Yes Chef! Magazine United Kingdom

Yes Chef!

UNITED KINGDOM

The Magazine for the Professional Chef

Talk to the Chef

An exclusive interview with three Michelin starred

Anne-Sophie Pic

Josh Simms interviews

Tom Kerridge about

Art and Food

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3 Times a Tom Kerridge Lady Art and Food

Anne-Sophie Pic

TALK TO THE CHEF

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TALK TO THE CHEF

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Big Apple in Algarve EVENTS

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Spanish Persimon

Recipes 53

INGREDIENT

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Street food Bangkok INDUSTRY TOPIC

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Michelin Guide California INDUSTRY TOPIC

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De-luxe Competition Champagnes Round up FRONT OF HOUSE

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NEWS AND EVENTS

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Yes Chef !

Our Talk to the Chef interview this issue features Tom Kerridge talking about his work with Laim West and their recognition that food and Art can be a good mixture.

PUBLISHED BY

Chef Media PUBLISHER

Peter Marshall peter@chefmedia.co.uk Tel: 0044 0207 0971396

We have an exclusive Interview with Ann Sophie-Pic, an extraordinary lady and one of the old school of French Chefs that really understand the art of cooking, a must read article.

WRITERS Mike Martin Namai Bishop Bruce Scott Josh Sims Jeffrey Benson

We travel to Bangkok and find out how the famous street food vendors are under threat of extinction and look in wonder at the 75-year-old queen of curbside cuisine, Raan Jay Fai

DESIGNER Chef Media Copyright Chef Media United Kingdom Website www.chef-magazine.com

Yes Chef Magazine is published for professional Chefs in the United Kingdom Published 6 times a year and available in both electronic and printed format.

This months cover is Chef Tom Kerridge and Liam West, founder of art consultancy West Contemporary The interview is on page 10

Yes Chef!

UNITED KINGDOM

International Editor Namai Bishop travels to Portugal’s Vila Vita Fine Wine & Food Fair 2019 to meet Portugal’s most notable Chefs and Chef Thomas Allan bringing his taste of NYC to sunny Algarve!

Michelin has announced the highly anticipated selection of star awards in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide California, the first ever statewide MICHELIN Guide, in a live beach-front celebration. Expanding the selection announced in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco, California is now home to 657 restaurants distinguished in the Guide. and we give you insight into who has nbow been awarded with these coveted stars In addition, we have a regular front of house section, we discuss the benefits of Vintage Champagne and some challenging recipes from Sophie-Ann Pic amongst others along with a round-up of competitions around the country Please enjoy Peter Marshall Publisher

The Magazine for the Professional Chef

The Magazine for the Professional Chef

https://www.facebook.com/chefmedia.co.uk/?ref=bookmarks Josh Simms

Talk to the Chef

interviews

An exclusive interview with three Michelin starred

Anne-Sophie Pic

Tom Kerridge Issue 5

about

https://twitter.com/chefmag

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Art and Food

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Restaurant

Chef

Chef

Location

3 Michelin Star Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester Fat Duck Gordon Ramsay The Araki Waterside Inn

lain Ducasse Heston Blumenthal Gordon Ramsay Mitsuhiro Araki Alain Roux

Jean-Philippe Blondet Edward Cooke Matt Abé Fabrice Uhryn

Mayfair Bray Chelsea Mayfair Bray

Michelin Listing for 2019

2 Michelin Star Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Claude Bosi at Bibendum CORE by Clare Smyth Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Greenhouse Hand and Flowers Hélène Darroze at The Connaught Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs L'Enclume Le Gavroche Ledbury Midsummer House Moor Hall Patrick Guilbaud Raby Hunt Restaurant Nathan Outlaw Restaurant Sat Bains Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library) Umu

Stevie McLaughlin Raymond Blanc Claude Bosi Clare Smyth Ashley Palmer-Watts Chenge of Chef Tom Kerridge Hélène Darroze James Knappett Simon Rogan Michel Roux Jr. Brett Graham Daniel Clifford Mark Birchall Patrick Guilbaud James Close Nathan Outlaw Sat Bains Pierre Gagnaire Yoshinori Ishii

Gary Jones

Rachel Humphrey

Guillaume Lebrun

Johannes Nuding

Auchterarder Oxford/ Chelsea North Kensington Hyde Park Mayfair Marlow Mayfair Bloomsbury Cartmel Mayfair North Kensington Cambridge Aughton Dublin Darlington Port Isaac Nottingham Mayfair Mayfair

1 Michelin Star 21212 A. Wong Adam's Alyn Williams at The Westbury Amaya Angler Aniar Aquavit Barrafina Benares Black Rat Black Swan Blackbird Bohemia Braidwoods Brat Bulrush 6

Paul Kitching Andrew Wong Adam Stokes Alyn Williams Sanchit Kapoor Gary Foulkes JP McMahon Henrik Ritzén Carlos Gomez Change of Chef Jon Marsden-Jones Tom Banks Dom Robinson Stephen Smith Keith Braidwood Tomos Parry George Livesey

Edinburgh Victoria Birmingham Mayfair Belgravia Finsbury Galway St. James's Soho Mayfair Winchester Oldstead Newbury St. Helier Dalry Shoreditch Bristol

Restaurant

Chef

Chef

Location

1 Michelin Star continued Robert Potter Garrett Byrne Brad Carter Peter Sanchez-Ingelsias Steeven Gilles Ross Lewis Rob Krawczyk Bruce Poole Paul Walsh Fred Clapperton Pascal Aussignac Adam Smith Simon Bonwick Change of Chef Christopher Eden Michael Deane Simon Hulstone Phil Howard Rupert Rowley Taylor Bonnyman Dan Smith Kevin Tickle Marc Wilkinson Joo Won Jeff Galvin Change of Chef George Blogg Mickael Viljanen Karam Sethi Tong Che Hwee Seng Han Tan Aaron Patterson Sally Abé Mikael Jonsson Ollie Dabbous Peter Gray Martijn Kajuiter Kenny Atkinson Hrishikesh Desai Takachi Miyazaki Jeremy Chan James Sommerin John Duffin Alex Chow Mark Kempson Tom Kitchin

Matt Christmas

Alex Greene

Castle Combe Kilkenny Birmingham Bristol Belgravia Dublin Ballydehob Wandsworth City of London Ripley City of London Ascot Burchett's Green Victoria Portscatho Belfast Torquay Chelsea Baslow Chelsea Canterbury/Fordwich Grasmere Birkenhead Mayfair Spitalfields Chagford East Grinstead Dublin Mayfair Bloomsbury Mayfair Oakham/Hambleton Fulham Chiswick Mayfair Bray Ardmore Newcastle upon Tyne Windermere Cork St. James's Penarth Mountsorrel Mayfair Kensington Edinburgh/Leith

Michelin Listing for 2019

Bybrook Campagne Carters of Moseley Casamia Céleste Chapter One Chestnut Chez Bruce City Social Clock House Club Gascon Coworth Park Crown Dining Room at The Goring Driftwood Eipic Elephant Elystan Street Fischer's at Baslow Hall Five Fields Fordwich Arms Forest Side Fraiche Galvin at Windows Galvin La Chapelle Gidleigh Park Gravetye Manor Greenhouse Gymkhana Hakkasan Hanway Place Hakkasan Mayfair Hambleton Hall Harwood Arms Hedone Hide Hinds Head House House of Tides HRiSHi Ichigo Ichie Ikoyi James Sommerin John's House Kai Kitchen W8 Kitchin

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Restaurant

Chef

Chef

Location

Michelin Listing for 2019

1 Michelin Star continued L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon L'Ecrivain L'Ortolan La Dame de Pic La Trompette Lady Helen Le Champignon Sauvage Leroy Loam Locanda Locatelli Loch Bay Lyle's Lympstone Manor Marcus Martin Wishart Masons Arms Matt Worswick at The Latymer Mews Morston Hall Murano Northcote Number One Nut Tree Olive Tree Outlaw's Fish Kitchen OX Oxford Kitchen Paco Tapas Paul Ainsworth at No.6 Peel's Pétrus Pied à Terre Pipe and Glass Pollen Street Social Pony & Trap Portland Purnell's Quilon Red Lion Freehouse Restaurant Hywel Jones Lucknam Park Restaurant Tristan Ritz Restaurant River Café Rogan & Co 8

Jeremy Page Derry Clarke Tom Clarke Luca Piscazz Rob Weston Ken Harker John Kelly David Everitt-Matthias Sam Kamienko Enda McEvoy Giorgio Locatelli Michael Smith James Lowe Michael Caines Mark and Shauna Froydenlund Martin Wishart Mark Dodson Matt Worswick Ahmet Dede Galton Blackiston Angela Hartnett Lisa Goodwin-Allen Jeff Bland Mike North Chris Cleghorn Tim Barnes Stephen Toman Paul Welburn Dave Hazell Paul Ainsworth Robert Palmer James Petrie Asimakis Chaniotis James Mackenzie Jason Atherton Dale Bainbridge Josh Eggleton Merlin Labron-Johnson Glynn Purnell Mr A Sriram V Aylur Guy Manning Hywel Jones Tristan Mason John Williams Ruth Rodgers Sian Wyn Owen Tom Barnes

Covent Garden Dublin Reading/Shinfield City of London Chiswick Thomastown Cheltenham Shoreditch Galway Regent's Park Isle of Skye Shoreditch Lympstone Belgravia Edinburgh/Leith Knowstone Bagshot Baltimore Blakeney/Morston Mayfair Blackburn/Lango Edinburgh Murcott Bath Port Isaac Belfast Oxford Bristol Padstow Hampton in Arden Belgravia Bloomsbury South Dalton Mayfair Chew Magna Regent's Park Birmingham Victoria East Chisenbury Bath/Colerne Horsham St. James's Hammersmith Cartmel

Restaurant

Chef

Chef

Location

1 Michelin Star continued Oliver marlow Nieves Barragán Paul Foster Lee Smith Wiiliam Drabble Simon Radley Luke Tipping Paul Hood Steve Drake Stephen Stevens Fergus Henderson Andrew Pern Tom Sellers Agnar Sverrisson Biily Boyter Isaac McHale Tom De Keyser Adam Bennett Niall Keating Gregory Wellman Michael O'Hare Kevin Mangeolles Jun Tunaka Geoffrey Smeddle Steve Harris Clément Leroy Chris Harrod John Campbell Thomas Carr Tim Allen Adam Byatt Karam Sethi Douglas Balish Bryan Webb Uday Salunkhe Shaun Hill Graham Garrett Tom Parker Aidan McGrath James Wilkins Colin McGurran Foo Kok Lam Gareth Ward Frances Atkins

Jonathan Woolway

Marylebone Mayfair Stratford-upon-Avon St. Helier St. James's Chester Birmingham Soho Dorking Anglesey Clerkenwell Helmsley/Harome Bermondsey Regent's Park Anstruther Shoreditch Marlow Kenilworth Malmesbury Kew Leeds Hunstanton Bloomsbury Peat Inn Whitstable Mayfair Monmouth Newbury Ilfracombe Little Dunmow Clapham Common Regent's Park Egham Llandrillo Mayfair Abergavenny Biddenden Fence Lisdoonvarna Bristol Winteringham Soho Machynlleth Pateley Bridge

Michelin Listing for 2019

Roganic Sabor Salt Samphire Seven Pak Place Simon Radley at Chester Grosvenor Simpsons Social Eating House Sorrel Sosban & The Old Butchers St John Star Inn at Harome Story Texture The Cellar The Clove Club The Coach The Cross at Kenilworth The Dining Room The Glasshouse The Man Behind The Curtain The Neptune The Ninth The Peat Inn The Sportsman The Square The Whitebrook The Woodspeen Thomas Carr @ The Olive Room Tim Allen's Flitch of Bacon Trinity Trishna Tudor Room Tyddyn Llan Veeraswamy Walnut Tree West House White Swan Wild Honey Inn wilks Winteringham Fields Yauatcha Soho Ynyshir Yorke Arms

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TALK TO THE CHEF: Tom Kerridge Words: Josh Sims

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A restaurant should be - not a temple to gastronomy but with food part of the overall whole that includes the tableware, the service, the room. Tom Kerridge

Wander into Kerridge’s Bar & Grill at the Corinthia Hotel and one might consider having taken a wrong turn down Mayfair’s Cork Street. On the walls is an eclectic mix of photography and painting, montages and mixed media, most of it from up-andcoming British artists the likes of Chris Moon, Matt Roe and Robi Walters. More strikingly, right in the middle of the restaurant, where a waiters’ station or some floral display might typically be found, is an impressive sculpture by the artist Beth Cullen. It’s not quite the size of her 20-foot marble piece outside Dubai’s Opera House, but it’s a statement nonetheless. Indeed, having taken said wrong turn, you’re likely to find yourself not just alongside diners, but alongside people who aren’t eating at all. They’re here for the art.

“Anything that gets people through the doors is a bonus, whether they end up eating or drinking anything or not,” says Tom Kerridge, the chef best known for getting Michelin to give two

stars to pub dining, with his Hand and Flowers inn in Marlow.

“But what we’ve done here is, in effect, to create a small gallery within the restaurant. And we’re more than happy for people to come in and just look at the art for its own sake.”

Art displays in restaurants is not a new idea, of course. London establishments the likes of Langham’s in the 1980s or L’Escargot in the 1990s won reputations as much for the art on the walls as the food on the plates. Before then Warhol designed bottle labels for the likes of Dom Perignon and Absolut, Dali - fine dining it ain’t - for Chupa Chups. Food in the UK started to gain credibility much the same time as the Young British Artists turned global attention on the nation’s artistic output. Some might even argue that there’s something of a crossover between artistic and culinary pursuits - “though I’ve always thought of cheffing as being more a trade than an art,” says the ever downto-earth Kerridge.

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More strikingly, right in the middle of the restaurant, where a waiters’ station or some floral display might typically be found, is an impressive sculpture by the artist Beth Cullen.

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But in recent years the use of restaurant space to showcase non-culinary arts has gone up a gear, whether that be Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy restaurants, chef Mark Hix filling the walls at his eateries, art showcases at Carousel in Marylebone or Scott’s on Mount Street, or pieces from the likes of Tracey Emin, Phyllida Barlow and Sarah Lucas at The Ned. What’s more, Kerridge argues that the idea of restaurant space doubling as gallery space is being taken considerably more seriously. Perhaps too seriously by some: one work on display at Kerridge’s, by artist Carne Griffiths, uses tea, alcohol, paprika and rock salt among its materials.

“It’s not hard now to be in a beautiful restaurant with great art on the walls, but the combination so often seems without reason and the result feels soul-less,” he argues. “Art is put on the walls without much thought, or it’s brought together by an interior designer who’s more concerned about using it to match the curtains. The art doesn’t add another layer to the experience.

And for me that’s what a restaurant should be - not a temple to

gastronomy but with food part of the overall whole that includes the tableware, the service, the room.

“It’s not that idea of having the most expensive art to marry with some posh menu either. We’re moving away from that dated idea,” adds Kerridge, whose father was a graphic designer and infused him with a love of all things arty. “I’ve never been one for using caviar or truffles or gold leaf with a dish for their own sake.

I just aim to use the best ingredients for the job. And that’s what we’re doing with the art. You know, I’ve seen a lot of work by superstar artists and, well, a lot of it isn’t all that good. It’s not the name or the price tag that evokes the kind of feelings you might get from a work by a much less well-known artist’s work. It’s just good art, that’s all.”

So with Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, he’s teamed up with Liam West, founder of art consultancy West Contemporary - who’s worked with the likes of the Cafe Royal and the Royal Albert Hall - to more carefully curate a selection of works in a space that, they both say, somehow felt like it was begging for it. The work on 15

INDUSTRY TOPIC Words:Namai Bishop

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As much as Tom is known for taking away the white table cloth stuffiness of restaurants, we want to strip back the typical gallery environment so it’s possible to enjoy the art.”

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show - all available to buy, with prices from £150 to around £90,000, should your guard be down after a tipsy lunch - will change quarterly, with dedicated shows on occasion in between.

It’s not big hitter stuff - echoing the tendency of some establishments the likes of Le Gavroche to show Dalis and Miros - but deliberately less rarefied and more accessible. They’ve even printed a brochure for viewers to read and take away. It still helps, of course, that art makes any restaurant more Instagrammable - which may be why you might have heard of the likes of La Colombe D’Or, in Provence, Kronenhalle, in Zurich, or Osteria Francescana, in Modena.

“The whole point is not just to have the art as decorative, but to show art to people who might not typically go into Mayfair galleries,” explains West, who has known Kerridge for some years and represents Kerridge’s wife: Beth Cullen is sometimes known as Beth Cullen-Kerridge. “You still get that ‘Pretty Woman’ effect in a lot of those galleries - the pressure to deliver sales is so intense there’s a tendency to judge books by their covers, and only respond warmly to people who look like they might buy.

We’re aiming at art in a more open-armed setting. You enjoy great food, a nice glass of wine, and you’re comfortable. That makes it the perfect setting for looking at art. Much as Tom is known for taking away the white table cloth stuffiness of restaurants, we want to strip back the typical gallery environment so it’s possible to enjoy the art.”

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That, West argues, could prove something of a game changer for artists too. As he notes, it’s not just about introducing art to people who might not previously have considered it all that much before - and Kerridge’s Bar & Grill has already made a few sales - so much as reaching many more people too. The daily footfall in a restaurant with a ‘name’ chef - 300 in Kerridge’s case - dwarfs that of your typical small London art gallery.

Simply by removing art from its typical, white-walled, whisperif-you-dare setting and putting it in one both with higher traffic but also an atmosphere that encourages easy enjoyment, the resulting exposure can be properly career-boosting for some artists. Not that a ‘name’ restaurant is necessary: West insists that his professional eye has been caught by art hung in branches of Nando’s.

“I think the idea of art presented with careful consideration in a restaurant is one that’s only going to provide great opportunities for both industries to grow,” argues Kerridge, who’s now working on a second ‘art restaurant’ project with West. “For the restaurant it shapes and gives added purpose to the space. From the artist’s or gallery’s point of view - and I speak here as someone married to an artist - it’s a tough market out there with lots of hidden costs, so this is a chance to perhaps show more and sell more, without having to work in all those expensive Mayfair rents. I reckon it’s an idea that will go from strength to strength.”

Yes Chef !

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TALK TO THE CHEF: Ann-Sophie Pic Words: Namai Bishop

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times a Lady An exclusive interview with three Michelin starred Anne-Sophie Pic at La Dame de Pic London

The Lady Refined, creative, elegant and emotive are words that can best describe the dishes served before me at La Dame Pic restaurant, but equally could be used to describe the lady herself, sat across the table from me. Quite the Dame she surely is, as recognised by the unfathomable number of accolades showered upon this First Lady of cookery: Laureate of the Omnivore Creator Prize 2018; Officer of Arts and Letters 2017; World’s Best Female Chef 2011 Veuve Clicquot Prize – 50 Best Restaurants Awards; Knight of the National Order of Honor Legion 2011; Doctor honoris causa, Montreal University 2008; Knight of the National Order of Merit 2008; Femme en or in the category Art 2008; 18,5/20 Gault & Millau Guide and 4 toques 2007; Chef of the Year 2007 Magazine Le Chef; Chef of the Year, Guide Champérard 2007; Woman of the year Louise Pommery Trophy, Relais & Châteaux 2007 and rather endearingly National Godmother of Gastronomy Festival 2015! These are just some of the awards bestowed upon her.

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Chef Anne-Sophie Pic, France’s foremost and in 2007 the only triple-Michelin awarded female Chef, speaks to me at ease in her native French tongue, with a quiet confidence - a quiet storm of intelligence and sensitivity that belie her 47 years and relatively late entry to the profession. It’s a wisdom seemingly honed from more than just one lifetime of experience - no surprise therefore to learn that in this Chef’s veins runs the blood of three generations of France’s most respected cooks.

4-stellar Generations of 3-stars Far from being smoothly passed the kitchen-baton, AnneSophie’s journey as a Chef could be considered more akin to an obstacle course.

Her chequered trajectory is now well known thanks to the infamous Netflix documentary that tracked the dramatic story of a family’s culinary fete. Stars gained and lost, family loss, grief and triumph - its an epic and swerving tale peppered with heady highs and tragic lows, including the early passing away of Anne-Sophie’s father still in his 50’s from a cardiac arrest after a particularly gruelling day in the kitchen. Yet the family’s formidable determination shines: to persevere, to regain what was lost - not just in terms of culinary excellence but also a family’s heritage, no more brilliantly than in forth generation Chef Anne-Sophie Pic. A Heavy Mantle?

I ask the Chef wether the weight of responsibility of maintaining her family’s revered restaurant is a heavy cross to bear. AnneSophie answers with honesty and diplomacy “At the restaurant I need to give more consideration to the history, the past. At my own restaurants it’s true I have more freedom.”

The history is indeed a long one: the genealogy of the Pic heritage began even before the turn of the century, with GreatGrand-Ma Sophie serving traditional French dishes at her regional café-restaurant L’Auberge du Pin in Ardèche.

“She was a strong woman! A real Protestant, widowed young and who conducted her life with a strong work ethic” says Chef Anne-Sophie of her great grandmother, unintentionally perhaps referring to a family trait.

This homely style of “mère-cuisine” of fricasees, gratins and farm produce was refined by her son André, one of the youngest and most gifted ‘sauciers’ in Paris, who returned to the humble eatery and raised it to earn two Michelin stars in 1933 and then a third in 1934. Two years later, André relocated the restaurant to the more accessible Valence, where it became a legendary dining spot loved by locals and the rich and famous alike, from the Agha Khan to Rita Hayworth. There it stands triumphantly

to this day. What started as one of the great pioneers of regional French cuisine, that gained and lost stars with the passing of wars and a turbulent history, then evolved to even higher culinary heights by the next generation in line, Chef Jacques Pic (Anne-Sophie’s father) who joined in 1956. Jacques Pic’s talent and hard graft earned it once again its three Michelin stars in 1973. Today it is remodelled afresh: the sheen of three Michelin stars regained yet again by his own daughter, fourthgeneration Chef Anne-Sophie Pic; yet with a fresher, lighter approach that both honours its stellar past and that also has all the contemporary flair and sophistication of Anne-Sophie Pic herself.

Formative years Chef Anne-Sophie came late to the pass. Her early years were spent studying hospitality and working in marketing. But this is a chef who claims always to be learning, creating and evolving and for whom there are no delineations - she claims her studies and early jobs taught her valuable lessons that she uses to this very day.

“Everything I have done has brought me skills to this point, I am continuously evolving, learning, creating. In my studies, I got to travel, in New York and Tokyo and this was a huge privilege to learn more about the culture of other lands, a different approach. It’s one thing to cook French food but there is much to learn, in terms of techniques of course but also culture of other peoples. I was blessed to have that international perspective from a young age” she explains to me.

Her marketing work in Champagne at Moët et Chandon house she credits for giving her an appreciation of craftsmanship.

“The process of creation fascinated me at the House. There I discovered the art of creativity and it’s the same artistic approach used in the kitchen. Moreover, there I met a key figure [export director James Guillepain] who asked me about my future plans. It was him who graciously reminded to look at what was already in my hands: that my father was a great Chef, that I had an extraordinary family history and it’s thanks to this outside perspective on my own story that I understood I was actually holding a treasure. One I could shape myself also.

Sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of you! That was an inspiring moment that started me on my path to return to the kitchens of my family line.

Early years Anne-Sophie speaks with affection of her father and her early years in that same kitchen.

“We were completely immersed in the restaurant! My whole upbringing orbited around the kitchen. I didn’t even play in the 23

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garden, because of clients dining in the restaurant. Father ate lunch in 5 minutes and headed straight back into the kitchen.

My version of a kids birthday party was eating pastries in the restaurant!

My parents were absorbed by their work. Morning noon and night, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day. Even on their days off, they worked, on the accounts. They ended up giving me a dog to keep me company!”

Surely this was enough to put anyone off the life of a Chef, I infer. “It’s true, my parents didn’t enter the world, the world came to them! I saw first hand the enormous workload. But in effect, it also showed me how much satisfaction they derived from their work. It gave me positive image of work, a strong appreciation of the value of hard work. And I thank them for that gift!

As as well as hard work it taught me joy: from my childhood bedroom I saw the shining lights, heard the animated chatter in the dining room, the clatter of cutlery, the uplifting laughter - I witnessed the joy the restaurant can give! It is the same feeling that motivates me to this day: to read in people’s eyes (some close to tears) the emotions roused and the craft to render them happy. To transmit emotions, to touch the senses and hearts of people, and who I work with in the kitchens also, that’s my role.

It’s a beautiful job. Thanks to my parents, and my father who was magic!”.

“It was my father who trained my palate: savoury, vanilla, odours, every day at the family table we would taste together what the apprentice chefs would prepare. Daily meals were simple but this taught me nuances.”

But the supportive father-daughter relationship was cruelly cut short when just three months after Anne-Sophie’s return to her paternal kitchens, Jacques suffered a fatal heart attack at

just 59 years old. Anne-Sophie was left to pick up the pieces of her intense grief and professional development. “It was a devastating blow that became a make or break battle for me.”

With the support of her 20-year long husband, business partner and moral rock, Davide Sinapain (himself a revered culinary figure as President du Grand Table du Monde, with whom Chef Anne-Sophie is very much a working team to this day) the great Chef’s daughter herself met the challenges and succeeded to her role as Matriarch. I ask her about this transformation from daughter to foremost female Chef.

Formidable Female Chef “My father didn’t imagine I would be a Chef. In my fathers era the kitchen was a masculine environment.”

Today, in her own kitchens she is changing that perception, “On open view of the kitchens opens up the dynamics. One mustn’t veil one’s face. It’s a predominately male profession and can be very ‘macho’. I too at the start abided by the notion that you had to shout to be heard! To be aggressive and dominating. Some Chefs can’t handle the heat and take it out on others and that’s intolerable. That’s just not my style. Now in my open kitchens we are showing a different regard; being watched induced a different composure, a respect, a certain fastidiousness. I surround myself with calm people and my Chefs never shout. I have struggled for many years to change this perception of a Chefs role as necessarily macho and aggressive.”

The Chef continues: “As a male Chef, it was my brother ten years my senior who was the natural successor. But after I left my work at Moët & Chandon in 1992 and decided to return to the family nest I can’t deny there was a tension in the restaurant as my brother was perceived as the sole male heir in the kitchen.

My father never dreamed I would return back to the kitchen.

He knew life could be complicated and challenging there for a 25

woman. So I stepped back - doing accounts, logistics.”

Anne -Sophie continues to bravely recount to me the blow that came next “Just months later my father passed away. It was an enormous personal set back (after all he was the guide that was meant to show me the ropes) but also professional as the restaurant was in peril also, of risk of loosing its stars.”

So how did this young female Chef deal with this challenge I ask her?

Self Taught Chef “I entered the kitchen - it was a baptism of fire! Imagine: my father’s Chefs had been there some for 15 or 20 years - no one paid me any attention. No one really wanted me there. So I stuck to the other administrative tasks. My husband David and I knew we needed to develop the restaurant, but my brother Alain was reluctant to invest in it. In 1995 we lost the third star. It was a blow - we’d let our father down.” She appears visibly saddened by that period.

But from the flames rises the Joan of Arc! “Two years later I re-entered the kitchen, stronger, determined.

Yes, it was incredibly hard, I won’t deny it.”

But this lady it appears was not for the turning!

“My brother left on 1998. I persevered. As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”

“I may not have had the technical skills yet but I had my honed palate. And I had mentors who helped me greatly like the great Michel Bras. I developed my own approach to play with favours, sauces, cooking methods. Taking the past and reinventing it.”

He strength was duly rewarded: holding on to the second star, it was in 2007, ten years after her arrival that she made history winning back her father’s pride, the third Michelin star. ”Being a self-taught Chef is also a form of freedom. I had no inhibitions, I wasn’t fenced in. I could be curious! And I am to this day. I will always be. To construct, to question, to push the boundaries of creativity. Why not replace rich flavours and dense butters with lighter, zestier infusions? Why not replace the regal ingredients used by my predecessors like rich fois gras, truffles and caviar with humble ones like cabbage and turnips?

I learned lots but mostly that I am never truly content unless I am in the creative process and pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone.”

Sense of Place As well as three restaurants in Valence, the Chef also runs her own restaurant in Paris, plus the 5 star Beau Rivage Palace hotel in Lausanne Switzerland, Raffles in Singapore, as well as where we meet, at La Dame de Pic London 1*, Four Seasons London at Ten Trinity Square in the shadow of the great Tower of London.

Each restaurant is reflective of its unique environment, an important factor for the Chef.

“Cuisine is about culture. It’s about absorbing and communicating the essence of a place and traditions which have been passed on over generations, a method and practice of doing things in that particular environ. It’s often a verbal or practical wisdom passed on from generations, and it’s that I want to explore and pass on. What I do is transmission of culture 26

and emotions. Like when I went to Asia, it was a complete culture shock! Everything takes time to absorb, to understand.

But patience pays off: now methods and ingredients I was introduced to there are essential parts of my cuisine, like my herbal infusions and use of Matcha, cinnamon leaves instead of sticks and cocoa nibs. Or like how a cream of tarragon changes with geranium flower! It’s often difficult to integrate unknown ingredients into our recipes but this is a research, an evolution, a modification and practice - we do all this in Valence - I bring back suitcases of ingredients from my travels!”

She explains further “So it’s important each restaurant reflects its own particular sense of place and its imprint on cooking.

So in London, we utilise the amazing produce on our doorstep here, like Scottish meats, Cornish crabs, amazing local cheeses like Stilton and Cheddar. I discovered here the playful, daring aspect of the Anglo-Saxon world of cooking. It is uninhibited, the traditions are less heavy.”

“I don’t want to be that French Chef who doesn’t take into consideration the terroir they are in and just sticks to their own traditions. I spend about 70% of my time in Valence and the rest overseeing my kitchens around the globe. Everywhere I go I look for the products of that land, culinary heritage and local culture”.

Back to Scook!

With a library of published books on cookery and a laymen’s cookery school (Cooking School SCOOK established in 2008 in Valence) the titles of the accompanying cookbooks hints at the Chef’s aim to demystify and make more accessible the world of gastronomy: the latest book Scook 5, presenting ‘practical home recipes’, Scook 4, titled ‘classic recipes for everyone’, Scook 4 recipes for children and another book on everyday recipes.

But it’s not all academic: included in her portfolio of establishments (that also includes the hotel Maison PIC Hôtel 5* et Restaurant Gastronomique Anne-Sophie Pic 3*, in Valence) there is Pic vineyards in Saint-Péray as well as a deli (épicerie) “Daily Pic”. A simple take-away serving dishes some around the €10 mark, is democratising gastronomy an aim of the Chef I ask?

“Good food should not be reserved exclusively for the rich. My father was very respectful of people who came to his restaurant having saved all year to be there. I am not a Chef up on some pedestal. Let’s not loose track of the fact that at the end of the day we’re just cooks!” Says Anne-Sophie with a gracious humbleness.

“I’m just a self-taught cook who wants to transmit what I have learned, to give to others a shared joy.”

She pauses before she politely ends out time together and heads back to the kitchens. Tenderly she speaks “I am my father’s daughter. I have a duty of his memory, and this challenge spurs me on.”

“I want that the name Pic shines again even more brilliantly.....I want to do what my father didn’t have the time to do....”

And with that, the lady bows out towards her kitchen. Yes Chef !

27

Industry Topic: Street food Words: Bruce Scott

From Michelin to Netflix

all eyes are on Bangkok’s incredible street food scene 18 30

19 31 27

If you live in Thailand, and particularly if you live in Bangkok, you’ll know that the term “street food” has a very elastic definition. In its broadest sense it has less to do with where the food is being served, and more to do with what is being served, how much it costs, and the casual nature of the setting.

At its core, street food is the simple, often humble comfort food that regular Thai people eat on a regular basis. Whether it incorporates noodles, rice, meat, fish or vegetables, it’s invariably cheap, flavourful, and usually ready in a few minutes or less.

Street vendors pushing wheeled carts full of ready-made snacks such as moo ping (marinated BBQ pork on a skewer) represent street food in its purest form, as theirs is a simple “grab and go” dining experience. Pushcart vendors who set up regularly 32

on public sidewalk space, and assemble a few folding tables and plastic stools around their cart, bring street food to its next level by offering customers an actual place to sit-down. Finally there’s the no-frills, fixed address restaurants that are partially or fully open to the streets, and often have a few tables and chairs—and sometimes even the whole kitchen—spilling out onto their sidewalk space. For some ultra purists only the first two can strictly be considered street food, but for foodies simply interested to know who makes the best pad Thai in town, it’s only relevant whether there’s a roof overhead or not during the rainy season.

Interestingly, this “what is and isn’t street food?” argument was raised in earnest in November of 2017 when Michelin launched the first Thailand edition of their famous guidebook. Within its

pages a chapter was given over to Bangkok’s best street food, but due to Michelin’s criteria that all award winners must have a fixed address almost no cart vendors could be included on the list. Meanwhile, some argued that Raan Jay Fai, the lone street food eatery awarded an actual Michelin star, could hardly be considered street food anymore since their signature crab omlette was priced at a whopping THB 1,000 (around US$32), which is more than some entrées at Bangkok’s five-star hotels!

Regardless of the ensuing debates, Chef Jay Fai’s newfound stardom through Michelin immediately intensified worldwide interest in Thailand’s street food scene. To this day her bare bones shophouse eatery at 327 Maha Chai Road, in the heart of Bangkok’s Old Town, has a three-month long waiting list. And with the airing of the new Netflix series Street Food, in which

Chef

33 21

The Queen of Curbside Cuisine Episode One shines a massive spotlight on this 75-year-old queen of curbside cuisine, the demand for a table at Raan Jay Fai has never been greater.

So is it worth it? Can it possibly live up to the hype? Well, if you can endure the long waits and stiff prices then definitely, yes!

The dishes themselves are everything Thai street food can and should be—spicy, fragrant, perfectly cooked, and bursting with flavour. The hefty price tags are simply the result of Chef Jay Fai’s insistence that all of the ingredients and produce used must be of the best quality, and that doesn’t come cheap (even in Thailand).

Enjoying Chef Jay Fai’s cuisine is the easy part; the hard part is actually scoring one of the mere half dozen tables at any given hour of the day. If you’re not on the advanced waiting list you 34

are allowed to join the daily queue of hopefuls trying to snag any last minute spots that might come available. This involves showing up in person at 11am, putting your name on a numbered waiting list, and then returning at 2pm, when the restaurant opens for business, and waiting for your number to be called.

Our party of four dutifully followed the outlined procedure, ending up at #20 on the day’s list and finally getting seated at 6:20pm. By that time we were starving, which made the food taste even better.

During our four-hour wait we took turns venturing off to explore the surrounding Old Town area, but as number 20 got closer and closer to being called we diligently stayed put. It was interesting at that point to observe the assembled crowd of like-minded hopefuls, who by and large were young (20s and

30s) and seemed to represent every corner of the globe judging from the languages we detected—German, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Filipino, and most variations of English.

The wait time also allows for ample viewing of Chef Jay Fai herself, who works in an open-air cooking area that faces the street. It’s here, with her trademark aviator goggles firmly strapped on, that she toils five nights a week—Tuesday through Saturday, from 2pm till midnight—over a trio of open flame burners. It’s less like a kitchen and more like a triage unit, where food orders come in at a furious pace and Jay Fai deftly handles each emergency in turn; her sizzling hot woks, pots, and pans churning out an unending series of perfectly browned crab omlettes, piping hot orders of stir-fried noodles, and steaming bowls of seafood tom yum soup (just a few of the many items on 35

her varied menu). She is aided by a handful of assistants that flit back and forth, delivering this or taking away that, while she herself remains firmly rooted in place, always within an arm’s length of the bright orange flames.

When our number is called, and we finally get seated, we greedily order six ample entrées, including two of the signature crab omlettes. The torpedo-shaped omlettes arrive at the table first, and they are huge. Cutting them open lengthwise reveals a fleshy white interior made up almost entirely of plump, tender chunks of fresh Nakhon Si Thammarat crab. It’s so good that we immediately forget the drudgery of our tedious, four-and-a-halfhour wait. Somehow, it’s all been worth it.

The sharing portion dishes that follow include a plate of yummy yellow crab curry (which is even more expensive than the omlette), Jay Fai’s signature “drunken noodles” with seafood, a heaping cauldron of super spicy tom yum soup with jumbo prawns and perfectly cooked squid rings, and a tasty fried rice dish. The servings are big, and we can barely finish it all, and when the final bill comes the meal plus drinks clocks in at just over THB 2,000 per person (around US$64). Yes, it’s the most 36

Bangkok Battles Street Food Ban Back in 2016 Bangkok residents first started to hear about the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) plan to remove street food hawkers from certain downtown streets. The situation got worse in March of 2017 when the BMA announced that vendors in three popular upscale neighborhoods— Thonglor, Ekkamai, and Phra Khanong—had until mid-April to pack up and move on. A short time later the BMA was reported to have announced that street food would be eradicated from all 50 districts by the end of the year, although they quickly backpedalled on the issue, hastily telling a CNN reporter that their representative had been misquoted.

To 99.9% of the city’s population it seemed unthinkable that there was suddenly a government sponsored “war on street food”, and the public outcry was fierce. Since that time only a handful of Bangkok’s street food hot spots have been wiped out entirely—which is still a handful too many—and for the most part the average residential city street is still lined with enough food carts to keep the local citizenry from starving.

The question remains why stamping out this vital aspect of daily life in Thailand seems a sane path for the BMA to pursue, especially since worldwide interest in street food has never been

I’ve ever spent on street food since moving to Thailand 10 years ago, but it’s the street food experience that I will now measure all others against.

Before leaving I chat briefly with Jay Fai’s daughter, Yuawadee Junsuta, as Jay Fai herself doesn’t—and to be honest, couldn’t— give interviews during work hours while she’s frantically cooking.

I ask Yuawadee if her septuagenarian mother ever thinks this has all become too much, and wants to hang up her apron and retire.

“No,” she answers without hesitation. “She’s never said that.

She wants to keep going.”

We then talk about the impact of the new Netflix show, which Yuawadee—who quit her day job to assist in her mother’s restaurant full time—admits has been attracting a somewhat younger demographic. I ask if TV fame has resulted in bigger crowds than what she witnessed after the Michelin win.

“I don’t think it’s a lot more,” she replies. “I think it’s pretty similar. But because we experienced what happened with Michelin before, after Netflix we were pretty much prepared for it.” Chef

greater. In a nutshell, the real problem has to do with the taxes that the no-fixed-address street vendors allegedly don’t pay, although the BMA usually cites hygiene concerns as the primary need for regulation. It’s quite a ridiculous excuse as Bangkok’s true hygiene and cleanliness problems are the filthy canals and rivers, the toxic polluted air, and the impromptu garbage dumps found in every vacant lot.

It’s probably safe to say that in this lifetime street food won’t completely disappear from the thoroughfares of Bangkok, but it will get slowly pushed further and further to the fringes in certain upmarket areas; leaving in its wake a surfeit of bland, chain restaurants and soulless faux bistros that will likely have more staff than customers.

37

Events: Words: Namai Bishop

38

A bite of the

Big Apple in Algarve

International Editor Namai Bishop travels to Portugal’s Vila Vita Fine Wine & Food Fair 2019 to meet Portugal’s most notable Chefs and Chef Thomas Allan bringing his taste of NYC to sunny Algarve!

Airport Calamity!

“It looked like the larder exploded!” Says Chef Thomas Allan of his arrival into Southern Portugal from his transatlantic flight from NYC. “You should have seen the customers inspectors faces, who are more used to bags of golf clubs here in the Algarve no doubt! When we unpacked our luggage what did they uncover? A mass of sauces, batter, pastry - some of our preparations were still even frozen when we got here!”

Part-prepped authentic local foods, lovingly transported across an entire continent; that’s the extent this revered NYC based Chef goes to with the aim he says of “Bringing a taste of NYC as close and as accurately, as possible to the rest of the world”.

Throughly ‘Modern’ “What we do at in our kitchen is quintessentially New York.”

The kitchen Chef Thomas Allan modestly refers to is the twoMichelin starred restaurant The Modern, the pinnacle dining spot of an already iconic Manhattan institution, MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) where he presides as Executive Chef.

“We have genuine love of the city and how cosmopolitan it is it’s a city made up of so many different nationalities, that all have merged to create a new separate multi-cultural identity - so when we travel abroad to different countries, we want to really showcase the melting pot that’s become the city’s own unique flavour.”

He continues “So we brought as many genuine ingredients as 39

we possibly could to best transmit the flavours and personality of what we do back home” the Chef tells me.

NYC goes Portuguese “What does it mean to be a NYC Chef and to cook NY food? Well, look at me here, with my mixed background, cooking with my Korean pastry Chef, producing flavours from across the globe. It’s a melting pot. And what could be more from the very streets of of New York than a pretzel?!” says Chef Allan. “It’s what we serve at our restaurant, made from NYC flour and NYC water, and it’s what we’re serving here at Vila Vita today. So to transmit that best, we brought NYC water to Portugal! We were unsure how the local flour or water would work in our recipe for the pretzel-croissant, so we brought the pastry here part frozen”. The Chef speaks eloquently as he continues “It’s essentially a representation of what we inherently do: products and flavours indigenous to NY but acknowledging the fact that NYC is itself a city of abundance and unique multiculturalism.”

40

He continues “So yes, it’s important that even our batter is made with NYC water.

We don’t compromise on details”.

This level of detail has ensured the Chef earns notable accolades, such as StarChefs Rising Star award, an award that highlights emerging values of the contemporary American dining scene. His formidable training is well witnessed in his craft, having worked as chef de partie for Thomas Keller and chef de cuisine Jonathan Benno at Per Se, all before his role as sous chef for Yannick Alléno at Le Meurice in France.

“I gave Alleno’s book to at least 20 Chefs - even before I worked there! His word is that important to me” the Chef says with clear affection about his formative 2 years spent at Chef Alleno’s Parisian Palace hotel restaurant.

Pirate-Chefs and a Tight Ship!

Yet the Chef still remembers his British roots, having been born in Middlesbrough, and I tease him as I glimpse his three lions tattoo that he bears on his forearm. “Yeah, done by an 41

Italian guy who went all artistic with it!”.

But no Northern British accent on this Chef - his part Texan drawl hints at his eclectic upbringing. At three years old his family moved to Canada and then onto Texas, but for this creative 19 year old, it was not long before the lights of the city called.

“I was lucky, my first job was at Blue Smoke” [managed by renown restauranteur Danny Meyer]. “There the Chefs looked like pirates! All hipster skull scarves, tattoos and nose rings. So you can image the shock of starched crisp whites and toques at my next job at 11 Madison Avenue!” the Chef laughs. “I remember I walked in on my day off and got hired. I was in awe: 200 covers on a Saturday night? That sure taught me discipline.” No room for pirates on that tight ship!

Although the Chef left 11 Madison Park after two years, it wasn’t 42

the only time Chef Allan would work with renown Chef Daniel Humm.

“I was 21 and when he called me - that was it! Four years behind the pass as sous chef. It was during that time I was part of a 2 Chef USA team for Bocuse D’Or 2011 and we came 10th.”

Impressively, all while Allan was just 23.

“But as well as the great experience it provided, it also changed my nationality!” He laughs “With days before I was meant to go, I only just managed to get my US citizenship!”

All great in the Algarve I chat languidly with Chef Thomas and his pastry Chef on the lawns of the picturesque Vila Vita resort in Southern Portugal.

The resort is well respected for its own cuisine headed by talented Executive Chef Hans Neuner, both at Michelin started Ocean as well as across all of its 11 restaurants each with a

distinctive menu featuring hyper local, home grown and ownlabel produce.

Increasingly the resort is also renown as the meeting spot for Top Portuguese Chefs as well as notable international guest Chefs who gather for its Gourmet food festival held every other year. Top Chefs from around the world are invited here to showcase their own style cuisine, served at a revolving roster of “four hands” or multi-Chef gala dinners. Chefs at this year’s event included renown Portuguese Chef Dieter Koschina of two Michelin starred Vila Joya, Spanish Chef Àlvaro Garrido from Bilboa’s Mina restaurant, nicknamed “Mina Warrior’s Kitchen” that carves out a unique new menu daily, as well Karlheinz Hauser of Hamburg’s two Michelin restaurant Seven Seas as UK’s own Nigel Haworth from Northcote, that hosts its own annual food festival “Obsession”. Shake in some dapper 43

Mixologists including Pedro Paulo from London’s One Aldwych hotel and top gourmet producers from caviar, cheese, meats to fine table and Port wines and you had quite a showcase at the sizzling Kitchen Party! But it’s not all fun in the sun for these Chefs: as well as the challenge of working with unfamiliar local produce, kitchens, mis en place and with limited support staff, each Chef’s chosen menu at their individual gourmet dinners must be paired with wines from selected top international producers.

Fine Wines - a perfect pairing?

“Well that threw a spanner in the works!” says Chef Allan. There I was, menu all sorted, excited to feature fresh seasonal greens and delicate flavours of spring - and then boom! We were told we would be paired with some pretty punchy Nappa Valley wines. Well, with the help of my sommelier at the restaurants we changed the menu radically, to better fit the wines.”

An excellent pairing it proved to me: the robust profiles of the boutique winery Realm Cellars were reflected in Chef Allan’s menu, rich with deeply flavoured dishes such as Dry aged Duck, Chanterelle mushrooms and apricots and the umami heavy beef crusted in aged Comte cheese, green asparagus and bone marrow. A highlight was the ‘Eggs on Eggs on Eggs’ a signature 44

dish that also included caviar as one element in the egg trilogy.

Equally well matched to this four-hand Gala dinner I attended was the setting, at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant Ocean.

The views here provide exactly what it says above the door: breathtaking views across the Portuguese coastline and it’s menu, devised by two Michelin starred Austrian Chef Hans Neuner, features freshest catch of the day and the finest flavours of the region. So whilst Hans Neuner showcased dishes such Sea Urchin, carrot and olive or rock prawn, almond ‘satay’ and a main course of Atlantic Monkfish, lentils and Topinambur (a type of Jerusalem artichoke) Chef Allan was busy at work in the same kitchen on his own separate menu. The kitchen’s slick open plan design, certainly provides enough space for the busy Chefs and additionally, the pride of Chef Neuner - ever the perfectionist - is that he also has an entire warehouse of bespoke crockery plus a plethora of various stemware, so that each dish and wine pairing can be perfectly matched to their precise contents.

It is that level of care, even in what may be considered a holiday resort, that has ensured Vila Vita and Chef Neuner continue to herald the next wave of top chefs at Ocean! Yes Chef !

45

Industry Topic:

Michelin has announced the highly anticipated selection of star awards in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide California, the first ever statewide MICHELIN Guide, in a live beach-front celebration.

Expanding the selection announced in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco, California is now home to 657 restaurants distinguished in the Guide.

Speaking after the launch, Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides said: “Michelin is honoured to reveal the 2019 star selection and to celebrate the talented California chefs and their teams included in this, the first statewide Guide in the U.S. California’s trendsetting, laid-back and health-conscious culinary scene continues to boom, and as a result is an amazing showcase for the great local produce.”

In summary, the 2019 MICHELIN Guide California selection includes:

Seven restaurants with three stars

4 restaurants with two stars

69 restaurants with one star The Guide includes seven new two-star distinctions: Campton Place continues to wow diners with its creative Indian cuisine and consistent execution in San Francisco. Inspectors are incredibly excited about this dining room’s return to the rank of two stars. n/naka offers a clever, modern take on kaiseki at this dazzling 46

dining room in Culver City. The chef’s stellar skills and technique are visible in every dish.

Providence provides a consistently excellent meal with skill and technique. The seafood-focused menu at this Hollywood establishment impresses diners with each course.

Somni is tucked away at the SLS Beverly Hills hotel and amazes diners with a stimulating experience that is a feast for the senses.

Desserts are especially memorable and display attention to detail.

Sushi Ginza Onodera stands out for excellent sushi technique and product. Even the miso soup is special and flavorful with a trio of aged miso pastes.

Urasawa is an exemplary Beverly Hills sushi temple that showcases deep knowledge and tradition. The chef handles each morsel of fish himself in a display of world-class skill and expertise.

Vespertine is a Culver City destination where every dish oozes with personality and creativity. The innovative chef thrills diners with flavors, impressive technique and unexpected dishes.

In addition, the 2019 MICHELIN Guide California features 27 new one-star distinctions: Addison offers contemporary French fine dining with seasonal California touches. Luxury and refinement are on the menu every evening in this dining room near San Diego.

First statewide Michelin Guide includes 90 California restaurants with stars Angler is led by a chef who made a name for himself at Saison and now channels his passion for the freshest seafood at this new restaurant near the Embarcadero. Impeccable sourcing is a signature of this culinary gem.

Aubergine is a long standing, beloved destination nestled in Monterey with meals that leave a lasting impression. Inspectors were impressed by the local flavor and seasonality of the menu.

Bistro Na's serves Chinese Imperial Court cuisine and is helmed by a Beijing-based restaurant group. Focused on product quality, the menu proudly acknowledges their effort to utilize good ingredients.

CUT provides quality beef and expert preparation as the original location of culinary icon Wolfgang Puck’s stellar steakhouse. The menu focuses on classics that never seem to go out of style.

Dialogue offers an evolving, lengthy menu with entertaining and artistic presentations from a maturing and highly talented chef who previously headed NEXT in Chicago. The cooking exudes inspiration from start to finish.

Hana Re focuses on an omakase format operated with minimal staff in a slightly hidden small space in Costa Mesa. Products are of supreme quality.

Harbor House relies on the local bounty of on-site gardens and diverse sea life found in a local cove and California’s North

Coast. The chef provides a contemporary approach with finesse.

Hayato is a relative newcomer to the downtown Los Angeles dining scene. The chef offers a personal expression of kaiskei that is intimate and very impressive.

Kali is inspired by the chef’s vision for playful food, and carefully composed preparations that exceed expectations. A refrigerator displaying dry-aged ducks, steaks and even a pig’s head is a natural conversation starter.

Kato’s 27-year-old chef delivers an impeccably plated tasting menu focused on Californian and Asian flavors. The judicious use of deeply flavored sauces and charred elements are repeated showstoppers.

The Kitchen provides an interactive dining experience in Sacramento that doubles as dinner and a show. Whether you’re slurping oysters in the kitchen’s cooler or chatting with your neighbors over hor d’oeuvres, this elaborate menu is a spectacle that is sure to impress.

Le Comptoir presents a vegetable-focused menu that originates from the chef’s own garden in Long Beach. This intimate Koreatown space seats a mere handful of diners nightly.

Maude was named after the chef’s late paternal grandmother and exemplifies meticulous attention to detail. The tasting menu changes quarterly based on a single wine region and the results are impressive and memorable.

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Maum offers an incredibly exciting dining experience in Palo Alto. This Korean stunner was promoted from a Plate award in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco.

Mori Sushi received one-star awards in the 2008 and 2009 editions of MICHELIN Guide Los Angeles. Everything from the homemade tofu to the kitchen’s selection of seasonal fish is nothing short of exquisite.

Nozawa Bar serves omakase in a hidden room at the Beverly Hills location of Sugarfish. The warm rice highlights the flavor of the fish.

Orsa & Winston showcases the culinary traditions of both Japan and Italy at this impressive downtown Los Angeles hot spot.

The multiple prix-fixe menu items showcase the beauty of local ingredients.

Osteria Mozza serves delightful Italian cuisine that represents good quality with a touch of Mediterranean flavors in a casually elegant setting. This restaurant has long been a favorite in Los Angeles, and was awarded one star in the 2009 MICHELIN Guide Los Angeles.

Q Sushi is a downtown Los Angeles sushiya with a lineup of high quality fish and impressive technique. The chef gracefully prepares each course and thoughtfully serves each diner virtually from his own hands.

Rustic Canyon provides a vegetable-focused menu that is truly 48

impressive. After years away from professional kitchens, the reenergized chef has re-emerged in Santa Monica.

Shibumi offers Kappo-style Japanese fare in downtown Los Angeles. The chef’s skillful cooking is evident and his plates are flavorful.

Shin Sushi is an under-the-radar counter that showcases excellent knife work, high quality ingredients and a delightful omakase. The friendly chef engages with each customer as he slices their fish to order.

Shunji is a delightful and popular Westside Los Angeles sushiya helmed by the chef who previously flashed his knife at several hot spots in the 80’s. While the menu does offer á la carte, the omakase is far and away the best option.

Sorrel was promoted from the Plate award in the 2019 MICHELIN Guide San Francisco and delivers seasonal delights from the tasting menu or á la carte. This sleek Cal-Ital eatery draws a casual-chic neighborhood crowd.

Taco Maria in Orange County delivers a deeply flavorful and memorable meal. The enticing scent of meat cooking over the fire and house-made heirloom masa tortillas on the griddle set the tone for an amazing experience.

Trois Mec is a Los Angeles based restaurant where the classic French skills and technique of the chef lend a hand to his contemporary menu that is equally creative and delicious. Yes Chef !

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52

Recipes Beetroot Toasted Chickpea Salad The White Millefuille: Ann Sophie-Pic La Tomate Plurielle Ann Sophie-Pic Phadthai Gai Yong: Sujira ‘Aom’ Pongmorn Sauce Phadthai: Sujira ‘Aom’ Pongmorn 53

INGREDIENT: Spanish Persimon

Colour, crunch and flavour

This delicious fruit is grown in the Ribera del Xúquer Valley (Xúquer river valley) near Valencia in Spain. They have a sweet, delicate flavour similar to a peach or a mango and are only available for a short period of time; from mid-October until JJanuary.

The variety currently grown in the area is called Rojo Brillante (Bright Red). This does not reflect the colour of the flesh, which is actually bright orange and can sometimes be speckled with natural sugar freckles. These appear as the fruit ripens and indicate extra sweetness, just like a banana.

“Rojo Brillante” grown in the Ribera del Xúquer is larger and longer than other varieties such as the small, squat Sharon fruit.

The fruit, which is an indigenous variety to the region, was first discovered growing in Valencia more than 50 years ago and is thought to have developed naturally from the conventional persimmon varieties that were introduced into eastern Spain.

54

Persimon® is the registered trademark used to identify the Rojo Brillante variety of persimmon, grown in the Ribera del Xúquer region and characterised for its firm flesh and lack of astringency (the sharp taste of unripe fruit).

Only persimmon bearing this Persimon® trademark is certified and protected by the Denomination of Origin Ribera de Xúquer.

This quality seal is the only one existing in the world for a persimmon fruit variety and is recognised by the European Union.

A Regulatory Council was set-up in 1998 to oversee the production, quality, flavour, appearance and packaging of the persimmon grown and certified in the Ribera del Xúquer area. standards, and that all its grower members comply with international regulations.

The rigorous checks to gain the sought-after P.D.O. status ensure that each fruit available on our supermarket shelves with this Persimon® registered trademark is guaranteed to be nothing but the very best.

RECIPE

Spanish Persimon®, Beetroot and Toasted Chickpea Salad Colour, crunch and flavour means that this vibrant vitamin-packed salad is SO good to eat!

Preparation: 15 minutes Cooking: 30 minutes

Preparation: 20 minutes Serves: 6

Ingredients

Method

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan oven 160°C, Gas Mark 4.

Grease a 22cm ceramic baking dish (or similar) with a little butter.

2 Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, then gradually beat in the eggs. Stir in the milk. Fold in the flour, salt, ground ginger and stem ginger.

3 Transfer to the baking dish and spread out evenly. Cut the persimon® into thin slices and arrange on top of the sponge mixture, fanning out the slices. Sprinkle lemon juice and demerara sugar on top of them.

4 Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately, sprinkled with pecans and drizzled with syrup.

Cook’s tip: Make the puddings in individual dishes, though reduce the cooking time to 20-25 minutes.

100g butter, plus 1tsp for greasing 100g light muscovado sugar 2 large eggs, beaten 1tbsp milk 100g self-raising flour Pinch of salt 1/2tsp ground ginger 2tbsp chopped stem ginger in syrup 2 Spanish persimon®, halved and leafy top removed Squeeze of lemon juice 1tbsp demerara sugar 20g pecans, chopped 2tbsp golden syrup

55

THE WHITE MILLEFEUILLE

By Sophie-Ann Pic

Ingredients Puff Pastry • 130gr flour • 340gr dry butter Dough: • 140gr flour t45 • 140gr flour t55 • 20gr water • 12gr salt • white vinegar • 80gr dry butter Crystalline Jasmine • 100gr glucose • 150gr fondant • 5gr jasmine Vanilla Chantilly • 200gr mascarpone • 300gr cream 56

Method • 100gr condensed milk • 10gr Tahiti vanilla Royal icing • 20gr white egg • 100gr icing sugar • 5gr lemon juice Jasmine jelly • 320gr water • 20gr sugar • 65gr water • 13gr gelatin powder • 15gr dried jasmine (tea) Voatsiperifery foam milk • 0.5lr whole milk • 3gr voatsiperifery pepper

Puff Pastry Mix the butter and flour together until it is combined Spread the mix between two papers (40x60) Keep in the fridge Dough Mix the butter and flour together Dissolve the salt into the cold water, add to the mixture and fold Be careful not to work the dough too much Spread between two papers (20x40) Keep in the fridge After 12 hours, fold the mixture and replace in the fridge Remove and fold again after 1 hour

RECIPE

TAHITIAN VANILLA CREAM, JASMIN JELLY AND VOATSIPERIPHERY PEPPER FOAM

Assembly

Wait until the next day and roll in the rolling mill Crystalline Jasmine Put the sugar, glucose, and water in a saucepan and bring to 160 °C, pour on a baking sheet and let cool.

Vanilla Chantilly Beat all the ingredients (except the yoghurt) together For the cream, mix 250gr of Chantilly with 125gr of yoghurt You need around 50 gr of Chantilly for one millefeuille Royal icing Sieve the icing sugar and mix in the egg white with a spatula Add 3 drops of lemon juice

Smooth thinly into a plastic sheet (approx. 5cm) Leave to dry and print with the 5x5 stainless steel square Leave until completely dry and separate carefully Jasmine jelly Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Add the jasmine, let it infuse for 7 min, filter and add the gelatin Pour into a flexi pan or lined pan Freeze and cut squares of 3.5x3.5 Voatsiperifery foam milk Add the voatsiperifery pepper to the milk and infuse for 24h Pass through the chinois (conical sieve) keep the milk between 55-60 degrees

Cut the pastry into 5cm squares. Bake at 160°C with a non-stick baking mat on top for 20 minutes.

When the pastry is cool, cut some smaller squares (4cm approximately).

Sprinkle with crystalline jasmine and put in the oven at 180°C for 3 minutes then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Pipe the vanilla Chantilly around the base and sides of the 5x5 stainless steel square using a small spatula Start with one square of puff pastry (approx. ½ cm thick) and pipe a small amount of the vanilla Chantilly on top to cover the pastry and then a layer of jasmine jelly. Repeat this step 3 times.

Close the square with the vanilla Chantilly (around 50gr of Chantilly in total) Keep the millefeuille in the freezer for 10 mins.

Warm the metal square with a blowtorch to release from the edges and remove the millefeuille, placing it carefully in the centre of the plate Place the royal icing on the top and finish with 4 small spoons of voatsiperyfery foam milk around the outside of the plate, one on each side of the millefeuille cube 57

LA TOMATE PLURIELLE

By Sophie-Ann Pic SERVES: 4

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RECIPE

NATURALLY EXPLOSIVE WITH FROZEN BLACKCURRANT LEAVES AND ELDERFLOWER CONSOMMÉ

Ingredients Tomatoes: • 8 black cherry tomatoes • 8 quartz tomatoes • 4 orange berry tomatoes • 4 green grape tomatoes • 2 st Vincent tomatoes Tomato water: • 1kg grape tomatoes • Fine salt • 00ml tomato water • 2g dried blackcurrant leaves • 40g marinade for pickles Tomato marinade: • 100g sugar • 100 ml white balsamic vinegar • 80ml tomato water • zest of 2 lemons • 5g ginger • 3g dried Elderflower • 3g dried blackcurrant leaves • 15ml pastis Finish: • Yellow tomato powder • Fennel flowers • Fresh Elderflowers

Method Tomato water: Wash the tomatoes and add them to a blender. Mix well and pour into a saucepan to cook for 30 - 45 minutes to clarify. Filter the mixture through a piece of cheesecloth and reduce the water by half: it must be sufficiently acidic but not too sweet. Next add the cold blackcurrant leaves and leave to brew in the water for 4 hours. After this time, filter again, add the marinade for pickles and set aside in the fridge.

Tomato marinade: Make a blond caramel with the sugar and some water, then deglaze with the vinegar. Once the caramel dissolves, add the tomato water and put on ice to release the aromatics. Let this sit for 4 hours, and when it is cold add the pastis and filter through a piece of cheesecloth.

Tomatoes: Cut the yellow tomatoes into thin strips and bake for 8 hours at 60°C to dry them out. Blend together to create a fine powder and keep in the oven.

Marinate the remaining tomatoes in the tomato marinade for 4 hours. Once they have absorbed the liquid, drip them and set aside for refrigeration.

The consommé Retrieve the marinade (after the tomatoes have marinated in it) and add approximately 10% of the tomato water.

Season it again.

Dressing and finish: Arrange the yellow tomato powder at the bottom of a shallow plate and add the tomatoes in a circle. Add the different shoots, fill a small jug with the well-glazed tomato consommé ready to pour into the centre of the circle of tomatoes, and add the sea salt at the last moment.

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Y

Dr. Johann Siegert

It all started in 1824, when founder Dr. Johann Siegert first produced Aromatic Bitters as a medicinal tincture designed to alleviate stomach ailments.

Originally known as “Amargo Aromatico” Angostura® Aromatic Bitters has now become a by word for Chefs and Mixologists alike as an integral ingredient in food and cocktails.

By Sujira ‘Aom’ Pongmorn Ingredients 2 tbsp vegetable oil for phadthai 1 tbsp vegetable oil for egg 3 tbsp vegetable oil 80 g dried Chanthaburi noodles 2 tsp dried shrimp 1 tbsp tofu, cut into small chunks 1 tbsp pickled turnip, chopped 1 tbsp shallot, chopped 8 tbsp chicken stock ½ cup phadthai sauce (see below) 1 tbsp ground roasted peanuts ½ cup bean sprouts ¼ cup garlic chives, cut into 2.5-cm pieces 1 egg 1 tsp chili powder 1 lime wedge 1 chicken thigh or chicken breast 1 garlic clove, smashed 1 tsp black pepper 1 tbsp Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce 1 tbsp palm sugar

Sauce Phadthai Ingredients • ¼ cup shallot, thinly sliced • 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped • 1 cup tamarind concentrate • 1 cup palm sugar • ½ cup fish sauce • 1 tbsp salt • 1 cup water • 1 tsp chili powder • 2 tbsp vegetable oil Method Add vegetable oil to a saucepan and place on medium-heat stove.

Add shallot and garlic, and fry until fragrant and the garlic is a bit brown.

Add water, tamarind concentrate, chili powder, palm sugar, and salt.

Stir constantly until palm sugar dissolves and sauce is mixed. Let the sauce simmer and thicken.

Remove from the heat and let cool down.

Pour phadthai sauce into a blender and blend until smooth.

Strain, and store in a plastic box.

Method In a mixing bowl, mix together palm sugar, seasoning sauce, black pepper and garlic until the palm sugar dissolves.

Add chicken to the bowl, and hand-knead until the marinade is absorbed by the chicken. Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes.

In a heated grilling pan, grill the marinated chicken until cooked. Set aside.

Crack the egg into a small bowl, and beat till smooth. Set aside.

Heat a wok or large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle two tablespoons of oil into the pan and swirl around. Add shallots and stirfry until fragrant.

Add tofu and pickled turnip to the pan, and stir-fry about a minute.

Add noodles and chicken stock and stir-fry until the noodles soften.

Add phadthai sauce and stir-fry until noodles and dry ingredients absorb all the sauce.

Remove noodles and set to one side. Stir-fry the egg in the remaining vegetable oil until cooked.

Add sprouts, garlic chives, dried shrimp and chili powder and stir-fry until the sprouts and garlic chives are wilted.

Slice the chicken and place over the noodles. Serve with lime wedge, beansprouts, garlic chives, chili powder and ground roasted peanuts on the side.

RECIPE

Phadthai Gai Yong (Stir-Fried Noodles with Grilled Chicken)

Front of House Words: Jeffrey Benson

De-Luxe champagnes are the prestige brands of the champagne houses - the crème de la crème. They represent, at least in theory, the absolute summit of what the region can produce.

In principle they are made from the best cuvees from the best vineyards, from the finest quality vintages, and are wines, which have been carefully aged after blending so that they have a depth and complexity of maturity as well as all the breed and distinction of the original cuvee. Most of them are marketed in fancy bottles, often copies, like Dom Perignon, of an eighteenthcentury shape. Naturally they are highly priced. Dom Perignon, Louis Roederer Cristal, Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque, and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, four of the best known. This makes them double the price of the same firm’s ordinary vintage blends and trebles their non-vintage. As such a question immediately poses itself. Are they worth it? Today when almost every house - not just the most respected - now offers a luxury cuvee, and all at equally inflated prices, are we entitled to curve a slightly cynical eyebrow above all this fuss and activity.

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With two exceptions the de luxe cuvee is a recent phenomenon.

A hundred years ago Alexander 11, Tsar of all the Russia's, commanded that the champagne he served to his guests should be presented in clear bottles so that, even when wrapped in a linen cloth for serving, it should be clearly identifiable as his own personal selection, unique to the imperial court, Louis Roederer was his supplier; Cristal was born. Until the Revolution 40 years later Cristal, then a sweet wine, was exclusively produced for the Tsar and his successors. The real pioneer in the concept of prestige champagne was Moet et Chandon. In 1930 Moet purchased the unused brand name of Dom Perignon from Mercier - it was to purchase Mercier itself 40 years later - and in 1937 it launched the first de-luxe cuvee under this name in an elegant reproduction of the sort of bottle the firm itself had used prior to the French Revolution. Today it is the brand leader.

What should you expect from a de luxe champagne? The short answer is: what you get (or should get) from a vintage as opposed to a non-vintage, only more so. Class, complexity, depth and elegance, and maturity without age. If, by definition,

DE-LUXE CHAMPAGNES

all vintage champagne like all vintage port is very good wine, i.e. the wine is only produced with a vintage label if that vintage and that blend thereof has been especially successful, then, even more decidedly, a de luxe champagne should invariably be a stunning product. Sadly it isn't. Like all too many vintage champagnes the wines are frequently marketed too young. If a quality non vintage should be - I'm not talking about what the legal requirements stipulate - a wine of at least three years of age by the time it reaches the consumer, then a vintage wine six or seven, and the deluxe wines should be, if not older, at least wines of greater ageing potential. Well-made champagne can easily take ten or even fifteen years bottle age.

Champagne is the most versatile of all wines as it the perfect aperitif, goes well with fish and also can be drunk throughout the rest of the meal, pairing well with meat such as lamb and with cheese and dessert.

In short a drink for any time - to celebrate or commiserate, one can always find a reason to drink Champagne.

Are they worth it?

Jeffrey Benson is an approved programme provider, examiner and adjudicator for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust and empowered to hold their wine training courses and examinations anywhere in the world.

Anyone one who is interested in receiving further information please contact me at bensonwines@gmail.com 61

Competition Round-up

M Restaurants announces 16 finalists for Young Chef of the Year Competition Awards seek to inspire new talent to combat post-Brexit staff shortages This year sees the addition of a sustainability element to the judging criteria to address the current food waste crisis The line-up includes finalists from Kricket, Umu and Gordon Ramsay Group M Restaurant and Bookatable by Michelin have announced the finalists of the third Young Chef of the Year competition to unearth the UK’s finest culinary rising star and crown the winner, Young Chef of the Year 2019. In the looming shadow of Brexit, M recognises that now more than ever is the time to celebrate young talent and bolster morale in the hospitality sector. Staff shortages are continuing to rise, and the industry faces some

of its toughest challenges yet with approximately 20,000 chefs leaving the industry year on year.

The finalists, all chefs under the age of 30, hail from some of the best restaurants across London and the rest of the UK. Battling it out for the top spot are representatives from a wide range of high-end and more accessible restaurants including brilliant London-based Indian restaurants; Kricket and The Cinnamon Club, Boodle’s Gentlemen’s Club, 5-star hotel The Stafford London and one Michelin-starred Umu. They were selected after submitting an original four-course menu at £45 per head, together with costings for 50 covers. The chefs all suitably impressed M’s Culinary Director Mike Reid and have now been invited to M Victoria Street to cook in a series of pop-up takeover nights from 9-31 July, with diners and judges voting for their favourite young chef. The voting criteria will be 62

based on the quality of the cooking and marketing on the night.

This year the competition will also address another pressing matter with marks awarded to chefs for their sustainable sourcing of ingredients and resourceful handling of food waste.

Throughout July chefs will be judged by a panel consisting of M Restaurant founder, Martin Williams and Culinary Director, Mike Reid, as well leading chefs including Sabrina Gidda, Steve Groves, Ben Tish, Alyn Williams and James Knappett; social media influencer Felicity Spector; and journalists David Ellis and Chris Gamm. Each night a judging panel will be present to score the chef, and this will form 50% of their final score. The remaining 50% will be awarded by the paying diners, marked using the same criteria.

Guests and judges will sample special dishes throughout the pop-up nights such as Seared scallops with strawberries and balsamic (Lily Stock, Boodles); Sweet pea panna cotta, crab, mango & dashi sorbet (Will Bowman Smith, The Swan Inn); Tasting of South Downs lamb, peas, mint & glazed carrot (Jordan Kerridge, The Stafford London) and Cherry parfait, white chocolate glaze, pickled cherries, aerated white chocolate (Michael Turner, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants).

On 27 July, M will host an exclusive evening with The Clink Charity whereby graduates from The Clink programme will have the unique opportunity to run both the kitchen and service of the restaurant. Whilst separate to the competition itself, the evening will continue to showcase M’s fundamental values; supporting the industry from the bottom up and celebrating emerging talent wherever it lies.

The price of the menu will remain the same as the previous popups, but this time all the profits will be donated to the Clink.

On 4th September the Young Chef of the Year will be crowned in an awards ceremony held at M Victoria and will receive a trip with sponsors Pommery to theChampagne region of France to explore their vineyards. Additional prizes will be presented for the Runner Up, Most Sustainable Menu and the Best Marketing Campaign.

Toque d’Or® 2019 winners announced

Stars shine in Grand Finals focused on Sustainable Futures The results are in: Nestlé Professional® has announced the winners of the Toque d’Or® 2019 competition as University College Birmingham and apprentice Drew Dawson from 5 Star Hotel and members’ club The Ned. It is the fifth time University College Birmingham has won the college accolade since 2010, most recently picking up the title in 2017.

This year’s stars were revealed at a VIP awards lunch at the Royal Lancaster London on Friday 14th June 2019, in a ceremony hosted by Mark Durden Smith and Angellica Bell.

The winners had been left in suspense for the results following an intense fourday Grand Finals held at the beginning of May. The 12 college and apprentice Grand Finalists experienced the true breadth of the industry with challenges including: WSET Level One training (and exam) at English vineyard Denbies, followed by wine tasting and a tour of the vineyards and wine cellars Fast-paced shifts under the watchful eye of chef James Tanner at unique dining and drinking venue Smiths of Smithfield Recreating and serving a three-course fine dining sustainable menu developed by Simon Hulstone at the luxurious Kimpton Fitzroy Hotel Harvesting vegetables before creating their own sustainable vegetarian dish at Watts Farm in Dartford Speaking about the Toque d’Or 2019 competition, Katya Simmons, Managing Director, Nestlé Professional® UK&I, said: “This is a life-changing moment for the

winners. By giving them the opportunity to develop their knowledge in all aspects of the industry and work alongside high profile experts and chefs, the competition has paved the way for their careers. The winners’ creativity in their approach to the challenges really set them apart from the pack and they have set an incredibly high standard for next year’s competition.”

Yasmine Selwood from University College Birmingham said: “I’m a mother of four, and an older student and this competition has proved that I can do anything I put my mind to. There really is no limit to what you can achieve. The secret is believing in yourself and being open to new opportunities when they arise.”

Luke Haywood from University College Birmingham added, “I came into this competition slightly daunted and not knowing what to expect, but we’ve grown together as a team and developed a really close bond.

“I think competitions like this are great because the industry is always changing and Toque d’Or provides the perfect platform to get you up to speed with all the latest trends and developments in the industry.”

Apprentice winner, Drew Dawson from

The Ned also spoke about his experience: “I’m absolutely over the moon! It’s an experience of a lifetime and I’m so lucky to have been given this opportunity.

“Competitions like this show just how supportive the industry is, giving young people the opportunity to do great things.

“I think the best part of the competition was meeting the farmers and really understanding the supply chain and how everything fits together.”

This year’s Toque d’Or competition focused on sustainable futures. “For us at Nestlé Professional, sustainability covers everything from food sourcing through to talent sourcing and retention”, said Katya Simmons. “Rewarding career opportunities, innovation and creativity are exciting prospects for young talent[1], so it’s important the industry works together to celebrate its creativity and attract fresh talent.”

Now in its 31st year, Nestlé Professio al® Toque d’Or® is one of the UK’s most influential industry competitions, bridging the gap between the theories of the classroom, work-based learning and the exciting reality of the industry. With over 400 registrations, this year’s competition received record levels of interest.

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Competition Round-up

Finalists revealed for

The National Chef of the Year 2020 After an incredible and closely fought four rounds of heats, the finalists in the running to be crowned The National Chef of the Year 2020 winner have been announced by the Craft Guild of Chefs.

Wowing the judges in the first heat which took place at Sheffield College on Tuesday 11th June was Marc Billings, sous chef at Prestwold Hall. The heat winners from London were Fraser Bruce, head chef at The Halsetown Inn, Mehdi Lahmadi, junior sous chef at Coworth Park Hotel and Steve Groves, head chef from Roux at Parliament Square.

Some of the most well-respected culinary talent in the UK selected the final six places by discovering who had the highest scores across all four heats.

1.

Nick Edgar, head chef at The Ryebeck Hotel 2.

Derek Johnstone, head chef at Borthwick Castle 3.

Ben Boeynaems, head chef at The Zetter Hotel 4.

Harry Kirkpatrick, sous chef, Trinity Restaurant 5.

Karl O’Dell, head chef at Texture London 6.

Nick Smith, head chef at Vacherin Chair of judges, Gary Jones, executive chef from Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons said: “We’ve seen some really innovative dishes this year and a huge variety in the methods and styles of cooking. I think one of the main reasons for this is the tweak we made to the brief where one element could be cooked in advance. Chefs have truly risen to this challenge, with

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some incredible flavours being served, as it’s a more familiar way of cooking for them. For the ten finalists, my advice is don’t waste this opportunity, put everything you’ve got into it as only one chef will walk away as the winner. The final will be a huge learning curve in each chef’s personal development and I wish them all the best of luck.”

Organiser of the competition and Vice-President of the Craft Guild of Chefs, David Mulcahy added: “With just over one hundred entries in this year’s competition it’s exciting for us to discover the new top ten in the running for the 2020 title.

We’ve also got ten talented chefs lined up to be pushed into the limelight in the young chef competition having earned their place either through a heat or by being a leading competition winner. As the biggest culinary challenge in the UK, these competitions continue to go from strength to strength providing new and exciting opportunities. Those who follow Kuba Winkowski will have seen the incredible year he is having as the title holder. This year’s finalists will have to impress an inspiring list of judges including Clare Smyth, Jonny Lake, Claude Bosi, Philip Howard and Chantelle Nicholson.”

For 2019, the Young Chef of the Year has a new Chair of judges, with Hrishikesh Desai taking the lead. Over the last week, the competition has confirmed six more finalists with Jordon Powell being the first to earn a spot at The Restaurant Show when he won his heat in Sheffield. George Harding, senior chef de

partie at The Atlantic Hotel was the heat winner at Le Cordon Bleu today. The remaining final spots were given to Bethan Disley-Jones, apprentice pastry chef, The Art School Liverpool, Gercelynn Mae Dionio, demi chef de partie at Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Sion Hughes, chef de partie at Carden Park Hotel & Spa and William Keeble, demi chef de partie from Whatley Manor. Four chefs have already been seeded straight to the final by winning some of the UK’s top titles including Ben Cowley who was the Graduate Awards Highest Achiever, Matthew Nicholls who won The British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year and Sam Everton representing World Skills. The final place will be the winner of the Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence which will be announced in July.

After today’s announcement, Hrishikesh Desai, executive chef at The Gilpin Hotel and Lake House said: “I was honoured to be asked to take on this role and have thoroughly enjoyed judging these two young chef heats. Having previously competed in and won The National Chef of the Year, I understand how the chefs feel and I think they have done a fantastic job in new environments, working well under pressure. It’s important that senior chefs support competitions like this to help inspire the next generation to improve their skills and push true talent into the spotlight.”

Both finals will take place at The Restaurant Show on Tuesday 1st October in front of a live audience. Chefs will discover the brief at a mentor day on Tuesday 10th September.

Gastronomic tours from the publishers of Yes Chef Magazine From chef to diner, we announce the launch of Chef Magazine Gourmet Tours.

Out of the kitchen to the diner’s table, the intimate relationship between chef and client has never been stronger. Out of 25 years’ experience of fine-dining world-wide to lovers of great food, we offer a new and unique opportunity.

We have taken our unparalleled knowledge of the world of the professional chef and we are putting it at the disposal of lovers of fine food.

Our first tour is Kyiv Ukraine majestic, mysterious, mighty

For more information please visit www.chef-magazine.com 65

NEW NAM SAME GREA TASTE AVAILABLE IN THE UK

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#iseyskyr Iseyskyr.co.uk