SingleThread farm restaurant in Sonoma County, California, a farm restaurant has been named this year’s Miele One To Watch by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Founded in December 2016, SingleThread is a partnership between husband-and-wife team Kyle and Katina Connaughton, comprising a restaurant, inn and farm built on the ethos of Japanese omotenashi — the spirit of selfless hospitality— bringing an infusion of Eastern philosophy and culture to the farm-to-table concept. SingleThread’s founders will be presented with this highly coveted award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in Bilbao on 19 June. The One To Watch Award celebrates emerging global talent and recognises a restaurant that is outside the main 50 Best list,with strong potential to rise up the ranking in the near future. William Drew, Group Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: “SingleThread is the perfect example of a forward-thinking restaurant with a strong narrative at its heart, which serves … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2018
How Bozar chef Karen Torosyan became the ‘pie king’ of Belgium
To understand Karen Torosyan you need to understand his love affair with the pâté en croûte. In 2015, he became the World Champion of Pâté en Croûte and there has been no looking back since then. In many ways it has defined who he is but it also explains the philosophy of this talented chef who pushed Gault & Millau to create a category of Artisan of the Year to acknowledge his talents and skills. Today foodies who visit Brussels or Belgium on a food trip are known to head to Bozar Restaurant for a taste of his world famous ‘pâté en croûte’. He is the pie and pastry king par excellence. On a recent visit to Brussels, Andrea Petrini of GELINAZ! fame among others, is known to have waited one and a half hours to have a millefeuille prepared for him from scratch. It is prepared on order and Andrea had not ordered it in advance. Karen Torosyan is today master of his own destiny having bought the restaurant that is housed in the Horta designed Palais des Beaux Arts (Centre of … [Read more...]
René Mathieu wins restaurant philosophy award as Gault & Millau Culinary Innovators Awards 2018 are announced
René Mathieu, chef of Luxembourg restaurant La Distillerie has clinched the restaurant philosophy award at the Gault & Millau Culinary Innovators awards 2018 for Benelux that were announced on Monday evening at the beautiful premises of the Verbeke Foundation in Kemzeke. The chef is known for his use of nature in his cuisine and has recently launched a unique augmented reality book Vegetal. The focus of the awards was on sustainability, reasonable consumption and how we can all be more conscious about what we eat and how we handle food. Among the winners were Eatmosphere which emphasis the need to reduce food waste (Sustainability Award); the Institution award went to North Sea Chefs the collective of chefs created by 2 Michelin star chef Filip Claeys who has sought to raise awareness on the need to cook with more sustainable fish even at top end restaurants and is also raising awareness on the problem of plastics in the ocean. The product award went to Disposables.bio, a … [Read more...]
Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens to open second L.E.S.S. in Ghent, a traditional Flemish bistro in Bruges
Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens, the co-owners of three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem, Bruges, Belgium have told Flemish newspaper Het Niewsblad they plan to open a second bistro L.E.S.S. in Ghent either next year or the following. At the beginning of this year they announced that they would be closing their 3 Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan on 22 December 2018. Originally, they had planned to sell the property when they announced that they would close the restaurant. They no longer have plans to sell the building. They told the newspaper that soon after the announcement a serious candidate emerged but a month and a half ago that ended. "Finding a buyer is not easy. We thought about it and suddenly we saw the benefits of keeping it. It is a beautiful building with large spaces, a beautiful garden, a well equipped kitchen." The venue will be used for seminars, product presentations, baby showers, weddings and also to cook for themselves. They intend … [Read more...]
14 top international sommeliers visit Douro Boys
14 top international sommeliers among whom Mattia Spedicato of Copenhagen 3 Michelin star restaurant Geranium and Melania Bellesini of the acclaimed The Fat Duck in the UK have visited the Douro Valley to visit the 'Douro Boys' which is composed of five wine estates, the Quinta do Crastro, Niepoort, Quinta Vale D. Maria, Quinta do Vallado and Quinta do Vale Meao. Over the course of three days, the 14 sommeliers visited the five wineries. There, they were able to learn things that they had always known about the Douro Valley and experience wines that have always wanted to taste. They were given five detailed presentations addressing topics like indigenous grape varieties, the longevity of the red wines, the mineral characteristics of the white wine, the various styles of Ports and the particular nature of the Vinhas Velhas that are often eighty years or even older. Mattia Spedicato, the restaurant manager and sommelier at Geranium said that Douro red wines offer a wide range of … [Read more...]
Conversations around food: Voices at the Table in London
On Monday 25 June, Voices At The Table founders Miranda York and Anna Sulan Masing will continue their exploration into the conversations around food with the 7th event of the series. Drawing together voices from the realms of literature, theatre, history and food, speakers will read or perform pieces of writing that evoke a visual, sensory and emotive connection to food, sitting among the audience and joining them for a special three-course meal prepared by legendary chef Henry Harris at his Clerkenwell Pub & Dining Rooms, The Coach in London. If you happen to be in London that evening, consider getting the tickets fast because these tend to sell within minutes for the previous events. Following the ethos of At The Table’s online editorial, print magazine, films and previous events, the Voices At The Table series celebrates British food culture in all its glorious variety. Finding a setting that shares the same philosophy is integral to the events. Having been a drinking … [Read more...]
Bon Bon’s Christophe Hardiquest signs deal with RSC Anderlecht
Christophe Hardiquest, the chef of two Michelin star Brussels restaurant Bon Bon has signed a deal with the new chairman of one of Belgium's top football clubs RSC Anderlecht to cook at a flagship restaurant that the Brussels team will operate during the club's home matches. In a bid to boost the club's finances, Marc Coucke, the Anderlecht chairman is focusing a lot of his efforts on offering football supporters a culinary offering. Apart from signing Christophe Hardiquest, who has a 19.5/20 score in Gault & Mlllau and who will be cooking at the flagship restaurant, Anderlecht have announced that there will be various food outlets at the Anderlecht stadium. "We will give a great deal of importance to food. After all we live in Belgium," Coucke said. While Anderlecht will be playing in the Europa League next season, the club president joked that from a culinary point of view they will be already playing in the Champions League. There will be a total of six different … [Read more...]
Second edition of alternative wine fair PURR to be held in Ghent on 2 and 3 June
Three youngsters from Ghent with a passion for natural wines are organising the second alternative wine fair in the old docks of the Belgian city of Ghent on June 2 and 3. PURR (with additional emphasis on the final 'r' as pronounced in the Ghentian dialect) was founded by Jason Zappa Janse, Stijn Demeulemeester and Tristan Lybaert. Starting off as a 'wine fair' it has evolved into an informative, socio-cultural and culinary concept, immersed in a relaxing atmosphere. The passion for natural wine of the founders has led them to create an event for what is commonly known as natural wine. The term “natural” was coined by winemakers who wanted to distinguish themselves from conventional viticulture. These winemakers work according to the principles of organic or biodynamic agriculture – often recognizable by labels such as AB, Demeter, Ecocert or Biodyvin – and produce their wines with a lot of respect for both man and nature. Consequently, the use of chemicals or artificial … [Read more...]
Dirk van der Niepoort is winegrower of the year
Dirk van der Niepoort, the Portuguese winemaker has been honoured as winegrower of the year at the Wine Awards gala presentation by German culinary magazine Der Feinschmecker. Over the past two decades, Dirk van der Niepoort has been the motivating force behind the quality revolution in the Douro. The region, which in the best cases, was producing grapes for Port wine has developed into a highly respected appellation for impressive red wines and mineral-driven white wines. Niepoort has played an extremely important role in the process. When he vinified his first red wine in 1987, he was laughed at and even criticised but he has now been widely imitated. From year to year, his wines improve and become finer and more elegant. The winemaker had no classical training as a winemaker. He approached the region's wines with the eyes and the palate of a wine taster with extensive international experience. His philosophy is to recognise the specific characteristics of each … [Read more...]
Can you feed people for $1.25 without using processed foods? Former Noma head chef Dan Giusti thinks it is possible
Dan Giusti, the former head chef of Noma in Copenhagen is inviting 10 world class American chefs to Brigaid's hub in New London to compete in the first ever $1.25 throwdown. The chefs will be devising school lunches that fit within both the national school nutrition standards and the $1.25 budget. The event takes place on Saturday 2 June and the guest chefs will cook head to head serving school lunches to the public. The people attending the event will get to savour one of these school lunches and also to join Brigaid for the after party that evening. The chefs taking part in the event are Stuart Brioza from San Francisco, Jessica Koslow from Los Angeles, Jeremy Fox from Santa Monica, Mei Lin from Los Angeles, Nate Appleman from New York, Jeremiah Langhorne from Washington, James Wayman from Connecticut, Brandon Rodgers from San Francisco, David Posey from Chicago and the Ghetto Gastro (Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker and Malcolm Livingstone) from Bronx, New York. To … [Read more...]