WG Magazine - a feast for the palate... June 2016 Issue

JUNE 2016

a feast for the palate...

ALBERT ADRIÀ

Tickets To 50 Days

RICHARD SANDOVAL A Mexican Flair

ANNE-SOPHIE PIC The Artist With Flavours

ANDRÉ CHIANG Eight Elements

MARGOT JANSE

The Magic Of The Kitchen www.wgmagazines.com

DAVID TOUTAIN The World’s Most Gifted Chef WG June 2016 -

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Good taste isn’t expensive

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Editor Lifestyle Editor Culinary Editor Feature Editor Contributing Editor

Fabian deCastro Doug Singer Corey Siegel, CEC® Oilda Barreto Michael Hepworth

FJMdesign Photography Consultant Creative Design Studio Publisher

IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

G

WG™ is an online digital publication published by: Izzy Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Unit 14, Agnelo Colony, Kerant, Caranzalem, 403002 Goa, India Tel: +91(832) 2463234 Fax: +91(832) 2464201 sales@wgmagazines.com

‘ WOGOA FOUNDATION

Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

Company Registration Number U22100GA2011PTC006731

WG™ New York Doug Singer - Head of Operations, North America 404 East 66 Street, Suite 2E New York, NY 10065 E-mail: doug@wgmagazines.com WG™ Middle East Representative Cinzia Garau P.O.Box 118138, Dubai, U.A.E. E-mail: cinzia@wgmagazines.com Marketing & Advertising Joel Savio Nazareth Call: +91 832 246 3234 E-mail: joel@wgmagazines.com Web Administrator Joel Savio Nazareth

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Cover Image Credit: David Toutain Restaurant David Toutain Salsify Parsnit and White Chocolate Cream Photo © Thai Toutain

G MAGAZINES

Our June, 2016 issue will continue to highlight the best of the best worldwide in culinary and travel adventures. However, this issue is also special as we are recognizing the newest member of our editorial team - Culinary Editor, Chef Corey Siegel.

Born in Albany, New York, Corey began cooking at the age of 14. As a passionate student, a serious member of the American Culinary Federation and in 2008 he began training at Hyde Park’s Culinary Institute of America. After a wide array of experiences, he enrolled in an intense three-year apprenticeship program overseen

by Chef Richard Rosendale and in 2011, he was selected by Chef Rosendale to be his Commis for the prestigious Bocuse d’Or USA Finals where in January 2012, they emerged victorious.

Receiving over 15 medals competing both nationally and internationally, at age 22 Corey became the youngest team member in history to be invited to join the ACF Culinary Team USA. The team has since earned two gold medals at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg and took first place at the American Culinary Classic - an impressive career for a young man and a tremendous addition to the WG team!

Together, we will journey around the world once again in search of the finest cuisine available. This issue will highlight a wide array of both old and new talent as we all journey to Barcelona, Spain to speak with famed Chef Albert Adria, walk the culinary streets of Valence, France visiting Anne-Sophie Pic, as well as visit with worldwide culinary dynamo, Richard Sandoval.

André Chiang will greet us in Singapore, while Paris will bring us David Toutain.

We will be enlightened by a visit with American Culinary Federation Culinary Team USA, Alexandre Couillon of La Marine from French Atlantic who will be exhibiting his modern culinary works of art in Salzburg at Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7. Serge Dansereau will greet us in Sydney and Margot Janse will roll out the red carpet in South Africa.

Marbella, Spain will be visited prior to indulging in Modern Greek Cuisine on Patmos Island, and Mexico, London and Perth Australia will all be showing their wares before journeying to Goa and Mumbai. One great journey and another feast for the palate.

Doug Singer Lifestyle Editor

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JUNE 2016

SALSIFY PARSNIT AND WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM A walk in the forest inspired David Toutain to create this dish.

David wanted to create a plate that would symbolize this walk in the forest, and to keep it very natural and vegetal.

One could get lost in this dish – the wood or salsify…

CONTENTS 32

Tickets To 50 Days

58

The Artist With Flavours

84

A Mexican Flair

106

Chef And Artist

122

The World’s Most Gifted Chef

142

American Culinary Team

158

An Island Chef

152

The Bathers’ Pavilion

170

African Hart Beat

178

Andalusian Flavour

192

Greek Cuisine

210

Mexico’s Le Chique

206

Rock Star Turned Chef

222

The Dining Room

226

1441

230

UK Pantry In Goa

234

Please Don’t Tell

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MAGAZINES

David Toutain Restaurant David Toutain Photo © Thai Toutain

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E X C E P T I O N A L A L W A Y S B U T

W E ’ L L

T O

C

H O O S I N G

S T E P M O R E

T O

O N E

W I S H E A C H

O F

O U R

I M P O R T A N T L Y

A N D

A B O U T

P A Y I N G

M O M E N T

I S

T O O

D O

S L O W

D I S C O V E R I N G

PA S S I O N AT E

G O

540

T O

W H AT

T H E M

D O W N .

R

C

A T T E N T I O N T R U LY

D O

T O

U N I Q U E

&

E L A I S

M E E T I N G

T H E Y

M E N

B E S T

T H E

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:

B U T

A N D

.

I S

T H E

A L S O

W O M E N

L I S T E N I N G

S L I G H T E S T

RELAIS & CHÂTEAUX

. R E L A I S C H AT E AU X . C O M

H Â T E A U X

S E T T I N G S

ALL AROUND THE WORLD, UNIQUE IN THE WORLD.

W W W

F A S T .

E V E R Y T H I N G

E X C E P T I O N A L

,

M O M E N T S

T O

D E T A I L

,

F I R S T

P E R H A P S W H O

YO U R T O

A R E

E V E R Y

E N S U R E

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2016

JUNE 16th

Indians – just like Spaniards –

love food and being surrounded by their loved ones.

Then, be a happy Indian –

or a Spaniard – and spice up your life by visiting the participating restaurants to enjoy special set tapas menu

Win complimentary tapas menu for 2 at participating restaurants in India.

For contest details, please log on to: http://www.spain.info/en_IN/international-tapas-day-spain-india/

Participating Restaurants 1.

2.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Bengaluru Bengaluru Chennai Delhi Delhi Delhi Delhi Delhi Kolkata Mumbai

Caperberry Fava Sera Tapas Bar Sevilla Imperfecto Informal Tres Public Affair Sera Tapas Bar Amadeus

www.caperberry.net www.fava.in http://seratapasbar.in www.claridges.com https://imperfecto.live/ https://informal.live/ www.tresrestaurant.in www.public-affair.in http://seratapasbar.in www.cateringandallied.com

The Whitehall Penthouse Terrace

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‘ WOGOA FOUNDATION Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

The Pearl Martin Benn - WG June 2016- Sepia, Sydney, Australia

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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 Foundation Ambassador

An inspirer, innovator and perfectionist – Grant encompasses all of the qualities that deserving children can glean from a role model!

partnered with SKD ACADEMY the culinary institute in the Philippines WG June 2016 -

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JUNE 2016

Albert Adrià

Heinz Beck

Ferràn Adrià

Thank you Chefs for your support to Massimo Bottura

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Carme Ruscalleda

Matt Moran

WG MAGAZINES

Andoni Luis Aduriz

Georgianna & Nikos

José Avillez

WO’GOA Foundation Tae Hwan Ryu

Umberto Bombana

Francesco Apreda

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

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WG MAGAZINES

Albert Adrià Tickets to 50 Days Text Oilda Barreto

Confucius says, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

The Adrià brothers are no strangers to the culinary world. Their kind of culinary thinking is “that magical instant when you have an idea and the dish is born,” and that philosophy was obviously an influence on the younger Adrià, Albert.

Spaniards have had to change their approach to the way they eat and the way that they spend their money. Chef Albert Adrià adapted to this new financial situation, where people can no longer meet the expense of lavishly expensive menus. They had to reconsider the concept of fine dining. Thus, they made it affordable, but still very good, with good ingredients. “It is impossible to make good food with bad ingredients.”

Along with his brother again, the irmanos Albert Adrià collaborated and opened a hotel-bar in Barcelona called “Tickets,” their modern tapas bar with two concepts together as one and where it is challenging to get a reservation.

“You need to have a big machine behind the scenes making the money to make it happen.” Albert is now moving his machine gears internationally - London. “The biggest risk I have ever taken is 50 Days,” he says. It is his first restaurant away from home, opening a business outside of his native country, Spain. He felt he was taking a huge risk to be out internationally, feeling exposed to the world.

London is the iconic city center of Europe. Before opening 50 Days he had only known London as a very big and cosmopolitan metropolis. Since the creation of this project, he is much more at ease and each time he comes to London he enjoys it more and more.

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

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The Club - Hotel Café Royal

WG MAGAZINES

50 Days by Albert Adrià, at the Cafe Royal, and the chef’s first such project outside of Spain during his 30 year career.

The culinary journey like no other begins in the opulent Oscar Wilde Bar with a selection of cocktails and ends in the stunning surroundings of The Domino restaurant. Albert is considered by his brother Ferràn , to be “one of the best chefs in the world”, with a menu of over a dozen courses, Albert and his team have crafted a unique and entirely new dining experience for London - a flavor of his contemporary cooking.

Albert says, he needs to see how 50 Days is going before even considering an extension to his London run. “50 Days will be true to the past, but it is not the same thing. My goal is to make as many people as happy as possible.”

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

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PAKTA - Caramelo de chicha morada / Purple corn candy

WG MAGAZINES

His brother, Ferràn , is curious, and very excited about what is going on with what they’re doing and he was very easily convinced about this project. “Normally, he says, ‘No, no, no, think it through.’ But with this one he was, ‘OK, when was I coming?’”

Unlike the five assorted restaurants Albert runs in Barcelona - from the popular avant-garde tapas bar Tickets, to Hoja Santa, a modern Mexican restaurant that was recently awarded a star in the 2016 Michelin guide to Spain - to the 50 Days pop-up will serve a prix fixe menu conceived exclusively by him.

Albert, as a pastry chef, invented the seasonal desserts served at the legendary Michelin three-star El Bulli before it closed five years ago.

“After 30 years of being in the kitchen, I wanted to try something different,” he says. He chose to do a pop-up with the Café Royal.

London, is an international fulcrum, and the hotel is a beautiful and historical place. He wanted the experience of cooking for a different audience, than in Barcelona, as well as the challenge of working in London and with British products. A meticulous mixologist as well as a chef, Albert also liked the idea that Oscar Wilde once got so sloshed and hallucinated drinking absinthe on the premises that he thought he was in a field of tulips instead of the Café Royal.

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

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Oscar Wilde Bar - Hotel Café Royal

WG MAGAZINES

Accordingly, the 50 Days experience begins in two of London’s most precious historical rooms, with specialty cocktails, one absinthe-based, and the other concocted with Xeres sherry at the Oscar Wilde Bar. Next, ushered to The Domino to taste Albert’s signature gastronomic tone. Albert revels in the fact that the Café Royal has always been about having a good time. A preferred haunt for the bold and the beautiful, where great minds came together, true icons such as Winston Churchill, David Bowie and Mick Jagger have dined within the gilded splendor.

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

Albert and his brother have a reputation for offering a stimulating experience with modern gastronomy. “My brother and I are known for our very technical cooking, but I’ll be serving my own modern neoclassical food with inspiration from all over the world.” But what’s most important in this cooking, is the produce. Like the tiny tender green peas from Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, a coastal town 30 miles north of Barcelona. “They’re my green caviar — so expensive, but so sweet and so good!”

Today in a vast city like London, this is a bonus: foods so pure and rare they must be cooked with respect for their natural tastes.

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WG MAGAZINES

Albert Adrià and Ferràn Adrià Photo © Maribel Ruóz de Erenchun

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

Albert did the “exhilarating but very hard work” of sourcing as much produce as possible from the British Islands - wild oysters from Kelly Oysters in Galway, Ireland, and Scottish duck. After weeks of intensive testing in the kitchens of the Café Royal, he couldn’t decide on a tasting menu for the pop-up. Every day he would change his mind. “But he did come up with ideas like ceviche with kumquats and Peruvian yellow chili peppers, mushroom ‘spaghetti,’ and Norwegian crab with Singaporean style gingerand-garlic spiked crab sauce.

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About the possibility of extending the pop-up, Adrià wasn’t sure as 2016 is already “so intense.”

This summer “Heart Ibiza”, it is the result of a ten year friendship, sharing ideas and collaboration between Ferràn and Albert Adrià and Guy Laliberté (founder of Crique du Soleil), a unique concept born as a lab to explore the boundaries of food, music and art. The next is Albert and Ferran’s 5.0 project with Enigma, Albert’s vision of five restaurants, five completely new culinary concepts and one creative chef with one clear objective. But the most exciting thing for Albert is that he learned how to make kimchi from a nun in a convent in Korea. “Just amazing.”

WG MAGAZINES

Adrià says the best piece of advice he has ever received was from his father who told him, “You will always meet people who have more money than you do. But always make sure you have enough money in your pocket to pay for yourself.” From his brother Ferran, he learned the significance of humility and passion.

He feels the future of food has greatly to do with the education of children, teaching them how to eat well as, children are the future. And equally important, is for all of us to learn how to eat healthily. To live longer and “if we don’t want to keep taking more and more pills we have to take care of what we eat, because it is food that makes us what we are.”

TICKETS - Cinnamon bone with sriracha and lime air, and its consome

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

the culinary genius...

WG Magazine catches up with Albert Adrià…

It’s interesting to learn how Chef’s find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Chef Albert Adrià tell us how he found his way into the culinary world to become one of the best and influential Chef in the world…

“When I was 15, I arrived at elBulli, and since I was a kid, there was where I formed myself as a professional. For 23 years, I dedicated myself mainly in the sweets world and with creative development.”

Working his way through every station at El Bulli, Albert then went on to educating himself with Michel Bras, Martin Berasategui, Charlie Trotter and even at The Fat Duck – Albert adds “I understood that it was important to comprehend different ways of grasping gastronomy and to be able to remember all of my learning, more than the recipes themselves; the psychology of the team and different working systems were also vital.”

You are known for your technical cooking and the power of simplicity - especially your modern/neo-classical food style with inspiration from all over the world. You bring the element of surprise to the table with harmony and contrast, full of flavors – complex with an impeccable balance and creating a true culinary experience…

“I wish I could do that all the time. I simply start from the best product, to which we apply the technique to its service and then we combine it with other ingredients, depending on the type of cuisine that we want to express. It’s not the same as asparagus at Pakta, than at Tickets, or Bodega 1900. We change the cooking or the complexity of the elaborations.”

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WG MAGAZINES

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

Chef Albert takes us back during his days in Paris to further his pastry skills with master chef Paco Torreblanca…

“I arrived in Paris when I was 18 by train, with a lot of fear. I remember how good they treated me; I learned to organize a section and the desserts menu, apart from being able to live in a magical city. As per Paco Torreblanca, I can only say that he did not only change the way to understand pastry but also taught us that although perfection does not exist, you can always be close to it. Both for Ferràn and me, it was a life changing experience.”

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PAKTA - Suspiro a la limeña/ Lima style “suspiro”

WG MAGAZINES

Albert Adrià culinary philosophy… “I’m not obsessed in trying to explain what and how my cooking is. It is still a work in progress, just as I am, and it changes as I do. I’m only trying to do dishes that people will like, sometimes I can be very simple and sometimes I can be sophisticated, but the same happens to me in life, I stick with the quote that says, “one is as he cooks, and cooks as he is.”

Albert’s opinion on the best recipe that he has ever created and his inspiration for this recipe… “I haven’t done it yet. This is what a creative person has to think that the best is yet to come.”

PAKTA - Ceviche de tomate/ Tomato ceviche

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

The importance of coking… Most important is the production itself.

At the end of the day, there is no need to complicate one’s life when defining your style. For me there are two kinds: the good one and the bad one… and in the good one the most important part is always the production.

Albert Adrià tells us which ingredients inspires him…

“I love to work with new ingredients for the first time. On one side you have the temporality of the ingredients, it’s important to be aware of the season in order to have the dishes ready when a certain product is in its best timing, to see the evolution of it. For instance take the almond, in its crystalized condition, where you can even use the shell, utilizing the tender or the dry parts.”

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WG MAGAZINES

TICKETS - Pizza crujiente con stracciatella/ Crunchy pizza with stracciatella

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

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TICKETS - Olivas “Sféricas” / “Sferical” olives

WG MAGAZINES

Albert Adrià’s favorite ingredients… “I have many. I love to work with vegetables and bring the best out of them. It is obvious that vegetarianism is becoming an increasing trend but, there are customers that when they go to Tickets, do not expect a cauliflower or spinach dish. I also like to work with fish.”

Albert Adrià says that there is not one ingredient that he hasn’t been able to master, however… “Absolutely. But ultimately I believe it was because I didn’t have the desire of mastering them. If I want to improve a recipe, it’s all about going and learning from the best chefs and to have them teach you the best working systems they have. It’s as simple as that: in order to learn how to make a Panettone or Paella, go where the best ones are and learn.”

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ALBERT ADRIÀ

Product, Creativity or Technique… “By order, I’d say that without a good product there is no good cuisine, the technique applied would follow and lastly the creativity. But as I said earlier, being creative is more like a state of mind rather than a characteristic.”

Albert Adrià emphasizes on cooking techniques and equipment… “I love order, therefore any equipment that allows you to have everything tidy and to work in a clean space, those are my favorites. Techniques are nothing other than culinary expressions and flavor at the service of the product.”

Guilty food pleasure… Pizza. I can’t resist.

Without seeing it and just from its smell, I know already if it’s going to be a good one or not.

Luckily I’m trying to behave and I eat pizza from time to time.

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TICKETS - Artichoke, celeriac and truffle

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without good product there is no good cuisine...

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Your book “Los Postres de El Bulli (El Bulli Desserts)”… It was more like a need to put some order in the parameters and references of what restaurant desserts should be. Today it is a bit “naive” but back then it became a reference for many young pastry chefs.

Your first project outside Spain - would Ferràn be coming to London to try 50 Days and what does he think of this project… “He was as happy as I was, because the response was truly incredible. We’ve learned a lot and we now have an idea of what it means to open abroad. The fact of being a pop-up reassured us. Besides, in a city like London in a 5 Star hotel like Café Royal, it was hard to say no.”

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TICKETS - Gofre aéreo de chocolate/ Chocolate air waffle

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Albert is considered by his brother, Ferràn, to be “one of the best chefs in the world” The world’s most influential chef of gastronomy with 50 Days by Albert Adrià, and five diverse restaurants in Barcelona, from an avant-garde tapas bar, Tickets, to a modern Mexican table, Hoja Santa, Heart in Ibiza, and the opening of your new restaurant Enigma in Barcelona – Albert Adrià tells us what motivates him… “Don’t you think that is enough? Ha ha! Being serious, I find motivation working with a team that understands me and at the same time, we enrich ourselves mutually for the benefit of the projects.”

Albert Adrià gives his take on chefs entering the culinary world…

“Be aware that cooking is not making dishes only: it’s a lot of routine hours, and it’s more a lifestyle than a job. To the young people I always say that two things are needed: humility and passion. Humility is what helps you understand you still have a lot to know and keep learning, the passion allows you to stay 14 hours in the kitchen.”

PAKTA - Cornete de lúcuma/ Lucuma ice cream cone

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Photo © Emmanuelle Thion

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ANNE-SOPHIE PIC THE ARTIST WHO WORKS WITH FLAVOURS Anne-Sophie Pic’s story is a remarkable one.

First of all, it is the story of a family of chefs that have, for several generations now, marked the history of the French culinary arts.

It all began with Sophie, the great-grandmother, who opened a restaurant called L’Auberge du Pin on Saint-Péray Road. Very soon, her reputation went beyond the borders of the Ardèche region and gourmets came from all over to taste her poultry fricassee, gratins and sautéed rabbit. Her son André succeeded her, earning three stars from the Michelin Guide in 1934. In 1936, he moved to a new location on national motorway 7, where Maison Pic still stands today.

His son Jacques took over from him in 1956, introducing an eight course tasting menu, to become one of the first chefs in the nouvelle cuisine movement to expand upon the traditional three course meal and earning three stars in his turn and offering a cuisine that was revolutionary in both its combinations of flavours and its aesthetics.

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A SUCCESSOR and a

SELF-TAUGHT WOMAN It’s also the story of a young girl who did not at first seemed destined for a culinary career, since she went to business school (ISG in Paris), with the goal of working in the luxury industry. Until the day, that is, when she realized that her calling was to stay by her father’s side to learn to cook, and to develop the brand that is also her family name.

But her apprenticeship was brutally interrupted by the death of her father, who was naturally succeeded by his son Alain. It would be a few more years before Anne-Sophie found the courage to enter the kitchen in which she now has her natural place. In 2007, AnneSophie became the only French woman to have three Michelin stars and later in 2011, Anne-Sophie was named World’s Best Female Chef.

Finally, and above all, it is the story of the duo she and her husband David Sinapian have formed for over 20 years now. Two complementary personalities at the head of a business that they have developed based on the ideas of sharing, openness, consistency and respect for the values dear to them. Anne-Sophie officiates in the kitchen, while David is at the helm of the business.

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Photo © Jean Francois Mallet

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Agneau Aveyron Photo © Jean Francois Mallet

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FLAVOUR combinations

POWERFUL tastes

AND DELICATE expressions

To understand Anne-Sophie’s 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 male-dominated field.

Anne-Sophie 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. When she made her début in the culinary arts, she had only her intuition and emotions to help her as she created her dishes. Techniques must be learned through practice. And this gave her an enormous freedom to combine flavours, to create her own style, to seek balance and trueness in all things.

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 works with underappreciated or forgotten products such as beetroot, turnip and cabbage. She approaches the products in their totality to explore their potential culinary applications. She prefers cinnamon leaves to cinnamon sticks.

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Anne-Sophie continually revisits ingredients, cooking methods and techniques to offer her guests a distinct and often surprising gustatory experience. For example, she uses coconuts as a natural vessel for steaming scallops. Coffee, tea and cacao nibs play the role of condiments. The dashi bouillons are naturally flavoured. The meats are smoked. The butters are infused.

For Anne-Sophie, a dish is a living thing and tasting is not a linear experience. She believes that each mouthful should conjure a different flavour-based emotion, some of them strong, some delicate, some smooth, some bitter... Her ongoing search for perfection drives Anne-Sophie to continually improve her creations, reinterpreting some and abandoning others to create them again with a fresh start. Routine has no place in the landscape of her culinary imagination.

Photo Š Serge Chapuis

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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.

“At the heart of the Maison PIC, in Valence, I experiment with combinations of flavours.

In some dishes, I present up to five aromatic groups, while making each taste perceptible and legible.

All the elements count. In the blue lobster with red berries recipe, I propose discovering the side of smoked bonito with red berry dashi, a few iodine notes in the broth but also tangy flavours present in the strawberry-barberry chutney. I came up with this recipe ten years ago, but it continues to evolve as I work on it. It is this game of balance and audacity that interests me and I wish to present with my teams.”

Le millefeuille blanc vanille tahiti, gelee au jasmin Photo © Ginko

Anne-Sophie Pic

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WG Magazine catches up with Anne-Sophie Pic…

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La St Jcques coco truffe Photo © Ginko

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a culinary dream of flavors...

It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Anne-Sophie Pic tells us how you found your way into the culinary field to become one of the most sought-after Chef in the world!

Indeed, each story is unique; I arrived in the kitchen after a few detours. I am the daughter and the granddaughter of cooks and lived my childhood above the kitchen of my father. My first approach to the kitchen was olfactory. My room is filled with smells of fragrances, perfumes and enticing smells. However, I did not intend to as I wanted to go to a business school, to work in the luxury industry and defend the French know-how in this sector. When I obtained my diploma, I realized that my life was in the kitchen, it took me away only to return. I was self-taught when I pushed the door of the kitchen almost 25 years and I got great help from my intuition and my memory to invent and build my culinary dream which is made of flavors, the search for complexity and aromatic power, and delicacy of expression.

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Jacques Pic Photo © Maison Pic

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Jacques PIC was the first to introduce an eight course tasting menu, becoming one of the first chefs in the nouvelle cuisine movement to expand upon the traditional three course meal.

When the family restaurant ‘Maison PIC’ lost its third star in 1946 and the second in 1950, Jacque decided to train to become a chef and earn back the Michelin stars back for his father and family. Jacques applied to the kitchens of France’s most renowned chefs - Fernand Point and Alexandre Dumaine (both chefs were considered his father’s equals in the kitchen) but they turned him down. Jacques travelled to Geneva, and to towns and cities in France, picking up his culinary skills along the way.

In 1959, Jacques won back the second Michelin star for the Maison PIC and the third was restored in 1973. Andre Pic passed away in 1983, seeing those stars returned to the restaurant.

Taking you back when you did your apprenticeship with one of the Great Chefs of France - your father “Jacques PIC” – tell us about your experience and how did this help to form who you are as a chef today…

Unfortunately, my father did not really have time to teach me to cook. He passed away suddenly two months after I joined him in the kitchen.

However, it gave me values and philosophies of life that make me who I am today and will always carry me forward. My father was very discreet and very hard working. He taught me humility and the passion to work. In this business, every service is a new adventure, nothing is ever acquired. Striving for excellence requires constant commitment, a requirement of every moment. He also taught me the meaning of giving, sharing and transferring knowledge. For me, cooking is trying to awaken the emotions of your guest, for them to view your world; this is a very strong act.

And then, of course, my father gave me his love for cooking and his passion for taste. The meal was a unique moment of sharing, pleasure, conviviality during which he commented on everything he ate. You know, somehow, there was a form of learning by capillarity, by immersion. I have fond memories – my father cutting a piece of meat, for example - conversations, taste sensations linked to the discovery of food, brief moments of life that we shared and which constitutes my heritage.

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Asperge Roques Hautes Photo © P.Rougereau

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the search for that quintessential taste...

You impart your wisdom which you have inherited from one of the most renowned cooking dynasties in France in to each and every dish. Your cuisine is a composition of your sense of smell and your palate, revisiting ingredients and full of flavours to seek an impeccable balance – how do you bring about this balance on a plate…

I will not deny that it took me some time to find this balance. At first glance, there is this search for that quintessential taste that guides me. But for me, the taste is like the colors for a painter. There are a multitude of nuances to explore, the aromas of an ingredient may be infinite - little we listen and we understand... and we associate with others who will sublimate. That’s what I’m interested in the associations of flavors: the ability to push flavor notes and in return, to be impacted by these nesting, these round trips that make the dish a living material and a tasting anything but linear exercise!

For example, I work much with bitterness that rhymes with quintessential taste. Bitterness for me has this magical property to push the aromatic complexity of my associations of flavors that extends in the mouth.

What interests me is the subtle balance with other flavors such as acidity, astringency or piquancy. Because it is associated with others, that it reveals the bitterness of the soul is this sublime dish. The idea is to tame it, to approach a form of sweetness with bitterness, but a more subtle sweetness, not immediately sweet.

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I like to reinterpret traditional dishes...

Your signature style cannot be found in a single dish but in your creative approach which is unique – Anne-Sophie Pic share the process she goes through to creating a dish…

My creative process starts with many meetings and encounters.

Meeting with the products first. I am fortunate to live in a region of great wealthy wine, agricultural and ranching. I cook many local products such as truffles, herbs, and chocolate, to name a few.

Meeting with mostly men who are behind these products, there are homes of women who love their land and who are working to preserve and enhance it. And I have the chance, as chef, to have access to these exciting and passionate producers who have a thorough knowledge of their products.

With traditional dishes I like to reinterpret them. Drôme accounts for some culinary specialties such as the ravioli of Roman novels, basic specialty of dough of the country, curd milk and parsley. One of my signature dishes - you see I have at least one! - The berlingot is directly inspired by this ravioli. But the dough I work with is unprecedented by its taste, color and shape. It is flavored with green tea - in color and form... the berlingot - a sweet specialty of Carpentras.

Meeting with different creative universe of mine at last. I strongly believe in cross-fertilization between different creative universes. I, for example, always have been attracted to the world of perfume, maybe because I came to the kitchen by the smell, when I was small, I breathed the smell of my father’s kitchen. The trades of the perfumer and the cook have in common that they are to assemble odor for one, flavors for each other.

Recently, as part of an editorial project, I had the chance to meet a writer, a philosopher, a designer, a historian, a perfumer and a cook to discuss the creative process, these exchanges have greatly fueled my thinking and my imagination.

And I will conclude on this point: my creative process also feeds a share of reverie of time when I let my mind wander.

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Turbot Photo © Jean Francois Mallet

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Anne-Sophie Pic Nouvelle Cuisine Photo © Serge Chapuis

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creativity in the heart of Valence...

The establishment at 285 Avenue Victor Hugo – the former national motorway 7 – in Valence is a landmark site for the Pic family. The family business has been operating there since 1936 and today is home to the three-star restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic, a five-star hotel and a restaurant named André.

From the outside, no one could guess at the experience that awaits those who cross the threshold. Entering the establishment, one is immersed in a world in which tradition and modernity exist side by side, in which one finds references to the past and the present, femininity and masculinity, elegance and clean lines. It is a place that encourages sharing and discovery, a place that over the past 20 years has seen all sorts of transformations aimed at making any visit an unforgettable one.

The magic of the place takes hold from the very beginning, in the form, for example, of a long showcase presenting all the editions of the Michelin Guide since its first release in 1900. The tone is set, and here we are in a temple of culinary arts – but this cuisine is laidback and dares to defy boundaries. The sitting rooms were designed to offer an immense and welcoming common living space with an eclectic style in which contemporary pieces encounter references to the past. Encounters are one of the core values of Anne-Sophie Pic’s world: encounters between flavours, with the products and the people who bring them to life, with emotions and with other creative realms.

Her creativity is fuelled by encounters such as these. These sitting rooms are the expression of what hospitality means to Anne-Sophie Pic: discreet and attentive, warm and simple.

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BLUE LOBSTER Roasted in lobster butter, first dashi with berries, cherrybarberry chutney, beetroots.

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Homard Fruits Rouges Photo © Jean Francois Mallet

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“At the heart of the Maison PIC, in Valence, I experiment with combinations of flavours. In some dishes, I present up to five aromatic groups, while making each taste perceptible and legible.

All the elements count. In the blue lobster with red berries recipe, I propose discovering the side of smoked bonito with red berry dashi, a few iodine notes in the broth but also tangy flavours present in the strawberry-barberry chutney.

I came up with this recipe ten years ago, but it continues to evolve as I work on it. It is this game of balance and audacity that interests me and I wish to present with my teams.”

Anne-Sophie Pic Anne-Sophie created a recipe of lobster with berries more than ten years ago and it quickly became a signature dish Masion PIC. At the time, she imagined marrying the acidity of strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant with a spicy green pepper and celery.

Today a reinterpretation of the lobster that reflects changes her kitchen, her research around the sauces, looking more balance, the right note in my sauces.

Anne-Sophie’s interest is the liveliness and quintessential of taste… Lobster with red berry dashi. One of the cornerstones of Japanese cooking, Dashi is an incredible simple broth and a favorite of Anne-Sophie. A broth with an infusion of flavors and great aromatic complexity is made from Kombu seaweed and dried bonito shavings.

This dashi with the berries is an infusion of wild strawberries and raspberries. The smoked side of bonito brings complexity to the berries, not only the acidity but also its flavor. A chutney of cherry barberry that brings acidity and the delicate sweetness of the beetroot Albina Vereduna.

The lobster rests on a bed of fresh berries, beetroot chutney and accompanied dashi with berries. A blend the smoky taste of dashi and the sharp taste which is enhanced by the acidity of the barberry. A dish that plays on the bitterness, acidity and smoked.

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Next, the guest enters the heart of the establishment – the gourmet restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic – via a long corridor which affords a glimpse of the family history and the present of the Chef in her kitchen. This hallway whets one’s anticipation of the gustatory emotions that are to come. The dining room one enters next is arranged around a magnificent Baccarat crystal chandelier that separates the room into three distinct spaces lighted by large bay windows overlooking lush gardens. These three separate ambiances have a common thread: the very feminine grey and powder-pink color palette, details recalling the establishment’s history, Japan, a country the Chef is very fond of, and greenery. The overall result is a cozy but understated refinement.

Anne-Sophie Pic - Valence Photo © Serge Chapuis

André© is a place steeped in history and storie ! The culinary history of four generations of cooks who made a mark on their time and have shown us their vision of the world with plenty of generosity and reserve. In the Pic family, people remain discreet. There’s no boastfulness around here, but a constant quest for truth and accuracy. Through these dishes on André©’s menu, the story of the Pic family is written, told and, above all, savoured. A story in which each generation has created its own style and demonstrated its creativity while remaining faithful to its name.

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Anne-Sophie Pic - Valence Photo © Serge Chapuis

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BERLINGOTS Filled with soft, lightly smoked Banon chèvre watercress consommé infused with ginger and bergamot.

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Les berlingots au chevre de BANON consomme au cresson et gingembre truffe noire Photo © Ginko

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The berlingots are very symbolic to Anne-Sophie’s kitchen, they are the quintessence. Anne-Sophie wanted to work with an unprecedented dough taste, color, shape and resume the idea of ravioli Romans. The ravioli is a basic dough specialty, curdled milk and parsley. The idea of the berlingots was inspired by the sweet berlingots of her childhood and scented dough with matcha green tea. Innovations in this dish was to create an original pasta shape that was indulgent and contemporary at the same time, the balance between the quantity of dough and providing a flowing creamy stuffing. A combination of Banon, the famous AOC goat cheese from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, with matcha tea, bergamot, watercress, and ginger. Bringing together a marriage of the lightly smoked goat cheese contrasts with the intense, acidic, and spicy sauce to balance out the dish.

The berlingots are stuffed with Banon cheese, a soft goat cheese with a natural rind of the Alpes de Haute-Provence, which is originally a part of my family. Anne-Sophie mixes the Banon with mascarpone cream, and it is heated to very high temperatures for a very smooth creamy texture. The matcha tea extends a wooded flavor.

Despite appearances, this dish is very vegetative and visually very green with the addition of Komatsuna flowers (a Japanese vegetable that AnneSophie likes) bring freshness to the cartons.

The sauce plays a decisive role to the dish, it was born out of Anne-Sophie’s discovery of the world of fragrances. A strong belief in cross-fertilization between different creative universes. The chef and the perfumer share one in common - to assemble flavors. Meeting Philippe Bousseton, the nose in Takasago, allowed Anne-Sophie to develop her complexity of flavors that perfectly reflects this sauce.

Watercress is rich in chlorophyll and has slightly spicy notes. A green water cress plant with a slight bitterness that combines perfectly with that of matcha tea. Ginger accentuates the spicy side of watercress.

Bergamot is used in perfumery and she always wanted to work it. She came intuitively consistent with watercress to bring a more floral side to this dish. Bergamot zest from the citrus family has interested Anne-Sophie for its very floral, slightly bitter side and its slight acidity. They balance the bitterness of watercress. A sauce with great aromatic complexity built around bitterness, spicy and floral.

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RICHARD SANDOVAL Restaurateur Extraordinaire Notable Author Celebrated Chef Text Oilda Barreto

During the past 18 years, Richard Sandoval’s career as a chef and restaurateur has meteorically evolved; as a restaurant owner, chef, culinary consultant, television personality, cookbook author and brand ambassador. In fact, Richard Sandoval Restaurants (RSR) is now a leading international restaurant group with over 40 conceptions spanning across Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C., as well as in Dubai, Hong Kong, Mexico, Tokyo, Qatar and Serbia. Restaurant Hospitality recently named Richard Sandoval Restaurants as one of the “25 Coolest Multi-concept Companies.”

With the broad range of restaurants in his portfolio, Chef Sandoval combines authentic Latin ingredients with international flavors and inventive techniques to create new and unexpected recipes and cuisines like modern and coastal Mexican, Latin-Asian, Peruvian and Pan-Latin.

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Sandoval is equally fervent about tequila and has curated one of the largest collections in North America and the Middle East and seeks to educate diners on their quality and diversity. A recurring participant at international food and wine festivals, Sandoval’s recent television appearances include competing on the fifth season of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.”

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When not cooking, Sandoval is passionate about training the chefs of the future. He supports their growth on the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America, and has recently received an honorary doctorate from Johnson and Wales. For his work, he has been awarded Mexico’s National Toque d’Oro 2003, Bon Appétit Restaurateur of the Year 2006 and Cordon d’Or Restaurateur of the Year 2012. In 2013, Market Watch named him “On Premise Player of the Year,” and in 2015, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Culinary Arts and Food Service Management from Johnson & Wales University in Denver, Colorado.

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Toro Toro - Dubai

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From his grandmother, he learned to respect fresh, authentic, ingredients and create the vibrant flavors that turned family dinners into celebrated events...

WG catches up with Richard Sandoval during his visit to Dubai…

It’s interesting to learn how Chef’s find their passion for cooking. Renowned Chef Richard Sandoval tells us about his formative years and how he found his way into the culinary field to become one of the most sought-after Chefs in the world…

It all started at a very young age when my parents were divorced. I spent all my time with my grandmother. In our culture, the Latin culture, everything revolves around food, I mean everything. So I remember as a young 12 year old kid, every Sunday we had a huge family reunion of 20 to 30 people and my grandma was the matriarch of our house. If you can imagine it, she would sit at the table and the cooks would bring her big platters of food and she would start plating and it would just go all the way around, just platters and platters of food, I mean like six, seven, eight courses.

At that time I think I knew what my future career was going to be. My palate began to change, to evolve, to understand, to appreciate food. Without me knowing what I was going to do later in life! Then again, after that, I was a very prolific tennis player. I played in high school, I played in college, and a satellite circuit.

At some point I had to make a decision as to what I wanted to do with my life. It was either go with tennis or choose something else. I have always loved food, and even while playing tennis throughout Europe and Asia, I was always going to restaurants and markets and always consuming food. At that time, my father was in the restaurant business, so I think it was my grandmother my father. All of these elements kind of really instilled a passion in me, to let me know what my future career would be.

After culinary school I went back to work for my father so, I went back to Mexico and spent about four years with him. I worked at his restaurant which was an iconic one in Acapulco and then I opened a restaurant for him, an Italian restaurant in Acapulco. It was after that when I moved to New York.

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Maya- Dubai

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Chef Sandoval took New York by storm in 1997 with Maya with his earthy flavours of his native Mexico…

“New York being what New York is, I wanted to get there and learn, to understand, I mean, I was very young. I was in my twenties going to the most competitive restaurant city in the world. I wanted to know a small and very unique restaurant called Sala, which had about 30 to 40 seats. I really learned how the local press looked at food, how Mexican food was seen in New York at that time. I wanted to learn about all of that because looking at Maya, 20 plus years later, and it is still open, and is having its best years right now. I wanted to learn how people saw Mexican food. Going back twenty years and it is very different than what it is today. At that time Mexican food was seen as a very fast casual food, very heavy food, very inexpensive food. It wasn’t really evolving, it really wasn’t going anywhere. So once I understood that, it was my goal to add my little grain of salt and help my culture, and my country, with my enhancements, our food would be seen around the world.”

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The culmination of authentic Latin ingredients with international flavors, inventive techniques, whether it is new or unexpected. Chef Sandoval brings a coastal Mexican flair into it: Latin, Asian, Pan Latin – we wanted to know how he brings this impeccable balance on the plate with all of these great flavors…

“I think you said it perfectly. Ingredients, the Mexican Cuisine and culture allow me to have this amazing repertoire of ingredients. A lot of cuisines are not that fortunate, but in Latin cultures like my Mexican cuisine you have chillies, you have tortillas, you have molli, (sauces used in Mexican cuisine, molli comes in various flavors and ingredients, with chili peppers as the common factor) you have so much to work with, that made it easier for me to be able play my orchestra with these ingredients, achieve balance and a roller coasters for flavors. ‘Old ways and new hands’, so basically I was taking recipes and food that I have tasted at my grandmother’s house, using the techniques I learned at school, and coming up with different plate and dishes.”

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Placido Domingo and Richard Sandoval

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great partnerships...

Chef Sandoval’s culinary partnership with renowned opera singer Placido Domingo and his team up with Jaime Pesaque from Peru and noted sushi chef Kaz Okochi…

I knew Placido from my days in Acapulco, that’s where he has his family compound, where he brings his family no matter where they are in the world to have family time together. We’ve met there and when I moved to New York he asked me to collaborate with him with an existing restaurant. I had the idea, since Mexican food was starting to evolve, people kind of opened their minds and opening to new and different things. I came up with this coastal seafood Mexican restaurant called Pampano which was an incredible success and is still very successful today in New York. So that was an incredible partnership that opened doors for me. Placido is an amazing person.

He wasn’t only a financial partner but obviously he travels around the world and goes to the best restaurants and loves food. So he was always challenging me and asking me to bring in ideas. That was a great partnership.

Jaime, he is an amazing chef. I didn’t know that much about Peruvian food. Going back to when we opened Raymi in New York City, working with him kind of opened my eyes to a totally new culture, new ingredients, new techniques and a very nice chef. Kind of very similar to my kitchen style. For me it is important if I am going to collaborate with a chef that our minds are aligned. We think together, we have the same personalities, and it’s not about egos but it is about food. I had and still get that feeling with him so, we collaborated with Raymi and then Kaz from Sushi Bistro in DC. When I was entering the DC market, I asked Kaz to be a part of my first restaurant there which is actually my second, Masa 14 so it was a collaboration. We still have a very good partnership today. He is brilliant with Japanese food but more importantly, he is a very good human being. To be that is very, very important if I am going to partner out with somebody.

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Sandoval’s signature flair and bold flavors...

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Chef Sandoval’s describes his culinary philosophy…

“I think it is two ways – old ways and new hands. I didn’t necessarily reinvent everything but I took my life experience as a child and interpreted it in my new ways and with my new techniques. But I think the most important thing is balance. My food is all about balance; you always have to have the right texture, right acidity, the right heat, the right sweetness to be able to make sure that when people taste something, on their tongues is a roller coaster of flavors.”

We asked Chef Sandoval about his greatest influences in the kitchen…

“I think Nobu, its two chefs really put their stamp on me as I was growing up. Nobu was very important because I saw what they did living in Peru, coming to United States, and putting the Japanese and the Peruvian together, kind of like the Nikkei cuisine I loved.

Nobu opened a lot of doors and really started getting the Latin ingredients notarized in the US, previously, Latin ingredients were seen as inexpensive so it opened a lot of doors.

Then there was Douglas Rodriguez, a prolific and very famous chef in New York City, he opened doors for us Latin Chefs at a time when it was all about European and Asian Chefs, the Latin Chefs were really getting no breaks, no chances.”

Maya Dubai - Smoked Salmon Coca

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RICHARD SANDOVAL

New Latin Flavors...

Produce, Creativity, Technique are equally important to Richard while working in the kitchen… “They go hand in hand. I think you know in order to do something you have to have creativity; otherwise it just becomes a copy and paste which, for me, it just does not work.”

Chilies are the ingredient that inspires Chef Sandoval, however finds it difficult to work with Huitlacoche – we like to call it the Mexican truffle. It grows on the corn during the rainy season. It’s a kind of a fungus where the bulbs somewhat enlarge in the rainy season and creates a black fungus. It has a very unique flavour but you have to be careful how you serve it, how you work with it, so to me, it’s a very unique ingredient but it is also kind of difficult to work with.

Calamari Azteca

Richard Sandoval emphasizes “I personally like to use the molcajete (the mortar) a lot. I think everybody kind of uses blenders now but still like to use the mortar to create sauces. For Zengo right now I am going to be creating some sauces using leaves, you really get the oils out of the leaf, we just emulsify it. You don’t get the same expression of flavors so the molcajete is the thing I like to use.”

Your book “New Latin Flavours, Hot Dishes, Cool Drinks” offers more than 125 vibrantly seasoned Latin dishes, inspired by his popular restaurant fare but carefully streamlined for the home cook, recipes that offer an exciting new vision of contemporary Latin cooking…

“People always relate Mexican food to “hot” foods so it has a double meaning you know hot-spicy is for hot food and cold drinks also have a double meaning, cold and cool. I think in today’s restaurants it’s more of a lifestyle, before it was just something were you went to eat and spend. People today are looking for much bigger broader experience than just sitting down and having an appetizer, entrée and a meal. It’s a full experience. I think this book kind of hits all the points in that sense.”

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Sea Bass

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Richard Sandoval’s opinion on the best recipe that he has created…

There is so many. But there is one I stick with mostly. There are probably two, one of them is a scallop dish with real scallops. Marinated watermelon with chillies and a little bit of oil, then grill that, then came up with an achiote truffle sauce. The flavour of the achiote, truffle with scallops and the watermelon - it was just a beautiful explosion of flavors. I would say that is one of my all-time favourite.

Then I have this oyster dish, I actually came up with it when I was at Savann, my first restaurant “Arborio crusted oysters”. Take the Arborio put it through a coffee grinder and make flour out of it and then obviously there is enough moisture so you can just add salt, pepper and then pan fry them. Then I put a base of a celery root puree and serve it with Chipotle tomato salsa. If you ever get a chance to make it is the oyster with celery root and it just a spectacular combination of flavors. I would say those are two of my favourite dishes.

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Scallops

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Guacomole

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Churrasco Platter

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Chef Richard Sandoval’s acclaimed cuisine in Serbia...

Being one of the most influential chefs in the world, you have taken the Richard Sandoval brand from the US to Dubai, Qatar, Tokyo, an amazing gastro bar in Serbia – Toro Latin Gastrobar and dubbed the “Coolest and the Coolest Restaurant in Serbia” Richard Sandoval tell us about this recent opening…

Crispy prawns

It’s a funny story. It all begins when I had a Serbian gentleman who worked for me and he wanted me do a Serbian restaurant in the US. I always like to help people who work for me, to give them opportunities, so this was an opportunity to showcase his culture.

I went to Serbia and spent five days around Serbia to really embrace the food as; I am not going to do something just to do it. I would not get involved in the food if I didn’t embrace it and understand it at first but after five days in Serbia, who knew that Eastern European food was simple yet, very different from what I do, I was challenged and I actually told my friend, I said “I can’t do this, I will invest and I will help you launch but I am going to do my food”.

The last night I went to a restaurant called Mala Fabrica, it just completely changed my way of looking at Serbian food because he had done the same that I do with Mexican food, change it, be creative, take chances. So I called my partner, I said get back on the plane and after I landed in DC, get back to Serbia and talk with Mehalo and if we get him involved then I wanted to work with his chefs and, the game is back on. Then he asked me if we can do my style of food in Serbia. I said absolutely, I said Toro Toro is a very big restaurant, it’s mostly steaks and more composed dishes that are more sophisticated dishes, so to go into Serbia with this style without having experienced Latin food I thought it would be challenging. I said what I will do is, I will take Toro Toro’s menu, tone it down and do a Gastro Bar so what I did. I took Toro Toro, compacted it, took my signature dishes, and kind of put it in a Gastro Bar environment and that’s how it all came around. Now we have four restaurants in Serbia.

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Richard Sandoval tell us what motivates him… “I think it is my love and passion. Someone just asked me that, I said it’s almost a curse when you love something, it’s not work, it is something that you love to do and it is a God given gift. I love food, I have a passion for it and I think that’s what drives me.”

Guilty food pleasure... “I would probably say Queso Fundido. It’s got the melted cheese with flour tortillas. There has got to be more calories in that than anything in the world. Tortilla, cheese and something with spice, it’s a more of a pizza than a tortilla.”

Richard Sandoval gives his take on chefs entering the culinary world… “In this industry today there is a catch 22 in the sense that the TV has made chefs celebrities. It kind of has made these the younger generation to not understand how hard it is and how much work it takes to truly become a chef. I think people today are entering the industry to become celebrity chefs and they have no idea how hard it is and they don’t understand they are more likely to fail. I think it is really to work in a restaurant, you have really understand the industry before you really get into it. I think people don’t really understand the challenges that go with this industry.

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André Chiang Chef & Artist André’s career spans numerous highly successful roles in various Michelinstarred establishments with some of the world’s top French restaurants including the masters of “Nouvelle Cuisine” - Pierre Gagnaire, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and L’Astrance in Paris; La Maison Troisgros in Roanne, and Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier.

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 ANDRÉ is like a journey to the south of France where the guests can discover myriad flavours and textures that engage the senses.

WG Magazine speaks with André Chiang…

It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Chef André tells us how he found his way into the culinary field to become the most sought-after and influential Chef in the world…

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“I grew up in an artist family, my father Chinese calligrapher, my brother is an actor, my sister is a coating designer, and my mom was a chef, so I guess that is how I started. I very into pottery and sculpture, so I think the first biggest artistic influence that take me to a different direction a different perspective when it comes to culinary so we don’t really go into very technical cooking style so guess that is a part from what people see that in a different way and we are.

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Photo © Edmond Ho

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Watermelon Skin, Thyme, Fleur d’Oranger Photo © Edmond Ho Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 209)

Live Langoustine, Butternut Squash, Blood Orange Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 142)

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so nothing like really overly luxury. With Michel Troisgrois it really backs to simplicity so every plate less than five flavors, less than five ingredients and how you bring that to perfection that was what I learned from Michel.

With Pierre Gagnaire we always tried new things, new flavors, Pierre is a true artist that we see the same dish in five different ways of doing it in one week, I learned the rigid diversity of what the same ingredient and the same pairing can do.

Lastly Pascal Barbot, it’s a small restaurant and that for me set the tone for Restaurant ANDRÉ. You can have four cooks in the kitchen and reach a three Michelin star.

Indeed I learned different things from each one of them and that hold the strong foundation of Restaurant ANDRÉ today.

1996 - Alain Ducasse and Chef André at Louis XV Chef André with Jacques and Laurent Pourcel at Restaurant ANDRÉ’s first anniversary

Chef André takes us back when he started his career with Jacques and Laurent Pourcel at Le Jardin de Sens…

Le Jardin de Sens is where I worked for almost nine years and that is a very big part of my foundation. I guess for me, I learnt very much in south of France, the way, the lifestyle, whatever we cooked it always connected to the lifestyle, the people and the season.

Not just for the sake showing off your technique so I guess that is very important part when it comes to being creative. I always think about that.

Chef André’s French culinary skill with Pascal Barbot at L’Astrance, Michel Troisgrois whose family history has been responsible for their contribution to the Nouvelle Cuisine movement, Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Ducasse and with the world’s most Michelinstarred chef Jöel Robuchon – he tells us... “Every one of them taught me different things; of course with Troisgrois I learned southern cuisine, the southern people’s generosity using fresh ingredients humble ingredients that plays a big part of south of France,

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Melon, Mandarin, Chrysanthemum; Hibiscus, Lychee, Vitelotte; Caviar, Onion, Blinis; Pumpkin, nasturtium, ginger Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 286)

Chef André’s philosophical approach to cuisine is successfully demonstrated with his unique, pure, texture, memory, salt, south, artisan and a symphony of harmony - terroir…

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Yoghurt, Caillé de Brebis, Sakura; Pickled Shallot, White Peach, Champagne; Avocado, Cucumber, Wheatgrass; Black Cherry, Sea Coral, Balsamic Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 287)

“My culinary philosophy is the eight elements representing eight different dishes that is basically is our principal. Everything that we create always goes back to the eight elements, it is our approach to cuisine, the approach that how we create dishes, we want eight different dishes in the menu and you have different dimensions, so it not like you have landscape dish, you have everything in the landscape. Every dish has a different approach. At Restaurant André we call it the Octagon Analysis. The octagon analysis is a chart of an octagon, we look into every dish and it creates a DNA of the dish, so if you have for eight different dishes or eight different DNA overlap on each other then it should create almost a complete Octagon, and that is how we make sure all our dishes are well balanced.”

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Chef André shares his greatest influences in the kitchen…

Well it is hard to say, I guess it is what our cooking style becomes today, and first of all I guess it will be where we are in Singapore because when I first arrived in Singapore I found it difficult to work, as there is no local market, there is no local produce so everything is imported. So that made me think as to what should we do, should we decide to let our farmers, fisherman from all over the world decides what they will be sending and in a way we don’t really know what we have on the day itself but that is all the best ingredients that they can get on the day, so then we just kind of improvise based on what is available.

Chef André tells us which ingredient inspires him…

“Well recently I am working on two things that interest me a lot, one is the depth of saltiness - it not the kind of salts but it’s the depth of saltiness.

For example - ham, soya sauce, anchovies, olives there is different type of saltiness, so if we use that to season our produce and you create a different dimension and that is something I am very interested in and the other one is the fermented juice.

Chef André adds “Salt is the favourite ingredient I love working with, and haven’t been able to master Capsicum.”

We asked Chef André about cooking techniques or equipment he particular enjoys using… “Yes the charcoal grill. Instead of pan seared or SousVide, I use a lot of charcoal grill because I think the charcoal grill flavor it is something that could never be replaced and no modern technique can replace that.”

Photo © Edmond Ho

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Salt-baked Potato, Flower Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 109)

Pré-salé, Scallop Lasagna, Almond Emulsion Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 270)

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Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang (Phaidon) £39.95, www.phaidon.com/octaphilosophy

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André Chiang speaks about his book “Octaphilosophy” - a book on the Eight Elements of Restaurant André. Octaphilosophy describes the framework within which Chiang’s daily menu is created.

Each dish is built around one of eight subtly interlinked elements – artisan, memory, pure, salt, south, terroir, texture and unique.

Artisan celebrates the heritage of traditional French food producers. Memory taps into the nostalgia that a perfect dish can evoke. Pure draws out the ingredients’ flavours with minimum intervention of seasoning or cooking. Salt is flavoured by sea brine. South pays tribute to the food and culture of the south of France. Terroir hails the produce of a specific time and place. Texture refers to the sensory impact of varying layers within a dish. Unique challenges the imagination through unexpected combinations of ingredients.

André adds “Well I guess you know it’s a lot of cross over, first of all the release of my book was on my 40th birthday - the 27th April, I turned 40, it’s a very important milestone that I have a book that documents things that I do and second of all we document the fifth year of Restaurant André, the past 365 days of everything that we create and we serve to our guest is in this book. 150 recipes of André Chiang’s creative approach to the fine-dining experience. It combines the technical precision of Asian gastronomy with the producedriven seasonality of French cuisine.”

The book takes the reader through a year in the life of Restaurant André.

Frozen White Truffle Disc Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 273)

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Chef André’s opinion on the best recipe he has ever created and his inspiration… “The Memory dish this is the only dish that we serve in our restaurant all the time ‘Foie Gras Jelly with Black Truffle Colie’ it is a dish that I created in 1997 when I was in Le Jardin de Sens. It was my first dish I created and the first dish that I call my own, it is very memorable to keep, it is like your first painting when you were young or your first sketch, first picture that you have taken, for me that’s the first dish I created not drawing inspiration from right and left it’s just purely myself.

Till now we kept this dish and every service we serve that’s the only dish that has never changed.

It is important because first of all every day when we prepare it, it reminds me of where I started, how I started, and second of all, this is the dish that was presented in Le Jardin de Sens and an Asian working in a French Michelin star restaurant. It is not easy to be recognized and to be appreciated when you are an Asian boy, when you create something and the chefs say wow this is very good. That for me is a really a turning point for me to gain the confidence to be creative and work in front of the top chefs or elite team. This dish really made me open up, to be creativity, open up to take risk and try new things.

D.I.Y. Cake Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 239)

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Rockfish, Tomato, Rose Champagne Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 48)

Clams, Leek, Noirmoutier Potato Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of RESTAURANT ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 76)

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“Guilty food pleasure”… “I like the one pot cuisine anything that is cooked in one pot whether it is a hot pot or its soup or whether is a bowl of fried rice anything that is one pot that contains carbohydrate, protein, fiber all in one pot is something that I like. I don’t like to be too fancy.”

Chef André has led a distinguished career with several awards and accolades, tireless attention to detail and his Octaphilosophy, Chef André tells us what motivates him…

Along the way when I first started there are certain goals or accolade I wanted to achieve, wanted to be the best restaurant. After the second or the third year for me I realized, along the way I come across a lot of great talent and these great talents they need a platform to work and that’s how I started I know can cook but I needed someone to give me a push so eventually I have my own restaurant and I start my own business and it is the same thing for me now days.

I see a lot of great young chefs that have great ideas they have great technique and all they need is a push to have their own stage. So my intention is really to support this young talent instead of having my empire, currently I have six restaurants including restaurant André, besides Restaurant André I have another five restaurants none of them are the same cuisine and none of them are the same concept and none of them are the same chef, they are not all under André’s name because I want this young chefs to have stage of their own. I guess this motivates me to move forward.

Botan Ebi ‘Chaud-froid’ Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 176)

Stuffed Onion, Mushroom, Mountain Caviar Photo © Edmond Ho, Octaphilosophy: The Eight Elements of Restaurant ANDRÉ by André Chiang, Phaidon 2016 (page 211)

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culinary dream HAVE

PASSION BE

PATIENCE AND BE

PERSISTENCE

Since being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Chef André gives his take on chefs who are first entering the culinary field today…

“It is three things - PASSION, PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE... First you have got to have passion, second is you need a lot of practice, a lot of work to gain your foundation so you have got to have patience and third is to continue and to be the best, you need to be persistence.”

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“He who is lost in his passion is not as lost as he who has lost his passion.”

– André Chiang

Photo © Wang De-Fan

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DAVID TOUTAIN - PARIS

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David Toutain the world’s most gifted and notable chef with exceptional talent, a real artist behind his stoves...

Photo © Thai Toutain

Paris-based David Toutain is considered, among colleagues and food writers, as a culinary globetrotter, one of his generation’s most talented and popular chefs, making appearances in kitchens all around the globe. After what was seen as his homecoming to Paris with the opening of his new restaurant in December 2013, Toutain has continued to practice meticulous and conceptual cooking of seasonal produce. At David Toutain you are offered an entirely novel experience, and he takes vegetables very seriously.

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DAVID TOUTAIN - PARIS

David Toutain worked closely with world-renowned chefs - Alain Passard at L’Arpege in Paris, Marc Veyrat at La Maison de Marc Veyrat and in Spain at Mugaritz with Andoni Luis Aduriz. Preparing him for his role as Chef de Cuisine at the iconic 2 Star Michelin New York restaurant, Corton. He returned to France in 2011 where he opened Agapé Substance, a unique 26-seat, open kitchen restaurant, in the heart of Paris that he left in the late 2012.

His unfailing enthusiasm and sensitivity to the freshest ingredients, quality produce and unexpected flavours earned him and Agapé Substance numerous awards including “62nd Top Restaurant in Europe” by Opinionated About Dining (OAD), as well as “Rising Chef of the Year” by Magazine Le Chef. In 2012 Chef David was named by the Gault Millau guide as “One of the Six Greats of Tomorrow”, cementing his place as a tastemaker and trendsetter of the culinary world.

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Peau de poisson

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Crevette Barcelone / Fenouil / Consommé de tête / Herbes

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David Toutain speaks with WG Magazine.

Chef David Toutain tells us how you found your way into the culinary field to become one of the most sought-after Chef in the world!

“I started my culinary journey when I decided to follow a friend to culinary school... but the friend left one month after but I stayed on and liked it. I loved the precision to details, discovering products every day, but also people, perseverance, toughness… This balance between hard work and pleasure, passion of food, this poetry of gastronomical cuisine.”

Chef Toutain had cooked under some of the world’s great chefs – Bernard Loiseau, Alain Passard, he share the experiences…

“Bernard Loiseau was my first experience in a Michelin starred restaurant, I learnt a lot, a very organized “maison”, and a big brigade with a strong hierarchy. Bernard Loiseau’s cuisine was full of taste and flavor with local produce, and we use to meet all the producers, it was a “human” cuisine.

With Alain Passard it was a dream came true!!!

I became his sous chef…he trusted in me which was an emotional experience… I discovered vegetables, how to feel them, how to take care of them, how to cook them and to associate them. I also understood how and why cooking a whole fishes or an entire animals, it was a very interesting technique. It was also the first time where I worked with tasting menus, I mean “carte blanche” menus. When clients just have trust in the chef and don’t know what they are going to have in their plates. I really loved this liberty.”

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Restaurant David Toutain

Identi-T

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Chef Toutain paints his the canvas of his menus - a creative cuisine with the finest produce, a composition of textures, flavors with an impeccable taste and the balance on a plate…

“Everything arrives in my head, the entire idea of the dish. I speak only when it’s already complete in my head and need the time to think about the idea. After that I usually draw and talk to my team.

Everybody is giving ideas or suggestions, and we make lots of tests together. Each plate is made of one product which is dedicated to the dish, if I can say that, one product is the star of the plate and to help it become a star, some other are added too.

My process of creation is also usually influenced by colours, I like monochromes.”

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David Toutain’s cuisine is inspired by nature, travel, and different cultures – always with the goal of letting products speak for themselves all year round: herbs, flowers, mountain plants, the sea, land, vegetables.

Interesting techniques play a part in his cooking, whilst still honouring the product.

Things have to be delicious.

Always...

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Coquillage

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David Toutain is truly gifted chef inspired by Marc Veyrat, who regarded him as his spiritual son, who believed that David’s culinary journey was a wonderful experience – a break in the mountains to taste and learn how to cook herbs, flowers and ingredients that this land produces and mastering cooking techniques…

“Mar Veyrat was a very important moment in my life and in my cuisine. I discover the vegetal world, wild herbs and flowers. The place where the restaurant is situated is amazing, in the middle of the mountains, near the lake, the story of the house is beautiful and meaningful, and I really loved that experience. It was also a human moment and this link with the people is fundamental for me.”

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Snack Chip

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Egg, Corn, Cumin - A classic at Restaurant David Toutain

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Blue Feet / Hazelnut / Benoite

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Chef Toutain’s tells us about ingredient – his favourite, what inspires him, what he loves working with and the ingredient which he is unable to master…

“Butter! Since I was born in Normandy… and lemons for flavouring only. What inspires me right now its green asparagus, I love it! I choose my products according to the seasons. I love working with Verbena, for its flavours and smells, very green. I discovered it with Marc Veyrat. And Pepper is an ingredient I really don’t like, I tried lots of things with it but I can’t find something to cook it and like it.”

Chef Toutain’s emphasizes on a cooking technique…

“I love taking care and giving rest to products, I mean, you cook it and you let it rest, to avoid stress to the fibres of the vegetable or meat. It is very important to have a tender product.”

Produce, Creativity or Technique… “Produce in a product way!

Cuisine aims at highlighting products, good and natural products are the centre of my cuisine.”

Guilty food pleasure… A good juicy hamburger with well fried French fries….with my son.

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Your book “The Cuisine of David Toutain” is not just a compilation of recipes but relates your story behind the evolution of your inimitable style of fine cuisine…

“I didn’t write it, it by a French journalist. We did it together when I opened my restaurant. For me it was a way to present myself better to new clients to explain my cuisine and my philosophy.

This book for me was also a good moment and a good way to rethink the beginning of my career, a point in my life, an update.”

David Toutain gives his take on chefs who are first entering the culinary world…

“Be passionate, persistent, and be careful to find reliable people to work with.”

Textures chocolat

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AFC CULINARY TEAM USA 2016

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Variations of Beets Photo © Bonjwing Lee

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Meet Team USA American Culinary Federation Culinary Team Text Corey Siegel

Eight chefs from across America have been selected for the ACF Culinary Team USA 2016, the official representative team for the U.S. in international culinary competitions. In November 2014, the team represented the U.S. at the 2014 Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg, receiving two gold medals and placing third out of 30 nations. In August 2015, ACF Culinary Team USA competed in the cold-food competition at the American Culinary Classic in Orlando, Florida, where they received a silver medal and first place in the regional category. Over the next year, the team will continue to work with coaches and mentors to prepare for the 2016 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA), commonly referred to as the “Culinary Olympics,� in Erfurt, Germany.

Team USA will compete against 31 other countries on October 23, 2016 in the hot-food kitchen.

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AFC CULINARY TEAM USA 2016

Ben Grupe Grupe is team captain of ACF Culinary Team USA. In December 2009, he completed a three-year apprenticeship at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, followed by a one-year apprenticeship at The Racquet Club Ladue, St. Louis.

Grupe was a member of the 2012 ACF Culinary National Team USA that won two gold medals and placed third overall at the 2010 Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg and earned two silver medals and placed sixth overall at the 2012 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA).

Joseph Albertelli Albertelli graduated with honors from The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York, in 2004, with an associate degree in culinary arts and completed an apprenticeship at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Albertelli has received two gold medals and a silver in cold-food competitions, as well as numerous medals in ice carving competitions.

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Dusting leek ash on a thin cracker Photo © Bonjwing Lee

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AFC CULINARY TEAM USA 2016

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Dried Vegetables and Herbs Photo © Bonjwing Lee

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George Castaneda, CEC® Castaneda graduated from the Chef’s Apprenticeship Program in San Salvador, El Salvador, and studied at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. He has garnered several medals in ACF-sanctioned and international culinary competitions, including an individual silver medal at the 2012 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA). In 2014, Castaneda won the 12th annual Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup, Luxembourg, in the individual chef category and was named “Best Chef in the World.”

Andy Chlebana, CEPC® Chlebana holds an associate degree in culinary arts from Joliet Junior College and studied baking and pastry at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. He began his pastry career at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago and then moved to positions at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida, and The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. Chlebana has received several awards in national and international culinary competitions, including ACF National Pastry Chef of the Year in 2008. In 2013, he competed as part of the ACF culinary team that placed second and received a gold medal in the Dubai World Hospitality Championship, and was named one of Dessert Professional’s 2013 “Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America.” In 2015, Chlebana won Food Network’s “Spring Baking Championship.”

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AFC CULINARY TEAM USA 2016

Jason Hall, CMC® Hall has an associate degree from Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, Pittsburgh, and, in 2012, he achieved the distinction of Certified Master Chef (CMC), representing the highest standards of cooking. Hall is one of 68 chefs in the U.S. to hold this certification. He regularly competes in professional competitions and has more than 15 ACF medals. Hall also works with many charitable organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, James F. Holland Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

Susan Notter, CEPC® Notter has more than 35 years of experience in the pastry field. Her titles have ranged from pastry cook at Konditorei Heinemann, Monchengladbach, Germany, to joint owner and instructor at the International School of Confectionery Arts, Zurich, and Gaithersburg, Maryland. Notter was named one of the “Top 10 Pastry Chefs” in the United States

by Pastry Art & Design in 2009 and 2010, and she was a member of the ACF Culinary Team USA that received a gold medal at the 2000 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung. In 2013, she competed as part of the ACF culinary team that placed second and received a gold medal at the Dubai World Hospitality Championship and received ACF Northeast Region Pastry Chef of the Year in 2014.

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Pave of Beef,Braised Oxtail, Bone Marrow Dumpling, Pickled Carrot, Asparagus and Hollandaise, Black Truffle Jus Photo © Bonjwing Lee

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AFC CULINARY TEAM USA 2016

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Terrine of Lobster and Butternut Squash Photo © Bonjwing Lee

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Matthew Seasock, CEC® Seasock graduated from Schoolcraft College, Livonia, Michigan, with an associate degree in applied science and a certificate in culinary arts in 2005. He is an avid culinary competitor and has won several medals, including a gold medal and “Best of Show” at the 2012 Ben E. Keith Culinary Salon, Fort Worth.

Corey Siegel, CEC® In 2012, Siegel completed a three-year apprenticeship at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and earned an associate degree in culinary arts from The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. He has earned several awards and medals in culinary competitions, including 2010 ACF Northeast Region Student Chef of the Year. In 2013, Siegel was commis in the Bocuse d’Or USA competition, where he and team member Rich Rosendale, CMC, placed first, and then went on to compete in the Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Contest in Lyon, France, were the USA team placed seventh.

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ALEXANDRE COUILLON

ALEXANDRE COUILLON Photo © Helge Kirchberger / Red Bull Hangar-7

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ALEXANDRE COUILLON

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an island chef making big waves...

Alexandre Couillon was just 22 years old in 1999, when he and his wife, Céline, opened La Marine on Île de Noirmoutier, an island in the French Atlantic. Today, with its two Michelin stars, the restaurant is among the best in the whole of France, and its young chef is among those to whom the future of French haute cuisine belongs.

Some restaurant names are completely meaningless. You can’t even begin to imagine what the owner was thinking when he or she came up with it. And then there are restaurants with names that seem to fit perfectly, restaurant La Marine is among the latter. Located at the extreme tip of Noirmoutier Island, a beautiful, untamed Atlantic island just off the west coast of France, the restaurant’s tables offer unobstructed views of the harbour and the sea.

This small, but exceedingly fine restaurant is not just worth a visit for its idyllic location, however. Here you can experience the work of one of the most important ambassadors of the new French haute cuisine. Alexandre Couillon, a student of Michel Guérard and Thierry Marx, opened the restaurant at the age of 22. He had cooked his way to his first star in the Michelin Guide before he had even celebrated his thirtieth birthday. An honour that he managed to double in 2013 when he was awarded his second star.

The Black Oyster “Erika”

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ALEXANDRE COUILLON

Long-celebrated as one of the up-and-coming talents of French cooking, he has now finally made it as a serious leading chef.

Together with his devoted team, Couillon takes a straightforward modern approach to French cuisine based on the products that the island and the natural surroundings of the restaurant have to offer him – and that is predominantly delicious fish and seafood.

And so the menu offers what the restaurant’s name promises: scrambled eggs with sea urchin; monkfish served with a wonderful spear of white asparagus, rounded off with a sauce made from smoked eel and pear; cod smothered in a light goat’s cheese sauce, served with courgette and Charentais melon – that is to name just a few of the maritime delights that emerge from Alexandre Couillon’s kitchen. The menu is always tailored to the catch of the day, which the chef buys from the harbour’s fish market, just 50 metres away.

A great deal of meticulousness goes into each dish to create a masterpiece of flavour that provides a colourful contrast to the modern black and white décor of the restaurant as it sits on the table – perfectly paired with a local wine from the Vendée region. Céline, the restaurant manager and wife of the chef, emphasises Couillon’s efforts with her friendly and unwaveringly courteous manner, providing the guests with a harmonious and homely dining experience.

It is for that reason that a visit to restaurant La Marine offers a pleasant change from the sometimes overlyexcessive French haute cuisine, but without the guest having to compromise on absolute perfection or the highest level of quality. “Cooking is my art form”, emphasises Alexandre Couillon. “With this art I am able to create beautiful things”.

In June 2016, Alexandre Couillon will be exhibiting his modern culinary works of art in Salzburg as guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7.

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Langoustine with peas and raspberries

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SERGE DANSEREAU - BATHERS PAVILION, BALMORAL, AUSTRALIA

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Serge Dansereau Le Chique Photo © GMPhotographics

An energetic native-born Québécois but also an Australian citizen, Serge Dansereau grew up in Montréal and spent his formative years surrounded by a family whose food skills and example were to leave a lasting impression.

Serge began work as a kitchen hand in Montréal, where gradually his persuasive willingness gave him a good future in cooking. He was accepted at the prestigious Institut de Tourisme et d’ hôtellerie du Québec in 1974, completing his diploma in Cuisine Professionnelle in 1976.

In 1983, Serge accepted a position to help open the newly built Regent, Sydney. The hotel was led by the visionary Ted Wright, a forward thinker and great hotellier. The Regent, Sydney was consistently voted in the top 10 hotels in the world.

He was 26. His charter was to metamorphose the Regent’s restaurant Kable’s into a restaurant within a hotel not a hotel restaurant. Excellence was to take precedence over the bottom line; after one year, Dansereau was appointed Executive Chef of the Regent, Sydney and Kable’s quickly became a legend.

Dansereau is a detailer, a people’s person who sees food in a context where it is part of the quality of life. His philosophy was and is that great food requires a great palate of quality ingredients and he sought them out, his influence on new and emerging varieties of fresh and handmade produce became legendary.

His resignation from The Regent in 1999 was coupled with an announcement that he would join The Bathers’ Pavilion as partner and Chef. And so, when the astonishingly beautiful and rejuvenated Bathers’ Pavilion opened in August, 1999 it almost immediately became one of Sydney’s best and Australia’s most acclaimed eating place. In February 2003 Serge became the sole owner of The Bathers’ Pavilion.

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WG Magazine catches up with Serge Dansereau…

It’s interesting to learn how Chef’s find their passion for cooking. Chef Serge Dansereau tells us about your formative years and how he found his way into the culinary field to become the most sought-after Chef…

I have always had a love for working in the garden or with my uncles and relatives on the farm or in small kitchen until I found my way into a hotel kitchen. I loved the environment, the various nationalities with their stories and experiences, I love the work with food, the pressure of the service and I could see a future for myself cooking great food.

I ended up in Sydney to open the first 5 star hotel of Australia and heading the kitchen of The Regent, Sydney. I opened and led Kables’ restaurant to achieve a 3 hat status in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and was awarded “chef of the year” and many other awards during my time at the Regent.

I left to open my own restaurant, The Bathers’ Pavilion, were I had to design the 3 kitchens, plan the menus and concept, hire and train all the staff for this magnificent site and made it a truly great food destination. I still love making people happy and ensuring they have a great personal experience through food.

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Kingfish sashimi

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SERGE DANSEREAU - BATHERS PAVILION, BALMORAL, AUSTRALIA

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Chef Dansereau’s enigmatic and sophisticated style has led him to create flavours to entice any palate - a gastronomic delight with fresh seasonal produce and the best ingredients with intense flavours - we wanted to know how he brings about this balance on a plate… “I always put the produce first; I purchase the produce then designed a dish and menu around them. I never knew what was on the menu until the day before I had spoken to my fish monger and seen the fresh arrival from the market. My style of cooking was always researched and classic but the prime driver was to let the produce speak for itself. I worked hard to have access to great vegetables and to me they had to take prime place on a plate as opposed to be a garnish or a complement, they had to be an integral part of any of my dishes.

These days modern and eclectic but not experimental, Chef Dansereau’s cuisine is based on great produce with the aim to stimulate people with every dish we create.

We asked Chef Dansereau about his greatest influences in the kitchen…

Roast pheasant with chestnut puree

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SERGE DANSEREAU - BATHERS PAVILION, BALMORAL, AUSTRALIA

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Serge Dansereau is a chef and restaurateur who respects the service tradition and regards quality produce as the optimum ingredient in his cooking...

“I had the chance to visit many great chefs of the world but I will always be marked by Lionel Poilâne, the greatest baker France ever had. He was a personal friend and was an incredible thinker and craftsman.

His shops in Paris are a testament of his skills and his passion. He inspired me more than anyone. I need to also acknowledge Alain Ducasse, again a person I consider a friend, for his sheer influence not only on me but on every chef dedicated to cooking great food.”

Chef Dansereau shares his experience that helped him form as a chef today…

“I will always remember visiting California at its heyday of California cuisine. I was totally seduced by the culture of working with small producers, growers and cultivators. I knew then that my mission in Australia was to find people willing to grow and harvest a new line of products for me. I was able to change the way people, other chefs and merchants saw our produce; they did not have to be big, grown on a massive scale or grown out of season because seasons were not properly understood in those years.

I developed amazing relationships over the years and this bounty guided my menus offering a new and innovative way.”

Serge Dansereau’ opinion on the best recipe that he has ever created…

“I created a new dish for the opening of Bathers’. I did not think it would get much appeal but it became a focal point of my new style. It was beautiful but so simple in its presentation and intensity. It was ‘fresh abalone with jellyfish, oriental mushroom and crispy pork ears’ I served it with a light master stock and it capture the imagination of the public and the food reviewers. “

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SERGE DANSEREAU - BATHERS PAVILION, BALMORAL, AUSTRALIA

Chef Dansereau shares the process he goes to creating a new dish…

You need to start with the season, focus on a produce, let’s say “Chestnut”, and then think of the flavour and texture and what best it would work with. I am thinking pigeon, maybe with a Muscat gel, some chorizo crumble for texture and the chestnut maybe in a purée form and shaved, slightly smoked. That is the start of a dish until it is cooked, tasted, debated and adjusted to a point that only the best elements are kept to create a memorable dish.

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Seared quail breast with pumpkin cannelloni, lotus root and garlic sauce

Chef Dansereau tells us about the ingredients that inspires him…

“Funny I mentioned chestnut, they just came into season. I love them. We are using dried baby organic fig at the moment that are enchanting but I also think of quince and some great squid from the Hawkesbury River. And enjoy working with duck but also hare if I am able to put my hand on it during the winter.” Chef Dansereau adds “I tried to work with pearl meat and I have to say I was never happy with the result. That is one ingredient I have put aside for the moment.”

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Cooking techniques or equipment… “I am not a great techno believer, I still believe in tamis, mouli and a normal kitchen blender. We do use sous vide at work but I certainly do not wish to cook every dish using that technique. I love ballotine or techniques the use slow gentle poaching.”

Produce, Creativity or Technique… Serge adds “Produce will always come first in my kitchen but like everything it is critical to have a balance and not rely only on one component available to you to create new dishes.”

Chef Dansereau tell us what motivates him… “There are two elements that sustain me; firstly the joy I get from providing a great experience to my customers and the respect I have to my staff. On the one side you have to be prepared to engage with your customers to ensure they get a great experience so they return and become loyal to us and on the other side you need to be here to motivate your staff so they provide and produce the best service and food they are able to offer to our patrons.”

Chef Dansereau speaks about his book “French Kitchen” – a book of flavours of French cooking, combining expert French techniques with beautiful fresh produce and ingredients to create the prefect delicious meal… “I love that book, it was mostly written, tested and shoot at home and the food is really what represents my private cooking. I love traveling to France mostly every year and I love meeting suppliers, producers and chefs and seeing the classic produces and dishes of France. That travel certainly inspired me to write a French cookbook when realistically French food was kind of the forgotten bedrock of most chefs training and not the most popular subject for a cookbook but it was a great success and I am proud of that.”

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Serge Dansereau’s approach to Bathers’ food is uniquely Australian. His experience with food and maturity are of paramount importance in achieving the flavours...

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“Guilty food pleasure” I have to admit I love foie gras, not hugely politically correct to admit; but eaten in the Dordogne were the best production of duck foie gras comes from with a glass of Sauterne it has such a regional and terroir history that it is hard to resist and please do not get me going on chocolate!

Since being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Chef Dansereau gives his take on chefs who are first entering the field today…

“That it is a very challenging profession but that is full of rewards and creativity. It is a profession that is eminently transportable; you could work in London, Greece, Canada, Asia or anywhere else that you aspire to visit. It is an honourable profession full of history and full of amazing opportunities.“

Vacherin

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MARGOT JANSE - LE QUARTIER FRANÇAIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL, FRANSCHHOEK

MARGOT JANSE African hart beat...

Photo © Leeu Collection

Margot Janse is the incredibly talented executive chef at the awardwinning Le Quartier Français boutique hotel in Franschhoek.

Born and educated in The Netherlands, her creative talents were evident right from the start, and her tertiary studies included drama and photography – which laid the foundation for her early work with a photographic school in Johannesburg, South Africa.

However, at the age of 23, the ‘magic of the kitchen’ beckoned and she approached Ciro Molinaro, the chef-patron of La Cucina di Ciro in Parktown North and a highly respected Johannesburg restaurateur. It was two years of long shifts and hard work but Margot learned every aspect of managing a kitchen. More importantly, Ciro encouraged her to experiment and play with food, creating in Margot an ability to explore beyond traditional ‘food boundaries’.

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MARGOT JANSE - LE QUARTIER FRANÇAIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL, FRANSCHHOEK

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Farmer Angus Beef Brisket, Honeybush, Fermented Cabbage

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In 1995, Margot joined the culinary team at Le Quartier Français.

The hotel restaurant was already considered one of South Africa’s best, therefore it was an enormous challenge for Margot when she was asked to take over as executive chef shortly after her arrival.

However, 20 years and many national and international awards later, Margot continues to thrive in the career of her choice and enthral serious diners from around the globe.

Margot travels extensively to continually be inspired by new ideas and stay abreast of emerging trends. Her stimulating Africaninspired surprise menu changes regularly, based on the seasonal fresh produce which she sources from Le Quartier’s own indigenous garden and small local producers. The result is a kitchen buzzing with ongoing innovative and creative energy, as Margot and her talented team serve course after course of exquisite cuisine from this truly fine dining restaurant.

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MARGOT JANSE - LE QUARTIER FRANÇAIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL, FRANSCHHOEK

Baobab, coconut, honeybush, caramel

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Tomato and Buchu Tumbleweed

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Broccoli, Broccoli, Broccoli

The Unfortunate Quail

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MARGOT JANSE - LE QUARTIER FRANÇAIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL, FRANSCHHOEK

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Chocolate, Naartjie and Hazelnut Cake

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Margot finds it difficult to put her style in a box as it is her belief that food is constantly evolving, and that unforgettable dishes always have an element of surprise and nostalgia about them. She prefers to allow herself the room to be creative and experiment with new things. She works fearlessly with textures and balance because she believes that each dish has to say something. As she once famously exclaimed: “I don’t like bland food. I don’t like safe food.” This – more than anything else – sums up her food and life philosophies.

Every dish of Margot’s is truly refined and, at the same time, unexpectedly exciting. It is this contradiction that results in her menu’s outstanding balance and ensures that her cuisine is theatre.

Margot’s unique approach extends further than just phenomenal cuisine; it has moved into the captivating realm of stories and magic. She has created a place where each dish and its Africaninspired elements have the ability to captivate the hearts and minds of diners.

“I have no signature dish, South Africa is my signature.” says Margot Janse, executive chef, the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français is the stage for award-winning chef Margot Janse and her unique eight-course, contemporary African-inspired surprise Tasting Menu.

Surprise, an emotion that occurs when something breaks our habitual pattern. Here, serious diners have the opportunity to experience a true journey of taste that continues to evolve and astonish. The Tasting Room creates a dining experience unlike any other… one where surprise and nostalgia take centre stage.

Interior decorator of The Tasting Room and scenographer by profession, Herbert Janse, says: “In The Tasting Room every dish is engaging; refined with a distinct feminine touch and, at the same time, unexpectedly exciting … exhilarating in fact. It is this contradiction that results in balance of The Tasting Room’s dishes.

“The journey extends further than just cuisine; it moves fearlessly into the captivating realm of stories and magic. A place where each plate, and its African-inspired elements, has the ability to captivate the hearts and minds of diners.”

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DANI GARCÍA - MARBELLA

DANI GARCÍA a far-reaching chef Photo © Pablo Jiménez

Situated amongst some of the greatest Spanish chefs, Dani García is in reality the two Michelin starred Andalusian chef with the best international prospects and outreach. His personality and character as a creative and inquisitive chef are the results of close to twenty years of experience in the kitchen.

Born in Marbella, García is both cosmopolitan and a keen traveller.

His dishes clearly reflect the influence of vivid experiences from many different cultures during his travels and menus are a result of a melting pot of different travels and gastronomic cultures.

Dani García’s influences is defined by his passion for the kitchen…

Figures such as Ferran Adriá and Manuel de la Osa are some of García’s inspirations, to whom he equates Japanese cuisine or business models such as Nobu Restaurant and that of Joël Robuchon, a chef whom he particularly admires.

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DANI GARCÍA - MARBELLA

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Gazpachuelo

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García began his training at one of the best training establishments in Andalusia - the Malaga School of Hospitality La Cónsula, where he became part of haute cuisine. In 1996, he started to work with Martin Berasategui with whom he shares the same dedication, the skills and drive as a chef. It is during this time that García reconfirmed his vocation and passion for the kitchen, and defined the type of cuisine that would become the subject of development in his career. Centred on the concept that everything falls beneath the critical common denominator of “the flavor.”

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 flavour who is able to combine, in the same plate, both the distinct produce of his country with techniques and ingredients of more international cuisines.

A constant evolution and García’s culinary journey…

Tragabuches was a familiar and very personal project in which Dani García acted as Head Chef, obtaining his first significant recognition as a chef in 2000 with his first Michelin Star at only 25 years old.

His form of cooking began to develop as an unsuppressed explosion of colors: full of intuition and youth. It became a key point of reference as the base of what was to become his future cuisine. Highlights of this period were dishes such as shrimp jaws, cherry gazpacho (which was soon to become one of his most notable and starred dishes) and turbot with beef trotters.

It is a period of evolution that not only had reverberations within the kitchen. Tragabuches was a space in which Dani García began alone but soon evolved into a team of more than fifteen people and in 2002 García published Tragabuches, a recipe book that exhibits his best dishes from this Rondan restaurant.

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“I’m a chef: I like to cook and create new concepts” His second book, Dani García, Técnica y Contrastes, was published in 2004 and exhibits his evolution as a chef along with his acquired knowledge and skills. It also presents new techniques: cooking with liquid nitrogen and cooking with specific gelling agents.

Dani García took the leap forward from this family business into the international realm, a move that strengthened and reinforced his highprofile figure and presence: in 2005, García inaugurated Calima in Marbella, a personal project that guided him to refined maturity as a chef, with thanks to a kitchen charged with imagination.

This was a new era that lead to significant advances and learning. This gained experience and command of technique, which reflected in his most renowned dishes in which technique aids flavour.

Supported by the surrounding environment, Calima allowed him the opportunity to gain access to new produce and to a diverse, more international public: determining factors that permitted his professional growth.

In 2007 he returned to the critic’s eye when he was awarded with a Michelin Star at Calima, converting him into the first Andalusian chef to obtain a second star.

It was an era of expansion and new projects, in June 2012 García launched Manzanilla, a brand of his own with a view to international expansion.

The first space was opened in Malaga followed by the same concept six months later in New York. An accessible approach based on that of a gastronomic offering of tapas that looks to connect the American public with Andalusian cuisine, expressed in an international manner and based on a broad and open business concept like that of Spanish Brasserie.

Two years later and with the recognition of American critics, a rethink of the business model brought both spaces to a close. This initiated a period of reflection during which he wrote Cocinacon Tradición and Las Tapas de Dani García in 2011, and La Cocina de mi Madre in 2012. These recipe volumes allows one to get to know the chef on a more personal level.

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Fried wild seabass with black pepper

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Dani García and BiBo opened in 2014 as the result of his travels outside of Spain. Its presence is the result of a cosmopolitan chef in constant reinvention.

His arrival in 2013 in New York allowed him to learn about new techniques, concepts, business ideas and ingredients. This period of time constitutes his most difficult era and that of the most growth both on a personal and professional note.

“You are you for the first time in your life” Up to this moment, Dani García had done many things that weren’t actually his: advice, assignments, gastronomic direction, etc., all without his own identity. Dani Garciá Restaurante and BiBo presented the first opportunity in which the chef was able to become his true self. These are projects born underneath the name of Group Dani García.

2014 is his best year to date, both to a personal and professional degree. His evolution and recognition as a chef are consolidated in the opening of both these spaces that finished the year with two stars in the new space of Hotel Puente Romano. This new path in Marbella permits the chef to start a new era, one with a bases of sound and well-established form of cooking, in which the creativity of Garciá’s dishes and concepts could reach new exemplary heights.

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Trends can quickly become dull and Dani García is very clear of this. His form of cooking is under constant reinvention and evolution, unrestricted by borders. “To think local and cook global” is the premise that defines the perfection of this chef.

A cuisine based on contrasts, but at the same time recasting traditional flavours from Andalusian cooking. It plays with textures, the contraposition of flavours 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. It is a cuisine with tradition. It forms part of the Andalusian land and culture in which it resides as an innate part of Dani García’s dishes. “An environment like Malaga invites one to express who they really are and this you can clearly notice” suggests the chef.

There is a significant presence of the richness of the land of Andalusia in his dishes, which feature key characteristics and powerful Andalusian flavors that contrast with the use of liquid nitrogen in his cooking.

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Dani García is one of the national gastronomic points of reference in the use of nitrogen in cooking. An idea that came about as answer to something so simple such as that the “Andalusians put gazpacho in the freezer.” An example used by Dani García to explain that products and dishes are put under low temperatures of nitrogen in order to conserve all their flavor, taste, smell and color.

In this artisan cuisine of flavours, it passes from cold to hot: steel, nitrogen, stocks and reductions. It uses the most advanced technology applied to old methods. However, first and foremost, with flavor as the presiding aspect in all of his dishes.

His classic Tomato Nitro Ceviche requires a special mention as it defines a key turning point and is a key reference of Dani Garciá’s cuisine. Cooking with nitrogen is a technique that Garciá continues to perfect and that has formed part of new dishes such as upside down Baked Alaska. An adaptation of the classic Baked Alaska (a sweet dessert with an ice cream filling and a meringue covering caramelized with alcohol) made from marinated sardines and filled with tomato jam, grapes and cheese in oil and covered in a meringue made from sweet rice wine and recoated with liquid nitrogen, with the intention of giving it a frozen and somewhat crispy exterior layer and leaving the inside succulent.

Our Lemon Froze

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a fountain of flavours...

“The produce of Andalusia is worthy of being cooked and its cuisine is worthy of being frequented by the whole world.”

A fundamental aspect of García’s cuisine is seasonal produce. He defends local produce as a point of reference of his dishes. It is the union of tradition and the avant-garde crossed with the extremely local Andalusian produce.

His homeland and its characteristics are always present in his dishes such as those that include recipes like the classic and timeless cuttlefish stew that is adapted into a crocheted cuttlefish stew elaborated with squid ink.

A tribute to his grandmother and the mothers and grandmothers of Andalusia, materialized in a dish that has been converted into one of the main emblems and symbols of Restaurant Dani García.

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a cuisine under constant reinvention...

The cuisine of Dani García also seeks normality. Dishes such as Gazpachuelo malagueño that forms part of the classical repertoire of this land, well established and reliable but simple in their presentation, are a form of reiterating the use of local produce and flavors but with a vanguard touch.

Garcia’s philosophy centers around the idea of using produce from the land and adding elements to elevate it to a new level.

This results in the union of a kitchen of techniques as precise and ingredients both local and international that bring about a new form of cooking. He uses techniques such as precise micro-incisions in the surface of fish, so that it has greater contact with the hot oil and therefore fries large pieces as if they were many small parts.

In April 2014 with the inauguration of Dani García Restaurante in the heart of Puente Romano Beach Resort & Spa marked the latest milestone in García’s career.

A personal project in which García has put to work the uppermost limits of his imagination and opened doors to the possibility of transforming the dreams of his clients into reality in an innovative gastronomic experience.

The liberty that can be found in opening one’s own space is reflected in García’s style of cooking and the search for the democratic spread of haute cuisine. Quality doesn’t have to be restricted to a small group.

The kitchen of Dani García Restaurante is a well-oiled artisan factory in which it produces magical culinary pleasures, where illusions are created.

Wild hare with beetroot

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DIMITRIS PAMPORIS - PATMOS ISLAND, GREECE

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Dimitris Pamporis modern take on Greek cuisine Text WG Magazine Hangar 7 - Ikarus Restaurant Photo © Pablo Jiménez

Stunning beaches with sand as white as the houses belonging to the little fishing village, which, unfazed by the heat, lies at the foot of one of the island’s gentle slopes; a picture-perfect view, perfectly framed by the glittering blue of the Aegean Sea. Welcome to a Greek cliché? No, welcome to Patmos, Dimitris Pamporis’ place of work!

This charismatic chef in his early thirties, who would have liked to have become a guitarist in a rock band, counteracts his imposing appearance with an exceptional level of skill in the kitchen. In fact, it is he who is responsible for the fact that Patmos is not just listed as a top insider tip in travel agencies, but also in the leading gourmet guidebooks. It is for that reason that the Apocalypsis Restaurant has been named the Best Restaurant in Greece, officially making it the number one address for food connoisseurs in a country that already boasts more than its fair share of culinary delights.

Greek delights – that is also the buzzword around which everything at Apocalypsis Restaurant revolves. A buzzword that makes it clear, as you sit at the tables overlooking the white sand and the sparkling sea, that clichés have no place here. In fact, Dimitris Pamporis pursues a fascinating combination of tradition and modernity in his kitchen.

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His main focus lies in acquiring the best products and ingredients that the country and the island have to offer. “You can’t create a first-class dish without first-class ingredients”, explains Pamporis. The Greek culinary heritage is both rich and challenging in equal measure. “You must first learn where you come from before you can take the next evolutionary step”.

In order to avoid losing himself in clichés, the chef also insists that both he and his cooks undergo continued professional development. This could be as the result of the use of new technologies or to keep up with the most recent culinary trends, but more often than not it is to do with creativity.

The most important things to do are to constantly push the boundaries and to update the existing menu to ensure that it always remains attractive.

Dimitris Pamporis already had a firm belief in this philosophy during his time on the island of Mykonos, where he first dipped his toe into the world of Mediterranean cuisine at the Grecotel Mykonos Blu, a well-established five star hotel, as well as at Avra. However, it was a trip to L’Auberge de l’Ill, the restaurant run by the acclaimed three star chef Marc Haeberlin, in 2013 that further reinforced Pamporis’ will to constantly strive towards unconventional approaches and solutions. He was already the head chef at Apocalypsis Restaurant by this time.

Pamporis’ menus are ecstatic compositions of unique flavours, colors and shapes. To coin yet another Greek cliché, it is an experience that will make your taste buds dance the Sirtaki. The dance starts off gently with the deliciously tart shrimp tartare with black roe mayonnaise and pickled vegetables. Then it becomes thrilling, just like the modern twist on the traditional Greek dish, giouvetsi, which Pamporis makes using sea urchin.

The dance then reaches its euphoric peak with the roast lamb, which is cooked at a low temperature, and which is combined with smoked aubergine purée, stewed tomatoes, potato casserole and refreshing yoghurt. It is dishes such as these that make you wish this dance would never end. They are testament to Pamporis’ goal of surprising and inspiring his guests.

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Rooster pastitsada with a sauce from its broth

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Apocalypsis Restaurant Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa

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Seabass with textures of beetroot Croquette from grey mullet bottarga Trikalinos citrus with fresh vanilla

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WG Magazine catches up with Dimitris Pamporis…

WG: It’s interesting to learn how a chef finds his passion for cooking - how did you find your way into the culinary field?

Dimitris Pamporis: I grew up in a touristic village in Halkidiki, near Thessaloniki, in North Greece. Each time someone asks me this question I have a strange feeling that people won’t expect my answer. I just knew that this was what I had to do; nothing less, nothing more. You may call it passion or instinct.

I studied culinary art and year after year I gained the necessary experience in order to move on, forming my own unique character and attitude towards Greek cuisine.

WG: Taking you back to 2013 when you were seeking new techniques and inspiration to promote Greek cuisine, you worked with Marc Haeberlinat Michelin Auberge de Lill in Alsace – tell us about the experience…

Dimitris Pamporis: I was seeking new techniques and inspiration and that was truly a lifetime experience. The whole process assisted me in gaining experience towards raw materials and tradition, to respect every area’s culinary culture and local products / flavors. And this is a key element to my philosophy as a chef today.

WG: Your cuisine is a composition of unique flavors, colors and shapes, use of local products, flavor combinations and several techniques – how do you bring about this balance on a plate?

Dimitris Pamporis: Well, in order to bring balance on a plate you need to make lots of experiments in flavors & materials. For instance, you can have a traditional recipe from one region and experiment in stabilization techniques.

This way, a new, different form is shaped from a plate without altering our initial target.

WG: How would you describe your cuisine?

Spit-roasted pork, mashed celery root with tonka beans, lemon potatoes and sofrito sauce

Dimitris Pamporis: In my opinion, it could be described as genuine Greek, creative, honest, simplistic, yet at the same time complicated. I use ordinary raw materials, based on the seasonality, on which I try to discover new ways to experiment though complicated techniques.

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WG: What are your greatest influences in the kitchen?

Dimitris Pamporis: Well I obviously admire and appreciate French cuisine. I consider it to be the stronghold of gastronomy and many of my culinary bases are clear references to French cuisine. I also admire and appreciate great chefs, meaning those who manage to promote and highlight their cuisine worldwide.

WG: In your opinion, what is the best recipe you have ever created?

Dimitris Pamporis: The favorite recipe we created is “tzatziki macaroons”. As you know, “tzatziki” is quite a popular “brand” for Greece and we managed to shape it into macaroons.

WG: Could you share the process you go through to create a new dish?

Dimitris Pamporis: Firstly, I consider and decide the central idea.

I start cooking the classic version of that idea and then start to deconstruct ingredients. I might as well start cooking each material individually so that we get the right result, the classic result. Then, based on that, we begin to experiment. I would like to point out though, that there is no specific route to create a dish, it usually comes from itself, and it is mostly an inspiration that may spring from music, something you notice in the street on your way to work, a picture or a scent. So concluding, there are no specific steps to form a recipe. It is usually a process guided by creativity.

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

Dimitris Pamporis: The basis of my culinary culture is seasonality.

There is no new, inspiring ingredient; there is only what is fresh right now, what is seasonable at the moment. That is what I want to work with; this is what I want to experiment on.

WG: What are your favourite ingredients you like to work with?

Dimitris Pamporis: Garlic, thyme, Greek virgin olive oil, fish roe, fresh fish. In general, I have a particular interest in fresh, Greek products. Of course, I always take seasonality into consideration. This is a basic element in my philosophy as a chef, cooking with materials that are seasonable. This is the basis of my gastronomical culture because that is the only way to receive the correct, appropriate results.

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Shrimps’ tartare with ouzo black sh roe mayonnaise and vegetable pickles

Lakerda tataki with fresh tuna Salad with cucumber,apple and curry,hot mustard ice cream,vinegar assyrtiko

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Greek Salad Feta cheese mousse with olive soil vegetables in olive and oregano capers from Tinos Joachim Boudens andand Gertsea Defennel Mangeleer

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Galaktoboureko 2015 Fresh pineapple brûlée with anise black rum bitter almond ice cream

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WG: Is there an ingredient that you weren’t able to master and have given up on!

Dimitris Pamporis: I generally have not mastered Asian cuisine.

I consider it to be a very unique culinary world with a particular culture, flavors, products etc. In my opinion, it is a gustatory world that you have to experience yourself before attempting to cook. Not that I have given up. It is only a particular cuisine, with a great history, that I wish I could explore sometime in my life while being a chef.

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

Dimitris Pamporis: Well, there isn’t a specific one but all of them altogether. All techniques can become favorites when they assist in producing a better result, an improved edition of the recipe I prepare. So there is no one in particular, but every technique that can be of assistance at the time being.

WG: Produce, Creativity or Technique, what is more important to you?

Dimitris Pamporis: Well to me its creativity. This brings on the “personal touch.” This is the key factor to connect and combine ingredients, materials. To be this is No.1 factor, with vital importance.

WG: Guilty food pleasure?

Dimitris Pamporis: Desserts. All sorts of desserts. What can I say, we all have weak spots…

WG: What keeps you motivated at this point in your career?

Dimitris Pamporis: Generally, I would say cooking. As a as I am concerned, being a chef means to create. Therefore, creativity is a major motivation factor. That’s what keeps me motivated. If you miss that, you lack in passion. And cooking need passion.

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

Apocalypsis Restaurant Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa

Dimitris Pamporis: My advice can be concentrated in one single sentence: If you aim high you need to be prepared to start from the low. Only through hard work and discipline can one manage to discover his / hers true culinary identity.

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JONATÁN GÓMEZ LUNA - LE CHIQUE, MEXICO

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Jonatán Gómez Luna Le Chique Chef Jonatán Gómez Luna is an award-winning chef who has forged his culinary talents at globally acclaimed restaurants. As Executive Chef of Le Chique, Chef 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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The Sea

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Since the beginning, Le Chique has defied convention and pushed boundaries. Modernist cuisine calls for modern day thinking, where “what if…” becomes “let’s try.” At its core, Le Chique is home to one of the most unconventional kitchen staffs in all of Mexico.

If it’s true that the first bite is with the eyes, Le Chique at Azul Sensatori is a feast in every sense. From the moment you arrive, the seductive décor offers a visceral taste of what’s to come – an experiential, multi-sensory dining adventure that will challenge any notions of how fine cuisine should look, feel and taste.

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Aguachile Hamachi and Guava

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Infladita Beans andCrickets

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To call Le Chique part restaurant, part house of mirrors isn’t farfetched. This is modernist cuisine, where nothing is as it seems. Foods are deconstructed then reconstructed to resemble something else. Spheres are cocktails. Entrées masquerade as dessert. In fact, everything on Le Chique’s seasonal tasting menu was designed to puzzle, amuse and amaze you. Cuisine this inventive deserves to be put on a pedestal, which is precisely how it’s served – atop a pedestal, within a hollowed-out book, resting on a sling.

Chocolate, Tonka and Vanilla

All this by impresario waiters who seem to enjoy the spectacle as much as you do. Behind this pageantry is Chef Jonatán Gómez Luna and his talented culinary team, who’ve mastered the art and science of cooking to achieve astounding new flavors, textures and shapes. Add a focus on regional ingredients, sustainable growing practices and available wine pairings, and you have a dining experience that’s both a visual feast and culinary triumph.

Chef Jonatán Gómez Luna adds “We go to great lengths to create a memorable experience for our guests through bold, fun, cutting-edge cuisine using the most innovative cooking techniques and fresh and authentic Mexican ingredients.”

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Snacks

Today, 60% of the kitchen staff is made up of interns. Individually and together as a team, they help Chef Jonatán Gómea Luna create the daily culinary delights that continue to thrill and enchant their guests. At Le Chique, they firmly believe that the future of the restaurant industry is in the hands of open-minded young people, those who are passionate and in love with their profession and their work. Their philosophy of sharing, teaching and growing is something from which they will never deviate.

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Le Chique

The Team

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GRAHAM GARRETT - THE WEST HOUSE, KENT

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Photo © Adrian Franklin

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Graham Garrett Rock Star turned Chef/Owner After a previous career as a successful rock musician, Graham’s defection to cooking may be music’s loss but it is the food world’s gain.

He has worked for both Nico Ladenis and Richard Corrigan, as head chef of multiple restaurants. He has cooked for government and royalty, having been fortunate enough to cook at both 10 Downing Street, and also to cater a private dinner for the Her Majesty, the Queen of England.

The Garrett’s bought The West House in 2002, to create their own dining room, and allow Graham to pursue his own vision. A small family run restaurant, with a reputation for fantastic food, earned through Graham’s focus on excellent delivery of the finest ingredients.

The restaurant gained a Michelin star after its first year, and has held it ever since. With Graham at the stoves, he and his small team have created that rare thing, a perfect local restaurant, many people’s favourite secret food destination, and the subject of many a pilgrimage.

The small dining room, in a 16th Century weaver’s cottage on Biddenden High Street, is a lovely and characterful place to relax and enjoy the food. The High Weald is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and rich with historical interest, providing many additional reasons to visit the area.

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Escabeche of Sea Bass Photo © Adrian Franklin

Iberico Pork Presa, Razor Clams, Wild Garlic Butter Photo © Adrian Franklin

Graham’s food has gained the restaurant multiple awards. They have held a Michelin star since 2004, are featured in Harden’s top restaurants list in the UK, and hold 3 AA Rosettes.

Graham has been awarded Best Chef in Kent in the Kent Life Awards. The West House is featured in the 2014 book ‘1001 Restaurants to Experience Before You Die’ (Cassell) and all other major guidebooks.

Graham’s reputation has afforded him many media opportunities, including among them prestigious television show Great British Menu and Ramsay’s Best Restaurant. However he is most likely to be found in his kitchen, creating wonderful food.

WG Magazine catches up with Graham Garrett - the rockstar turned chef/ownwer...

WG: It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking, tells us how he found his way into the culinary field…

Graham Garrett: Although I always had a love of food, music was a massive thing for me.

I was put off of being a chef by teachers and parents so ended up pursuing a career in music. I carried on with my interest in food as a hobby, reading cookbooks and cooking dinner parties whenever possible. I was lucky enough to be taken to lots of great restaurants

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Steamed Hare Bun, Chocolate Sauc Photo © Adrian Franklin

Treacle Tart Photo © Adrian Franklin

and taste all kinds of food from all over the world, whilst on various tours and recording sessions. The hobby eventually got the better of me and after being invited to do a service at Rules restaurant in London, to see what it was like, you could say I was bitten by the bug.

WG: Taking you back when you worked with Nico Ladenis – Tell us about the experience…

Graham Garrett: Working for Nico Ladenis taught me mainly about flavor combinations and simplicity. It also made me realize that to cook what I wanted and I needed my own restaurant.

WG: Your cuisine is bold, creative and ruthlessly seasonal, rustic with the freshest ingredients, intense and full of umami flavours - describe your culinary philosophy and how do you bring about this balance on a plate?

Graham Garrett: My basic culinary philosophy is no different from any decent cook, and that’s about sourcing the best ingredients you can find and treating them with the respect they deserve. This means things in season are usually at their peak and the old adage about what grows together goes together, can be quite helpful when planning a dish.

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WG: How would you describe your cuisine?

Graham Garrett: I hear lots of food descriptions nowadays from chefs and critics, local, seasonal, modern, flavor driven, molecular, etc. There always seems a need to pigeonhole everything; it’s the same with music. To me it’s just good honest grub.

WG: What are your greatest influences in the kitchen?

Graham Garrett: My greatest influences in the kitchen are the ingredients and suppliers.

WG: In your opinion, what is the best recipe you have ever created?

Graham Garrett: It would be impossible to name one recipe as the best. Every time you make something or create a new dish you try to make it better than the last, so my best dish will hopefully be my next one.

WG: Chef Garrett shares the process he goes through to create a new dish…

Graham Garrett: The creative process is never the same. Sometimes it can be about wanting to use something that someone has grown, or an idea that comes to you in the night, or the inspiration from something you’ve eaten. You start with the idea then start thinking flavor combinations that will work. You then think about the best cooking methods and techniques for those ingredients.

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Sika Deer, Mashed Swede, Chanterelles, Twiglets Photo © Adrian Franklin

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Roast Duck Breast, Mushroom Tortellini, Lapsang Souchong Photo © Adrian Franklin Chocolate Orange Photo © Adrian Franklin

WG: What new ingredients are inspiring you and what is the favorite ingredients you love working with…

Graham Garrett: There are so many things I like to work with. I get excited at the change of seasons and the thought of what this year’s asparagus will be like or whether we will have any descent tasting strawberries this year, or the excitement of working out what you’re going to do with all the different cuts of pork before butchering a rare breed pig.

Everything is about flavor.

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

Graham Garrett: There’s lots of equipment and many new techniques available to chefs and I love discovering new methods and experimenting, as long as you know how to do things properly and keep sight of why you’re doing things and what you are trying to achieve.

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Poached Oysters, Chorizo Cream, Cucumber Granita Photo © Adrian Franklin

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WG: Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Graham Garrett: I think produce has to be more important than creativity or technique, as without great ingredients the other two are pointless.

WG: Guilty food pleasure…

Graham Garrett: I have many guilty pleasures that will remain secret but I do get withdrawal symptoms from Pie, mash and Liquor.

The West House Photo © Adrian Franklin

WG: What was the feeling to cook at 10 Downing Street and for Her Majesty, the Queen of England?

Graham Garrett: Getting to cook at 10 Downing Street was fun just to be able to see behind the scenes whereas cooking for Her Majesty; the Queen of England was a massive thing to have done. I know lots have chefs have had the same honor in cooking state dinners and functions, but how many of them can claim her coming to their restaurant for a private dinner and then shaking hands and having a chat afterwards.

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Photo © Clifford Garrett

Photo © Adrian Franklin

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WG: Your book Sex & Drugs & Sausage Rolls – the life and food of a rock star who became a Michelin starred chef… what was the inspiration while writing this book?

Graham Garrett: The inspiration for writing my book came about by my obsession for buying cookbooks. I realized that a lot of my recent purchases were all becoming a bit formulaic. We decided to break the mould and try to do something very different.

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Hedgerow Photo © Adrian Franklin

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WG: A Michelin Star, 3 AA Rosettes, Best Chef in Kent - What keeps you motivated?

Graham Garrett: Accolades and recognition are a great boost for morale and are an essential part of keeping customers coming to the restaurant, but the daily motivation comes from the love of food and restaurants and always trying to be better than the day before.

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

Graham Garrett: The only advice I could offer to anyone thinking about a career in the kitchen would be, forget about the glamour that you may think exists. If you really love it and want to do it, make it your life and you’ll never look back.

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THE DINING ROOM - GRAND HYATT GOA

Best of British - Monday

Savour Flavours of the World at Grand Hyatt Goa The Dining Room celebrates world cuisine every day of the week...

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The Dining Room

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Tuesday - Vietnamese King of Pops

The Dining Room, an award-winning restaurant nestled in Grand Hyatt Goa, has brought in flavours from across the globe to tingle your taste buds. From British to Vietnamese, there’s a waft of freshness in every dish. The restaurant presents a different cuisine every evening 7:00pm onwards, all through the week.

With a dedicated day for each cuisine, enjoy the ‘Best of British’ on Mondays, followed

by Vietnamese King of Pop’ on Tuesdays. If you are looking for the best of Indian street food, Wednesdays gives you ‘Purani Delhi Khana Khazana’; alternately, Thursdays brings everybody’s favourite ‘American Grind’. Enjoy Asian flavours on Fridays and end the week with Middle Eastern cuisine on Saturday. If that’s not enough, indulge in a little bit of everything and more on Sundays.

On Mondays, the menu is as English as it can get with cold salads, fish and chips, Shepherd’s Pie, and bangers and mash, with desserts like Bakewell tarts, bread pudding and meringues. Tuesdays will greet you with ‘Vietnamese King of Pop’: wok-fried noodles, seafood sugarcane lollipops, rice paper rolls, lotus stem salad and soya bean puddings are only a few of the specials.

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Purani Delhi Khana Khazana - Wednesday

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Saturday - Turkish Mezzee’s and Grills

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Returning to Indian roots mid-week, Wednesdays turn desi with ‘Purani Delhi’s Khana Khazana’, lined with live stations, kebabs, chaat counters, phirni, falooda and kulfi.

You will only indulge in the best of Indian favourites. On Thursdays, groove to the ‘American Grind’ with chicken wings, a live taco factory station, New York-style mac and cheese, BBQ pork spare ribs, three-bean casserole and sloppy joes.

Sunday American Grind - Thursday

Enter the ‘Dragon Oriental House’ on Fridays: the table spread consists of lamb Penang curry, stir-fried tenderloin with broccoli, green tea pound cake, Malaysian paratha, sushi rolls and dim sums.

Saturdays calls for ‘Turkish Mezzes and Grills’ with a truckload of hummus, falafels, pistachio baklava, pita breads and labneh. These are just a few variants among the Turkish waves hitting The Dining Room. Finally, Sundays will plate up all of the above and much more to and take you ‘Around the World in 80 Plates’.

Dragon Oriental House - Friday

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1441 PIZZERIA - MUMBAI

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1441 Pizzeria Inspired by the co-ordinates of Naples where the first wood fired Pizzeria originated. We are proud to unveil 1441 Pizzeria - a charming green door leads you into 1441 Pizzeria, Lokhandwala’s newest Italian eatery.

From there on you can experience a bit of Italy; a warm red brick wall on one side and a mural of the picturesque country on the other.

And this is just the beginning. The restaurant, under the guidance of Master chef Renato Viola of Italy boasts a fine selection of pizzas baked to perfection in a state of the art brick oven, imported from Italy. All our recipes are curated by the chef himself. There is also great emphasis on the quality of the dough and sauce, for it is also imported from Italy and hand kneaded in authentic tradition to retain its nutritive value. Moreover, the restaurant offers a live pizza counter, diners can choose their own toppings - from a variety of over 50 toppings, 4 cheeses & 4 sauces!, right before their eyes and no longer have to worry if the order has been taken down right!

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1441 PIZZERIA - MUMBAI

Driven by passion, partner Krishna Gupta describes the objective of the pizzeria “The vision of 1441 Pizzeria is to create the best Italian Wood Fired oven pizza in India, that is both reasonable and healthy. To do this we’ve taken the guidance of one of the finest pizza chefs, Renato Viola. We have imported specially curated flour from the finest flourmills in Italy. The best peeled tomatoes from Italy as well and sourced all other ingredients fresh from local markets. To create the best pizza we had to create an extremely unique dough room in India to ensure all our pizzas are extremely consistent and always the best quality. The concept of 1441 is a quick casual pizzeria where you can make your own pizza from over 40 toppings, with 4 sauces, 4 cheese options and several veggies and meats - it’s one of the most unique pizzeria’s in the country.”

While partner Istayak Ansari further adds, “1441 Pizzeria will be the first pizzeria in India with a live stretch table and make table where the customers will be able to see their dough stretch and also select from 50+ fresh toppings empowering them to craft their own personal pizza in front of their eyes.”

This is the place for those who like pizza (and who doesn’t!?!) and want to personalize it to their taste. It is also the pizza that could only be dreamt of-fresh out of an Italian oven and made with expertise, a pizza that fits into the healthy category. So head out to 1441 Pizzeria for pizzas that manage to jump out of the fast food mould and make it to the bracket of culinary delights!

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MONA’S PANTRY - GOA

A UK Pantry in Goa As Goa’s culinary standards evolve to meet international levels, niche tourists now gravitate to this small state for the quality and diversity of the food as and not just the beaches. Many highly trained chefs are now call Goa their home and have set up small enterprises or great fine dine restaurants. Mona’s Pantry is a good example of a business that stands a cut above the rest, using high quality ingredients, no preservatives and original recipes that appeal to the adventurous palate.

Mona Nalovalia Crisanto, trained at the prestigious Cordon-Bleu culinary school, and worked in various renowned restaurants in London for over a decade.

After studying at the renowned institute, she got her start at the exclusive restaurant, Mosimanns, at the age of 20. Soon after, she moved to the leading patisserie Nadell’s, which supplied to the Ritz Hotel and to the Duchess of Kent. This is where she really got a majority of her training, as it was an extremely professional-run environment, churning out products in bulk, but yet everything was made in-house, fresh and from scratch with the best ingredients that London had to offer.

When asked about her influences she credits her mother Diva. She loved watching her mum make fruit flans and profiteroles at kitty parties in Kuwait, where her parents lived at the time.

When asked which international chefs she is most inspired by she mentions Singaporean dessert queen Janice Wong or Australia’s punk princess Anna Polyviou, the charismatic Nigella Lawson or Jamie Oliver. As she grew up, it was her father though, who encouraged her to pursue food as a career because he said sagely, “people need to eat.” So she chose to be a pastry chef because it is neater and prettier, whereas in the kitchen, it’s more male-dominated, and she didn’t like handling meat.

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Tocino Del Cielo (Coconut Flan)

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MONA’S PANTRY - GOA

Mushroom and Parmesan Cheese Quiche

Post Nadell’s , she was employed as a pastry chef at the prestigious Wentworth Golf Club, where all the PGA tournaments are held. Around this time, she took specialized courses in chocolate and sugar-pulling, where you craft boiled sugar into specialized designs that look like blown glass.

On a break from cooking, Mona met her husband Marco Crisanto teaching English as a foreign language in Peru. Together they followed her dream to set up a tea rooms lounge.

They started introducing better quality desserts and the concept of high tea, which was a new and popular idea with local influences. However, when her father passed away a few years later, they moved to Bangalore since they had property to look after there.

When they visited Goa, they fell in love with it and ‘Mona’s Pantry’ was born. Mona liked the name because she started baking from home, using bits and bobs of ingredients from whatever she had in her pantry. Soon, esteemed chefs like Chris Saleem Agha Bee of ‘Elevar’ and ‘Sublime, Marbella in Morjim were placing orders for desserts. Mona’s innovative creations like the Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Truffle with Hazelnut Anglaise, and Cardamom Anglaise are a big hit with most owners. She also consults with restaurants to help them design their own exclusive and unique desert menus. Mona prepares her signature products like Chocolate Truffle Torte, Pear Frangipani Tart and Carrot Cake, White Chocolate Bowls with Berries and Lemon Cheesecake for her niche clientele from home in Assagao.

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Rather than having a standard list of products, Mona encourages her customers to express their preferences so she can create something unique and bespoke, something exactly suited to their taste. She takes orders for birthday cakes, kids birthday treats like chocolate lollipops, mini cupcakes and mini trifles or other special occasions like anniversary dinners and weddings. Mona wants to bring the farmers market concept to Goa, where products are made fresh in small batches, from natural and organic ingredients. Her gluten-free bread is a raging success. Mona’s Pantry also retails at On the Go, her husband’s quick service restaurant where she has tailored the menu for pick up and go deserts such as the bread pudding and English trifles.

When asked about her inspirations, she says her base always comes from French cuisine and then she adapts the toppings as she goes along. She is greatly inspired by Japanese desserts like Mochi, which all seem light and airy. On a recent trip to New York City, she visited a Japanese patisserie called Lady M where they made a Green Matcha Tea Crepe Layer Cake. When she got back to Goa, she adapted it to a 20-layer crepe cake with hazelnut crème patisserie filling.

She enjoys using local ingredients and adapting local recipes. “I’ve been making a version of the Goan rum with gulkhand, covering it with a white truffle chocolate ganache and coconut,” she says brightly. Another interesting fusion is the Coconut and Jaggery Black Rice Crème Brulee with fresh mangoes perfect for this season.

Baked Lemon Cheesecake

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PTD - MUMBAI

MYSTICALLY MEXICAN -nachos with tomato sauce,mango salsa and sour cream

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STREET SECRET - vada pav with fried green chilly, dry gun powder, pudina chutney

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Please Don’t Tell!

Photo © YFL Digital

SAVOUR THE FLAVOUR

BASIC INSTINCT-pesto marinated butterfly chicken served with melted cheddar and fries

Leading resto-bar Please Don’t Tell or popularly known as PDT has launched their food menu and added some unique concoctions to their bar menu.

In operation from 6pm to 1.30am, PDT offers their Secret Hours from 6pm onwards with One Plus One offer not only on drinks but food too!

Being the favourite place for tipplers and post work unwinding for over a year, PDT keeps getting better! With its newly added items to the food menu, there is something for everyone, vegetarians, nonvegetarians, Jains and vegans too! Some of their finger-licking appetizers include, Roasted Belle of the Ball, which is a vegan friendly crostini, Perfect 10 Paneer, PDT’s version of Paneer Bhurji served in a special presentation, which is also Jain friendly and more.

Their new meaty entrees include some lip-smacking teriyaki chicken skewers called Chicks on Sticks and Crave The Date which is a lamb special. Their vegan salad - Good Girl Special is a quinoa based salad with caramelised apricots and mascarpone.

A huge addition to their scrumptious menu includes rolls, hot dogs and burgers with delicious meaty varieties! Vegan mains are veiled beauty, which is an interesting take on traditional pav bhaji and a spice roasted vegetable tajine called Moroccan Smile.

PARTY GIRL - PDT’s take on a classic Italian carbonara

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PTD - MUMBAI

A sea food lover’s delight is the Deep Diving Italian and Tipsy Fish & Chips. The newly added pasta and risotto menu include everything from a classic Italian carbonara, pesto for health freaks, sambhar risotto, goan chorizo risotto, spaghetti with meat balls and more!

Their ‘Unintelligibly Fries’ have some serious competition with their newly added ‘Cheesy Fries’ and ‘Truffle Fries’.

Along with delicious food, the drinks at PDT are one of a kind, their specials like the Tea Totaller, Closet Medicine which is described as a PDT Penicillin, the crowd favourite Puzzle Guzzle are a must have. The cocktails from their Prohibition Classic Cocktails menu are inspired from the prohibition – era of the twenties. Classics like ‘Whiskey Sour’, Mary Pickford, Moscow Mule and many more call for a celebration!

Their Pain Killers and Stress Relievers as the names suggest do just that, super refreshing drinks with unique names like the Covert Cuban, Stormtrooper, Fresh Prince of Bourbon to name a few. New shots include varieties of the infamous JagerBombs.

For the perfect ending to a great meal that one can enjoy at PDT, their desserts are a must have!

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PDT PERFECT 10 PANEER - paneer burji patty served on a crisp ragi cracked with mint mayonnaise

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MILLIONAIRE POTATO -jacket potatoes with truffle oil and cheese TOKYO DISCO KILLER - house-made teriyaki marinated chicken sausage, served with sriracha mayo,fries and slaw

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QUATTRO RISTORANTE - MUMBAI

Quattro Ristorante

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A restaurant that serves quality vegetarian food and goes beyond traditional Indian fare. The menu offers pure vegetarian Italian and Mexican cuisine, and a range of desserts that will leave you salivating. Quattro has a very rustic, and earthy ambience and is committed to delivering to its patrons an authentic fine dining experience.

Quattro is also well known for its signature pizzas made in a traditional wood-fired oven.

Having been in the business for the past 5 years, Quattro has taken a leap forward by introducing a menu that serves dishes prepared by using the molecular gastronomy technique.

On the refreshed menu one might find intriguing creations such as the Minestrone Tea Set, which is sure to engage you not just with its ideal balance of ingredients and texture but more importantly with the manner in which it comes to life right before your eyes. Amongst other options are the Bocconcini Mary, a virgin Bloody Mary in the form of a shot with a sphere of buffalo mozzarella that melts in the mouth, topped with balsamic caviar.

And for dessert the Chocolate Explosion literally explodes at the table! A round chocolate shell filled with goodies like macaroons, candy floss, and frozen yogurt is cracked open and topped with a variety of flavours of gourmet gelato and chocolate and strawberry sauces.

Risotto Palle

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QUATTRO RISTORANTE - MUMBAI

Spaghetti Aglio Olio

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Mexican Spiced Queso

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Adding to the same, Aditya Gupta, partner, Quattro comments, “Our aim was to create a truly epicurean experience for our customers. Keeping that in mind, the dishes on the menu have been conceptualized with the art of Molecular Gastronomy, to offer the guests something out of the ordinary.�

Chocolate Saturn

Quattro Ristorante at Lower Parel also boasts of two private dining rooms, making it possible for customers to avail party services for an intimate gathering. One of the rooms can accommodate up to 18 individuals, while a smaller room can accommodate up to 10 people making it perfect for a more personal group.

All the ingredients and elements used to prepare the food at Quattro are of fine quality and meet strict requirements before use. For example, the cheeses are sure to have no animal rennet. There is also absolutely no use of gelatin or egg in any of the food. And the cheeses and chilis such as chipotle and habanero are all imported. That being said, it is safe to say that Quattro strives at offering precision and care at every step of your culinary affair.

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