Garima Arora, executive chef and founder of Gaa in Bangkok, has won Asia’s Best Female Chef 2019. Arora will be presented with her award at the ceremony for Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, on Tuesday 26th March 2019 in Macao. Arora worked briefly as a journalist before pursuing her interest in the culinary arts. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu Paris in 2010, she worked at Noma in Copenhagen, learning alongside chef René Redzepi. Recalling her two-plus years of experience at Noma, she said the experience changed her approach to cooking forever. “I learnt how to think about food more intelligently. I started looking at cooking more as a cerebral exercise, thinking about what you do, why you do it and understanding your place in a community.” Returning to Asia in 2016, Arora was appointed sous chef at Gaggan, the award-winning Bangkok restaurant that has held the No.1 position on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for four consecutive years. In April 2017, the chef opened Gaa, a … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2019
Stuart Pigott appointed Riesling ambassador for Gut Hermannsberg
When Stuart Pigott visited Gut Hermannsberg 35 years ago, then Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Niederhausen-Schloßböckelheim or Nahe State Domaine, for the first time he recorded that moment in his diary. On Thursday 26th April 1984 he noted “I’ll never forget my very first sip of Kupfergrube, I was totally amazed and fascinated." Since then he has devoted himself to studying Rieslings, but those from the Nahe have always had a special place in his heart. After many adventures in the world of wine, the last of which was as Contributing Editor for James Suckling, one of the world’s most influential wine critics, Pigott is returning to Germany to live out at least a part of his fascination for Riesling in the beautiful and dramatic Nahe Valley. This decision has a great deal to do with the fact that this year Gut Hermannsberg celebrates an important anniversary. 10 years ago the estate, founded in 1902 by the Prussian State, was purchased by Jens Reidel and Christine Dinse. As a result … [Read more...]
The Willows Inn on Lummi Island tops 100+ OAD North American list
The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Washington, has been named the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) number one restaurant of the OAD Top 100+ North American Restaurants List. This is the third consecutive year that Blaine Wetzel’s progressive restaurant has topped the rankings. The restaurant is known for showcasing local seasonal ingredients ‘fished, foraged, and farmed daily’. Japanese-influenced restaurants have earned the number two and three spots with California’s Single Thread Farm maintaining its position for the second year running. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare jumped five places into the number three spot. Two important additions to this year’s Top 10 include Smyth, which has ended Alinea’s more than decade run as the top performing restaurant in the Chicago market, and José Andrés and Aitor Zabala’s West Hollywood restaurant, Somni, which by landing in the sixth slot has been named the Best New Restaurant in North America for 2019. … [Read more...]
Sergio Herman’s Frites Atelier Brussels to open on 2 March
Sergio Herman's third Belgian branch of Frites Atelier in Belgium will open in Brussels on 2 March. This will be the third Belgian branch of the famous fries shop that the Dutch chef opened in Amsterdam first. Frites Atelier in Brussels will be opened in Rue Saint Catherine in central Brussels close to Dierendonck's meat shop. Just like the Frites Atelier in Gent, the one in Brussels is expected to have more seats and offer a more extensive menu compared to the current Ateliers in the Netherlands and Antwerp. The opening in Brussels is expected to be followed by more openings in the Belgian capital including one at the Brussels Airport. Sergio is looking into expanding the concept to Germany and France. He has commissioned research into big cities to find busy streets that could welcome such a food concept. Sergio is also developing the concept so that it can work not just in permanent locations but also for private events and festivals. This should be launched by the … [Read more...]
Kobus van der Merwe: From journalist to Restaurant of the Year winner
Go back a few years and Kobus van der Merwe would have probably been sitting close to me for an event like the World Restaurant Awards organised in Paris on Monday 18 February. Instead he walked out of the auditorium of the Palais Broignart head held high to the tune of Toto's 1980s hit song Africa as he clinched the first ever Restaurant of the Year award. The lyrics of the song with the 'drums echoing tonight' and 'blessing the rains down in Africa' never felt more apt. A former journalist and food writer, he was writing about the global restaurant scene and dealing with restaurants every day until he was 30 when one day he started to feel his real calling. He wanted to be on the other side of things and not just writing about restaurants. He had no idea how to enter that world because he never worked as a chef before and only had one year of culinary school training to vouch for which he had acquired just after high school many years back. He found an opening in 2009 when … [Read more...]
Please take memories not pictures
When you arrive at Nobelhart & Schmutzig you don’t know what to expect. The taxi driver that took me there nearly missed the place despite having his GPS on. The door to the restaurant is closed, the restaurant window is covered in a dark curtain. Nothing is visible from the outside. It is like Billy Wagner wants to keep the place a secret. For a while, nothing from a culinary standpoint was happening in Berlin. But things have started to change over the past few years. This part of Berlin is maybe most famous for Checkpoint Charlie and the tourists that flock to this historic and formerly rough area of Berlin. Today, it is making a name for itself for the restaurant scene. Nobelhart & Schmutzig is one such restaurant and around the corner is what could be one of Berlin’s most famous restaurants, Tim Raue. Soon after I ring the bell, Billy Wagner, the sommelier and co-owner of the restaurant opens the door. He is expecting me courtesy of Per Meuling, of Berlin Food … [Read more...]
25 chefs from 4 continents cook in 3 Brussels restaurants for Isabelo charity dinners
On Saturday 16 February, 25 chefs from 4 continents around the world cooked in three different Brussels restaurants simultaneously for a unique charity dinner in aid of Isabelo, Feeding Hungry Minds, a charity set up by South Africa based chef Margot Janse with the aim of feeding young children. The three Belgian restaurants that hosted the 25 chefs were Le Chalet de La Foret, Bozar Restaurant and Bon Bon. All proceeds from the evening, including spontaneous donations after the dinner went towards Janse's charity which feeds poor school children nursery and primary school children. Each chef was asked to create one original dish inspired by a specific South African indigenous ingredient that was selected by Janse. The ingredients used Baleni salt used by Joris Bijdendijk, Isabelle Arpin and Ana Ros Buchu used by Pascal Barbot, Mauro Colagreco and Alain Passard Baobab powder used by Rodolfo Guzman, Heinz Reitbauer and Christophe Hardiquest Honeybush tea used by … [Read more...]
“I wish the team were here to celebrate this award with me” – Kobus Van Der Merwe
When Kobus Van Der Merwe, a former journalist was called onto the stage for the first time to receive the award of the Off-Map Destination he could barely believe it. For a few seconds he closed his eyes to let it sink in. But when he was called for a second time to pick up the Restaurant of the Year award he was left nearly speechless. He said he was already humbled to have been in the room with industry giants because making it to the short-list was already unexpected. But to pick up two plates at the first ever World Restaurant Awards that were held at the Palais Brongniart in Paris was completely unexpected. “I am really proud to bring something like this back to our continent and beautiful country,” he said. “It is a pity that the team were not here to celebrate this incredible award with me,” Kobus told Food and Wine Gazette during the after party that was held after the event. “But I’ve had a really great telephone conversation with them and it is great,” he said. He … [Read more...]
South African Wolfgat is Restaurant of the Year
Wolfgat, a restaurant run by Kobus Van der Merwe, a former food journalist turned chef was named as restaurant of the year in the first ever World Restaurant Awards that were unveiled in Paris at the Palais Brongniart, yesterday evening. The restaurant in Paternoster, South Africa also won the Off-Map Destination award. 160 kilometres away from Cape Town, this acclaimed restaurant draws on inspiration from the surrounding landscape and its dramatic season transformation. The chef serves his signature Standveld food menu which comprises of sustainable seafood, local lamb and venison as well as wild herbs and sea-weed among others. It is a restaurant that supports the community and is also particular because all the staff except for the chef and one other person are women. Most of the fish that is bought by the restaurant is caught by fishermen who are related to the staff of the restaurant), Wolfgat has made a name for itself and has often been mentioned as the ‘Noma’ of South … [Read more...]
A milestone reached
In May 2014, less than five years ago, I made a promise to myself. A number of attempts at starting to write after a long journalistic hiatus had dismally failed. That promise was to show up and to write and to keep at it even if the odds might be heavily stacked against me. With the incessant support of my wife Giulia, I am proud to have reached a first major milestone. What you are reading is the 1000th article on Food and Wine Gazette. This website took off in September 2014 after weeks of brainstorming with Giulia as to what the name of the website should be. When we decided on Food and Wine Gazette, we took the plunge without necessarily knowing what direction the website would take. All we knew was that this would be a way for me to express my creativity and feed my curiousity for stories, people, food and places. With no stretch of imagination on that September did I imagine that I would get to where I am today. One article at a time, most of them written after the … [Read more...]