WG October Issue 2018

OCTOBER WG MAGAZINE 2018

IOLANDA BUSTOS

CHEF OF FLOWERS

GAËL CLAVIERE

DALI OF PATISSERIE

REUBEN RIFFE

DANIEL NEGREIRA

SPANISH TOUCH IN TAIPEI www.wgmagazines.com

BOLD FLAVOURS

PACO MORALES

ANDALUSÍ CUISINE WG October 2018 -

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SA HTEIN by

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WG

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Bringing you a taste of the Middle East’s culinary scene www.sahteinbywg.com

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SEPTEMBER 2018

GIUSEPPE MOLARO

CREATIVE APPROACH

FRANCESCA MAGGIO

SIMONE CANTAFIO

THE ITALIAN IN HOKKAIDO

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PROFESSIONAL PASTRY ACADEMY

MICHELANGELO MAMMOLITI

ARTISAN IN THE KITCHEN

WG MAGAZINE VOL 1

PEDRO SUBIJANA

RICHNESS IN VARIETY

EDORTA LAMO

TRADITIONAL BASQUE PINTXO

JOSEAN ALIJA

CORE, HEART, ESSENCE

JOSÉ LUIS VICENTE GÓMEZ

LEGACY OF FOUR GENERATIONS www.bas-que.com

ANDONI LUIS ADURIZ NINE COURSE

SAN SEBASTIÁN CULINARY HEAVEN WG October 2018 -

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Contemporary Italian cuisine by

World Renowned Three Michelin Star Chef Heinz Beck

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For reservations call +971 4 8182 155 | +971 4 818 2222 | Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah | www.waldorfastoria.com/Dubai

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Good taste isn’t expensive

S P A C E S

F O R

B E A U T I F U L

L I V I N G

conceptplus INTERIOR DESIGN

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Suite 214, Hamsa (A) Office Tower, Za’beel Road Karama, Dubai, United Arab Emirates P.O.Box 300450, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel.: +971 4 3705269 I Fax: +971 4 2947442 - WG October 2018 E-mail : info@conceptplusstyle.com I osama@conceptplusstyle.com www.conceptplusstyle.com

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Jean-Georges Dubai showcases a comfortable indoor layout with a jade, cozy garden.

While providing a fine atmosphere of an outdoor vivid lounge and stunning interiors, Jean-Georges Dubai offers its guests the chance to enjoy multiple evenings with live entertainment, a Friday brunch with an exquisite menu created by 2 Michelin Star Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten paired with impeccable service. The restaurant presents a warm ambiance that captures Dubai’s affinity throughout the day to uphold a late night.

JG Dubai is a preferred venue for many celebrities who have chosen it as a trendy destination to celebrate their events or simply to enjoy the exquisite dishes and service. Guests who have joined us in the past include key members of royal families in the UAE as well as international names such as Russell James, Franca Sozzani, Nargis Fakhri, Paolo Maldini, Clarence Seedorf, Dwight Yorke, and Christian Louboutin.

Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai

Book at +971 4 343 6118

info@jean-georges-dubai.com | www.jean-georges-dubai.com

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For more than 80 years, Bragard supports women and men who give the best of themselves everyday at work to ignite their client’s taste buds.

Combining tradition and inovation, professional workwear from Bragard gained unparalled reputation thanks to its quality and make the biggest names of the culinary and hospitaly world proud.

BRAGARD LLC OFFICE 604 BEDAIA BUILDING AL BARSHA 1 PO BOX 214338 DUBAI UAE Tel : +971 4 395 16 11 Fax : +971 4 395 16 12 fabien.firetto@bragard.com

www.bragard.com

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Set amid the storied arches of Chijmes, fine dining restaurant, Whitegrass paves the way for a renewed style of Modern Australian cuisine.

Featured in Asia's 50 Best Restaurant List 2018 and awarded one Michelin star 2017

For reservations visit our website at W W W. W H I T E G R A S S . C O M . S G

or email reservation@whitegrass.com.sg

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For enquiries phone - +65 6837 0402 30 Victoria St, #01-26/27 Chijmes, Singapore 187996

WG MAGAZINE

AWARNESS IS FINE BUT ADVOCACY TAKES YOUR BRAND TO THE NEXT LEVEL info@wgkonnect.com

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Welcome to the perfect City break, San Sebastian.

Don´t miss one of the most beautiful and awarded cities in Europe.

San Sebastian is waiting for you to be discovered.

BOOK YOUR NEXT CITY BREAK FROM

85€

www.sansebastianturismo.com

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MADRID

BARCELONA

WG MAGAZINE

E X P E R I E N C E U N R I VA L L E D QUALITY Soaring above Amsterdam’s rooftops, step into a calm and composed realm of fine dining at Ciel Bleu Restaurant.

Situated on the 23rd floor of Hotel Okura Amsterdam, Ciel Bleu holds two Michelin stars for its international cuisine led by chefs Onno Kokmeijer and Arjan Speelman. Attentive, amiable staff are on hand to welcome and guide you through the seasonal menus showcasing the creations of Ciel Bleu’s world-class chefs, alongside exclusive vintages from the award-winning wine list.

For a rare glimpse into the workings of a two Michelin-starred team, reserve the Chef’s Table overlooking the heart of the kitchen. Visit www.okura.nl/cielbleu for more information and reservations.

Ferdinand Bolstraat 333 1072 LH Amsterdam The Netherlands www.okura.nl T +31 (0)20 6787 111

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Simple & Delicious

WHOLEFOOD RECIPES Available as hardcopy from thehealthychef.com E-Book versions available from iTunes, Amazon & Google Play

thehealthychef.com

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@teresacutter_healthychef

4 Collins Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia hello@thehealthychef.com

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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

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

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The Pearl WG-October 2018 Australia Martin- Benn Sepia, Sydney,

partnered with SKD ACADEMY the culinary institute in the Philippines

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BRINGING AUTHENTIC GREEK FOOD TO THE TABLE

Opens daily from 12:30pm to 5:00pm & from 7:00pm to 11:30pm Located on the park level in cluster P, JLT connected to Armada BlueBay Hotel

Contact +971 (0) 4 399 8166 MythosDubai www. mythoskouzina.com WG October 2018

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DUTY DUTYFREE FREE PRODUCTS PRODUCTS & & BONDED BONDED STORES STORES

5, Vyzantiou, Spyrides 2064Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus 5, Vyzantiou, Spyrides Tower, Towers, 2064 Cyprus Tel:+357 +35722210828 222 108 28 I I +44 +44 745 745 228 Tel: 22868 680202 www.brandhouse.uk.com www.brandhouse.uk.com

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Editor Feature Editor

Fabian deCastro Maria Lourdes Doug Singer

Contributors

Elisabete Ferreira Michael Hepworth Laura Pedrazzoli

Photography

Victoria Shashirin

FJMdesign WGkonnect Photography Consultant Creative Design Studio Publisher IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

‘

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

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Company Registration Number U22100GA2011PTC006731

Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

Marketing & Advertising Call: +91 832 246 3234 E-mail: marketing@wgmagazines.com WG™ Beverly Hills Michael Hepworth 287 S.Robertson Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90211 WG™ New York Doug Singer 404 East 66 Street, Suite 2E New York, NY 10065 E-mail: info@wgmagazines.com

©IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. Editorial material and opinions expressed in WG™ digital publication do not necessarily reflect the views of IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd. WG™ and IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd. cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or errors and do not accept responsibility for the advertising content.

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Cover Image Credit: DANIEL NEGREIRA - HIDDEN BY DN THE KING PORRIDGE PHOTO © ADAM LIU

G WG MAGAZINE

He doesn’t have a dessert menu, he questions himself, relies on his imagination for not suggesting it twice… Gaël Claviere is the Patisserie at Hôtel de Matignon, the official residence of the Prime Minister of France.

Joe Barza’s menu at ZA’ATAR is a symphony of Lebanese flavors and aromas with a touch of modernity and is meant for sharing and uniting people. It is the new Lebanese restaurant in Lisbon, by Joe Barza, in a partnership with José Avillez Group.

Daniel Negreira’s food philosophy at Hidden by DN is “complex simplicity”, the complexity comes from the time and efforts he spends trying to source the ingredients on itself while he cooks and presents it in a very simple way. While Iolanda Bustos’ cuisine is inspired by nature, great produce, and more over is flower-themed based on herbs, flowers, wild plants and fruits - a perfect culinary approach and harmony of flavors, color and aroma. This October at Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7, savour David Kinch’s contemporary Northern Californian cuisine, featuring ingredient-driven cooking and modern techniques from around the world. Bertrand Millar lives to cook and this makes him feel good. Cuisine is creative and emotional. The culinary art is to transform this necessity to eat into a magic and memorable time and the chef is therefore a creator of emotions.

In the Cape, Reuben Riffel realized that his food should always have the combination of either sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, hot and cold and should always be bold flavoured.

Olivier Jean has a unique creative approach, good techniques, simple flavors, and beautiful plating, as he wants his guests’ to enjoy the experience and to give them a good memory of the meal. Adam Reid showcases his own personal style of modern British with a North West accent. His creative culinary talent delivers consistently excellent flavours, using the best seasonal produce.

A creative balance with Joris Larigaldie as creating is very important to him and expressing himself in a big way. Paco Morales’ Andalusí cuisine at Noor, as he uncovers the story hidden away in this magnificent cuisine, allowing diners to enjoy it through our gastronomic creations. The celebrated chef, restaurateur and food writer Mark Hix known for his original take on British gastronomy, it’s Simple, Seasonal and British.

For Olivier Vigneault, flavours and originality comes together inside a very unique culinary experience, merging and playing with modern techniques and traditional savours his Japanese and Chinese inspired dishes, and our last destination is Singapore, first with Andre Chalson and the Taste of Japan, and at the Open Farm Community with Philippe Chin and the Natural Wines.

Bon Appétit

FdeCastro

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OCTOBER 2018

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DANIEL NEGREIRA - HIDDEN BY DN THE KING PORRIDGE PHOTO © ADAM LIU

WG MAGAZINE

The King Porridge

A very rich porridge made with all the inner juices of an Alaskan King Crab along with some pretty basic vegetables, topped with one section of king crab leg mixed with a very traditional Chinese sauce, Lan Ganma Chily paste, which will provide with a new dimension in terms of flavor to this magnificent shellfish.

The idea was to bring together the more basic and the most unreachable in terms of value, this dish was designed while I was in China.

Most of Chinese people love this sauce, and frequently they mix it with porridge as a meal, to add flavor, but as a way to show the extremes of richness and poorness on the country coexisting, we added the king crab, one of the most expensive items available in China.

The complexity and layers of flavors and also the familiarity of the dish on itself made it one of our signature dishes which we also ended up serving in Saint Petersburg and sometimes at Hidden By DN in Taipei.

CONTENTS

DANIEL NEGREIRA

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DALI OF PATISSERIE

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SPANISH TOUCH IN TAIPE

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CHEF OF FLOWERS

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A SUPREME BALANCING ACT

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CHOOSING NOBLE PRODUCTS

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BOLD FLAVOURS

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A UNIQUE CREATIVE APPROACH

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MODERN BRITISH WITH A NORTH WEST ACCENT

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CREATIVE BALANCE

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ANDALUSĂ? CUISINE

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TASTE OF JAPAN

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SIMPLE, SEASONAL & BRITISH

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JAPANESE AND CHINESE INSPIRED

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AT THE OPEN FARM COMMUNITY

LEBANESE CUISINE WITH A TWIST

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GAËL CLAVIERE

GAËL CLAVIERE

Dali of Patisserie at Hôtel de Matignon

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PHOTO © FLORIAN DAVID-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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GAËL CLAVIERE

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PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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Patisserie at Hôtel de Matignon the official residence of the Prime Minister of France

Born in Toulouse, Gaël is the 3rd child of a working family. He schooled in Toulouse, the pearl of the Southwest of France and known for its culinary specialities and gastronomy. After the third year of the secondary school, he choose a National Vocational Qualification in Patisserie and Confectionery, as well as in ice-cream making.

At 14, after his brother passed away Gaël follows his father’s advice and goes to work at a local bakery. This is where the future “Dali of Patisserie” learns the “fundamentals”, the basics at Donati’s bakery in the Southwest of France. After finishing from Donati’s, he leaves home and settles in Paris.

Eclectic and open-minded, porous in many ways regarding the cultures and the world, he feeds his personal culture and insatiable curiosity in the capital city. He even begins studying theology.

“I’ve always seen in this job the joy of sharing convivial moments, the crepes for tea time, the birthdays, the Yule log, and wedding cakes. Pastries are always at the heart of the most important moments of our lives. The little stars in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, seeing the surprise in their expressions are the common threads I’ve been following which pushed me to carry on this path” says Gaël. Today, at the Matignon Hotel, he shakes up his comfort zone, each day is different and thus, a new challenge. His primary mission is to respond to all the commissions he receives, whether they are planned or at the last minute, such as lunches or dinners, as it often happens.

He doesn’t have a dessert menu, he has to question himself, rely on his imagination for not suggesting the same pastry twice. It all takes some time, requires a lot of energy but it’s the kind of challenge that he likes to take today.

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GAËL CLAVIERE

“My creations are influenced by my lifestyle”

WG catches up with Gaël Claviere…

You feed your attention to detail and perfection and refines your techniques at FAUCHOON Paris and La Maison du Chocolat, how did it help you as a Pâtissier Chef and how did it influence your style of pastry making?

Working for a company of high end gastronomy like Fauchon when I was very young, was for me a great pride and a real benefit. It’s at Fauchon’s that I had my first experience with a more refined patisserie and that I started to work with products of a better quality, using innovative methods.

At the Maison du Chocolat, I learnt the balance of tastes by working with numerous varieties of chocolate. Discovery of flavour, precision, attention to detail are the words that come to mind when describing my work at this great chocolatier’s.

PHOTO © GRANIER-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

Those are two beautiful firms, two very different styles, but with two things in common which are requirement and excellence.

First, I think that the most important thing when starting a career is to find a company in which you feel at ease and I had this chance. Then, being taught in prestigious firms like the ones I’ve been working for gives you the necessary qualities for this beautiful profession such as rigor, passion, the will to surpass yourself, the search for new recipes.

I would say that my creations are influenced by my lifestyle. It’s important for me to use fresh and little transformed products to keep the maximum of their nutritional values. I also tend to play with the colors, the lightness, and the freshness. Between temperance and greed, I adapt my pastries daily based on the needs and the services such as the official receptions with the heads of states, the lunches and dinners with high authorities or important people, but I always add a personal touch to make them unique.

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HÔTEL DE MATIGNON PHOTO © GRANIER

HÔTEL DE MATIGNAON - SALLE A MANGE PHOTO © GRANIER

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GAËL CLAVIERE

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PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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“A patissier is an artist,e he’s a creator of emotions expressing himself through his creations”

Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a new dessert and the inspiration behind it…

For me, the Patissier is an artist because he’s a creator of emotions expressing himself through his creations. I keep this as a priority in the heart of my culinary vision, sharing, aestheticism and especially taste. It doesn’t matter that the pastry is traditional or avant-garde, gourmet or staged, it always has to awaken the gourmets’ senses. I add to this philosophy my desires, shaped by all the things that surround me and my sensitivity.

First, I look for the balance of savors which I want to work with. Then I think about the texture I want the dessert to have, the products to be worked on in order to add some crispy, softness, gourmet or freshness. The good combinations are found when each ingredient exalts the other without wiping it off. Then comes the presentation and the improvement of the pastry through an eye-catching play on shape, and volume.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

The nature itself is an inexhaustible source of inspiration: the scents, the colors, the shapes. The change of season, the arrival of new fruits, the new variation of tinges, the puffs of oxygen boost my desires. In my pastry lab, I’m like a painter expressing himself before his canvas, it’s the present moment and improvisation that take precedence over the rest.

It’s all about balance… how do you involve all these different elements to create and stimulate the palate…

To find the balance, you have to know, select and most importantly respect the food. I mainly use fresh products of great quality because those raw materials have more taste and their savors are more interesting. I work a lot with lightness and the freshness in your mouth. The visual balance is just as essential, you must not overdo, just awaken the desire.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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GAËL CLAVIERE

“The dessert is the final touch to end a meal on a high note” What is the secret to a perfect dessert and your favorite flavor combinations?

The dessert is the final touch to end a meal on a high note.

In order for it to be perfect, it has to draw your attention, create an emotion visually or through taste, emphasize the sensations. When the plate is brought back empty, it means that you have found the secret of the perfect dessert! I like working on fruity flavors like the citrus fruits. The natural sugar is often enough, they have a touch of pleasant sourness that makes our mouth water, and they bring the freshness and lightness I look for.

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

What inspired the recipe?

“Un jardin en Indochine” (“A garden in Indochina”) is a dessert inspired by a trip to Vietnam. It reflects nature with its shortlived, delicate and raw facets. I presented this dessert for a contest. It was made with natural products not much used in France to reveal their delicacy. For this creation, I looked for the harmony of perfume combinations, the contrast of savors, textures and colors. The delicate perfume of the Buddha’s hand perfectly matches the freshness of the coco water. The distinctive colors and fragrances of the padan and aclla cress leaves offer an unexpected touch. As for the thin crusty opalines and the soft ganache, they add a marked taste. Dozens of attempts were necessary in order for the fine balance of the blend to be created. The result is light, original and surprising.

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PHOTO © GRANIER-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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GAËL CLAVIERE

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PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

WG MAGAZINE

“I tried combinations for certain desserts by associating herbal teas”

The next trend you see emerging in desserts…

For some years, the patisserie benefits from a real passion.

The TV shows, the specialized press, the social networks allowed the profession of Patissier and his savoir-faire to be brought to light. Today, pastries are a lot more highlighted and their evolution follows the fashion and design trends and the dietary behavior. In France, our lifestyles take a new turn and our consumption is based on a return of authenticity and what is local, with the use of fresh products of the land and the season. The pastry naturally follows this trend with the return of the vegetable and the natural in our plates. There is a real demand from the consumers for the preservation of the nutritional qualities of the products. The boom of the vegan desserts, the gluten-free, the slow sugar is the second big trend still emerging that answers to specific needs. We are still far from precursory cities such as Berlin, London, New York, but we’re taking the same path. Finally, but on longer term, I think that we’ll feature the integration of some naturally sweet vegetables in our pastries prominently.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

A special pairings of your desserts and pastries with beverages…

In France, it’s a practice that has not become the norm yet and that needs to be developed. I tried combinations for certain desserts by associating herbal teas to a little more gourmet desserts or tea for a pastry that envelops more the mouth, particularly those with chocolate. Hot chocolate matches perfectly with slightly poached fruits, for example.

The difficulty is always finding the balance that will create a good complementarity.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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“In my pastry lab, I’m like a painter expressing himself before his canvas, it’s the present moment and improvisation that take precedence over the rest”

Ingredients that inspire you, your favorite ingredients, ingredients that you were unable to master…

Today, on our shelves we only find fruits and vegetables that are produced in an industrial way. The mass production has its flaws: bad quality, identical shape and no taste. I prefer working with small committed producers who opt for quality over quantity. Genuine products have an unrivalled savor and don’t need much transformation to be on our plates.

For some time, I’ve been using aloe vera. It’s a plant that has multiple benefits for our health and so interesting that its jelly can be molded in several ways. As for the harmony, it perfectly matches the strawberry in high summer and the apple in winter.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

I have a real preference for the citrus fruits and particularly the different varieties. Juice, zest, quarters, raw… Their touch of sourness is a real advantage for the desserts. I like working on the red berries in general, on all the chocolate and praline varieties for their irresistible and gourmet side.

No ingredient deserves to be abandoned! Over time, there are fruits that stood out more than others and some I have less paid attention to, like the quince. I anyway worked with it. But I don’t think we can do many things with this fruit. We have to cook it in order for it to be worked and it needs too much sugar to reveal its savor.

Special techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

I like working on the finishing stage with the poaching, the fruit cutting or the presentation of the pastries. As for equipment, I use ice-cream makers a lot to add some freshness into the desserts on the plate.

PHOTO © YVES MALENFER-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

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PHOTO © BENOIT GRANIER - MATIGNON - GAËL CLAVIERE

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GAËL CLAVIERE

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PHOTO © FLORIAN DAVID-MATIGNON-GAËL CLAVIÈRE

WG MAGAZINE

“Nature! It’s my open-air lab. It gives us everything we need on a tray with abundance”

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

I would say creativity first! Even if all three are inseparable for a Chef. Breathing, touching, thinking, tasting, harmonizing the colors, stimulating my imagination, it’s the part that interest me the most. The technique and production complete creativity to refine the dessert. Being able to think about a dessert and seeing it take shape little by little is a real gift.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

Unhesitatingly, nature! It’s my open-air lab. It gives us everything we need on a tray with abundance. Far from the artifices and the superfluous, it’s a real place of discovery where simplicity is prioritized. This summer in the mountains, I found a variety of edible root.

What keeps you motivated?

A profession where we are looking for excellence but excellence is limitless. We have to accept questioning ourselves and develop our savoir-faire, our knowledge, our creativity over and over again. We are the architects of the gustatory pleasure and it’s a beautiful motivation to go forward.

What do you do to stay on top of the new cooking trends?

HÔTEL DE MATIGNAON - ESCALIER D’HONNEUR PHOTO © GRANIER

Sharing, exchanging with my fellows, enjoying their latest creations, participating in events about gastronomy are indispensable. Patisserie evolves very fast because we are connected throughout the world. Platform of recipes, tips, chefs, bloggers, everything is shared today and it’s very interesting to see everything being made all around the world.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

The first tip is passion. Without it, it’s impossible to give pleasure and the result is visible in the plate. The second one would be more about qualities such as requirement, diligence and the desire to throw yourself into it. And finally, a pastry chef is a good manager. He has to get his team united, motivated and encouraged and guide it through his culinary vision.

PHOTO © GRANIER-GAEL CLAVIERE

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JOE BARZA

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PHOTO © BOA ONDA

WG MAGAZINE

B

orn in Lebanon, in one of the most ancient Middle Eastern cities, Tyre. Joe comes from a family of fishermen, his ancestors, his country’s culture and society led him to the world of cuisine. In cuisine, he found peace.

After finishing his degree in the Hotel School of Arts, he interned in two different restaurants, and after the war in Lebanon, he decided to leave the country, just like many other Lebanese natives did. In 1986, he went to live to South Africa where he started his culinary journey at the International Airport of Johannesburg. He started out as a chef de partie and in three years he became the Executive Sous Chef and was responsible for a kitchen with 110 people and 3 sous chefs.

In 1993, he returned to Lebanon and worked as a head chef at the Century Park Hotel where he was responsible for a team of over 1000 people and 20 permanent chefs. After that, at The Chase he head chef.

JOE BARZA ZA’ATAR

He then decided to use his knowledge and experience to follow a different path as a gastronomic consultant, and so, in 2009 “Joe Barza Culinary Consultancy” was born. Joe has have collaborated with several restaurants, hotels and companies in numerous places all over the world, from concept creation to menu conception.

Throughout his professional life, he always strived to learn new techniques and ideas that would allow him to potentiate Lebanese ingredients and to promote his country’s gastronomy internationally. Joe has worked with chefs like Pierre Pomel, Marc Veyrat, Jean-Pierre Jacob, Pierre Marin, Ciccio Sultano, and has learnt a great deal.

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JOE BARZA

Traditional Lebanese cuisine with a twist

Barza has been credited for reviving Lebanese cuisine and has helped raise the profile of Middle Eastern fare across the world. To achieve this, he combines local ingredients in unconventional ways, juggling color, flavors and presentation in order to create revolutionary dishes for the 21st century.

Recognized as a television personality, co-hosting the Middle Eastern version of Top Chef and making guest appearances all over the globe, Barza has amassed numerous awards and accolades, and takes parts in international events to promote Lebanese cuisine. He has created several menus for different restaurants in numerous countries, including the Marjan, in the Waldorf Astoria Al Khaimanh (United Arab Emirates), the Oak Grill by Joe Barza in Conrad Egypt, the NAYA Express in New York, and at the Al Maeda - Double Tree JBR By Hilton.

ZA’ATAR the new Lebanese restaurant in Lisbon, signed by Lebanese chef Joe Barza, in a partnership with José Avillez Group. It all started two years ago when Joe met José Avillez at the gastronomic event Culinary Extravaganza, by Heinz Beck at Conrad Algarve. Joe was impressed with his cuisine and strategic vision and with the way José Avillez promotes Portugal in the world. The idea of a partnership between José Avillez Group and ZA’ATAR came up very naturally for two entrepreneurial chefs who respect and admire each other and like to build bridges and establish cultural bonds through gastronomy.

JOSÉ AVILLEZ AND JOE BARZA PHOTO © BOA ONDA

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At ZA’ATAR you’ll live a unique experience involving the five senses”, explains Joe Barza about the new restaurant, located in Rua de São Paulo. “The menu is a symphony of Lebanese flavors and aromas with a touch of modernity and is meant for sharing and uniting people. It’s a Lebanese tradition to welcome guests with open arms around a plentiful and colorful table. Our terroir is rich and our cuisine promotes peace. With this spirit and atmosphere, ZA’ATAR opens its doors in Lisbon, to offer an authentic experience.”

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PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

KAFTA PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

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JOE BARZA

TAOOK PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

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COLD MEZZA PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

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Travel to an exotic, colourful and wholesome world of Middle Eastern flavours

COUSCOUSSTEW MOUGHRABIEH PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

At ZA’ATAR your welcomed with Karkachat (bread service), Salata (salads), cold Mezze and warm Mezze – a combination of different entrées served in small plates, that include, for example, Baba Ghanough (smoked and roasted eggplant with tahini and pomegranate), Labneh W Toum (Lebanese yogurt with olive oil and mint), Batata Harra (crispy potatoes sautéed with garlic, paprika, coriander and lemon) or Za’atar W Jebneh Manoushe (Lebanese bread toasted with za’atar and cheese).

In a menu where za’atar, aromatic herbs and spices abound, there are small dishes such as Moughrabieh Djej (couscous stew with meat broth, grilled shallots, chives and coriander), Frikeh Bil Lahmeh (smoked green wheat with slow roasted leg of lamb, dried apricots and rosemary) and grilled dishes - Pork kebab, Taook, (chicken kebab) or Kafta (minced beef and lamb kebab).

ZA’ATAR PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

To wrap it all up, ZA’ATAR suggests several Lebanese desserts, such as: Apricot sorbet with pistachio cream paste (Fostkieh W Bouzit Michmouch), along with original cocktails and infusions.

The atmosphere is created by Lebanese interior designer Nayla Khoury, based on a concept by José Avillez and Joe Barza. “Lebanon is a land of contrasts and ZA’ATAR transmits this very Lebanese duality of old-new, modern-traditional, East-West”, explained Nayla Khoury, further adding: “The disperse lighting, materials like brass with a hammered finish evoke the traditional side of Lebanon, while the cement walls, the marble tables and the mural take us to modern, contemporary Lebanon.”

APRICOT SORBET PISTACHIO PASTE PHOTO © GRUPO JOSÉ AVILLEZ

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

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he main reason why Daniel became a chef was trying to imitate Conan the Barbarian, as he really wanted to play with the knifes and the only way to get to even touch a knife was to help his grandmother in the kitchen, and this began as a kids game which has ended up being his entire life.

After this successful learning stage and working with some of the best chefs in the business in San Sebastián, Daniel moved to Taipei and opened El Toro, a small restaurant that ended up listed among the Top 500 of Asia on the Miele guide in 2009, he then went on to a much larger project DN Innovación. CEO and Founder of DN Group, Daniel has been successfully managing Shanghái Marina By DN which was awarded the Best Spanish Restaurant in China by El País, and Alma By DN which was included on the Michelin Guide Shanghai in 2017 as Bib Gourmand selection, along with Level 41 in Saint Petersburg and his other advisor projects in Asia.

DANIEL NEGREIRA

SPANISH TOUCH IN TAIPEI

His latest project in the heart of Taipei - Hidden By DN has been recommended on the first edition of the prestigious Michelin Guide Taipei 2018 as the only Spanish restaurant to have this recognition in Taiwan.

His style is based on solid roots of Basque cuisine influenced by his long stage in Asia. His creative menus which renders classic flavors “To me the key of a successful menu is that balance, combining the latest and more complex techniques with very simple and familiar flavors, we actually describe the food philosophy we follow at Hidden By DN as “complex simplicity”. Sometimes the complexity comes from the time and efforts we spend trying to source the ingredients on itself while we cook and present them on a very simple way, or the other way around, easily accessible ingredients that we twist and bend through cooking techniques with a very detailed and elaborated presentation” says Daniel.

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

WG catches up with Daniel Negreira…

You worked in some of the best kitchens, with Ferran Adria and Jaun Mari and Elena Arzak…

I was young and ignorant, but with the willing to learn and work hard to achieve my dream. Working with these legends was one of the best experiences of my life. Both chefs truly inspired me to be who I am today, probably Ferran taught me his way of being able to see beyond the ingredient and create new things from familiar items, his mind has no limits, probably that’s the best lesson, use your imagination, dream big, and from Arzak I learned his passion to find the natural and excellent quality raw materials to be presented and elaborated respecting its natural qualities, elevating for example a simple pepper to a piece of art level.

Both are geniuses, and without them Spanish cuisine wouldn’t be what it has become on the past few years, evolving from the topics of “Paella and Olé” to be one of the finest cuisines on earth.

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SEAFOOD ON THE BAR PHOTO © MIGUEL ÁNGEL VARGAS

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

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50 SHADES OF RED

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Your culinary philosophy and the process of creating a dish…

We always try to keep a delicate balance between tradition and modernity, complexity and simplicity, respecting the ingredient and transforming it only when the outcome will enhance the guests’ experience.

When we create a new dish, usually the inspiration will come from the source itself. I think that we chefs have a lot to learn from fishermen and farmers about the products we serve on our menus. I visit the fresh market on a daily base and the harbor two three times a week, there is where by learning from the artisans who bring those gems to our kitchen we can decide which are the best ways to make that fantastic products even better, nobody knows better than them about the hidden wonders inside their stuff.

The second “secret” is to have BIG EARS, listen to your team, they are there to add, not only to follow your commands.

Some of our best recipes came from putting together a jigsaw puzzle made of team members ideas about how to deal with the ingredient, how to match that with garnishes, how to present it.

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Ingredients that inspire you, your favorite ingredients, those you were unable to master and in your opinion what is the most overrated ingredient…

Currently we are serving a dish that I truly love, we call it the unicorn. Basically it’s a mix of a very reach sweet CORN soup with sea Urchin, UNI in Japanese, presented as a baby corn cob shaped soft warm jelly, and this is a playful dish, with seasonal ingredients, lots of techniques involved and the surprise element on it. We spend long time trying to find the right variety of organic locally sourced corn, not too sweet but sweet enough to do not overpower the delicate flavor of the sea urchin, and we also count on our live sea urchin supplier to provide us with the best of the best from the northern Taiwanese coast, basically the way I choose my ingredients is heading directly to the source and then trusting on the expertise of those vendors we decide to establish not just a commercial relation with but a friendship.

HIDDEN BY DN

I love seafood, and living on an island combined with being a few miles away from the Japan Sea that makes things easier for me. Every time I visit the harbor when I see the boats returning to dock I feel like a small kid awaiting to open the Christmas presents while they unload the daily catch.

Actually there is one that we recently experimented with but we couldn’t find a way to make it work in terms of texture, flavor and appearance all at once. It’s a variety of local fruit giant flower, the Dragon fruit blossoms. We got to make it tasty, but the appearance was totally ruined, we got to make it look decently good but the flavor was not pleasant, and when we got it to be tasty and “good looking” the texture was completely ruined. We placed it on the “pendants” list and probably next year when the season begins we will again work on it, we lost only a battle, not the war yet...

Truffles, no doubt. I agree that the flavor is something unique but it ain’t worth the price to me except for the summer truffle.

RIB EYE, SPICES AND HERBS SOIL, ARABICA JUICE

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FOIE GRAS SANDWICH WITH BEE POLEN AND CHOCOLATE “PAPER”

WATERMELON CARPACCIO

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

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LOBSTER, PALM, HAZELNUT, BISQUE PEARLS

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GRILLED SCALLOP, GARLIC YIN YANG, WOLFBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Produce, no questions. Arzak taught me that: “A good piece of fish cannot be completely bad even on the hands of the worst chef, but a poor quality fish cannot be great even on the best chef hands”, I guess this describe perfectly what I mean.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

The passion to discover new ingredients to play with, I guess we all carry a small Indiana Jones junior willing to play deep inside and to live great adventures trying to master wild unknown ingredients.

Your earliest food memory and flavors from your childhood…

My grandmother’s lentils stew, that’s something that even till now I can still feel the taste if I close my eyes.

MY GRANDMA STYLE PIE

TUNA, CINNAMON,” ACCENTS”

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world especially Spanish cuisine?

I think that given the influence of Arzak and Adrià among others on the new generations of chefs have learned how to think, how to source and of course how to bring out the best of each single ingredient. This three basic principles created a rolling snow ball that has turned Spanish cuisine on what today is, probably the most complex in terms of technique in the world setting the base that many other cuisines has follow afterwards. I believe that our cuisine has a bright future ahead as instead of resting and enjoying our success Spanish chefs keep pushing further and further leading today’s cutting edge techniques.

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OUR “CHERRY DUCK TIRAMISU” PHOTO © CHARLES HSU

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DANIEL NEGREIRA

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CHOCOLATE “UNDER CONSTRUCTION” PHOTO © MIGUEL ÁNGEL VARGAS

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Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

Don’t do it unless you are willing to sacrifice everything for this job. Every time I give a speech at a culinary school to young chefs I always ask them the same question. What is my job? Of course most of them will answer cooking, well yes but that’s probably only a very small piece of it, today’s chefs need to multitasks, with solid knowledge about farming, chemistry, marketing, accounting, human power management, stock management, accounting, photography, design, and the list goes on, in order to be successful. So through this I try to let them understand that is not as easy as turning on the stove and there you go, our job requires sacrifice and very long hours, stress, living a life mostly opposite to what others do, but you know what, if somebody asked me would you do it again, definitely yes.

INSTANT STRAWBERRY NITRO SORBET WITH MARTINI PHOTO © MIGUEL ÁNGEL VARGAS

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IOLANDA BUSTOS

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orn in a country house in la Costa Brava, Catalonia, Iolanda Bustos’ parents were farmers and her mother planted and collected many plants, vegetables and flowers, which was a result in Iolanda mother opening her own restaurant since she had a lot of excess produce. Her mother was selfsufficient, she made her own oil, grape wine, flowers and jams. It seemed like magic to Iolanda as with great affection her mother transformed all that she picked in the countryside.

Called the chef of flowers, her cuisine is inspired by nature, great produce, and more over is flower-themed based on herbs, flowers, wild plants and fruits - a perfect culinary approach and harmony of flavors, color and aroma.

IOLANDA BUSTOS CHEF OF FLOWERS

She searches the harmony in her own nature “I know my landscape, the terrestrial, the astral and I work with these two energies. My kitchen starts off in the field, always the ideas of new dishes born while I am picking up vegetables and flowers. It’s been several years that I have established a very intimate relationship with my environment, and I have been able to verify the difference of collecting in different lunar phases, using the biodynamics law. I have adapted the universal laws of biodynamics in my kitchen. The harmony appears naturally, in the same way as the earth revolves around the sun” says Iolanda.

She has the maximum respect for the product, this is the gratitude of what her land gives her. She defines her cuisine as a naturalist, although it is true that many people call her a chef of flowers. But cooking with flowers does not mean putting a flower on a plate or on top of any meat or fish or any recipe. She first thinks about the flowers that she has, she know its flavours and all the proprieties. Either to cook it or to enhance the flavours or to take advantage of its natural yeast. For example, she creates a recipe from the flower, the flower or plant is always at the start when she designs a new recipe, never at the end. Although one cannot ignore that the decorative part is the one that catches our attention, but curiously, the dishes with the flowers are not seen but are much more surprising.

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IOLANDA BUSTOS

“I am using almost 500 edible wild species that grow less than 100km from my restaurant. I feel fortunate to have grown in this little paradise, called Costa Brava”

Another interesting aspect is harmony with her cuisine, to make the dish but also the drink. Apart from the flowers, she also make many juices, fermentations and macerations that form the liquid part of the dish.

Her last project was wine pairings at a vineyard, while people try wines, they also smell and taste the flowers and edible plants. She started this enogastronomy experience 15 years ago, taking the same landscape from the vineyard to the plate and at the same time the diner can taste the wine. Everything comes from the same landscape, this is pure harmony.

Your culinary experiences which helped to form who you are as a chef today…

I have never studied cooking in any school, I started cooking like my mother in the restaurant that was our house, it was a traditional kitchen linked to the field, and the influences of many vegetables. I studied public relations and tourism to have further knowledge, because then I thought I already know how to cook, in the end thanks to having learned communication. I started to spread my hobby which was my kitchen. Many people were interested with me using wild ingredients, they called me to do a daily cooking show on television and the other forms of media to do interviews.

They encouraged me to write about my knowledge of wild edible plants, so I went back to university to expand my botanical knowledge. Since then my style of cooking both in my mother’s restaurant and in my own has been growing as a plant that you take care of every day. And every day I cook, it’s based on that memory that I have since I was a child accompanying my mother to pick and eat herbs and flowers during our walks in the countryside. She may have used 50 different things besides mushrooms and fruits and today I am using almost 500 edible wild species that grow less than 100km from my restaurant. I feel fortunate to have grown in this little paradise, called Costa Brava.

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IOLANDA BUSTOS

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

I follow a naturalistic and biodynamic philosophy, I try to get the best of each product, studying new flavours, and my kitchen does not get anything packaged, tight, crushed or preserved, I only receive fresh products. When these products arrive to my restaurant, we give them back their lives with techniques based on biodynamics, we use the medicinal properties of the plants so that a meat gets tender, or even the natural yeasts of the flowers to ferment, always following the lunar phases. My kitchen has two boards: one with the daily production task in the kitchen and the other is the lunar and astrological calendar to prepare all condiments, maceration, fermentations, and desiccated ingredients.

In fact, a dish that has been very successful at La Calèndula, is the “Ratafia”, 60 ingredients that are the basis of a popular herbal drink. Each ingredient has been converted into a texture, shape, and elaborated. All together we serve them on a canvas drawn by an artist where each herb, flower and species it represents. With this dish I got the recognition for the best cook of Catalonia 2016.

You create a distinctive and creative cuisine with ingredients collected daily and creating a landscape in every dish…

The cuisine of La Calèndula is like a mirror of our landscape, and the most beautiful thing is that every day it changes, according to the weather, the climate, the places where it has been collected from. If the sea has been good or even there are sometimes ingredients that are only available for a few hours, like the flowers of some cactus. Every morning I do a recollection exercise that serves me as a meditation.

AT MUME, TAIPEI

My cuisine, it also depends on the day in my lunar calendar as it is influenced by one element or another, if we are under the constellations of air, we will collect flowers for drinks, preparations and other condiments; if the constellations of fire influences us, we collect fruits; if we are under the influence of water, then it is especially good to collect leaves and stems; and if we are under a land sign it will be phenomenal to collect roots. All this knowledge has to be superimposed on the phases of the moon according to whether it is increasing or decreasing or ascending or descending. All this energy is what I use so that my cuisine has that magic in it, may not be seen but it feels, and has the power to thrill to those who try it.

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IOLANDA BUSTOS

Ingredients that inspire you, your favourite ingredients and ingredient that you weren’t able to master…

I am very interested in microorganisms, yeasts, mucilages of plants, even some eggs of different animals and insects. It is surprising the power these microorganisms have in food, big industries has made us believe that they are bad bugs and now we see that they are healthy.

“I am happy when I can cook with wild food that I pick up every morning, my favourite plant is the Elder tree”

I love elderflowers and use them in my dishes as well as in drinks like my famous sparkling elderflower. The same with the elderberries, I make a lot of sauces and wine with these fruits. Elder tree it’s my magical tree!

It is one of my obsessions, I tried to cook tadpoles. When I was a child, I walked among the rice fields, full of frogs, and in the spring I picked up all the frog eggs and ate them.

Friends of my mother told her that in the past they were eaten with a little garlic which was delicious. As now it is prohibited to hunt frogs, I was looking to build a farm with bull frogs, but everything was very difficult with the health administration, on the other hand the investment is also too expensive and they need a lot of space. But I have a little pond at home and every year I breed my own tadpoles for my personal cuisine that means only at home.

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IOLANDA BUSTOS

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“Creativity is the most important thing but above all this creativity makes sense to a philosophy, and makes you grow as a professional”

Special cooking techniques or equipment…

I have a Josper, which works with charcoal from the mountains of my region. I maintain those flavors of yesteryears but in a more modern context at the bottom of the Josper the ashes are stored in a box that remain hot, while the charcoal is red, in those ashes I cook mini potatoes that are eaten whole with a sauce of wild spicy herbs. I use the ashes to make crusts on top of fish as if it were a salt rosette, the taste is amazing.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

If you have a creative ideas, you look for the technique, and the technique can be learned or copied. So for me, creativity is the most important thing but above all this creativity makes sense to a philosophy, and makes you grow as a professional and as a person for the benefit of all.

What keeps you motivated?

The feeling that people change their look towards nature, that they observe the landscape in a different way, re-establishing the knowledge of ancient generations who used plants, herbs and wild flowers for their day to day lives. That connection has been lost with nature for many people and I try to reconnect people to nature, through the flavour of these humble wild ingredients of the countryside. It is my mission and people will love more the plants if they know how to use it.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, what advice could you give to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time?

A tip that I always give to my stagers or employees when they think about recipes, it has to make sense that they listen to the music of their inner self and transmit it with their own style.

You can imitate recipes, copy lyrics, but you have to put your rhythm to it, at least make a good version of either a classic or modern recipe. And above all, be faithful and commit to their territory, with their farmers, fishermen and establish a relationship with the environment.

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DAVID KINCH

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DAVID KINCH

A SUPREME BALANCING ACT

TEXT HANGAR-7 PHOTO © HELGE KIRCHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY / RED BULL HANGAR-7

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DAVID KINCH

D

avid Kinch spent his high school years in New Orleans during the late 1970s. It was a formative period for him and where he fell in love with the industry – the restaurants and the people involved in it.

He worked first under Paul Prudhomme at Commander’s Palace while also stocking shelves at the local wine store where he caught the wine bug. After culinary school, Kinch got his second job in New York where he became fascinated by restaurant culture. He decided then that he wanted to be not only a cook, but a great one. It was in Beaune, France where he realised the power of creativity and ingredients, then back in New York he joined Barry Wine at the Quilted Giraffe. Kinch says all the chefs he has worked for have been his mentors. He first went o Japan and fell in love with the food after Barry Wine had returned from a trip there.

David Kinch has been internationally recognised as an innovator of a new contemporary Californian cuisine and his food draws on his deep understanding of classical cooking combined with his travels in Asia and openness to try anything. He is shy of categorising his food but concedes that “the complex simplicity, platings, using nearly no fat but still leaving people sated” do betray some Japanese influence.

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DAVID KINCH

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“Chef Kinch ranks among Le Chef magazine‘s Les 100 Chefs and in 2016 Kinch earned an Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Host in the award-winning PBS series, The Mind of a Chef “

In 1995, he opened Sent Sovi in the South Bay and having spent six years elevating dining in the area, he sold up and opened Manresa in 2002. The restaurant had an impressive wine list with 800 selections prior to the fire that almost destroyed it in 2014. On reopening six months later, the restaurant was better than ever. Manresa earned three Michelin stars for 2018, marking its third consecutive year with three Michelin stars, and eleven consecutive years as a Michelin star restaurant. The restaurant also became part of the esteemed Relais & Châteaux family in 2016. In addition, Kinch opened Manresa Bread with partners Andrew Burnham and Avery Ruzicka, followed by The Bywater which demonstrates his love of New Orleans.

MARTIN KLEIN AND DAVID KINCH IN IKARUS KITCHEN

At Manresa, Chef David Kinch’s nightly menu is unknown until it arrives on the table at the end of the meal. The restaurant’s proximity to local farms and the abundance of produce in California allows it to source the finest quality ingredients.

The food is at once cerebral and luxurious, yet grounded and thoroughly delicious. Each course is likely to represent a moment within a season, beginning with a selection of savory petit fours that are an illusory play on the palate.

DAVID KINCH AND MARTIN KLEIN IN IKARUS KITCHEN

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DAVID KINCH

The signature garden dish titled, “Into the Vegetable Garden,” always has a place on the menu but it is ever changing. It is comprised of over 30 components that highlight the bounty of the season. Memorable desserts flaunt the use of local seasonal products as well, and offer complex flavors in their otherwise understated appearance. Finally, there are sea salt, vanilla bean caramels on your way out. Hospitality is paramount to all members of the team. It is worthy indeed of its 3 Michelin starred status.

According to David Kinch, the secret is in finding balance which places special importance on salt and acidity. He truly believes that the single most important thing on a plate of food is balance. This balance also extends to creativity, technique and produce, and to pleasure and satisfaction in eating.

Put your trust in multi-award winning guest chef David Kinch, guest speaker and participant at culinary events around the globe, whose first cookbook titled Manresa: An Edible Reflection“ debuted at 19 on the New York Times Best Sellers List“. Savour his contemporary Northern Californian cuisine, featuring ingredient-driven cooking and modern techniques from around the world, at Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7 during this month of October.

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BERTRAND MILLAR

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BERTRAND MILLAR

orn in Limoges, in the beautiful region called “Le Limousin”, in which the city is known to be the world’s capital of porcelain, Bertrand grew up in a modest and large family of six children, his father an Australian who met his mother in France. His interest for cooking was because of his mother, she worked the night shifts in the hospital and when she returned in the morning she went off to sleep and woke up in the afternoon, this gave him the opportunity to show his culinary skills, at first it was simple meals, preparing savory tarts, quiche, tuna cake and scones. It was around when he was 10 or 12 years, he began cooking every day on his own, sometimes with success and other times unsuccessful which frustrated him but he did not give up, instead he got back up and carried on cooking and this time it was something sweet - chocolate, vanilla or genoise cakes, chocolate, and fruits tart.

CHOOSING Even though it was simple, it had become and one day he told his parents NOBLE a“I ritual going to be a Chef”, they were quite surprised as no one in my family was and during that period PRODUCTS atheprofessional profession of a chef was considered

difficult, demanding and an ungrateful job. There were no cooking shows on television and with the little time for family life he had all the odds of becoming a chef but he decided to go ahead to do it.

Stubborn with a strong temperament and a sensitive nature, Bertrand joined Jean Monet the hotel school in Limoges at 14 years old.

SEAFOOD ON THE BAR

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“Always impressed by the personal experience of chefs and their histories, and felt a great fascination for the charisma” After school, he had the chance to meet and work close with some of the most famous chefs with their different style of cuisine. During his internship, he loved to discover diverse kitchens, with different characteristics. Always impressed by the personal experience of chefs and their histories, and felt a great fascination for the charisma. In the beginning he worked with celebrity chefs like Marc Meneau in St Père-sousVezelay, Jean-Michel Lorain of La Côte St Jacques in Joigny where he discovered traditional cooking and grandmother’s recipes, how to work in a team and to organize the kitchen.

Marc Meneau relies on the “Bible” of cuisine: “Le Guide Culinaire” by Escoffier. This is an essential book for chefs, immense knowledge and respect for French historical recipes.

With Jean-Michel Lorain, he learnt how to structure a recipe by multiplying tests in order to have the best results. He then went on to work at Maison Pic in Valence with Anne-Sophie Pic, disciplined and all culinary preparations were tasted daily before each meal, her team management was impressive and she knew all the employees and personally said “hello” with a firm handshake. Her palate is incredible and she specifics ideas regarding how to create her recipes. Her culinary style so refined and so well thought of. Bertrand was inspired by her culinary perception to make a dish. He later spent years with the well-known cooking technician: a “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” in the Relais & Châteaux “Cordeillan Bages” in Pauillac, known for his technicality and mastery for sauces. He discovered defined well placed ingredients on the plate and learned rapid and efficient methods which helped him to use various products. His style of cuisine combines all different styles that he has learned from every rich experience, in a way you find technology, tradition, modernity and design in his dishes.

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BERTRAND MILLAR

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“Cuisine is a universe which touches all nations, all generations, and allows creativity, free will and fulfillment. It often sends one back to one’s childhood memories and also reminds us of the joy, shared pleasure and gatherings.

The creation of recipes and or dishes is made from memories: a moment when the mind evades during the day, remembering shared times and friendship.”

BERTRAND MILLAR

WG catches up with Bertrand Millar…

Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a dish…

Cuisine is an endless source of inspiration and brings for happiness, sharing and emulation. All human senses are solicited: hearing the product cooking, smelling the aromas, seeing the colors on the dish, tasting the ingredients and then touching the texture. I live to cook and it makes me feel good. Cuisine is creative and emotional however it is also vital need. The culinary art is to transform this necessity to eat into a magic and memorable time. The chef is therefore a creator of emotions.

Cuisine is a universe which touches all nations, all generations, and allows creativity, free will and fulfillment. It often sends one back to one’s childhood memories and also reminds us of the joy, shared pleasure and gatherings. The creation of recipes and or dishes is made from memories: a moment when the mind evades during the day, remembering shared times and friendship. For me isolation and reflation are my main allies for research, after a good session of squash or bike, when my spirit and my body are soothed.

Your creative menu driven by quality produce, a composition of flavors…

In my opinion a recipe to create a new dish is the fruit of a deep reflection. Sometimes I spend long afternoons, just thinking about one product, how to associate it with other flavors, compose the dish, based on sensorial memories of tastes and smells in order to surprise and give pleasure to guests. In fact, I need to build the recipe in my mind first, to imagine it, describe it and then I draw it. After that, I test my inception for dosing spices and seasonings. The balance is to find the best dose between ingredients. The quantity and the link among each component needs to be thought of, weighed, all precisely done to reach the perfection towards the final dish.

I always choose the best products: the noble products (“Bresse” poultry AOP label, caviar from Aquitaine, Melanosporum truffle, wild fish, “Charolles” beef AOP label, saffron from Beaujolais) I prefer to select local producers, visiting their estate, understanding their way of working, sharing different passions which are finally put together on the plate.

Another important thing on a plate is the game of textures which should be succulent, crusty, melting, crunchy and crispy. Colors of the ingredients on the dish are chosen to make guests salivate and want to savor. Smells and aromas have an important place too because they join savors during the making of the dish, that is why I do not use too many different flavors in one recipe, if not it would become too complex during the tasting, and my target is to bring out the magic.

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BERTRAND MILLAR

Ingredients…

My priority is to always choose high quality products. I select ingredients according to the seasons: old varied tomatoes and red fruits in summer, pumpkin and scallops in autumn, oyster in autumn/winter, saffron in autumn too because it flourish and is collected in October, asparagus and morels mushrooms in Spring. I mix lobster with macadamia nuts and tempura, I cook scallops or “foie gras” with a salty-sweet taste: “foie gras” with nuts, fig and chestnut cream or even “foie gras” with red fruits or green peas and strawberries, scallops with celery, vanilla and exotics fruits (mango, passion fruit). I am convinced that the sauce is the key element which procures the most emotion and pleasure, that is why I love and take time to elaborate it. I create dishes which represents me: colorful, elegant, modern, vision, precise and everything is measured to achieve that magic dish. I want my guest’s to recognize my style from the beginning to the end of the meal and feel and imagine my culinary philosophy in the dish.

The positioning of each ingredient is important. If I choose to put Atsina Cress or Bourrache flower in a dessert with strawberries and rhubarb or Manjari chocolate, it makes sense and brings an additional aromatic flavor in the dish, it is not only for the color or the beauty of flowers. Furthermore desserts made by my team pastry chef match my culinary philosophy. We taste together and change if necessary. We do our best to put as little sugar as possible. I like when a dessert is fresh, light, not too fatty and not too sweet. There exists a logical continuation from the appetizer to the dessert.

There exists two products I appreciate but few people like it: Marmite and Vegemite. They are similar. It is my father who made me taste it when I was a child, and at that time I hated it. As I grew up I began to like it, for breakfast. These products are very strong and I like to cook with them, but I have not found out yet how to use them properly. They are so bitter and concentered in salt and the black color does not make them appetizing. I would like to find a recipe which groups Scottish salmon and vegemite, because the origins of my father are Scottish although he was born in Australia.

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BERTRAND MILLAR

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“The role of the chef is to respect the product and to enhance it”

Produce, creativity or technique…

To achieve a high-quality cuisine, there are no secrets, you need high quality products. It is essential to work with the best producers, and the best are not always the well-known.

They are the ones who get up early, do not count their hours, cherish their products and are interested in what will happen to the fruit of their work on the plate.

The role of the chef is to respect the product and enhance it.

This is why the technique is important. The precise dexterity, mastery and transmission of these techniques allow the guests to taste the full extent of the product in the dish.

What keeps you motivated at this point of your career?

I became a chef at the age of 23 in a luxury brasserie. At that time, I thought I would be a chef for the rest of my life, without thinking of my ambition. So I left my position as chef to start again at the bottom of the ladder but in a world more demanding than a brewery: a 3-star restaurant in the Michelin guide. I moved far from my family and friends, and I was very motivated to evolve. I wanted to learn in the best restaurants which was the case. After working in several Michelin-starred “Relais & Châteaux” restaurants, I became a chef again more than ten years later.

I hope one day to receive this great distinction as “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” and I will work tirelessly on a personal basis. Today I just want to make my guests happy. It is above all what we work for every day: to satisfy them: it is the ultimate goal.

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BERTRAND MILLAR

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Your earliest food memory and flavors from your childhood‌ I remember the smell of baking quiche in the oven, the smell of the scones and pancakes. It was those aromas that made me run down stairs from my bedroom to see what mum was cooking. It made me want to cook with her and lick the bottom of the bowl with my fingers.

Thirty years later, I still remember every smell and it throws me back to my first day in the kitchen when I was fourteen years old.

Twenty-five years ago, I found the profession of cooking interesting.

Today, I realize how exceptional it is.

This is my life.

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REUBEN RIFFEL

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rowing up in Franschhoek, South Africa, with a family that grew their own veg and raised their own livestock. They were serious about fresh food. Strange for back in the day through the difficult years, but even with little money they ate like kings. Reuben grew up with food loving people and then also started cooking with his mum and dad at a young age. His mum worked at a French restaurant and he was treated to Sunday buffet left overs, which he was hooked on.

He learned about French food watching Christophe Dehosse, he was a hard task master but a full-on real chef. Reuben was made aware of how tough the industry can be when he saw how hard the guys worked but also how amazing food can be by using the right cooking and techniques. The first thing was discipline, it taught him to respect ingredients and to value it, and also he learnt how to do things properly without taking short cuts. That’s how he developed pride in his cooking.

REUBEN RIFFEL

BOLD FLAVOURS PHOTO Š MARC DRYDEN-SCHOFIELD

He stays with the fundamentals of cooking and still endeavours to always just use the best ingredients. Over time as his confidence grew with his own cooking, he started to become comfortable to experiment with the flavours he grew up with, spices.

Richard Carstens, his late mother and an Aunt worked with him in the early days of his career. He never really had anyone holding his hand even though he was scared stiff in the early days of running his own restaurant. He was however introduced to some great chefs through their cookbooks and it gave him a better insight in how other kitchens are managed. He thinks kitchen management is overlooked mostly as the best chef cannot achieve anything if he or she cannot manage and inspire their team.

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REUBEN RIFFEL

“If you want to experiment and go wild, do it, push yourself, that’s when you make new discoveries”

WG catches up Reuben Riffel, owner of notable restaurants in the Cape…

Your culinary philosophy, your cuisine and take us through the process of creating a new dish…

My philosophy is simple, use what is in season and is fresh, use local as far as possible, keep the cooking light and simple but allow yourself the ability to express yourself. If you want to experiment and go wild, do it, push yourself, that’s when you make new discoveries.

Over the years I realised that my food should always have the combination of either sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, hot and cold and should always be bold flavoured. We also do not want to over touch, over complicate food, the best dishes are those that highlight the individual flavours the best.

Creating a dish…Well it happens in different ways. I start by throwing something out, maybe what I’ve seen or read about then I wait for feedback from my other chefs. My focus will be on what’s coming into season, let’s say Waterblommetjies (water onions). We would go over some old dishes and explore some traditional elements and then I look at it like Lego.

Restaurant dishes must be able to be prepped in advance so it’s slightly different to home cooking or a lot different. What I mean by Lego is I will make a list of ingredients and how we can merge them all successfully. Lamb neck, white wine, white pepper, Waterblommetjies, onion, starch, lamb stock, thyme, orange. I will then build it from there, we make a white wine jus with lamb stock and white wine, infuse it with thyme and orange peel. I cook the Waterblommetjies in stock with garlic and olive oil, bay leaves etc. We debone the lamb neck, roll it and slow cook it, potatoes, cooked in butter. We then bring in an element of gremolata maybe to cut through the richness and bring it all together.

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REUBEN RIFFEL

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Ingredients that inspire you, your favourite ingredients or those you have given up on…

Finger limes, it’s new to me and I’m looking forward to using it. We also grew some oyster leaves, amazing leaves that taste like a fresh oyster.

We search out local suppliers, we put feelers out and normally people will find us. Then it’s about building relationships. My favourite ingredients are fruits and different types of vinegars, quality farm butters and I’m fond of ginger.

I’ve tried using some molecular ingredients, malto, xantam gum etc, never really got comfortable using it.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Produce will always be number one, but often in our game you have to be creative to use what is presented to you some come up with something great. That’s how some amazing dishes has come about.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

My team of people that work with me. If we clique it’s amazing the feeling when it all comes together. Nothing like a great service and with overly elated guests.

Your earliest food memories, flavors from your childhood…

Fresh bread. My gran baked our bread every day, fresh and that smell still stays with me today. My mom’s coconut cookies, she baked this in bulk so we always had a stash of it.

It had a little cherry in the middle, she showed her love to us by giving us delicious food.

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REUBEN RIFFEL

“Reuben on Fire, is a reflection of the quintessential South African cooking style”

Several awards and accolades, Chef of the Year, you were even on the Martha Steward Show and The today Show…

What keeps you motivated?

I have an inner interest in food, all the outside activities and accolades comes and goes, I have to please myself and keep myself motivated and I’m in the best position to be able to play and experiment in my own kitchen and restaurant. I enjoy the simple things and still see opportunities and ways of improving myself and my food.

Braai: Reuben on Fire, is a reflection of the quintessential South African cooking style - What was the inspiration behind your book?

I wanted to prove that you can basically cook anything over an open fire. I wanted to show that outside of the usual suspects there’s many more dishes that you can make as long as you master and learn how to adjust the heat.

What do you do to stay on top of the new cooking trends?

I read and eat out a lot, I travel and try different ingredients as much as possible. We do not however fall over ourselves to follow trends. I prefer to do it in our own time.

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REUBEN RIFFEL

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In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

Chefs have become celebrities. Some are more elaborate, others are very scientific. Obviously with a better understanding of the science of cooking we have improved massively in terms of techniques and cooking methods. It’s almost a cleaner way of cooking. I’ve realised there’s no silver bullet and all that we have learned can be utilized but there’s no substitute for freshness and natural ingredients.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

Don’t do it to because you want fame. Once your goal is to cook great food and to work within a team to achieve that then do it. Always work with people you can learn something from. Do not enter this industry if you do not like physical work. All those chefs that you see on TV and in magazines have worked super hard to achieve that success. Talking of success, try and define what success means to you, what it is. Then find out what it means to chefs that has made it and what that means to their families and their lives. If you are still keen, then go for it.

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OLIVIER JEAN

H OLIVIER JEAN A UNIQUE CREATIVE APPROACH

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e became a chef because he liked to make things for people, to help people, and to bring them happiness through the food. He has known this ever since he was a child, and since then, he has continued trying to reach the highest point.

Studying under the late Monsieur Robuchon for nine years and four of those years in L’Atelier Joël Robuchon, Taipei.

Olivier creates a creating a composition of flavors, his cuisine is inspired by a combination of fresh and quality ingredients, creative with the finest produce. “First, balance is technical, something you should learn in school. Then, after years of experience, your palate becomes more mature and you develop your own sensibilities. After that, the ideal balance is also different depending on where you are in the world. A good chef have to be able to adapt his cuisine to the palate of the local people to create something they will enjoy” says Olivier.

After his culinary education at Ecoles Lesdiguieres in Grenoble, he went on to work at Le Louis XV and then went on to work with Joël Robuchon in Monaco, Paris and now in Taipei. He learned a lot of the kitchen basics at Le Louis XV with Alain Ducasse where he enjoyed the rigorous environment of the kitchens there, and it was also there that he became accustomed to the rhythm and pace of working.

However, after a few years, he felt there was a new land to be discovered, and Monsieur Robuchon made him an offer which he could not refuse. He felt it was the right time for him to start in another direction.

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OLIVIER JEAN

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L’AMADAI CRISPY SCALE AMADAI WITH SUMMER VEGETABLES AND LIGHTLY SPICY “BOUILLABAISSE”

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“Monsieur Robuchon was like a mentor and a father”

When he started working for Monsieur Robuchon, he discovered family, he met someone who would take your hand and bring you with them to the top, someone who will fully trust you if you can gain his trust. Robuchon was someone full of passion, and Olivier fell in love with his cuisine. Robuchon had wide view of the world as a result of his international experiences, which is evident in a lot of his signature dishes, and this made it very interesting for Olivier to work for him.

Monsieur Robuchon was like a mentor and a father to him.

He always had good advice on how to stand, how to be, how to do, but all while giving him the space to open his mind and be creative in his own way.

Robuchon was insistence on the quality of the products and never to overwork the products which looks easy, but it is actually not very easy. This is something that is very important in Olivier’s style of cuisine.

WG catches up with Olivier Jean…

Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a new dish…

My culinary philosophy is to make people happy through good products, good techniques, simple flavors, and beautiful plating. I want to let the customers enjoy the experience and to give them a good memory of the meal.

JOËL ROBUCHON AND OLIVIER JEAN

It’s quite simple; it is first and foremost, based on the season.

Second, it is also based on what I feel and my sensibilities.

But in the end, when I design a dish, I don’t design for me, I design for the customers. The inspiration almost always comes from the season and from the guest’s.

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OLIVIER JEAN

L’OEUF DE POULE FRENCH IMPERIAL CAVIAR OVER A CRISPY POACHED EGG AND SMOKED SALMON

Ingredients that inspireyou, favorite ingredient, ingredients that you were unable to master…

I am currently very inspired by bamboo shoots, which are very popular in Taiwan. It is a common ingredient used in all of Asia but particularly in Taiwan. The season is short and only available from the middle of spring to the end of summer.

It is difficult to pick a favorite ingredient, but I will say eggs because of the unlimited possibilities they offer. Currently I have been experimenting with salt curing the yolks and then grating and using them as a seasoning.

LE CAVIAR IMPERIAL DE FRANCE IMPERIAL FRENCH CAVIAR WITH HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS AND RED TURNIP SPRING RAVIOLI

I try to never give up! However, one of the most complicated things to realize in the kitchen is a hot and salty soufflé (it is very difficult to achieve the same airiness and height as a sweet soufflé) so it is something that I enjoy attempting to master.

Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

I enjoy cooking without using sous vide. Sous vide makes it easier to achieve some results, but I think it is can be more interesting to try to make a dish without relying on that technique.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Produce is the most important to me because I believe you need to have good produce as a good base to then apply creativity and technique. “You must be able to walk before you can run.”

My greatest influence in the kitchen is Mr. Robuchon”

Your greatest influence in the kitchen… “ LA CAILLE FREE-RANGE QUAIL STUFFED WITH FOIE GRAS AND SERVED WITH POTATO MASH

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LE HOMARD DES CÔTES BRETONNES BRITTANY BLUE LOBSTER AND BLACK TRUFFLE TURNIP RAVIOLI WITH TURMERIC DRESSING

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OLIVIER JEAN

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LE SUCRE SUGAR BALL STUFFED WITH STRAWBERRY AND RASPBERRY YUZU MOUSSE

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Your earliest food memory, flavors from your childhood…

LE BAMBOU BAMBOO HEART MARINATED WITH FOIE GRAS AND AVOCADO SHAVING

My earliest food memory is pork sausage cooked in a tomato sauce with capers and pickles. My mom and my grandmother made this dish for me when I was around 4 or 5 years old.

A flavor from my childhood that I cannot live without today is the taste of la creme de marrons which is a chestnut paste.

What was the feeling to receive a Michelin star this year and what keeps you motivated?

“I felt glad and very honored, but it only made me more intensely motivated to get to the next star. ”

What do you do to stay on top of the new cooking trends?

I try to stay innovative in my cooking but most importantly, I also try to keep the foundations of my cooking style.

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

I think cuisine has changed around the world because we no longer have to depend on the proper seasons for certain ingredients. It has become so easy to import ingredients from anywhere in the world. For example, in Taiwan the best strawberry season is in December, and in Kenya there are green beans year round. In Europe, both of these are typically considered summer produce. We can now have anything we want at any time. This can be seen as a convenience, but it is also changing the way we cook.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

LE PORC IBERIQUE CARAMELIZED IBERIAN PLUMA SERVED WITH BROCOLETTI AND CONDIMENTS

I think it is great that the culinary profession has been given so much exposure as a result of television shows and social media, however, what is portrayed on the screen is not always reality. I would advise those who are entering this industry to not give up the second you realize it is not the same as what you have seen on TV. If you persevere and work hard, this can be a very rewarding profession.

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ADAM REID

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ADAM REID

Modern British with a North West accent

Manchester born, Adam was lucky as he always knew he wanted to be a chef, not really because of the job as such but just because he loved to cook and thought that was obviously the most direct way of doing it for a living! He had no idea of what was involved and where to start or even what a Michelin starred restaurant was so was fortunately steered along a good path by his mum and some of her friends. After a rather stumbly start as a teenager in a professional kitchen, he soon realised this trade demanded more than just turning up and if he was serious he had to up his game. From there he never looked back and each step he took forward he discovered a new challenge “one of the great things about being a chef is the possibilities and diversity on offer to you�. He eventually found his way into accolade establishments and found his true calling.

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ADAM REID

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He showcases his own personal style of modern British with a North West accent. His creative culinary talent delivers consistently excellent flavours, using the best seasonal produce. “I think that being a chef in the style of restaurant such as mine really relies on having a distinctive style, and the success of the business relies on it in some ways in this generation of dining which is a blessing as the chef can really get into it. This environment has really allowed me to realise the kind of food that I love and being from Manchester originally I feel there’s an undiscovered type of cuisine in the area that I love and want to tap into. At the end of the day though the best food to cook is the food you enjoy eating and that’s exactly what I do, I just try to put a bit of a refined edge on it” says Adam.

WG catches up with Adam Reid…

You started your culinary career is some of the best restaurants in the UK and then went on to work at The Chester Grosvenor and then with Simon Rogan before taking over The French…

Working for the two Simons was really a formative part of my career and also a period that defined me as a chef. Not from the styles of food that both produce but from the ethics and ethos behind them. Working for Radley I really learnt how a career chef can organise and control a massive operation and get success from a multi-faceted business. His work ethic is second to none and I strived to be as motivated as he is.

Working for Simon Rogan was really a creative bombshell.

I’d never worked with someone who was so inspired and had such a distinct and unique way of thinking about food. My time with him really made me realise that you can open your mind and cook the food you want, as long as it’s really tasty.

Flavour is the driver with Simon and from him I have learned that you can focus on the appearance of a dish all you want but if you close your eyes and just taste what’s there it really needs to blow people away.

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ADAM REID

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Your culinary philosophy…

Flavour, flavour, flavour. My food is all about being tasty.

More and more I find myself stepping away from techniques and long drawn out preparations that are only designed to change the shape of the ingredients! I believe you can achieve the refinement required at this level purely from balance of flavours and quality of ingredients.

Ingredients that inspire you, your favourite ingredients, ingredients that weren’t able to master and your opinion on overrated ingredients…

At the moment my big focus is finding quality producers in and around my area. The ingredients I believe come from those relationships between chef and producer where you can really trust they are going to provide the quality of ingredient you require. I then trust them to give me any new stuff they are working on. At the end of the day the quality of the ingredient is down to the quality of the producer and I’m happy to follow their lead, and new ingredients are only worth using if they’re top quality.

I’m using amazing Welsh sewin (or sea trout), pickled elderflowers we pickled ourselves earlier in the year, organic chickens from the Rhug estate, native lobsters from the south coast, cherries from Kent, San Marzano tomatoes (not local but amazing) and peas from Cheshire but the list changes as the year goes on as we are strictly seasonal, and I only like to use produce when it’s grown in its most natural environment.

For example, I use strawberries when the grower in Cheshire I know has them; I don’t use these hydroponically grown things in polytunnels that are the size of apples in March that you see everywhere nowadays.

I never give up on anything. Like everybody else I’ll get on the bandwagon for the newest craze (like the Japanese focus everyone’s had recently) but I usually find that everything has its use in its own way and I will find myself incorporating stuff in little ways all through my cooking.

Most foraged stuff. I’m sorry but as I say above everything has a use in its own little way but just shoving loads of tasteless and tough leaves on stuff because it looks nice and you found it down the ginnel next to your house doesn’t appeal to me.

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ADAM REID

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“I’m a traditionalist and I love to use simple cooking methods”

Special cooking techniques…

I’m a traditionalist and I love to use simple cooking methods.

I’ll always roast, fry or grill things before I vacuum pack and boil them, and I find myself cooking on fire more and more.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Produce, by a long shot, followed by creativity of flavour with technique used to support those things. I never use techniques in a way that overshadows the actual quality of the produce Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

Fantastic produce, if the ingredients really are stunning then creativity comes easily. You can keep it simple and be subtle with your influence because all you’re really doing is trying to showcase how good the produce is.

What was the feeling when you won the 2016 BBC2 Great British Menu series which won you a place at a banquet at Westminster Palace with your spectacular dessert – The Golden Empire?

It was a real highlight of my career. I only really entered the show as it was a challenge that presented itself. I really didn’t expect to get to the banquet. It’s something I’ll always look back at as a defining part of my career as well. It also signalled the transition from being a chef working for other people to one that has my own identity.

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ADAM REID

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Several awards and accolades… what keeps you motivated?

I will always be motivated to better myself and what I produce. The accolades are a fantastic gauge of how you are doing but they’re not the be all and end all.

They are fabulous for the business but really as a chef you’re always looking at how to develop yourself, your food and your restaurant. You don’t need to chase the accolades as a full and busy restaurant is as good a sign as any that you’re succeeding.

Earliest food memory and flavors from your childhood..

Tater ‘ash, a common dish from the North-west that I always try and put a refined spin on. We ate it as a staple during my childhood and it will always be a bit of a creative indulgence for me on my menu.

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

My impression is that smart casual dining is the main focus nowadays. The kind of restaurant that has the special occasion quality but gives a sense of relaxed atmosphere that makes customers feel welcome.

The key focus of most places is the warmth of the hospitality and allowing the cooking to do the talking.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

It takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get to the top of anything and being a chef is no exception. Do what you enjoy but always put 100% into it. With a little patience and focus you will get to where you want to be.

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JORIS LARIGALDIE

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orn in Versailles and grew up not far from there, Joris was raised in a family of restaurateurs and great amateur cooks.

His childhood was paved with culinary discoveries, traveling through the great French regions, learning about local specialties that would become the main souvenirs of those trips. From the Nougat of Montelimar, the confit duck of the South West, the incredible olive oil from Provence of the strong yet delicate cheeses of Savoie. Today, having lived in Paris, Savoie, Provence, England, Denmark and Canada, he really feel like he doesn’t belong in one place just like he cannot be summarize it in one word. His heart is scattered across the lake district of northern England, the Massawippi lake of Quebec, the mountains of Tignes, the forest of Morzine, the vineyards of Provence and many more places. That’s how he feels about himself. A love to give and share, a love of writing, painting, music, cooking and eating. All these different arts that stole a piece of his heart.

From a family of epicureans and his mother’s restaurant in Montmartre, he discovered the true art of cooking in a short stage in the Plaza Athénée in Paris where he was given a Sea Bass with glazed vegetables. He was cocky and looked down at the plate and thought it was simple. But the precision, the flavors, it all took him and shook him. It is still to this day the best fish he has ever had. It was 3 or 4 dishes like this one that shaped my path. A foie gras that made him cry at the Waterside Inn in Bray, his mother’s onion tart or a just a baked celeriac at the Ledbury in London.

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JORIS LARIGALDIE

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HOMARD

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“Creating is very important for me, expressing myself is a big part of what motivates me”

WG catches up with Joris Larigaldie…

Your cuisine is inspired by a combination of fresh and quality ingredients, a composition of flavours which is complex and modest yet impeccably balanced…

Balance is important, a dish can be subtle or powerful. It depends on the effect you are looking for. Balance is found in many ways, just like in an orchestra. It can be with the texture, the flavors or the tastes. It’s all goes down to techniques.

You have to learn them before you can use them to your advantage. First you learn them, then you understand them, and finally, you better them to your own benefit.

Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a dish…

CAILLE

Creating is very important for me, expressing myself is a big part of what motivates me. That and bring a moment of peace and pleasure to the guests that eat my food and experience the restaurant as a whole. Most of the dishes I create are based on memories. The quail dish is a good example. As a kid I used to steal the cherries from my neighbours tree during the end of the summer. As I would come back home and eat them under the giant pine tree in our garden, we would start the meal with radish and continue with a roasted chicken. So I serve a roasted quail with chicken reduction, confit radishes, pickled cherry and cherry puree. It’s the shape of that memory. Sometimes it is a place, sometime a dream, but it’s always the point of view that dances in my head that I want to serve. Not necessarily the exact fact.

The different textures to the dish… I very much like impressionist in their methods, like Cezanne or Pissarro, and the automatistes (which I pay tribute to on the menu), like Riopelle or Borduas. Their approaches really influences me.

MAQUEREAUX RAVIOLE

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JORIS LARIGALDIE

Ingredients that inspire you…

Right now, I discover a real love for red cabbage. We make a great sauce with it at the moment and I could eat literally every meal of my day with it and not get enough. I select my ingredients by their quality and by the hard work and respect that the producers give to them. What makes senses to us all, as a specie, as a part of a bigger ecosystem, tastes good?

Our bodies recognise through flavours the benefit it needs and seeks.

Special cooking techniques…

Infusing and reducing is such a simple but a beautiful way to pass on flavours.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Produce will always be by far the most important. It is the starting point to everything else.

“My greatest influence in the kitchen is Alain Ducasse”

Your earliest food memory, flavors from your childhood…

I think my earliest food memory is a bad one. I must have been three or four. I was waiting with my dad by a fountain in Nantes for my uncle Antoine. I saw a marshmallow floating in the water and ate it. It was the most horrible thing I have ever tasted. Yet on the other hand I could not live without bread, butter and honey.

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BOEUF

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FLÉTAN

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JORIS LARIGALDIE

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SOUPE CHOUX FLEUR

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BETTERAVE

What keeps you motivated?

I was told it takes a minimum of ten years for a cook to become a chef, and it takes ten more years to become a good chef. It’s after that, that the work starts and the certain reality begins. I’m only getting there slowly.

What do you do to stay on top of the new cooking trends?

I eat out as much as I can, spend all my money on discovering.

Books, museum, restaurant, always trying to meet new things and new people with a different culture or a different experience.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

Like anything worth doing for a living, it takes a tremendous amount of sacrifices. But those sacrifices should come as an evidence, not as a prize to pay. Newton spent years away from everything to wrap up his book on the principles of gravity, the Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural). He never complained about never going partying and downing pints of beer with the London crowd.

COURGE MUSQUÉE

CERF

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PACO MORALES

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PACO MORALES

Andalusí Cuisine

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orn in Cordoba, into the heart of a family dedicated to the restaurant industry at the family chicken rotisserie, his father recalls that one day that they ran out of pizza dough and Paco proposed to it himself, he was so young and can’t remember it but it was that moment that he started to be interested in cuisine.

Paco left his home with the sole aim of becoming a widelyrespected chef. Though calm by nature, with a touch of shyness, the sort of person who likes to stop and think before answering, in the kitchen he is demanding – with the products used, with his team, and with all the work involved in serving his customers.

A disciple of Andoni Luis Aduriz, revolutionized the culinary scene in Madrid a few years ago by taking a risk with minimalism, impossible contrasts and great boldness regarding concepts and texture. His career included working at El Bulli, Mugaritz, Guhhenhein Bilbao and in Zaragoza in Diagonal. “It was an extremely important life experience.

At the end with Andoni, I was lucky to stay with him for five years, my master, together with Ferran. With Ferran I was with him for only a season. Each of them inculcated me their own way to see life and gastronomy, so they are life mentors not just gastronomic. From Andoni, I extracted how to see the things with another eye, the elaborations and from Ferran it was the militarized organization and the genius” says Paco.

From 2007 to 2009 he was successful at the Senzone in the hotel Hospes (Madrid) and later at the restaurant of the hotel Ferrero. He was awarded the best cook in the 21st century under the age of 30, by the National Academy of Gastronomy; best new restaurant in 2007, the 2008 Bacalao Giraldo award for the best cod dish; Best Chef by Madrid Fusión; “Creative cuisine” award at the 4th edition of the “Salsa de Chile 2011”; 1st place in the “10 best dishes of the year” awarded by the magazine “Vino+Gastronomía”.

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NOOR

Noor is the personal project which Paco Morales launched on returning to Cordoba. However, he did not forget the respect he holds for his roots or all that he has learnt over his magnificent professional career.

At Noor, it’s not just about experiencing Paco’s daily AlAndalus cuisine. It is a cultural project which is part of the restaurant and, in addition, is a creative R&D space, in which he strives to recover the splendor of the cuisine and service of a remarkable Al-Andalus culture, always from an innovative, dynamic and modern perspective.

It can be said that, in a certain way, Noor Restaurant once again uncovers the story hidden away in that magnificent cuisine, allowing diners to enjoy it through our gastronomic creations. Noor has started this project with the 10th century.

Each new season unveils the evolution, century by century, of the culinary art of Al-Andalus, which has a great influence on Andalusian cuisine today.

NOOR

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WG catches up with Paco Morales…

Your culinary philosophy, and the process of creating a new dish…

Behind a dish there is a lot of hours of work. In my case, I have spent 25 years in gastronomy and I usually dedicate my time to the gastronomic theme, day and night every day of the year. I have a gastronomic wealth of knowledge, not just for cooking, otherwise travelling, eating in great restaurants.

This is how the palate is made in my case. Then you are constantly seeing how to integrate dishes and produces in your kitchen.

All the knowledge, techniques, savours, are in my mind, I think carefully about the combinations of ingredients, and rectify it at the base of my palate.

Al-Andalus cuisine is all about character and highly revered.

Al-Andalus was the most splendorous period in the Iberian Peninsula, it was a mix of cultures and fortunately that mix is print in the cuisine too.

Ingredients… As Noor is a Historic-Culinary Project, I have to select the ingredients according to the historical moment in which the season is developed. My favourite ingredients are Curcuma, Carob, AOVE, and nuts.

We tried to make a dish with camel milk but we couldn’t do it because of the difficult to bring it to Cordoba.

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Produce, Creativity or Technique…

All of them. You need a good produce with good technique one can create something unique and different.

A Michelin star, several awards and accolades… what keeps you motivated?

To be reinvented every year, to investigate and diving into history, to show every year a novel and different dishes, dishes that doesn’t exist. This is what keeps me alive in the culinary field.

His father has been the greatest influence to Paco in the kitchen and he just can’t live without my father’s lamb stew.

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

It has changed very much; cuisine tends to be more casual, more relaxed, and the street stands have lot to say. We go towards to a more informal cuisine not so much in a formality concept. The success of a restaurant is a balance between formality and informality.

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ANDRE CHALSON

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F ANDRE CHALSON

Taste of Japan

ounder and managing director of Singapore-based Mead Pte Ltd, which specializes in the import and distribution of craft sake and shochu, quality Japanese produce, seasonal seafood, and wagyu. Andre set up Mead in late 2017 with his Tokyobased partner Yasihiro Mie and has scored a coup by becoming the Singapore agent for a collective of some of the most critically acclaimed sake brands from Japan. His passion for absolute premium quality beverages drives him in his pursuit to search for top quality sake brands and to discover the stories behind them; and introducing the brand stories to drink lovers here. He attributes the thrill of discovery and sense of appreciation with people who enjoys a fine beverage as a key motivation in what he does at Mead.

Passionate about delivering authentic appreciation of fine Japanese sake, paired with exquisite dining experiences; demonstrated through Mead’s commitment in sourcing for and importing some of the finest fresh produce and harvests that Japan has to offer. He currently supplies a selection of exclusive sake, shochu, and fresh ingredients from Japan to progressive restaurants in Singapore. He also owns a niche alcohol distribution company in Cambodia – La Familia.

Mead takes you on a trip through Japan; celebrating the beauty of the finest sake and sochu from Japan’s best breweries and distilleries. Experience first-hand the world of rare sake and sochu with some of the world’s most respected sake masters and sochu distillers, at the Taste of Japan exclusive showcase on Sunday, 14 October 2018, hosted at Cut by Wolfgang Puck.

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SAKE - JOZAN CHO KARA

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The exclusive showcase will see an epicurean collaboration of three highly respected chefs – Joshua Brown of Cut

by Wolfgang Puck, Ryan Clift of Tippling Club, and special guest chef, Akira Nakamura of Chisoh Nakamura from Japan. Together, they will prepare a selection of exquisite culinary creations prepared with some of the best produce and harvests sourced directly from Japan through Mead to accompany the enjoyment of sake and sochu at the Taste of Japan.

Amidst the myriad of sake and sochu styles showcased, Taste of Japan will feature another wonder of Japanese vibrant culture – Sencha-dou, a Japanese customary tea art ceremony.

The tea art ceremony is curated exclusively by Senchado Hoenryu from Tokyo and presents guests’ an opportunity to learn of the art of enjoying Japanese green tea.

WG catches up with Andre Chalson What is Taste of Japan and the aim of doing it in a restaurant which is not Japanese influenced?

We want guests to reappraise their preconceived notions of what Japanese ingredients and sake should, or could, be. The usual perception is a restaurant with a tatami mat, sliding doors, and traditionally presented, time honored dishes with a carafe of sake. Doing it in a restaurant which is not Japanese influenced pushes the boundaries of what we know. The modern reality can be far more creative and inventive.

For starters, sake can vary greatly from the traditional styles to fine winelike expressions, from champagne fermented to sweet desert wines, they are wide and varied and can accompany a surprising array of modern cuisines.

For the boldest of culinary explorations, quality is everything. We have the quality.

For us, it’s a very exciting project.

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SAKE - BANSHU IKON CHO KARA

SAKE - JOZAN ECHIZEN MIYAMANISHIKI

SAKE - BANSHU IKON JUNMAI GINJO

SAKE - JOZAN ECHIZEN MIYAMANISHIKI

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“Taste of Japan with Joshua Brown, Ryan Clift, and special guest chef, Akira Nakamura from Japan”

Appearance, Aroma, Bouquet, Taste, Aftertaste and Overall Impression are some of the factors considered for a good sake – take us through the process of selection of the 28 Sake’s for Taste of Japan…

We work with a third generation sake meikiki – sake selector.

With him we go through a rigorous selection process. The wealth of knowledge, handed down from generation to generation has ensured the perfection of the craft.

Is there a difference between sake and shochu…

Sake is made with rice and koji and shochu is made with potatoes. There is however, a lot more to it than that. The craft for both, is deeply steeped in tradition.

Since one is a brewed alcohol and the other is distilled liquor – how is it served with food, is there a special way that both sake and shochu has to be served?

We prefer to serve our sake cold in a wine glass and our shochu on ice in a rock glass. The pairing depends on the dish. It’s as unique as the dish it accompanies.

Is umami relevant to sake?

Umami is the 5th receptor on the human palate. The fermentation process and application of koji to produce sake produces umami. When pairing sake with umami rich food, it elevates all the umami levels with the pairing, heightening the overall taste experience.

Mead is all about quality Japanese products in Singapore, thoughts about other markets?

We have plans to expand into Malaysia and Thailand in the near future. Both markets fast becoming sophisticated and recognised and food destinations, which really what we look for when approaching a market.

SAKE - (L-R) KID SPARKLING SAKE, FUKUDA TOKUBETSU JUNMAI, BASHU IKON JUNMAI GINJO, HAKUGAKUSEN JUNMAI DAIGINJO, GYOKORO ASIA IMO SOCHU, TSURU UME UMESHU

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MARK HIX

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ust like many people it just ended up happening, Mark’s grandparents brought him up so he was left to fend for himself. He spent a lot of his childhood fishing, his grandfather grew tomatoes and his grandmother cooked: cheap cuts, lambs’ hearts and pork belly. He remembers that smell of the ham in the kitchen. After leaving school, he basically didn’t know what to do and one thing led to another. I did domestic science instead of metalwork, but realized all the girls did the metalwork option, so it was just three boys and the teacher. He still didn’t know what to do at the end of the fifth year and my dad’s friend suggested catering college as he had been working in a pub washing up and helping with some cooking. And it all went from there.

J MARK HIX

Simple, Seasonal & British

Celebrated chef, restaurateur and food writer Mark Hix is known for his original take on British gastronomy. After 17 years as Chef Director at Caprice Holdings, he opened his first restaurant in 2008 – the distinguished HIX Oyster & Chop House in Farringdon. Following the success of Chop House Mark opened HIX Mayfair, HIX Soho and his chicken and steak concept restaurants Tramshed in Shoreditch, and Hixter Bankside. In autumn of 2015 Mark opened his first stand-alone bar in The Old Vic theatre, offering a late-night venue in Waterloo.

Outside London in Dorset is Mark’s HIX Oyster & Fish House and HIX Townhouse, a boutique hotel, both in Lyme Regis.

Mark is frequently lauded as one of London’s most eminent restaurateurs with an unrivalled knowledge of ingredients with provenance. Mark has a weekly column in City AM, and is the author of a number of cookbooks on British cuisine.

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“Sometimes a really good dish comes from an empty fridge”

WG catches up with Mark Hix…

You cooked in some of the prestigious kitchens - The Dorchester, The Candlewick Room, The Ivy… I was chef at Le Caprice when The Ivy was opening, and when the chef at the Ivy didn’t work out Chris and Jeremy asked if I’d oversee the two. So again that was just something that sort of happened, and it was fantastic.

Mossiman was a great inspiration at the Dorchester, as was Anton Edelman at Ninety Park Lane at the Grosvenor house.

The two had previously worked together and although my style of food is quite different now, certainly the techniques and some of the ideas stayed with me. I learnt a lot from them both.

PHOTO © MATT AUSTIN

I think wherever you work you can take influences from, but working for Corbin and King really taught me about being a restaurateur and what the customer wants.

Your culinary philosophy and the process of creating a dish…

It’s simple and reflects what’s in season and the time of the year. A guest dining in one of my restaurants should be able to look at a menu and tell what time of year it is. This is extremely important. The British ingredients come first, and we build the menu around that.

This comes in all sorts of forms. Sometimes it’s a walk in the garden or the woods or a forage along the beach or a successful days fishing. It could be anything really that sparks the imagination. I love on the spot creativity, when you are confronted with the ingredient and have to create something magical. Sometimes a really good dish comes from an empty fridge.

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MARK HIX

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Your cuisine is “Simple, Seasonal and British” it’s all about balance of flavors, acidity, sweetness, spice and fat which are the key ingredients which works in perfect harmony on each plate - how do you bring about this balance on a plate?

Well the balance depends very much on the ingredient and the time of year, but it is something that’s integral to all elements of cooking for me. The move towards simplicity with a lot of chefs has been happening for a few years now and it isn’t going away anytime soon. I think it reflects the more basic way that people want to eat out these days. It definitely makes sense for chefs, and it’s good to see people realizing complicated isn’t always best. I have always had a hard and fast rule of no more than three ingredients on the plate.

Ingredients that inspire you, your favorite ingredients, ingredients that you were not able to master…

I don’t think I’ve come across any new ingredients lately as such, apart from some excellent new cheese makers and new entrepreneurial charcuterie makers.

This is really a seasonal thing, although I have an obsession with offal of any description.

Not really given up on… there are many ingredients that I occasionally pick off the shelves in Asian supermarkets that I have no clue how to use. But I eventually work out what to do with them, and I love the challenge.

Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

At home I often use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time on slow cooked dishes and stock. I have fond memories of my grandmother’s pressure cooker, it used to sit on the larder floor collecting dust and come out at Christmas for the pudding. But there are so many more ways you can use them.

Your earliest food memory and flavors from your childhood…

Catching mackerel off the pier in West Bay and my grandmother cooking them up for supper and sousing the rest for snacks for the rest of the week.

PHOTO © MATT AUSTIN

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MARK HIX

“When I was young it most certainly wasn’t glamorous and my friends wondered what I was doing with my life”

As an authority on British cuisine, how do you do to stay on top of the new cooking trends?

I don’t. I tend to stay simple and not really follow trends as these tend to be short lived.

Successful restaurants in your portfolio… what keeps you motivated?

The minute you stop being motivated or interested in this business is time to throw the keys away. What I do is so diverse, I cross paths with so many people, be it chefs, artists, producers, wine-makers, craft distillers, there’s not a moment to get bored or complacent.

PHOTO © MATT AUSTIN

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

It’s constantly changing everywhere as good ingredients become more readily available and trends change and influence what’s going on in the cooking world. This is the joy of cooking and being a chef, things are constantly evolving.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time?

When I was young it most certainly wasn’t glamorous and my friends wondered what I was doing with my life. These days with TV and celebrity chefs it is most certainly seen to be a glamorous business to go into but sadly some young chefs skip the old fashioned training so aren’t as knowledgeable about some of the classic and crucial cooking and preparation skills. There are many many hours of hard graft, and that isn’t seen as much in the public eye.

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PHOTO © MATT AUSTIN

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OLIVIER VIGNEAULT

OLIVIER VIGNEAULT

Japanese and Chinese inspired...

PHOTO © PATRICIA BROCHU

For as long as he can remember, Olivier loved food and the art of physically creating something with his hands. Often joked as a teen, he would throw dinner parties instead of house parties – but it’s true! He has been privileged to know his true path in life right from the start, as his passion for cooking and ambition to become a chef were never uncertain to him.

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“Flavours and originality comes together inside a very unique culinary experience, merging and playing with modern techniques and traditional savours his Japanese and Chinese nspired dishes �

Originally from Quebec City and having cumulated many experiences, Olivier did his internship at French Michelin starred restaurants, and worked as an executive chef at restaurants such as Yuzu, Marabou and Miso, and was chef de cuisine at Kaizen and Park. He is grateful for the experience in these French Michelin-starred restaurants, as it is there that he really built his culinary foundation: he received his training in French cuisine, and learned how a brigade and the chain of command worked in a kitchen, which are important things for any chef to understand. It was then at Yuzu and Miso where he became exposed to, and started using Chinese and Japanese ingredients more in a creative way. At Park, he finetuned his skills on plating and garnishing, and how those details can bring a plate to life.

Flavours and originality comes together inside a very unique culinary experience, merging and playing with modern techniques and traditional savours his Japanese and Chinese inspired dishes and tapas. He combines amazing Chinese and Japanese products with western techniques, while keeping things as simple as possible. He also believe that at its core, meals can’t just be beautiful or experiential, they also have to be satisfying. He tries always to create dining moments that are interactive and joyful by ensuring that whatever he serves will be ultimately comforting. This keeps him focused on the type of dishes that he wants to create, and the balance he want to bring.

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WG catches up with Olivier Vigneault…

Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a new dish and the inspiration behind the dish…

Generally when I want to create a new dish, I start with the protein, and then I move into choosing a cooking technique – do I want to do it raw, smoked, tataki? I can also find inspiration from new products I want to feature, the season, or a mood I’m in. After that, I look at other fundamentals of the plate and think through how to incorporate them – if a plate needs more acidity, sweetness, saltiness, and crunch.

Ultimately, my philosophy is to let the ingredients shine by keeping things as simple as possible.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but in the past few years, travelling has been my greatest source of inspiration. I love going to different parts of the world and discovering the unexpected in dishes.

Ingredients that inspire you, favourite ingredients, those you were unable to work with and in your opinion overrated ingredients…

Right now I’m having a moment with pork – particularly because Chinese cuisine features pork in so many different ways. It’s very inspiring to see how much can be done with one protein.

Working with fish is my comfort zone and it remains my favourite ingredient. I love how delicate it is, and how precise you have to be to work with it. There are also so many different varieties and so many things you can do with the same fish. Whether steamed with ginger and scallions, sliced in a sashimi bowl, grilled, torched, poached… I love all ways of preparation.

Probably offal – it is something I personally don’t enjoy eating, so I’ve never really liked working with it.

Unfortunately, truffle. It’s so good when it’s used the right way and in the right quantities – but I feel sometimes, it’s used too much and put everywhere for no reason.

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Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

I love using a wok. It is such a powerful tool, and the flavours that you can get from it are incredible.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

All three are very important for a great dish, but if I had to pick one, I would say produce. In my opinion, having great produce is the foundation of your dish. If the produce is bad, no matter how creative you are or how great of a technician you are, the dish won’t be up to par.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

The products that I am working with, especially if the quality is amazing, or if I discover something fascinating that I’ve never used before.

What keeps you motivated at this point of your career?

Two main things: first, the happiness that we bring to each guest, and second, seeing my cooks give their all to make sure that each service is better than the last.

My father’s Bolognaise sauce.

I’ve always loved seeing my parents enjoying cooking together on a Sunday night, and I can distinctly remember the smell of the sauce while it is cooking on the stove… delicious.

Your earliest food memory and flavors from your childhood…

In the past years how has cuisine changed around the world?

From molecular gastronomy, to bistro, to now being healthy and gluten-free.

Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

In my opinion, it can be one of the most beautiful professions out there – but also the toughest. Work the hours. Do it for the passion and not the money. Learn from as many people as you can. Be patient.

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PHILIPPE CHIN

A PHILIPPE CHIN AT THE OPEN FARM COMMUNITY

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sommelier at heart, Philippe’s passion for natural wine begun in the mid 2000’s and grew as he studies wine in the company of Laura Vidal and Etheliya Hananova, both owners of celebrated new restaurants including the Paris Pop-up that took over Open Farm Community in December, 2017. Over the last decade of being a wine consultant, he has amassed vast experience and knowledge about wines from his travels across Europe.

Born in Montreal, Canada to a Chinese father and FrenchCanadian mother, Philippe Chin grew up spending most of his youth between Montreal and Hong Kong. Before entering the restaurant scene, Philippe was assisting his family to manage a roving food stall serving Chinese delicacies around Hong Kong at the tender age of 12. His restaurateur journey only started when he turned 15 and picked up his first job as a bus boy and moved on to be a dishwasher in Montreal, Canada. He eventually worked his way up in the industry and accumulated more than 20 years of F&B experience at some of the most well-known restaurants in Montreal, including Au Pied de Cochon’s Sugar Shack, Le Filet, La Salle à Manger.

He didn’t have a particular love for wine at that moment.

It took him awhile to move into the wine aspect of things.

He had the mindset that wine is elitist, as he came from a working class, it felt like something he couldn’t associate with.

Right before he enrolled into wine school, he saw a documentary – Mondovino (2004). It talked about the commercialization and globalization of wine, about farmers and whole timers, and how it’s affecting them. That was when his mind was set, and found his real passion. The actual farmers and people who worked hard gave him a different perspective to the perspective of wines which he couldn’t relate to in the past. At the same time, the natural wine movement started picking up. The vision of wine changed drastically since 2010, due to social media and knowledge.

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WG catches up Philippe Chin…

Training your palate, your sense of smell and sense of memory…

I know very good sommeliers and travelled with Elyse Lambert (best in America in 2009, fifth in the entire world in 2016), the amount of studying and experience to go through, is not something I am ready to take. To achieve Master Sommelier, it takes a lot of personal sacrifices, and traveling, it’s almost like an athlete. A lot of it is based on personal memory, and association with your senses. Finding personal elements help in training your palate. Young sommeliers in cities don’t have access to these herbs and flavors where the wines come from. It is very personal on how we interpret it. Some aromas we try to dig deeper to find it. We can train our palettes by gathering input to process the memories and standards. Everyone interprets the tastes and senses differently. If I want to smell things more precise into a wine, I have to create myself memories, to relate to the flavors in the wine.

The art of food and wine pairing…

I am always into regional pairing. The wines aren’t always made with the food and vice versa. We have to make the food to pair with the wine. As when the wine is made, you can’t change the wine. You’d have to fit the meal with it. Traditionally, wines used to pick up the local aromas and local ingredients people are eating, thus it was easier to pair it with local food where the wines are grown.

Today, we do not make the same kind of local food as we do anymore.

French techniques are used all over Asia. Asian flavors are used around the world. These general guidelines we used to have, are being challenged.

But the basics are always the same. It’s more complicated now than it was before, as regional food isn’t how it used to be.

French – cheese is their biggest pride. So is the expensive Bordeaux. The end of 90s, they were still pairing it together. If you do it today, you know that it doesn’t fit together. It makes the wine unpleasant, which makes the taste further away from the fruit. Now we know some cheeses can only match with white, bubbles or red. It took the French awhile to accept it.

Unless you are in a very specific wine pairing environment, avoid the big classes of trying to get the perfect match.

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Skills required to properly pair food and wine…

I try to evaluate by considering the origins of the ingredients and of the wine and trace it back together. Most of the time it leads me in a good direction.

For example, Mediterranean food paired with Mediterranean wine. It’s the natural way of doing it, and most of the time it will work. Listen to the ingredients, and what the senses are telling you. Think of the geography.

It gets complicated and interesting when we have pairings that are done with contrast. Requires trial and errors, lots of it. It is easier to realize when it goes wrong than when it goes well. The goal of wine pairing is for my food to taste better from the sensation of the wine. And when I go back to the wine, the taste of the food doesn’t overpower the wine flavors.

All senses can be developed, the best time is when one is a kid, when our senses get discerned. Which today kids are not doing anymore? It’s unnatural for human behavior, we need to get back to the earth.

If one doesn’t have a natural flair, it doesn’t mean that he can’t develop it. Take a person from the city, and back to earth, to create these memories and senses. Anything can be learnt, we can learn how to cook, how to smell, can learn to do everything.

Natural Wines, what sought of a blend it is?

Natural Wine is a different way of making wines. An easy way to do a comparison is, a tomato grown outdoor in full season, versus one that’s grown indoor with all kinds of chemicals. At the end of the day, one will taste very juicy and lively, it might not look as good, but there will be more depth in the flavor.

A lot of producers in the world have been working natural wines, and never converted into chemical ways of making wine. People have been drinking it, but they are not exposed to the process and differences in making natural and conventional wines. In the past, the smaller producers in Natural Wines, face all kinds of problems while making wines. Technology and globalization have since made it easier to produce Natural Wines to control the harvest and making our investments safer. This is how the wine worlds have evolved.

On a commercial point of view, to a certain point it does not make sense. As it is harder to control and predict the nature, when a certain element changed the way the wine may be produced, the wine makers have to find natural ways or necessary precaution to treat the natural wine. The real goal of all natural wine makers, is to leave as little human imprints on the produce.

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“It is inspiring to find young winemakers that are producing sustainable and natural way of making wines that create beautiful products”

Your experience with Laura Vidal and Etheliya Hananova, how did it help you as a sommelier?

It was in a very highly obscure class; everyone was a professional in the industry. Etheliya, she had a great palette, amazing charisma, which is important to have in the wine world. It’s essential to have the knowledge, but it is as important to convey them across. She has a great beautiful approach when it comes to speaking about the history of wines and winemakers, and in particular to curate a story for the wines.

Laura is well received in Paris with her Canadian accent and great charisma. On top of that, she put a lot of effort and work into where she is now.

We started school together, but we were all from the same environment in Montreal, which has a vibrant restaurant culture. It’s a community, and we enjoy the same wines most of the time without even talking to each other. We share emotional moments with particular wines. If we don’t share the same sentiments on a particular wine, we can debate and share our thoughts on what each other see or don’t see. It is a learning journey.

Your passion to taste, learn and especially, to share your expertise on wine tasting continues to grow and evolve… what keeps you motivated?

The originality of finding new grapes, and new regions that are unspoken of or known on a bigger scale, keeps me motivated. It is inspiring to find young winemakers that are producing sustainable and natural way of making wines that create beautiful products. Overall, the satisfaction of finding good bottles.

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COLIN CLAGUE

ANATOLIAN CUISINE

JOE WARWICK

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