A small road sign on the way to L’Argine a Venco leads you to a small country road which takes you to Antonia Klugmann’s restaurant. Opposite is a sign saying Slovenia is just two kilometres away. A further 36 kilometres or just over a half hour drive is Hisa Franko, the restaurant of Ana Ros and Valter Kramer which has put Slovenia on the culinary map. This is Mitteleuropa or the German term for Middle or Central Europe. And here is home to two of Europe’s leading female chefs, both valid reasons for a gastronomic trip but also exceptionally close to each other to be worth combining them. There are similarities between the two chefs who find themselves working so close to each other on either side of the Italian and Slovenian border. They both have a very deep connection to their region and their territory and they both have rose to fame thanks to their cooking and television. Ana Ros was well known in gastronomic circles before Chef’s Table on Netflix but the episode in that … [Read more...]
What’s on the menu at the new LESS eatery in Bruges
LESS Eatery (Love, Eat, Share, Smile) by Hertog Jan*** is the new concept created by Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens in the centre of Bruges following the closure of their flagship 3 Michelin Star restaurant Hertog Jan at the end of last year. The new all-day eatery serves food from morning till late in the evening. A lot has been written about this new opening. Here we look at what's on the menu. The day starts with breakfast that is served between 8.30am to 11am. Sweet dishes includes homemade Danish pastry which Gert has been perfecting in recent months to granola and Greek yogurt. There also are savoury dishes like eggs benedicts or artisan baguettes with savoury or sweet toppings. When the breakfast service finishes, there is a transition to lunch which is served from 12 noon till 2.30pm. Bites and drinks are served in between breakfast and lunch and also in between the lunch and dinner service. Among the bites available one can choose a selection of … [Read more...]
Tom Kerridge on British cuisine: “We have no shackles, we can go wherever we want’
British chef Tom Kerridge believes that the UK food scene at the moment is a phenomenal place to be in. That is not just due to the rich heritage that exists but also thanks to diversity that has emerged after 50 to 60 years of immigration from over the world which has created a wonderfully rich and eclectic mix of backgrounds and diversity in the food scene. "You can get a Michelin star for Chinese, Indian, curry houses, Japanese. All of these ingredients can become amalgamated or mixed together and could grow into our own food scene. We don’t do just roast beef and fish and chips although that is kind of what I do here at the Tom Kerridge Bar and Grill in the Corinthia London, but from a young chef’s point of view, British food is eclectic and rich and diverse so it gives room to all sorts of possibilities. We have no shackles. We are free to go wherever we want and that is exciting,” he said. In the UK, Tom is more than a household name. He rose to fame for his pub and comfort … [Read more...]
Diogenes the Dog: A wine bar in London that goes against the grain
With a laser focused vision Sunny Hodge is determined to shake up the London wine scene. He has set the bar high, wanting to turn a former pub in Elephant and Castle into one of London's top destination wine bars and after just a few weeks open he believes he is on the right track. The son of an Olympian and commonwealth games silver medalist and a graduate of Mechanical Engineering he has a contrarian vision just like Diognes, a Greek cynic who inspired the name of the wine bar. “I want Diogenes The Dog to be a place where people come to try something new and different and that they cannot try anywhere else, a place that will attract wine drinkers, wine suppliers, winemakers and that gives you a unique wine experience and a truly unique evening,” Sunny told Food and Wine Gazette when we met him at the newly opened wine bar and shop. His objective is to turn the spot he shaped with his own bare hands from a dodgy boozer in Elephant and Castle into one of the top 5 wine bars in … [Read more...]
‘London opening at the Corinthia is a big deal for me’ – Tom Kerridge
Tom Kerridge, the first ever chef to clinch two Michelin stars for pub food at his restaurant The Hand and Flowers in Marlow has opened his first restaurant in London at the Corinthia Hotel. In London, it has been considered as one of the hottest openings of the year. "It is a big deal for me personally. I know it is massive but it is not daunting because I worked in London for 10 years before I opened the Hand and Flowers in Marlow," the British chef told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview at Tom Kerridge Bar and Grill. Tom is a household name in the UK and beyond. He became popular not just for his two restaurants in Marlow but also because of his programmes on the BBC apart from having authored many cookbooks. Over the past years, he has inspired many for taking matters in hand when he turned 40, cutting alcohol competely and eliminating carbs from his diet losing 12 stones or 76 kilogrammes in weight in the process. "It is a city I know well, a city I am comfortable … [Read more...]
Impressive evolution at Risette, Valletta
In 2016, French chef Claude Bosi closed Hibiscus in London. On the closing night, Maltese chef Andrew Borg, who had worked at the two Michelin star restaurant with Claude Bosi, decided to surprise his mentor and former boss and booked to go for the final dinner. It is what the young Maltese chef loves doing. When he has the time, he is travelling in search of ideas and flavours and these experiences are starting to be reflected in Risette's cuisine. Since the end of 2017, he is at the helm of this restaurant that is housed in one of Valletta’s top boutique hotels, Casa Ellul which forms part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection. Months after the opening, you can say the evolution has been impressive. He has surrounded himself with a solid team which makes this restaurant one of Malta’s top food spots if not the best. Together with sous chef Kurt Micallef and pastry chef David Tanti, he has created an excellent dining spot making use of exceptional produce and using … [Read more...]
Intentional minimalism at Spazio Niko Romito Roma
Why do restaurants only use their space for lunch or dinner other than to give the owners and their staff time to rest? Is there a more efficient way to utilise a space by offering more than just lunch or dinner? That’s what Niko Romito set out to test with Spazio Niko Romito Roma. His vision was that of creating a space that could serve as a restaurant, a cafeteria, a bakery and a place where Romans could convene in the evenings for an aperitivo or a glass of wine. You can say that vision has materialised. Located in a square in the Parioli district of Rome just two and a half kilometres away from Piazza Di Spagna and the Fontana Di Trevi you can find this space (spazio) which reflects Niko Romito’s vision to offer a space for the young students of his cooking school Niko Romito Formazione to gain experience in a real life restaurant. Today, the restaurant is welcoming Italians and tourists alike to this elegant residential area that became popular in Rome during the Fascist … [Read more...]
Commotie: A pop-up restaurant in Ghent causing a ‘commotion’
Thomas Gellynck is still 23 but has the maturity and the cooking skills of a more experienced chef. Together with his partner Lara De Vliegher, they manage a pop-up restaurant which will cause a commotion when it closes in November 2019 because it has become the talk of the town in the Belgian city of Ghent. The pop-up restaurant is called Commotie (translated into commotion in English). The food scene in Ghent has been very vibrant over the past few years and this pop-up restaurant adds to the number of interesting food spots that are on offer in this vibrant city including recent openings like Taxi, Souvenir and Aroy Aroy to mention a few names. You could say that Thomas and Lara have returned back home after running a 40-cover pop-up restaurant in Kortrijk. ““We started in Kortrijk because we thought that nobody knew us there so if we managed to make a restaurant work there it could work anywhere,” Thomas said. "While we had people working with us at Kortriijk, we decided … [Read more...]
Retro Bottega: Modern Italian cuisine in the heart of Rome
The dessert spoon has already been placed on the table at Retro Bottega in Rome. I've been chatting to one of the two chefs Giuseppe Lo Iudice who owns this place in the centre of Rome together with another chef Alessandro Miocchi. He leaves and soon after returns to replace the spoon with a fork and knife. "We've changed plans he tells me. We want you to try another dish before dessert," he tells me. The dish that follows is pigeon cooked in a Peking Duck style. "My business partner and chef Alessandro Miocchi was in China and he got inspired by this dish which you can find everywhere. We love to work with pigeon and thought we could use the method to prepare pigeon this way," he said. It is cooked to perfection. The pigeon is perfectly seasoned, crisp on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside and is served with spinach and savory. In the space of a year I’ve eaten the best pigeon dishes I've ever eaten at Reale in Castel di Sangro and Le Chalet de La Forêt in … [Read more...]
Pepe Nero Lebanese fusion and the chef who came out of retirement
I am acutely aware of my softer, self-indulgent attitude to dieting now. After a summer spent on the water or beside it, invariably ending the day in a good restaurant, I decided to give it a bit of a break. This does not mean swapping to a diet of dust and greens. Indeed, I have been in the company of too many good men who started out that way and then dined on wine, leaving their plate looking like a garden in autumn: strewn with basil leaves. No, I only resolved to refrain from going to restaurants for about six weeks. This seemed reasonable and manageable......two weeks ago. Tonight I decided to follow Oscar Wilde’s (rather than my wife’s) advice on dealing with temptation, and yielded to it. Off I went, protestant spouse in tow, to Pepe Nero’s latest addition to a fast growing chain of restaurants. It is the Lebanese place in Tal-Ibragg on the premises of the historic Jessie’s bar, which opened here in 1921. Jesse stayed in the family business and her long years as a kind … [Read more...]