Which simple recipes should your children be able to cook? Recently, I came home to find the remnants of a hollandaise sauce smeared across the inside of a kitchen bowl. I ran my finger through what was left. It was perfect: foamy and rich with that necessary acidity. Apparently my 17-year-old son had knocked it up from watching YouTube videos. Not long before, I had introduced him to the glories of eggs benedict. (Look, he’s a restaurant critic’s child. What do you expect?) He wanted to eat one so Googled the instructions for the sauce. He had no idea that it’s tricky to get the temperature of the bain-marie right, so the eggs don’t curdle as you whisk them. He just did it. Sometimes ignorance can be a wonderful thing. Michelin men: Claude Bosi, Terence Conran and the return of Bibendum: In the gutted upstairs room of Bibendum on London’s Fulham Road, I’m suddenly feeling my age. The flagship Conran restaurant is in the process of a makeover. Floors and walls have been stripped and … [Read more...]

Chef José Andrés on Trump, the American Dream, and Uniting People With Free Food: Three years ago, chef José Andrés began work on restaurants in two long-anticipated Washington, D.C., hotels: Fish by José Andrés at the MGM National Harbor and a Spanish passion project slated to open in the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Pavilion. The first one opened in December, but the second project famously led to an ongoing legal battle with Trump’s company. Earlier this week, Grub sat down with Andrés at Fish to discuss the firebrand chef’s thoughts on the politics of our current food culture, why he’s determined to win his legal fight, and to get his take on President Trump’s first weeks in office. Why the French Can’t Get Enough of This Illegal Bird: For several decades, the French have been obsessing over a small bird that weighs less than an ounce. Hunters consider it the king of all wildfowl; great chefs deem it the caviar of birds. However, in 1999 it became a protected … [Read more...]

Is chlorinated chicken about to hit our shelves after new US trade deal? Consumers could be exposed to American farming practices banned by the EU. Those of us who want to eat safe, healthy food awoke to a nightmare on Tuesday, a chilling interview on Radio 4’s Today programme. Bob Young, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, made it crystal clear that any US trade deal struck by Theresa May would be contingent on the UK public stomaching imports of US foods that it has previously rejected: beef from cattle implanted with growth hormones, chlorine-washed chicken, and unlabelled genetically modified (GM) foods. Ana Roš of Hiša Franko: Gelinaz! Shuffle and Slovenian Cuisine: Ana Ros is an articulate, intelligent and fascinating woman with many facets to her life and persona. She is the perfect example of a person using their will and determination to shine as a culinary star in a comparatively unknown part of the world. I will stay tuned for what she does next and … [Read more...]

René Redzepi on Noma’s last supper – and what comes next: On the night in 2009 when his restaurant reached No 3 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, René Redzepi’s thoughts turned to aviation. “It was a great moment,” he recalls. “But it also felt like that moment when you’re on a plane after it takes off, and you’re at 10,000 feet, and you’re wondering, is this where we level off? Or are we going to start climbing again?” How A Destitute, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became The First Celebrity Chef: The bustling Paris streets were rutted and caked in thick mud, but there was always a breathtaking sight to behold in the shop windows of Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. By 1814, people crowded outside the bakery, straining for a glimpse of the latest confection created by the young chef who worked inside. Who killed the great British curry house? No one in Oli Khan’s family had ever lived in Scotland, or anywhere near it. But when, aged 23, Khan first set eyes on Linlithgow, a … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

A short walk from the garden: Belgian chef Gert De Mangeleer is succeeding in self-sufficiency: During the mild months of early summer, the garden at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Hertog Jan — located 20 minutes outside of the Belgian city of Bruges — is in full bloom. The pale orange outlines of butternut squash peek out from beneath a thick cover of wide, flat leaves. Radishes grow in neat rows along one edge, while golden nasturtium flowers sprout in another corner. But Hertog Jan’s garden functions as more than fancy landscape design: it is an experiment in self-sufficiency. Michelin-star chef Richard Ekkebus and his intense relationship with time: Recognised as one of Asia’s top chefs, Richard Ekkebus, director of food and beverage at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, which includes two Michelin-star, fine-dining restaurant Amber, understands how precision can lead to success. “Cooking is about precise timing – timing between the restaurants, the service staff and … [Read more...]