BARCELONA: Twin brothers Javier and Sergio Torres have known from a very young age that they would cook and work together. Even when they were training to become chefs and getting experiences in some of the world's best restaurants, the two had everything planned to the last detail. They knew that four hands were better than two and that if they set their mind to learning different things, they would end up with a sum that is greater than its parts. Today, just four years after opening their dream restaurant Cocina Hermanos Torres; an industrial factory turned into a sleak, modern “kitchen with tables” they are ready to take the world by storm. They've been known in the Spanish food world for very long. When they opened their new restaurant in 2018 to great acclaim they directly clinched two Michelin stars and recently were awarded a green Michelin Star for their sustainable approach to fine dining. Many chefs say they have been inspired by their grandmother. It is a bit … [Read more...]
If it is dark enough you can see the stars
Go back some years and no one would have bet a dime on Eric Vildgaard. Maybe neither Eric believed that if it got dark enough he would be able to see the stars. Except Tina Kragh Vildgaard. She saw potential and she believed they could not just create a family together but also a restaurant. She had fallen in love with Eric despite his troubled past. "The most attractive part about Eric is that he is so passionate," she said as she looked him in the eyes. "He does everything at 100 per cent. That is what I fell in love with and I am still in love with. It is his passion and never being one to compromise." The minute Tina took Eric to the room which would end up being the highly acclaimed Jordanaer restaurant on the outskirts of Copenhagen, he thought it was a joke. He had other ideas and it certainly was not a restaurant outside the centre of the Danish city. She had walked home from a business meeting and told him that they were going for a drive. "We arrived in this place and she … [Read more...]
Da Gorini: A highly personal interpretation of the terroir
SAN PIERO IN BAGNO: In an unspoilt part of Emilia Romagna there a small village called San Piero in Bagno. The whole commune has just around 6,000 inhabitants. It's just over 100 kilometres away from Bologna and Modena where we've spent a few days and the contrast is astonishing. There are no Ferrari's or Maserati's driving past in this sleepy village despite the fact that this is Italy's region that is known for its fast cars and its slow food. What there is instead, is this sense of peace, of time standing still, of authenticity, stunning landscape and exceptional produce. Just outside the village, as you exit the motorway there is a small bar and trattoria were truckers normally stop called Alto e Savio. It is mentioned in many Italian guides including Osterie d'Italia. There are absolutely no frills here but the service is not only fast, it is also welcoming and for very little you eat excellent regional cuisine. It's as if this is a prelude to what one can expect in the centre … [Read more...]
‘The quality of the fish and seafood in Malta has been outstanding’ – Alex Dilling
VALLETTA: Chef Alex Dilling was probably at the peak of his career at The Greenhouse when the pandemic hit and the restaurant ended up closing for good. The Greenhouse was the talk of the town in London and in global food circles because of Dilling’s cuisine and precise focus on quality ingredients. During the lockdown, he was working on creating new dishes and was focused on getting back to the kitchen as soon as possible but it was not to be as news of the closure of one of the most famous restaurants in London spread like wild fire in the ‘small food world’. While that was extremely bad news for Alex and his London team, it was very good for Malta. For the past two months, the talented British chef has been cooking at Ion - The Harbour, one of five Maltese restaurants to clinch a Michelin star. He is the highest calibre chef to ever cook in Malta for a long stretch. “I had a lot of opportunities. I love to travel, cook and meet new chefs. When I filtered through the … [Read more...]
Dreaming big: Nothing is impossible for Kristian Brask Thomsen
As a master storyteller, Kristian Brask Thomsen leaves the best for the end. He is walking the streets of Barcelona clad in a mask when we speak. I’d love to do the same but have to take notes and record the conversation. I haven’t yet found a way to do it on foot. They say that creativity flows on long walks and soon after we end, he sends me a snapshot of the number of steps he’s walked while we were speaking, over 10,000. The Danish communications guru and organiser of impossible events has two huge projects up his sleeve when I ask him what he wants to achieve in the next 10 years. This year, he has celebrated 10 years of Bon Vivant, a culinary agency that specialises in culinary diplomacy, exclusive dinner parties, star chef world tours, marketing, filmmaking and entrepreneurship. His core expertise is brand management and PR for restaurants and star chefs. My final question is inevitable. What do you want achieve in the next ten years? And this is where the creativity … [Read more...]
Viewing Italy through a new culinary lens – Laura Lazzaroni on the New Cucina Italiana
Laura Lazzaroni may not win a lot of friends when she says that it is time to metaphorically kill the ‘nonna’ or grandmother philosophy. But she has a point. She writes about it in the introduction to her new book The New Cucina Italiana: What to Eat, What to Cook and Who to Know in Italian Cuisine published by Rizzoli New York. “I meant it to be shocking to get the point across. Of course we all love our nonne (grandmothers) and they are extremely important. Our younger generation of chefs are respectful of tradition but they’re also emancipating and moving away from the stereotype. What grandmothers have done was fantastic particularly when it came to the craftsmanship of their hands, for example making fresh pasta. But, if we have to be honest, some things were not that great because they either did not have the technology or they did not understand the chemical reactions happening within ingredients. We also need to remember that for many young chefs in Italy today, the … [Read more...]
Ta’ Betta Winery: ‘The ride of a lifetime’
What makes two professionals, highly respected in their fields put all their life savings into a project to create a boutique winery in Malta making top quality wines? How do they find the time to manage a wine business despite their professional commitments? That’s the story of Dr Astrid Camilleri, a gynaecologist and Prof. Juanito Camilleri a former University rector and former CEO of a mobile operator who have set up the Ta’ Betta Winery in Malta with the aim of making fine wines with personality that have ageing potential. “It’s a long story,” Astrid tells me. It is not a problem for me. It is a beautiful albeit windy summer evening at Ta’ Betta winery, a gem of a place the two have created over many years of hard work. You could call it their life or passion project but it has turned out to be much more than that. “We met in Cambridge while we were studying. I had started working there and Juanito was reading for his PhD. We got to know each other and we got married within 2 … [Read more...]
That sense of lost liberty – Valentino Cassanelli
If there is one thing that has been taken from many of us over the past year, it is the feeling of liberty. That feeling of being able to take the car, train or aeroplane and visit places that are a bit further away than your place of residence. Valentino Cassanelli, chef of Lux Lucis is no exception. He is dreaming of that day, some time soon, when he will be able to just take the car and discover those parts of Italy he has not really explored yet, like Sicily for example. “I would like to regain that sense of liberty. I want to be able to discover some places or rediscover others. All this lockdown has made me think of the places that I don’t know really well. I know Italy but I want to delve deeper,” he tells me. The Italian 37-year-old chef, who grew up in Spilamberto, a small town in the countryside outside Modena also relishes a trip to London to see how the city has changed during this pandemic, what has happened to certain neighbourhoods and what new restaurants will … [Read more...]
The time for creativity is now – David Ghysels
BRUSSELS: The phone rings. David Ghysels, the man behind Hakuna Matata, an advertising and communications agency specialised around food brings out his phone to switch it off. It is an old Nokia. One rarely seen nowadays. How can the man behind Dinner in the Sky and a communications agency use a phone like this, I wonder. He tells me without any prompting or asking that he does not like distractions and prefers to have the time to make things happen by accident. “Bring two ideas that have nothing to do with each other and that’s were creation happens. A guy working in communication and gastronomy and someone working with cranes might not have much in common but this was what led to Dinner in the Sky,” he said. “The reason I don’t have a smart phone is that I like to spend time exploring, I prefer to pick up a magazine if I am at the doctor. Same for music, I prefer to listen to the radio than to a playlist. When you leave space for creativity, you find that this is when … [Read more...]
The Douro Boys in the time of the pandemic
When the Douro Boys group was created, the aim behind the idea was not to work together commercially but rather to put the Douro on the wine map. That required a lot of travel both from Portugal and the Douro valley where the wineries are but also into the region. Today, 17 years later and as the group approaches its 20 years since its existence with a pandemic in between, the five wineries which have put the Douro on the wine spotlight are reflecting as to what the future holds. The Douro Boys was set up by the owners of five wineries, Quinta do Vallado, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta Vale D. Maria, Quinta do Vale Meão and the port wine house Niepoort to raise awareness for the Douro region worldwide. Over the past weeks, I sat down (albeit via Zoom) to speak with a representative of each of the wineries to discuss the impact that the Douro Boys have had on Portuguese wine in particular but more importantly what changes they are considering particularly given the COVID-19 pandemic … [Read more...]