Sébastien Bras who runs the three Michelin star restaurant Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole, France has announced that the Michelin Guide has accepted his request to remove the restaurant from its 2018 selection for France. "I would like to thank them for accepting my decision," the French chef wrote on his Facebook page. "I will now open a new chapter in my professional life without the Michelin stars but with the same passion for cooking. We will continue, together with our team, to ensure that our customers experience the magic of the Aubrac in our restaurant with the same quest for excellence. We are actively preparing for the annual reopening of the restaurant on 5 April with a lot of entusiasm and we are also working on a number of different projects," he said. Sebastien Bras's Le Suquet restaurant in southern France held Michelin's three-star rating for 18 years. In September last year, he announced that he wanted to give away the three stars because he did not want … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2018
The Jane Table by Nick Bril officially launched
Nick Bril, the chef and co-owner of The Jane, one of the world's most stunning restaurants last week launched The Jane Table, a private dining room in his office at PAKT, just metres away from the former military chapel where The Jane is based in Antwerp. "When I saw PAKT, memories immediately went back to a schnapps producer I visited in Copenhagen. The company was located in an industrial building on the 4th floor. I loved the place immediately and I got the same feeling when I saw this site which is industrial, rough and unique in the city. The management team of The Jane and he had their offices in the cellars of the restaurant and they immediately decided to rent the office space because this was an ideal place to be away from the busy service and the crowds of The Jane. The Jane Table is a collaboration between The Jane, bulthaup ligna recta Antwerpen and Electrolux. The idea is to organise small and private dinners in an industrial building on the PAKT site, situated … [Read more...]
Gregorio Rotolo: The radical cheese maker of Scanno, Abruzzo
Niko Romito, the chef of three Michelin star restaurant Reale in Castel di Sangro is driving us to the heart of the national park of Abruzzo to a formidable shepherd and cheese maker Gregorio Rotolo. It is a cold brisk morning in December just before Christmas when we stop to allow a pack of at least 50 deer to cross the road a few kilometres away from the idyllic mountain top village of Scanno. On the outskirts of this village, 5 kilometres away is the agritourism of Gregorio Rotolo, a cheese maker that is often considered a legend in this region. Gregorio makes cheese which he sells to the whole of Italy and outside but also serves visitors to the region traditional food and of course his products. He has been making unique award winning cheeses apart from other products such as sheep prosciutto since he was 12 years old. His grandfather was a shepherd. He is passionate about his terroir, his animals and his cheeses. “I am radical. I add nothing to the milk. Some defects can … [Read more...]
Sergio Herman to open Frites Atelier Amsterdam in Brussels and Gent
After the successful opening of Frites Atelier Amsterdam in Antwerp, Sergio Herman has announced that new shops will be opened in the Belgian capital city Brussels and in Gent. The dates and location of the successful chain of french fries has not yet been announced. Launched in 2016 in the Netherlands, Frites Atelier Amsterdam has shops in the Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem and Antwerp. A shop in Amsterdam is also set to open shortly. There seems to be no stopping Sergio Herman. After deciding to stop cooking full time at the end of 2013 when he closed his three Michelin star restaurant Oud Sluis in the Netherlands he has successfully launched new projects like The Jane, further developed Pure C, created Frites Atelier and opened Air Republic in Cadzand. Sergio Herman is also considering opening Frites Atelier Amsterdam at Brussels Airport and Amsterdam airport. While the French fries that are served at Frites Atelier Amsterdam may not be the same that the Belgians are used to … [Read more...]
Q&A with Bart de Pooter: I have a collection of thousands of food photos
Bart de Pooter has no problem with clients taking photos in restaurants. He says he has got a collection of thousands of photos of food he has eaten in restaurants. Bart is in many ways a pioneer. He was the first Belgian chef to put his name to two Michelin starred restaurants in the country, he was one of the first chefs to venture to Asia when it was still not on the radar screen of world gastronomy like it is today. This is the second part of our interview in Q&A format. Who are the chefs that have inspired you most? Pierre Gagnaire, Albert Adria and his brother Ferran were all important. What is your best ever meal? That is a very difficult question because I don't have one. For me it is all about the experience. Sometimes, a dining experience can be so overwhelming that I will not go a second time because I fear that I will lose that experience. But I still remember my first experience in a three Michelin star restaurant at Alain Ducasse in Paris … [Read more...]
Niko Romito and his deceptively simple cuisine at Reale
Niko Romito never thought of becoming a chef. He had never even cooked before opening his restaurant and did not even know how to cook an egg. He cooked for the first time at Reale in Rivisondoli, Abruzzo, a village of less than 450 inhabitants. His father had opened it as a pastry shop in 1970 converting it into a restaurant 30 years later as the original Reale. He was neither passionate about cooking nor food and did not even come from a family of restauranteurs because the restaurant had only been open for 2 years. But as fate had it, while he was completing a degree in Economics and Commerce his father fell ill. He still needed to take 5 exams to complete the degree but when his father passed away he and his sister Cristiana took over the operation of the restaurant. The idea was to keep the operation going until they find a buyer. But they fell in love with the restaurant trade and the rest is history. Cristiana took over the front of house, something she still does … [Read more...]
Showcase of Belgium’s heritage, traditions and roots at first Bon Bon Origins dinner
Thursday 19 January, Restaurant Bon Bon, Brussels: A few days after the shock announcement that Hertog Jan, one of two 3 Michelin star restaurants in Belgium would close at the end of this year, chef Gert de Mangeleer was cooking his first ever collaboration dinner in Belgium as guest of Brussels chef Christophe Hardiquest. This was the first Bon Bon Origins Dinner, a series of dinners created by Hardiquest, chef of two Michelin star restaurant Bon Bon who has been going back to the origins researching stories and recipes that are part of Brussels and Belgian heritage. One such story from the previous century has made it to the first Bon Bon Origins dinner. Up to the 1950s, in the streets of Brussels, there used to be a man called the 'marchand de coco' who would walk with 40 kilogrammes on his back and serve a drink called the Kalichezap, a mix of lemon, almonds and liquorice among others. Today, chef Christophe Hardiquest has turned this drink into a dessert that is served in … [Read more...]
Eneko Atxa of Azurmendi to launch best farmers award later this year
Imagine a world where you could find the best producer of eggs in Italy at the click of a button. That is what Eneko Atxa, chef of three Michelin star restaurant Azurmendi has set out to do this year. Called the Best Farmers award, his dream is to give farmers and producers the importance they deserve. "Today, chefs are considers as rockstars but if we can achieve that for farmers, maybe the world will be a better place," Eneko told Food and Wine Gazette in Larrabetzu. "During 2018, I want to create a platform that gives visibility to the best producers in the world. I want to give the possibility to people to look for the best produce at the click of a button. The aim is that in every part of the world you will be able to look for the best producer of a given product," Eneko said. He is not leaving anything to chance. The Basque chef, who has made a name for himself for sustainability and for his new concept JAKIN(N) which looks at the restaurant in a holistic … [Read more...]
JAKIN(N): Eneko Atxa ‘cooking up the future’
On a perched hill in Larrabetzu on the outskirts of Bilbao, Eneko Atxa, the Spanish chef of acclaimed restaurant Azurmendi is ‘cooking up the future’. Using Jaki, the basque term for meal and Jakin, the term for knowledge he is building an ecosystem that builds around knowledge and meals. With his idea he wants to foster a sustainable, healthy and a fair society through gastronomy. Those are the three elements that are the pillars of his work. Eneko has taken up running recently and he intends to run a full marathon this year. “Running has really helped me to think. It is a way of arriving at the restaurant refreshed or of leaving the restaurant to go home and be able to clear my mind,” he told Food and Wine Gazette. "I'm so convinced of the importance of sport that I insist with the members of my team that they should take up any sport they love," he said. The Spanish chef considers running to be an integral part of his creative process and the place where he can think and … [Read more...]
New start for Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens after decision to close Hertog Jan
Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens may have decided to close Hertog Jan to gain more flexibility but they will certainly be keeping themselves busy. They want to pursue other opportunities even if they want to do it on their terms. "The decision to close Hertog Jan was not something we took yesterday. We had been discussing about the possibility of closing the restaurant for more than one and a half years," Gert de Mangeleer said. Chef Gert de Mangeleer and sommelier Joachim Boudens, the joint-owners of 3 Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan announced early on Saturday morning in a press release sent at around 2am in the morning that they would be closing the restaurant in December this year. "Since a year and a half ago, we found that the restaurant was constraining us from pursuing other opportunities. It is not an easy decision to close such a restaurant. We have been seriously thinking about our decision for the past 8 or 9 months," De Mangeleer told Food and Wine … [Read more...]