Could such a concept work in Europe? When does a restaurant stop being a restaurant and become like theatre? Are customers ready to pay in advance for their meal just like they do when they go to a theatre performance, music concert or a sports event? Can such a concept work? Next Restaurant in Chicago is not your typical restaurant. The brain-child of the people behind Alinea and run by award winning chef Dave Beran, they have been experimenting with selling tickets instead of serving people 'a la carte' since 2011. They can probably do that given that they change the menu and restaurant concept every three months. While the concept is now 3 years old, the restaurant has an incredible business model which celebrates creativity not only in its payment model but also by completely changing the whole concept and theme of the restaurant every three months. Dave Beran, who presented the concept at Chefs Revolution in the Netherlands recently said "the restaurant is not just a … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura: a humble genius, philosopher, artist and chef
Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana can be described in many ways. Firstly a chef and owner of the most talked about restaurant in Italy, Bottura is more a philosopher, creative artist and genius than a cook. But. when he gets down to cooking, his creative genius takes over and that is why he is so talked about. Like many geniuses, he can often be misunderstood. Nowhere more than Italy is it so easy to be misunderstood. When he took the stage at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle, on 14 September 2014, many were expecting him to demonstrate his creativity by cooking some of the dishes that have made him world famous. Instead, he gave a 45 minute presentation which left those present spellbound and applauding many times as he spoke about his philosophy and passion. What no one knew, and he only recounted this to a few people who went to speak to him after his inspirational speech, was that his box in which he was transporting the ingredients and food preparations from … [Read more...]
Two Brussels food events on first weekend of October
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...]
Grant Achatz of Alinea coming up next
There has been little time to write this evening. However, this is a teaser of what to expect in our next post. Grant Achatz of Alinea, gave a splendid display of his creativity on Monday evening in Zwolle, Netherlands at Chef's Revolution and we will profile and write about his superb presentation. Alinea has been universally praised for its innovative approach to modernist cuisine. I hope the video above gives you an indication of what to expect in our next article. It is really worth watching and was used as an introduction to the presentation by Achatz. Our post will profile the American chef who runs this restaurant which has been named the Best Restaurant in America for three years. He gave an incredible presentation of creativity and modernist cuisine and talked about how the restaurant and his team approach the creative process. This is really a post worth reading not only if you are interested in gastronomy but also in particular if you are interested in creativity and … [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...]
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...]
Pistolet Original – the not so dangerous Belgian sandwich place
Are you allowed to rave about a 'sandwich' shop? Difficult to say but Pistolet Original seems to be one of the places you wish you had next-door to your office (wherever that may be). I am sure that the thought of grabbing such a great sandwich for lunch would put a smile on many faces. If there were a top 50 places list of great sandwich bars, I would say this would probably be very high up on that list. So despite having seen the name around over the past months, I had never really looked into it thinking what could be so exciting about a sandwich place? What changed everything was the trip to Dierendonck, easily one of the best butchers we have visited in Belgium. We picked up Dierendonck's newspaper the Summer Times and in it was a small snippet about how Pistolet Original in Brussels uses his meat for some sandwiches. A quick visit to the Pistolet Original website confirmed our expectations. We became more and more excited when we read the list of suppliers. Cheese from … [Read more...]