67 young top chefs from Flanders, Belgium will be taking part in the 10th edition of Jong Keukengeweld which offers young people between the ages of 18 and 30 the possibility to dine in one of 67 restaurants across Flanders for the price of 49 Euros including wine, water and beer. The price rises to 50 euros if the restaurant has a Michelin star or a Gault & Millau score from 15/20. The Flemish tourism minister Ben Weyts launched the campaign earlier this week saying that the 10th edition features a record 67 top chefs each with a passion for local products and Flemish gastronomy. "Young people are going to be spoilt for choice," he said. He said that Flemish gastronomy is bursting with talented young chefs that are striving for perfection while focusing on flavours and stimulating senses. The 67 chefs, which include 23 newcomers were selected by a jury led by Jan Buytaert. "Through this initiative many young people are finding their way to top Flemish kitchens he … [Read more...]
Lineup for Chef’s Table season 5 and 6 announced
Chef's Table, the successful documentary series that focuses on innovative chefs around the world has announced the new lineup for seasons five and six. Season 5 debuts on Netflix on September 28. The chefs featuring in this series include Albert Adria, the brother of Ferran Adria who today runs a restaurant empire in Barcelona with restaurants like Engima, Tickets and Pakta among others. The season also features Cristina Martinez who is known for her Philadelphia based barbecue and taco restaurant and her work advocating for immigration rights. The other two chefs in season 5 are Bo Songvisava who applies the principles of slow food to Thai cuisine has her restaurant in Bangkok called Bo.Lan. You can read our interview with Bo here. The chef together with her husband Dylan Jones run the restaurant and they are vocal advocates of sustainable and ethical farming using organic ingredients as possible. The fourth episode features Musa Dagdeviren who has a group of restaurants … [Read more...]
Bookings for Noma’s second seafood season to open on September 18
Bookings for next year's seafood season at Noma will open on Tuesday, September 18 at 4pm CET. Bookings will be open for the season that starts of January 8 and will run till June 1, 2019. Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant of René Redzepi will be closed between the Game season which ends on 23 December and January 8. This is the second seafood season after the launch of the new restaurant earlier this year. With the reopening of the restaurant, the Noma team have changed the way they work. They divide the year into three seasons during which the menu changes dramatically to match the type of ingredients that are at their peak at any given time of the year. Currently the restaurant is in its vegetable season. This is followed by the Game season. which starts on 2 October and runs till 22 December. The latter is the only period of the year when the restaurant serves meat. The seafood season brings the best of what Scandinavia has to offer given that the produce from the sea is at … [Read more...]
The last wine: Going once, going twice…. sold
When Gut Hermannsberg's general manager and oenologist Karsten Peter opened a bottle of the Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Trockenbeerenauslese 1921 vintage in 2017 to replace the cork he was astonished by the concentration, complexity and freshness of the wine. He was heard exclaiming 'the wine is as fresh at the new morning'. This was the last bottle of the wine that remains in the Rarities Cellar of Hut Hermannsberg, a bottle that that is not only historical but also comes from a phenomenal vintage. The neck of the bottle is decorated with a banderol, where one can read the ornamental script: Presented as a celebratory libation to honour the President of Germany, General Field Marshall von Hindenburg, at the liberation festivities in Cologne, on 21 March 1926. This last wine bottle is being put on auction. The couple who own Gut Hermannsberg, Dr Christine Dinse and Jens Reidel, along with the general manager Karsten Peter, made the decision to auction the 1921er for this … [Read more...]
Earliest harvest in decades for 2018 Austrian wine vintage
Extreme heat and lack of rain and moisture has characterised the 2018 Austrian wine harvest but for the most part, Austria's grapevines were able to withstand the heat. "We had an early and very ripe vintage on our hands, one in which persistent high temperatures led to consistently higher levels of alcohol and lower levels of acidity. Volume will be just above average: we are looking forward to a harvest in the magnitude of some 2.6 million hectolitres," said Johannes Schmuckenschlager, president of the Viticultural Association. The 2018 vintage will be one of the earliest harvests in decades. The vines budded later than usual this year, which in comparison to the previous two years provided the advantage that they suffered no damage from frost. The heat wave that set in just after budding in April and May led to one of the earliest flowerings since records have been kept. In most winegrowing regions, flowering was finished in May, which amounted to an enormous head start in the … [Read more...]
Franco Pepe, the biggest name in pizza, arrives in Hong Kong
Franco Pepe, today's biggest name in pizza worldwide, has ventured outside of Italy for the first time with the opening of KYTALY which he co-owns with Alessandro Bortesi. The pizzeria and first Hong Kong Campari bar has officially opened its doors in the heart of Hong Kong. Born from the perfect harmony between “Ki”, the Japanese symbol of life’s energy, and “Italy”, the cradle of Mediterranean culture, the two values give identity and character to the concept. KYTALY has risen to the global stage for serving the best pizza in the world outside of Italy. Franco Pepe is today the biggest name in Pizza. He and his family of legendary bread-makers were the first to revolutionise the art of pizza making, choosing to create original recipes from scratch following the traditions and methods set out in his family. Working closely with his father, Franco Pepe learned everything there was to know from sourcing the freshest local ingredients to constructing the perfect dough and flour by … [Read more...]
Finger Lakes wine region named best wine region by USA Today
The Finger Lakes wine region has been named the “Best Wine Region” by voters in the USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice 2018 Contest. Regions were selected by a panel of wine industry experts with the Finger Lakes topping a list of 20 regions including the Willamette Valley, Santa Barbara County, and Walla, Walla Valley. “We were thrilled to be nominated and would like to thank everyone who voted for the Finger Lakes region in the contest” stated Tracey Dello Stritto, Executive Director of the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance. “To top this list of excellent wine regions is an honour. We would also like to recognize the local wineries, restaurants and hotels who received nominations in many other categories. These nominations show the depth of our region. Our committed growers, talented winemakers and passionate hospitality personnel have shared their excitement for the region for decades so receiving the ‘best wine region’ accolade is very rewarding.” With its glacier-sculpted … [Read more...]
Return leg: Christophe Pauly to visit three Belgian chefs
Christophe Pauly who hosted three Belgian chefs last year at his restaurant Le Coq aux Champs in Soheit-Tinlot, Belgium, is returning back to cook in their kitchens in the second leg of an interesting round trip After the success of these four-hands dinners at his restaurant, it was always the intention of the Belgian chef to reciprocate the visit by visiting the chefs in their restaurants. The dates for these dinners have now been announced. He will cook with Dimitry Lysens in Tongres at his Michelin star restaurant Magis on 20 September at 8pm. This will be followed by a visit to Filip Claeys' De Jonkman in Bruges on 18 October at 8pm and to Brussels to cook with Karen Torosyan at restaurant Bozar on Sunday 18 November for lunch. Moreover, Pauly has also inited a former mentor René Mathieu, the creative and passionate chef of La Distillerie at Chateau de Bourglinster in Luxembourg to cook at his restaurant. The latter, who focuses on vegetal cuisine and was the first ever … [Read more...]
ALT, the new project by Niko Romito in Castel di Sangro
ALT is the new project which Niko Romito, chef of three Michelin star restaurant Reale, considered to be one of the best restaurants in Italy if not the best. The project is part of the Niko Romito academy which will enable students of the school to run and operate this place along the road (the Statale 17) of Castel di Sangro where he and his sister operated their first restaurant before it moved to Casadonna. Niko Romito said the new spot will be completely managed by the students including the communication and social media. The idea behind the project is for people on a road trip to stop and spend some time eating, dining, having a snack or breakfast in an informal place on the road. ALT is the natural extension of the bread laboratory PANE which is just behind ALT. It is from here that bakery products which are either sold or delivered to various places in Italy are made. Niko said that the students will use the social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) of the … [Read more...]
Pino Cuttaia to organise Cooking Med in Agrigento, Sicily next year
Pino Cuttaia, chef of two Michelin star Sicilian restaurant La Madia will be organising Cooking Med, an event that will bring to the fore sustainability of the sea and focus on themes like marine pollution, seasonal fishing, cooking ‘humble fish’ and the geopolitical role of the Mediterranean. The first edition of the event takes place in Agrigento in September 2019. Cuttaia loves to call the Mediterranean Sea his garden and has decided to launch this project which aims to bring topics that have always been close to his heart from sea sustainability to the cultural role of the Mediterranean into the spotlight. He has been inspired by his friend and colleague Norbert Niedekofler, the organiser of Care’s and Cook the Mountain. Cuttaia’s aim is for Cooking Med to become a laboratory for research on gastronomy. He aims to bring together the traditions of various Mediterranean countries and explore the resources, passions and heritage of these countries. With Cooking Med, he … [Read more...]