Brussels foodies will be spoilt for choice on the first weekend of October with two food events which have become an annual fixture. Slow Food Brussels organises "Taste Walks" with a chance to visit some of the best artisan producers in the Brussels regions. On the other hand, Saveurs Toscanes celebrates its 10th anniversary during that weekend with an exposition of the best producers from Tuscany. "Fresh and local" are the basic pillars behind the concept of slow food. The weekend event inaugurates the Slow Food Brussels season. During this weekend, it is possible to participate in workshops organised by local artisans who are passionate about high-quality food and use local products. Some of the visits require advance registration. You can look at the list of events here. In particular I would highlight the presentation on authentic bread being held at Le Saint Aulaye in Rue Vanderkindere, an initiation to Belgian cheeses and beers with a tasting session at Julien Hazard, a … [Read more...]
Grant Achatz (Alinea): A genius of molecular cuisine
When Grant Achatz, chef and restauranteur of Alinea walked onto the stage at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle there was a sense of anticipation among the audience. Two days of great presentations by some of the world's most avant-garde chefs was coming to a close. In that situation, anyone standing in front of a packed theatre might panic. But then again, it must have been obvious that the organisers would leave something special as the last act? It was not even a question of time. Achatz did not fly in all the way from Chicago for the presentation and leave. Chefs have a very busy schedule but Achatz and his team had been in the Netherlands for four days and were in no hurry to leave though they were then heading to Rene Redzepi's Noma a day later and then to Frantzen in Sweden. Achatz and his team made a spectacular presentation but you cannot expect anything less from this American chef and restaurateur who is often considered as one of the leaders in molecular gastronomy or … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura, René Redzepi raise awareness on food waste – 40 per cent of all food produced wasted
Two of the world's greatest chefs Italian Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana and René Redzepi of Noma both raised the issue of food waste during their one hour presentations at the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival in Zwolle on 14 and 15 September 2014. When the Italian chef took the stage on Sunday evening in the Netherlands he called for action to reduce food waste. 1,300,000,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year (1.3 billion tonnes). "Is it possible that we can waste so much? Is this sustainable?" he asked. "I think it is not," Bottura said to large applause. Redzepi of Noma said on Monday that food waste was a horrific thing which needed to be tackled. "40 per cent of all the food that is produced is wasted. We have an obsession with prettiness which makes us abhor a crooked carrot or vegetable. One of the tasks we set ourselves was to work not only to find new pillars of cuisine but also to ferment our way out of food waste. Waste nothing is the catalyst to our … [Read more...]
Chefs (R)evolution finale – a feast of creativity and inspiration
The second and last day of Chef's (R)evolution was a great finale to the Dutch avant-garde cuisine festival. Organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije together with publisher Port Culinaire, yesterday's line-up was a spectacular array of creative chefs from Noma's Rene Redzepi's to Alinea's Grant Achatz, Bjorn Frantzen, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre and Spanish Quique Dacosta. Redzepi kickstarted the day with a brilliant presentation of some of the dishes that are currently being prepared at Noma, the world's number one restaurant in the World's Top 50 San Pellegrino list. He spoke about the difficulty of preserving food when they had opened the restaurant 11 years ago as they faced a terrible winter and went on to speak about how this had led them to study the art of fermentation. Like Massimo Bottura the previous day, Redzepi spoke about the importance of eliminating food waste saying that this is one of the greatest problems and challenges facing the food industry. He said it is … [Read more...]
Chefs (R)evolution – superb first day
The first day of Chefs (R)evolution in Zwolle, Netherlands was a huge success. Presentations by some of the world's top chefs including Massimo Bottura, Jonnie Boer, Richard Ekkebus, Tim Raue and Dave Beran were incredibly well received by a very attentive audience. Bottura, the renowned Italian chef of Osteria Francescana stole the limelight with a passionate one hour presentation on fostering creativity. Aimed mainly at young chefs, many of whom were in the audience, he spoke of the importance of following one's passion, of being oneself and of being authentic. His rallying call, which was welcomed by the audience and which drew huge applause was "Study, read, follow your interest whatever this may be." Taking inspiration from music and contemporary art, Massimo Bottura announced that he would be working at the Milan Expo to raise awareness about global food waste. Boer spoke about the importance of producers. "Chefs are always in the limelight but it is the producers and the … [Read more...]
Good service: Wine mistakes in restaurants
We were having a dinner at a restaurant in a five star hotel some time ago when the waiter who came to serve the white wine asked who was going to taste the wine, a ritual which rakes place every time you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant. As soon as I nodded the ok, and as I continued with my conversation, I noticed that he had literally emptied the whole bottle into four large wine glasses we had at table. It was wrong on many counts and this is why. First, we were dining al fresco on a hot summer evening and this was white wine so it would have been better to pour just a bit of wine and leave the rest in the wine cooler. Second, maybe there is someone at table who just wants to have a very small glass and therefore that wine may end up going wasted. Third, you might understand that restaurants or hotels may want to up sell but this is way in your face and actually urges you not to order a second bottle because you are afraid that the same thing might happen … [Read more...]
Chefs Revolution in Zwolle – follow us during the week for reportage on this gastronomic festival
Food and Wine Gazette will be at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle, The Netherlands for the first day of the Dutch Avant Garde Cuisine Festival on Sunday. This gastronomic festival provides among other activities cooking demonstrations supervised by international chefs such as Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura, Grant Achatz and Quique Dacosta among others. The festival is organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of de Librije, one of the top 50 restaurants in the World. The cooking programme tomorrow (Sunday) includes Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, Jonnie and Therese Boer the organisers, Richard Ekkebus of two Michelin starred Amber in Hong Kong. There is also Tim Raue of two Michelin-starred Restaurant Tim Raue Germany and Dave Beran of Restaurant Next in Chicago USA. Apart from that there is also a farmers market where we can get acquainted with the rich variety of Dutch products and ingredients used by some of the best chefs in the Netherlands. We will also watch an interesting … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine
As wine makers start to pick up the grapes for the 2014 vintage, this week's main news in the food and wine world has been the seizure by Italian police of 160,000 litres of fake Tuscan red wine. The cheap wine was set to be passed off as prized reds such as Brunello di Montalcino. This is just the latest in a series of scandals that has hit the country's premium wine sector. 220,000 wine bottles would have been involved in this scam, the third to hit Montalcino over the past few years. You can read about the news here in this article from the Telegraph. Wine fraud is becoming a huge problem particularly at the top end and you need to be extremely cautious about the provenance of the wine. It is becoming essential for the discerning wine buyer to look for value and quality and not to necessarily be allured to price or big names which can be hit by such fraud. It is a pity but unfortunately that is what is happening in high-end markets pretty much in every industry. In the … [Read more...]
In search of better service in catering
We go to cafés or restaurants to enjoy ourselves, to unwind and to socialise with friends or family. Or we go to eat things which are close to impossible to emulate at home. At Food and Wine Gazette, we take great interest in excellent service and in quality. We believe that service and quality should not be the hallmark of five star hotels or three Michelin star restaurants. We think that anyone who is proud of the service or product they are offering, whether it is just making coffee or a sandwich should deliver it in a perfect way. There are many things which make us cringe but one of the worst is how some people in the catering industry handle glasses and cups. A few mornings ago, at an espresso bar, the barista making the espresso spilled a bit of coffee on the outer rim of the coffee cup. Accidents do happen. He tried to clean it up with his finger without giving a second thought to the fact that this is not done. Not to mention that he was also handling cash. This is … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine
A very popular feature on www.ivanbrincat.com was on what I enjoyed reading this week. However, some links were not necessarily related to food, wine or travel. Here, the focus will be more on what is happening in the food and wine world. We hope that you enjoy this collection of links as much as we do. Obviously we cannot spot everything, so feel free to send us your favourite links. Your favourite link or blogpost could make it to the weekly roundup. There is a back to school feeling as September starts (at least in many countries where school has already started) but with September there are new beginnings. So this week you will read about new places that have opened in London and Brussels among others. And if you are heading to Paris, you might want to save the link below to the best places selling 'pain au chocolat' in Paris. But the first link of the week is France's Michelin starred chef Alain Ducasse to ban meat from his restaurant in Paris. Being vegetarian in France is … [Read more...]