This was the week that MadFood, a symposium held last month in Denmark released a talk by American cook Chris Costentino in which he emotionally describes the pain of becoming a ‘television celebrity’. If you haven’t watched the video or read an extract of his talk, I would urge you to read it. While speaking to young chefs, his lessons are valid for anyone thinking of going on TV and particularly reality TV. There is a lot of food for thought in his words.
Given we are on the subject of Copenhagen, the New York Times this week had in interesting feature about what to do for a weekend in this Danish city. Copenhagen is famous for what is currently considered to be one of the greatest chefs in the world Rene Redzepi of Noma. But it is also the standard-bearer for New Nordic cuisine, a movement sustained by a society that encourages homegrown talent using local ingredients. This is one of the cities we really want to visit and this article clearly explains why with a lot going for the city apart from food.
This week, I have written about the influence of food guides and chefs on the culinary world. If you haven’t read it, I would recommend you read it because it is very topical particularly as the awards season are upon us. Here, in this very interesting article, a restaurant refused to allow dining critics to carry a review of their restaurant in Dallas. The critic was recognised and offered a complementary meal and told that she was welcome to dine at the restaurant but not as a critic.
Anyone who has access to BBC would do well to watch one very good chef, Tom Kerridge, who became famous for becoming the first pub in the UK to obtain two Michelin stars. He has a new series on BBC. Here, he is interviewed by British GQ about his cooking philosophy and more. This is really a great read.
There is also a great article by Amanda Cohen on Eater.com in which she breaks down the us vs them mentality in restaurants. It is a very interesting perspective about customers and restaurants and one which calls for trust.
Cathy Huyghe writes about restaurant meals in Italy that were served to her by chefs working for wineries. The three meals she cites are from a Tuscan estate, 15 miles outside Florence, Barolo in Piedmont and Franciacorta in the Brescia province of Lombardy.
And for the last link of the week, Eric Asimov in the New York Times continues his monthly column on drinking wine. This month, Asimov focuses on Champagne and offers some great tips on how to drink Champagne.
Leave a Reply