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...]
2016 – a year of Food and Wine Gazette in review
Only a few hours remain as many uncork their champagne bottles to bid farewell to 2016 and welcome the New Year. We are sure that many will be hoping that 2017 will be better on many fronts particularly given the global experiences and challenges that we have all witnessed in the past year. On a global level, 2016 will be remembered as one that has brought about tumultuous change. It is still hard to see what impact this will have on the long term but certainly the year has regaled us with many uncertainties, only the extent of which will be visible in the years to come. The changes in the food and wine world might not have been as profound though even here there are signs that change could also be coming but we will cover that in a subsequent article on what we see as the main trends coming in the food and wine world. Clearly, there has continued to be more pressure guides and lists as more and more people start to question their consistency and reliability. We have started … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #100
Whey too popular? Foodies angered by crowds at London cheese festival: It was billed as a “fromage-themed extravaganza” but a cheese festival at London’s historic Borough Market left a bad taste in the mouth of many foodies who complained of dangerous overcrowding. More than 18,000 people on Facebook indicated they were going to the free event which took place on Wednesday night and some visitors said the large numbers who turned up, coupled with a lack of organisation, rendered it a disaster. Restaurant trends for 2017: Michael Whiteman is a striking example of a lifetime well spent in the American hospitality business. Aged 78, with a full head of hair and a wry smile, he created the first edition of Nation’s Restaurant News in New York in 1967. A meeting with the late restaurateur Joe Baum led to their consultancy business, Baum + Whiteman; together they opened Windows on the World and the Rainbow Room in Manhattan. They also introduced the concept of food courts across the … [Read more...]
Ron Finley: Saving the garden that inspired a community
A few months ago Ron Finley and I were at a roof top garden restaurant in Copenhagen on a cold, stormy night. As torrential rain pounded the glass structure while lightening flashes illuminated the dark skies and the rest of the diners expected to be struck by lightning any moment, Finley was struck with the beauty of the rain-soaked garden lit up by Mother Nature. Beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder especially for a crazy artist of the soil. We first met at the MAD Food Symposium in Copenhagen many years ago where he shared his vision of "Save Your Food Save Your Life" with the movers and shakers of the world of food. I had heard and read about how one man sowed a seed in the heart of South Central LA that not only transformed the bleak litter strewn sidewalks of his neighborhood but changed lives and a community in the process. It was after getting to know him over time that I have realised how deep the passion and significance of these gardens are to him and his … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #99
Is Sugar Killing Us? At the risk of being a Grinch, the Christmas season is a pretty good time to consider the possibility that sugar is killing us. It is yet another holiday in which sweets play a primary role, with candy canes dangling on trees, cookies or Coca-Cola set aside for Santa and visions of sugar plums (which are not fruit but hard candies) dancing in children’s heads. AA Gill's last article: “More life with your kids, more life with your friends, more life spent on earth — but only if you pay”: AA Gill used to think that being an NHS patient was like travelling second class on a train, grittier than first class, but in the end everyone ended up at the same destination. But in his farewell piece he tells of his discovery of a drug not available on the NHS. The best thing I ate in 2016: If I tell you that the best thing I ate this year was in January, please don’t think that the rest of my eating year has been a disappointment: know that I would never allow that to … [Read more...]
Childhood memories (2): The crunchy part of the lasagne
Lasagne used to be my favourite dish when I was young. Whenever my mother used to ask what I wanted for a special treat, birthday for example, my response always used to be the same. Mostly it was reserved for weekends, for celebratory occasions like Christmas or Easter or a birthday here and there. When it was served on midweek, it used to somehow lose its allure and I could never understand why. Today, I love to cook lasagne and there are many reasons for this. First it is the ultimate comfort food, it is therapeutic to make a ragu and wait for hours, process after process to get it right and extract the most possible flavour from the meat. Second, the children love it and there is always leftovers which works particularly well for a midweek treat. But why was lasagne less attractive when it was prepared during the week? Was it just memory playing tricks or was there really something to it? I couldn't pin it down to anything until I read Massimo Bottura's reasoning behind … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #98
Osteria Francescana: does the world’s best restaurant live up to the hype? The entrance is a glass door in a pink wall on a cobbled street. A brass plate with the outline of a chicken is pinned to the wall; for some reason, I like this chicken. It comforts me, for chickens are normal. This is Osteria Francescana, which this year was named number one in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. In 2015, it was second; it has been in the top five since 2011. It won its third Michelin star in 2012. It is also, according to Michelin, the best restaurant in Europe. Osteria Francescana is owned and run by a native of Modena, Massimo Bottura, and this is where he placed his restaurant. New rules for businesses who want to call their food 'artisan' or 'natural': THE FOOD SAFETY Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) have introduced new guidelines about food labelling. The rules were devised after consultation with the food industry and are aimed … [Read more...]
Michelin’s guide for Belgium exposes problem of consistency and credibility
To understand what is truly happening in the Belgian gastronomy scene today you would need to at least visit five restaurants, one in Brussels, three in Flanders and one in Wallonia. The restaurants of Christophe Hardiquest (Bon Bon in Brussels), Peter Goossens (Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem), Gert de Mangeleer (Hertog Jan, Zedelgem), Kobe Desramaults (In de Wulf, Dranouter - the restaurant will close next month and the chef opens a new restaurant in Gent next year) and Sang-Hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps, Liernu) have over the past years left a significant mark on Belgian cuisine. Any foreigner visiting Belgium or looking to learn about Belgian cuisine would discover five chefs and restaurants with a distinct culinary style and a cuisine that is varied, territorial and innovative. But Belgium's culinary scene does not stop here. It is also home to The Jane in Antwerp, for example, a restaurant owned by Sergio Herman and Nick Bril which has been fully booked since the first day … [Read more...]
Childhood memories and food – a new series
Childhood memories are the source of inspiration of many a chef. Some chefs can be at their most creative when they recreate dishes out of their childhood memories or the flavours that they remember from when they were young. Memories and storytelling are what makes us human beings. We are the stories that we tell ourselves and others and our memories have a way of stirring our emotions and connecting us to our history and to where we come from. Recalling our earliest childhood memories is not always easy. How often are our memories real and how often are they the stories that we have been told by our families and friends. This is particularly true for our earliest childhood memories. What is your first memory? And are you sure it is your memory or is it a story that you have been told? An old photo may trigger a memory, or else it may trigger the memory of your mother or father explaining the context to you. I recall my mother say that whenever she used to try and give … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #97
Anthony Bourdain explains why, even after touring 80 countries, his favorite destination will always be Japan: Over the course of 15 years and four travel shows, Anthony Bourdain has toured 80 countries, delving into their histories and eating as much of their food as possible. If you ask him, as Business Insider did earlier this year, what his favorite destination is, he will immediately tell you it's Japan. Why is airline food so bad: So, you just peeled back the plastic off a freshly-delivered tray right off your airplane’s trolley cart and the mess looking back at you is a grim one. The fault may not lie with the chef, though, but in the plane’s design. The very nature of air travel, as well as how the plane is built and how it adjusts to high altitudes, make food preparation fundamentally more difficult. A wildly popular Japanese restaurant chain where diners eat alone in meditation opened its first US location: If you were eating at an Ichiran restaurant right now, you … [Read more...]