WG Summer 2019 Issue

SUMMER 2019

RAW

PURE AND PUNCH www.wgmagazines.com

2019 WINNER OF THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS WORLD BOOK AWARDS “A passion for the finer things in life a desire to live within the greatest expression of pleasure LAVAZZA COFFEE AND GASTRONOMY” A CULINARY HOMAGE TO COFFEE 39 of the world’s cutting-edge chefs and one sommelier a collective of 35 Michelin stars from 6 continents, 23 countries from Curitiba in Brazil to Sydney, Australia ORDER YOUR COPY AT http://wgmagazines.com/coffee-absolute-gastronomy

WITH THE WORLD’S CUTTING EDGE CHEFS

by FLAVEL MONTEIRO

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From the first photographer of Rolling Stone Magazine with JIMI HENDRIX 1968 - 1970 Baron Wolman saw the music. His iconic music photography included shots on-stage with Jimi Hendrix, backstage with the Rolling Stones, and in front of the stage with Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. Grace Slick and the Grateful Dead performed for the camera in his studio. Baron Wolman was Rolling Stone’s first staff photographer. From 1967 through the early seventies, his pictures have appeared in virtually every issue.

To order a copy, please contact Baron Wolman - baron@baronwolman.com WG SUMMER 2019 -

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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 SUMMER 2019E-mail : info@conceptplusstyle.com I osama@conceptplusstyle.com www.conceptplusstyle.com

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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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OPENING A

AUGUST 2019

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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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Welcome to the perfect City break, San Sebastian.

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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

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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 -W G SUMMER 2019 Australia Martin Benn - Sepia, Sydney,

partnered with SKD ACADEMY the culinary institute in the Philippines

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A MODERN TEA EVOLUTION Driven by a desire to marry traditional tea culture with modern sophistication

AVANTCHA.COM

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This Summer get complimentary Laguna waterpark access when you book your stay with us.

Offer valid until August 31st, 2019 *Terms & Condition apply

*Offer available at; Zabeel House Mini, Zabeel House Al Seef, Al Seef Heritage Hotel Complimentary access can be availed once per stay. Complimentary access applicable to single or double occupancy only Additional access pass can be purchased at our concierge desk. Offer valid until August, 31st 2019

+971 4 707 7077 zabeelhouse

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reservations.alseef@zabeelhouse.com alseefheritagehotel zabeelhouse

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A MODERN TEA EVOLUTION Driven by a desire to marry traditional tea culture with modern sophistication

AVANTCHA.COM

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Advanced Food & Hospitality Solutions are senior F&B specialists that provides 360 degree solutions to the restaurant sector with experience of 500+ restaurant openings with world class category leading brands.

From Michelin Star restaurants, Casual Dining thoroughbreds through to Fast Casual Award Winners, across Western, Asian and Middle East cuisines, we have the experience to create, revitalize and provide a full range of restaurant services for start-ups or larger restaurant groups.

Key services provided: Advisory, Property & Franchise Services 360 Restaurant & Concept Creation & Launch Full suite of Operational Support & Improvement Solutions

www.afhs-me.com Dubai

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WG MAGAZINE

Perfect duo.

Unbeatable in corporate catering.

Large quantities of food in exceptional quality can be produced quickly and with no stress for the user. No matter who operates the appliances, you will always achieve the results you want.

Find out more: rational-online.com

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CONTENTS

SUMMER 2019

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RAW - A GIFT TO TAIWAN

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KAMA BY VINEET

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SIMPLY ITALIAN IN SINGAPORE

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A FLAVORFULL SUMMER MENU

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V DINING

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THE DIM SUM MASTER

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HIS CUISINE IS HIS STORY

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VERDE

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THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS

HELL’S KITCHEN

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COFFEE ABSOLUTE GASTRONOMY PHOTO © VICTORIA SHASHIRIN

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Editor Feature Editor

Fabian deCastro Maria Lourdes Doug Singer

Contributors

Michael Hepworth

Photography

Victoria Shashirin

FJMdesign WGkonnect Photography Consultant Creative Design Studio

‘ Identifying underprivileged children with culinary ambitions...

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 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

©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.

All contents are strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.

Production in whole or part is prohibited without prior permission from IZZY Publishing Pvt. Ltd. ©2019 WG™ All rights reserved.

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Cover Image Credit: RAW - TAIPEI PHOTO © RAW - TAIPEI

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André Chiang and Alain Huang showcase their new seasonal discovery this summer at RAW. Their inspiration and experiences transform a new taste and sensibility.

The main theme is “Pure and Punch” as they develop their ideas together to serve something not often seen in French restaurants; using common ingredients that many people overlook, even in nostalgic Taiwanese “forgotten” dishes. Before heading out to Singapore we stop over at one of the finest vegetarian restaurants in Taipei, VERDE and meet up with Vincent Wang.

Lim Yew Aun and his love for Italian cuisine. As Lim embarks on his third restaurant with the Cicheti group, he had the chance to truly embrace his love for the classic Neapolitan pizza. While still in Singapore a visit to V Dining with Lee Jing Peng and later head out to Hong Kong for a flavorful 5 course summer menu with James Oakley, chef the cuisine of Albi, Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong. From hand dived scallops to a peanut and truffle parfait, the intensifying seafood flavour of a more subtle Hamachi to a wild Hereford beef four ways and a sweet touch with pistachio gelato.

A stop in Myanmar with Htun Htun Naing, Executive Chef at Novotel Yangon Max, his cuisine is his story, profiling the main components, understanding their main characteristics, conceptualise it in my mind, and then it’s on a plate.

It’s that time of the year… The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards in Singapore.

This year saw a new No.1, as Mauro Colagreco took to the stage to collect the double honors for his restaurant, Mirazur, in Menton, France, as The World’s Best Restaurant 2019 and The Best Restaurant in Europe 2019.

KAMA by Vineet is the new project of Vineet Bhatia, the world’s first Michelin starred Indian chef, Vineet partners with Harrods, London’s luxury department store with a 26-seat Indian restaurant and will be the first in Harrods’ 180 year history, and the only branded restaurant in the newly opened Harrods Dining Hall.

The last destination is Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen and Zhen Wei at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai.

Bon Appétit

FdeCastro

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SPECIALTY TEA & COFFEE CUPPING

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Tea or Coffee? Coffee or Tea? Do you find specialty coffee intimidating or tea varieties confusing but like most of us, you need it to get going? Or maybe you simply enjoy them BOTH? Novice and enthusiast coffee and tea drinkers were invited to the first ever Specialty Tea and Coffee Cupping session at AVANTCHA Tea on 8th July.

Industry experts discussed the similarities in flavors and share the methods used by industry professionals to taste, measure and rate quality products. The guests explored an elaborate and detail-oriented journey with five different types of coffees and teas for an immersive learning experience.

The event was led by coffee pioneer & guru Kim Thompson, co-creator of Dubai’s go-to coffeehouse Raw Coffee Company, and Marina Zbinden, Certified Tea Sommelier and co-founder of Dubai’s specialty teahouse AVANTCHA Tea. If you missed the cupping on 8th July, there is second session on the 15th July at Raw Coffee Company.

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RAW

ANDRÉ CHIANG WITH

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RAW IS A GIFT TO TAIWAN BY A TAIWANESE FROM TAIWAN PHOTO © RAW TAIPEI

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RAW

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“RAW stands for more than just the best creative cooking; it is a complete lifestyle, independent, spontaneous, and characteristic.

It stands for great design and aesthetics, and a discerning curiosity in regards to tastes, flavors, and ambience” RAW, a contemporary lifestyle restaurant in Taipei that opened its door on 9 December 2014 to welcome their first guest. It is a homecoming project initiated by internationally celebrated Chef André Chiang, and is co-chaired by the other head chef Alain Huang. RAW is a pioneer in inheriting “Bistronomy” style cooking from France: serving fine dining quality cuisines at an affordable price in a relaxed setting.

From Local Garden to the Table: The Gastronomic Vision RAW’s mission is to bring “The New Interpretation of Taiwanese flavour” to the table through seasonal ingredients and passionate execution. The cuisine of RAW features local produce that the island has to offer, where all the ingredients used in the restaurant are carefully selected after observation of the twenty-four “micro-seasons” of Taiwan and gently paired creatively by our chefs. RAW also features biodynamic wine handpicked by Chef André and imported directly from France to pair with our dishes. Aside by wine, RAW offers specialty hand brewed coffee roasted by local Taiwanese roasters and the finest Taiwanese tea from the island’s tea gardens.

Where Food Meets Art - it’s all about “Nature & Craft”. It carries from cuisines to restaurant design. Chef André Chiang united Camiel Weijenberg, a Dutch-registered architect in the Netherlands and the founder of WEIJENBERG Architecture now based in Singapore. When the two masterminds met, they escalated the dining experience at RAW to the next level.

A soft angled, organically sculptured wooden structure at the entrance transits with the guests while they walk along the pathway from the lounge area into the dining room.

The Taiwanese wood “Southern Pine” were cut into wooden blocks and reconstructed back together precisely by local carpenters with skillful techniques. RAW also strives to bring along numerous Taiwanese artists to be involved with lighting setup, menu design, and floriculture to perfect the dinning atmosphere. RAW is not only a restaurant, but a stage eager to showcase the best of Taiwan. RAW positioned itself to be a lifestyle brand that flirts with our guests’ senses by being playful and creative in an enchanted environment.

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RAW

WG catches up with André Chiang and Alain Huang…

André Chiang attributes his influences to all three generations of Masters in “Nouvelle Cuisine”. After a career spanning the top French restaurants of the world, from Southern France to Seychelles, the young entrepreneur has developed multisensory concepts in three places he calls home: Singapore, Paris and now, Taipei.

It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. How did you find your way into the culinary field to become the most sought-after and influential chef in the world…

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

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

Le Jardin de Sens is where I worked for almost nine years and that is a very big part of my foundation. I guess for me, I learned very much in south of France, the way, the lifestyle, whatever we cooked it always connected to the lifestyle, the people and the season. Not just for the sake showing off your technique so I guess that is very important part when it comes to being creative. I always think about that.

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BURATTA

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SPANISH MACKEREL, AGED DAIKON & SHISO-UME

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You honed your French culinary skill with Pascal Barbot at L’Astrance, and then with Michel Troisgrois whose family history has been responsible for their contribution to the Nouvelle Cuisine movement, then with Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Ducasse and with the late Jöel Robuchon – tells us about the experiences…

I guess in every one of them they taught me different things of course with Troisgrois I learned southern cuisine, the southern people’s generosity using fresh ingredients humble ingredients that plays a big part of south of France, so nothing like really overly luxury. With Michel Troisgrois it really backs to simplicity so every plate less than five flavors, less than five ingredients and how you bring that to perfection that was what I learned from Michel.

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

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

So I guess I learned different things from each one of them.

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

MOJITO.PINA COLADA.NEGRONI

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RAW

A distinguished career with several awards and accolades, tireless attention to detail - what motivates you?

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

“I see a lot of great young chefs that have great ideas they have great technique and all they need is a push to have their own stage. So my intention is really to support this young talent. I want these young chefs to have a stage of their own. I guess that motivates me to move forward” Your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

I think it is three things - first you have got to have passion, second is you need a lot of practice, a lot of work to gain your foundation so you have got to have patience and third is to continue and to be the best, you need to be persistence. So passion, patience and persistence.

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FRIUT CORN, AMA EBI & TAIWAN VANILLA

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RAW

The summer menu was launched on 5 June 2019. RAW maintains its frequency of introducing six different seasonal menus per year; Spring, Summer, Autumn, “Best of the Year”, and other festive menus.

The reason behind each creation is not only to bring “difference” to the table or to impress our guests with “new things”, but also to reflect for what André Chiang truly believes “RAW matters”: A chef’s duty to listen to the season, sense the earth, and taste the ingredients in search of the best which Mother Nature guides us with.

Discover RAW by following the traditional 24 micro seasons.

André Chiang and Alain Huang showcases their new seasonal discovery in their 2019 summer collection, their inspiration and experiences transform a new taste and sensibility. The main theme is “Pure and Punch” as they develop their ideas together to serve something not often seen in French restaurants; using common ingredients that many people overlook, even in nostalgic Taiwanese “forgotten” dishes.

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Excitement starts from an explosive snacking – from cured un-hatched egg wrapped in beef fillet, to taco made from crispy tofu skin mesmerized with complexity from fermented mayo.

Then, it’s cool down with a bowl of cold noodle cucumber kuzu noodle topped with a touch of east-coast sea breeze from the live sakura ebi.

Followed by common used ingredients that might be overlooked, Yilan smoked duck is served with mango from Tainan, bitter gourd porridge with salted egg

noodle, orange dusted white melon served with Spanish mackerel, and even a bowl of rare shellfish from rocky Ponghu island paired with ‘DangGui’ (Chinese herb) beef broth, which helps reduce the body heat during the summer. The same benefit leads to the next dish - frog leg cooked in a Spanish style, an imitation of “kokotxas” with garlic and olive oil emulsion topped with crispy burnt chicken jus.

Coming from near extinction - the traditional big clam rice from Ponghu is served with the unique night market snack “Gao-Zha” from Loudong night market in Yilan. The main course features pork pate in Chinese pepper bun style, and puzzle yourself with artichoke grown in Taiwan topped with black and yellow bean relish. It finishes with their last summer kiss of frozen yoghurt meringue with young pine dust.

A DIFFERENT TASTE EXPERIENCE AT RAW THIS SUMMER…

Fun, surprise, pure and punch, André Chiang and Alain Huang again brings their summer sensation to life like never before, and in an international language that people will enjoy, appreciate, and understand.

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RAW

Curd Yolk A hearty appetizer begins with “Curd Yolk” - salted raw beef is wrapped with an “unhatched egg” marinated in a Japanese style, and the egg yolks pop out at the first bite.

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Bitter Gourd / Porridge / Granola The culture of the Chinese people, they love to eat porridge. Every summer RAW creates a new style of traditional porridge. Chinese believes that eating bitter gourd will cool down the body heat and helps to remove toxins. The porridge is made with granola to create the multiple taste, it also lets guests’ from all over the world to enjoy familiar ingredients with a brand-new change.

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RAW

Kimchi / White Gourd / Kale People say: “spring eat buds, summer eat gourds.” Summer is a good time to eat gourds.

The white gourds in Taiwan is similar to white asparagus in appearance and taste. Another protagonist of this dish is roasted kale with wrapped white smoke shimaaji fish and a sprinkle of kimchi powder, “Korean barbecue” is the perfect summer expression.

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Crustaceans / Oxtail Soup / Pekorosu Based on the traditional angelica oxtail soup, which can enrich the blood and kidneys, strengthen muscles, bones, and reduce body moisture. The goose neck barnacles, bergamot barnacles and a variety of crustaceans are often found in the west coast and outlying islands of Taiwan, adding chia seeds and pearls in a salty soup to create a novel taste.

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Clam Rice / Crispy Kuzu / Quinoa Traditional clam rice is unheard of, unless you are from Penghu Island, Taiwan. People in the old days would stuff sticky rice with clams and steamed it slowly. RAW tries to remake this dish and introduces this dining culture to their guests.

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RAW

WG catches up with Alain Huang…

ALAIN HUANG

A graduate from National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Alain holds a dual degree in both western culinary arts and baking technology and management.

Born and raised a Taiwanese who paved his way to the international culinary scene, Alain had numerous experiences in international culinary competitions and has worked closely with many celebrity chefs including André Chiang of Restaurant ANDRE in Singapore, Philippe MILLE, M.O.F (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France). He has also worked at Alleno Yannick’s S.T.A.Y., Justin Quek’s Justin’s Signatures, and Jonas Lundgren’s Restaurant Jonas. He specialized in classic and Bistronomy style cuisines. Chef Alain dedicated to delivering the message of RAW to the world by executing the ideas centered around “Taiwanese flavor” and his list of accomplishments includes Best Restaurant in Taiwan, #15 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 by San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.

How did you find your way into the culinary world?

Since young, cooking has always been a passion and during the past few years working with master chefs, I realized that only being “good” is not enough, but to push yourself to be the “best”. That’s the goal. So I try to become better every day compared to yesterday, trying to improve in every single step and every little detail in all aspects of the kitchen.

A cuisine focused and inspired by a combination of flavors and a Bistronomy style…

Most of the cooking is developed from memories and experience. And we just follow our roots to create and reinterpret the memory and experience by using Taiwan local products.

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RAW

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SUMMER - PATE EN CROUTE.BEAN RELISH.ARTICHOKE

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“RAW stands for more than just the best creative cooking; it is a complete lifestyle, independent, spontaneous, and characteristic.

It stands for great design and aesthetics, and a discerning curiosity in regards to tastes, flavors, and ambience” Your culinary philosophy, and the process of creating a new dish…

SPRING VEG, OYSTER & SHUNGIKU

At RAW, our mission is to bring “The New Interpretation of Taiwanese Flavor” to the table through seasonal ingredients and passionate execution. The cuisine of RAW features a local-centric philosophy based on what the island has to offer, where all the ingredients used in the restaurant are carefully selected in observation of Taiwan’s twenty-four “micro-seasons”. Our core value is to maintain sustainability.

The reason why we are using the ingredient followed by twenty-four “micro-seasons” is because we would like to use what the earth has to provide naturally and to educate our diners to eat within the season help cultivate a more resilient, sustainable food system of our environment.

Ingredients that inspire you, your favourite ingredients and ingredients you’re unable to master…

We all know that Taiwan has abundant agriculture and fisheries. But for us, the best ingredient is “memory”. As what I had mentioned previously, all cooking are developed from memories and experience. We now trying to find out more of the Taiwanese share memories and using our reinterpretation of cooking to passed down the story.

I am very open minded and are willing to try anything and keep on studying new things.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

To me, even you have the best creativity or technique, without great produce it is just like multiplying by zero in a mathematical equation.

What keeps you motivated?

Every day I try to become better than yesterday. “Play like you’re in first, train like you’re in second”, a quote by Stephen Curry, a good motivator. But we don’t think of ourselves as being on top of the cooking trends, we are simply continuing to learn and trying to do better.

FERMETED BEAN, PANCETTA & SPRINGCHARD

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VINEET BHATIA

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V VINEET BHATIA “KAMA BY VINEET” OPENS AT HARRODS’ REVAMPED DINING HALL

ineet Bhatia, the world’s first Michelin starred Indian chef, has partnered with Harrods, London’s luxury department store located in Knightsbridge, to open a 26-seat Indian restaurant. Shoppers and diners visiting Harrods will be able to make a walk-in reservation at “Kama by Vineet”, and experience the chef’s masterful use of spice and flavour. The 26-seat Indian restaurant will be the first in Harrods’ 180 year history, and the only branded restaurant in the newly opened Harrods Dining Hall.

Kama by Vineet will be Bhatia’s first project in the UK since 2017, following the success of Michelin starred restaurant ‘VBL’ in Chelsea. The chef, renowned for redefining gourmet Indian dining in the UK over the past 25 years, is returning to his roots with Kama, and sees Harrods as the perfect venue to showcase his favourite, traditional Indian dishes to a global audience. Taken from the Sanskrit word for ‘desire’, Kama underpins Bhatia’s own desire to share his interpretation of Indian cuisine with the world.

The menu at Kama works on the Indian principle of sharing food, and comprises of sharing plates and bowls. These include pistachio lamb chops with saffron mash, banana leaf coconut-chilli sea bass, butter chicken, lobster Chettinad biryani, and lamb rogan josh. Individual diners who want to be taken on a food journey can also choose from Kama thali or Kama vegetarian thali, a complete meal platter of an array of dishes.

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VINEET BHATIA

“To be given the opportunity to open a restaurant in such an iconic building is so rare, but this is the right place and the right time to showcase our food.

Everyone wants to leave Harrods’ with a green bag - I want everyone to leave with memories of Indian food.”

VINEET BHATIA

Bhatia sees Kama as coming full circle on his love for Indian cuisine. When he first arrived in the UK in 1993, he embarked on a course of correcting dishes, educating on the correct way to cook traditional Indian food. In 1995 Bhatia took things further and began to experiment with recipes, going against the status quo and producing standout dishes such as the chocomosa. Over the next decade, Bhatia went onto elevate Indian food to a new level, pushing boundaries, opening his own restaurants, and being awarded a Michelin star.

Now, in 2019, Bhatia is revisiting his deep love for traditional Indian food by composing a menu of his favourite, homestyle dishes, rooted in his childhood. Bhatia sees Kama as the menu he would cook for people in his own home, taking the most meaningful aspects of his life’s culinary journey, and playing with the combinations. The onion bhaji, a street food staple from Bhatia’s Bombay childhood, has been elevated with an oozing mozzarella stuffed centre, a nod to the chef’s love for cheese.

Commenting on the new Kama by Vineet menu, Bhatia said, “If I had to choose the best dishes to be served on any day, at any time, for the rest of my life – these are the dishes I would choose.”

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VINEET BHATIA

Vineet Bhatia’s influences have been based on the traditions of Indian life and family. A catering college degree and a regimental, military-style training at India’s finest Hotel, The Oberoi, allowed him to cover all aspects of Indian cuisine whilst heading their prestigious restaurants at The Oberoi, Mumbai. However, being forced to cook within a tight frame, Vineet felt restricted and decided to explore opportunities ashore.

Arriving in London in 1993, Bhatia’s first position was at the Star of India in South Kensington, London. By the end of his first year he had overhauled the menu. Bhatia quickly attracted attention for his cooking, with Fay Maschler of the Evening Standard writing “Bhatia has lifted the cooking into a new league; providing convincing proof that Indian food is capable of evolving”. In these years, Bhatia went on to earn the reputation of transforming gourmet Indian cuisine in the UK. In April 1999, Vineet Bhatia and his business partners opened Zaika, initially located in Chelsea, but soon moved to Kensington High Street. In 2001, Bhatia was awarded a Michelin star – becoming the first Indian chef-proprietor to receive such an accolade.

In 2004, Vineet Bhatia opened his own restaurant ‘Rasoi’, taking over a 100-year old Chelsea townhouse. Rasoi opened to much critical acclaim, and in the few months since opening was named Best Newcomer of the year 2005’, ‘The Indian Restaurant of the Year 2005’, ‘The Chef of the Year 2004’, and awarded one Michelin star in January 2006. Rasoi at the Mandarin Oriental, Geneva, was awarded a Michelin star in 2009, taking Vineet again into the history books as being the only Indian chef to hold a star both in the UK and outside of the UK. In 2016 Vineet closed Rasoi in London and opened Vineet Bhatia London, a 33 seater restaurant serving a 16 course tasting menu, designed to elevate Indian food to an even higher level. VBL was awarded a Michelin star only 8 months after opening.

In November 2018, Bhatia opened “Kama by Vineet” at Harrods. Part One of the concept came as an Indian deli counter in Harrods’ infamous Food Hall; and now in June 2019, Part Two opens as a 26-seater restaurant in Harrods’ newly opened Dining Hall.

In a consultative capacity Vineet has been working with some of the world’s most exclusive hotels develop top class restaurants, most notably in Geneva, Mauritius, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and in his hometown of Mumbai.

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raig’s passion for cooking started while working at a local village pub in Bedfordshire before making his move to London to work for Gordon Ramsey Group. Craig started off as a demi chef de partie and over the course of four years he worked his way up to a sous chef. He then decided that he wanted experience in a Michelin star restaurant and he moved to join La Trompette in Chiswick. After spending two years he took on the role as the head chef at Michael Nadra which was also based in Chiswick. He then moved to work with Marcus Wareing and was part of his opening team for Tredwells and then moved across to The Gilbert Scott as the sous chef.

After a year working for Marcus Wareing, he went on to work for Jason Atherton’s Social Company as the head chef at Social Wine & Tapas. Whilst in this role he was given the opportunity to help with the opening of the Pig & Palm in the Philippines before moving over to Dubai as head chef of the Marina Social in 2016. Craig was then approached by David Martin the International Operations Director at the Gordon Ramsay Group and offered him a position as head chef at Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, an offer which he couldn’t refuse.

Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen restaurant made its fiery debut in Dubai, marking the second global opening and its firstof-its-kind in the Middle East. This newly opened television show restaurant at Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai is led by Craig under the guidance of Christina Wilson, Executive Chef of Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group.

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WG catches up with Craig Best…

“Each kitchen I moved to was different and it enabled me to learn new skills. As a young chef, I used to panic a lot when it was a busy. My head chef from La Trompette use to always say ‘why are you panicking, you’re just cooking someone’s dinner which is what I say to my chefs” says Craig.

Who would you say is your mentor?

I think every head chef I worked with has taught me a lot and in their own way has been a mentor. I’ve learnt a lot from Jason Atherton, who’s motto is ‘the harder you work the luckier you get’. To get to the top of your game it does take a lot of hard work and dedication. If it hadn’t been for the Gordon Ramsay Group I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Gordon has been a big inspiration.

What is the cuisine at Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen?

Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen is a British restaurant with inspirations from the reality television show and the Las Vegas flagship restaurant. I have to ensure that I keep to the concept whilst bringing my creative flair to the dishes. Several of the successful signature menu items are featured on the television show and Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas and this can be found at Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen in Dubai, including the Pan Seared Scallops, Lobster Risotto, Beef Wellington and Sticky Toffee Pudding, as well as dishes created exclusively for the Dubai restaurant. It’s a process of trialling and tasting the dishes.

Your culinary philosophy…

It’s not just about creating a dish, my philosophy is about creating a menu that enables the guest to choose dishes that complement each other and a dining experience that they will enjoy. A lot of it comes from experience and knowing what flavours go well together.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

For me all 3 have to be right in order to create a dish. For instance, if the produce isn’t good then no matter how good your creativity or technique is, it just won’t taste right.

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Ingredients that inspire you, your favourite ingredients and in your opinion ingredients which are overrated…

I always make sure I use ingredients that are in season and staying in line with the British seasons, we use local products as much as possible. I’ve just been testing the different varieties of oysters to go on our Shell Fish Tower and found some local oysters from Fujairah.

The favourite has to be fish and shellfish because they are so versatile with different flavours and textures.

I don’t believe there are any overrated ingredients, just misused ones. It’s all about how you use them in a dish.

Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

I really like cooking meat and fish in water baths, they are really good for locking the flavours in. Once you have a set timing for something it will always come out the same and this helps running a busy kitchen and maintaining high standards.

Your earliest food memory…

My mum’s beef stew and dumplings, she always used rosemary and I often use that now too.

What keeps you motivated?

I have a lot of drive, ambition and want to be the best. So, I am constantly trying to enhance my skills. I really enjoy teaching my new chefs the way to work and see them improve.

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

I think the vegetarian, vegan and different dietary requirements are definitely having an impact on cuisine around the world.

Chefs need to evolve and become more accommodating in order to stay ahead of the game and keep customers happy.

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

I think people see chefs on TV and believe it is glamorous but they don’t realise that it’s hard work that has gotten them there. For example, it’s 16 hours a day on your feet, 5 to 6 days a week. It’s very unsociable and a tough environment.

It has taken me a lot of time and dedication to get to where I am today and I love my job. So, my advice to a new chef would be to stick with it, work hard and learn as much as you can from your seniors.

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LIM YEW AUN

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hef and co-owner of the Cicheti Group, Lim started out in the culinary world after earning his degree at Shatec (Singapore’s International Hotel + Tourism School) in the rich world of butter and flour at Top Mix Bakery, where he mastered the art of baking pastries, desserts and a variety of breads. Aun then quickly transitioned to the Shangri-La Singapore, where he was exposed to a global range of classic and modern dishes.

He was then invited to serve as sous chef for the venerable Raffles Hotel, where he was given the opportunity and chance to manage kitchen teams.

Despite having carved quite a reputation for pastas, his first love is still the individually hand-crafted, wood-oven baked Neapolitan pizza. It’s where he got his first taste of Italian cuisine while training under Seita-san at L’Operetta (Seita Nakahara, now chef-owner of the Japanese-influenced Italian restaurant Terra). It was where he got his reintroduction to the kitchen, having left the culinary world after leaving Raffles Hotel, Lim went on to pursue a year-long tattoo apprenticeship before Seita-san took him under his wing as a pizzaiolo.

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SIMPLY ITALIAN

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Seita-san instilled in him a deep respect and appreciation for the wonderful gastronomic traditions of Italian cooking, which not only sparked him researching cookbooks, learning the ways of Italian cooking but also taking to You Tube to learn about Neapolitan pizza. He was inspired by how he managed to adapt classic Italian techniques with Japanese style of cooking that resulted in a cuisine that offered diners a chance to taste the best of both culinary worlds.

Together with his cousin and owner Liling O, and the latest addition to their team sommelier-partner Ronald Kamiayama, these three run, manage and cover all the grounds at Cicheti (the first Italian Trattoria Liling and Anu started 6 years ago), Fynn’s by Cicheti is a healthier, cleaner way of Cicheti eating - modern Australian, and Bar Cicheti is their latest and most ambitious opening where they created a restaurant and bar with a very focus of offering fresh, handmade pastas that adapts to the seasons and wines that favor off-the-beatenpath regions, unknown varietals and different vindication techniques.

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ANOLINI

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LINGUINE

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WG catches up with Lim Yew Aun… Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a dish…

As I embark on my third restaurant with the Cicheti group, I had the chance to truly embrace my love for the classic Neapolitan pizza, and as we grow from strength to strength, I see myself starting to tweak the way I approach Italian cuisine to better suit the local palate.

I draw a lot of connections between Chinese cuisine I grew up with and my current bread and butter - Italian cuisine, which allows me to define my own unique style of Italian cuisine. When you think about it, the Penang street side tze char dishes are full of wok hei, probably what sets the prelude for my love for the wood-fire. The Italians are big on traditions and techniques but not so much on umami.

When I approach each dish, I find myself asking how this dish would fit the Singapore palate. This doesn’t mean chili crab pastas or salted egg yolk pizza – it could mean as simple as cooking each dish with a lot of garlic. I call it my ajinomoto.

I’d slice the garlic, deep fry them into chips and throw them into dishes such as my seafood pastas for added flavor. Our pastas are created with a lot more umami than typical Italian pastas because we cook every pasta dish with stock. I also create a version of a Cacio e Pepe which uses Parmigiana and a zest of lemon, instead of the traditional Pecorino, to adapt to the local palate which might find the original cheese too salty.

Fittingly enough, the name Cicheti refers to small plates typically served in Venetian wine bars. This, coupled with the fact that Venetian cuisine has strong Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and other influences given its location as a trading port, affords me the free reign to incorporate other influences (Chinese for example), resulting in a kind of new-school Italian cooking. This is my style or interpretation of Italian cuisine, which is authentic and from the heart.

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Ingredients that inspire the menu…

We recently launched Bar Cicheti’s menu, which really kickstarted Bar Cicheti’s commitment to curating menus for each of Italy’s four seasons, featuring the finest and freshest produce that comes to bloom throughout the season. There are so many ingredients to love, delicate vegetables like asparagus and zucchini flowers. The humble leeks which you can find cooked in dozens of different ways, we give the sweet leek a fresh coat of char to go with our Spaghetti alle Vongole.

The sweetness of the peas - tossed with thick, hollowed strings of Bucatini, citron zest and a seared Hokkaido scallops in a hearty saffron broth.

Of course, I couldn’t take the credit for it – each new menu is really a team effort between Liling, Ronald and myself. Liling and Ronald perform a lot of the research based on their regular travels to Italy and the internet, this sets the direction on how they’d like the menu to take shape, their wish list of seasonal ingredients and cooking styles. I take their brief and, together with my team, begin sourcing and R&D process, eliminating what is not possible and ways to work around it before presenting a first round of internal tastings.

Special cooking equipment you enjoy using…

Without a doubt it would be my two-ton wood-fire pizza oven which I especially imported from Italy when we first opened Cicheiti. It was so big, we had to break down and re-erect the doors of our Kampong Glam shop house just to get it into the restaurant.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

To me, the most important thing is passion. You must have passion and you must love what you do. That’s it that is the secret. For me as a chef, washing the dishes is a role as important as any in the kitchen. That’s when you can see if plates come in empty or with left overs. Does the customer like the food? Is it too salty? Was the customer too full? Did they not like this dish? I always tell the service staff, ‘Please ask the customer, it’s very important.’ You can’t just send food out. You must have pride and passion in whatever you do.

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LILING ONG & CHEF LIM YEW AUN

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

Diners these days look for authenticity. Food should evoke emotions. At times, when a dish is too complicated, the diner spends more time focusing on cooking technique and plating as opposed to the taste, and whether that particular dish has any emotional impact on them upon first bite. At all our restaurants, we intentionally keep the dishes as simple as possible and plated minimally, even if it means the filling of a pasta takes 2 days to prepare, it’s not something we shout on the plate. The focus really is on taste. We want a dish to awe our diners at first bite. No other distractions.

TRADITIONAL TIRAMISU

If you look at many highly regarded restaurants around the world, they tend to always exist a theme of locality and culture. Either a local ingredient is used in a dish to make it their own, or a few ingredients intrinsic to local culture are showcased on the tasting menu. Similarly, at Bar Cicheti, we take on classic pasta dishes and put our own twist on them.

Most times, a spice or hint of chili is added. Pastas tends to get finished in a hot pan, just like a Chinese stir fry, these little cultural nuances that peek out of our pasta dishes are one of the main contributing factors to the restaurants’ success. At Cicheti and Bar Cicheti, we see a demand for more traditional Italian ingredients. Our diners don’t just want delicious food, they are curious and want truly authentic ingredients that reflect a certain part of Italy’s food landscape. We often get questions on what type of flour we use for our pizzas or what kind of wood fuels our oven. Diners are becoming more and more worldly and educated.

PATA NEGRA

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JAMES OAKLEY

A FLAVORFUL SUMMER MENU...

Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, James’ passion for food and cooking was inspired by his grandmother who lived in the Suffolk countryside for most of her life. His fondest childhood memories are of his grandmother’s cooking and her relationship with food. She helped him to truly understand where food comes from and the love required to create great tasting dishes. She used to cook and prepare everything from scratch, baking bread and roasting joints of meat, and from a very young age he began to cook with her.

JAMES OAKLEY PHOTO © BEN WONG

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His grandmother used to have a bramely apple tree in her garden, she would grow strawberries in summer, and kept chickens, so they always had great tasting, fresh free range eggs. As a family, they would venture out into the woodlands and hedgerows to pick fresh wild ingredients, which was always very magical for James to understand the perfect environment and all the necessary conditions for this wonderful wild produce.

James started his first part time job at the age of 14 and to this day he has never done a day’s work outside of the kitchen. He used to work at weekends and after school as much as he could. He started at the bottom washing pots and pans, however he made sure that he finished as quickly as possible so that he could watch the chefs and assist them with any job they would allow him to do. He started peeling onions and carrots and worked his way up. By the time he left school he was assisting on the pastry section.

James trained in some of the best kitchens, with Gordon Ramsay at the Claridge’s and Jeremy Medley who was almost like a father figure.

Both of these chefs and both of these kitchens have influenced James’ style of cooking. For him it’s vital to treat ingredients with love, show the food genuine heart-felt respect and always take the time to do things correctly.

James is currently the chef de cuisine at Alib, Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong where he blends Asian and European styles and techniques, creating delicious and innovative menus.

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HAND DIVED SCALLOPS TRUFFLE AND BABY SORRELS

The opening dish for any menu should be a tease… Here we have a good balance of crisp, clean flavors which cleanse the palate but also a certain depth of richness. The scallops are sweet and slightly firm, lightly seasoned with sea salt with a satisfying crisp texture. The truffle adds richness, earthy flavors to the sweetness of the scallop, and cleansed by the sour, acidic baby sorrels, purple oxalis and red vein sorrel which creates a moisture in the mouth.

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PEANUT AND TRUFFLE PARFAIT BLACK GARLIC PUREE CHARGRILLED SOUR DOUGH

A favorite dish on James’ menu… With similar textures and mouth feel to foie gras parfait, the parfait is set in a silicon mold made to resemble a fresh truffle and is then coated in a mixture of dried, ground truffle and Taiwanese charcoal powder. Intense peanut and truffle flavors to the bitter sweet black garlic purée that slices through the richness, all spread on warm grilled sough dough.

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HAMACHI, SEA URCHIN SABAYON PINE NEEDLE AND BERGAMOT GEL

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The intensifying seafood flavor of a more subtle Hamachi, an eggless sabayon from the sea urchin to substitute the egg yolk and introducing fat to the dish for more balanced flavors and overall texture. The pine needle are slightly bitter and the bergamot slightly sour balanced.

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ORGANIC GRASS FED WILD HEREFORD BEEF FOUR WAYS

Different methods to compliment this wild Hereford beef and creating a rich flavorful balance of sweet, savory.

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JAMES OAKLEY

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PISTACHIO STRAWBERRIES ROSE Strawberries, pistachios and summer‌ The rose offers an interesting floral dimension which forces the mind to associate the dish with summer. A soft mousse that melts in the mouth; the cake gives the plate depth and body, with a crisp rose tea meringue offers an interesting flavor dimension and texture, the compressed strawberries are intense in flavor, and the pistachio gelato is what is required a warm summer’s day.

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LEE JING PENG

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ee always dreamt of being a footballer with an interest in architecture, so growing up to being a chef has never crossed his mind until a few years ago and today Lee would never trade his chefs position job for anything else. He ventured into the world of culinary in 2013 as a commis at Tippling Club, Singapore where he honed his skills as a chef. After a year and a half of training under the mentorship of Ryan Clift, he went on to join the two Michelin star restaurant, Les Amis as a pastry chef, and thereafter as a demi chef de partie at the three Michelin star restaurant Joël Robuchon in Singapore.

In 2016, Lee returned to Tippling Club as chef de partie and rose through the ranks to take on the role of junior sous chef and subsequently as sous chef within a span of two years.

Having being trained under award-winning Chef Ryan Clift, Lee travelled to multiple destinations such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Milan for various culinary events, where he was exposed to new culinary ideas and inspirations.

LEE JING PENG

Lee currently helms the role of head chef at V Dining, the first ever fine dining restaurant by V-ZUG, featuring innovative gastronomic creations by Lee Jing Peng and Ryan Clift, the Global Ambassador of V-ZUG, and Culinary Director at V Dining. The menu is prepared using V-ZUG’s professionallevel kitchen appliances designed for homes that feature Swiss hallmark quality in innovation, functionality, elegance, and captivating design. V Dining is the brand’s first restaurant in the world designed to demonstrate the quality and competence of its home appliances to gastronomes.

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WG catches up with Lee Jing Peng…

Your passion for cooking…

I did not do very well with my studies, so right after O-levels I started working in a fast food restaurant. I worked my way around the restaurant, including the stewarding and frontof-house. What I enjoyed most was being in the kitchen, so I decided to enroll myself into SHATEC Culinary Institute in Singapore and that was when I started my culinary career.

You honed your culinary skills at Tippling Club, Les Amis and Joel Robuchon’s restaurant in Singapore, tell us about the experience with Ryan Clift and Joel Robuchon…

I got my first full-time job at Tippling Club after my mandatory national service. It was a tough environment to work in as it was my first experience in a professional kitchen. Ryan Clift, Chef-Owner of Tippling Club was constantly pushing me to my limits both mentally and physically. Initially I had a hard time coping with the amount of work and pressure but through Ryan’s guidance and mentoring, I grew and learnt a lot as a chef.

At Joël Robuchon, it was an entirely different experience as I was exposed to French techniques. In the kitchen there is zero noise as we face the wall to do our preparation for service. Each dish requires a lot of concentration, time, precision and finesse. There was once I messed up a dish so bad that I got scolded by the man himself and it was terrifying.

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OCTOPUS

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CHICKEN

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How did it help you are as a chef today and how did it influence your style of cuisine?

Both restaurants that I worked in were tough as compared to some kitchens that I’ve been to for trials. I love the pressure and challenges set up by the chefs. There was no room for error when I was working for them as they are who I consider as one the best chefs in the industry. As always, they expected a lot from me especially when I’m in charge of the section, and this increases my sense of responsibility and focus.

For Ryan, he really enjoys playing around with different textures and flavours while for Robuchon, it’s about presentation and seasonal ingredients. Both of them have their own identities in the dishes. Robuchon produces stunning vegetarian dishes which makes the meat and seafood dishes look average.

Ryan’s flavour and acidity profile is certainly higher (of which I acquired), and each component of his dishes often has different textures which is fun to eat. When coming up with new dishes I would marry both styles together, with the inclusion of some ideas from my exposure from eating around the world and from where I grew up in. I am still learning every day from every chef I meet.

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ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

Your culinary philosophy…

It will always be about respecting the ingredients and the farmers who give us all these amazing produce that we receive every day. As much as possible, I often try to use every part of each ingredient be it for a sauce, stock or garnish.

Food trimmings go to staff meals and this is what cooking should be all about – feeding people around with all the best things that our land and sea has to offer.

Creating a dish, the inspiration…

Through exposure from my travels, eating out, meeting people and experiencing different cultures and lifestyles, this has been my inspiration. I often think of the flavors I miss from eating around the world, and I will re-create these flavors using local ingredients. Also, I enjoy having different textures in a dish, I would regularly play around with each ingredient and reproduce them in different forms. I always recognize the flavor profile that I want in a dish and make sure that every component complements each other in terms of taste and texture.

PORK CRACKLING

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CHICKEN RICE

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TONKOTSU

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HAMACHI

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PORK BELLY

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Ingredients that inspire you…

Sea Buckthorn and Bee Pollen. Sea Buckthorn is really acidic and tart, and you don’t find it often in Singapore. I was first exposed to it in Hong Kong when I dined in Frantzen’s Kitchen and I really enjoyed it. My first experience tasting Bee Pollen was in Geranium a couple of years back. When I savor ingredients that are not common in Singapore, I get really inspired and would often like to use them in dishes.

Usually, I select ingredients based on what we have in Asia especially in neighboring countries. I’m always keen to use Asian ingredients such as turmeric, ginger flower and lots of different spices but my favorites is mushroom, potatoes and fish.

SALMON

Is there an ingredient that you weren’t able to master?

Sugar – in its art form. I’m an impatient person and mastering sugar art is a huge challenge for me. I have tried to learn making sugar sculptures back when I was still a commis and I got myself a second degree burn due to carelessness. Since then I lost my interest in sugar art.

Special cooking techniques or equipment you particular enjoy using…

It would have to be the Combi-Steam XSL by V-ZUG. So far in my career, it is one of the best ovens I have used, and it is ideal for domestic use as well. It has every chef’s favorite function - Vacuisine, which is equivalent to sous vide cooking.

It eliminates the space and need for a separate sous vide machine. The function cooks my products/ingredients at a constant precise temperature as compared to other sous vide machines which may vary at inconsistent temperature.

LAKSA

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Technique. Often when you get good produce, it speaks for itself – it is difficult to let good and fresh produce taste bad.

Nowadays, creativity can be easily influenced via social media and many chefs get their inspiration from the internet without actually having the basic foundation and skills. Technique is something that people cannot acquire on any platform. It takes years of time, effort and practice to actually be good in something, and good is not even enough. Always be better than good and that is what I am continuously aiming to be.

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Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

Marco Pierre White. My first cookbook is White Heat by this great chef and all the wise words he has quoted perfectly summed up the life in a professional kitchen.

Your earliest food memory, flavors from your childhood…

I absolutely love Sambal Petai (stink bean) as I grew up eating what was my mother’s signature dish. Anything that is spicy and bitter also wins my heart.

What keeps you motivated?

My entire team at V Dining, without the team’s hard work, the restaurant will never work and I will never be where I am in my career today. They push me to go further and I never take their support for granted. However, my maternal grandmother and mother, they both motivate me. Both of them are good cooks, and their thoughts and love in their food has fuelled my interest in cooking.

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

In the past, cuisine and food was all about the taste and flavours. These days, the presentation and look of a dish comes in first, due to #forthegram. However, people are starting to choose to discover their roots and explore ingredients from their native countries and this inspires me to do the same as well.

Your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

It is a demanding industry with grueling long hours and a pressured stressful environment to work in. Keep your head down, be humble and always ask questions. With a good attitude, the hard work and time will pay off and you will enjoy cooking more than anything else.

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YANG TAO

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s a little boy, Yang Tao (Frankie) used to help his mother in the kitchen, she would make his favorite dishes and he would watch her cook, a further influence was his grandfather who loved to cook, teaching him about the local raw ingredients and Chinese cooking methods. This was the start of a culinary journey and more than a decade later Frankie loves what he is doing, cooking and being a chef.

“To me, cooking is edible love, my passion to eat good food, helping the family in the kitchen and I enjoyed this process of cooking right from childhood, it is this edible love which allowed me to be a chef ”

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THE DIM SUM MASTER

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He graduated from the Chinese and Western Culinary and Management University in China, and while studying he won several awards. Upon finishing his training, Frankie was hand-picked by Sofitel Accor in France to be commis 2 in their Chinese restaurant, this kick-started his career and further love of creating dishes.

Frankie now brings an authentic Pan-Asian cuisine with a contemporary twist to Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai.

Zhen Wei specializes in delicate homemade dim sum and hand pulled noodles.

Zhen Wei takes Dubai city gourmands straight to the streets of Hong Kong. Frankie combines Pan-Asian flavors and modern cooking techniques. From a traditional whole Beijing duck to a kalbi-spiced BBQ short ribs with kimchi and picked jalapeño chili, his Cantonese Sea Bass with toasted sesame oil and soy sauce tantalizes the taste buds with flavors of the east, and his menu highlights a 14-strong Dim Sum section which includes Hong Kong Chicken Char Siu Bao, Shanghai Pan-Fried Beef Bun and Four Seasonal Shrimp Crystal Bag.

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YANG TAO

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WG catches up with Yang Tao (Frankie)…

Your culinary philosophy…

The key to gourmet products depends on high quality ingredients. Raw materials for cooking must be fresh, coupled with their own unique cooking methods and innovative packaging ideas, both in taste, visual and sensory, to make diners feel unique. Ingredient driven not only means that I seek the best ingredients but that I organize my dishes so that a single ingredient stars, while the others play supporting roles. The main ingredient should always be the star.

Your favorite dish…

The hot and sour soup is my favorite food and many of the diners like this delicious regional dish from Beijing and Sichuan. The soup is usually meat-based, and often contains ingredients such as wood ear fungus and tofu, it’s typically made hot (spicy) with red or white pepper, and sour with vinegar.

Ingredients that inspire you, your favorite ingredients and those which are overrated…

Every year I find new products, freshly grown specialty vegetables and new delicious sauces. I like using fresh herbs, sweet, sour and spicy ingredients. But it does depend on what dish which I am creating, on the other hand I am not in favor or a big fan of MSG powder, this is used in China at almost all restaurants as a flavor enhancer, it can also unify and balance the taste of a dish. Increasingly many people are becoming allergic to MSG and prefer not to use this additive, I do not use it and instead use the skills of the ingredients to enhance the flavors.

Overrated… it has to be high end ingredients such as Golden Flakes, Truffles and Foie Gras.

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Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

Stir-fry in the wok is one of the quickest cooking techniques in the world and one of my favorites for creating simple dishes.

Smoked foods such as the Earl Grey Tea smoked Sea Bass on the menu at Zhen Wei is amazing. At home I have my own smoke gun which I use a lot and can make my favorite smoked dishes anytime, anywhere.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

Creativity is more important than products and technology.

We constantly create new dishes and this attracts the attention of our guests. Yes, you also need the best produce and right techniques to go with it.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

Teamwork is the spiritual pillar of the kitchen staff, supervision standards and quality of the dishes, and controlling the wastage and food cost.

Your earliest food memory, flavors from your childhood…

My precious memory is the duck fried rice, we use the duck fat to cook the rice, this is our staple dish for all meals and this influences me and my cooking.

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

I continually push myself to try new dishes and flavor combinations, always looking to experiment, but always keep in line with my style of food and cooking, regularly develop different innovative dishes to test my ability and excite every diners.

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

Breakfast is now getting richer and healthier. Street food has become more popular. Packaged food is very convenient and has become popular. Healthy foods have become much more important to people and there is a lot of awareness.

Your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

Chefs need to think fast and act quickly with the right handson skills. Correct attitude, study hard and practice more.

Attitude is the key and with the right attitude you can solve all problems.

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HTUN HTUN NAING HIS CUISINE IS HIS STORY...

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aised in Pakokku City, a small village located by the banks of the main river of Mid-Myanamr, at 17, Htun Htun made a courageous move to Yangon, keeping an open mind that he would land a dream job. Knowing that if he give up, he would be stuck and regret it. People always say, “Sometimes on the way to a dream you get lost and find a better one way” well he bounces around different part-time jobs to survive in the city of Yangon. After two years of making wrong turns and hitting dead ends, he landed a job in a kitchen that changed his path and gave him a new perspective in life.

At 20, he made his biggest decision of his life; an overseas opportunity working at 5 star hotel Atlantis the Palm Dubai. It took him 7 years of fine tuning his culinary skills and climbing the ladder through different working atmospheres in the F&B industry. An adventure that made him realize this was going to be his story.

During his time in Dubai, Myanmar became a recognized emerging market in the hospitality sector and it was the right time to head back home, going back to his roots seemed like the perfect solution. In his mind going back was actually moving forward. “It’s more than just giving back to my homeland Myanmar, but most importantly a task to develop and coach the next generation of Myanmar’s chefs. It’s all worth the effort, loving the life and creating the life of my dreams” adds Htun Htun.

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WG got the opportunity to catch up with Htun Htun Naing, Executive Chef at Novotel Yangon Max‌ Working at the Atlantis Palm Dubai, how did it help you as a chef?

Coming from a place where culinary art is still not a concept, I had to learn on my own, from different kind of places, from different Chefs that took me in to their world and taught me the necessary skills that would help me built who I am today. All in all, it is a mix of hard work, determination and experiences leaving through all kinds of situations and never complain. I feel that I know better than anyone how precious is to learn and how vital it is to be able to keep that knowledge within me so that I could have the credibility to teach others. It wasn’t a smooth ride and I encountered several speed bumps but kept positive and thanks to all my teachers who believed in me. The opportunity and luck to work at different restaurants such as Ossiano and Seafire, also the in-room dining, and banqueting gave me the advantage in my culinary conception as to be able to adapt in all corners of a kitchen and find my style which I today very much enjoy implementing in my every day operation at the Novotel Yangon Max. Your culinary philosophy‌ What if I told you that when I was young I realised that the kitchen was going to be my space of expressing myself as to talking to someone and the products of nature to be my voice?

My culinary philosophy is all about combining in one dish all the colours of my experiences and past. In everything I create I always try not to mix more than 3 main ingredients which to me translates to the colours of who I am. Be true to my dish is to be true to myself just as if I was into a conversation with the person for whom I am making the dish for.

My dishes are my stories and the persons enjoying them are the friends I want to tell my stories to. I like to start by wanting to tell a story, then profiling the main components, understanding their main characteristics, conceptualise it in my mind, and then I put it on paper. Once I have the big picture, I put the knife and fire to work and start cooking from the heart.

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Ingredients that inspire you and ingredients that you weren’t able to master…

An ingredient which has never yet left my passion is the river prawns and lobster. I always love working with them, but my favourite go-to ingredients at the moment is the combination of acidic fruits and fresh herbs, and I challenge myself to find the perfect balance.

I have once tried to make a sauce with a particular cheese called Epoisses which is known to have one of the strongest smell among all other cheeses and felt very frustrated not being able to have all the flavours of the dish, just could not find the right balance.

Special cooking techniques or equipment you enjoy using…

Being a chef, requires knowing different kinds of techniques and the one equipment. I enjoy and love working with a charcoal grill. The smoke flavour is unreplaceable, the heat of the charcoal sears anything such as vegetables, seafood or meats quickly, creating a crusty, caramelized exterior and a smoky flavour that retains the freshness respecting the ingredient’s characteristics and personality.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

For me creativity is most important. I like to try and mix ingredients that I’ve never combined before to see how they would work together and tell my stories. Repeated failures are often what transforms to success, not every move is 100% accurate the first try. Without trying new things, you can still make good dishes, but it won’t be a stand-alone great dish.

Your greatest influence in the kitchen…

The team I work with. The greatest things in life are rarely made without someone by your side giving you the energy which transforms the dishes to colours. Being a cook is being an artist. Just doing my best to being a role model and to be able to inspire the young generation of Myanmar’s chefs daily is my best accomplishment.

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Your earliest food memory, flavors from your childhood…

Being raised on a farm in a small village near the river, going fishing with my dad whenever we could. It’s my dad’s charcoal grilled eggplant with river prawns, and in summer the vegetable soup my mum made. I would always want to jump in and help out, even though I never knew I was going to end up being a chef.

What keeps you motivated?

Loving what I do makes me think that every day it is an opportunity for me to play, cook, inspire and give. I’m a selfmotivated person and every achievement I encounter is a different challenge and adventure.

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

Food culture has changed dramatically throughout the years.

Let’s face it, everyone calls themselves “Foodies”, humans are guilty for these changes, on how food interaction evolved around resulting to a better eating experience. I think that the more the world opens the more cuisine experience and trends evolve. Myanmar cuisine is a perfect example, the flavours of the country has just opened themselves to the world. Alongside new technologies and innovations, cuisine and kitchens are changing.

Your advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

Before I would give any advice I would first ask, “How did you come to be a chef” and “do you love what you want to do”? I would then be able to suggest “listen, observe, learn, adapt and when you feel you know something, be yourself!

Don’t be afraid to make mistake. Overcome the darkness of failures; no matter how many times you fall just remember to get back up.

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VINCENT WANG VERDE

ABORIGINAL STONE SOUP

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incent’s childhood has been is a big influence on his culinary career, his mother and grandmother great cooks of traditional Taiwanese cuisine, especially his grandmother, a traditional “street banquet” chef and a master of traditional Taiwanese culinary art. While in college, Vincent learnt about western cuisine and with a decade of working in different restaurants he thought of linking western with Taiwanese cuisine, using local ingredients that can only be found in Taiwan with traditional techniques from the local aboriginal tribes.

“It was a challenge when Chef Daniel Negreira invited me to join him at VERDE, a crazy project. I started to research more about vegan cuisine and realized that it was a whole new dimension of cooking. Today, VERDE is one of the finest vegetarian restaurants in Taipei, Taiwan, that is willing to support local farmers, produce and ingredients through our cooking skills and culinary knowledge. Almost 95% of our ingredients is from Taiwan and with team work our menu is not only by our skills but also our different life experiences to turn vegetables into something completely new” says Vincent.

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CARROT YOGURT TERRINE

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CANAPÉS

WG catches up with Vincent Wang…

Vincent’s focus on the seasonal ingredients, adjusting the techniques to the needs of the ingredients and cooking the right way.

What is the dish you’re cooking the most at the moment and the inspiration of the dish…

The burdock stone soup, this soup is with simple ingredients and simple skills, the burdock is with different sweetness, aroma from different seasons. When it is spring and summer, the burdock is light and during winter it really sweet. You need to check the ingredients all the time and change the recipe using both technique and experience, that’s why I love cooking this dish, every time it’s a new story. The burdock and the sweet cane is a simple ingredients that you could find in every market around Taiwan. For the soup we use tomatoes, onions, celery, carrot, radish, Khumbu and the dry shitake added with herbs and chili. It’s all about balancing the flavors between sweet and acidity with a touch of spice and angelica oil with elevates the dish. A dish inspired by the Hualian aboriginal “AMIS” tribe.

ODE TO SOY

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SOUTHERN TAIWAN SPIRIT

Ingredients that inspire you, your favorite ingredients and ingredients you were not able to work with…

As it is summer, its more fruits on the menu, the Changhua watermelon, Miaoli passion fruits, Yunlin Figs and we make a brilliant citrus oil. We are looking for the higher quality seasonal vegetables and interesting items from the farms, the farmers are so passionate about their produce and we remind ourselves how hard they work to produce such great vegetables.

I like to use rhizomes ingredients, especially HAN CHI as we Taiwanese call sweet potato, in we have different types of sweet potato which have a lovely smell, sweet and aromatic.

For me the bitter squash is not easy to handle, have tried several ways to cook it, vacuum, marinated, sous vide, bake, etc, in Taiwan its usually cooked in a soup, or stuffed with ground pork and steamed but I try to find ways to describe it on a plate. Yes it is a bitter challenge and I still keep trying.

Produce, Creativity or Technique…

For me creativity is most important, creativity is fun, interesting.

Every time we create new dishes, it starts with trash talk, ideas pour out from this trash talk and then it is fun in the kitchen, we our technique and knowledge we play with the ingredients.

Advice to chefs entering the kitchen for the first time…

XLB - PINEAPPLE CAKE XIAO LONG BAO

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CHEFS VINCENT WANG, DANIEL NEGREIRA, ADAM LIU

Working in the kitchen is a high intensity job, you have to face the different pressures and each day is challenging. It is a great career but prepared for the hard work, if you really love to cook and really enjoy the food then you experience the brilliance of making people happy.

FINGER AVOCADO, HYPNOTIC

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50 SHADES OF RED

CARPACCIO

SOBA, NUTS, MISO

A SIMPLE TOMATO

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ANDRÉ CHIANG WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS

MAURO COLAGRECO MIRAZUR MENTON, FRANCE

Mauro Colagreco’s professional journey began in his native Argentina at the Gato Dumas Institute in Buenos Aires. After working in some of the city’s most prestigious restaurants, he headed to France to the Lycée Hôtelier de La Rochelle in 2000. He then received an apprentice position at the restaurant Cote d’Or in 2001 under chef Bernard Loiseau, where he remained until the chef’s death in 2003. He then moved to Paris to work for Guy Martin, Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse.

Since then his curiosity has taken him on a worldwide adventure discovering different food cultures and connections.

A maverick in many senses, Mauro Colagreco was born and grew up in Argentina, however, another strong influence is his Italian heritage from his grandparents. His professional culinary training and career development is distinctly French and his travels have impacted his cooking at every touch.

In 2006 he discovered an old 1930s villa serendipitously located 30 metres from the French Italian border. Surrounded by orchards and gardens, with access to markets in France and Italy and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Mirazur - home of Mauro Colagreco’s borderless cuisine - was born.

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PHOTO © MATTEO CARASSALE

France, globally renowned for its proud gastronomic history, embraced this young Argentinian. Just six months after opening, he was recognised by Gault & Millau with the ‘Revelation of the Year’ award for young new talent, followed by one Michelin star within his first year of opening. France had celebrated the energy of this promising new talent as their own.

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SALADE ASPERGES

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MOLDED GREEN ASPARAGUS WITH GREEN HERBS

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In 2012, Time Magazine named René Redzepi, as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People. This honour was not bestowed for simply putting Denmark on the world’s gastronomic map, but was also to acknowledge his passion for promoting food innovation.

This is a visionary who is effectively influencing a whole new generation of chefs, worldwide.

René Redzepi is known to work with an extremely well-defined network of suppliers including farmers, foragers and other purveyors to gain access to only the finest ingredients in order to develop a cuisine that expresses its region’s culture and defined seasons in a beautiful and delicious way. A meal at Noma is said to remind you that sometimes food is more than simply food - Nordic food that not only highlights nature’s local resources, but takes them to an entirely new level.

For all intents and purposes, Noma is an homage to the bounty of our environment and everything that Mother Nature gracefully offers us. For those lucky enough to have an opportunity to dine within its environment, the experience will articulate why some restaurants truly deserve to be revered.

The name Noma is a portmanteau of the two Danish words “nordisk” (Nordic) and “mad” (food). First opened in 2003, the restaurant is world-renowned for its reinvention and remarkable interpretation of Nordic Cuisine.

Redzepi, has also an established himself as an author. His passion for the culinary world does not stop there.

He founded the Nordic Food Lab, an independent research organization and in 2011, the MAD Symposium, an annual gathering of chefs and food lovers with a passionate appetite for knowledge.

RENÉ REDZEPI

NOMA COPENHAGEN, DENMARK PHOTO © DITTE ISAGER

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VICTOR ARGUINZONIZ ASADOR ETXEBARRI AXPE, SPAIN

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The grilling genius of Spain - Victor Arguinzoniz’s Asador Etxebarri opened in 1990, outside Bilbao, nestled deep in the Atxondo valley, at the foothills of the magical Mt. Anboto. Far from the noise, the restaurant preserves ancient techniques of grill cooking using carefully selected firewood from different trees to work in harmony with the locally cultivated, natural produce, to offer endless possibilities of truly wonderful dishes.

Perfecting the art of grilling over the years, Victor Arguinzoniz uses a fine-tuned system comprising of six grills, pulleys, cables and two brick kilns to heat the right wood for the right food, and taking grilling to the next level.

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BUTTERFLY

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BEST IN ASIA Drawing on his memories of the amazing street food and the diversity of India’s different regional cuisines, Gaggan Anand has used science and modern technology to create modernist and progressive reinterpretations of traditional recipes that have made his restaurant, ‘Gaggan’ one of the top culinary destinations in Bangkok. TIME magazine even dubbed him the “Captain Kirk of cuisine”.

As a young boy, studies were not a priority, music and cooking rocked his world. But when he announced his aspiration to be a chef, many people mocked the idea, and however he stuck to his guns.

He arrived in Bangkok in 2007 for a short consultancy and like a typical Indian never left.

“Gaggan”, the restaurant was the result of a drunken evening with friends, where my frustration at previous jobs initiated a proposal to my current partners.

His dream was to put India on the global fine dining map, and the only way to do that was to take an audacious risk of doing the impossible: serving progressive Indian cuisine.

GAGGAN ANAND

GAGGAN BANGKOK, THAILAND PHOTO © ALLWECANDID

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RASMUS KOFOED

GERANIUM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Rasmus Kofoed, first he won bronze, the silver’ and finally, in 2011, he received the golden statue, the proof that he was the winner of Bocuse d’Or and thereby the title “the world’s best chef”.

Kofoed has undertaken to create meals that involve all the diner’s senses, as well as to challenge perceptions through his cooking. Practicing minimalistic cooking, Geranium is a lucid, light and dynamic kitchen. With a mission to create meals that involve all senses - restores, challenges and enriches.

Geranium quickly grew a reputation for its inventive and highly intuitive culinary approach through its aim to explore the area of tension between the urbane and the natural with dishes of amazing delicacy.

Among the ingredients on Geranium’s tasting menu, ceps, heather, sheep butter, dried leaves and pine needles contribute to this Nordic experience of terroir cooking at its finest.

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RAZOR CLAMS

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CHARCOAL

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BEST IN SOUTH AMERICA

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

Virgilio’s interdisciplinary team that complements each new “discovery” in a necessary context that seeks to transcend the strictly culinary and penetrate nutritional, biological, anthropological aspects.

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ANDONI LUIS ADURIZ

MUGARITZ SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN

Andoni Luis Aduriz is undoubtedly one of the most influential chefs of our time.

Throughout his career, he has remained highly committed to culinary evolution, making him somewhat of a rebel in the kitchen.

Aduriz intends a meal at Mugaritz to shock and surprise as well as delight with ‘trompes l’oeils’–culinary tricks of the eye. Mugaritz delivers a gastronomic experience of 24 dishes.

Pleasure is experienced in an unpredictable melody where sensory harmonies, emotions, and culinary messages lyrically intertwine.

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

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

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

BREAD AND WINE, ETERNAL LIFE...

PHOTO © JOSÉ LUIS LÓPEZ DE ZUBIRÍA

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CHOUS ROUGE POMME & OIGNONS

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

Alain has been viscerally bound to his burners for the past 30 years. Relentlessly seeking, with each movement and with the utmost respect, to bring out the best in his subject. By preserving its color, essence, hues and scent, he restores purity to the product. Roasting is no secret to Alain Passard. The talent that his grandmother passed down to him and this passion for the flame were the key ingredients behind the longtime success of his slow-cooked choice meats.

Today, he applies this fascination and know-how to the vegetables he roasts, grills or flambés…Working the art of open flame stays crucial; “Learn how to travel delicately with your pan on the open flame guaranties texture, taste, color, light and transparency with your vegetables” Alain plays particularly with colours, perfumes, savoury of the vegetable kingdom. Working with vegetables is, in a way, an incentive to replant the earth, to tackle a new language, a different vocabulary.

Alain Passard’s quest for perfection is no less intense in the decoration of his dining room than in the heart of each course; he craves continual harmony.

ALAIN PASSARD

ARPÈGE PARIS, FRANCE

PHOTO © DOUGLAS MCWALL

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Mateu Casañas Oriol Castro Eduard Xatruch DISFRUTAR BARCELONA, SPAIN

Following El Bulli’s 2011 closure, Casañas, Castro and Xatruch opened Compartir (meaning “share”) in the nearby coastal town of Cadaqués.

Building on the success of their initial venture, the trio launched Disfrutar to widespread acclaim, earning their first Michelin star in 2016.

In Barcelona the gastronomic offer revolves around the tasting menu, with clearly avant-garde cuisine and where the dishes stand out for their great, markedly Mediterranean identity. In short, a restaurant with daring, fun and modern cuisine searching for taste as

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the main proposition. Disfrutar is not a replica of Compartir, but they are united by inherent aspects that reflect the three chefs and owners: a comfortable and welcoming ambience; attentive, close and relaxed, with a great team led in the kitchen and in the dining room. Their multi-course tasting menus uphold modernist culinary principles, they also reveal the chefs’ quirky personalities. Avant-garde, theatrical and inventive, each course aims to delight and excite the senses.

Centrally located in Barcelona’s Eixample district, Disfrutar evokes a Mediterranean spirit with its décor and laid-back ambience. Respect for the history and legacy of the Mediterranean, the inspiration and ceramics is the common theme marking the interior. The entrance area is inspired by Barcelona, by the wrought iron and bright and earthen-colored of Mironian ceramics. The central corridor, made from ceramic with the colors and textures of clay, goes through the kitchen which is completely visible to clients and leads to the main dining room. This is inspired by small fishing villages and stands out as a bright, white space, that transports one outside the city and connects with the terrace; a symbolic nod to Barcelona’s cultural heritage and the restaurant’s focus on artistry.

PANDANG

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Micha, as everybody calls him, was born in Lima and since his childhood Micha has always been very passionate about cooking. While studying, he trained in various hotels and restaurants in Rhode Island and did his internship in Swissotel Lima. With the newspaper El Comercio, he worked to develop the “The Great Encyclopedia of Peruvian Cuisine�. After graduating, he decides to go to Osaka, Japan to specialize in Japanese cuisine, where he worked at Seto Sushi specializing in sushi and with Izakaya style cuisine at Imo to Daikon.

His passion for Japanese and Peruvian cuisine led him to create Maido, a Japanese restaurant with a Peruvian heart. It is a fervent and unique love, Peru has always been his source of inspiration. The landscapes, the products and the creativity of Peruvian people are the ingredients that play in his mind and inspire his work.

Here the cook is not the protagonist, but it is the top quality ingredients that promise the artist the creation of the unique work of art. This wonderful cuisine is the reflection of the Japanese influence on the Peruvian gastronomy.

The ingredients of both cultures complement each other as if they had been born to be one. It is an honest cuisine with unique textures and flavors.

MITSUHARU TSUMURA

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ZAIYU HASEGAWA

DEN TOKYO, JAPAN

ART OF HOSPITALITY

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PHOTO © SHINICHIRO FUJII

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Zaiyu Hasegawa interest in cooking was through the Bento which his mother would bring back from the ryōtei (high-end Japanese restaurant) where she worked as a geisha when he was a young. After graduating high school, he received training at a ryōtei “Kagurazaka Uwoto ku” from age of 18 as living and working. Acquired experience in the other various restaurants.

Became independent in 2007 at age of 29 and opened” Den” in Jimbocho, Tokyo. While appreciating the value of Japanese tradition to incorporate excellent ingredients, the four seasons and unique Japanese culture, as well as introducing a new form of Japanese cuisine that is different from the original Japanese style.

GARDEN SALAD

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CHIA TOSTADA AVOCADO PUREE

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BEST IN NORTH AMERICA

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

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

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

ENRIQUE OLVERA

PUJOL MEXICO CITY, MEXICO PHOTO © ARACELI PAZ

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VLADIMIR MUKHIN

WHITE RABBIT MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Vladimir Mukhin is one of the brightest representatives of modern Russian cuisine. He is looking for new products in gastronomical expeditions and masters the latest trends combining cocktails with food. His mission is to popularize Russian cuisine worldwide. This 5th generation chef became the first chef in the history of modern Russian cuisine to tour in France.

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

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

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CRAB, CARROTS, PIKE CAVIAR AND SALTED EGG YOLK

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GARLIC MUSHROOMS

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Eneko Axta’s level of commitment to innovation has been the cornerstone of his career and of Azurmendi’s success.

His cuisine, imaginative but without stridency, is based on the produce of the traditional Basque recipe book.

He knows how to add a pinch of modernity to the local cuisine through universal touches unlike anybody else.

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

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

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

ENEKO ATXA

AZURMENDI LARRABETZU, SPAIN PHOTO © DAVID MUNCHARAZ

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BERTRAND GRÉBAUT

SEPTIME PARIS, FRANCE

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After training at l’ESAG – one of France’s best culinary schools – chef Grébaut worked in the kitchens of Marius et Jeannette and La Table de Joël Robuchon, only to find himself working in L’Arpège under Alain Passard in 2006. Having spent four years at the restaurant, while it won its first Michelin star, he left in 2011 only Bertrand Grébaut has brought modern French to open Septime a year later. cuisine to the 11 Arrondissement of Paris.

Septime’s menu reflects Grébaut’s delicate Since its opening, Septime has been and dynamic cooking style developed from the talk of the town, earning accolades his time under the wings of Alain Passard and for Grébaut’s cuisine, his creative, travels through Asia. progressive menu that changes every day depending on the fresh ingredients available. He has since opened Septime La Cave, a wine bar and Clamato, an oyster bar, in Paris.

GRILLED GREEN ASPARAGUS, WILD HERB CONDIMENT, PICKLED WILD GARLIC , BLACK PORK BACON

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LOUP, BETTERAVES, CHARCOAL AGRUMES

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“To eat more healthily and naturally is today both an expectation and a necessity that must be translated into the field of haute cuisine. Exceptional produce expressing their simplicity, a technique which has the elegance to take a step back to their benefit. This is the cuisine I sincerely love. Cuisine of Naturalness, released, freed. This very personal interpretation is indeed, here, in my restaurant at the Plaza Athénée.”

Alain Ducasse.

Alain Ducasse tells a personal and radical story, continuing the work he began twenty-five years ago. He represents the naturalness cuisine, inspired by the fish-vegetables-cereals trilogy. A trilogy of produce which has a specific meaning: a diet more in tune with nature and better for your health.

Focusing on the quality of produce, the cook participates in environmental preservation. The choice of produce that Alain Ducasse selects at the Plaza Athénée demonstrates his commitment as a chef and as a citizen.

Naturalness cuisine is respectful of our planet’s resources. In the face of nature, cuisine is modest and adapts itself.

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

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

ALAIN DUCASSE

ALAIN DUCASSE AU PLAZA ATHÉNÉE PARIS, FRANCE PHOTO © PIERRE MONETTA

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HEINZ REITBAUER

STEIRERECK VIENNA, AUSTRIA

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

AMUR CARP

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HEIRLOOM BEETROOT VARIATION

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Award-winning chef Julien Royer is coowner of Odette, this Modern French restaurant is constantly evolving and showcases globally sourced produce underpinned by classic French culinary techniques.

Odette is named in tribute to Royer’s grandmother, one of his greatest influences in life and in the kitchen, and reflects her belief in always ensuring that the fundamental pleasures of enjoying a meal are delivered in the most thoughtful, welcoming and hospitable manner. Julien takes pride in offering guests a unique opportunity to taste these exceptional ingredients at their peak in his restaurant in the heart of a city that is itself at the crossroads of the world. The result of this devotion to sourcing is an inspired effort that celebrates and respects seasonality, terroir as well as the skills of some of the world’s top boutique producers.

JULIEN ROYER

ODETTE SINGAPORE

Odette is ultimately a celebration of people…

PHOTO © DAVID MUNCHARAZ

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SERGEY & IVAN BEREZUTSKIY TWINS GARDEN MOSCOW, RUSSIA

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Sergey and Ivan are both accomplished young chefs, Sergey trained under Grant Achatz at Alinea in Chicago and Ivan under Ferran Adria at El Bulli in Spain. They look almost identical. After about a decade of working on their own, Sergey

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and Ivan have come together to open a restaurant in Moscow. They made a deal, if they won the San Pellegrino Cooking Cup, they would open a restaurant together and they made good on their promise. Sergey has long leaned toward Russian traditions such as stroganina and baked tongue, but he also likes Russian foods and modernizing them through technique. The brothers have made it their personal mission to unearth Russia’s finest ingredients. They travel the country four times a year and have a forager on the team full-time.

GARDEN SALAD

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

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

ALBERT ADRIÀ

TICKETS BARCELONA, SPAIN

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BJORN FRANTZÉN

FRANTZÉN STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

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Björn Frantzén, chef and founder of the Michelin star Restaurant Frantzén in Stockholm, Sweden. Surprisingly, Björn’s culinary career began as a chef in the Swedish Army, a position he took after graduating from culinary school. He then took his culinary skills to civilian territory, working at Chez Nicoin London before taking a job at Edsbacka Krogin Sweden in 1998. It was there that he met Daniel Lindeberg, who later became his business partner and cofounder of Restaurant Frantzén/Lindeberg. Daniel and Björn earned their first Michelin star at Restaurant Frantzén/Lindebergin 2009, followed by a second in 2010. In 2013, Restaurant Frantzén/Lindeberg became Björn’s sole project, renamed Restaurant Frantzén, while still maintaining its Michelin star status.

Björn’s cuisine is far from the traditional fare, his menu offers guests a series of surprises – a culinary style that has cemented him at the vanguard of Nordic cuisine.

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AMADAI & SAKURA

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Sustainability and Gastronomy - this is the theme of Yoshihiro Narisawa. He is a pioneer of cuisine connected to the preservation of the natural environment.

Having travelled to his producers fields, having stepped into the earth, and having built a relationship with the natural world, he has created dishes such as ‘Soil Soup”, “Water Salad”, “Essence of the Forest”.

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

Taking this idea a step further is the theme, “Evolve with the Forest”, a calling towards the forests that make up the Japanese land. This theme captured the attention of chefs around the world, directing attention to their own countries natural lands, leading to chef Narisawa being named “Most Influential Chef” at Madrid Fusion 2010.

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

Traditional Japanese, Satoyama culture, where man and nature live together.

This spirit of natural life using the same characters for the word nature (shizen) but a different pronunciation,”ji’nen” is beyond mere nature, but the whole natural, spiritual world, of which humans are but one part in its flow. From this, two ideas the chef continuously supports, “Sustainable,” towards the environment, and “Beneficial Gastronomy,” to eat healthy, fine food.

YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA NARISAWA TOKYO, JAPAN

PHOTO © SERGIO COIMBRA

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DANIELA SOTO-INNES

COSME NEW YORK, USA

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Coming from a long line of women who love food and cooking. Visiting food markets and restaurants in Mexico City from a young age, she was instilled with curiosity for flavors and interest in baking. At the age of 5, she was placed in after-school cooking classes and never looked back. Moving to the U.S. years later, she enrolled in the culinary program at her career academy high school from which she was recruited to work at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott at age 15. She then moved to Austin, Texas where she graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. After traveling and staging at restaurants in Texas, New York, and Europe, she joined Brennan’s of Houston where she worked throughout the whole kitchen helping Chef Danny Trace create tasting menus.

Two years later, she joined the progressive American restaurant Triniti, followed by the charcuterie driven restaurant Underbelly with Chef Chris Shepherd, a mentor who pushed her to become a leader in the kitchen. After a stage in the kitchen of Pujol, Soto-Innes was offered a full-time position working alongside Enrique Olvera. In 2014, she opened Cosme in New York City as Chef de Cuisine, where she quickly began garnering praise as one of the city’s top young chefs.

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CACTUS CEBICHE WITH BEET ROOT AND MANDARIN

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Jorge Vallejo is one of Mexico’s most recognized chef on the culinary scene, at home and abroad, whose solid, ever-upward career path has been an unstinting labor of love and enthusiasm.

After discovering his culinary bent as a teenager, Vallejo entered the Centro Culinario de México to study Culinary Administration and Arts. A restless spirit led him to set sail with Princess Cruises in 2004, where he worked on voyages to all corners of the globe. Once back on land, he joined the team at Pujol and was later Corporate Chef at Grupo Habita, where he oversaw kitchens at the Condesadf, Habita and Distrito Capital hotels. He became Executive Chef at the St. Regis hotel’s Restaurante Diana, in 2010, before traveling to Copenhagen for a season at Noma. That same year, in collaboration with Mauro Colagreco and Virgilio Martínez.

2012 was a critical year. Alongside his wife Alejandra Flores, Vallejo opened Quintonil, his “life project”; a gastronomic proposal that clearly expresses the flavors and forms of modern Mexican cooking. He strives to use ingredients derived from Mexico’s small-scale producers to create dishes that take every day, home style flavors to an even higher level.

JORGE VALLEJO

QUINTONIL MEXICO CITY, MEXICO PHOTO © FERNANDO CARBAJAL

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YANNICK ALLÉNO

ALLÉNO PARIS AU PAVILLON LEDOYEN PARIS, FRANCE

“Prince of the Palaces”, as he was nicknamed in the early 2000’s, Yannick Alléno is much more than that. A mole in the hole, a revolutionary within the French establishment, slowly finding his way to detonate gastronomic codes from the inside. His work there is unrivaled in culinary creativity, with tradition and technology joining forces, putting extractions and modern sauces into the limelight for a most elegant, stylized transgression of the somewhat stiff rules of the Great Old (French Culinary) Party.

Yannick Alléno advocates a French cuisine that draws its strength from its heritage but is also ambitious in its creativity. He has developed a visionary approach to the culinary arts in which know-how and excellence are combined with audacity that pushes boundaries to better experience new flavors and exalt tastes.

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

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

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PHOTO © GEOFFROY DE BOISMENU

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SOUPE IMPROBABLE

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JESSICA PRÉALPATO

The Head Pastry Chef at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris, Jessica Préalpato, has been voted The World’s Best Pastry Chef 2019.

Born into a family of pastry cooks, dessert was always going to be a key player in Préalpato’s life. Growing up in Mont de Marsan, she first pursued a degree in psychology, before realising her true calling: to create natural desserts. Her work majors in the best use of seasonal produce, creating plates that are high in flavour, but also light on the palate.

Préalpato began her career in the kitchen at La Chèvre d’Or in Eze where she worked under Philippe Labbé. After several positions in restaurants in southwestern France, Préalpato then joined Frédéric Vardon’s team for the opening of the 39V restaurant in Paris, before moving to the Park Hyatt ParisVendôme. In November 2012, Frédéric Vardon offered her a position as Chef Pâtissière for the Corfou Group. During her tenure, she travelled throughout France and other parts of the world, including Dubai, Tokyo, Beirut and St. Petersburg.

She learned extensively about other cultures and discovered new types of produce and styles of cooking, which she incorporated into her culinary repertoire.

In November 2015, she joined the staff at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée as Pastry Chef, working under chef de cuisine Romain Meder. At the acclaimed Parisian restaurant, currently ranked No.13 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 list, she has further built her repertoire and reputation.

JESSICA PRÉALPATO WORLD’S BEST PASTRY CHEF

Préalpato’s signature dishes include strawberry clafoutis with frosted pine and Millason cake, and ‘figue’, which features figs cooked three ways with a fig ice cream and a light biscuit.

She recently published Desseralité, her book on creative approaches to fruit-based desserts, which was released in November 2018.

“It is an absolute honour to be recognised as The World’s Best Pastry Chef. As the daughter of two pastry chefs, I have been immersed in the world of culinary arts my entire life.

This award represents my life journey and the passion I have for this art. I hope this award inspires emerging pastry chefs around the world.”

In receiving this award, Préalpato joins an elite group of world-class pastry chefs, including 2018 winner Cédric Grolet, 2017 winner Dominique Ansel, 2016 winner Pierre Hermé and 2015 winner Albert Adrià in The World’s Best Pastry Chef hall of fame.

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RODOLFO GUZMÁN BORAGÓ SANTIAGO, CHILE

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PHOTO © CRISTOBAL PALMA

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Rodolfo Guzmán runs his kitchen based on the Chilean territory and its seafood, products from the native forests, valleys and mountains, respecting what the earth is capable of giving us at any given moment, just like the Mapuches and Pehuenches proposed, but not only this. Rodolfo, with his team have dedicated themselves to document the uses and properties of all that is endemic Chilean life.

Exploring new possibilities, through a collaboration of more than 200 people from foraging communities and small producers from the entire length of Chile. This for years, has allowed access to a product unique in all the world, with a huge cultural weight, transformed by a true ritual, to represent the temperament of the Chilean environment, looking back in time into our natives to shape the future of Chilean cuisine.

In an effort to go beyond, Guzmán has tried to reinvent Chilean food from a point of view one may think is invaluable. Using the ancestor legacy of cooking over different kinds of rocks, and smoking with indigenous woods that come from diverse regions of our country. A cuisine develop at Boragó which is based on the environment, and “what the earth is ready to give us at this moment.” Rodolfo Guzmán uses the legacy of his Chilean forebears in his cuisine, cooking on hot stones and smoking with native woods from all parts of Chile.

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DUCK

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Growing up in Glasgow, Isaac McHale’s eyes were opened to the world of food.

Indian cuisine being prominent in Glasgow, Isaac passion prompted him to find out how to cook pakora’s – a North Indian snack, this was the start to his culinary journey. Teaching himself, reading books and learning about Indian spices. Isaac made pakora’s and several other Indian dishes, his inquisitive nature allowed him to try his hand at South East Asian and Chinese cuisine, which today is one of his main influences in his cuisine. Completing his internships with Tom Aikens, René Redzepi and Mark Best and working for six years at Ledbury. His short stage at Noma has a lasting effect and is prominent in his current cuisine which is full of flavor combinations.

ISAAC McHALE

THE CLOVE CLUB LONDON, UK

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DAN BARBER

BLUE HILL AT STONE BARNS POCANTICO HILLS, USA

Dan Barber is the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and the author of The Third Plate. His opinions on food and agricultural policy have appeared in the New York Times, along with many other publications.

Sourcing from the surrounding fields and pasture, as well as other local farms, Blue Hill at Stone Barns highlights the abundant resources of the Hudson Valley.

There are no menus at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Instead, guests are offered the multi-taste Grazing, Rooting, Pecking menu featuring the best offerings from the field and market.

Dan continues the work that he began as a member of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture’s board of directors: to blur the line between the dining experience and the educational, bringing the principles of good farming directly to the table.

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PHOTO © SUSIE CUSHNER

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TREVISO, SARDINE CREAM, SMOKED ROE PHOTO © ANDRE BARANOWSKI

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PINK RISOTTO AND PRAWNS

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Enrico Crippa loves Eddy Merckx. He also loves Brussels, his mentor Gualtiero Marchesi, the eternal fiancĂŠe Silvia plus the whole Ceretto family who picked him (him and no one else) among dozens and dozens of candidates to make a dream come true. To give to Alba, the small town of Piemonte, capital of white truffle and imperial Barolos, Piazza Duomo, an avant-garde restaurant meant to be nothing less than its herald around the world. That was then (in 2005), this is now: Enrico Crippa is unrivaled when it comes to redefining purity and concentration, mastering a zen-like precision and a creativity renewed daily, at the break of dawn, in the two gardens of miracles, his much-beloved source of inspiration, just outside town.

ENRICO CRIPPA

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MASSIMILIANO ALAJMO

LE CALANDRE RUBANO, ITALY

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

His distinctive approach to cuisine finds is reflected in the dining room of Le Calandre. Everything from the handcarved wooden tables to the glassware and room fragrance was designed by the Alajmo brothers and produced by master Italian artisans. Max’s cuisine is the fruit of a study that goes beyond taste.

He approaches ingredients with respect, researching them in depth, in order to understand their true essence and bring out the best in them.

His dishes capture all of our senses; beginning with the most evocative of the five, our sense of smell. According to Max, the ephemeral component of aromas and perfumes is compensated by their immediacy and ability to create lasting memories, particularly in relation to food.

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PHOTO © SOPHIE DELAUW

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HAND-CHOPPED PIEMONTESE BEEF PHOTO © SERGIO COIMBRA

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FRIED ANCHOVIES, OATS CREAM AND SAGE

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Core, heart, essence is Josean Alija’s culinary philosophy. Muina has no literal translation in English. But is the term that best identifies Alija’s way of seeing things, among them gastronomy. It is the world that best defines him. It refers to the soul, the substance, but also the brain and knowledge.

Muina is a general concept that encapsulates what he is and what he has offer. It enables the creative process to be viewed as a journey to the source of the things, to their roots, allowing their true potential to be developed fully through the description of rounded, complete and pleasurable sensations. This is what Muina holds: a very personal representation of the world and the reality that surrounds him. Acceptance, specification and loyalty to a series of values leads him to follow the same path constantly, never straying from it. It is the determination to share knowledge, research, projects, life experiences and emotions.

Muina is the way in which he understands the complete gastronomic experience, the unique result of focusing attention on the purity of things.

Every season, he leaves his kitchens to get to know about the products in depth. He does it in the company of his producers, who feel Nerua as theirs, they know that without them, he could not do what he does. As he works on the menu, he explores the environment, selecting the most special and magical products to be able to cook. It is about discovering, recovering products and playing with the excellence of temporality and local products. He feel lucky about not giving up on ingredients because he has enough of patience to get things done and he does not stop investigating until he gets the expected result.

JOSEAN ALIJA NERUA BILBAO, SPAIN

PHOTO © ANDONI EPELDE

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JAMES LOWE LYLE’S LONDON

Starting his kitchen career at 23, James stumbled into a job as a waiter in Wapping, East London to make ends meet. Luck had it that he was taken by the restaurant’s talented chefs and their respect and adoration for the produce that they were handling. This first imprint of the culinary world still resonates at James’ restaurant, Lyle’s, which is also in East London. With his heart re-set on becoming a chef and determined to own his own restaurant by the time that he was 30, he worked tirelessly at The Fat Duck, Rob Weston’s La Trompette and ‘s St Johns, finally working with his friend in a pop-up at The Ten Bells pub-cum-restaurant before fulfilling his heart’s yearning to open his own restaurant. Lyle’s was born.

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18 months after opening, James and his team were awarded a coveted Michelin star.

At Lyle’s the cuisine is devoted to fresh and seasonal produce making for stunning dishes that echo the roots of each ingredient. With a passion for learning, James is on a quest to invite world-wide chefs to cook with him and teach him about their produce, in exchange for his knowledge of British produce and an opportunity to cook with them. The menu is therefore forever expanding, with local produce at its core and a peppering of international highlights.

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In the centre of Palermo, one of Buenos Aires’ oldest neighborhoods is the celebrated parrilla in Argentina Don Julio. Specialized in great products, great service, and a great concept where all the beef at Don Julio is from grassfed Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle, raised in the countryside outside Buenos Aires. A menu where every part of the cow is served from the house cuts like bife de cuadril and entraña to a lightly seasoned fried beef empanadas and crispy mollejas with lemon juice and salt. All the beef is cooked on a traditional V iron grill by Bienvenido Sotelo, grillmaster.

Don Julio was created by three generations of one family, when Pablo Rivero was in his 20’s the restaurant opened and it’s said that his mother, father and grandfather, all of whom had backgrounds in beef farming and butchery, helped create the restaurant to give Pablo a job.

PABLO JESUS RIVERO

DON JULIO BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

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DOMINIQUE CRENN

ATELIER CRENN SAN FRANCISCO, USA Dominique Crenn, the chef/ owner of Three Michelin starred Atelier Crenn of San Francisco, focuses on cuisine as a craft and the community as an inspiration. Crenn’s parents both had a strong influence on her interest and love for the culinary arts, and she began her formal culinary training when she moved to San Francisco in 1988 to work at Stars, under luminaries Jeremiah Tower and Mark Franz. Crenn opened Atelier Crenn, a deeply personal project, where her heritage and ode to “poetic culinaria” is embodied through the whimsical creations she shares with her guests. Crenn continues to be an active member of the international culinary community, to promote innovation, sustainability, and equality, through her collaboration with Basque Culinary Center, TasTAFE, and others.

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PHOTO © JORDAN WISE PHOTOGRAPHY

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GEODUCK, SEA URCHIN, AND CITRUS

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JOSÉ ANDRÉS

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JOSÉ ANDRÉS

AMERICAN EXPRESS ICON AWARD US-based Spanish chef and humanitarian José Andrés has been awarded the American Express Icon Award 2019. This prestigious honor is part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and celebrates an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the restaurant industry worthy of international recognition and who has used the platform that his profile as a chef provides to raise awareness and drive change.

The award reflects his overall career as a pioneering chef and restaurateur as well as his more recent humanitarian work, both of which have brought him to the status of a global culinary icon.

Jose Andrés says: “I’m very humbled to receive this award, to make sure that I will give voice to those who are voiceless.

I will try to make sure that we bring hope, one plate of food at a time.”

Born in Asturias, northern Spain, Chef Andrés is the man credited with bringing both authentic tapas and innovative contemporary Spanish cuisine to the US. After spending two years with Ferran Adrià at legendary modernist restaurant El Bulli, in 1991 he packed his bags for the States with just $50 in his pocket.

Today, his ThinkFoodGroup includes more than 30 restaurants, including the two Michelin-starred minibar by José Andrés in Washington, DC, which serves some of the most avant-garde cuisine in the world. His array of restaurants ranges from experimental tasting-menu-only counter dining experiences to authentic regional cuisines and fast-casual concepts, which are focused on impeccably sourced ingredients served simply, often in a small-plate or tapas style.

Twice awarded Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, Andrés’ humanitarian work has received widespread recognition. In 2016 he was awarded a National Humanities Medal at the White House by President Obama, and in 2018 he was named Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation for the role of his non-profit organization, World Central Kitchen, in providing nearly 4 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. His book recounting his experience in Puerto Rico, We Fed An Island, is a New York Times bestseller.

He has recently broadened his restaurant reach with a new location of Jaleo, his first restaurant, at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, as well as the 35,000-square foot Mercado Little Spain in New York’s Hudson Yards development, which combines a variety of Spanish restaurants, bars and food and retail kiosks under one roof. Described as “a veritable love letter to Spain”, the project, inspired by the mercados central to social life in Spain, was developed with creative collaboration from brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià, with whom he worked at El Bulli at the start of his career.

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ERIC RIPERT

LE BERNARDIN NEW YORK,

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PHOTO © NIGEL PARRY

“For me, food is about memories, feelings, emotions, and so is Le Bernardin, and that’s why it’s not just a restaurant” Eric Ripert Eric Ripert is grateful for his early exposure to cuisine.

His family instilled their own passion for food in the young Ripert. He seized the opportunity in 1989 to work under Jean-Louis Palladin as sous-chef at Jean Louis at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. He then moved to New York in 1991, working briefly as David Bouley’s sous-chef before Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze recruited him as chef for Le Bernardin where he took over after Gilbert’s untimely passing in 1994.

Maguy Le Coze began working closely with Eric Ripert, a disciple and close friend of Gilbert, who took over the kitchen to continue preparing the freshest seafood with the simple philosophy that the fish is the star of the plate.

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DARK CHOCOLATE PHOTO © SHIMON TAMMAR

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Grant Achatz started flipping eggs at his parent’s Michigan restaurant, he graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America, which then took him to Chicago and a stint at Charlie Trotter’s, followed by a tour of some of Europe’s Michelin-starred restaurants.

It wasn’t until his four-year post at The French Laundry with Thomas Keller that Grant really hit his stride, learning how to cook and how to live life. During his time there, he took a one-year break from the kitchen to work as an assistant winemaker at La Jota Vineyards. And in 2000, a brief stop at Ferran Adria’s El Bulli helped crystallize Grant’s future.

At 26, Grant accepted his first executive chef position at Trio in Evanston, Illinois which got the attention of Nick Kokonas, who would become Grant’s partner in the creation of Alinea. Alinea revolutionize the Chicago restaurant scene and quickly gained national and international attention. In 2010, Grant co-authored his memoir Life, on the Line. Grant also teamed up with Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences for its Science & Cooking lecture series, and was recently featured in Joseph Levy’s documentary “Spinning Plates.”

GRANT ACHATZ

ALINEA CHICAGO, USA PHOTO © MATTHEW GILSON

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ANA ROŠ

HIŠA FRANKO KOBARID, SLOVENIA

Anyone trying one of Ana’s dishes today would never imagine that she’s ever done anything else but cook. With perfect technique, Ana manages to combine different, contrasting flavors and textures into dishes that are so delicious they stay in the memory for ages. Her decision to work mainly with local ingredients (lamb from neighboring mountains, goat kids, game, local pasture beef, even bear, wild herbs and flowers, fantastic milk products, trout, honey and wild fruits) is based on the natural ethos of Hiša Franko. But also because she believe that a guest who travels 500 or even 1000 kilometers to eat her food should experience her food as an ambassador for the local area, people and culture. For her, using local ingredients also means supporting local producers.

Her approach to the kitchen today is technical, almost scientific, but it still allows the ingredients to develop or preserve the original strong taste. ‘Raw’ is her favorite. The element of surprise is essential for her – alternating textures (cold/warm, soft/hard) or some taste contrast (bitter/sour; sweet/salty). “We have a herb and vegetable garden at the back of the house from which we harvest our all-important herbs and spices.”

The former diplomacy student Ana Roš has brought back lots of inspiration and ideas from her travels. These find their way into her seasonal and locally oriented dishes to create a cuisine that is best described as worldly local. Or, as we like to say: absolutely delicious!

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PHOTO © ROBERT RIBIC

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MARBLE TROUT PHOTO © SUZAN GABRIJAN

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SCALLOP DIM SUM PHOTO © ASA SELECTION

WG MAGAZINE

Tim Raue presents an Asian inspired cuisine which can be best described as a combination of Japanese product perfection, Thai flavors and the Chinese kitchen philosophy. Raue only serves dishes that release energy and joie de vivre to the body instead of stressing it.

Therefore, he abandons supplements such as bread, pasta and rice, as well as white sugar, dairy products and gluten. His menu features Raue classics.

Highlight of Restaurant Tim Raue is “The KRUG Table”, a massive oak wood table with handmade, metal marqueterie.

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

TIM RAUE

RESTAURANT TIM RAUE BERLIN, GERMANY PHOTO © NILS HASENAU

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KWOK KEUNG TUNG THE CHAIRMAN HONG KONG, CHINA

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The Chairman is helmed by chef Kwok Keung-tung. Originally starting out as an apprentice cooking Cantonese, Taiwanese and Sichuan fare, he became head of The Chairman almost a decade ago.

Cantonese cuisine has a history of two thousand years. Today it has evolved to become the most popular and widely influential cuisine among the “eight culinary classical styles” of China. The reason for its success boils down to one keyword: “freshness”. The Chairman’s aspiration is to continue this legacy. hat is why, as much as possible, they use locally sourced ingredients, products from local condiment stores and seafood from local fishermen. Their cooking style is fundamentally built on tradition, the aim at bringing out the original flavours of the ingredients rather than showing off or overplaying.

“We always believe that the most simple food demands the highest level of culinary skills, thus requiring even more thoughts. The Chairman’s “razor clams steamed with aged lemon and mixed herbs” is fragrantly garnished with lemon aged over 10 years. The “smoked baby pigeon with Longjing tea and chrysanthemum” is prepared in traditional ways with 20 days’ young pigeons until the bones are tender. The “wild clams stir fried with chilli jam and basil” tastes so good because the chilli jam is made with slow-cooked oxtail, and “The Chairman soy sauce chicken” uses herbs which are even more expensive than the chicken.”

KING PRAWNS COOKED IN FISH AND RICE BROTH, DEEP FRIED PEPPERED PRAWN HEADS

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CHOCO PHOTO © BOA ONDA

WG MAGAZINE

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

At Belcanto, José Avillez offers a contemporary Portuguese cuisine in a sophisticated and comfortable setting that takes us on a journey in time, from Chiado’s old romantic feel to the future. In a place full of details, where art and memories share the space, José Avillez offers a unique sensory and gastronomic journey.

Opened in 1958, in Chiado, in the beautiful São Carlos Square, next to the São Carlos National Theatre and to the house where the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa was born. The privileged location in Lisbon’s historic center, the sober ambiance, the discrete service and its cuisine soon won over Lisbon’s elite who turned Belcanto into an inescapable meeting place.

José Avillez and his team consider haute cuisine a way of expression. At Belcanto, they share their inspirations, emotions and angsts through representations and culinary illusions. Each dish tells a story and its aim is to move those willing to try it.

Belcanto was distinguished with one Michelin star in 2012, and in 2014 with a second one. Belcanto by José Avillez was the first restaurant in Lisbon to be distinguished with two Michelin stars and José Avillez the first Portuguese chef to receive this accolade in Portugal.

JOSÉ AVILLEZ

BELCANTO LISBON, PORTUGAL PHOTO © LUIS MILEU

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PETER GOOSSENS

HOF VAN CLEVE KRUISHOUTEM, BELGIUM

In order to cook at the highest level every day and guarantee an exceptional experience for our guest, it is important that the interior of our restaurant exudes the same traditional spirit and identity that the kitchen does. Our preparations are, after all, in my opinion, the result of a great deal of effort at various levels. Indeed, we handle the best local products that the gardeners, farmers, growers, fishermen, hunters and cheese refiners can provide. Out of respect for their passionate work and thanks to their fantastic ingredients, we are able to provide our guests with a unique culinary experience. This makes cooking a true craft.

Peter Goossens has been flying the flag for Belgian fine dining for more than 25 years at his beautiful farmhouse set among the fields of Flanders. The rustic exterior belies the sleek elegance of the dining rooms within, which are adorned with modern art by some of the country’s leading painters and handmade Belgian glassware, furniture and crockery.

Peter Goossens prefers to savour what is exceptionally delicious. And he not the only one. Living in a country full of good food and partygoers.

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

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

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PHOTO © MATTHEW GILSON

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OYSTER PHOTO © PIET DE KERSGIETER

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RICCARDO CAMANINI

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Ristorante Lido 84 in Gardone Riviera on the western shores of Lake Garda has been named this year’s Miele One To Watch by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. This coveted award celebrates emerging global talent and recognises a restaurant that is outside the 1-50 list with the potential to rise into The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking, sponsored

by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, in the future. Chef Riccardo Camanini and brother and co-owner Giancarlo Camanini, who runs the front of house, will be presented with this prestigious award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards ceremony at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on 25 June.

RICCARDO CAMANINI MIELE ONE TO WATCH LIDO 84

The restaurant was previously a retro ‘lido’, or outdoor swimming pool, owned by an elderly lady and her family.

Opening in 2014, the brothers respected the site’s heritage, making few changes to the original building and using the colours of the lake as inspiration for the interior design.

The glorious views over the water from the outdoor terrace certainly add to the dining experience. Provenance is central to the restaurant’s culinary philosophy with dishes taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape of Lake Garda, including raw mountain milk used to produce Fior Di Latte ice cream, Bagòss cheese for tortellini dishes, pike from Lake Garda, eel, olive oil, lemons and wisteria flowers from the hills for the desserts.

Chef Riccardo comments: “We are extremely surprised and didn’t expect such a desirable recognition on an international level.” Giancarlo adds: “To be placed alongside those that represent the best in international gastronomic excellence has left us speechless.”

The chef’s signature cacio e pepe ‘en Vessie’ sees the famous Roman dish of pasta, cheese and pepper presented tableside inside an inflated pig bladder. Combining stunning aroma and flavours with a dash of theatre, the plate has already become a cult classic in its short life. The brothers work assiduously to ensure the kitchen’s dishes and overall dining experience are in harmony. “We are inspired by the concept of beauty,” says Giancarlo. “Beauty manifests itself in so many ways: not simply interior design, table settings, gardens or the place in which the restaurant is located; we also see beauty as working together as a family, which is reflected in our team members, some of whom have been with us since the launch of our restaurant in March 2014.”

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LUKE DALE ROBERTS

THE TEST KITCHEN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Luke Dale Roberts is a name synonymous with the finest, most creative and innovative food in South Africa. As its name implies, The Test Kitchen, affords Luke the opportunity for maximum innovation as a chef, as well as being a space to use as “the creative hub” for a variety of different projects, including regular cooking demonstrations. It symbolizes a stage in a creative process.

This intimate restaurant provides guests with the option of a casual or more formal dining experience, but always a taste of Luke’s apparently limitless culinary imagination and exquisite presentations.

The secret to the success of the restaurant so far is that every single person who works is completely and utterly committed to doing their level best every single day – from the selection of the produce, to presenting each dish on the plate.

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SEARED SPRINGBOK, FERMENTED RED CABBAGE, TURNIP MILK, PINE NUT DRESSING

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German Twins Chefs Thomas & Mathias Sühring’s culinary journey began while spending their annual school summer breaks at their grandparent’s farm.

At that time, they got introduced to old-school cooking techniques like fermentation, pickling, smoking, drying and curing which are rooted in the German tradition.

After years of working experience in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Thailand, Thomas and Mathias settled down in a charming 1970s villa situated in the heart of Bangkok. Without altering the soul of the house, they remodeled it and opened the dream they always had: a place for their creativity that they can call home and invite their guests and friends to discover their renewed vision of German gastronomy.

The brothers now invite their guests to their home, offering a warm hospitality in a relaxed, soothing and elegant environment.

All drinks follow the same philosophy as the twins’ cuisine. Sühring showcases the best of modern German fare inspired by childhood memories, family recipes and years of travelling experience combining the essence of traditional dishes with contemporary Central European influences. All elevated to the level of haute cuisine.

THOMAS & MATHIAS SÜHRING

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JONNIE BOER

DE LIBRIJE ZWOLLE, NETHERLANDS

Restaurant De Librije is all about taking pleasure in creating amazing dishes with perfectly matched wines in distinctive surroundings. Pure ingredients from the region are at the heart of the kitchen’s flair. Boer and his kitchen crew deliver culinary precision and Thérèse and her team guarantee an exceptional wine and dine amalgamation.

At the age of 24, Boer became Restaurant De Librije chef and a few years later he bought the iconic restaurant with his wife Thérèse, a wellrespected Sommelier and hostess. De Librije was awarded the first Michelin star in 1993, the second followed in 1999, making Jonnie Boer the youngest two star chef in the Netherlands, and the second restaurant in the Netherlands to receive the third star.

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MONKFISH PHOTO © THOMAS RUHL

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MUSSELS STUFFED WITH GLASS NOODLES AND FINE VEGETABLES PHOTO - COURTESY OF BENU

WG MAGAZINE

At the age of 17, in need of a job and at the random suggestion of a friend, Corey Lee applied for work at the Bromberg brothers’ popular restaurant, Blue Ribbon Sushi in New York’s SOHO area. He was hired for the dining room but immediately became fascinated by the unique world of the professional kitchen, an environment he found to challenge and gratify both the mind and body on many different levels. He quickly started working in the kitchen and soon realized that cooking would be his profession.

His career spanned over 20 years of working at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, including a tenure as head chef at The French Laundry where his work was recognized with a James Beard Award. Corey left The French Laundry in the summer of 2009 to begin preparations to open Benu in San Francisco. In 2010, Corey opened Benu, a small restaurant housed in a historic building in the SOMA district of San Francisco. It derives its name from the Egyptian word for the Phoenix, representing rebirth or a new beginning. The multi-course tasting menu at Benu is always reflecting seasonality, inspiration and evolution.

COREY LEE

BENU SAN FRANCISCO, USA PHOTO © ERIC WOLFINGER

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PAUL PAIRET

ULTRAVIOLET BY PAUL PAIRET SHANGHAI, CHINA

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

All guests receive the same 20-course set menu at the same time, which pushes the experience towards the essence of what a meal is about: a communion.

Ultraviolet’s 20 courses (or so) menu will move in a series of dishes grouped by size and nature.

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

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PHOTO © SCOTT WRIGHT

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FOIE GRAS CAN’T QUIT

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LOCAL SWISS PIKEPERCH KOHLRABI RADISH PHOTO © SCHLOSS SCHAUENSTEIN

WG MAGAZINE

As a teenager, Andreas Caminada realized his interest for hospitality during an internship. He started dreaming of being a chef, and today that teenage dream is a reality. He learned the essential basics of the trade at Hotel Signina in Laax and honed his skills at up-market gourmet restaurants like Hotel Walserhof in Klosters, Restaurant Wiesengrund in Uetikon am See and Restaurant Bareiss in Baiersbronn. He always knew exactly how his cooking would – and should – look: he wanted it to be an all-round experience for the guest, something that transcended mere cuisine. The obvious thing to do was to run his own show.

The next thing was to find the right location. Caminada found the perfect place to realize his vision in magnificent Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau, Switzerland, and in 2003 took over the leasehold. He set to work with a small, carefully selected team. Thanks to his untiring commitment and expertise as well as passion and the sheer delight in what he does for a living, he continuously raised the culinary benchmark. Points and stars quickly followed, together with national and international accolades.

After receiving top rankings in all major guides, Caminada decided to increase his staff.

Andreas Caminada prefers to work with rather simple and generally familiar ingredients, yet uses them in a different way. His cooking is multifaceted and his signature talent, if there is such a thing, is to create and combine various preparations of one single ingredient.

Whether crunchy, sweet, crisp, tart or bitter – each component fits intriguingly.

Andreas’ aim is to create a cuisine that has an immediately accessible quality.

His food aims to inspire wonder at how all possible facets of a meal could be so precisely synchronized, balancing an outstanding main ingredient with accompaniments sensually prepared.

Each element on the plate is given a specific role to play – and each bears his signature.

ANDREAS CAMINADA

SCHLOSS SCHAUENSTEIN FÜRSTENAU, SWITZERLAND PHOTO © VERONIQUE HOEGGER

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COFFEE ABSOLUTE GASTRONOMY BY FLAVEL MONTEIRO IS A CELEBRATION OF COFFEE AND FINE CUISINE. FROM CURITIBA IN BRAZIL TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. INSPIRED BY THE GENIUS OF 40 OF THE WORLD’S CUTTING-EDGE CULINARY PROFESSIONALS.

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Flavel Monteiro

WINNER OF THE 2019 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS WORLD BOOK AWARDS WG SUMMER 2019 -

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JOËL ROBUCHON

YOSHI IS TEN

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MINGLES WITH FLAVORS

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COOKING WITH HER SOUL

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TERRA - THE MAGIC PLACE

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PASSION FOR HOSPITALITY

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PIEDMONTESE CUISINE

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THE ITALIAN IN HOKKAIDO www.extraordinaryitalian.com

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