Italian chef Gianfranco Vissani has hit out at sous-vide cooking at low temperature saying he is totally against this type of cooking. "It is neither modern nor adds anything in terms of flavour and consistency of ingredients." Vissani is the head chef of Casa Vissani and a famous television personality in Italy. He is the chef of two Michelin Star restaurant Ristorante Vissani since 2007 and has authored many books on gastronomy and cuisine. In an article he penned on Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday 26th May, Vissani wrote that it has become common to speak about low-temperature cooking but this is a trend he is against for various reasons. Vissani said the advocates of low temperature cooking try to sell this technique as new. "But anyone can guess what such cooking is about. Chefs have been using this technique as a necessity, and not for culinary art, to preserve ingredients which otherwise would need to be cooked fresh. The technique to cook at low … [Read more...]
First Generation W International Food festival next year
Generation W, the organisation that groups chefs from Wallonia, Belgium will be organising the first Generation W Food Festival and International Congress at the Citadel of Namur on 4, 5 and 6 June 2016. It is a bid by chefs from the French speaking part of Belgium to showcase their region and their cuisine. When we interviewed Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L' Air du Temps who is considered as one of Belgium's best chefs, he had told Food and Wine Gazette that it was time for Wallonia to market itself to the rest of the world and showcase what it had to offer. Sang-Hoon Degeimbre is one of the founders of Generation W, He said that the collective will also produce an e-magazine which will focus on in-depth articles to provide information about the culinary patrimony of the region and which will enable outsiders to discover the gastronomic wealth of this region. This magazine aims to complement a book called Generation W Editions which was published in 2014. Generation W was set up … [Read more...]
Lunch with Sergei Litvine (Villa Lorraine and La Villa in the Sky)
The owner of Villa Lorraine, Sergei Litvine, who took over the property in 2010 wants to restore the restaurant to its former glory. Passionate about cooking and gastronomy, this industrialist has taken over the restaurant as a way of following his passion and to fulfil his dream of owning a restaurant. But it is not any restaurant. Villa Lorraine, is one of the most famous restaurants in Brussels. It was the first restaurant to get 3 Michelin stars outside France in 1972. It held the three stars till 1984 before losing its sparkle during the 1990s and finally losing its one star in 2006. "It is my passion and was always my dream to own a restaurant. I never worked in the catering industry but rather in industrial food production which is completely different to the restaurant business. I have very fond memories of Villa Lorraine since the time that I used to come with my parents and even my grand-parents. There was an opportunity to take it over and I decided to buy it and … [Read more...]
Red Mullet with a Mediterranean salsa
Childhood memories and nostalgia play a very important role in food. We tend to love the flavours that we have grown up with or those which let us reminiscent about our childhood. Red mullet is abundant in the Mediterranean and when it is in season it is also a relatively cheap fish. I loved the taste of this fish but when I was young I was sometimes hesitant of eating this fish particularly because of the small bones. Along the years, this has changed though because of young children I normally tried to avoid cooking fish which have small bones. But when I found fresh red mullet at our fishmonger I could not resist particularly since it was a nice sunny day. Red mullet is a versatile fish and one which can be found not only in the Mediterranean but also in the North as well. I tried to retain the pure flavours of the red mullet while making it simple to eat. If I had to take the nostalgic route, I would have coated the fish in flour and then pan-fried it whole. Instead I … [Read more...]
Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon set to join Les Grandes Tables du Monde
Bon Bon, the two Michelin star restaurant in Brussels of chef Christophe Hardiquest is set to join 12 other Belgian restaurants in the 'Les Grandes Tables du Monde' list, Pierre Wynants, the vice president of the association announced when he was speaking during a discussion on a recent book he co-authored on Belgium's culinary future earlier this week. Christophe Hardiquest will join the other Belgian chefs who are part of 167 restaurants in 24 countries worldwide. It will be the fifth Brussels based restaurant on the list following Jean-Pierre Bruneau (Bruneau), Laurence and Lionet Rigolet (Comme Chez Soi), Pascal Devalkeneer (Chalet De la Foret) and Yves Mattagne (Sea Grill). Brussels lacks a three Michelin star restaurant after Comme Chez Soi lost the third star upon the retirement of Pierre Wynants. Gault Millau awarded Bon Bon 19.5 out of 20 in its latest guide for Belgium and Luxembourg. This year, Belgian chef Sang-hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps) joined the list … [Read more...]
Gault Millau changed cuisine to what we know today – Pierre Wynants (Comme Chez Soi)
Pierre Wynants, former three Michelin star chef of Comme Chez Soi, the Brussels institution that celebrates its 90th anniversary next year, needs no introduction among food lovers. There is no question that he is one of Belgium's most well known chefs. At 76 years of age, he still commands great respect among his peers having held the coveted three Michelin stars from 1979 to 2006. The Belgian capital has not had a three star restaurant since that day even though things are looking bright for the food scene in Brussels. Wynants was at the cultural centre of Uccle, a leafy suburb of Brussels, on Monday 9th June to present the book he wrote together with Philippe Bidaine called La cuisine belge de demain (Tomorrow's Belgian food). In a conversation on stage with the President of the Uccle Cultural Centre Jacqueline Rousseaux, Wynants recalled how kitchens in the past where completely different to when he had started working in restaurants. "In the old days we used to cook with … [Read more...]
Magnus Nilsson: ‘Unlike other creative industries, you don’t get a second chance in a restaurant’ – Chef’s Table review
"Unlike other creative professions, when you cook in a restaurant you don't get a second chance. You cannot go to customer and say the crab was not very good today so you should come and try it another day," says 32-year-old chef Magnus Nilsson, chef of Swedish restaurant Fäviken. The Chef's Table documentary of this talented Swedish chef is a must watch, as it depicts the story of this creative chef who is cooking in what is probably the most well known remote restaurant in the world. Listed 25th in the world's 50 Best restaurants for 2015 announced on 1 June, Fäviken is unique in many ways. Saying that the restaurant is in the middle of nowhere is an understatement. It is located in Järpen, around 750 kilometres north of Stockholm, and Nilsson started cooking there by chance given the fact that he was recruited to oversee the wine cellars as a consultant. This was after he decided to stop cooking on his return to Sweden from France. The documentary brilliantly portraits this … [Read more...]
Updated: Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L’ Air du Temps to open restaurant in Brussels on 5 October
Updated: Brussels foodies have something to look forward to after the summer holidays as chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of the 2 Michelin starred restaurant L'Air du Temps in Liernu announced he will be opening his second restaurant SAN in the Belgian capital. The date for the opening of the restaurant has been set for 5 October. On the website of the new restaurant there is a photo of Sang-Hoon with a countdown and a small note saying San is coming to Brussels. San Bruxelles have announced that the bookings for the Brussels based restaurant will open on 15 September. Sang-Hoon, considered to be one of the best Belgian chefs and famous for his molecular cuisine as well as his love for exceptional produce, will offer a completely different experience to L'Air du Temps. His restaurant in Liernu is in the middle of the Belgian countryside. He loves the feeling that the countryside gives and when I had interviewed him he had told me: "Sometimes when I come here early in the morning I … [Read more...]
Maxime Colin (Villa Lorraine): Bringing the best out of top quality ingredients
Maxime Colin, 27, is full of passion for top quality ingredients and you can see it in his face when he proudly displays a piece of Kobe beef. He speaks passionately about what makes Kobe beef so special, explaining the attention to detail the Japanese give to raising the cattle for what is considered the best meat you can buy. We met Maxime in the kitchen of Villa Lorraine which serves as the kitchen for both La Villa and La Brasserie. The Villa Lorraine, on the edge of the Bois de la Cambre in Brussels, houses two restaurants owned by Serge Litvine who purchased the restaurants in 2010 and is working to make it shine again. Villa Lorraine is a Brussels and Belgian institution having been the first restaurant outside France to get the coveted 3 Michelin stars in 1972. Maxime Colin has been head chef there since August 2014 and retained the 1 Michelin star that had been previously awarded to La Villa under Alain Bianchin in November 2013. He explained the philosophy behind … [Read more...]
Jiro Ono still loves his job at the age of 90
It has taken us a while to sit down and watch a conversation between sushi master Jiro Ono (owner of Tokyo's Sukiyabashi Jiro and subject of the acclaimed documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" and René Redzepi which was recently released on Mad Feed (see it below). And as we watched it, we realised what we had missed. It is an incredible lesson in work ethic and life from a sushi master who still works at 90 and hopes to be still standing and making sushi in 5 years time when Tokyo hosts the Olympics. There is no question about Jiro being the most famous sushi master. "I have said before that you must like your job. If you start saying I don't like this or this isn't the job for me you will not become an expert in anything," Jiro says. "If you have taken on a job or career, you need to like it and continue moving forward. Younger people today say that they are great but they don't compare to previous generations. Machines are more advanced now and everyone has embraced that … [Read more...]