There are 15 once in a lifetime experience packages on offer in the first 12 Days of Christmas being organised by The Forks and Spoons in Hong Kong in aid of charity. From 1 December to 12 December, The Forks and Spoons will sell 15 packages on a special website that is being created specifically for the sale. The packages will be available on a first come first served basis and all proceeds that are raised will be donated to the Chicken Soup Foundation, a private charity that assists children and elderly who are facing tough times. Once uploaded on the website, the gifts will be available for purchase for the next 48 hours.  A number of chefs from around the world have teamed up to help Fork and Spoons organise the event. It enables food lovers to purchase experiences including Zoom cooking classes with chefs, visits to food markets and also a number of dinners among others. Celebrated British chef Simon Rogan, best known for his international restaurant ventures … [Read more...]

KOBARID: Food lovers in Europe can get a taste of Slovenia thanks to an initiative by Ana Ros and Valter Kramer of Hisa Franko to open their storehouse for delivery. Goods are shipped by GLS to Europe on a twice weekly basis. With the restaurant closed for the second time, the restaurant is making a number of its cheese and wines available for purchase as well as a huge selection of home made jams, crackers, butter, chutneys and more. “If you cannot come to the Hisa Franko, Hisa Franko will come to you,”. Among the goods available is Ana’s new book Sun and Rain that was published earlier this year. The Sun and Rain package includes the book, a bottle of selected Slovenian wine, aged Tolminc cheese from Valter’s cheese cellar, honey from a neighbour and Franko’s homemade marmalade. From the storehouse one can find rustic crackers, a selection of cheese from Slovenia including a Cheese platter from the restaurant, apple and pear butter, a selection of different marmalades … [Read more...]

Last year’s GELINAZ Stay at Home tour could not have been more pre emptive. What started off as a political message ended up being the prelude to a world that is today defined as pre-COVID and post-COVID when in the most global manner, most of us have been forced to stay at home. The GELINAZ! is striking back with a second The Grand GELINAZ! Shuffle Stay in Tour - Silent Voices. This time, it is being played in two parts. It is also giving a voice to chefs that have lost their voices during the pandemic either because they have had to close their restaurants, or because they are in lockdown or because they found themselves in between projects. “Silent Voices because we really need to support these talents,” says Andrea Petrini, the man who continues to run the GELINAZ! collective of chefs from around the world who are ready to take risks and send powerful messages to the world. This time, Silent Voices on Tour will come in two phases and with two different chapters. The first … [Read more...]

MODENA: The most influential Italian chef, Massimo Bottura has published an open letter to Italian premier Giuseppe Conte suggesting five immediate measures to avoid a catastrophe. He fears that without a positive sign from the government, the restaurant sector is set to suffer a fatal blow that will lead to the closure of many restaurants across Italy and will lead Italy to lose one of the pillars that is essential to its identity. "Politics is about courage and dreams, it is similar to poetry. It is made of imagination and the future. Politics needs to make visible, the invisible," Bottura said in reply to the decision taken by the Italian government to close restaurants, bars and cafes at 6pm. "We need to be able to close at 11pm, we need help with liquidity in relation to our turnover, we need unemployment benefits for staff until there is a return to European tourism, a tax deduction for 2021 given we have already used the one for 2020 and a decrease in VAT to 4 per cent for … [Read more...]

This evening Italian restaurants will serve their last supper. From tomorrow and until 24 November, restaurants, bars and cafeterias will be closed as from 6pm. Chef Niko Romito, the three Michelin star chef of Reale and entepreneur with a number of restaurants across Italy and also outside Italy said that for many restaurants in Italy this will really be their last supper. "Many of us will not have the strength to fight against the government's decision to close bars and restaurants at 6pm and to force a sector to renounce to over 50 per cent of their turnover for what is likely to be an indefinite period of time. For many of us, the assistance that will be provided will not be sufficient to counter the second wave that forces us to close for a second time in eight months," he said. Niko said many of his friends as well as restauranteurs he doesn't know where assessing what to do in the coming days. "Should they keep the restaurant open just for lunch and decide how to manage … [Read more...]

ANTWERP: When Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp opens in Antwerp next year, it will be an extraordinary location and in the words of Marc Alofs, the manager responsible for the development of the hotel, it will be something that is developed once every 20 to 30 years. It will be the first five star superior hotel in Antwerp and the first hotel in the city to be a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. “We have managed to find lots of people and staff members who like craftsmanship, who have one thing in common which is an incredible eye for detail. People who focus on quality not quantity, who look at every detail,” Marc Alofs, who is managing the project said. “It is going to be a unique property in Europe. Under our roof, there will be two chefs that had three Michelin star restaurants. One is Gert de Mangeleer, the other is Dutch chef Jacob Jan Boerma.” The executive chef will be Wouter Van Tichelen who will also head the Botanic restaurant. “This is going to be unique in … [Read more...]