The rise of social eating networks is giving the possibility to many to monetise skills that are not widely utilised in male-dominated restaurant kitchen culture. In Italy, Gnammo is the largest of many restaurants popping up all over Italy to promote a new trend in dinner parties. Users can search through chefs' online profiles for a menu they like and then dine at the chef's own house. Read the story here. Do you want to learn some dirty secrets about the hotel industry? If you are heading to a hotel soon, you may not want to read the following because you may decide that a hotel is not for you. How much are you ready to spend on a good tomato sauce? The Guardian has tested the best tinned tomatoes you can buy. A restaurant in Italy has caused a stir by banning children below the age of 5 years for misbehaviour. But someone argues it would have made more sense to ban rude adults and iPads. We knew fish stocks were low. But it's much worse than we thought: About 164,000 … [Read more...]

Your dose of inspiration this week should start with this article about Mikael Jonsson of Hedone who traded a career as a successful lawyer in Sweden with being a Michelin starred chef in London. He decided to do this when he was 44 when he says it started to grind in the back of his head that he should take his home-cooking skills and see how could he could become as a chef. And he does not believe that he will retire as a chef. "If I see there's another passion I really want to exercise, then I will probably change again. I don't understand this notion that you have one career in life and then that's it." Foodiva interviews Spanish three Michelin star chef Quique Dacosta. He is the first chef to take over Palazzo Versace's Enigma restaurant in Dubai for a three month pop-up. The restaurant will change hands every three months. Like Jonsson above, he is also a self-taught chef. On the subject of chefs, you should not miss the interview with Jason Atherton on opening 14 … [Read more...]

Alain Ducasse is one of the world's greatest chefs. The 59-year-old French chef has 23 restaurants in seven countries, including two in London, and a total of 20 Michelin stars. He also runs cookery schools, has written numerous cookbooks, and last year he even devised a menu for the International Space Station (bon app, Tim Peake!). Read his story in an excellent interview here. This week we have written about what we think the world of food and wine will look like in 2016. Here is an article in Entrepreneur about 5 ways your restaurant experience will change in 2016. There has been a lot of controversy in the UK following the issuance of new guidelines on the amount of units of alcohol that men and women should drink. The new guidelines suggest that both men and women should drink no more than 14 units a week and said it is best to spread them over the week rather than binge. You can read an article about the truth about alcohol here and another here about why we should be … [Read more...]

As we start the New Year and resume our weekly round-ups of the things we enjoyed reading after a two-week break you may want to start with this long read about an Italian chef who took on the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. It is the story of Filippo Cogliandro of restaurant L'Academia in Reggio Calabria and how he fought the battle against the Italian mafia. He will be cooking at a series of public culinary demonstrations in Europe, the United States and beyond to denounce the 'Ndrangheta while at the same time raising awareness of the true spirit of Calabria. The head chef of Noma, Daniel Giusti announced he will be leaving the famous Copenhagen based restaurant. He said he was moving to the United States to launch Brigaid, a company that will attempt to change the way schools feed their students. In this interview on Lucky Peach the chef of Italian origin says that while he appreciated working at Noma, at some point when you climb the ladder you understand what it's all about. … [Read more...]

Times are changing and as people have less time to cook the Italian tradition of the aperitivo is slowly changing to the 'apericena'. It is a new student supper and combines the old aperitivo (an old Italian custom in the north) with a buffet. Students are flocking to bars which have started to offer a buffet of homemade hot and cold dishes with evening drinks. They are substantial enough to constitute a light dinner at a relatively low price - often starting at around €10 for one drink and the buffet. Magnus Nilsson has been in the news because of the publication of his book on Nordic cuisine. Here is an interesting article which gives some personal insights into this talented chef. If you are lacking ideas for your Christmas lunch here are four alternative recipes from UK master chefs. We are tempted to try the espresso panna cotta. Are  you still looking for the last Christmas presents? Here is a list the 25 best food books of 2015 compiled by The Guardian. Did you know … [Read more...]

Michelin in Italy was in the news last week following the decision to remove a star from Davide Scabin. It has been a controversial decision among Italian foodies given they consider this chef to be one of the most inventive in Italy. Social media was all the rage after designer Bob Noto created a graphic called Je Suis Scabin to show support to the Italian chef. If you missed it, we have written about it here. Brussels is the New Berlin according to this article in the New York Times. The article says that Brussels has quietly emerged as one of Europe's most exciting creative hubs. Nicholas Lander reviews what is considered to be one of the best restaurants in France, the Maison Troisgros. It has held three Michelin stars since 1968. We have written about Nuno Mendes and his attempt to crowd-fund a restaurant recently. Here you will find some Portuguese Christmas recipes from this talented chef. Jay Rayner takes a look at the world of Instagram and does not necessarily … [Read more...]

Magnus Nilsson, the Swedish chef famous for his restaurant Faviken was in the news the past few weeks as the much awaiting book Nordic was launched. Here Dianne Henry takes a look at the book in an article which also features some recipes from this Swedish chef.  You can also read about the experience of eating at his restaurant on Rocket & Squash. Are we in the middle of a food fad? And why are retired men suddenly interested in cooking? According to this article, there is a surge in older men attending cookery classes. We've written often about the subject of food waste. Here is an article which might inspire you to waste less. The premise of the article is that when cooking, good ingredients gone bad can still be delicious. Very few will get to try the world's most expensive meat. Is it so special? Difficult to say though if you judge by the demand, it seems like it. Chris Dwyer writes about the French butcher Alexandre Polmard who is behind the world's most expensive … [Read more...]

The Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo is probably the most famous fish market in the world. The wholesale market is best known for its pre-dawn tuna auction but Tsukiji's future (also as a retail market) could be at risk. It opened in 1935 but is set to move next year to Toyosu a few miles away. Read the story here. What is healthy eating? And who can we trust when it comes to finding out what should really be on our plates? Alex Benton has a splendid article about the subject and he argues that we have turned all that worry to the wrong things. He calls gluten free a top dietary fad which keeps health magazines and food manufacturers busy. It is a must read. French culinary master Joel Robuchon, the chef with the most Michelin stars worldwide, has unveiled plans for an international culinary school. It will be located on the site of a monastery hospital in Montmorillon in the Vienne region of Western France. The school will welcome its first students in 2018. Danny Meyer, one of … [Read more...]

The shocking events in Paris on 13 November have led to the postponement of the launch of the Belgium and Luxembourg Michelin guide for 2016 due tomorrow. We will keep you updated when the results are announced. Last week, Gault Millau announced the results for Belgium and Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L'Air du Temps was awarded chef of the year for 2016. If you have missed the news, we have also written about the latest case of food fraud, this time linked to the fraudulent sale of extra virgin olive oil that is anything but. Virgilio Martinez, chef of Peruvian restaurant Central believes that the potato is not a humble ingredient. He says that while it is said that there are over 3,000 varieties in Peru, he has seen at least 400. He and his team employ more than 50 techniques to prepare potatoes. Read about it here. We have come across this video of Gordon Ramsay refusing a dish he was served at a restaurant. We would have done the same. Check out why here. Fine Food Dude who writes on … [Read more...]

This week's main news in the restaurant world was the ease with which René Redzepi of Noma Restaurant sold out all covers of a 10 week pop-up in Australia in less than two minutes. If you've missed the news, you may want to read about it here. Foodiva has an interview with chef Yannick Alleno. The French chef explains the reason why he never cooks anything above 88C. He says that once you go above this temperature you have a huge deterioration in flavour. Even his sauces are never cooked higher than this temperature. Here is a good list of 10 food market stalls from around the world. Former newspaper editor Tony Gallagher went to work in his favourite restaurant Moro, in London, after he was sacked. Here he writes about his experience in a restaurant kitchen. It is a very interesting perspective. We've written before about the 50 World's Best Restaurants. The New Yorker has a great article about the history of the list and how what started off as a one-off has become one of the … [Read more...]