COPENHAGEN: René Redzepi, chef of Noma, one of the most influential restaurants in the world and currently the world's top restaurant according to The World's 50 Best Restaurant will not reopen Noma in Copenhagen after the summer season. He said on social media that the vegetable season will be the last season for the year in Copenhagen. he and his team will be travelling again somewhere else in the world to cook and learn. The place has not been announced yet but he said that the entire team will be going somewhere else. This is not the first time that Noma reopens somewhere else in the world. Previously, it has been to Japan, Australia and Mexico. Redzepi, one of the most influential chefs in the world said that about three years ago a plan had started to take shape in his mind and today was the day that he was beginning to take action to make it happen. He also said that entering the 20th year of the restaurant, 2023 will be the final year of Noma as we know it. "We … [Read more...]

RIMINI: Massimo Bottura, Italy's most recognised chef said at the opening of this year's edition of the Al Meni Food Festival that he wants to take the festival across the Atlantic to New York. "We have been working on this for more than two years and I wouldn't speak about it if this was not concrete," he told Food and Wine Gazette. The Italian chef who created this food festival under the circus tent made so famous by Italian film director Federico Fellini nine years ago is ready to embark on a new project taking a bit of Emilia Romagna to the US. "To me New York is home away from home. To take the circus to the Central Park or the High Line of New York would be a dream and it is what we have been working for," he said. "The High Line in New York is the essence of the refettorio of architecture, they have taken an abandoned train line in the meat packing district and turned it into something beautiful. Taking the circus there is a way to plant the future. Artist Joseph Beuys … [Read more...]

AM by Alexandre Mazzia, the restaurant by former basketball player turned chef has been named as the American Express One to Watch by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. While the restaurant is well-known in France and has won many national accolades, this is the first time that the restaurant and its team are recognised on the World’s stage. In a dining space that echoes the creativity of Marseille, AMhas become the emblem of the revival of the city’s culinary scene. Chef Mazzia was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he lived until the age of 14. The scents of burnt woodsmoke, African spices and shellfish from the port near his home had a profound and long-standing effect on the chef. Upon moving to France as a teenager and experiencing something of a culture shock, he sought refuge in basketball, playing for the France U15 team, before ultimately gravitating towards cooking.  He then trained and worked alongside some of Europe’s most renowned chefs, … [Read more...]

Wawira Njiru, founder and director of Kenya’s non-profit organisation Food for Education has won the Icon Award presented by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. The award celebrates an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the food world worthy of international recognition and who has used their platform to raise awareness and drive positive change. Njiru believes no child should have to learn on an empty stomach. In Kenya, it is estimated that 80% of children do not receive a school meal. After majoring in food science at university in Australia, she founded Food for Education in 2016 at first preparing 25 meals a day. The organisation now feeds 40,000 children daily providing nutritious meals to those in schools across Kenya helping to boost attendance at primary level and also combat hunger. It has delivered over 7 million meals to date leading to improved nutrition, academic performance and higher high school transition rates. By sourcing fresh food … [Read more...]

ANTWERP: Blueness, Sergio Herman’s new restaurant in Antwerp has opened its doors today 31 May. After the success of Blueness in Cadzand, the new restaurant has opened in a classic building on the Lange Gasthuisstraat in the heart of Antwerp’s fashion district. The project is in the hands of chef Jaclyn Kong and Maitre Dorine van den Eydne who both share a common professional past and a healthy dose of ambition. Both women used to work with Sergio Herman at Oud Sluis and The Jane. While Jaclyn has been part of the Pure C team and later was one of the two chefs at Blueness Cadzand, Dorine went to the UK to work at Dinner by Heston Blumnethal before going to Restaurant 108 in Copenhagen. The Blueness project focuses on modern French cuisine with Japanese accents and the two promise to provide a unique hospitality experience. Blueness serves a four-course menu starting from EUR 95 (only for lunch) and a five-course menu from EUR 140 for lunch and dinner excluding drinks and … [Read more...]

MONS: Tim Boury and his team have made it to the top of Belgian gastronomy, four years after receiving their second Michelin star. The young chef and his wife whose restaurant is in Roselare clinched three stars when Michelin published the Belgium and Luxembourg digital guide for 2022. It was the second third Michelin star restaurant in a row for Belgium after last’s year’s award to Zilte in Antwerp and confirmed the rise of a new generation of chefs that are set to revitalise Belgium’s culinary scene in the next few years. He also joins the father of Belgian gastronomy Peter Goossens whose restaurant Hof van Cleve remains a reference with a succession of three Michelin stars as well as many accolades. Three new restaurants made it to two Michelin stars. Colette in Averbode, Brussels institution La Villa Lorraine By Yves Mattagne in Brussels which finally clinched two stars after the former chef of Sea Grill moved to the iconic restaurant in the leafy commune of Uccle. The newly … [Read more...]

One of Colombia’s most celebrated culinary figures and the chef-owner of Leo in Bogotá, Leonor Espinosa, has been named by The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 as the winner of The World's Best Female Chef Award. Previously recognised as Latin America’s Best Female Chef in 2017, Espinosa has become one of the most important personalities in Colombia through her hard and consistent work, not only celebrating and promoting local Colombian products and flavours, but also highlighting the value of the country’s biodiversity and social aspects of gastronomy. A key figure in Colombia’s food renaissance, Espinosa relocated and reimagined her flagship restaurant last year in the upmarket Chapinero district of Bogotá. At the new venue, Espinosa has crafted a tasting menu with 100% of the ingredients sourced within the country and each dish forming part of a broader Colombian food narrative. The gastronomic experience is inspired by Espinosa’s ‘Ciclo-Bioma’ concept, which focuses … [Read more...]

The 6th edition of The Best Chef Awards returns to Spain. This year, the event takes place on September 18, 19 and 20 in the Spanish capital Madrid. This international gastronomic event will include the Area Talks debates, the Food meets Science conference and will close with the grand Awards Gala where the best 100 chefs in the world will be announced. Gastronomy is a fundamental pillar of Spanish culture and this year, Madrid will be in charge of hosting professionals, journalists, foodies and chefs from all over the world for a new edition of The Best Chef Awards. After successful editions in Warsaw in 2017, Milan in 2018, Barcelona in 2019, a virtual edition in 2020 and the great return to Amsterdam in 2021, Madrid will become the center of the culinary world during these three days. This year's guests will be able to exchange knowledge with their colleagues from each continent and discover their great projects while enjoying one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, full … [Read more...]

HONG KONG: Argentinian chef Agustin Balbi has won the Marco Pais award and has been named Ambassador of the Argentine Country Brand by the government of Argentina. This award recognises Argentinian individuals who stand out in their daily work and whose contribution to the country brand at a national and international level is significant or has high impact. Chef Balbi opened Spanish/Japanese restaurant Ando in July 2020 in Hong Kong in collaboration with the JIA group. Since the opening he has gone from strength to strength earning a Michelin star just six months into the opening and retaining that start for the second year running. The chef-founder has also received the second highest Hong Kong ranking in the Best Chef awards 2021. He is the only Argentinian chef in Asia to be awarded a Michelin star. As the first Argentinian chef to receive a MICHELIN star in Asia, Chef Agustin blazes the trail for other Argentines working in the hospitality industry. Other Marca Pais … [Read more...]

The Weekend Food Festival is finally returning this year to be held in picturesque Rovinj, Croatia, from 5-8 May 2022. Top culinary stars from around the world will be taking part in the festival in Rovinj, including Massimo Bottura, legendary 3 Michelin Star chef of Osteria Francescana in Modena, a restaurateur and a socially-driven visionary who has won The World's 50 Best Restaurant Award twice (voted The World's Best restaurant in 2016 and 2018); Dabiz Muñoz from Madrid’s mind-bending DiverXO (3 Michelin stars and current number 1  in the Best Chefs Awards 2021); chef Rasmus Munk from astounding Danish restaurant Alchemist (2 Michelin stars, the best restaurant in Europe in 2021 by OAD); Ana Roš (the best female chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017), whose restaurant Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia, also has 2 Michelin stars; and Himanshu Saini from the Tresind Studio Dubai, voted Best Restaurant as well as Best Chef from What’s On Awards Dubai and receiving fourth … [Read more...]