Get bowled over by Bistronomy

Q: What is Bistronomy?

A: Bistronomy is a worldwide food trend originating in Europe. It emphasises high quality, fresh ingredients and dishes prepared in an authentic way with a focus on flavours and simplicity – without any frills. It’s a portmanteau of the words ‘bistro’ and ‘gastronomy’ and the original idea was to combine the casual feel of a bistro with an amazing gastronomic experience.

Q: What is a typical Bistronomic dish?

A: Bowl food is a good example of Bistronomy. At the 15 on Orange Hotel, Autograph Collection, we use the freshest ingredients to craft bowl food that is healthy yet also feels like comfort food. Examples are our salmon poke bowl with fresh Norwegian salmon, our Caesar salad bowl, and our very popular green Thai chicken and prawn curry bowl.

Q: Does it have a starter-main-dessert format?

A: Yes! Bistronomy can apply to any course of food – be it starters, mains or desserts. We are a five-star hotel attracting guests from all over the world, so we need to offer continental cuisine. Our all-day, a la carte and tapas menus cater for these varied tastes under the Bistronomy theme. Our regulars will recognise some of their familiar favourites, but there’s also a whole new range of options.

Q: What is your favourite Bistronomy dish on the menu?

A: My favourite signature dish I created a while ago for a special tasting menu is the Teriyaki Norwegian salmon with Asian greens, ginger and miso butter. My personal style is adding a healthy touch with some Asian inspiration to the dishes.

Teriyaki salmon poke bowl

Q: Why is Bistronomy becoming so popular?

A: It is making the act of visiting restaurants exciting again as it is something novel. It’s a high standard of service and food in a warm, relaxed atmosphere where the dishes have a contemporary spin on the traditional – no unnecessary frills, just good food with seasonal ingredients.

Q: How is this concept being introduced by the 15 on Orange team?

A: We have introduced new menus in all our newly renovated food and beverage areas with authentic, fresh ingredients. In addition, the upgrade of the hotel has seen a complete revamp of the restaurant area. We’ve knocked down walls and shifted things around so the restaurant now looks onto a beautiful view of Table Mountain. The décor is in line with our ‘urban oasis’ mark, featuring botanical wallpaper and shades of green velvet. In this way we’ve created the bistro feel Bistronomy is famous for – elegant yet simple food in a relaxed setting.

15 on Orange Autograph Collection restaurant

Q: Why do South African restaurants and hotels need to keep up with the trend?

A: Our guests come from all over the world and are used to the quality of the Marriott International Autograph Collection brand. We have to keep up with trends and keep things fresh. This applies not just to Bistronomy, but to all food trends.

Q: How did you go about researching the trend?

A: When I heard we were going to undergo a major renovation and saw the images of what the hotel was going to look like, I began to think of a concept for the menus that would incorporate both my style of food and the new style of the hotel. I came across a few images and articles on Bistronomy. This sparked the journey of discovery and experimentation.

WHAT IS POKE?

This Hawaiian dish is pronounced poh-kay. It is traditionally diced and marinated raw fish. Poke began with fishermen seasoning off-cuts of their catch to serve as a snack. Traditional poke seasonings have been heavily influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines, which includes soy sauce, green onions and sesame oil.

CHEF WELLS’ GREEN THAI CHICKEN AND PRAWN CURRY POKE BOWL

Ingredients

· 1 tbsp cooking oil (corn, safflower or peanut oil, not olive oil)

· 3 tbsp green curry paste

· 2 and 1/2 cups coconut milk

· 2 kaffir leaves, torn

· 1 big onion

· 2-3 fresh red spur chillies

· 1/4 cup sweet basil leaves

· 1 bunch of spinach

· 1 and 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

· 1 and 1/2 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar

· Sweet basil and red chilli slices to garnish

· 50g coriander leaves

Preparation

• Sauté the onion and green curry paste in oil over medium heat in a pot or sauté pan until fragrant. Reduce the heat and gradually add 1 and 1/2 cups of the coconut milk a little at a time. Stir until a film of green oil surfaces.

• Add the kaffir lime leaves and continue cooking for three minutes until fragrant.

• Transfer to a large pot, place over medium heat and cook until boiling. Add the remaining coconut milk and season with palm sugar and fish sauce. Sprinkle sweet basil, spinach, coriander and red chillies over, then turn off the heat.

• Blend in a jug blender until smooth and strain. Cool down.

CHICKEN AND PRAWN Ingredients

· 400g chicken breast cut into cubes

· 100g prawn meat

· Bean sprouts garnish

· Mange tout garnish

Method

• In a hot pot, sauté chicken cubes until slightly cooked then add the sauce and prawns let simmer for 10 minutes until both the chicken and prawns are cooked.

• Adjust seasoning and remove from the heat. Add the remaining green ingredients and chopped coriander. Garnish with bean sprouts.

• Serve warm.Garnish suggestions: Zucchini noodles, coriander, pak choi, green beans, mange tout, toasted coconut.