MODENA: There has never been a better time to eat at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana. The restaurant has been full since its reopening after the three months lockdown but the Italian chef has never experienced so much volatility in restaurant bookings in his professional life. From his home kitchen in Modena, Italian chef Massimo Bottura announced he was taking Osteria Francescana al fresco at the family's boutique hotel Casa Maria Luigia. He also announced an April opening of Gucci Osteria, in Ginza, Tokyo and a new restaurant in collaboration with Ferrari in front of the company's factory in Maranello. The COVID-19 crisis may have hit the restaurant industry hard but Massimo Bottura was in fine form passionately explaining his new projects and speaking about the difficulties of reopening Osteria Francescana despite a highly acclaimed menu 'With a little help from my friends'. "We closed the restaurant before the lockdown because we wanted to ensure that the team was … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2020
Kray Treadwell announces plan to open first restaurant in Digbeth
DIGBETH: Great British Menu finalist, Kray Treadwell has announced plans to open his first restaurant in Digbeth, Birmingham. Named after the weight of his daughter when she was born four months prematurely, 670 Grams will offer a set 10 course tasting menu at £60 per head. Ever evolving, the handwritten menu will be available to view 48 hours earlier on the restaurant’s website, and take in a mix of European influences and Asian-inspired flavours. Playful elements such as dishes inspired by takeaway food and a ‘Tesco cheese and onion sandwich’ will also feature, as well as the peach dessert that saw Kray reach the finals of The Great British Menu. The 16-cover restaurant, designed by 2G Design & Build, will operate over two floors and showcase an open kitchen upstairs, overlooking a two-person chef’s table and a table of four with the remaining covers downstairs. Kray, who’s CV also takes in the Hand and Flowers and Purnell’s, said, “670 Grams will be a unique … [Read more...]
L’Air du Temps launches Le Bar a Quilles, an open-air wine bar for summer
LIERNU: On 1 July, L'Air du Temps, a two Michelin star restaurant in the heart of the Belgian countryside will open an open-air wine bar, Le Bar a Quilles between 3pm and 7pm. In the lush garden of the restaurant, some 50 kilometres away from Brussels, guests will be able to walk in without a reservation and choose from a selection of drinks by sommelier Michel de Muynck. The bar will be open throughout the summer months from Wednesday to Sunday from 3pm to 7pm. The bar will be accessible from the restaurant's parking area. Earlier this week, Sang Hoon Degeimbre, chef of the restaurant L'Air du Temps, one of the top Belgian restaurants announced the opening of a sustainable restaurant called VerTige in Brussels under the guidance of young talented chef Kevin Perlot. The SAN Group of restaurants also include San Sablon, San Gent, Toshiro and Rizom. For lunch, all restaurants are offering a take-out possibility while they are open for lunch and dinner. … [Read more...]
Casse-Croûte by Karen Torosyan here to stay
BRUSSELS: When chef Karen Torosyan of Restaurant Bozar in Brussels had to close the restaurant because of the lockdown, he decided to venture into what he called Casse-Croûte. This was an initiative to serve some of his signature dishes in the form of a takeaway. On offer during the lockdown were a selection of his patés, fois gras, rilettes, ham with parsley (jambon persillé) as well as his famous pâté croûte with pork, duck and goose liver served with pickled vegetables. He also served a number of hot dishes including some of the pies that have made him world famous (he was world pie champion after all) as well as desserts. Now, with the lockdown over and the restaurant open, Karen Torosyan has kept his Casse-Croûte open and intends to eventually open a Brussels boutique. For the time being, he continues to serve his artisanal creations from his restaurant in central Brussels. "Casse-croûte was born out of the crisis and I've been working on it for three months. The response … [Read more...]
VerTige, a new restaurant by San Degeimbre and Kevin Perlot opens in Brussels
BRUSSELS: The first time Sang Hoon Degeimbre ventured to Brussels, it was to open San Brussels in Rue de Flandre in the centre of the city. After five years, that restaurant will make way for VerTige, a new sustainable concept that brings to Brussels the talented Kevin Perlot. San Brussels was the first urban restaurant that took the lunch time concept at L'Air du Temps of serving dishes in bowls and brought it to the city. Since then he has followed with two other San restaurants, one in the Sablon area of Brussels and another in Ghent. In five years, the SAN family of restaurants has also grown to include Toshiro and Rizom. Now the young talented chef Kevin Perlot is taking over San Bruxelles and turning it over into VerTige. The 25-year-old chef has worked in various renowned restaurants in Belgium including three years at L’Air du Temps and most recently he developed his culinary identity at Pepite, a famous culinary cellar in Namur. His ambition at the new … [Read more...]
Vicky Lau launches an ode to tofu, an eight course single-ingredient lunch menu
HONG KONG: Following a successful series An Ode to Eggs and an Ode to Rice, Asia's best female chef Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room in Hong Kong will present a refined single-ingredient lunch menu with a French Chinese twist. This time, she will be putting the versatile tofu in the spotlight, Asia's most popular soy-based protein. “Tofu is an often-misunderstood ingredient with a bad reputation. However, I hope to prove that tofu is in fact one of the most enjoyable and nutritious dishes to be had during the summer season,” said Vicky Lau. “Never have I worked with an ingredient that is as versatile and with such a variety of textures as tofu – much more than any meat or seafood.” Guests may rest assured that at Tate Dining Room, everything that enters the kitchen is sustainably and locally sourced where possible as a basic standard. From the seeds of farmers, heritage and heirloom crops, production methods and fishing techniques, to the conditions under which … [Read more...]
Sergio Herman’s Le Pristine to open on 14 July
ANTWERP: Le Pristine restaurant and Le Pristine Café, Sergio Herman’s newest restaurants will open their doors in the fashion district of Antwerp on Tuesday 14 July. Reservations to this new hotspot will open from Tuesday 23 June on the restaurant’s website. Over the last few months, Le Pristine's core team has used the time of the pandemic to carefully prepare for the opening of Sergio Herman’s latest restaurant. The restaurant will offer a taste of the Zeeland terroir, from where Herman hails together with Italian flair. The concept promises to be very different from everything he has done before. Le Pristine is contemporary and classy, but above all has an impressive interior that exudes an exceptional international quality. Sergio Herman is familiar with the Antwerp scene. Together with Nick Bril, he launched The Jane, one of the top restaurants in Belgium and the city is also home to Frites Atelier. The Dutch chef rose to fame with Oud Sluis which he closed a few … [Read more...]
Butcher, restauranteur, chef team up to open Maven in Antwerp
ANTWERP: At a time when many restaurants are struggling with the after effects of COVID-19, a new restaurant will open in Antwerp called Maven. The restaurant will open in Liegestraat on the bustling South side of the city. It is a concept that brings together the expertise of renowned butcher Luc De Laet, the passion of catering entrepreneur Win Van der Borght and the talent of Jules Koninckx. Starting a meat restaurant at a time when eating meat is under pressure may be considered politically incorrect but the three are just ‘daredevils’. “There is nothing wrong with eating meat,” says butcher De Laet. We eat too much meat. So we have to eat less but above all better meat.” The name Maven has been chosen because in Hebrew it refers to ‘the girl who knows everything’ while in old English it means ‘one who understands’. Maven therefore stands for knowledge and skills, someone who knows how to work. That is what De laet, Van der Borght and Konickx are promising. “Creativity, … [Read more...]
Reale celebrates 20 year anniversary with special ‘low-cost’ menu
CASTEL DI SANGRO: Reale, one of the most magical restaurants in the world will reopen on 2 July following the lockdown in Italy. And it will be a special reopening because it will coincide with the 20th anniversary since they took over the restaurant after their father had passed away. For the month of July only, Cristiana and Niko will propose a unique menu which will be exclusive and never to be repeated again. “2020 is not an ordinary year for us not just because of the pandemic but also because it is 20 years since Cristiana and I took over the restaurant and opened Reale. These past months have allowed us to reflect on our gastronomic and entrepreneurial paths. It has given us the time to return back to the core motivations of why we took this path and how our passion for this work came about,” Niko said. “Travelling back in time has brought back ideas, choices, experiments and research. With this reflection we have decided to restart by going back in time and offer a … [Read more...]
Hisa Franko clinches two stars as Slovenian Michelin Guide is unveiled
The sun shines after the storm. Hisa Franko, the restaurant of Ana Ros and Valter Kramar has clinched two Michelin stars for the first ever time when the tyre company unveiled its first ever guide to Slovenia. Delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic which stopped the publication of the Guide earlier this year, this was exceptional news for Ana, Valter and the team of Hisa Franko who have suffered more than others the lockdowns because of the location of their restaurant in Kobarid in the Slovenian countryside. The wine bottles will be opened this evening in celebration of this achievement particularly given the experience of the team who stayed together throughout the lockdown because the borders were closed pretty much instantly as the pandemic hit Italy and neighbouring countries. Five other restaurants in Slovenia clinched one Michelin star while nine restaurants received a Bib Gourmand. Michelin said "A self-taught chef with extraordinary creativity, she demonstrates … [Read more...]