since then he simply cannot resist his fascination with bubbles. He is now set to launch the Langenlois Blanc de Blancs Grosse Reserve, his best yet. It will be released to the market in mid-October 2018 and will be available at the winery (Haindorfer Vögerlweg 23, 3550 Langenlois, weingut@loimer.at) and in the onlineshop (www.loimer-shop.at) or at selected retailers for around 30 euros. A lot has happened since 1991. Loimer set up a winery to give his wines time and space. Then he converted the entire estate to biodynamic farming so that the wines would achieve even more liveliness and authentic expression. And he continued to advance the process of sparkling wine production even further. His two Sekt wines, Extra Brut Reserve and Brut Rosé Reserve, have been on the … [Read more...]
Restaurant Ocean: A view on the ocean and on Portuguese cuisine
Hans Neuner, executive chef of Restaurant Ocean at the Vila Vita resort in the Algarve Ocean loves to travel. When he left Austria to head to Porches in the Algarve he did not know he was going to end up staying there. But the region, the sea, the quality of the produce both from the land and the sea have made him stay. Nothing maybe exemplifies this story more than the Octopus dish that he served me recently at the restaurant. Octupus is a staple in Portugal like in other places on the Mediterranean as is the ‘prickly pear’ plant which is found pretty much everywhere in hot climates. And while it costs a fortune to buy one such fruit in the North of Europe where it does not grow, it is not only abundant but also wild in many countries in the Mediterranean. The prickly pear fruit is considered to be an exotic fruit for some and makes for a refreshing summer fruit but its leaf or cactus is also edible and used in South America. He learned this on a trip to South America and he … [Read more...]
International Chefs Summit Asia to be held in Taipei in October
Taipei will host one of this year’s biggest culinary events in Asia in October 2018 when a total of 18 top chefs from 8 major cities from around Asia come together for 4 gourmet feasts, 2 summits and culinary performances that take place between October 16 and 18. This four-day International Chefs Summit Asia 2018 (ICSA2018) is co-hosted by Favorable Impression Media (FIM Media) and Fine Dining Lovers and is co-organized by the Marriott Hotel in Taipei. The best tastes of Asia will be seen in Taipei all at once. This is the second consecutive year ICSA is hosted in Taipei. This year is the first year the Taipei Marriott Hotel was designated as the venue partner, chosen for its spectacular views of Taipei. All the chefs participating are among the best in their country, most of them from Michelin Starred restaurants and also Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and some cooking in Taiwan for the first time. The chefs taking part this year are Umberto Bombana from Michelin 3 Starred 8 … [Read more...]
Zaiyu Hasegawa returns to Belgium to cook with Gert De Mangeleer at LESS
Zaiyu Hasegawa and his team from Jimbocho Den in Tokyo were in Brugge as guests of Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens for two four hands dinners between the teams of Den and Bistro L.E.S.S., the second restaurant of the successful Belgian duo of 3 Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan. Last year, Zaiyu Hasegawa had cooked at Hertog Jan in Zedelgem together with Hiroyasu Kawate chef of Florilège as well as Yusuke Takada from La Cime in Osaka while Gert de Mangeleer has often cooked in Japan including as guest of Zaiyu at his restaurant Den in Tokyo. Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens returned back to the place where it all started in the former location of their three Michelin star restaurant which now houses their bistro L.E.S.S. operated by young chef Ruige Vermeire. For two evenings, Gert and Joachim cooked and led the front of house respectively together with the teams of L.E.S.S. and Den. The restaurant will move to the centre of Brugge early next year. Joachim Boudens … [Read more...]
Michelin star for Niko Romito’s Il Ristorante at Bulgari Hotel in Shanghai
Chef Niko Romito knows how important recognition can be. When he started Reale in Rivisondoli, a village of only 450 residents in Abruzzo as a self-taught cook, the people believed it was a miracle. Today, Reale is one of the best restaurants in the world and the chef is becoming one of the most internationally recognised Italian chefs in the world for his three Michelin star restaurant in Castel di Sangro. So the first Michelin star for his Il Ristorante - Niko Romito at the Bulgari Hotel in Shangai has notes of something very special because this is a completely new project that aims to showcase Italy's traditional cuisine in a contemporary manner. "I am extremely pleased because it is a sign that our project is being understood. My idea is to take the Italian tastes and flavours which each of us has in their memories everywhere while showcasing our traditional dishes. Obtaining such a result just over 2 months from the opening of our restaurant makes this even better," he told … [Read more...]
Blueness: the new Japanese food bar concept by Sergio Herman and Syrco Bakker in Cadzand
Syrco Bakker, chef of internationally renowned restaurant Pure C in Cadzand Bad, Zeeland, the Netherlands is hoping that the opening of Blueness, a Japanese food bar, gives him the opportunity to take the restaurant to the next level as Sergio Herman's vision for this seaside resort takes shape. After the successful opening of Air Republic, a bistrot and cafe overlooking the new Cadzand marina, Blueness had a soft-opening during the summer months when the new wing of the Strand Hotel opened in July. Housed on the ground floor, Syrco Bakker and Sergio Herman have worked together to create a bar and casual restaurant with a Japanese style interior. The food focuses on the quality of Zeeland produce that is complemented by a distinct Japanese touch. "We knew we wanted to give the food an Asian touch. We originally thought we would create an Asian food bar but that was too vast and the cuisines are too different. We then started to experiment with Japanese and Indonesian cuisines and it … [Read more...]