This has been a week of big announcements in the restaurant world. René Redzepi, chef of Noma, announced he would be closing his award-winning restaurant Noma in December 2016 to reopen it as an urban farm. It might not have come as a surprise to those who follow this chef, but it still hit world headlines. A lot has been written but for those who want to know more you can read about it here. But there was also another surprise announcement about one of the most sought after restaurants in London, Hedone. Chef Mikael Jonsson announced he would be closing his restaurant for 10 days and will reopen it in a completely different format in October. The new Hedone will have no menu, will have just 22 covers instead of the current 40 and will be open for just six sittings every week. Jonsson, a lawyer by profession, is a self-trained chef who has risen to be one of the top stars of the international culinary scene over the past years. Some might consider this to be a PR gimmick … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2015
Q&A with Peter Goossens: “We need to find a system to eliminate food waste also in supermarkets”
Peter Goossens, chef of Hof Van Cleve is the most internationally recognised Belgian chef having been in the 50 World's Best restaurants for many years. He has held three Michelin stars since 2005 and has received 19.5 out of 20 in the Gault Millau guide since 2004. After our long interview with him, here is the second part in a question and answer format. Who are the rising stars of Belgium? There are many great chefs in Belgium. Just at Hof Van Cleve we have trained so many chefs. We recently tried to compile a list and counted over 200 chefs that have worked at the restaurant. My sous chef Marteen Bouckaert will be opening a restaurant at the beginning of next year. Then there is Michael Vrijmoed and Tim Boury just to mention a few names. Over 70 chefs who worked at Hof Van Cleve are cooking in their own kitchens (at different levels). What's your view of guides and lists of best restaurants? Lists are very important because they help you to become internationally known. … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #48
A 16-year-old boy Flynn McGarry has been in the news internationally when he revealed that he would be opening his first restaurant in New York. Having launched his own supper club at the age of 11 the has already spent time in the kitchens of Alinea, Eleven Madison Park and Alma. He has been on the receiving end of strong criticisms. He is taking it in his stride as he tells Grub street in this interview. British chef Jamie Oliver has launched a petition calling the British government to introduce a tax on sugary drinks in the UK to improve children's health. He believes a tax of 7p per regular sized can of soft drink with added sugar could generate £1 billion in revenues per year. It could be used to support much needed preventative strategies in the NHS and schools around childhood obesity and diet related disease. The petition has already attracted over 120,000 signatures. And to complement this petition, here are 10 reasons why you should never let children drink … [Read more...]
A year of Food and Wine Gazette
A year ago today, we launched Food and Wine Gazette without knowing exactly which direction the website would take. Time flies and in many ways it seems like yesterday. That might be the case because it has been a crazy year. On top of a full-time job, we've been trying to build Food and Wine Gazette into what it is today and that path has gone way beyond our expectations. When I started this website, it was a way to introduce a bit of creativity into my life which was completely missing and combine two things I am extremely passionate about, writing and food and wine. Today, a year later, I am extremely pleased with the results achieved and have more experience and a better understanding of what Food and Wine Gazette has become and how best to enhance it and make it more useful. The latest interview with Belgian chef Peter Goossens is just the culmination of a year in which I have interviewed and profiled the likes of Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura, Mauro Colagreco, Eneko … [Read more...]
Interview with Peter Goossens: ‘Belgium has one of the best cuisines in the world but no one has said it yet’
"Belgium has some of the best chefs in the world and its cuisine is among the best in the world. But there is no one who has said it before. In France, gastronomy is part of their culture, they say it is part of their patrimony. When the French go abroad they say that they are ambassadors of gastronomy," says Peter Goossens in an interview with Food and Wine Gazette. Goossens, chef of top Belgian restaurant Hof van Cleve, is probably Belgium's most internationally known chef. And rightly so given the list of awards he holds. He's been awarded the highest achievements in all the top guides, has got near perfect scores for his cooking and has been representing Belgium in the World's 50 Best Restaurants since 2006 (this year he slipped out of the top 50 places for the first time) but still holds three Michelin stars and a near perfect score in the Gault Millau guide (19.5 out of 20). So when Goossens speaks, you need to take note of what he is saying because on top of the talent, … [Read more...]
Adria brothers cook together for first time in seven years at Bottura’s soup kitchen
The Adria brothers cooked together for the first time in seven years at Massimo Bottura's soup kitchen in Milan, the Refettorio Ambrosiano, today 2 September. Ferran Adria wrote on his twitter feed that he was supporting Massimo Bottura's amazing initiative while his brother Albert took to Instagram to say it was amazing how time flies and that it was the first time in seven years that he has cooked with his brother. Foodies around the world would probably have travelled thousands of kilometres and paid hundreds if not thousands to get a taste of Ferran and Albert Adria's cooking. They have not cooked together since they took different paths seven years ago. Instead, they joined forces with Italy's top chef Massimo Bottura to feed Milan's poor using 'waste' generated at the Milan Expo. Massimo Bottura wrote on his Instagram feed that they had cooked a chicken nugget that wants to be a soup to a group of children present at the Refettorio yesterday for lunch. The Italian … [Read more...]