Nick Bril is ambitious and driven. As a chef and entrepreneur he knows exactly what he wants though there is a certain inner struggle to determine when he will start to push the boundaries at The Jane, Antwerp. At 33, he has been cooking at the highest level for a long time having been the sous chef with his business partner Sergio Herman at Oud Sluis, a 3 Michelin star restaurant that closed at the end of 2013. He has experienced the trappings of the coveted three Michelin stars and is not in a hurry to get there though he aspires to get that accolade one day. “Ambition is one thing, money is another. The cost of running The Jane is high,” said Nick, the Dutch chef of The Jane, a two Michelin star restaurant created in a former military chapel and considered by many to be one of the most stunning and beautiful restaurants in the world. Having worked closely with Sergio he knows what it means to work at the top level day in day out. “When I speak to colleagues about the … [Read more...]
Q&A with Bart de Pooter: I have a collection of thousands of food photos
Bart de Pooter has no problem with clients taking photos in restaurants. He says he has got a collection of thousands of photos of food he has eaten in restaurants. Bart is in many ways a pioneer. He was the first Belgian chef to put his name to two Michelin starred restaurants in the country, he was one of the first chefs to venture to Asia when it was still not on the radar screen of world gastronomy like it is today. This is the second part of our interview in Q&A format. Who are the chefs that have inspired you most? Pierre Gagnaire, Albert Adria and his brother Ferran were all important. What is your best ever meal? That is a very difficult question because I don't have one. For me it is all about the experience. Sometimes, a dining experience can be so overwhelming that I will not go a second time because I fear that I will lose that experience. But I still remember my first experience in a three Michelin star restaurant at Alain Ducasse in Paris … [Read more...]
Bart de Pooter: A dinner that changed everything
Every person has a defining moment which makes you change paths or perspective. For Belgian chef Bart de Pooter that moment came at the dinner table of legendary restaurant el Bulli. He had been running Pastorale, a two Michelin star restaurant in a small village, Reet, close to the city of Antwerp for 26 years but that dinner changed everything. “When I went there and was served 26 courses, I felt very frustrated when I returned home because I realised that out of all those courses, I could maybe only create 3 dishes,” said Bart. He could not understand what had happened. Feeling lost, he went on a voyage of discovery looking at what made him and his restaurant unique. “I was a classic cook and quality was always important but then I became someone who wanted to translate his culture and create an identity.” Upon reflection and deep thinking he came up with Biotope or the habitat that has become his signature. Whether it is the vegetables, the produce or even the wood and … [Read more...]
Q&A with Richard Ekkebus: The beauty of dining without a mobile phone
Richard Ekkebus, chef of Amber Restuarant has made a name for himself in Hong Kong where he has build the restaurant at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental from scratch. Following our in-depth interview which you can read here, this is our rapid fire question and answer with the Dutch chef. Your best ever meal? Michel Bras. It was with Pierre Gagnaire. We had a table of five as part of a team building. Is there something you don’t eat? There are things that for certain reasons I will not eat such as bluefin tuna or whale. But as a chef, I cannot judge until I try food so I am open to everything. I’ve tried monkey, I’ve tried whale and also insects. Any chefs that inspire you? Anybody who is passionate. There is community today that is very open and also happy to share. Do you cook at home? Never. My wife cooks really well and I love her cooking. I am the sommelier at home. I walk to the wine cellar, open a bottle and decant it. Your favourite dish? I have been … [Read more...]
Errotabarri: the mill making corn flour incessantly for 350 years
At the age of 76, Luis Azzilona is not thinking of retirement. His side hustle while he was working in research and development for a multinational became his full time occupation when he quit his job some years ago. But he has been passionately making corn flour for 35 years. He operates the Errotabarri mill that has worked incessantly for 350 years making corn flour in Gamiz and supplies Michelin star restaurants in the Basque region in Spain. His quest for asking questions and for improvising means that he has been able to find the secret to keep the water mechanism functioning till today telling us he has had to use parts from an aeroplane in one case to keep the mechanism running. It is a chilly morning when we arrive at the mill and as we enter what we notice is the smell of the dry corn being grinded into flour. It is a smell that is both homely and welcoming. Today, the water mill is one of only a handful of mills that are still operating in the region. Luis knows all he … [Read more...]
Ana Roš: “I believe we should be our own heroes and find a way to express ourselves”
Serendipity is probably the word that would best describe Ana Roš's story to date. An unlikely chef who never got any formal training in the kitchen, she would probably have imagined herself as more of a diplomat or even a European Commission official. Truth be said, she was actually offered a job in Brussels which she turned down on the spur of the moment. As fate had it her partner's father was retiring from the restaurant he owned, the Hiša Franko and there was no one to take over his work expect Victor who would become her husband. On the spot and against the will of her father she decided to stay in Slovenia and build her career in the restaurant. Having knowledge of 5 languages, she did not start in the kitchen but soon she realised that this would be necessary. Little did she know that this decision would make her one of the most recognisable figures in the world of gastronomy, sought after in food congresses and events worldwide. Together with her partner and husband … [Read more...]
Richard Ekkebus: ‘I have not changed. The people of Hong Kong have changed’
For an avid book reader like Richard Ekkebus it must have been a source of both pride and a sense of worry that the restaurant in Hong Kong was called the one with the ‘Da Vinci’ code menu. Was the restaurant Amber, which he created at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong so ahead of its time? And would he manage to find the ‘Grail'? Today, the Dutch chef of the acclaimed restaurant has guests telling him how happy they are that he is the chef of the restaurant because the previous one was not good. They don't realise that it was he who created Amber. "But I have not changed, it is the people who have changed. Hong Kong has evolved. Today there is a big surge of restaurants, new cool concepts being opened and we have grown within this environment and gained acceptance to the point where everybody loves us which means we need to push a bit further again, to make our customers feel a little uncomfortable again.”" he said. He has been proven right but that has taken a long … [Read more...]
Bo Songvisava: Dreaming of a self-sustainable restaurant
Bo Songvisava is a chef with a vision. With her husband, chef and business partner Dylan Jones, they have received critical acclaim for their progressive, ethical Thai cooking at their restaurant Bo.Lan in Bangkok. They have already made plans to become a zero carbon restaurant by next year. But they also have plans to move out of Bangkok even if this is a long term objective. The vision is already set, it is now about implementing in when the time arrives. “We want to be able to serve fewer customers a night, we want to be independent and a self-sustainable restaurant. We do not want to hire anyone as we do not want to deal with the tax office. We will generate our own power, filter our own water, manage our own waste. The dream is to create something where we will not have to deal with bureacracy,” Bo told Food and Wine Gazette when we caught up with her at GELINAZ! Does Upper Austria earlier this year. While the place is not yet decided, Bo knows that she and her husband want … [Read more...]
Lukas Nagl: “You have to love what you do”
Food writer and GELINAZ! co-curator Andrea Petrini calls Austria the new Slovenia and he is definitely on to something. To date, Austria has been shy to present itself on the podium of world cuisine and present its chefs. But that is set to change after GELINAZ! does upper Austria Leading the revival in Austria is Heinz Reitbauer, chef of the amazing Steirereck in Vienna. But behind him is a growing number of young talented chefs who are pushing the boundaries, using local produce to create magic. One such talent is 28-year-old Lukas Nagl, a young Austrian chef who you are likely to hear much more about in future. He is the executive chef of the restaurant Bootshaus at the Das Traunsee in the idyllic Lake Traunsee. After working in the kitchens of Steirereck and Per Se among others, he decided to go back to his roots in Traunseehis first son was born in 2012. “This is the region I belong to. So when the opportunity arose to work there an to be able to work in the restaurant whose … [Read more...]
“Winters are getting shorter. I don’t know how this will impact food but it is not good” – Magnus Nilsson
Magnus Nilsson is a very busy man. His day job involves running one of the world’s most sought after destination dining restaurants, Fäviken. He has been featured in television series like Chef's Table and the Mind of a Chef but that’s not all. He has also written what some would consider to be the bible of Nordic cuisine called the Nordic Cookbook. It has taken him around all of Scandinavia, meeting people, researching old recipes and taking over 8,000 photographs during the three years it took him to work on the cookbook. He did all this in his free time writing over 700 recipes in the process. Some might wonder how he manages to do all this in a world where time seems to be so precious but as Magnus tells Food and Wine Gazette, “for me, it is important to do a lot of different things because like that you do not get tired of doing just one thing. It is a way to keep feeling motivated really," he said when I caught up with him during the GELINAZ! DOES UPPER AUSTRIA. As one of … [Read more...]