"We worked from 8am till 2am every day and just kept going" There is no question that Kobe Desramaults is one of the rising stars of European cuisine. His story is inspirational because he had to work against all odds to turn a debt-ridden restaurant owned by his mother into the success story it is today. We met Kobe Desramaults at Chef Sache 2014 in Cologne. You can read our full interview with this Flemish chef, famous for his Michelin starred restaurant In De Wulf in Dranouter, his bakery De Superette and his second restaurant De Vitrine in Gent. In the interview, Kobe speaks about why he opened the restaurant in this Flemish village in West Flanders just on the border with France. Why did you open a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, I ask him. "People are now coming to visit the restaurant in the countryside," he tells me with a smile. "The reason is simple. My heart is there. My heart and my food. This is the area where I grew up. It is where I played in the fields with … [Read more...]
France to promote its cuisine worldwide on 19 March
France will be celebrating French gastronomy with a worldwide initiative on 19 March aimed at raising awareness of French cuisine. Over 1300 chefs from all the five continents are expected to join the Goût de / Good France event. Dinners will be served simultaneously in participating restaurants worldwide to honour the merits of French cuisine, its capacity for innovation and its values: sharing, enjoying and respecting the principles of high quality. This initiative was taken by the French foreign ministry as a way to promote French tourism and to send a message to the culinary world that French cuisine is also contemporary. In a way, it is a response to many food guides which have recently tended to ignore France in favour of other gastronomic destinations in the world. The great French chef Auguste Escoffier, who is the father of modern French cuisine, created Epicurean dinners in 1912 where he chose one menu on a given day and served it in cities around the … [Read more...]
De Librije opens its doors in new location in Zwolle
De Librije, the three Michelin starred restaurant of Jonnie and Therese Boer in Zwolle, has opened the doors in its new location within the Librije's hotel today, 20 January 2015. Jonnie and Therese Boer told Food and Wine Gazette that after more than 28 years, in their restaurant they wanted to change. "We wanted to get new energy and new inspiration. Moreover the building which housed the old De Librije was old and required major changes. So instead we opted to change the restaurant and move it to De Librije's hotel which is an old prison from the 1700s," said Therese Boer, who leads the front of house and is a trained viticulturist and wine specialist. The Dutch chef is known for putting the Netherlands on the culinary landscape with his love of ingredients and his consciousness for food waste. After his presentation at Chef Sache in Cologne I ask him how he finds inspiration and comes up with new ideas. He told me that a lot of inspiration comes from experience and … [Read more...]
Interview with the Master Chef: ‘Ask questions and never give up’
For many years, Michel Roux Jnr has been the face of one of the most popular culinary programmes in the UK, becoming a mentor to many young chefs who competed every year to reach the pinnacle of Masterchef: The Professionals. In Britain, the surname Roux is synonymous with the qualities of French haute cuisine. He has followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle who opened Le Gavroche in 1967 and instantly marked the revolution of restaurants in London. An award-winning chef, Michel Roux is known for his deep respect for the classical foundations of French cooking. He now has three restaurants in London. Le Gavroche, which he took over in 1991 from his father, is classic French with a lighter modern twist and his two recent openings are Roux at Parliament Square and Roux at the Landau. In the coming days, Food and Wine Gazette will feature an interview with the "Master Chef". Michel speaks about how challenging it was to take over Le Gavroche from his father in the early … [Read more...]
Tim Raue: Bold character, bold flavours
It is not unusual for Asian chefs, especially Japanese to serve French style cuisine in Europe. But it is not really common to find a German who is well-known for his 'Asian' cuisine and also has two-Michelin stars for this. When Tim Raue took the stage at Chefs Revolution there was no question that his presentation reflected not only his bold character but also his bold cuisine. He kept the audience in awe as he recalled his story of how he moved from cooking a random mix of food to Asian food. In 2007 he won the Gault Millau chef of the year award but as he himself put it "I was cooking randomly from Spanish molecular cuisine to French inspired shit. But it was not me and I always believe that you need to find yourself in a plate." He says that after a lot of soul-searching to find what he liked he managed to create a unique style of cuisine which is bold with lots of flavours. "I have now found the right balance," he said. At 40 years he is one of the most prominent … [Read more...]
Bjorn Frantzen: An impressive feat preparing 19 dishes in 44 minutes
There is no question that one of the most impressive cooking performances I have ever seen was Bjorn Frantzen's show at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije earlier this year. Together with his team, they prepared 19 dishes which are normally take three and a half hours to prepare in just 44 minutes. He assured the audience that 'we have not trained for this before,' which made it all the more impressive. The Swedish chef who has two Michelin stars for his restaurant Frantzen in Sweden and is listed 23rd in the World's Best 50 restaurants said that he ends up traveling too many times to tell the restaurant story and what he really wanted to do was cook so he was trying a new experiment which is to showcase the dinner they prepared in the restaurant the previous Saturday. Frantzen serves one tasting menu of 19 dishes and it is changed every day according to what is fresh, local and seasonal. Anyone who follows this Swedish chef on Twitter … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura – a phenomenal storyteller
http://vimeo.com/114152806 Massimo Bottura is a phenomenal storyteller. In the above video he speaks about a very old couple who went to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary at Osteria Francescana and started crying when they tried one of his dishes. Bottura is the most inventive chef in Italy. Massimo Bottura: Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef, which was published earlier this year (and has been reviewed by Food and Wine Gazette) has been featured even in The Economist last week because it is a unique book on food, creativity and emotion. I am sharing this video because in three minutes you can learn about Bottura's philosophy. In this short, well made film, the Italian chef explains how he was touched by the story of an 85-year-old couple who cried when they tasted his compression of pasta and beans obviously recalling their childhood. Pasta e Fagioli, as it is called in Italian is a very common rustic dish. Bottura obviously takes it to another level by creating a … [Read more...]
Behind the scenes at L’ Air du Temps with Sang Hoon Degeimbre
When I went to Liernu in the Belgian countryside some 50 kilometres outside Brussels to interview Sang-Hoon Degeimbre I was asked to stay for a 'light lunch' after the interview (read our interview here). Little did I know that I would be served with the 'business' lunch menu being currently served in the restaurant up to the end of December. I had previously eaten at L'Air du Temps and had listened to Sang Hoon's presentation at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle so I was familiar with his story. But after also interviewing him, I knew this was going to be a unique experience. First the table was literally inside the kitchen and I could just stand up and take photos and observe the calm buzz of a 2 Michelin star kitchen. Second the dishes were presented in most cases by Sang-Hoon himself who explained them to me. What struck me was the calm inside the kitchen despite the number of people that were preparing the lunch. But then I remembered what Sang-Hoon had told me earlier during the … [Read more...]
Andree Köthe: Vegetables are not just a side dish
Andree Köthe is the chef of two Michelin starred German restaurant Essigbraetlein. He is known for keeping a very low profile. When the organisers of Chef Sache announched that Köthe would be presenting his philosophy and dishes at Chef Sache many food enthusiasts exclaimed "at last". I have to admit that I had heard very little about what many consider to be the German answer to Alain Passard before his presentation at Chef Sache. An internet search did not help because little is written about this very interesting chef in English and my German skills are pretty non-existant. The restaurant in Nuremberg, Germany, is called Essigbraetlein and looks like an ordinary Gasthaus or tavern from the outside. Until recently, the restaurant did not even have a website and is not even very active on social media. But behind this facade lies a 25-year-old story which Köthe started together with Yves Ollech. "My story is also his story and his thinking. He has a lot of ideas and courage so … [Read more...]
Carcasse: a restaurant by one of Belgium’s best butchers Dierendonck
Carcasse is the name of a new restaurant that has just opened the reservation system for the restaurant opening on 15 January 2015. It will be based in the Belgian coastal town of Koksijde as is the restaurant of one of Belgium's best butchers Hendrik Dierendonck. The butcher, which supplies some of the best restaurants in the country including In de Wulfe and Le Paix among others, as well as the Netherlands, will be welcoming guests from January. It is always exciting when a renowned butcher opens a restaurant, because you know that the quality of the meat will be second to none. The same is the case of Jack o'Shea in Brussels who is opening its chophouse in the Brussels centre in the coming days after a long wait since the announcement. We have tried Dierendonck's meat and it is exceptional, so we look forward to trying out Carcasse on our next visit to the Belgian coast. On Carcasse's website, Dierendonck says "we are about meat, but not just meat. The way in which animals are … [Read more...]