CORDOBA: To have missed out on the first four seasons of Noor is akin to having started watching Games of Thrones directly in its fifth season. That’s an analogy Paco Morales, chef patron of Noor makes as he now enters the age of discovery or exploration as the 15th century is often known. Today you can say Paco is riding the crest of the wave. For five years, since opening his restaurant Noor, or Light as it is translated into English, he has constrained himself to explore his city’s glorious past limiting the scope of space and time while following a clear time path. Since 2015, when the restaurant opened, he has served guests a taste of Cordoba's culinary history researching past centuries starting from the 10th century, Paco chose a suburb where he grew up to open his restaurant. It is a modest neighbourhood that also reflects Paco's modest past. The neighbourhood was build in the 1950s and it would take years before it had power, telephones and paved streets. It is in this … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2021
New year’s resolution for 50 Best: Hope for Hospitality 2022
50 Best has set out its resolution and ambitions for next year by launching the 50 Best Hope for Hospitality manifesto amid an ambitious programme of events which culminates with the World's 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony in Moscow. It is using the holiday season to reflect on the unprecedented nature of events of the last two years while looking ahead with renewed spirit and optimism for 2022. In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 Best pivoted from publishing its annual ranking and hosting live events to focus on fundraising and supporting the hospitality sector through its 50 Best for recovery programme which included raising $1.29m with the support of its partners. 50 Best distributed grants to more than 200 restaurants and bars in 53 countries and donated to a series of non-profit organisations in the food and drink sector. 50 Best also launched its first charity e-book, Home Comforts: simple lockdown recipes from the world's best chefs and bartenders, the … [Read more...]
Thierry Theys of Nuance in Duffel is Gault & Millau 2022 Belgian chef of the year
BRUSSELS: Thierry Theys, the chef of restaurant Nuance in Duffel was named chef of the year by the Gault & Millau Belgian guide to a digital audience on Monday, December 13. “With his sense of nuance - what’s in a name - this chef has reached new heights in 2021. His cuisine has a signature that is visible from the appetisers down to the desserts and coffee. Not a single detail is missing from the luxurious interior to the bread and butter selection,” the guide’s CEO Mark Declerck said when announcing the awards. He succeeds Christophe Pauly who was last year's Chef of the Year. This year’s young chefs off the year were Martin Volkaerts of L’Amandier in Genval for Wallonia, Martian Defauw of Rebelle in Kortrijk for Flanders and Francois Xavier Lambory of Stirwen for Brussels. The highest newcomer in Belgian and Flanders was Hertog Jan at Botanic with a score of 18/20. For Wallonia, two restaurants scored 16/20. These were Toma in Liege and Le Grand Verre in Durbuy. The … [Read more...]
Niko Romito fulfills dream of opening restaurant in Paris
Niko Romito, one of Italy's greatest contemporary chefs has fulfilled a dream of opening a restaurant in Paris. The restaurant called Il Ristorante Niko Romito has opened in the Bulgari Hotel in the French capital. "To open a restaurant in Paris is the dream of every chef," said the self-taught chef of Reale, a three Michelin star restaurant in Abruzzo. "If I could speak to those young guys who 20 years ago were beginning their adventure in a tiny village nestled in the Abruzzese mountains totally unaware of what they were doing and completely self taught I would say go for it, trust yourselves and believe in what you do always," Romito said. Romito said that dreams can become true thanks to endeavour, patience, passion and identity. "I am proud that guests of Bvlgari Hotel Paris can delve into my vision of Itlaian cuisine, into my professional and personal life story which is profoundly Italian. Together with my entire team we want to bring and share the most authentic values … [Read more...]
Moscow to host 2022 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in July
The ceremony for the The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 awards will be hosted in Moscow, Russia in July 2022. This was announced by 50 Best earlier this week. The world’s most renowned chefs, restaurateurs and culinary icons gathered last month for the return of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 which was held in the Belgian city of Antwerp. It was the first in-person awards programme since 2019, representing an important milestone in the ongoing recovery of the restaurant sector. This will be the first time that the awards takes place in the city of Moscow. An extensive event programme hosted throughout the city will culminate in the awards ceremony in Moscow, as the much-anticipated reopening of the international restaurant sector continues and worldwide travel resumes once more. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the superb restaurants, heritage and culture of Moscow, casting a spotlight on the city as an exciting and emerging culinary hotspot. William Drew, … [Read more...]