WG Magazine a feast on the palate... January 2017 Issue

WG MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

a feast for the palate...

JORDI ROCA

A SWEET PERFECTIONIST www.wgmagazines.com

WORLD’S BEST RESTAURANTS1 WG January 2017 -

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WG MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

2016 A COLLECTIVE OF CHEFS

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Editor Lifestyle Editor Culinary Editor Feature Editor Contributing Editor Photography

Fabian deCastro Doug Singer Claudia Ferreres Oilda Barreto Michael Hepworth Victoria Shashirin

FJMdesign Photography Consultant Creative Design Studio Publisher

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‘ WOGOA FOUNDATION

Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

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Cover Image Credit: Jordi Roca Chocolate Anarchy Photo ©El Celler de Can Roca

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MAGAZINES

Happy New Year! This exciting first issue of 2017, WG takes you on a global journey featuring 67 of the best restaurants in the world.

Highlighted restaurants include – The Experience and PLAY by Reif Othman, Heinz Beck, the world’s most Michelin-starred chef - Joël Robuchon, the Arzak family - Elena & Juan Mari, Alain Ducasse, Vineet Bhatia - the face of modern progressive Indian cuisine, the Spanish Legends Joan Roca, Albert Adriá and Andoni Luis Aduriz, Alex Atala, Martin Benn, Virgilio Martinez, Carme Ruscalleda, Georgianna Chiliadaki & Nikos Roussos, Jock Zonfrillo, Christian Le Squer, Eric Ripert, René Redzepi, Eneko Axta, Ben Shewry, and the list continues.

There is more! We catch up with the 2014 World’s Best Pastry Chef and the sweet perfectionist Jordi Roca. Our next stop is at Hangar 7 Ikarus Restaurant in Salzburg to meet with the visiting guest chef Christophe Muller - Paul Bocuse’s crown prince.

Our next stop is in the US to meet with Michelle Bernstein who has dazzled diners and critics alike with her sublime cuisine and a personality as bright and vibrant as the Florida sun and then move on to meet the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 13 – Jeremy Ford.

We head to the Middle East to catch up with Joe Barza who has revived Lebanese cuisine and then a stopover in the city of Dubai for breakfast at Leopold’s.

Our journey ends with Colin Clague, who takes us on a culinary journey at Rüya. Colin along with chef/restauranteur Umut Özkanca introduces their first contemporary Anatolian restaurant in Dubai.

Bon Appétit

FdeCastro

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JANUARY 2017

CONTENTS 34

A Sweet Perfectionist

48

Contemporary Anatolian Cuisine

62

Paul Bocuse’s Prince

70

Reviving Lebanese Cuisine

82

The World’s Best Restaurants

154 Michelle Bernstein 162 Breakfast At Leopold’s 170 Jeremy Ford 180 The World’s Best Restaurants

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Jordi Roca Photo ŠEl Celler de Can Roca

Chocolate Anarchy A complex and elaborate dessert, a chaos with dozens of different ingredients which diner and chance combine as they see fit, a chaos that generates new and personalised organoleptic experiences.

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‘ WOGOA FOUNDATION

Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

Culinary Arts can give new life to children... we make it our mission to identify talented, underprivileged children with culinary ambitions and provide opportunities that otherwise would have been beyond their reach…

Grant MacPherson

WO’GOA Foundation Ambassador An inspirer, innovator and perfectionist - Grant encompasses all the qualities that deserving children can glean from a role model!

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partnered with SKD ACADEMY the culinary institute in the Philippines

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Albert Adrià

Heinz Beck

Andreas Caminada

Ferràn Adrià

Thank you Chefs for your support to Massimo Bottura

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Carme Ruscalleda

Duane Keller

Matt Moran

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Andoni Luis Aduriz

Georgianna & Nikos

José Avillez

Martin Benn

WO’GOA Foundation Tae Hwan Ryu

Umberto Bombana

Francesco Apreda

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JORDI ROCA

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JORDI ROCA

A SWEET PERFECTIONIST Photo ©El Celler de Can Roca

Born in 1978 and the last brother to join El Celler de Can Roca, Jordi Roca has found himself the perfect role as Pastry Chef at El Celler de Can Roca. His inventive dessert creations adapting fragrances, smoke and blown sugar among the several other things…

Regarded as one of the top dessert expert and the 2014 World’s Best Pastry Chef, Jordi began helping out in the kitchen under the watchful eye of his older brother Joan while studying at the Culinary Arts School in Girona. In 1999, Jordi became a full-fledged member of El Celler de Can Roca. Working alongside his mentor Damian Allsop, a Master Confectioner who passed on his knowledge which would serve Jordi in his sweet career - the precision, the craftsmanship instantly, the patience, the temperance, the self-confidence, and the obsessive involvement. A year later Jordi took on the responsibility at the dessert section and thus began the Three Heads And One Hat – Joan - the savory, Josep - the liquid and Jordi - the sweet.

Addicted to ice-creams since young and he always wanted to have an ice-cream shop, but it was after he learnt the technique that was behind a good artisanal ice-cream that he saw himself able to do.

Sometime later and thanks to his brothers’ complicity and generosity, who believed in that dream that passionate he, it was then when Jordi went on to start the Rocambolesc project, the willingness of Jordi Roca to recover the traditional dessert cart of El Celler de Can Roca which had disappeared from the restaurant’s room just when he took care of the sweet part of the menu.

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JORDI ROCA

Rocambolesc is a window to the sweet world of the Celler where he transforms the deserts in ice-creams. It is a special ice-cream shop, and he incorporate in the creative process various professionals, such as graphic designers, scientists, a transversal team that has as an objective to evolve, learn from mistakes, grow with the experience of attention to the customer.

WG Magazine speaks with Jodi Roca…

It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion and where they grew up. Jordi Roca tells us how you found your way into the culinary field to become one of the renowned pastry chefs in the world!

Well, I’m fourteen and twelve years old younger than my brothers. I was the kid at home that loved the prawns, cockles and Jamón, perfectly able to detect a common Serrano ham when someone was trying to con me. By living in my parents bar, I had lot more luxuries than my friends, the suddenly popular packaged chocolate-filled sweets, chips, olives, Jamón Ham… and of course, ice creams.

I went from helping my parents in their restaurant to having to help my brothers in theirs. My childhood was therefore spent amongst kitchens and customers, without a clear calling for gastronomy but with the hope of being able to do something that would make my family proud, especially my older brothers. They were the idols I looked up to. And at fourteen, without having fully sorted out my ideas, I enrolled the Culinary Arts School as my brothers did some years before, but I was not the good student my brother Joan was. Those next years, I was the “errand boy” at Can Roca lending a hand where needed: on weekends there were four waiters, all family members. I was a child and I was always mixed up something. I didn’t even think of being in the kitchen.

It seemed like such a complicated world, so forbidden…It was a different world. The moment came to help my brothers, and, for summer, I worked in the dinning room at El Celler. I was eighteen and finished work at three in the morning. But I wanted to party… I realized cooks finished at midnight and decided I liked the kitchen better.

That’s why I moved to the kitchen, but still without a definite path, taking any given road according to external circumstances, without conviction, unable to find my place.

I would find my way with Damian Allsop, who was a crucial figure in the formation of the Roca triangle.

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MILK DESSERT

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JORDI ROCA

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Jordi learns the ‘how’s and whys’ of pastry while working with Damian Allsop…

My training in the sweet world began in an amateur way, not an academic one at all. Damian Allsop, a talented welsh pastry chef landed at our place after a long journey visiting great European restaurants. By the end of the 90’s he filled the desserts elaboration section at El Celler de Can Roca. With him I understood the importance of the sweet cuisine, how specific it is and how singular too. He first helped me to awake my curiosity, being first his assistant, and later on his successor. Allsop gave me the necessary tools so as to understand the reasons behind the sweet cuisine, as well as its method, the precision, the craftsmanship instantly, the patience, the temperance, the self-confidence, and the obsessive involvement. In the beginning, rules and quantifying was very important. I came to know why a soufflé mousses, why chocolate tempers or why a jelly sets. I also learnt how to blow sugar as a crystal craftsman, much more things… So this was my chance to create and I started. Since then, I have not given up enjoying, dreaming, provoking, surprising my self and, more than anything, playing. I confess being addicted to this sweet amusement for more than 20 years.

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JORDI ROCA

‘Journey to Havana’ one of Jordi’s first sweet masterpieces where he mimicked the Cuban cigar shouldering in an ashtray, an experience of smoking it through a cigar smoke ice cream encased in chocolate with crushed violets as ash… Jordi explains this culinary ingenious philosophy, and the inspiration…

I began deeply involved in ice cream making techniques under the wing of a Sicilian by the name of Angelo Corvitto. One of the rules the master continuously repeated was that the work atmosphere had to be completely pure, as ice cream is an emulsion in which air is a very important ingredient. Ice cream is a sponge for scents. This golden rule is what sparked my imagination.

What would happen if I added smoke on purpose? Until then I had heard of tobacco-flavored ice creams, made from an infusion, and thought that perhaps working with direct smoke would improve the final result.

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VIAJE A LA HABANA

To carry out the first experiments I had to blow the smoke of a cigar directly into the ice cream maker. At first I got satisfactory and surprising results, but also realized that that method was neither practical, nor good for my health.

With the help of my father, I put together a water pump that blows smoke automatically without human intervention. On one end, it draws smoke directly from the cigar that hangs from it (joined hermetically by a balloon), and blows it into the ice cream maker from the other end.

The result of this new technique was the Partagas Cigar Series D No 4 Ice Cream in 2001, presented as a cylinder made of dark chocolate, filled with ice cream of a neutral base infused with Havana cigar smoke.

This cigar, together with the Mojito, would come to constitute the dessert Trip to Havana.

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JORDI ROCA

Jordi shares the process he goes through to creating a new dessert…

Each of the desserts are born from a different starting point, sometimes it is a perfume, a childhood memory, a landscape or a product. In each dessert I try to set a bridge, to communicate to the guest in order to bring out a pleasant experience.

Sweet, Salty, Crunchy, Tangy… the secret to a perfect dessert...

There’s no secret at all, each of the desserts is a whole world in itself. What I seek is people’s enjoyment, the dessert must be good, pleasurable, and even goes beyond the most interesting concept.

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The next trend Jordi see emerging in desserts‌ This is not something I feel possible to know, but I can explain what we will be doing. Now we are trying to build desserts by bringing the sense of hearing in collaboration with Neil Harbisson (the first recognized cyborg in the world). What we are doing now is giving a musical note to each color so as to be able to compose melodies according to the sequence or order we follow when plating the dessert ingredients. Now we are working and testing a prototype dish that can read the ingredients and translate them into musical notes, maybe it just remains a prototype, but the fact of working on this opens our minds and we are able to be more creative and discover a new lines of work.

CROMATISMO NARANJA

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JORDI ROCA

Jordi share a special paring with a dessert…

Oh, in fact, one of my favourites is a dish that was a pairing itself. The dessert in the glass, and the wine, on the dish. It was a dessert made with Petter Jacob Kunn wine, a sweet German one we used to make a sorbet and a jelly, and the pairing was a glass of wine filled with three infusions: a red berries, another made of honey and citrus, and the third one made from mint, basil and fennel. It was a reversed pairing that showed the confidence and complicity I have with my brother Josep.

“The Desserts of Jordi Roca” takes readers through a journey of seasons. Expressing Jordi’s creativity and love for sweets, with over 80 tempting dessert recipes or should I say ‘one delicious dessert at a time…” Jordi share the inspiration while writing this book…

Well, the book “The Desserts of Jordi Roca” is actually a compilation of the recipes I made for a magazine called Descobrir Cuina. For 6 years, they published three recipes each month in Catalonia.

So at the end we finally decided together to publish this book with the best recipes.

But the book that will better reflect my dessert cuisine without any doubt, is about to come. It will be edited by Montagut Editores and its title is Anarkia. There I’ve focused to explain my dessert cuisine from my dishes, also how we think and do to accomplish it.

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JOSEP, JOAN AND JORDI

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JORDI ROCA

The Best Pastry Chef of the World, and you and El Celler de Can Roca has received numerous awards and accolades, the list is endless – Jordi tells us what keep him motivated…

What motivates me is knowing that after an award, everything remains the same.

Jordi’s tip to those interested in becoming a pastry chef…

We take the stage at the end, the dinner has already fulfilled his or hers expectation of enjoying the gastronomic experience, so we pastry chefs only have left magic, we are a present!

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Jordi’s advice to chefs who are first entering the kitchen…

They must like their profession a lot, as it demands a lot of sacrifice and commitment. Don’t seek for recognition, seek for accomplishing being happy day by day in your work.

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COLIN CLAGUE

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Colin CLAGUE Contemporary Anatolian cuisine

Influenced by his mother, Colin Clague’s upbringing on the Isle of Man fostered his culinary desire, growing up amazing food, the fish served came directly from the fisherman’s boat, however school was not what Colin wanted, he wanted to travel the world and wanted to cook. At sixteen he applied to join the Royal Navy as a chef but failed since he was too skinny, so he moved to London to star his culinary journey.

Working and gaining experience with some of the well know chefs such as Anton Mosimann, Peter Langan, Gary Hollihead, and including Sir Terence Conran.

In 1999 Colin was part of the pre-opening team of the seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai and then later on was the executive chef of the award winning Zuma - the Izakaya restaurants in London and Dubai with Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney. Colin then moved on to Caprice Holdings and taking charge of all the restaurants and the opening of The Ivy at the Emirates Towers in Dubai. Later the Head Chef with Jean-Georges Dubai and Q’bara the Middle Eastern restaurant. With a year break in Singapore, Colin worked with a dear friend and Michelin star chef Jason Atherton as executive chef at the Pollen.

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COLIN CLAGUE

Enjoy authentic, contemporary Anatolian cuisine in a lively, relaxed setting. Indulge in a culinary journey, rooted in Turkey’s rich history and enthused with the vibrancy of modern day Turkey, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Colin and Rüya… During one of the visits to Dubai by chef/restauranteur Umut Özkanca who operates several restaurants in Turkey, Umut was doing a research on Middle Eastern cuisine and on his last day he visited Q’bara, Umut tasted the first dish along with his father and then went on to sample the entire menu. Rüya became a reality when Umut Özkanca and Colin Clague joined hands to introduce the first contemporary Anatolian restaurant in Dubai, taking diners on a culinary journey through the food regions of Turkey, with mezes from Marmara, Pides from the Black Sea region, olives from the Aegean Sea and kebabs from South Eastern Anatolia. Located at one of Dubai’s iconic and luxury collection hotel Grosvenor House.

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COLIN CLAGUE

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ACILI KANAT CHILI GRILLED CHICKEN WINGS WITH MARESH PEPPER

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WG Magazine catches with the Colin Clague…

Your cuisine is with a lot of passion, quality ingredient creating a composition flavors, executed with simplicity and finesse yet impeccably balanced.

Flavours with Middle Eastern at Qbara, Japanese at Zuma, The Ivy, a fine dining menu at Jean-Georges and now Anatolian cuisine at Rüya - Colin tells us how he brings this balance on a plate…

KESKEK BARLEY RISOTTO WITH PULLED LAMB AND SPICES

I always say, 70% is the farmer or everything we just titillate the bit of what we like and what I do, I am not anywhere near to compare myself with my peers and icons out there in the culinary world. I just take history, and with this latest project Rüya which is Turkish, there is 3000 years of history with Turkish food. I am just taking tried and tested dishes and bringing them into a modern format presentation which is more restaurant style and elevating it.

We do not do fusion, never did it Zuma, never did it Q’bara and I do not do it here. Rüya is uniquely Anatolian and just tweaking at it. I don’t claim to be re-inventing the wheel here, it’s just taking somebody’s history and culture, modernizing it and making it restaurant accessible.

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COLIN CLAGUE

Rüya’s authentic yet innovative Anatolian cuisine is a combination of flavours...

You worked with some of the best chefs - Anton Mosimann, Peter Langan, Gary Hollihead, Sir Terence Conran and Jean-Georges - Tell us about the experience with Anton Mosimann and Jean Georges…

ZEYTINYAGLI AHTAPOT MARINATED GRILLED OCTOPUS, BLACK EYED BEANS & APPLE VINAIGRETTE

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Anton was an impeccable chef, very military like where everything is ticked off and the organization is phenomenon with him yet on the other hand Jean-Georges is totally the other way. You got more of the French passion with Jean-Georges and obviously, he is packed with a catalogue of amazing recipes which just flies out over the shelf. Working with Jean-Georges – he is very humble, he comes in and says let’s do lunch or let’s do dinner, you can see even now that Jean-Georges is as passionate today as he was probably 30-40 years ago. I mean the empire that he built is one testament of how amazing a chef he is. Not so many people have so many Michelin Stars in so many different countries and I will definitely say he is one of the greatest chefs to maintain his three Michelin Stars for about 14 years in New York.

WG MAGAZINE

KUYMAK SOFT CHEESE POLENTA WILD MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLE BUTTER

LAMB MANTI TOMATO, ROAST GARLIC YOGURT & THYME

CITIR KALAMAR SIMIT COATED BABY SQUID AVOCADO HADARI & SPICY RED PEPPER DIP

CRUDITE RAW VEGETABLES, RED PEPPER YOGURT

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COLIN CLAGUE

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PAN FRIED SEABASS WITH ALMOND, SIMIT & SUMAC

WG MAGAZINE

Take us through the bespoke Pollen Experience…

Singapore, obviously working with Jason, it was an amazing experience and the food that we did there was brilliant. Jason is one of the greatest chefs and he would agree with me - wrong location, it’s just a stunning part of Singapore Gardens by the bay, fine dining inside the garden center probably not the right place at the time in Singapore, The food scene in Singapore is more than fine dining, one can go and eat some great street food, some great hot centers serving some of the best sting rays, satays.

Colin describes his culinary philosophy, and take us through the process you go through to creating a new dish…

REVANI & HONEY REVANI, KAYMAK, HONEY SEASONAL FRUIT

If it was Zuma with Japanese or Q’bara with Middle Eastern cuisine it would take around six to seven weeks creating a dish. While in Turkey, I was trying 20-30 dishes a day as I wanted to taste these traditional dishes. The perfect dish is Levrek, which is a staple of the Mezza, chopped seabass which they keep in ice cold water and just put mustard vinegar and its spooned on the table, the taste is terrific doesn’t look pretty. So what I did is to take it more on a Japanese sushi style, the seabass sliced fine and with a cold dressing – apple, yogurt and walnut mustard which goes on it, beautifully decorated with various garnishes. The same dish with the same ingredients but just elevated to restaurant standards.

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COLIN CLAGUE

Colin tells us his cooking techniques behind his signature dishes…

With technique, when it’s got to be traditionally grilled or charcoal I do it traditionally, we can’t say we do anything fusion here, even if we grill it or pan fry it we do it the same way. I do a lot of slow cooking, a lot of water baths to bring out the flavors, I really go for authenticity, if you look at some of the dishes that are prepared in clay pots, it’s the same clay pot has been around for 2000 years it hasn’t changed and that’s what we do. We slow cook it, we put it in the oven. This is an idea at the back of my head once Rüya takes off, as the whole clay pot cooking is remarkable.

Produce, Creativity or Technique… “Being based in Dubai the most important thing for me is quality, if I can get organic or free range then that is good.

The most important thing is the quality of produce and there’s no bargaining about quality.”

2 CHEESE PIDE FROM BLACK SEA WITH SLOW COOKED EGG

Colin tells us what new ingredients that inspire him and if any ingredient which he has not been able to work with…

Obviously, we have to base it on all the Anatolian dishes so I am using lots of cheese, a lot of yogurts, using apple vinegar, quince vinegar, that are really good and the fish at a certain times a year these are all straight from turkey.

I never did like coffee and reading about Mexican cooking where the natives use spice with coffee. We do a Grain Fed Beef with a blend of Turkish coffee and black chili powder and it’s really taste good.

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LAMB SHANK CLAY POT LAMB SHANK WITH BABY ONIONS AND HOMEMADE RED PEPPER PASTE

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YUMURTALI EKMEK SAFFRON FRENCH TOAST ICED KAYMAK, ROASTED STONE FRUIT, CARAMEL

FIRIN SÜTLAÇ TRADITIONAL ANATOLIAN RICE PUDDING, RASPBERRIES, ROSE ICE CREAM & LOKUM

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ÇIKOLATA VE TURK KAHVESI DARK CHOCOLATE KIBBEH TURKISH COFFEE CREAM, LIQUORICE NIBS, AND SALTED CARAMEL

MUHALEBBI DONDURMA, BAKLAVA, BUBBLE GUM ESPUNA

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STAMBOUL WHITE CHOCOLATE & YOGURT CREAM, LEMON LOKUM, STRAWBERRY AND BASIL SORBET

What motivates Colin?

a modern interpretation of Turkey’s cosmopolitan heritage, where food explores the quality, diversity and heritage of Anatolia...

My two kids and my wife. Also, I want to learn and explore all these cultures, it fascinates me, so travelling around Turkey, the Middle East and around Japan, other restaurants really inspires me to see how people eat, learn and their travels broadens the mind. The food, the culture, this is the inspiration.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Colin’s advice to those entering the kitchen for the first time…

If you want glamour become a model, being a chef is never be glamourous, yes people from outside might think its glamorous and you know when you have photographs with celebrities it is great, there is no shortcuts, if you ask my wife she will tell you that she is a single mother, she never sees me with a sixteen hour day. I should be slowing down but you cannot rest on your laurels there is no shortcuts. Anton, Jean-Georges all these guys are still putting in their hours.

These TV things are they cursed? Not really be cursed, they get people interested in food if you think you can be a TV professional chef it’s not the same.

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CHRISTOPHE MULLER

CHRISTOPHE MULLER

Following in the footsteps of a grand seigneur Text Hangar-7 Photo © Helge Kirchberger / Red Bull Hangar-7

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CHRISTOPHE MULLER

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SALAD OF BRETON LOBSTER WITH CAULIFLOWER AND PUILLY FUSSÉ GELÉE

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Four kilometres north of Lyon on the banks of the Saône, not far from the bridge that gives it its name, you will find L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges restaurant – also known as Paul Bocuse, which gives something of an idea about who you will find there. For over 20 years, chef Christophe Muller has been at the Auberge du Pont de Collonges, owned by its grand seigneur Paul Bocuse and which has consistently been awarded three Michelin stars since 1965 – a feat no other restaurant has ever achieved. No wonder, then, that over the decades the Auberge has become a place of pilgrimage for gourmets the world over.

This French ‘pilgrimage site for all things gourmet’ is painted in striking reds, greens and yellows, with a painted window on the outside of the restaurant professing its legacy to customers. And atop the roof sits a large neon sign that reads ‘Paul Bocuse’.

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CHRISTOPHE MULLER

ECKART WITZIGMANN, CHRISTOPHE MULLER AND MARTIN KLEIN

It may be the culinary luminary that imposes his presence on the outside, but it is another talent running the pass inside. Should an aspiring young chef wish to stand over the stove with their long hair tied back and wearing a colourful chef’s jacket, Muller, cooking as ever in his elegant smoking shoes, is happy to oblige them. Professional, confident and authoritative, the Michelin-starred chef is the very embodiment of continuity – a true old school chef.

And that is something his guests cannot help but recognise, too, Muller, as was the tradition of his mentor Paul Bocuse, presenting them with the Soupe aux Truffes V.G.E. This classic dish was named after former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who named Bocuse a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1975. With its unmistakable puff pastry cover and the sumptuous black truffles inside, it is regarded as the ultimate luxury by gourmet aficionados.

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TRUFFLE CONSOMMÉ COVERED IN PASTRY

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CHRISTOPHE MULLER

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RED MULLET IN CRISPY POTATO

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The menus of this acclaimed restaurant bear a quotation from Vincent van Gogh – one that Bocuse’s ambitious team also hold in their hearts: “Comme il est difficile d’être simple.”

This “complexity of simplicity” is something that guests can experience in dishes such as pan-fried foie gras served with grapefruit, polenta and peas – such a simple-sounding dish meaning that every element must be implemented with precision. Something that Muller ensures down to the very last detail.

In 2000, the executive chef was named winner of the historic Meilleur Ouvrier de France award: a title given to outstanding figures in various artisan fields. The chef proudly wears this badge of honour on the collar of his chef’s jacket, its colours of the French tricolore representing his prestigious award.

Those who wish to experience the taste of French flair for themselves will have their chance in January 2017, when Christophe Muller takes up the mantle in Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7.

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JOE BARZA

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JOE BARZA

Reviving Lebanese cuisine PHOTO Š ROGER MOUKARZEL

With a trademark goatee and a penchant for hats, with over 30 years of experience, Master Chef Joe Barza proudly positions himself as the Lebanese Terroir Culinary Artist, credited for reviving Lebanese cuisine and has helped raise the profile of Middle Eastern fare across the world. To achieve this, he combines local ingredients in unconventional ways, juggling color, flavours and presentation in order to create revolutionary dishes for the 21st century.

Born in Tyre, Lebanon in 1963, Joe Barza was a personal bodyguard for a key player in the Lebanese war before enrolling in a hotel school and leaving the war-torn country in 1980. He moved to South Africa and quickly progressed through the culinary ranks in the kitchens of Johannesburg International Airport.

Upon his return to Lebanon after the war, where he took up several positions as head chef, in 2010, Barza founded Joe Barza Culinary Consultancy, a company that deals with all aspects of restaurant and catering operations. He is also a member of the Academie Culinaire de France, the president of the Lebanese Chefs Association and on the organizing committee of the Lebanese Salon Culinaire HORECA.

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JOE BARZA

Backed with years of professionalism, dedication, and achievements, Joe Barza introduced in 2009 his brainchild, the “Joe Barza Culinary Consultancy� specializing in food and beverage consultancy, kitchen design, recruiting services, and training activities.

For Joe Barza, each project is a challenge and a quest to seek new boundaries and to introduce new signature culinary trends; this is why his portfolio is home to over 30 brands of consultancy and endorsement, 100 local and international events participation in 27 countries, and 25 Lebanese Cuisine promotion events in international hotels and culinary establishments.

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Recognized as a television personality, he was appointed as a jury member in many international culinary competitions and head judge in the Emmy Award-winning television show “Top Chef” in its Middle Eastern version in 2011.co-hosting the Middle Eastern version of Top Chef and making guest appearances all over the globe, Barza has amassed numerous awards and accolades, and takes parts in international events to promote the cuisine of his native Lebanon.

Barza has worked with some of the biggest names in culinary arts - Frederic Anton, Gérald Passedat, David Higgs, and Guillaume Gomez. It is through perseverance, hard work, attention to detail, implementation of international standards, training, and collective improvement, that Joe Barza’s dreams are now being achieved.

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WG Magazine catches up with Joe Barza‌ WG Magazine: It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Tell us more about your formative years and how did you find your way into the culinary field to become the most thought-after chef!

Joe Barza: Becoming the most thought-after chef has never occurred my mind and was the least of my expectations. My ancestors were fishermen.

When I was a kid, I used to watch my mother cooking and the scent of her cuisine enlightened my inner hidden passion. I grew up with one will in my mind to master the cuisine. Late after, I enrolled an hotel school.

In 1980, I was obliged to leave Lebanon my war-torn country heading to South Africa.

South Africa was the turning point in my career as a chef. I started working in Johannesburg International airport kitchens finding myself with 16 others chefs from different nations exchanging their culture, values, knowhow and passion for food. At that time, the need to make a better future for myself and start over again made me eager to learn, absorb and capture everything around me and well the sky was the limit.

On my return to Lebanon after the war, I thought being a normal chef was not the right choice but rather flipping off the table by taking the hard way. So I started forging into my talent, my know-how and my creativity in the culinary field. All this combined lead me to success. The twist I have made between the traditional and the modern Lebanese cuisine was the true path to my success. The on-going success. In 2010, I launched my own business, founding Joe Barza Culinary Consultancy. My reputation was already there and it kept on rolling ever since.

WG Magazine: You trained with Marc Veyrat, Pierre Marin, Jean-Pierre Jacob, Chicho Sultano and Pierre Pomel - Tell us about your experiences with these chefs and how did it help to form who you are as a chef today?

Joe Barza: In fact, it is an ongoing experience that I share every year when I meet chefs from all over the world. Each one of the chefs mentioned added a value into my personality and as a chef.

So, I learned from them patience, discipline, know-how but most of all I learned how to be a human.

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Known as a rebel chef who has revived Lebanese cuisine that has been stagnant for many years by combining local ingredients in unconventional ways in order to create new trend setting revolutionary dishes that have become his trademarks, a cuisine full of flavors - how do you bring about this balance on a plate?

Let me tell you, first it is all about reviving lots of sensational feelings that I owe to my ancestors every time I create a dish in my plate. Second, bringing out the best of a recipe is about having full confidence in local ingredients, spices thus combining all with talent, knowhow and passion.

How would you describe your culinary philosophy and take us through the process you go through to creating a new dish and what inspired the best you have created?

In 2006, I won the “First Class Award “for creating “Tuna” in Carlo Forte- Sardinia, Italy at the Giro Tonno - “2nd World Championship of the TUNA of Quality”. I felt the aspiration to give tribute to my old roots, and the nostalgia for my ancestors made me compensate them with this reward.

What are your greatest influences in the kitchen?

My inspirations could be the face, the smile of a child or the traits of an old man or the wrinkles of an old woman and other times from stylish people I meet.

In your opinion, what is the best recipe you have ever created? What inspired this recipe and why?

Recipe creation is my day to day bread. And being a culinary chef is not far from being an artist.

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AGED CHEESE&CUCUM WITH SUNDRIED TOMATO

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What new ingredient or ingredients inspiring you right now and how do you select your ingredients?

Right now, the “Freekeh” known as smoked green wheat is the new Quinoa. It is traditionally used in Middle Eastern dishes with meat. It can be a great alternative to rice or couscous as stuffing or a base for salads.

Usually when I visit my country’s villages and mountaineers, I always search in their “Mooneh” – It is an Arabic word related to old products, ingredients, spices kept as a secret. I truly believe in the value of those products and try to elaborate them with new ingredients sorting out all its culinary richness.

What are your favourite ingredients you like to work with?

My favorite ingredients are fish, spices and beans.

Is there an ingredient that you weren’t able to master and have given up on and why?

ROLLED FISH FILET WITH STUFFED WINE LEAVES

I don’t like molecular gastronomy as it’s a totally different way of producing food as it’s a different concept that doesn’t match with my way of creating a recipe.

Do you have any special cooking techniques or equipment you particular enjoy using?

I don’t have any particular cooking techniques or equipment and I always try to balance the old and new techniques in order to bring out, deliver the best of my recipe. But I apply the slow and low cooking temperature.

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Produce, Creativity or Technique, what is more important to you and why?

In my opinion, it is the combination between creations, execution and technique that makes a good chef deliver a successful plate. It is like a closed chain to follow and most of all the love of the profession.

A successful chef and restaurateur with numerous awards and accolades - What keeps you motivated at this point in your career.

LABBNEH CAKE WITH ROSE PETAL

Being a successful chef with numerous awards is a great achievement. But this doesn’t stop me to consider every day as a new challenge in my career. Being in love with what you do is the first motivation and a great gift.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, what advice could you give to chefs who are first entering the field today?

Indeed, it is a glamorous profession and my advice for new chefs entering the field is to work on delivering this joyful part. So, they should cook with love and make everyone happy.

As eating is a pleasure, satisfying people by delivering a tasty plate is the key to success.

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REIF OTHMAN THE EXPERIENCE Dubai Reif’s intimate & innovative culinary concept – ‘The Experience.’ This revolutionary concept takes a fresh look on the traditional Chef’s table.

The exclusive setting will seats 12 people, and the bespoke menu is tailor made each night to suit the appetite of his guests, giving them an interactive experience with the Chef and the food; bringing forth an engaging atmosphere, which will result in a one-of-a-kind dining extravaganza.

Stepping into the new space, one feels like they are transcended to someone’s magnificent living room.

Reif cooks and serves every dish himself, treating guests to a completely unique and customized dining experience, unleashing new heights of creativity when it comes to food- dishes that you have never tasted before… it is an Experience!

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Photo ©ANTONIO SABA

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HEINZ BECK La Pergola Rome

Chef of La Pergola since 1994, Heinz Beck bases his cooking on excellent raw materials, the principle of a kitchen always healthy, full of taste, recognizable and on mastery of innovative techniques in the full respect of Mediterranean traditions.

La Pergola, three Michelin since 2005, is located on the Roof Garden of the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, from where the panorama of the city extends as far as the eye with the domes and the most famous monuments.

The restaurant is decorated with frescoed ceilings, prestigious furniture, tapestries and paintings of the eighteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The wine cellar of “La Pergola”, with its 3,500 labels for a total of approximately 70,000 bottles, is considered one of the most prestigious in the world for the rarity of exposed labels and refinement of its surroundings.

The cellar receives since 2001 the “Grand Award”, the exclusive recognition of U.S. “ Wine Spectator”, the first global magazine dedicated to the culture of wine.

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

TICKETS Barcelona Albert Adrià was once pegged as “the greatest unknown cook in the world” by Joel Robuchon, a man who himself carried the label of “greatest chef of the century” and who named Ferran “the greatest chef on the planet.” Albert Adrià is the other member of the Adrià saga.

Born in Barcelona in 1969, he was just sweet 16 when he decided to drop out of school and join his bros’ El Bulli, shuffling relentlessly from the pastry frontline to the lead of El Taller, their research lab in Barcelona. Burnt out by the stressful life he was living day after day and night after night, in 2009 he decided to tune out of fine dining to explore new directions, in the purest form of genius disguised as an inspired restaurateur, with Tickets in Barcelona, the first of a series of modern, most enjoyable and highly ambitious restaurants that Albert launched with his hermano Ferran, from 2011 on (41, Pakta, Enigma). Smartest kid(s) on the block.

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Photo ©S.DELPECH

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ALAIN PASSARD Arpège Paris

Alain Passard creates Arpège, formerly L’Archestrate belonging to his mentor, Alain Senderens, located on the corner of rue de Varenne and rue de Bourgogne. He baptizes it in tribute to his second passion, his love for music, and he opts for an Art Deco style interior, an atmosphere of which he is particularly fond.

Alain has been viscerally bound to his burners for the past 30 years. He seeks relentlessly, with each movement and with the utmost respect, to bring out the best in his subject. By preserving its color, essence, hues and scent, he restores purity to the product. Roasting is no secret to Alain Passard.

The talent that his grandmother passed down to him and this passion for the flame were the key ingredients behind the long-time success of his slow-cooked choice meats.

Today, he applies this fascination and know-how to the vegetables he roasts, grills or flambés…

Working the art of open flame stays crucial :”Learn how to travel delicately with your pan on the open flame guaranties texture, taste, color, light and transparency with your vegetables” Alain plays particularly with colours, perfumes, savoury of the vegetable kingdom. Working with vegetables is, in a way, an incentive to replant the earth, to tackle a new language, a different vocabulary.

Since the opening of his restaurant, he receives his third Michelin star. Alain Passard’s quest for perfection is no less intense in the decoration of his dining room than in the heart of each course; he craves continual harmony.

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MASSIMO BOTTURA

Osteria Francescana Modena Massimo Bottura is chef-patron of the three Michelin starred Osteria Francescana in Modena currently ranked number 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Over the past twenty years, he has consolidated his reputation as one of the world’s most creative culinary figures. He has written an acclaimed cookbook – Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef - and starred in several television series.

Bottura’s second restaurant, Franceschetta58, is a contemporary osteria in his home town.

Though it’s taken him a while, Massimo Bottura is a trail blazer among a new generation of Italian chefs. His work both as a visionary and restaurateur confirms him as one of the world’s most creative culinary forces.

In 1995, Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in the medieval city center of Modena. His concept was to juxtapose culinary tradition and innovation with contemporary art and design. Bottura then spent a summer at El Bulli with Ferran Adrià, which encouraged him to continue pushing boundaries and re-writing rules with his cuisine.

A piece of work by Gino de Dominicis struck a particular chord with Bottura, for at Osteria Francescana, tradition is seen from ten kilometres away. Italy’s extraordinary ingredients and classic dishes are re-evaluated with the benefit of critical distance, ensuring that the Italian Kitchen is free to evolve. Bottura is dedicated to reconstructing Italy’s cultural heritage - not deconstructing it.

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Photo ©PAOLO TERZI

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Photo ©SERGE CHAPUIS

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ANNE-SOPHIE PIC Maison Pic Valence

To understand her cuisine, one must understand the woman. While she may at first seem reserved, fragile or even distant, she is actually very passionate, sensitive, free-spirited and enterprising.

Her path testifies to an exceptional strength of character, because she needed a lot of conviction, perseverance and faith to make a name for herself as a self-taught woman in a decidedly maledominated field.

She was guided to the culinary arts by her sense of smell and her palate. As a little girl, she delighted in the fragrances wafting from the kitchens where her father worked.

Anne-Sophie is always on the move. She’s always looking for complex new flavour combinations.

She likes to research rarer flavours – such as bitter, acidic, iodised, roasted and smoked – with the goal of taming them. She continually revisits ingredients, cooking methods and techniques to offer her guests a distinct and often surprising gustatory experience.

There are nevertheless some unchanging things within this momentum: audacity, a search for balance, aromatic complexity and delicacy. That is where the beauty of the moment can be found: the balance between aromatic power and delicacy of expression. The flavours in her dishes do not reveal themselves all at once. They emerge subtly when you take the time to listen and look for them.

Her signature style cannot be found in a single dish but rather in her creative approach, in her way of seeing and being present in the world, in her heightened sensitivity. The tasting of a dish is by nature an ephemeral experience, and that’s what makes it unique.

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SOPHIE BISE

Auberge du Père Bise Talloires Auberge du Père Bise is settled in a unique location that takes all its magnificence with lights’ reflections over the lake. No one could have imagined a better place... More than a splendid location, your eyes and your taste buds will be taken to a new world of pleasure with the cuisine of Sophie Bise.

A century of culinary traditions that history can only summarize with the words “once upon many times!”, starting from Marie & François Bise in 1901 to Marguerite & Marius Bise in 1928 up to Charlyne & François in 1957, and now Sophie Bise, heiress of a superb gourmet dynasty.

Sophie Bise is a key figure in Gastronomy. Her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents made Auberge du Père Bise a very unique institution in our heritage. This is with a real passion that she brings this heritage to us.

Sophie Bise preserves an authenticity with her own inventive touch. The menus invite you to great pleasures in accordance with a personality that always look after creativity.

Sophie Bise only works with regional and local fresh products. She makes you discover fishes from Annecy Lake or refined dishes with a perfect combination of the most savory ingredients.

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ALAIN DUCASSE

au Plaza Athénée Paris

Alain Ducasse tells a personal and radical story, continuing the work he began twenty-five years ago. He represents the naturalness cuisine, inspired by the fish-vegetables-cereals trilogy, with the help of his chef of Romain Meder. Healthier and more natural, more respectful of the Planet, it delivers a free and nearly instinctive interpretation of Haute Cuisine, revealing the produces’ original flavour, from the noble to the humble, all exceptional.

Turning his back on traditional presentation, wines are now classified by generation. 10 years, 15 years, all the way up to 55 years! A beautiful way to choose wine, defined by an event that marks a life and their celebration.

The dining room is a gem- where all is softness of curves, materials and contents. Everywhere is wonder in the remarkable quality of the pieces created with an absolute attention to every detail, a formidable representation of the craftsman’s expertise. The hand of Man at the service of Beauty transcending matter and form.

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JOAN ROCA

El Celler de Can Roca Girona Joan Roca was just 9 years old when he decided to put on his first chefs jacket and help his mother in the family traditional restaurant and house. Today Joan Roca runs with his own project along with his two brothers, Josep the sommelier and Jordi the pastry chef.

El Celler de Can Roca is the authentic creative triangle formed by the three Roca brothers, with continuous research committed to innovation and creativity, enhancing traditional flavors with cutting edge techniques with an original balance.

Through a transversal vision of the creative process, Joan Roca’s restaurant project dialogues and engages both with science and peasants, technology and sensitivity, product and sensorial anthropology.

El Celler is a free-style restaurant, committed to the avant-garde, but still faithful to the memory of different generations of the family’s ancestors dedicated to feeding people.

El Celler de Can Roca’s commitment to cuisine and to the avant-garde, and its link to academia, has led it to defend the dialogue between the countryside and science, a total dialogue.

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Photo ©EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA

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TAE HWAN RYU

Ryunique South Korea

Through a contemporary cooking style with foundations in Japanese and French cuisine, Ryunique has respectively won 27th place and 79th place in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in merely 3 years of launching.

An integrated word of ‘Tae Hwan Ryu’ and ‘Unique’, Ryunique is located on the quiet street of Garosugil in Sinsa-Dong, Gangnam-Gu. In an effort to satisfy the public’s expectation, Ryunique’s skilled team presents and recreates exquisitely crafted dishes of Chef Ryu’s recipes.

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DAVID THOMPSON Nahm Bangkok

An obsessive approach to authenticity, David Thompson’s outlook is both retrospective – studying century-old cookbooks of long departed Thai matriarchs and forward-thinking and passion for Thai cuisine. David Thompson’s dishes demonstrate his keen understanding of the balance of salt, spice, sweet and sour, as well as the fermented and smoky notes in Thai cooking.

David’s passion for Thai cooking has not only made a life’s work of it, but made it his vocation - a passion that consumes his every day. David continues to partake, and share, everything possible about the cuisine that has so thoroughly enthralled him. Cookbooks like Thai Food and Thai Street Food - a solid testament Thompson’s knowledge and reverence of Thai cuisine.

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Photo ©SCOTT WRIGHT

Dinner may begin with just one or two bite dishes, move to more substantial fare, before hitting uphill a “pivotal moment,” where the meal might suspend its synchronization to introduce a choice.

PAUL PAIRET Ultraviolet Shanghai

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All guests receive the same 20-course set menu at the same time, which pushes the experience towards the essence of what a meal is about: a communion. Ultraviolet’s 20 courses (or so) menu will move in a series of dishes grouped by size and nature.

The menu will then shift downhill for a series of digestives and sweets in diminishing sizes. What dishes make up the series is entirely flexible. Pairet reserves the freedom to express his personal “avantgarde figurative” cuisine (understand modern with flesh and bone) as much as his right to express the essence of a product, simplicity and anti-theatrics.

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KIRK WESTAWAY

JAAN Singapore

Kirk Westaway’s Modern French menu is built around a passion to showcase the freshest ingredients through simple but beautiful dishes that reflect both culinary tradition and creativity.

The result is an imaginative, innovative cuisine that celebrates and respects seasonality, terroir, and the skills of the world’s best gourmet producers.

The pure simplicity of Kirk’s creations belie the many layered intricacies that go into crafting them. He adds a dramatic touch to the fine dining experience at JAAN with his bold yet elegant combination of flavours and textures, as well as refined techniques and artful plating. Though informed by his British heritage, he is profoundly influenced by the renowned chefs who have mentored him in the artistry of French cuisine. This results in creations that articulate the familiar tastes of European cuisine, but are elevated and transformed into new classics which evoke a sense of nostalgia and awake long forgotten memories.

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CHRISTIAN LE SQUER Le Cinq Paris

With 12 years heralded by three Michelin stars, Christian Le Squer has given proof of exemplary regularity. He is a determined and serene Chef who defines himself as a creator of savors and composer of tastes. Like a couturier or a perfumer, he shapes and assembles products in order to enhance them and obtain the most exacting flavors with perfect coherence.

In the style of a fashion designer or perfumer, Christian Le Squer shapes and assembles his produce, enhancing it and drawing out the most delicate flavors, achieving a perfect balance in the process.

Behind the excellence of the Le Cinq restaurant, Christian Le Squer’s team bustles behind the scenes. Expertly coordinated by his masterful hand and every single dish has to be impeccable.

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Max’s cuisine, based on the concepts of depth, lightness and fluidity, is poetry on a plate. Inspiration for his distinctive dishes comes from looking at the world with a sense of discovery.

MASSIMILIANO ALAJMO Le Calandre Rubano

His distinctive approach to cuisine finds is reflected in the dining room of Le Calandre. Everything from the hand-carved wooden tables to the glassware and room fragrance was designed by the Alajmo brothers and produced by master Italian artisans.

Max’s cuisine is the fruit of a study that goes beyond taste. He approaches ingredients with respect, researching them in depth, in order to understand their true essence and bring out the best in them.

His dishes capture all of our senses; beginning with the most evocative of the five, our sense of smell.

According to Max, the ephemeral component of aromas and perfumes is compensated by their immediacy and ability to create lasting memories, particularly in relation to food.

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JOSÉ AVILLEZ Belcanto Lisbon

Photo ©NUNO CORREIA

Considered one of the great Portuguese chefs, José Avillez stands out due to his enterprising spirit and his willingness to go one step further.

Here one can enjoy Portuguese cuisine revisited in a sophisticated atmosphere that still provides some of the former romance of the Chiado district.

José Avillez looks at haute cuisine as a form of expression. At Belcanto he shares his inspirations, emotions and concerns through his culinary representations and illusions. Each dish tells a story and sets out to stir the emotions of those willing to try it.

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PETER GOOSSENS Hof van Cleve Belgium

Peter Goossens prefers to savour what is exceptionally delicious. And he not the only one.

Living in a country full of good food and partygoers.

That’s a part of the tradition. Finesse is the message here. Preferring local products, which is part of the DNA of Goossens kitchen. Goossens love a kitchen with individuality. Local products are the tool, to do their taste, scent and texture the best possible amount of justice is a wonderful, daily challenge.

He does, also use products from other countries.

Especially when they can provide significant added value to my creations. Some ingredients deserve all of the attention because of their unique nature and culinary capabilities. They complement the ensemble, and their subtle nuances and diversity result in extra culinary pleasure. Because this is what it’s all about, at least for Peter Goossens.

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RENÉ REDZEPI

NOMA Copenhagen

René Redzepi, as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People. This honor was not bestowed for simply putting Denmark on the world’s gastronomic map, but was also to acknowledge his passion for promoting food innovation. This is a visionary who is effectively influencing a whole new generation of chefs, worldwide. A meal at Noma is said to remind you that sometimes food is more than simply food—Nordic food that not only highlights nature’s local resources, but takes them to an entirely new level. For all intents and purposes, Noma is an homage to the bounty of our environment and everything that Mother Nature gracefully offers us. For those lucky enough to have an opportunity to dine within its environment, the experience will articulate why some restaurants truly deserve to be revered. Noma and culinary genius René Redzepi continue to push the boundaries of the epicurean world and a meal at Noma is not only completely out of the ordinary, but truly unexpected and one you will certainly never forget.

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ANDRÉ CHIANG

RESTAURANT ANDRÉ Singapore

A blend of dynamic passion and modest charm, André’s magnetism is as irresistible as his cuisine. Crafting celebrated creations, combining Mediterranean accents and French techniques, André attributes his influences to the three generations of Masters in “Nouvelle Cuisine” as well as inspiration he draws inspiration from the myriad selection of products he uses to design his menu every day.

André developed a culinary principle based on how our capacity to taste food is influenced by our memory banks, including the personal experiences we acquire over time. Octaphilosophy™ – unique, texture, memory, pure, terroir, salt, south and artisan represent the eight elements reflecting his roots in south of France. A dinner at Restaurant ANDRE is like a journey to the south of France where the guests can discover myriad flavours and textures that engage the senses.

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Photo ©THAI TOUTAIN

DAVID TOUTAIN

Restaurant David Toutain

Paris

David Toutain has dreamt his restaurant to be creative, friendly, laid back. A place flooded with light, dressed in noble materials: oak, concrete and glass. A unique, atypical place which offers a warm welcoming.

Right in the middle of the main room, a solid oak community table, a soft memory of the chef’s childhood in Normandy country side. The space is divided into two levels .The main dining room and the mezzanine: “salon ô” with its books, blackboard and the chef’s office.

The furniture, as well as the tableware have been carefully thought through to create global harmony.

Each element comes from a special workshop and from an unexpected encounter. The restaurant is just like its chef: authentic and generous.

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Photo ©PABLO JIMÉNEZ

DANI GARCÍA

Dani García Restaurante

Marbella

Dani Garcia’s influences is defined by his passion for the kitchen… The Artisan of Flavor. Excitement on the palate… The evolution of Dani García as a chef permits one to consider him as one of the most creative chefs, an authentic artisan of flavor who is able to combine, in the same plate, both the distinct produce of his country with techniques and ingredients of more international cuisines.

Garcia’s cuisine is based on contrasts, but at the same time recasting traditional flavours from Andalusian cooking. It plays with textures, the contraposition of flavors and the disparity between hot and cold, without forgetting about magical presentation and exceedingly creative dishes.

Never has the avant-garde been closer to tradition.

The result is an illustrious cuisine, which although at first is perplexing; it then invites you to uncover hidden memories and reveal pleasures.

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Photo ©MARCO PASTORI

JORDI CRUZ

ABaC RESTAURANT Barcelona

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Jordi Cruz’s creative process starts with not settling.

If every three days he is not doing a new dish, there is something inside him that eats him and makes me uncomfortable. It is an attitude thing with him all day thinking about creating new dishes. His creativity comes from his ingredients and his knowledge. He often gets inspiration from traditional dishes and loves incorporating the traditional flavors of home into his modern dishes.

Fresh, local produce plus his brilliant mind and artistry and his drive to constantly create are his best tools, and ones that he uses regularly to keep the creative process flowing. Regarding his cuisine, the chef himself defines it as “evolutionary and restless, based on the product and where creativity and tradition are merged.” Within his profession, his avant garde cuisine has continued to stand out.

One of Chef Cruz’s proverbs is to “cook simple dishes with logic and care, also applying the principle of proportionality so that diners enjoy each and every one of the courses on the menu and they are equally enthusiastic throughout.”

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HEINZ REITBAUER

STEIRERECK Vienna

The cooking style of Heinz Reitbauer reflects his respect and appreciation of raw ingredients and products. He has constructed his own cooking identity on these foundations and through his embracing of the national and regional cooking styles of his native Austria. This style consists first and foremost of the meticulous creation of small moments of surprise for the diner, be this through the discovery of a previously unknown ingredient or the resurrection of one long forgotten. Heinz claims the key to his success is the longstanding, intricate and ever expanding network of farmers, gardeners, foragers, botanists and food enthusiasts he has nurtured over the years who never cease to provide him with inspiration and motivation.

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SÉBASTIEN BRAS LE SUQUET Laguiole

Sébastien Bras reinvents his cuisine every day.

A cuisine of the moment, the fruit of constantly simmering ideas as much as formalised creative thought processes, nourished by an image, a memory from a trip, a stroll in the garden at Lagardelle, an encounter with an enthusiast or quite simply an Aubrac landscape.

Sébastien has always lived in the kitchens of the family restaurant. He entered them on the day his parents returned from the maternity ward! More than a heritage, it is also his natural playground.

Sébastien Bras creates “spontaneous cuisine of the moment”, instant, alive, sensual, which appeals more to the heart than the head. But make no mistake, it is also the result of much research, work, testing, maturity, history. The taste for cooking is all about balance; an open mind, a lot of hard work and the sum of one›s total experiences. There is no substitute for experience. You cannot be, without having been.

Nature is the defining influence, for she decides what she provides! His cooking follows the rhythms of nature. Very often, the surprises which their garden at Lagardelle springs on them early in the morning enable him to create according to the morning dews and the seasons. Aubrac is also Sébastien›s foundation. Its products determine the essentials of his cuisine. Sébastien demands that Aubrac be viewed in a contemporary light, where «rusticity» is not a reference. An Aubrac which he conjugates with his travels, “indispensable to open my mind, my heart, my senses.” Leaving, in order to return enriched, effectively...

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ANDONI LUIS ADURIZ MUGARITZ San Sebastián

Andoni Luis Aduriz is undoubtedly one of the most influential chefs of our time. Throughout his career, he has remained highly committed to culinary evolution, making him somewhat of a rebel in the kitchen.

Aduriz intends a meal at Mugaritz to shock and surprise as well as delight with ‘trompes l’oeils’– culinary tricks of the eye. Mugaritz delivers a gastronomic experience of 24 dishes. Pleasure is experienced in an unpredictable melody where sensory harmonies, emotions, and culinary messages lyrically intertwine.

At Mugaritz, eating is a path to experience, a path scattered with histories, aromas, textures, flavours, games, memories, desires and numerous other pleasurable stimuli.

That is why he creates and suggest forms of service that prompt situations in which his diners can give free rein to their senses and interact with only the barest of rules for engaging on a culinary voyage.

An aim to break the barriers imposed by customs.

Named after a border oak tree that grows in the hills around San Sebastian - Mugaritz takes attention to detail to new heights. From the specially created barbecue smell that emanates from the restaurant, designed to remind approaching diners of their childhood, to the way the table is set (or not) – is done for a very specific reason – to transcend the dining experience to new and unexpected heights.

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Photo ©JOSÉ LUIS LÓPEZ DE ZUBIRÍA

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Photo ©ARACELI PAZ

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ENRIQUE OLVERA PUJOL Mexico Olvera’s culinary proposal has been defined over time based on an obsession for detail, subtle ingredient selection and flavor construction, as well as a dynamic of constant evolution and deep exploration of Mexico’s gastronomic potential. His unending curiosity has driven change and evergreater perfection in his work. Following a first phase reinterpreting Mexico’s popular recipesthat brought him fame well beyond the nation’s borders-Olvera adopted a more personal focus in which he began to explore and create based on Mexico’s almost inexhaustible universe of ingredients, while never ceasing to experiment with both contemporary as well as millennia-old culinary technique, always deeply invested in bold and imaginative proposals.

Olvera has achieved a certain balance by means of experience, maturity, evolution. To evolve for Olvera is to incorporate tools into his life. Tools to communicate himself better. Tools to be able to manage and put into practice what you’ve learned through books, travels, talking to people you admire, eating at other restaurants.

For Olvera it has become very personal, free and fearless. Where there has to be a dialogue with the ingredients he is using and with the context that he is working on. The best food is the intelligent one and the best dishes are the ones to come.

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ANDREAS CAMINADA SCHLOSS SCHAUENSTEIN Fürstenau

Swiss chef, Andreas Caminada is the youngest three-star chef in Europe. Caminada’s Swiss restaurant Schloss Schauenstein offers a unique culinary experience, which revolves around clean flavors, bright colors and fresh ingredients, which stimulate every sense, each element plays its role and a feast on the palate.

Passsion, commitment and unbounded ambition are the ingredients of Andreas Caminada’s recipe for success. And recognition of his talent comes in the form of three Michelin stars and 19 GaultMillau points. To cap it all, his Schauenstein Castle restaurant is one of the world’s top 50 and no longer a closely guarded secret among gourmets.

Andreas Caminada’s philosophy is easy to grasp - “Eating shall be a journey involving all senses, leaving a lingering impression.”

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Photo ©PHILIPPE VAURES

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YANNICK ALLÉNO PAVILLON LEDOYEN Paris Yannick Alléno advocates a French cuisine that draws its strength from its heritage but is also ambitious in its creativity. He has developed a visionary approach to the culinary arts in which know-how and excellence are combined with audacity that pushes boundaries to better experience new flavors and exalt tastes. He is Chef at the Cheval Blanc in Courchevel, and goes beyond borders on his endless quest for the quintessential in all things.

Passionate about French cuisine, Yannick Alléno has pioneered new research on modern sauces and introduces these new techniques into each dish.

Creativity, passion and pursuit of culinary excellence… Offering an exceptional dining experience, guests are invited to choose one key ingredient – vegetable, meat or fish - for their main dish. Guided by this choice, Chef Alléno then constructs the entire meal around the core dish, including the starter and dessert.

For example, the poularde topped with seeds poached with Jura wine stock and panais extract will be best served with the duck foie gras poached with Rivesaltes wine and pear in a sugar crust as a starter, or the crab meat in squid leaf to end the orange bead cinnamon foam for dessert.

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CARME RUSCALLEDA

RESTAURANT SANT PAU Sant Pol de Mar Carme Ruscalleda developed her innovative gourmet style alongside the local environment. The sea life in the Mediterranean is not the same as in the North Pacific Ocean which helps with crafting food. She also utilizes the specialized crops from the local wild mountains. From these inspirations, Chef Carme creates dishes with refined balance of the natural flavors that come together with different contrasts and textures. The regional nature and the variety of food products she can create, plus the enormous amount of gastronomic discourse among her colleagues are my biggest inspirations in the kitchen. Especially after 11 years in Japan with our Asian cuisine influences. This is where originality is perceived.

A very nouveau cuisine made fresh and uninterrupted, with pure, clean flavors, contrasts and gastronomical diversions. It is a personal, creative and honest cuisine. It is a cuisine that also defends the values of healthy food without sacrificing gastronomic pleasure.

Carme Ruscalleda often communicates her food with themed dishes by serving them as a leitmotif, explained in the menu, creating a literal concept with your meal through a tasting menu, a cheese of the month, and a wine cellar.

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LUISA VALAZZA

RESTAURANT HOTEL AL SORRISO Sorriso Queen of “the sacred temple” of International culinary, one of the renowned actresses of that world, Luisa’s food is the reflection of a true woman who loves the gastronomic tradition of her territory, and offers creative and hearty dishes, where technique and research are coupled with devotion.

The basis of her philosophy revolves around the choice of local ingredients, culinary customs, finding new forms and variations, so giving value to their peculiarity and offering her magic recipes a great multi-sensorial feel.

With Luisa’s creativity and excellent culinary skills, Al Sorriso offers the opportunity to consider cuisine from a different perspective, rediscovering its different tones, combining seasonal herbs and foods and enhancing the local products. The result is a traditional yet well-researched cuisine.

A true philosophy about taste, it’s a about scents that usher you into the pleasure of food, where the intensity of natural tastes gives real life to Luisa’s dishes, so charming the sight of it and giving great satisfaction to your palate.

It’s about transforming raw materials, without necessarily altering their properties, neither their organoleptic quality nor their original taste, which Luisa and Angelo scrupulously select or grow by themselves, in which case, respecting the alteration of the seasons. The cooking is always by gradual heating process.

Luisa’s coking is all about one thing: a life given to researching innovative tastes, all in strict respect of our traditional values, characterized by a simplicity that comes right from the heart.

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REIF OTHMAN PLAY Dubai A place for the thinkers, the dreamers, the trendsetters and the mavericks, everyone who approaches life in a more playful way.

Truly unique and carefully cultivated culinary concept that transports guests on a gastronomic journey like no other. Spoiled with a concoction of exquisite flavours that fuse East and West, Reif Othman introduces guests to his Mediterrasian Cuisine.

Reif let his enthusiastic creativity and talent be the driving force behind this dynamic culinary concept, which sees the interesting fusion of flavors and ingredients. His perfectly balance Mediterranean and Japanese flavors, using handpicked, organic ingredients designed to leave taste buds full of contentment. Mediterrasian cuisine brings together the rich flavor from European cuisine and the lightness of Japanese ingredients to create a perfect balance.

Home to elaborate décor and a warm and inviting ambiance, PLAY proves that it really has the right mix of everything. PLAY is a homegrown concept designed to take it patrons on a sensory expedition through a perfectly balanced one-of-a-kind cuisine, inspiring surroundings, and its impeccable service.

This is the place where those looking for a destination that reflects their outlook on life, their style and their aspirations can get together, socialize, laugh and enjoy exceptional food, drinks and music in a unique atmosphere designed to stimulate all the senses.

Play is not just dining venue – it’s a state of mind, an experience!

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Photo ©OAXEN

At the heart of Oaxen’s cuisine has been a collaboration of creatively utilizing sustainable local elements and ethically produced ingredients.

As the status grew, Magnus was recognized as the forerunners of New Nordic Swedish cooking. The tavern cultivated and grew into one of the most highly rated eateries in Sweden.

MAGNUS EK

OAXEN KROG Stockholm

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Oaxen Krog has not been just about the food, but the imperative and natural journey from farm to table. They use local ingredients exclusive to the Baltics, and even have reserved permission to pick certain herbs on the island. Magnus regularly forages through the woods to gather products for his menus. Nature is an important element in Magnus’ gastronomy as he also grows his own herbs and vegetables nearby. Using the ingredients that grew in the woods behind the restaurant and out on the waterfront. Whilst Magnus explored and researched the island’s wild herbs as well as the small local farmers and producers, he cooked on stones, and he even invented a smoking apparatus.

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YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA NARISAWA Tokyo

Chef Narisawa’s “Sustainability and Gastronomy” - This is the theme of Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa. He is a pioneer of cuisine connected to the preservation of the natural environment. Having travelled to his producers fields, having stepped into the earth, and having built a relationship with the natural world, he has created dishes such as ‘Soil Soup”, “Water Salad”, “Essence of the Forest”.

Through these signature NARISAWA dishes, natural ingredients such as wood and soil can be eaten, through this experience, the consumer gains a new relationship with the natural world, and with environmental concerns.

“Innovative Satoyama Cuisine” a food culture built on the richness of the natural Japanese environment- the satoyama and the respect of the one’s ancestors. A unique genre, not traditional Japanese cuisine, nor French: an original, NARISAWA cuisine, spreading its call to the world.

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JONNIE BOER

RESTAURANT DE LIBRIJE The Netherlands

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“Passion” is Jonnie’s motto and the heart of the different Librije companies. Passion for cooking, wines and gastronomy. Everything in the world of De Librije is carried out with a contemporary, modern twist, adverse to convention and entrenched customs.

Restaurant De Librije stands for savouring extraordinary dishes and accompanying wines in unique surroundings. Pure ingredients from the region make up the bases of the kitchen. Jonnie Boer and his kitchen brigade ensure perfection in the kitchen. Restaurant De Librije is all about the good things life has to offer. This is translated into an experience in which the guest is able to enjoy unique dishes complemented by fine wines, in an atmosphere that is both exclusive and relaxed. The kitchen sources its pure, natural ingredients and produce locally. While Jonnie Boer and his kitchen brigade create culinary perfection in the kitchens,

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ENRICO & ROBERTO CEREA

RISTORANTE DA VITTORIO Brusaporto

The two celebrated culinary brothers of the “Ristorante Da Vittorio”. It was clear that they were destined to follow in the family footsteps. The history of the restaurant and the two talented brother chefs began 50 years ago with a love story…

The concept of “Lombard tradition and creative genius” is the leitmotiv of Da Vittorio’s menus, which are regularly updated and altered to keep up with changes in the market and in the seasons.

The care, attention and exploration of culinary themes is kept wide-ranging to please all palates.

The most diverse palates, personal tastes or culinary requirements can all find pleasure and innovation here: meat and fish, game and seafood, mushrooms and truffles, not to mention fruit and vegetables, all prepared with an original style that also takes into account the new frontiers in healthy cuisine.

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Photo ŠANTHONY LANNERETONNE

MAURO COLAGRECO

RESTAURANT MIRAZUR Menton

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Mauro has imposed a style of its own in the interpretation of the product and the contrast of flavors. A style that is not rooted in the ItalianArgentine cultural heritage and that doesn’t refer to the great Chefs with whom he worked in France.

Mauro Colagreco feels free to express himself by following his intuition that leads him to dig into the local culture on both sides of the border.

In Mirazur nothing is fixed. If the menu changes on average every two months, the audacity of Mauro Colagreco is based at his ability to do ephemeral dishes invented for a service, two days or a week.

Just because he sees a product that inspires him, Mauro decides to display it on a plate. The creation is born, a symbol of freedom of expression and inspiration of the moment.

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Photo ©DEIDI VON SCHAEWEN

SVEN ELVERFELD

AQUA Wolfsburg

Elverfeld’s very independent cuisine distinguishes itself by its sophisticated harmony of aroma, characteristic flavor and texture. Quite often his dishes reconnect to a personal memory and tell their own story. Modern technology and cooking methods based on solid grounded cuisine coalesce to a sophisticated pleasurable experience. In the process, he not only swears by the topmost quality of all ingredients he employs but by a pronounced regional reference of the products.

His philosophy: “Attain your goal with commitment and love for detail” has proven itself successful, bringing him a great many distinctions in the last few years and confirming his concept. With the highest award in the Guide Michelin since November 2008, he became the first three-star chef in northern Germany.

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sensi

by Heinz Beck

Enjoy the Italian dishes of Heinz Beck in a more casual, all-day dining setting.

Sensi comes from the Italian for “senses� and your five senses will be overcome by the seasonal dishes and breathtaking desserts from the chef.

The glass front and outdoor terrace offer a gorgeous panoramic view of the Imperial garden as you partake of our traditional lunch and dinner menus accompanied by seasonal cocktails prepared by professional bartenders.

Enjoy the terrace seating on days of fine weather and during the cherry blossom season, where you may appreciate the lush nature in front of the Wadakura moat together with modern, healthy gourmet Italian food.

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The only restaurant to bear Heinz Beck’s name alone, this is the pinnacle of fine dining.

HEINZ BECK Tokyo

In a setting that is both chic and elegant, it also offers private dining rooms.

The menu includes dishes that combine traditional Italian culture and innovation as well as original dishes created with Japanese guests in mind.

Heinz Beck promises to deliver an unforgettable experience and tastes unavailable anywhere else to those who love food.

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LUKE DALE ROBERTS

THE TEST KITCHEN Cape Town

Luke opened his own restaurant because he craved complete freedom for his creativity and talent. He has succeeded in achieving fantastic recognition of that in under three years at The Test Kitchen. The Test Kitchen, as its name implies, affords Luke the opportunity for maximum innovation as a chef and the dishes are a pure reflection of his creativity with flavours and ingredients.

“The most important thing is flavour, and layers of flavour” The revised Test Kitchen makes Luke happy, he has every reason to be – he is cooking more than he has ever cooked before and he feels like he is indulging my first love again… And it shows. On every plate in every dark corner and in every ray of light. It shows.

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Photo ©BRAMBILLA SERRANI

NIKO ROMITO REALE Wolfsburg

Romito works with the ingredient, trying to awaken its intrinsic power rather than add it. He doesn’t want the ingredient to get lost, but rather explode on the palate with all its vitality. This is why his dishes lend themselves quite well to photography, but their full power is expressed only upon tasting.

Balance is also crucial to Romito’s cooking philosophy. When attempting to rely on an extremely limited number of ingredients in order to focus on radical essentiality, the slightest misalignment will emphasize eventual mistakes. Put simply, when there’s no overabundance of flavors on the plate, all is laid bare. Romito’s dishes are the result of tireless research, in a millimetric balance.

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Photo ©P.A. JORGENSEN

CHRISTIAN F. PUGLISI RELÆ København

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Christian’s focus on integrating gastronomy and sustainable agricultural practices. The idea of creating a place of gourmet simplicity in a rustic setting at the heart of Nørrebro was the driving force from the beginning. Cooking food of high ambitions in a humble setting was combined with a lively atmosphere and an approachable price point.

The food at Relæ is ‘plant-centric’ and locavorist, creatively driven with a focus on vegetables and local produce. If the focus on tasty, creative food in a no-frills atmosphere is what you experience as a guest at Relæ, the logistics behind the scenes include intense and ethically grounded practices like recirculation and reusing food trash and garbage and searching for sustainability in every matter.

WG MAGAZINE

Photo ©DANIEL KRIEGER

“For me, food is about memories, feelings, emotions, and so is Le Bernardin, and that’s why it’s not just a restaurant.”

ERIC RIPERT

LE BERNARDIN New York

Eric Ripert is grateful for his early exposure to cuisine. His family instilled their own passion for food in the young Ripert.

Ripert seized the opportunity in 1989 to work under Jean-Louis Palladin as sous-chef at Jean Louis at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Ripert moved to New York in 1991, working briefly as David Bouley’s sous-chef before Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze recruited him as chef for Le Bernardin where he took over after Gilbert’s untimely passing in 1994. Maguy Le Coze began working closely with Chef Eric Ripert, a disciple and close friend of Gilbert, who took over the kitchen to continue preparing the freshest seafood with the simple philosophy that the fish is the star of the plate.

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RICHARD EKKEBUS

AMBER Hong Kong

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Richard Ekkebus’ passion drives Amber’s exceptional quality. Dedication is the secret ingredient in Amber’s sophisticated French cuisine.

Ekkebus describes his dishes as French classic with inventive twists that takes advantage of Hong Kong’s unique position at a global crossroads.

Taking maximum advantage of the annual seasons between the northern and southern hemispheres, Ekkebus refreshes the Amber menu every three months. Expect a mix of fruits from Europe or Southeast Asia with Japanese seafood. Every single day a shipment of fresh fish straight from fish markets in Fukuoka and Hokkaido, and it is prepared in the French tradition but lighter, to suit local taste and with our own intuitive touch. Each dish is product driven. The emphasis on seafood, such as scallop ceviche with avocado cream, kyuri cucumber and smoky bay oysters, satisfies current preferences for healthy cuisine and comes from the chef’s upbringing by the seaside.

WG MAGAZINE

Photo ©NILS HASENAU

TIM RAUE

RESTAURANT TIM RAUE Berlin

Tim Raue presents an Asian inspired cuisine, which can be best described as a combination of Japanese product perfection, Thai flavors and the Chinese kitchen philosophy. Raue only serves dishes that release energy and joie de vivre to the body instead of stressing it. Therefore, he abandons supplements such as bread, pasta and rice, as well as white sugar, dairy products and gluten. His menu features Raue classics.

Highlight of the restaurant is “The KRUG Table”, a massive oak wood table with handmade, metal marqueterie. The table, for a maximum of ten guests, is located directly next to the kitchen and allows a perfect view into the interior of the chef’s sanctum. At The KRUG Table, connoisseurs may indulge in individual created menus that are combined with their choice of KRUG champagne and a strong interaction with the kitchen.

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PIERRE GAGNAIRE

PIERRE GAGNAIRE Paris The cuisine of Pierre Gagnaire is an experience in itself - As one who cooks in the now, a cuisinier de l’immédiat, the chef turns is instincts into moments of grace. In the kitchen, as an alchemiste aux fourneaux, he transcends the raw material to reveal its true substance. Guided by the pull of un principe d’émotions, Pierre Gagnaire has made cuisine a means of expression, a language, one he prefers to be frank and direct, with dishes that replace words in reaching straight to the heart.

Nothing duplicitous, no affectation… simply a daily commitment to the instruments of his trade, conducting his kitchen orchestra in a score of virtuoso savoir-faire.

The cuisine of Pierre Gagnaire is art. It is love.

It is technique - His menu, as fleeting as the seasons, blends these principles in an adventurous panorama, while remaining firmly rooted in the truth of the land and the rigor of traditional techniques. It embodies an assumed duality of land and sea. It expresses contrasting flavours, textures and temperatures, their seeming complexity transforming into the inescapably obvious. Culinary free verse wafting on the winds of an inquisitive mind. The echo of a lifelong craft, talentedly mastered, passionately practiced.

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Photo ©THOMAS DUVAL

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ANNIE FÉOLDE

THE ARTISAN BY ENOTECA PINCHIORRI Dubai Famous in Florence and beyond, Enoteca Pinchiorri is known for offering a feast for the senses. L’Enoteca Pinchiorri is home to one of the best chefs in the world, and the three Michelin stars main restaurant in Florence has been highly acclaimed since the 1970’s - Thanks to Annie Féolde.

Enoteca Pinchiorri is more than a restaurant, it’s an institution of gourmet excellence, a destination for all discerning food, wine and ambiance lovers.

The Artisan by Enoteca Pinchiorri is yet another chapter in a rich culinary history. It is a sensational awakening and a celebration of Italian excellence, characterized by delectable dishes, an exhaustive wine selection, elegant interiors and friendly service.

Annie Féolde”s cuisine is a tribute to superior gourmet flavors, innovative cuisine created from top quality Italian ingredients, a delicious twist on old Tuscany recipes that she revisits in a contemporary way.

Her cuisine is with passion, which keeps improving all the time because she keeps looking for more quality and this means: ingredients, style, identity, comfort, respect, and need to understand where she is and what people are looking for. It’s such a big cocktail of sensations and research that she can never stop! The Italian food calls wine and wine needs nice food. It’s obvious that her palate improves itself and her mind gives you new ideas.

She expresses herself through her way of cooking!

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VIRGILIO MARTINEZ CENTRAL Lima

In Central Virgilio Martinez celebrates the biodiversity of Peru. Fresh produce and an inexhaustible curiosity to discover and integrate new ingredients into the menu bring Peruvian cuisine to the forefront in the heart of the traditional district of Miraflores in Lima.

Virgilio presents a novel cuisine dedicated to the richness of our products. Its preparations are a travel experience though Peru by its hidden ingredients, undocumented to modern gastronomy. He chooses to approach the diversity of our ingredients in a manner similar to that used by the peoples of the Andes in pre-Hispanic times: through vertical ecological monitoring. According to this alternative way of understanding the geography, land is perceived not as a horizontal plane but rather vertically, so that it takes advantage of all that the flora and fauna are able to deliver according to the particularities of each ecological system. As a result of the dramatic fluctuations in the Andean terrain in a relatively small radius of 100 kilometers (for many farmers this is not a difficult hike), there is direct access to the country’s products from various altitudes ranging from the coast to the Amazon.

Motivated by an insatiable curiosity and interest in conveying the complexity of their land, Virgilio is passionate about traveling and investigating ingredients that can bring undocumented and yet even more wealth to the local cuisine. To do so, through a number of areas: ocean, lower Andes, extreme altitude, and high and low jungles. He also has an interdisciplinary team that complements each new “discovery” in a necessary context that seeks to transcend the strictly culinary and penetrate nutritional, biological, anthropological aspects.

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Salon Belles Bacchantes - Photo ©LAURENCE MOUTON

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GUY SAVOY

RESTAURANT GUY SAVOY Paris Cooking is the art of instantaneously turning produce suffused with history into happiness...

Guy Savoy’s sense of balance on the plate is without a doubt, it is a reflection of the rigour of his childhood. A rigour that he found in his gardener father who woke each morning at the crack of dawn to tend his garden and fruit trees in the best conditions, who showed such concern for a job well done that he lit fires in the early morning to keep the frost from damaging his newly sprouted plants. A rigour he found in his mother who ran a little restaurant and who peeled all the vegetables for lunch each day so her guests could enjoy the freshest possible produce. Savoy’s parents’ rigorous work ethic nurtured in him had a profound respect for the ingredients he uses, and gives him a strong balance in my cooking.

Savoy’s cuisine is a combination of seasonality, with harmony and contrast, which is full of flavours – complex with an impeccable balance, a true dining experience. His desire for a flavour or an odour has always guided the dishes he creates. With a flavour or an odour in mind, he works the ingredients until the reality corresponds to what he has imagined.

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VINEET BHATIA

INDEGO BY VINEET DUBAI Vineet Bhatia brings Indian cuisine alive… Amid minimalist opulence, at award-winning Indego by Vineet, the textures, flavours and expressive range of Indian cuisine are sumptuously brought alive.

Vineet is accredited as the ‘Father’ of Modern Progressive Indian food, who has blazed a trail across the global culinary firmament, re-thinking the cuisine and elevating it from its greasy relationship with cut-price curry houses to an epicurean experience, by adding to the recipe a modern presentation and his own unique twist, while maintaining core values.

Food creates memories, the merit of these determined by their longevity and the emotions they evoke. Vineet Bhatia creates such memories, for Vineet when the food has the ability to arouse emotion, memory, then it becomes something special and something to be prized. It is the passion to excel every day, to make a statement - its India on a plate and he will never stop, his energy is boundless.

Anything and everything around Vineet, influences him - plates, magazines, people with opinionated likes and dislikes, his travels… Inspiration can strike anywhere! He goes back to his Indian roots, flavours, cooking methods and dishes that can get lost or pushed behind in the remote corners of his brain from time to time. When he cooks, he is guided by his instinct and the aim to concentrate on the fundamentals of creating a good dish: good ingredients, balance of flavours, subtle spicing, right cooking process – all the time conscious of his roots and working well within the Indian boundaries and yet adopting a progressive outlook.

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MICHELLE BERNSTEIN

A Miami native of Jewish and Latin descent, Chef Michelle Bernstein has dazzled diners and critics alike with her sublime cuisine and a personality as bright and vibrant as the Florida sun. “My food isn’t heavy-handed or unnecessarily complicated,” says Bernstein, a recipient of the James Beard Award “Best Chef: South” (2008) and author of Cuisine a Latina (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2008). “You don’t need heavy-handed technique and over the top presentations to make a dish work. It’s about amazing ingredients, layered flavors and simplicity.

My style of cooking is inspired by my own food memories and it’s the simple, soulful cooking that I remember from my travels. I cook the food I love and I think that love translates to the diners,” explains Bernstein.

Michelle Bernstein

Bernstein and her husband/business partner David Martinez, own and operate MBC Michelle Bernstein Catering Company, a full-service catering company, as well as her popular café concept, Crumb on Parchment.

Bernstein dedicates time to Common Threads, an after-school program for underprivileged kids, and regularly appears on an array of national TV shows, from “Top Chef” to “Good Morning America.” Bernstein also hosts the Emmy-award winning PBS weekly television series, “Check, Please! South Florida.” Now in its second year, Bernstein also hosts the weekly TV series, “SoFlo Taste,” on Channel 10 that celebrates the food of South Florida.

Most recently, Bernstein partnered with American Express to create the menu for the new Centurion Lounge at Miami International Airport. Bernstein has also partnered with Memorial Cancer Institute (MCI), a part of Memorial Healthcare System, to provide oncology patients with a variety of food alternatives to help ease their way through treatment.

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PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

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MICHYS SALAD PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

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Bernstein is a Lexus Culinary Master, a member of Macy’s Culinary Council and IMUSA’s panel of chef ambassadors. She continues to consult for Delta Airlines, creating in-flight menus for First and Business Class Elite, in addition to consulting for San Pellegrino and Ruinart.

WG Magazine spoke with Chef Bernstein about her passion for food and how she coined her signature Latin-style flavor.

Tell us how you found your way into the culinary field to become one of the most sought-after chefs.

ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

I began my passion for eating way before I began my passion for cooking; I was fortunate enough to have a beautiful and talented mother who could cook better than most chefs I’ve come across… definitely better than yours truly. She began my love for food; as a youngster I would crave time with her in the kitchen, I learned her dishes and eventually begin to explore some of my own. I never would have thought I would become a chef, I didn’t even think that was even in the realm of possibility.

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Your cuisine is inspired by your own food memories - simple, soulful cooking from your travels coupled with amazing ingredients - how did you bring about this balance on a plate?

CAULIFLOWER STEAK PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

I am inspired by ingredients, constantly. It could be fresh fish just pulled from the ocean or something as simple as a perfect potato chip from a bag; it’s all inspiration and it’s what makes me tic. Ingredients motivate me to be better and to make my food more delicious, complex and interesting. I love bold flavors and I love to manipulate flavors, but I don’t want to hide the true natural and organic beauty of an ingredient. Layering flavors is what I do, it’s what I cook for. If my husbands’ eyebrows don’t rise when I have him taste new recipes, I know it’s not right.

What would you say your culinary philosophy is?

I wish I could say I had a philosophy. I have respect, which I find to be more important. Respect for ingredients and technique. I am inspired let’s say by a piece of fish; I think about what’s in season that would pair with that fish; what would make it more buttery in your mouth, give it a pop of texture you weren’t expecting and a kiss of flavor that I’m in the mood for. Then I pray it all works out!

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CENA BEET RISTOTTO PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

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MICHELLE BERNSTEIN

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What are some of your favorite ingredients that inspire you, and which ingredients have you not been able to master?

I select what is available from our local farmers, fisherman, and butchers. Right now I’m into algae, seaweed, black raspberries, fresh hearts of palm and apples. In November it’s honey crisps and squash, in December it’s chestnuts, and in the spring it’s ramps.

I would never ever give up on food; I haven’t mastered anything, but I keep trying.

What special kitchen or cooking equipment do you enjoy using most?

I love Vitaprep blenders, immersion circulators, good-old gas burners, Gray Kunz spoons and pepper mills.

BAKED ALASKA PHOTO © MICHAEL PISARRI

You partnership with Memorial Cancer Institute, provides oncology patients with a variety of food alternatives,–tell us how you make these patients What would you say motivates you? taste buds come alive.

Knowing I can only get better; understanding I will It’s not so much about taste buds coming alive, never stop learning, wanting to be better, make my it’s about soothing them; giving them something family proud and myself content. someone who really cares about them and cares about what they are eating has created for them.

All chemo’s affect the palate and body differently.

I’m just giving them dishes that they will find more approachable, delicious, easy on their palate and make them happy by knowing people do care what happens to them and how they are affected by what they are going through.

What is your one piece of advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time?

You’re going to work your behind off and sweat.

Keep your head down until you are a respected chef that understands discipline, hard work and the essence of this business. It’s not glamorous at any moment.

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LEOPOLD’S OF LONDON - DUBAI

wake up on a fine morning and have Breakfast At Leopold’s...

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1826 – The Beginning… “According to legend, orphaned as a child, Leopold was raised in the streets of London around the dockland markets.

At the young age of 12 he stowed away on a merchant ship bound for the Far East. Soon after setting sail the Captain of the boat learnt of the young stowaway’s hardships and rather than tossing him overboard he adopted him as his son.

Travelling through the Mediterranean, West Indies, the Orient and Africa he discovered a love for fine foods and rare spices. Upon returning to London, Leopold brought with him a love of the foods he had discovered and a passion for exquisite teas and coffee’s. He soon established a small store selling fine and rare ingredients to the wealthy of London. Upon hearing from his distinguished friends the King visited Leopold’s small shop and enquired whether he would supply his Palace Kitchens.

With this Royal decree Leopold rose to become a prominent member of the London aristocracy and Leopold’s of London was born!”

The story continues in the United Arab Emirates… This one of a kind café makes a great impression, with a wide selection of dishes from around the globe and an excellent breakfast menu. Eggs Royale or Benedict or Florentine - it is just spot on and would rate it one of the best in the city of Dubai. Beautifully perfect poached eggs sitting on top of the English muffin and a drizzle of the hollandaise sauce with either smoked salmon or grilled turkey ham or spinach. It’s the perfect start to the morning...

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A Tea Library with more than 70 types of teas from around the world...

A perfect breakfast would not be complete without a brilliant cup of tea and to our surprise - Leopold armed with an extensive Tea Library of more than 70 types of teas from around the world and a Tea Doctor was on hand to unlock the secrets behind Leopold’s teas.

WG Magazine took the opportunity to speak with the Kenyan born Lawrence Karanja, the Tea Doctor of Leoplold’s…

WG Magazine: Your passion for tea blending – was it the flavor or thirst?

Lawrence Karanja: I can say it’s through thirst.

We all know teas like black, green but we can blend them to make something spectacular and that was the idea.

WG Magazine: Lawrence tells us his favorite part of the tea formulating process…

Lawrence Karanja: The rolling process is one of my favourite processes. It takes a lot of effort, patience and skill to be able to roll each leave to a ball and avoiding the leaves to dry before they are rolled.

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Lawrence Karanja

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WG Magazine: What does tea mean to you and how do you translate the tea experience to your day-to-day life?

Lawrence Karanja: Tea means home away from home to me, growing up in the highlands of Kenya as tea is our horticultural crop.

WG Magazine: If someone wanted to sample one of your blends for the first time, which one would you recommend?

Lawrence Karanja: Would definitely recommend a green tea we got blended with pineapple, peach and strawberries. A favourite of all times.

WG Magazine: Similar to wine or coffee, tea has a lot of depth, but it seems that many people are only familiar with tea basics. What is it about tea that you hope people come to understand through their experiences at Leopold’s?

Lawrence Karanja: Tea is a healthy life journey. This means that no record has shown any bad side effects of tea compared to other beverages. Tea doesn’t have a gender, age limitation which should be advertised more to gain its true recognition. The good thing about tea is that it’s not just a cup of tea, but a wellness lifestyle also.

WG Magazine: People speak about Oolong, White, Green, Black, Puerh Tea – Lawrence tells us about these teas and the process of brewing these teas…

Lawrence Karanja: All this teas come from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) only they differ with their processing methods. These teas have different brewing time the white teas take the least time approximately 2 mins, green teas 1 to 2 mins, black teas 3 mins which is same timings with the puerh tea. For a proper tea experience, the timing should be perfect.

WG Magazine: What are the most popular teas at Leopold’s?

Lawrence Karanja: All our teas are popular but the blended green, white, black teas are more famous.

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JEREMY FORD

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Jeremy Ford Winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 13, Jeremy Ford developed a love for cooking after meeting his maternal grandmother when he was 14-years-old. The matriarch and chef taught young Ford about the intricate art of Italian cuisine, planting the seed for a future career in the kitchen.

Two years later at the ripe age of 16, Ford felt ready to begin his on-the-job education, and scored a position as Garde Manger at Matthew’s, a four-diamond Mediterraneanstyle restaurant in his hometown of Jacksonville. Matthew’s helped develop basic chef skills for Ford including fine mincing vegetables, flavoring and balancing taste profiles.

One year later, Ford decided to broaden his horizons and head out west to Los Angeles.

With no job leads, he went door-to-door seeking employment at the city’s top restaurants.

He got his first break from world-famous chef Christophe Eme who was moved by the youngster’s sincere enthusiasm. After hosting the teenager for dinner at his renowned restaurant, L’Orangerie, Eme offered him a job. While cooking in the all Frenchspeaking kitchen, Ford took in everything from ingredient fundamentals to the art of plating; he developed basic skills and learned the appropriate way to conduct oneself in a professional kitchen. Eme, an Iron Chef, was a disciplined teacher who taught his staff “the importance of loving the product.”

Ready for his next challenge, Ford obtained a stage at Patina restaurant under Master Chef Joachim Splichal. While “auditioning” for a role in the kitchen, Ford impressed Splichal with his seafood proficiency, and immediately secured a job at the restaurant’s busy fish station. Here, Ford refined his skills and precision while butchering up to 100 pounds of fish and 60 lobsters a day. The budding chef subsequently fell in love with seafood. “I love the delicacy that it takes to be a master at fish,” he says, “anyone can bring a steak to medium rare, but fish goes from perfectly cooked to horrible, very quickly.”

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Ford’s stint at Patina ended when he returned home to care for his ailing mother. As he nursed her back to health through good nutrition, Ford’s destiny became undeniable. “All I thought about or talked about was cooking – I missed it so much.” During this time, he also became a father to his daughter, Maddy. With the goal of providing the best life possible for her, Ford moved to South Florida, where more cooking opportunities awaited him.

In 2008, Ford secured a position with the celebrated South Florida chef Dean Max at his prominent restaurant 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale.

Ford connected with Max in a way he’d never previously experienced in a kitchen, and over the course of five years, the protégé went from Sous Chef to Chef de Cuisine to Executive Chef to Corporate Chef of the company.

As Ford continued to improve his cooking abilities, he says Max taught him everything from how to dress, to how to behave with class. “He was like a second father to me.” Side by side, the two “surfer boys” opened four restaurants and shined a light on the growing farm-to-table movement.

This education and experience allowed Ford to firmly cultivate his capabilities.

He learned about the unique South Florida growing season and how to plan a menu around local produce. Combined with his French training and his unwavering love for seafood, Ford’s culinary point of view was decisively solidified.

Ford soon felt ready for the next step, and this time he went for gold – throwing his name in the ring as the chef of the new restaurant from Michelinstar celebrity chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten in Miami’s highly anticipated EDITION hotel. Ford secured an audition for the role and was given 24 hours to prepare a recipe, which he then cooked in front of Vongerichten and his Director of Culinary, Greg Brainin. “I was nervous,” says Ford, “this is one of the best kitchens in the world with the longest Michelin- star [rating] in New York history.”

Luckily, his skills paid off; Ford secured the job at Matador Room and was immediately sent to “Jean-Georges School” – 45 days of training in Vongerichten numerous restaurants around New York. Ford says of this experience, “You’re not just learning recipes, you’re learning a culture, a philosophy.” After additional months of menu preparation and kitchen renovations, Matador Room finally opened in December 2014 to rave reviews. “We worked for 41 days in row with no break,” Ford says of the opening, adding, “We haven’t stopped or slowed down since.”

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PHOTO © JUAN FERNANDO AYORA

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At the exact moment most chefs would step back and enjoy their success, Ford decided to once again put his skills to the test. He signed up for Bravo’s “Top Chef” with one goal – to win. While Ford hated being away from his daughter, he says he experienced “some of the coolest moments of my career” through the process (such as meeting his idol, Hubert Keller).

Now back at Matador Room, Ford is looking forward to all of the adventures that will inevitably come with his newfound fame.

WG Magazine catches up Chef Ford about what it’s like to be crowned “Top Chef” and what life has been like after his big win.

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How did you find your way into the culinary world and eventually go after the aggressive title of winning Top Chef Season 13?

I grew up in the south so eating has always been very important to my family. My mother was adopted at birth so the biggest turning point in my “childhood culinary world” was actually finding her biological family and learning they were all Italian…and amazing cooks. It suddenly all made sense, I had found the root of where my addiction to cooking had come from. The first day we met them in California they taught me how to make pasta with meat filling.

PHOTO © JUAN FERNANDO AYORA

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We are told you didn’t actual graduate from culinary school, so what was it like navigating your first few jobs in the kitchen?

Going to culinary school was very different for me. I had landed a position at one of the nicest restaurants in Jacksonville, which was Matthews; an amazing small place that had a tasting menu driven by a chef who pushed his entire team towards perfection. Trying to balance leaving school early enough to get on the line was what lead to my schooling demise – I couldn’t do both so I had to decide what was more important to me.

At L’ Orangerie I realized I had a passion for fish, but my time at Patina, gave me the confidence I needed to make this my focus.

How do the changing seasons play into your menu development?

At Matador Room, the majority of our menu remains the same, but there is always a portion of it that is in flux to highlight the season’s offerings.

I look forward to seasonal menu changes because beautiful ingredients inspire me to create new flavor combinations. We are lucky, as we have the support of the Jean-Georges team to help us tweak and refine these menu changes.

Tell us what it’s like to work for/and alongside one of the world’s most famous chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Jean-Georges is one of my idols, he is an amazing mentor. He’s not just the best chef I’ve ever worked for, but he is also one of the nicest chefs I’ve worked for. I find myself often asking “what would JeanGeorges say?,” which pushes me to always be a better version of myself in the kitchen.

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Even having trained under some of the world’s best talents, as a chef you eventually begin to develop your own techniques and trades of the kitchen – tell us about that.

Since winning “Top Chef” I’ve been afforded the huge luxury of traveling the world, getting to taste different flavors and learn about new ingredients.

I’m reminded that you can never master the art of cooking and there is always something to be learned about how to cook with a new ingredient or use a new technique to manipulate/enhance an ingredient. Even the simplest season’s change can re-inspire your approach – like spring when everything is green and fresh.

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PHOTO © JUAN FERNANDO AYORA

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If you had to caption your approach as a chef would you says it is more focused on the produce you use, the creative process by which you utilize it or the technique in which it is manipulated?

Good question, but I’d have to say all three because they go hand-in-hand. Finding that balance is the most challenging part of being a chef and something I work towards in every dish I create. I also always look to strike a balance between chili, acid and salt.

Knowing when and how to elevate an ingredient, while still letting it shine in its simplest form, is truly the magic of our craft.

What was it like winning “Top Chef” Season 13?

Winning “Top Chef” has been the biggest, most rewarding moment in my career. I never thought I was ready until I began battling it out and winning challenges on the show. There is so much pressure during filming; you either thrive under pressure or burn under pressure. Truth be told, a little of both happened to me.

What would you say motivates you?

Foremost, my daughter, then of course my love for food and my amazing team in kitchen. We have fun, but we take food very seriously and absolutely love what we do.

What is your one piece of advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time?

The biggest advice I can give is from what I’ve experienced. Being successful in this career is all about having patience. You have to be a master of all the basics before you can even think about new innovative techniques.

Glamour comes much later – if at all - so get ready to work your ass off.

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HEINZ BECK SOCIAL BY HEINZ BECK Dubai Heinz Beck brings contemporary Italian dining to Dubai. Featuring inviting design elements and offering innovative contemporary Italian cuisine.

Social by Heinz Beck offers a relaxed yet elegant atmosphere with magnificent views of Dubai, making this an ideal setting for every day dining and special celebratory meals.

As a notable master of modern gastronomy, he expresses a unique interpretation of the modern kitchen, Beck’s artistry exceeds his raw culinary talent with a well-guarded process, which includes mindfully curating ingredients and implementing innovative techniques to transform simple ingredients into highly evocative dishes.

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Photo ©VICTORIA SHASHIRIN

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BEN SHEWRY ATTICA Melbourne Best Restaurant of the year for 2015 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide, Best Restaurant in Australia and ranked No. 32 on S. Pellegrino’s ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants,’ and Chef of the Year from Good Food, Chef Ben Shewry seems to be making all the right moves to make our collective mouths water.

Born and raised on the rugged west coast of the North Island, New Zealand, in the rural North Taranaki, Shewry holds strongly the belief that food can be evocative, emotional and thought provoking - appealing to all of the senses.

He is known to draw inspiration from his childhood that includes volcanos, rivers, the ocean and native bush that make up Taranaki, as well as his current Australian surroundings. He simply has a fundamental connection with nature and a deep respect for sustainability. Some of what you may find on your plate at Attica may even be the result of foraging by Shewry himself near his home on the Bellarine peninsula. This is one of the ways that he likes to spend his mornings and helps to articulate his deep commitment to excellence.

The experience of dining at Attica, is not one of pomp and circumstance, rather one that is based on the food. This is a culinary event. A place to go and truly settle in for an extended evening of adventure - quite simply, foodie heaven.

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ENEKO ATXA AZURMENDI Larrabetzu Eneko Axta’s level of commitment to innovation has been the cornerstone of his career and of Azurmendi’s success. His cuisine, imaginative but without stridency, is based on the produce of the traditional Basque recipe book. He knows how to add a pinch of modernity to the local cuisine through universal touches unlike anybody else.

The balance point is perfect between vanguard and roots of tradition.

Eneko Atxa’s cuisine provokes intense emotions, visual flavors, but always from a Basque point of view. His signature creations, inspired by an environment in continual evolution, engrave the tasteful pleasure into the identity pleasure.

Eneko Atxa has made real his conception of what a restaurant should be, “a place where you feel comfortable, where you feel a land, but above all, a place to be happy”. Definitively, it is a place where simplicity and distinction can be felt.

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Photo ©RUBENS KATO

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ALEX ATALA D.O.M. SĂŁo Paulo Alex Atala, chef and owner of D.O.M. Restaurant, is recognized by an innovative cuisine, thanks to the flavor variety of the Brazilian ingredients. Atala graduated at the Hospitality School of Namur, in Belgium. In Brazil, made his debut as a chef at Filomena, a mixture of bar and events venue. In 1999, after working in other venues as a hired chef, he opened two houses: NaMesa, a chic fastfood (extinct), and D.O.M., creative contemporary cuisine restaurant with a marking Brazilian accent.

In 2009, another contribution to the astronomy universe: Dalva e Dito restaurant, which presents the concept of affective cuisine and reinforces the faith Alex Atala has in both native ingredients and culture.

The work developed throughout his career towards Brazilian ingredients, colors and flavors enhancement caught the specialists’ eye. Atala has a collection of both national and international prizes and, in 2013, made it in the 100 most influential people list of TIME Magazine. For the last ten years, D.O.M. has been included in the 50 best restaurants of the world list by the British publication, Restaurant Magazine. Currently, it is holds the 9th position in the ranking. In 2014, Atala was given the Lifetime Achievement Diners Club Prize in the South American 50 best election, by the same magazine.

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MARTIN BENN SEPIA Sydney

SEPIA the cuisine of Martin Benn, his unique style of cuisine and service, the people who make it all happen each day, and the story of how he got to where he is now.

Martin Benn’s unique style of cuisine, a new style of dining where he serves fine food in a more relaxed and comfortable environment, and to change the perception of what fine dining was.

He has gained a fond appreciation for desserts over the past years and get a lot of enjoyment from creating them. Desserts are where he lets his imagination run wild and anything is possible.

All he aspires to achieve is that every dish is delicious, with just that little bit of magic.

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VLADIMIR MUKHIN WHITE RABBIT Moscow

Picturesque backyards of old Moscow districts, majestic skyscrapers of the Stalin-era, futuristic skyscrapers of Moscow-City, a blue ribbon of the river – this is only a small part of what one can see from the height of the 16th floor of the Smolensky Passage. Here for the first time Russian cuisine sounds in unison with the latest culinary trends and Russian products rise to a height of recognized delicacies.

Seasonal local products, original recipes and finelydesigned combinations – those are the distinctive features of a cuisine of Vladimir Mukhin. Following the rules of high gastronomy, Vladimir opens every season with a tasting menu, which is based on new products, ideas and combinations of flavors. Every dish on the menu is a result of long work hours, gastronomical expeditions and a special respect for traditions.

This 5th generation chef became the first chef in the history of modern Russian cuisine Russian to tour in France, where in 2009 along with French chef Christian Etienne he held a gala dinner “Russian Christmas” at Christian Etienne’s restaurant.

Local seasonal products, modern techniques, search of new combinations – Vladimir Mukhin is one of the brightest representatives of modern Russian cuisine. He is looking for new products in gastronomical expeditions and masters the latest trends combining cocktails with food. His mission is to popularize Russian cuisine worldwide.

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JUAN MARI ARZAK & ELENA ARZAK ARZAK RESTAURANT San SebastiĂĄn A place to eat. To discover. To experience.

The culinary style Arzak is associated with is mark and personality. Deeply rooted in tradition and boasts creativity and a constant search for change.

From the mid70-s on, Juan Mari won one award after the other, which placed the Arzak Restaurant among the best establishments across Spain and around the globe. In 1976, Juan Mari Arzak and a group of chefs revolutionized the art of cooking when they created a new culinary concept, a movement known as New Basque Cuisine. In 1978, he was awarded his second Michelin star and in 1989 the third one. He was the second to get three Michelin stars in Spain, and he still holds them.

In the 90s, Elena Arzak, one of Juan Mari’s daughters, joined the family-run restaurant. Elena attended hotel and restaurant management schools in Switzerland, broadening her culinary knowledge in great European restaurants.

Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena share the kitchen, as well as the culinary knowledge, passion and enthusiasm they bring to cooking and to managing their restaurant. A history of the Arzaks.

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Photo ©KATERINA AVGERINOU

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GEORGIANNA HILIADAKI & NIKOS ROUSSOS FUNKY GOURMET Athens

Here the chefs re-think their culinary Greek tradition creating an avant-garde cuisine that is both innovative and playful, a cuisine that aims to activate the senses and fully engage the guests in an exciting and unconventional way, creating a culinary experience that is both funky and gourmet.

Carefully designed degustation menus the chefs introduce their own concept of a refined Greek cuisine, inspired by local products and seasonality.

Funky Gourmet restaurant has had admittedly a very fast and interesting spur. After having received wide acclaim by food critics in Greece as well as many local awards as one of the top restaurants in the country, it has gained an international reputation in a most spectacular way. In 2012, just after two years of operation, it was awarded its first Michelin star. In 2014 came an even more important recognition with a second Michelin star and by making a special reference stating that the food in Funky Gourmet “has immeasurable thought, creativity and taste that matches its playfulness�. Last but not least, Funky Gourmet is selected by 50 Best Words Restaurants among the 6 Hottest Restaurants of Europe 2016.

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JOËL ROBUCHON RESTAURANT JOËL ROBUCHON Monte-Carlo

As a teacher and innovator, Joël Robuchon has constantly created iconic recipes for the public. A true musician to the heart, Joël Robuchon considers his cuisine like music, an authentic art that includes technique and rigour.

With a fondness for the Mediterranean, the cuisine is authentic and Mediterranean-styled, the menu promises a Garden of Eden which you are invited to discover by the staff, well-versed in discreet attentiveness and helpful advice. The menu is easy to read, the ingredients are immediately identifiable.

The unrivalled master of precise cooking and seasoning focuses on essentials, giving priority to flavours and textures, combining healthiness with tastiness.

Joël Robuchons’ inspirations for this restaurant were to craft a comfortably stylish dining venue that is unrivalled in the Principality. He imagined an open-kitchen to offer guests more than just a gourmet experience but a culinary show where transparency sounds alike quality and conviviality.

The conviviality atmosphere of the restaurant is backed up by Jacques Garcia who imagined this backdrop against the wall representing a scene of Paul & Virginie (Manufacture of the Gobelins, 1802), velour armchairs and exotic wood parquet floor. The restaurant has a large opened-terrace benefiting from an exceptional view on MonteCarlo and the Mediterranean Sea. The Restaurant Joël Robuchon was awarded its first Michelin star in 2006 and a second in 2007, for its original cuisine.

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MICHAEL COQUELLE

WINDOWS RESTAURANT

Geneva

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A great meal demands breathtaking surroundings as well as superb food, at Windows Restaurant the fine dining restaurant at Hotel d’Angleterre you have both - set on the banks of Geneva’s Lake Leman, overlooking the Jet d’Eau and Mont Blanc, views across Lake Geneva towards the distant mountains, and the inventive cuisine of Chef, Michael Coquelle.

Michael Coquelle, provides an authentic and varied cuisine using local and seasonal produce with his signature French touch. As to assure that no guest leaves unhappy, Chef Coquelle promises that each experience will be personalized by answering to each individual request. It is very important for him that his team be flexible and consistently open to new challenges. Chef Coquelle and his team offer a broad range of their own sought-after specialities, international favourites, and homely dishes to raise your spirits on a bitter midwinter day. If your favourite comfort-food isn’t on the menu, they’ll cook it for you - any time, day or night.

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JOEY GHAZAL & LIAM BREEN THE MAINE Dubai

Tucked away in a hotel garage on the edge of Dubai’s sprawling coastline, The MAINE Oyster Bar & Grill is a Seaside Brasserie devoid of any pretension or gimmickry.

As an expression of their North American roots, Montreal gastropreneur, Joey Ghazal and head chef, Liam Breen, are serving up a slice of culinary nostalgia for those longing for an honest dining experience. Of course no brasserie experience is complete without a glistening raw bar that anchors the room serving seafood towers, fashionable crudo and oyster galore.

The long-bar at The MAINE attracts an eclectic crowd of young urbanites downing good oldfashioned cocktails by the bucket. Blending a postindustrial design aesthetic with a laid-back New England extravagance, the retro-vintage feel pays homage to the immortal charm of the state whose slogan justly proclaims ‘The Way Life Should Be’.

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ALBERT & MICHEL ROUX ROUX AT THE LANDAU

London

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The re-named Roux at The Landau sees father and son Albert and Michel Roux Jr working together for the first time in over 20 years, bringing the Roux’s legendary culinary expertise and creativity to their second West End address.

The combined forces of Chef de cuisine, Nicolas Pasquier and the expert front of house team guarantees the highest standards of service and culinary excellence at one of the best London restaurant.

Roux at The Landau’s menus reflect the Roux trademark style of classically-constructed French dishes, blended with a modern approach.

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Reimagined and redesigned, VBL’s Indian inspired cuisine and the restaurant’s personal interiors reflect the chef’s 23 year journey from his birthplace of Mumbai to Chelsea and the vision that he and his wife Rashima set out to accomplish more than 20 years ago.

VINEET BHATIA VBL LONDON

Offering a menu of between five and six courses, proceeded by a selection of delicate canapés and ending in a flourish of desserts; in a single evening guests will experience a culinary exploration of Vineet Bhatia’s life in food. Marrying east and west, his dishes are an accumulation of three decades spent pushing the possibilities and challenging the perception of his native cuisine, and display his continuous devotion to creating something new.

The dishes at VBL identify with a childhood and nostalgia of India. Showcasing Vineet Bhatia’s respect of the traditional flavours of India, but with a delicate and intricate touch. A full vegetarian menu is also on offer. Both menus can be enjoyed alongside a flight of matching wines.

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Photo ©VILA VITA PARC

Hans Neuner’s mantra of ‘keep it simple’ might initially seem at odds with the normal Michelin philosophy, his seasonally changing menu is technically perfect and exacting, and showcases a remarkable and incredibly distinctive light touch.

HANS NEUNER

OCEAN RESTAURANT

Algarve

Ocean won its first Michelin star in November 2009, followed in November 2011 making it one of only two restaurants in Portugal to hold the honor of two Michelin stars.

Hans prides himself on creating light, modern, fresh and individual food with a local signature, placing a strong focus on fish and seafood from the Atlantic, and fruit, vegetables, meat, game and wines from the heartland of Portugal.

With spectacular Atlantic views, Ocean perfect combination of sublime food, service and an atmosphere of casual and has held two Michelin stars since tribute to Hans Neuner and his team.

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offers the seamless elegance, 2011 - a

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JONATÁN GÓMEZ LUNA LE CHIQUE Mexico

Jonatán Gómez Luna is the award-winning chef who has forged his culinary talents at globally acclaimed restaurants. As Executive Chef of Le Chique, Jonatán blends cutting-edge modernist techniques with sheer showmanship to transform food into unforgettable sensory experiences for his clientele. A multi-sensory dining adventure that will challenge any notions of how Mexican cuisine should look, feel and taste. This is a restaurant where modern cuisine is underpinned by the roots and classic flavors of Mexico. Le Chique’s seasonal tasting menu is designed to puzzle, amuse and amaze you. Add a focus on regional ingredients and you have an unforgettable dining experience that’s both a visual feast and culinary triumph. Behind the operation of this restaurant is Chef Jonatán Gómez Luna, leading a team of young enthusiast cooks, which has led to earned major reviews and accolades, ranking it as unique. A restaurant where taste, adventure, daring, technique, perfection, design and trend are mainstay. This is modernist cuisine, where nothing is as it seems.

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MACA DE CASTRO EL JARDIN

Mallorca

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Nicknamed as ‘ The Mallorcan woman’ Maca de Castro has been working as a chef since the young age of 18. She has created a place where you will feel Mallorca and where you can immerse yourself in the flavors of the sea, fields, mountains and forests that Mallorca has to offer.

Her cuisine pays homage to the soil of Mallorca, fresh seasonal produce with purity of flavors and ensuring the flavors remain naturally delicious throughout the cooking process. She is always looking for the perfect texture of each ingredient, very clean flavours and natural. She likes her cuisine to be straight forward, transparent, and any surplus in a dish is disturbing to me, everything that is redundant, needless and anything which there is no reason for it to be there. Maca de Castro offers a quiet sequence of 13 contemporary dishes inspired by what the island has to offer, depending on the season. Her intuition, creativity and adherence to tradition surround every bite.

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RAINER BECKER ZUMA LONDON

The concept of ZUMA was born as a result of one chef’s obsessive passion with Japanese cuisine and an entrepreneur with integrity and vision. The meeting between Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney not only resulted in the realisation of a vision with Zuma restaurant in London, but was also the beginning of a partnership that successfully expanded the concept worldwide. Greatly influenced by his time in Japan, Rainer Becker has introduced a modern elegant and sophisticated cuisine philosophy, which has been inspired by the more informal Japanese dining style – Izakaya. The main kitchen - offering a selection of contemporary dishes, the Sushi Bar with dedicated sushi chefs, and the Robata Grill – a concept which originates from the cooking style of northern Japanese fishermen. For Rainer Becker, ZUMA is about a complete dining experience.

An experience where each element is of equal importance, yet each element serves the same purpose – to complement the taste and flavour of the food.

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DAVIDE SCABIN

COMBAL.ZERO Rivoli An award winning chef, visionary, scientist and artist, Davide Scabin is possibly one of the most dynamic chefs of today’s generation.

Combal.Zero also affords Davide the space and resources to further develop his experimental menus based on his passionate research into food science, allowing him to use more complex techniques to create his already cutting-edge food.

Through his restaurant Combal.Zero, Chef Davide Scabin sets a new standard in fine dining, elevating traditional Italian flavour combinations by adding his unique creativity and a signature concept in presentation and design.

This artistic and innovative chef exhibits his meticulous approach to scientific research and development in his food that belies his absolute passion for his regional cuisine and a true mastery of his craft. His dishes are bold in concept and presentation but are balanced by elegance both in execution and flavour.

Michelin awarded Combal.Zero two stars in 2007 and is repeatedly ranked in the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Ever creative and often eccentric, he has produced a truly unprecedented dining experience with menus designed to bring out the inner-child, utilising bespoke cutlery and crockery in an environment acclaimed for hosting a food-lover’s playground.

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MAGAZINES

a feast for the palate...

CHOCOLATE SOUP FUNKY GOURMET - ATHENS

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