After years of criticism about the opaque voting system and also issues relating to gender, the World's 50 Best Restaurants have announced changes as to how voting this year's awards will take place. Competition is always healthy and it seems like the new World Restaurant Awards which will be announced in February this year has forced some needed changed at the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. For the first time ever, and following in the footsteps of the World Restaurant Awards, they have announced a gender balanced voting panel with 50% of the 1,000 voting panel comprising of female voters. Probably the greatest change is the introduction of a Best of the Best group which is made up of former no 1 restaurants on the list who will no longer be eligible in the annual ranking. The restaurants that will be promoted to the Best of the Best group from June 2019 include the now-closed el Bulli, The French Laundry, The Fat Duck, El Celler de Can Roca, Eleven Madison Park, current … [Read more...]

Brussels, Belgium's capital city will welcome 25 international chefs to cook together in a unique event in aid of a South African project that was created by chef Margot Janse. Three top Brussels restaurants, Bon Bon, Bozar and Le Chalet de La Foret will welcome chefs from across the globe for a 10-course menu on Saturday 16 February at 8pm. All proceeds from the night will go to Isabelo, Feeding Hungry Minds which has been serving nutritious meals to South African kids every school day since 2009. Margot Janse, the top chef who quit cooking at the highest levels to focus on this charity two years ago believes that 'nobody can learn on an empty stomach'. The chefs that will be taking part include among others Pascal Barbot of L'Astrance, Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur, Rodolfo Guzman of Borago, Virgilio Martinez of Central Lima and Alain Passard of L'Arpege. Tickets for the event will be on sale as from tomorrow 9 February at 9am on the following link. This is the first … [Read more...]

Many in Dani Garcia's shoes will probably still be uncorking the champagne bottles after he clinched his dream of attaining 3 Michelin stars for his restaurant in Marbella, Spain. But 22 days after achieving his dream the Spain chef  has shocked the gastronomy world by announcing he will close the restaurant on 21 October, eleven months after he was awarded 3 stars by the tyre company. "These days have been deeply beautiful but we will never reach this point again. We will never live something like this again," he told his team when he announced to them he would be closing the restaurant and turning it into a hamburger joint. "When you reach this point, it is time to think carefully about what you want to do next and what's to come. It has taken us 20 years to get to this point and we've gone through a lot of pain and suffering. But it will never happen again even if we create another 3 Michelin star restaurant," he said. "It is an experience that is impossible to live again. It … [Read more...]

Eight Belgian restaurants feature in the first ever longlist published by the World Restaurant Awards which was released earlier today. Another, Belgian pop-up and concept features in the ethical thinking category.  The restaurants are Chambre Separee in Gent, The Jane in Antwerp, De Jonkman in Bruges, Bon Bon, Bozar Restaurant and Humphrey in Brussels, L' Air du Temps in Liernu and Hertog Jan in Zedelgem. They join Mary Pop-in, a concept by Eatmosphere which raises awareness on food waste in the ethical thinking category. 100 judges which include some of the top names in the restaurant world as well as food writers and influencers have nominated nearly 300 restaurants for the first ever long list featuring 18 categories (12 so called Big Plates and 6 Small Plates). Kobe Desramaults' restaurant Chambre Separee in Gent features in the Atmosphere of the Year category. Hertog Jan, of chef Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens which closes its doors next week was nominated for … [Read more...]

The first ever long list of the World Restaurant Awards which will be held for the first time in Paris on 18 Feburary has been announced. The long list has been compiled with the input of 100 judges which include some of the top names in the restaurant world as well as food writers from around the world. In all, 37 nationalities are represented in the judging panel. The long list includes restaurants from 43 different countries in the world. The World Restaurant Awards which will be held for the first time in Paris on 18 February will have 12 big plate awards and 6 small plate awards that will change on a yearly basis in consultation with the judging panel. The short-lists from which the winners will be determined will be announced in January. Judges are currently visiting the restaurants that have been short-listed in the categories and if you are social media savvy you might already guess some of the restaurants that have made it to the short-list. The awards, the … [Read more...]

If you ask a Dutch about their food culture they will probably tell you about their snert (the famous slow cooked pea soup) or the stamppot (vegetables mixed with mashed potatoes). Ask anyone not Dutch what they know about Dutch food and they might mention Gouda cheese or stroopwafels if you are lucky.  But chef Joris Bijdendijk wants to change that. As the successful chef of restaurant Rijks in Amsterdam, he wants to create a small Dutch food movement that can serve to bring about the change and show the world that some great things are happening in the Netherlands.  On 13 January 2019, the Low Food Symposium in Amsterdam will bring together some of the most successful initiatives that have sprung up in recent years and offer a platform for these new and promising developments. The Low Food Symposium is intended to be an annual event that brings together Dutch food pioneers who can be inspired and also learn from other pioneers in other parts of the world. Joris believes … [Read more...]