“Speaking about 15 years ago made sense. Now it is too late. What we need is not talk about sustainability but radical change,” said Daniel Humm, chef of acclaimed restaurant Eleven Madison Park which turned plant-based when it reopened earlier this year. In his first public appearance after a scathing review of his restaurant Eleven Madison Park by food critic Peter Wells who revealed in passing that meat was still being served in the restaurant’s private room, Daniel Humm said that facing bankruptcy and suddenly getting comfortable with the idea of losing everything became liberating. “We are not anti-meat. We are pro planet. We have the platform and the resources of a creative team to use that creativity to make a plant-based menu beautiful and delicious,” he said. "Today caviar is used in huge quantities but there is nothing luxurious about it. It is farm raised, it is flown from far away and doesn’t even taste good. It is an old idea of luxury,” the Swiss chef of Eleven Madison … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2021
The return of Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens at Hertog Jan
ANTWERP: Four years ago, Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens shocked the Belgian fine-dining scene when they announced they would be closing down their flagship restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem to focus on other projects. Now, nearly four years after the closure, they are revving their engines to start the third chapter of the restaurant that brought them so much success. Hertog Jan at Botanic in Antwerp is the new chapter of their story. The restaurant will be open two weeks each month as from next week. In a very small and intimate setting Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens will be welcome guests according to the Japanese principle Omakase. It is a way of dining whereby the guest surrenders fully to the art of the chef. Omakase roughly means “I leave it to you”. The chef is given carte blanche to prepare whatever he or she thinks is appropriate at the time. Joachim Boudens explained this was a bold and tough choice. “In hospitality you want to please guests all the time … [Read more...]