In his own words, Lior Kochavy did not know how to crack an egg and make an omelette for himself. If he knew how to cook, Open Kitchen or Odprta Kuhna as it is known in Slovenia would not exist. Earlier this month it opened for the European Food Summit. This year will be the seventh edition of the project, the brainchild of Lior and his wife Alma. This one of a kind food market attracts around 50 restaurants to Slovenia’s capital to showcase what the country has to offer. Every Friday from March to October, hungry visitors flock to the market to savour food from some of the city’s best establishments as well as restaurants from other parts of Slovenia. They serve sample and cheaper portions of their restaurant dishes with a number of beer and wine stalls to add to the atmosphere. Lior arrived in Slovenia in 2006 from Israel. “It was all different for me when I arrived here,” he said at the European Food Summit which was organised in Ljubljana earlier this month. “I was used … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2019
Summa 2019: a family reunion in Northern Italy organised by Alois Lageder
For over twenty years, Weingut Alois Lageder has been inviting winegrowers from all over the world to an annual collaborative event in Magrè at the Alto Adige Wine Road. While a few dozen kilometres down the A22 at VinItaly in Verona, everything is about business, the Summa is more like a friendly family gathering of winegrowers, individuals who not only care deeply about the authentic expression of their wines, but also about the preservation of natural resources in their vineyards. It is no coincidence that numerous participating estates at this year’s Summa are certified organic or biodynamic – and the organiser himself, Alois Lageder, is the president of Demeter Italy. In total, there are 111 wine producers from ten countries (Italy, Germany, Austria, France, China, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Portugal & New Zealand), who will be presenting their wines on Saturday/Sunday 6–7 April in the picturesque ambience of Casòn Hirschprunn, a 17th century Renaissance … [Read more...]
Odette in Singapore takes top spot in Asia’s 50 Best restaurants 2019 awards
Odette in Singapore has taken top honours at the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards ceremony, succeeding four-time winner Gaggan in the No.1 spot. Chef Julien Royer’s Odette claims the coveted titles of the best restaurant in Asia and the best restaurant in Singapore. Housed in the iconic National Gallery Singapore, Odette serves Asian-inspired modern French cuisine, each dish presented with impeccable style and characteristic perfection. Taking its name from Royer’s maternal grandmother, Odette earned Asia’s Highest New Entry Award in 2017 before debuting on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list last year at No.28. The 2019 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was announced at an awards ceremony at Wynn Palace, Macao. The 2019 list reflects the diversity and vitality of the ever-evolving Asian gastronomic scene, featuring 10 new restaurants, including a first-time entry from Malaysia (Dewakan, No.46) and a new restaurant in the Philippines (Toyo Eatery, No.43), a country … [Read more...]
Charlotte Collard: The model turned digital food entrepreneur
Food may come as an afterthought when you are modelling but for Charlotte Collard it was another story. A former model turned digital entrepreneur, she has lived in cities like New York, Los Angeles and London to mention a few before returning back to her roots in Belgium where she lived for 18 years before leaving to New York to pursue her modelling career. She has today established herself as a TV presenter and also set up a digital food business as well as a big presence on Instagram. “I’ve always loved cooking. My grandfather lived in Canada when I was young and he had a very big house with a lot of land and all the vegetables and fruits would come from the garden. He would smoke trout from the pond, he would hunt, he taught us how to bake bread waking us up at 5am. Everything was homemade so I learned to cook when I was very young.” Charlotte created a digital food business three years ago. “When I moved to Zurich in 2009 after leaving New York I decided to create a … [Read more...]
Henry Harris reunites with Dennis Gustafsson for one-off supperclub at Bouchon
On Sunday 7th April, chef Henry Harris will be taking to the kitchen at Bouchon, Malmö in Sweden, joining owner and executive chef Dennis Gustafsson, for one night only. The dinner is particularly significant, as the pair have a longstanding relationship, with Dennis having worked under Henry at his critically acclaimed restaurant, Racine in Knightsbridge between 2002 and 2015. The friendship Dennis and Henry formed, is a testament to the importance that Henry places on mentorship and young talent. Bouchon shares many similarities to Racine in its approach to offering a bourgeois style of cooking. Dennis embraces the philosophy and tradition of Lyon in his cooking, championing local ingredients combined with French delicacies, whilst also allowing his instinctive knowledge of the shifting seasons to inform the daily changing menu. The exclusive menu will pay tribute to Racine and to the dishes the pair were cooking together nearly a decade ago. Highlights will include … [Read more...]
‘There will be a crash point if we don’t act now’ – Roberto Flore
The future will happen whether we like it or not and it is therefore essential to take action. “People are afraid of the future because they feel that they are not in control,” Roberto Flore who runs the DTU Skylab Foodlab in Copenhagen said at the European Food Summit. “We should design utopias or positive futures rather than speak of dystopia,” he said. Technologies, he said, need to be human centric. “We need to find people who can help to create and design machines. We do not have this concept at the moment. Machines are toady designed with efficiency but they are not efficient. They are only driven by numbers. There will be a crash point if we do not act now. The question is how can we design machines with social efficiency in mind, a machine that benefits society. Maybe we will fish less but we may be able to have fish available for more people,” he said. The former Italian chef who took over the DTU Skylab Foodlab last year after having headed the Nordic Food Lab (run … [Read more...]
Fourth edition of Foodfest to be held in Cadzand in June
The fourth edition of FoodFest, the event organised by Cadzand, the Netherlands by Sergio Herman, Syrco Bakker and Iman Soomers will be held on 2 and 3 June. The event which used to held at the former Strandkerk in Cadzand will move to the platform Maritiem Plaza next to restaurant AIRrepublic with a breathtaking view of the North Sea and the Royal Yacht Club of Cadzand-Bad. This year's festival will take place over two days unlike previous events that took place just on a Monday. For this year's edition the organisers are teaming up with the founders and creators of WECANDANCE, elrow Town Antwerp & Fire Is Gold: Wim Van der Borght & Bart Roman, CEO’s of Atmosphere Architects. WECANDANCE (Electronic beach festival in Zeebrugge) will provide the music line-up at FoodFest. A number of international chefs are expected to take part in the Foodfest though these have not yet been announced. They will also feature in lunches and dinners at … [Read more...]
The Belgian conundrum: This is not Belgian cuisine
At the European Food Summit organised in Slovenia last week between Saturday 16 March and Tuesday 19 March, I used the country I know second best (after my home country Malta) to make the point that collaboration today is key. Why is Belgium not so well known as a gastronomic destination? Has it been a missed opportunity as interest in food peaks globally? Food can unite, it can also divide as very well able presented by colleague Georges Desrues. The following is my speech at the conference: Speech I would like to thank Ana and Andrea for inviting me to speak today. It is an honour and a pleasure to be here. I am not a Belgian, this is not about Belgian cuisine. I am not even a food writer if you go and look at my LinkedIn Profile. So why am I here and how did a Maltese who left a tiny island in 2005 for professional reasons that have nothing to do with food end up here. More importantly what observations can I make that are relevant to you. I'll use … [Read more...]
Gastronomic imperialism: ‘Diversity is being killed by quest for success’ – Andoni Luis Aduriz
Spanish Andoni Luis Aduriz, chef of one of the most innovative restaurants in the world, Mugaritz, has warned that guides, lists and social media are all contributing to a lack of diversity in gastronomy to the extent that if chefs and restaurants want to be successful they need to follow a particular model and be the same. “Isn’t this colonialism, isn’t this imperialism?” In a passionate presentation at the European Food Summit held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the chef said that in the past, guides like Michelin or Zagat served as the mediators between what was going on in the kitchen and what came out to the public. “These guides were written or printed to connect the public to chefs. The end result, however, has been that certain models were established,” Andoni said. “Michelin in Europe defined the quality and the way that a restaurant needed to operate to be eligible for a star. If you don’t follow a certain approach and meet all the criteria you are not considered and are … [Read more...]
Collaboration is key, we cannot exist in a vacuum are main themes of European Food Summit
Chefs, food writers, scientists, winemakers convened in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the European Food Summit to discuss not just the state of food today but also the importance of making connections, thinking outside the box, thinking beyond the confines of borders and to listen to what nature is telling us. Slovenian chef Ana Ros and Andrea Petrini, the conference curator came up with a very interesting lineup of speakers to tackle a wide range of topics. Andrea Petrini conference curator set the mood for the conference with a video which showcased beautiful images of gastronomy. It started off like a tourism video but turned darker as he tackled issues like issues like migration, riots, climate change and sustainability among others. In his concluding remarks he pointed to the fact that while we speak about sustainability, this conversation and the actions that need to be taken are just the start. Andreas Caminada called on the industry to stop whining and start taking responsibility … [Read more...]