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All the flavors you need to create the next food icon - all a click away!
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INDIAN CUISINE BROUGHT ALIVE Guided by Michelin-starred Chef Vineet Bhatia the award-winning Indego by Vineet, the textures, flavours and expressive range of Indian cuisine are sumptuously brought alive...
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06.04
07.04
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ELEMENTS OF CULINARY DEVELOPMENT GENE GONZALEZ
WHAT CAME FIRST, THE DUCK OR THE EGG SALLY CAMACHO
PRE DINNER FOOD MAGNUS EK
DELICIOUSNESS AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP KAMILLA SEIDLER AND MICHELANGELO CESTARI
A FILIPINO CUISINE: SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH PRATICALITY JORDY NAVARRA
FROM NEW BASQUE CUISINE TO BASQUE CULINARY CENTER, “AN EXCITING 40 YEAR JOURNEY” PEDRO SUBIJANA
THE ART OF KOREAN BBQ & FERMENTATION TONY YOO
FROM STEM TO STERN KATIA & TATIANA LEVHA
GREEN CUISINE RODRIGO DE LA CALLE
TRANSMIT PACO PÉREZ
COOK LOCAL THINK GLOBAL GERT DE MANGELEER
FROM TRASH TO TREASURES JOSH BOUTWOOD L´ESCALETA IN ALICANTE´S MAGIC MOUNTAIN KIKO MOYA
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THE ESSENTIALS OF ESSENTIAL CUISINE JULIEN ROYER THE GREAT FOOD CONSPIRACY SIMON ROGAN
GO LOCAL OR GO HOME RAY ADRIANSYAH AND EELKE PLASMEIJER THE CONSTANT SEARCH OF THE ESSENCE JOSEAN ALIJA THANKING THE LIFE OF FOOD VICKY LAU SWEET ANARCHY JORDI ROCA AND ALEJANDRA RIVAS IT’S GOAT TO BE BACK ROBBY GOCO
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Editor Lifestyle Editor Culinary Editor Feature Editor Contributing Editor
Fabian deCastro Doug Singer
Oilda Barreto Michael Hepworth
FJMdesign Photography Consultant Creative Design Studio Publisher
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Cover Image Credit: Pedro Sibijana - Bloody Mary Akelare, Spain
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MAGAZINES
“Towards A Sustainable Gastronomic Planet” the theme of the largest international gastronomy event in the Philippines, the 2017 Madrid Fusión Manila. The Philippines emerges as a culinary destination, it brings together different cultures together and the finest flavors - a true epicurean extravaganza in a single event.
This International Gastronomy Congress and Expo opens on Thursday 6 April at SMX Mall of Asia, featuring the world’s top chefs – Jordi Roca & Alejandra Rivas, Pedro Subijana, Paco Pérez, Gert De Mangeleer, Simon Rogan, Magnus Ek, Vicky Lau, Josean Alija, Julien Royer, Kamilla Seidler & Michelangelo Cestari, Rodrigo de la Calle, Gene Gonzalez, Tatiana & Katia Levha, Sally Camacho, Jordy Navarra, Tony Yoo, Robby Goco, Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer, Kiko Moya and Josh Boutwood.
It is an honour for WG Magazine to be part of the 2017 Madrid Fusión Manila with an exclusive publication for this event. WG’s Publisher is extremely excited about this collaboration and would like to take this opportunity to thank the Madrid Fusión Manila and Jing Lagandaon, President, PACEOS. A special thanks to Esther Massats, Apeksha Dhingra and Claudia Ferreres.
FdeCastro
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CONTENT 24
Sweet Anarchy
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Cook Local - Think Global
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Thanking The Life Of Food
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The Constant Search Of The Essence
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An Exciting 40 Year Journey
98 Transmit 106 Green Cuisine 118 Deliciousness and Social Entrepreneurship 134 A Filipino Cuisine Sustainability Through Praticality 144 Pre Dinner Food 154 From Stem To Stern 156 L’Escaleta In Alicante’s Magic Mountain 158 The Essentials Of Essential Cuisine 172 The Great Food Conspiracy 180 Elements Of Culinary Development 190 From Trash To Treasures 194 Go Local Or Go Home 196 The Art Of Korean BBQ & Fermentation 198 It’s Goat To Be Back 200 What Came First The Duck Or The Egg
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BLOODY MARY We like to have a plot for each dish and also for the aperitif that we offer to all our guests. Composing a cocktail by solidifying it and also using some of our techniques that have become habitual seemed interesting to us. But we rethink it many times and made a lot of tests. We wanted to have a powerful taste and in a small volume. We changed the way we did it many times until we obtained a lot of the taste of the tomato, we achieved it by adding dry tomatoes. By clarifying the tomato water we obtained not too much red foam. Bloody Mary is just one of the five aperitifs that make up our welcome drink for the dinners. As we allow several alternatives in the menu, it can happen that some dinners come to eat and instead of trying one of our three tasting menus decide to order one or two dishes as it’s the tradition in a regular menu restaurant (not a degustation one). We think that they will leave the restaurant without having the chance to know our style of cuisine. With this variation of welcoming aperitifs, we will always serve them before their menu choice, al least, we are sure that they will have an idea of our cuisine. Cover Image Credit: Pedro Sibijana - Bloody Mary Akelare, Spain
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
ALEJANDRA RIVAS & SWEET
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& JORDI ROCA ANARCHY
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
Born in 1978 and the last brother to join El Celler de Can Roca, Jordi Roca has found himself the perfect role as Pastry Chef at El Celler de Can Roca. His inventive dessert creations adapting fragrances, smoke and blown sugar among the several other things… Regarded as one of the top dessert expert and in 2014 was judged The World’s Best Pastry Chef, Jordi began helping out in the kitchen under the watchful eye of his older brother Joan while studying at the Culinary Arts School in Girona. In 1999, Jordi became a full-fledged member of El Celler de Can Roca. Working alongside his mentor Damian Allsop, a Master Confectioner who passed on his knowledge which would serve Jordi in his sweet career - the precision, the craftsmanship instantly, the patience, the temperance, the selfconfidence, and the obsessive involvement. A year later Jordi took on the responsibility at the dessert section and thus began the Three Heads And One Hat – the savory, liquid and sweet. Addicted to ice-creams since young, he always wanted to have an ice-cream shop, but it was after he learnt the technique that was behind a good artisanal ice-cream that he saw himself able to do. Sometime later and thanks to his brothers’ complicity and generosity, who believed in that dream, it was then when Jordi went on to start the Rocambolesc project, the willingness of Jordi Roca to recover the traditional dessert cart of El Celler de Can Roca which had disappeared from the restaurant’s room just when he took care of the sweet part of the menu.
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ANARKÍA DE CHOCOLATE
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
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Sweet Perfectionist! Ale Rivas’s culinary journey started at a young age, learning from her mother how to reproduce typical Mexican cuisine. She enrolled at the UNICO culinary school in Guadalajara, where she skilfully acquired a solid technical base to start her professional career. Taking a Spanish culinary course involved her doing a three month internship at the restaurant of three Michelin starred Chef Martin Berasategui. She then moved on to work for the next three months at the Spanish countryside hotel “Ven y Volverás” and then to Tarragona at Mas Pasamaner Hotel as a pastry chef. Girona’s El Celler de Can Roca was her next stop where she worked all stations from the meats, fish, fridge room and finally the sweet section, where she gained her skills as a pastry chef. After her experience at El Celler, Ale returned back to México to work as pastry chef at Mexico’s best restaurant Pujol with Enrique Olvera, at Pujol, she had the freedom to investigate with her creations. A year later in 2012, Ale moved to Girona but this time to work alongside her husband Jordi Roca and take charge of Rocambolesc ice-cream shops. A project run with a passionate dream… Rocambolesc is a window to the sweet world of the Celler where Jordi transforms the deserts to icecreams. It is a special ice-cream shop, incorporating the creative process of various professionals, such as graphic designers, scientists, a transversal team that has as an objective to evolve, learn from mistakes, and grow with the experience of attention to the customer. Ale has been carrying out an expansion of the icecream shops with four new openings in four years, achieving the dream of bringing the magic of El Celler de Can Roca to the whole world…
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
WG Magazine speaks with Jodi Roca… Jordi Roca’s culinary passion... he tells us how he found his way into the culinary field to become one of the renowned pastry chefs in the world! Well, I was fourteen and twelve years old younger than my brothers. I was the kid at home that loved the prawns, cockles and Jamón, perfectly able to detect a common Serrano ham when someone was trying to con me. By living in my parents bar, I had lot more luxuries than my friends, the suddenly popular packaged chocolate-filled sweets, chips, olives, Jamón Ham… and of course, ice creams. I went from helping my parents in their restaurant to having to help my brothers in theirs. My childhood was therefore spent amongst kitchens and customers, without a clear calling for gastronomy but with the hope of being able to do something that would make my family proud, especially my older brothers. They were the idols I looked up to. And at fourteen, without having fully sorted out my ideas, I enrolled the Culinary Arts School as my brothers did some years before, but I was not the good student my brother Joan was. Those next years, I was the “errand boy” at Can Roca lending a hand where needed: on weekends there were four waiters, all family members. I was a child and I was always mixed up something. I didn’t even think of being in the kitchen. It seemed like such a complicated world, so forbidden…It was a different world. The moment came to help my brothers, and, for summer, I worked in the dinning room at El Celler. I was eighteen and finished work at three in the morning. But I wanted to party… I realized cooks finished at midnight and decided I liked the kitchen better. That’s why I moved to the kitchen, but still without a definite path, taking any given road according to external circumstances, without conviction, unable to find my place. I would found my way with Damian Allsop, who was a crucial figure in the formation of the Roca triangle.
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
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Jordi learns the ‘how’s and whys’ from Damian Allsop about of pastry… My training in the sweet world began in an amateur way, not an academic one at all. Damian Allsop, a talented welsh pastry chef landed at our place after a long journey visiting great European restaurants. By the end of the 90’s he filled the desserts elaboration section at El Celler de Can Roca. With him I understood the importance of the sweet cuisine, how specific it is and how singular too. He first helped me to awake my curiosity, being first his assistant, and later on his successor. Allsop gave me the necessary tools so as to understand the reasons behind the sweet cuisine, as well as its method, the precision, the craftsmanship instantly, the patience, the temperance, the selfconfidence, and the obsessive involvement. In the beginning, rules and quantifying was very important. I came to know why a soufflé mousses, why chocolate tempers or why a jelly sets. I also learnt how to blow sugar as a crystal craftsman, much more things… So this was my chance to create and I started. Since then, I have not given up enjoying, dreaming, provoking, surprising my self and, more than anything, playing. I confess being addicted to this sweet amusement for more than 20 years.
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
One of Jordi’s first sweet masterpieces ‘Journey to Havana’ where he mimics the Cuban cigar shouldering in an ashtray, an experience of smoking it through a cigar smoke ice cream encased in chocolate with crushed violets as ash… this culinary ingenious philosophy, and the inspiration - Jordi explains…
I began deeply involved in ice cream making techniques under the wing of a Sicilian by the name of Angelo Corvitto. One of the rules the master continuously repeated was that the work atmosphere had to be completely pure, as ice cream is an emulsion in which air is a very important ingredient. Ice cream is a sponge for scents. This golden rule is what sparked my imagination. What would happen if I added smoke on purpose? Until then I had heard of tobacco-flavored ice creams, made from an infusion, and thought that perhaps working with direct smoke would improve the final result. To carry out the first experiments I had to blow the smoke of a cigar directly into the ice-
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MADRID FUSĂ?ON MANILA 2017
VIAJE A LA HABANA
cream maker. At first I got satisfactory and surprising results, but also realized that that method was neither practical, nor good for my health. With the help of my father, I put together a water pump that blows smoke automatically without human intervention. On one end, it draws smoke directly from the cigar that hangs from it (joined hermetically by a balloon), and blows it into the ice cream maker from the other end. The result of this new technique was the Partagas Cigar Series D No 4 Ice Cream in 2001, presented as a cylinder made of dark chocolate, filled with ice cream of a neutral base infused with Havana cigar smoke. This cigar, together with the Mojito, would come to constitute the dessert Trip to Havana. WG Magazine 2017 -
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
Creating a new dessert, Jordi shares the process... Each of the desserts are born from a different starting point, sometimes it is a perfume, a childhood memory, a landscape or a product. In each dessert I try to set a bridge, to communicate to the guest in order to bring out a pleasant experience. The secret to a perfect dessert - is it Sweet, Salty, Crunchy, Tangy… There’s no secret at all, each of the desserts is a whole world in itself. What I seek is people’s enjoyment, the dessert must be good, pleasurable, and even goes beyond the most interesting concept. The next trend Jordi see emerging in desserts… This is not something I feel possible to know, but I can explain what we will be doing. Now we are trying to build desserts by bringing the sense of hearing in collaboration with Neil Harbisson (the first recognized cyborg in the world). What we are doing now is giving a musical note to each color so as to be able to compose melodies according to the sequence or order we follow when plating the dessert ingredients. Now we are working and testing a prototype dish that can read the ingredients and translate them into musical notes, maybe it just remains a prototype, but the fact of working on this opens our minds and we are able to be more creative and discover a new lines of work.
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THÉ VERT DE BULGARI
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
The Best Pastry Chef of the World, the Three Roca’s and El Celler de Can Roca has received numerous awards and accolades, the list is endless! What motivates me is knowing that after an award, everything remains the same... Jordi Roca
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CROMATISMO NARANJA
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Jordi shares a special paring with a dessert‌ Oh, in fact, one of my favourites is a dish that was a pairing itself. The dessert in the glass, and the wine, on the dish. It was a dessert made with Petter Jacob Kunn wine, a sweet German one we used to make a sorbet and a jelly, and the pairing was a glass of wine filled with three infusions: a red berries, another made of honey and citrus, and the third one made from mint, basil and fennel. It was a reversed pairing that showed the confidence and complicity I have with my brother Josep.
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EL CELLER DE CAN ROCA - SPAIN
RAINY FOREST
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“The Desserts of Jordi Roca” takes readers through a journey of seasons. Expressing Jordi’s creativity and love for sweets, with over 80 tempting dessert recipes or should I say ‘one delicious dessert at a time…” Well, the book “The Desserts of Jordi Roca” is actually a compilation of the recipes I made for a magazine called Descobrir Cuina. For 6 years, they published three recipes each month in Catalonia. So at the end we finally decided together to publish this book with the best recipes. But the book that will better reflect my dessert cuisine without any doubt, is about to come. It will be edited by Montagut Editores and its title is Anarkia. There I’ve focused to explain my dessert cuisine from my dishes, also how we think and do to accomplish it. Jordi’s tip to those interested in becoming a pastry chef… We take the stage at the end, the dinner has already fulfilled his or hers expectation of enjoying the gastronomic experience, so we pastry chefs only have left magic, we are a present! Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Jordi’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time… They must like their profession a lot, as it demands a lot of sacrifice and commitment. Don’t seek for recognition, seek for accomplishing being happy day by day in your work.
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
GERT DE MANGELEER
COOK LOCAL – THINK GLOBAL HERTOG JAN BELGIUM
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PHOTO © KRISTOF VRANCKEN
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
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Gert’s product-based cuisine comes with respect for nature. Vegetables, herbs and edible flowers play a prominent role...
GERT DE MANGELEER AND JOACHIM BOUDENS
Gert De Mangeleer took over Hertog Jan with his culinary soulmate Joachim Boudens in 2005. Building on his previous experience working for top chefs in Belgium, Gert transformed the restaurant’s traditional and conventional kitchen into something more refreshing – perhaps even revolutionary. Focusing on the ways flavours, structures and contrasts take shape, Gert makes sure that his dishes touch all the senses and carry his signature style. Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens have achieved a true first in the world of gastronomy. With an extremely young 25-strong team – with an average age of 22 – they have achieved 3 Michelin stars in just 5 years’ time, the first Michelin star in 2007, in 2010 the second Michelin star and the third Michelin star in 2012, making them the youngest three Michelin star team in the world. Since 2012, they scored 18.5/50 in the GaultMillau guide and in 2013, Gert De Mangeleer was elected as the best chef in Europe at the Madrid Fusion fair. WG Magazine 2017 -
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
Gert follows the vegetative cycle of the plants from sowing to harvest – and inventive culinary approach, new dishes are constantly being created... Gert’s cuisine is closely tied to Flanders and the sublime local ingredients we have to offer. For the last five years, he has even been growing his own local vegetables, herbs and flowers at the farm in Zedelgem. Under the slogan ‘Simplicity is not simple’, he constantly seeks pure ingredients of the highest quality, using every available technique, but avoiding the flashiest trends. His unique culinary style is now receiving recognition in all five continents. Joachim Boudens was voted “First Sommelier” of Belgium in the prestigious Prosper Montagne contest in 2005, the same year he took over Hertog Jan with Gert. The duo have been a refreshing addition to the Belgian gastronomic world ever since, championing the motto “driven by simplicity”. Favouring the use of Belgian beers in gastronomy, his knowledge of the harmony between wines/beers and Gert’s unique dishes is unparalleled. In 2012, Joachim became the Belgian Beer Ambassador 2013, highlighting another of his passions: food and beer pairing. Joachim is known as ‘the perfect gentleman’ and as maître d’ of the restaurant, he has surrounded himself with a group of highly specialised individuals, each making their own contribution to achieving absolute perfection in the area of hospitality. And as the host of Hertog Jan, he ensures you have a perfect – and preferably surprising – match with the creations that come out of the kitchen.
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
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At the end of 2010 Joachim and Gert took the next step in the execution of their philosophy by buying their own farm in Zedelgem, close to the city of Bruges. This allowed them to grow a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers for use in many of Gert De Mangeleer’s signature dishes. The longterm vision was to transfer the entire restaurant to the same location and integrate it with the historical farm and its surroundings. The garden, which can be experienced while dining, is the departure point for the guests’ journey of discovery and changes, like the dishes, with the seasons. The Menu - Throughout the different experiences you will discover the pure and honest tastes from their garden, the menu is a combination of the well-known Hertog Jan classics with Gert’s newest creations. His culinary style is modern, with a regional twist. A product-based cuisine with respect for nature. Vegetables, herbs and edible flowers play a prominent role. His natural methods – Gert follows the vegetative cycle of the plants from sowing to harvest – and inventive culinary approach mean that new dishes are constantly being created with the changes of the seasons. These are characterised by the exceptional depth and richness of their authentic flavours. Last but not least, Gert studies the presentation of the dishes down to the finest detail, like an architect. With the Hertog Jan philosophy - wines are carefully chosen from all parts of the world, each bottle is chosen with care as it has to be able to harmonise with Gert’s cuisine as well as being as good as possible for the guests.
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
The 180-year-old barn has been completely renovated and refurbished to host the beating heart of the Hertog Jan – the kitchen. The new addition hosts the actual restaurant with a view over the surrounding garden and landscape. The full concept was created by the office of Architect Dries Bonamie. Restaurant Hertog Jan opened in 1992. It was originally a wine bar/restaurant for business people during the week and a child-friendly family brasserie at the weekend. The globally inspired wine list represented the vision behind the concept. In 2003, the business
was converted into a fine dining restaurant with the unique attraction of the construction of the kitchen in a glass building adjoining the restaurant, in which the latest appliances were installed. On 1 July 2005, Gert and Joachim took over the business, with a team of 4 staff. In no time at all they climbed to the summit of gastronomy and were showered with awards and praise. In 2010, the duo bought a historic farm in Zedelgem. This historically classified monument has now been converted and restored, and can host up to 100 guests.
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HETRO JAN - BELGIUM
Respect is a word that has been central to this duo’s business philosophy from day one. There are many stakeholders in this respect. Respect for one another as professional colleagues but also as close friends. They radiate this to their staff, so that the extremely young, now 34-strong team works together like a family. Respect for ingredients and their preparation has become the signature of their menu and wine list. This is emphasised by their buying their own farm and growing as many of their own vegetables, herbs and edible flowers as possible. Respect for the guests, with Gert making allowance for all kinds of allergies and food preferences and Joachim and his service team pampering guests in a disarming way.
Respect for historical heritage: “The choice of a listed farmhouse was totally deliberate”, says Joachim. “Gert wanted to work as close as possible to nature. This nod to our historical past underlines our respect for our own roots. When we aim for something, it all has to work”. This approach is followed throughout the construction of their new restaurant. With the greatest respect for the environment, ensuring that they burden it as little as possible, Gert and Joachim have adopted a nature-friendly approach. They draw their water from their own land and recycle as much as possible. Rainwater is collected in two ways and recycled for the washrooms and watering the crops. Organic waste is collected and fermented to produce energy. Doing business responsibly comes first! In 2014, Hertog Jan acclaimed the highest level in the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
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TATE DINING ROOM & BAR - HONG KONG
VICKY LAU THANKING THE LIFE OF FOOD TATE DINING ROOM & BAR HONG KONG
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Vicky Lau grew up living with her grandfather, a foodie from the Chiu Chow province where most of the meals were cooked at home which were based on traditional Chiu Chow cuisine with a mix of Cantonese. Vicky Lau would often hear stories about how dishes were made and the differences with vegetable varieties. On weekends her parents would take them out for meals and very often it would be Japanese food as it was her mum’s favorite cuisine. Vicky Lau never learnt how to cook until high school as she had to cook for herself whiles in boarding school in the US. With dining hall food being the only source of meals, very often foreign students would crave for home-cooked food. On weekends she would gather in friends’ dorm rooms and cook up a storm with a mini electric stove and a rice cooker. The dishes mainly consisted of steamed rice with curry and get very creative with their bowls of ramen noodle.
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TATE DINING ROOM & BAR - HONG KONG
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MADRID FUSĂ?ON MANILA 2017
After graduating from New York University in 2004, she worked in a local advertising agency for several years, upon her return to Hong Kong in 2007, she set up her own design company. As a designer, she always felt that there was something missing but that gap was filled when in 2001 she went with two friends to do a basic course at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok, finishing the course, Vicky Lau wanted to do more and enrolled for the grand diploma. A recreational stint at Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok culinary school taught her that food was a medium of expression, it was a far more than liberating a canvas to explore creativity because of the added dimensions of taste and smell. It was also the instant gratification of seeing someone enjoy your food. The curriculum at Le Cordon Bleu was very extensive. Since she was enrolled in the Grand DiplĂ´me program, it was rigorous but rewarding and learning cuisine and pastry in a short nine months. She learnt techniques from the chefs, who also shared stories from their kitchen experiences and encouraged to explore the use of local ingredients, which taught her to use whatever is available. Believing that Hong Kong is a place for opportunity and entrepreneurship, driven by her love for creative work, Vicky Lau set out to make a home for her passion. WG Magazine 2017 -
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TATE DINING ROOM & BAR - HONG KONG
In 2012, she opened Tate Dining Room & Bar serving French-inspired dishes with Asian influences. Her talent for visual artistry reflected in the immaculate presentation, while her innate creativity and appreciation for gourmet cuisine evident in the seasonal tasting menu. Inspired to create ‘Edible Stories’, each of Chef Lau’s menus originate from a common theme which consist of elaborately designed dishes that stir the imagination with their rich imagery and intriguing play on flavors and textures. Using her background in graphic design, she starts with a theme, a narrative or a concept and builds on it. Her ‘Edible Stories’... each ingredient has its own character and each dish conveying an overarching theme which then transforms into a harmony of flavors, aromas and textures. She visualizes and internalizes the theme or memory and imagines how she can convey this. She thinks about the sounds, smells and colors that might evoke – if this has been done before, what are the sensations that anchor her representation of this scene? Once she has distilled everything down, she then reconstructs everything to create the theme using food. The presentation of the dish provides the narrative where each ingredient is its own character and the interplay between the nuanced flavours, the aromas and the textures reveal the plot. As a graphic designer, she understands how visual cues like form, color, tone and texture can be used to trigger a memory or evoke a response. This understanding helps her pay attention to all details.
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TATE DINING ROOM & BAR - HONG KONG
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For me cooking is a harmony of art, craft and science. I am always driven by my passion to tell a story therefore the dish that best defines me is one that incorporates all these factors…
Vicky Lau
Vicky Lau honed her skills at the Michelin-starred Cépage in Hong Kong under the tutelage of Chef Sebastien Lepinoy - the protégé of the legendary Chef Joël Robuchon, “Chef Lepinoy inspired her, teaching her cooking techniques, the importance of details and to be aware of what is around her. Lepinoy’s cooking philosophy is one that is shared in all the Arts “Simplicity is the sign of perfection.” Her biggest influence is ingredients around her and flavor profiles, either from a memory or exploring something new. Vicky Lau adds “As for inspiration, it can come from anywhere if you seek with an open mind, pay attention to what is going on around you so that you can catch that moment and think about them. Sometimes a movie or a piece of music can provoke a feeling or spark an idea, it just depends on how you interpret it and it relates to you. And sometimes interpretation can evolve over time. Your own dish can serve as a source of inspiration and evolve into another dish. This is when you create the best possible dish because you’re always trying to beat your previous best”. WG Magazine 2017 -
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One of the earliest dishes she created was “Zen Garden” which she earlier served as the last course of the meal. It consisted of several items and they are changed from time to time. Presented with matcha opera cake, passion fruit marshmallow, jasmine macaroon and coconut dark chocolate. It’s presented as a mini Zen garden that prompts self-reflection. This dish pays tribute to the masters of the Zen Garden and the art of tea making. Another of her earlier dishes would be “An Ode to Tomatoes”, inspired by a poem by Pablo Neruda. It details a busy market scene and describes the life of the humble tomato. In this dish she depicts tomatoes in different textures of panna cotta, confit, crisp, consommé and gelée, accompanied with a simple pommery mustard ice cream, a perfect pair for this fruit. Creativity and Technique are both important to her, she ensures continuous growth of creativity and refine in her cooking skills, usually she use all the elements and considers flavor profiles, contrasting textures and always questioning her methods of execution. “It’s also important not to burn out and lose your passion and desire to cook. You may be cooking the same vegetable, but you need to look at it in a different way every now and then” adds Vicky Lau.
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AN ODE TO TOMATOES
ZEN GARDEN
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She explores ingredients, as they have a lot of common theories between French, Chinese and Japanese cuisines, always fascinated to discover their connections. She loves working with French butter, because the quality comes from the cream. The butter is also made from slightly soured or cultured cream, which gives it a nutty, mellow tang and reacts differently when baked.
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In 2013, chef Lau’s skill and artistic talent allowed Tate Dining Room & Bar to be awarded with one MICHELIN star by the prestigious MICHELIN Guide to Hong Kong & Macau. Picking up the Michelin star award three years in a row, chef Lau remains the undisputed queen of French fine dining restaurant in Hong Kong. Her cutting-edge creations and intricate plating further allowed her to celebrate Tate Dining Room & Bar’s second anniversary with the launch of Butler - a customized luxury catering service that provides clients with unrivaled culinary mastery and a well-trained, passionate hospitality team. Lau was commissioned by several renowned lifestyle and fashion brands to develop highly customized one-off menus and tablescapes. Butler has previously prepared culinary extravaganzas for Hermés, Cartier, Gucci, Boucheron and Christies to name a few. Just at the start of 2015, Lau was awarded Veuve Clicquot Asia’s Best Female Chef 2015. Named the best female chef in Asia for creating a menu of ‘edible stories’, rewarded as one of the globe’s most influential female chefs. It was an honor for her to receive this award, since raised in Hong Kong and educated in the West, Vicky Lau feels her work is infused with a variety of culinary influences. The award was an invitation to more opportunities, being recognized which inspired her to explore more projects and collaborations... WG Magazine 2017 -
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JOSEAN ALIJA THE CONSTANT SEARCH OF THE ESSENCE NERUA SPAIN
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Josean Alija’s book “Muina” is about his work and why, it is a perfect working tool with which he wants to teach the cooks to think. It signifies a journey to the essence of each ingredient, an element of creation, a personal representation…
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STEWED SPINACH, ALMOND MILK AND OLIVE OIL
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From a young age Josean Alija knew that he wanted to be a chef. The opportunities he had during his infancy to visit a few restaurants and the culture that he was shown at home - at the table and during meals, this set the course for his future. As a chef he saw a professional with power, who seduces the palate and the heart, and what is most evident, makes people happy. At the age of 14, he started studying at the Leioa School of Hotel and Restaurant Management and was one of the youngest pupils of that year. Three years later he started my professional culinary career. Josean learned Basque cuisine at traditional restaurants and worked in several avant-garde kitchens, with the aim of forming some criteria that could help him create a personal style, a long path. His cuisine represents all those things that excites him and he shows it through the products from his environment and through the flavors of memory. He shares his experience by developing a personal language to create pleasure and happiness. Paths are full of coincidences and one of them was he crossed paths with Bixente Arrieta. Bixente gave him the opportunity to take on a beautiful project, and over the years, he has given Josean the confidence to develop it. Without Bixente’s support the personal and professional development that Josean has through would not have been possible. It is essential to have a voice that helps you to think, to keep your feet on the ground… WG Magazine 2017 -
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Josean started working in the kitchens of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in late 1998, but in 2000, when his cuisine started to take shape, a motorcycle accident left Josean in a coma for 21 days, on the brink of death. He woke up but without the sense of taste nor smell, the essential tools of any chef, he had to learn how to taste things again, to recognize flavors and aromas. While still recovering from the consequences of the accident, he decided to take part in the Best Young Chef competition, a motivation to restore his passion. His success took him back to his profession, he felt he was a chef again, a feeling that he had lost along with my sense of taste and smell. In the year 2003, he found the key: research. It was essential to analyze the products in depth, to learn about their origins, their uses, their properties and their potential. The creative process, the fundamental part of his cuisine, was born - analyzing, reflecting, and adopting different approaches. With a strong commitment, Josean has been gradually perfecting, season by season, his style of cuisine: pure, essential, without disguises.
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LOBSTER IN AROMATIC HERBS BROTH
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In 2011, he was able to fulfil his dream of having his own space. Juan Ignacio Vidarte, the director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, offering a taste of Bilbao’s gastronomic culture, made the opening of Nerua a reality. Nerua takes its name from the Nervión River, the backbone of Bilbao, which in ancient Latin was called Nerva. We combine innovation with our roots, our surroundings. It is
In 2011, Nerua received its First Michelin Star Guide and 3 Suns in the Repsol Guide...
a space designed for a gastronomic and cultural experience, a space designed for a complete and memorable experience. The experience that invites one to reflect on and question every single thing. While nature sets the pace of Nerua’s kitchen, adapting to each season, a local cuisine that begins at the vegetable gardens, in the sea, and in the farms. With the best techniques and cooking with freedom to create pleasure and enjoyment without losing the flavor of our roots.
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ANCHOVY, STEWED QUINOA AND SAGE
WG Magazine catches up with Josean Alija… Josean Alija cuisine is unique, where aromas, textures and flavours are the main components inspired by a combination of ingredients… My secret is the creative process, which is the tool I use to develop my cuisine and the experience Nerua’s customer live. Analysis, reflection and rethinking about all the aspects that affect our activity. Innovation is making the things as we understand them more efficient, ecological, simple and satisfactory. It involves continuous questioning.
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FRIED HAKE WITH STEWED CHRYSANTHEMUM LEAVES
Back in 1978, Josean started his career working with some of the great chefs - Ferran Adrià and with Martin Berasategui at Lasarte, he tells us how it helped him as a chef… They helped me to find a way, they nourished me with values, they made me reflect and I came to the conclusion that to triumph it is necessary to make the cuisine that you feel, that makes you happy, developing a personal style and work hard giving the best of you every day.
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Josean Alija describes his culinary philosophy… Core, heart, essence… Muina has no literal translation in English. But is the term that best identifies my way of seeing things, among them gastronomy. It is the world that best defines me. It refers to the soul, the substance, but also the brain and knowledge. Muina is a general concept that encapsulates what I am and what I 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 me. Acceptance, specification and loyalty to a series of values lead me 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 I understand a complete gastronomic experience, the unique result of focusing attention on the purity of things. Every season, we leave our kitchens to get to know the products in depth. We do it in the company of our producers, who feel Nerua as theirs, they know that without them we could not do what we do. We study every product deeply, from every possible point of view: anthropological, historical, scientific, sensorial... Once we know all the secrets of each product, we experiment with them to merge all those ideas into flavours, textures and memories. We taste it raw, we analyze its flavours and aromas, and try grilling, cooking, scalding, sautéing it to observe how their organoleptic characteristics change. Knowing its history and its flavour, we begin to define the concept of the dish that we want to reach and try to reach it through different combinations. We work to achieve a perfect balance between technique, idea, taste and presentation, in order to find a perfect harmony, which reflects the identity of the product and its essence.
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TARO, WHITE BEAN STOCK AND RADISH
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ARTICHOKES, MARROW, LENTIL AND MUSHROOMS SOUP
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Your research on fermented beverages and creating dishes in glasses… Our maître, Stefania Giordano, realized that more and more people accompanied the tasting menu with water (because they had to drive, work, for health reasons ...) and that is a bit disheartening. And there we wondered what alternative do we offer: water, soft drinks, tea ... Why do not we apply what we know about alcohol marriages to build a marriage with soft drinks? The diner has to go out from Nerua with the feeling of have known something new. We must enhance the experience. When we started to raise it, we decided that it had to be something which could cannot be a sauce, a juice, it has to have a different line to separate it from what you have on the plate, but that the combination of both tells you something. The important thing is that it has to tell you things. LAMB TONGUE, FRIED CAULIFLOWER CREAM AND SAKE
Developing the kitchen that I like and knowing how to enjoy the wealth of my work...
Josean Alija
We started in October 2012. We were even embarrassed to present it at the beginning, the first steps are always complicated, but today they are part of our cover letter. In pairings we play with subtlety... It is a different way of extracting the soul from the products that you do in the kitchen. In the kitchen, what you are looking for is that the flavours are recognized and they are very well represented, instead in the world of the drink looks for delicacy, suggestion, nuances... above all subtlety, using the same techniques. They are not juices, they are essences, since our objective is to extract the soul of each ingredient. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Josean Alija tells us what ingredients inspires him, his favourite ingredients and ingredients that he may have given up on…
Creativity, Technique and Produce The knowledge and the observation. That three aspects are complementary and keep a perfect balance... Josean Alija
We are working on the autumn-winter 2018/2019 menu, we explore our environment, we select 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. My favourite ingredients… “I am mad about vegetables, whether domestic or wild, and seafood”. I feel lucky about that because I have enough patience to get things and I do not stop investigating until I get the expected result. Josean Alija tells us about his cooking techniques… Intelligence. It is about knowing in depth the product in question, knowing what is what makes it special or exciting for me, make a speech and apply the technique that helps me to achieve excellence. Work with the highest number of ingredients and the most pure technique. The less a product is manipulated more special will be the result. Less is more. Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Josean’s advice to chefs who are first entering the kitchen for the first time… “Being a chef implies a great commitment to the craft, to the team, to the customer, and gives you the opportunity to see happy the people that come to your restaurants and that is magic and wonderful”.
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PEDRO SUBIJANA
FROM NEW BASQUE CUISINE TO BASQUE CULINARY CENTER
AKELAŔE SPAIN Photo ©JOAN VALERA
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AN EXCITING 40 YEAR JOURNEY Born in San Sebastián and studied in Madrid and under Luis Irizar at Zarauz, before setting up his own restaurant in 1975. The young Pedro Subijana began his career in Vitoria, Tolosa, Hernani, Madrid, and Estella, and then moved to Akelare to work as head chef. Throughout his storied career of more than 40 years at the restaurant, Subijana was instrumental in creating one of the most important gastronomic movements of our time - New Basque Cuisine. The influence and dynamism of the movement owes much to the approach (fiercely local yet innovative) and ethos (collaborative and open) that Subijana and his contemporaries purposefully conceived in the late 1970’s.
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A strongly believer in academic training, and Pedro teaches in the European and American institutions as well as Spanish Hotel Management Schools. This love of teaching has allowed him to disseminate his “secrets” through television programs and dozens of books. A founder member of EuroToques in 1986, and was appointed president in 2003. Pedro continues to work extremely hard so that he can bring to fruition all the projects he feels bubbling up inside. Time will channel them, and others will follow in their wake.
The three Michelin starred restaurant Akelare rests on the beautiful slopes of Monte Igueldo. Subijana, much awarded elder statesman of New Basque Cuisine, a great contributor to world gastronomy, and Pedro continues to cook here for delighted and adventurous diners with his triumvirate of experience, boldness, and passion. WG Magazine speak with Pedro Subijana, one of the founders New Basque cuisine… It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Pedro Subijana tells us how he found his way into the culinary world to become one of the most sought-after chefs in the World!
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ASADO DE CORDERITO LECHAL. ENSALADA EN MADEJA.
I was born in a family which, although not being in the industry, had big cult to the ritual of gastronomy and all what surrounded it: Preparation, buying the produce, welcoming the guests, sharing the table and after table ritual talking. Every time there was a celebration at home, my father was the one in charge of it. And his father, my grandfather, was the real gourmet who knew all the restaurants in a 200m radius besides many more in cities which were a bit further. Since I was a child I came to know all these restaurants but never imagined to consider it as an option for me, a professional career. It was just when I had already decided I was going to go to the University to study Medicine, when my group of close friends, who had eaten what I cooked many times, suggested to join the Culinary Arts School. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Pedro Subijana’s culinary philosophy…I
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“It’s very hard to define. I’ve lived close to the pleasure of eating well, but I’ve always been a nonconformist. Since I started at the culinary Arts School, I took the less comfortable path and chose to rethink everything for me. That’s why I founded, together with Arzak, that “revolution” of the New Basque Cuisine”
FINISIMO Y LIGERO TARTAR DE BUEY
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Ingredients that inspire Pedro Subijana, his favorite ingredients and ingredients that he was not able to master...
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GAMBAS CON VAINAS
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Inspiration comes from being working, normally in different ways at the same time. Tests and more tests are made and eventually one of them work out. But it’s necessary to be very self-critic. I guide myself, first of all by the seasonality of the produce. But I also visit markets, different countries and by enjoying cooking as a particular way of living, with intensity, curiosity, humbleness and hard work. I don’t have defined favourite ingredients although to be honest, I really like seafood and vegetables, although I don’t dislike meat at all. Richness is in the variety. No, as far as I can remember, I have never had this problem. It can happen sometimes is that while looking for a formula for a recipe it may not finally work and I leave the idea for that occasion, but we achieve that specific idea for another occasion, and sometimes we work on it back after a while.
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Special cooking techniques behind Pedro Subijana’s signature dishes… We dedicate an important part of our time researching about techniques, new products and technologies and that is the most fun part of our work. When some time passes and if we are not doing anything new, then it causes me uncomfortable stress. And we do not give anything as final. I always say that when we have achieved something interesting, that it will be so only until we have found some better way to do it. Always ready to change. Creativity, Technique or Produce…
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XAXU
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LANGOSTA DESTILADA
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RABO DE BUEY CON CHUFAS
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Creativity without pleasure does not work for me. There must be a balance and proportion between the whole of it. I guess that a good cook always works with the best product. Technique and innovation are very interesting, even exciting, but for me, if they don’t feel the emotions, there is no success. I mean, that one must not be complacent with oneself and humble not to get off the ground. Doing important things is not a question of simple improvement, although sometimes it is rather about a lot of accuracy and analysis. It’s important to mix experience with boldness and risk. That’s why I like to have my team, I like to mix people of all ages in my team. The very young ones – it is important to let them take risks, but filtering with the strain of knowledge and experience. Three Michelin stars… What keeps you motivated at this point in your career? The more knowledge I have, the more I feel the necessity of learning more. It excites me so much facing new challenges and projects and having the determination of fighting to achieve them. Stars are not the goal, just the consequence. The gift.
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ELTARRO ROTO DE YOGUR GATZATUA Y FRUTOS ROJOS
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Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Pedro Subijana’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time... Glamorous nowadays. When I started it did not have such a good reputation. We have managed to dignify the profession and be acknowledged as an engine for several others. We’ve been able to work together collaborating one another. To support each other with open our arms to any colleague who would need us. To display values that have either been lost or are at the risk of doing so and no matter how much the technology and robotics advance, it changes the world. Nothing can replace the warmth, the palate and sensitivity of a good chef. I think we have changed the landscape but it is not a fashion. You just have to be a little humble so as to keep your feet on the ground, and stay honest and consistent. WG Magazine 2017 -
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PACO PÉREZ TRANSMIT MIRAMAR SPAIN
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“We cook what inspires us, with soul, as we think that’s the best we can offer our guests” Paco Pérez
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Paco Pérez is one of the leading practitioners of state-of- the-art 21st century cuisine, while also being a shy and reserved kitchen worker. He was born in Huelva, but has been in Llançà, in Empordà, since the age of six months. He wanted to become a footballer, but his fascination with cooking eventually won the day (as a child, he managed to “invent” a pizza baking it under the sun). Aged twelve, he started to work in his family’s tapas bar, and this gave rise to his true passion. He combined his studies with working in different restaurants and finished his training with Michel Guèrard, the father of “nouvelle cuisine”, and with Ferrán Ardriá. These stages changed his outlook towards cuisine and he brought this experience to Miramar. Miramar is a dream come true. A life-long, professional, family-made project, with the past and present coming together in Llançà. There, where the sea and mountains meet, Paco Pérez showcases his vision of culinary tradition and the avant-garde. The finest products and the most skilled techniques; local concepts and cuisine from every corner of the Earth. A family guesthouse and luxury suites, all overlooking the sea, with views of the Mediterranean.
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The MIRAMAR story is the story of Julia Cisneros, from Albacete and Alfons Serra, a driver who covered the Barcelona-Portbou journey. In 1939, they moved to Llançà and built a humble beachside restaurant. In the post-war years, a traveller asked if they rented rooms, and without hesitating, she said yes. That night, Julia slept on the beach, and MIRAMAR Inn was born. The Inn continued to grow. It started serving food and had a total of 45 rooms. However, a young Paco Pérez would change the narrative. One summer morning he fell in love with a girl in her pajamas in Miramar port, Montse Serra, the granddaughter of the founders, and they would be together forever more. They converted the restaurant into a 2-star Michelin venue, and the Inn came to have 5 exclusive rooms to “look after” guests as if they were personal friends. Together, in absolute synergy, they turned the place into a pilgrimage for foodies from around the world. A contemporary, avant-garde restaurant with two Michelin stars, which from 2016, has five exclusive rooms to complete an unforgettable experience.
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Daring happy menu that respects the meaning of each moment. A menu that offers traditional dishes and little technical detail...
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“Expressing the emotion of sea smells early one morning; uncovering the magic of a heavy storm; extracting the Earth’s soul from the sea; discovering the essence of flavours and textures… Cooking with soul and taking dreams to new levels.” That’s how Paco Pérez explains his cooking. Because neither he nor Miramar can be understood without the surrounding landscape: Llançà, el Cap de Creus, the Mediterranean, the Tramontane (a mountain wind), the endless horizon… Miramar’s surroundings, which the chef turns into state-ofthe-art flavours and textures.
Miramar, kitchen and dining room both melt in a multisensorial experience that will please even the most demanding palates...
Cooking based on tradition and respect for the fine, local products, blending avant-garde with innovation, with two proposals: a daring, transgressive menu, with high creative voltage… but always respecting the product’s essence; and a menu offering traditional dishes with small, “large” technical details, recreating local cuisine with a 21st century vision. Paco Pérez also manages the culinary offer at the two Michelin starred Hotel Arts, the one Michelin starred Cinc at the Hotel Das Stue in Berlín, L’EGGS, Doble, La Royale and Bao bar. However, Llançà and Miramar remain his home port. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Rodrigo de la Calle’s professional career began in Aranjuez when, in 2007 he set up Gastrobotánica together with the botanist Santiago Orts. It was a radically new concept that advocated finding culinary uses for a whole series of barely known vegetables, which Rodrigo himself was using to create truly amazing culinary wonders, turning him into a celebrity in just a few years.
RODRIGO DE LA CALLE
GREEN CUISINE
EL INVERNADERO SPAIN
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Born in Madrid, Rodrigo de la Calle a son of a farmer and grandson of cooks spent his childhood surrounded by vegetables and the love of gastronomy. In the year 1994 he began his gastronomical formation in a school of hotel industry in Aranjuez. Obtaining his degree, Rodrigo worked at several kitchens - Lhardy, Goizeko,Kabi, Romesco o lur Maitea, until in 2000, Rodrigo moved to Elche where he began to work in the burners of Hotel Huerto del Cura and established himself as the executive chef. It is here he meets botanist Santiago Orts and his kitchen takes a 180 degree turn. Both create the concept “Gastrobotanica” and Rodrigo introduces in his plates various until then unknown vegetables to the majority of chefs and guest like citric caviar, mano de buda, cidra,escarcha,carisa,salicornia…
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It was a radically new concept that advocated finding culinary uses for a whole series of barely known vegetables, which Rodrigo himself was using to create truly amazing culinary wonders, turning him into a celebrity in just a few years. Destiny played a role in Rodrigo’s life, in 2003 a new experience brings him closer to the discovery of a more profound world of vegetables and gives him high kitchen techniques working at Mugaritz with Adoni Luis Aduriz and later on went on to work with the master pastry chef Paco Torreblanca, where he learned the discipline and rigorous techniques of pastry and its elaborations. El Poblet now Quique Dacosta’s restaurant was his next learning stop where he learnt all the secrets of and swotted of new concepts esthetics and cutting edge. Rodrigo later worked with the great master Martin Berasategui in Lasarte, who Rodrigo considers Martin Berasategui as his master and mentor. Till this day you can appreciate the influence of Berasategui in his plates.
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HELADO DE TOMATE VERDE
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REMOLACHA
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“Its essence is to rescue from the forgotten products with a brutal gastronomical value, re-introducing its production back to a plate” Rodrigo de la Calle It was in 2007 that Rodrigo installed himself in Aranjuez and opened his own homonymous restaurant where he offered gastronomy, where vegetable produce of high season is the protagonist and forged his own style of cuisine based in the respect for nature. It was radically a new concept that advocated finding culinary uses for a whole series of barely known vegetables, which Rodrigo himself was using to create truly amazing culinary wonders, turning him into a celebrity in just a few years. It was at the Madrid Fusíon in 2009 where Rodrigo along with Santiago Orts, he presented the concept of Gastrobotanica which won him the Cocinero Revelacion and later in 2010 Rodrigo was named Chef of the Year, prize granted by the Chamber of Commerce of Madrid. Rodrigo later on went on to receive international recognition by hand of the International Academy of Gastronomy and was named Chef L’Avenir - The Cook Of the Future. This same year Rodrigo published his book Gastrobotanica – 100 natural recipes for every season of the year. Light dishes are divided into primary entrees and desserts for every season of the year elaborated with original ingredients and very accessible for everyone to make in their homes. Also explications about prime materials are included, culinary techniques, its finishes and advise with a careful planned design that make delightful a turn to natures and gastronomy union.
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“In Gastrobotanica I found my way of utilizing products that had been unused or in extinction, never heard of products… being able to contribute to new taste registers to the palate… There was so much more field and I found it in a garden”. Rodrigo de la Calle
SANDIA Y RAICES
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Gastrobotanica is the investigation of new species and rescued of other variety of forgotten or unknown vegetable kingdom in the study of different components of plants (roots, stems,leafs,flowers,fruits ,seeds) for the application and use in the kitchen.
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RODRIGO INVIERNO
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It was in late 2011 when Rodrigo received his first Michelin star, and later in this same year he was granted the second Sol de la guia Repsol. In 2012, Rodrigo created the concept of Revolucion Verde, elaborating on his menu more radically which was based of fruits vegetable and mushrooms. Utilizing animal protein like mere seasoning component. Since then he began his work with fermented vegetables, achieving better texture and reutilizing the juices in his dishes with results of fermentation. His research takes him to experiment with super foods incorporating them into his gastronomical creations. And in 2015, Rodrigo formally starts his research of fermented beverages, creating his own drinks. He begins to make his signature dishes and serves them in a glass.
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APIO
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Vegetable nature, evanescence, the clock of the stations… Sensibility and technique by equal parts... Since 2015, he has been spearheading another revolution in a completely different setting. Every day, he designs the dishes for El Invernadero, a glass cube with barely ten tables in the garden of a small hotel in Collado Mediano in the sierra near Madrid. It is his home and is where he devotes himself to a new concept and his green revolution (#revoluciónverde); a menu where creativity, aesthetics, and flavor reach unexpected heights, and where vegetables are the indisputable protagonists. It is not vegan nor vegetarian. It is plant-based cuisine; great green cuisine. Astonishing dishes that have, furthermore, led Rodrigo to collaborate actively as an adviser of the world’s most Michelin starred Chef Joël Robuchon. If the cooking of the future is green, as announced by so many voices, one thing is clear: Rodrigo is its high priest. WG Magazine 2017 -
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KAMILLA SEIDLER
DELICIOUSNESS AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
GUSTU BOLIVIA Born born in Denmark, Kamilla Seidler never had any doubts about the future that she wanted for herself, since her childhood she loved cook and followed her dream. She went to culinary school, at Hotel&Restaurantskolen København and later went on to work in some of the best kitchens around the world - Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire and Restaurant Geist in Copenhagen. Kamilla has always been a chef who is distinguished by her professionalism and perfectionism. After accepting Claus Meyer´s irresistible invitation to be part of a dream called GUSTU in Bolivia, she arrived in La Paz in 2012 seeking to share her knowledge and experiences with young people and make at least a small difference in their lives. This goal, coupled with a huge commitment to Bolivia and its native products, and a deep respect for the work of hundreds of Bolivian producers, has earned Kamilla the name of “La Danesa de Los Andes” and has led her to represent Bolivia in some of the most important events worldwide: Tambo in Bolivia, Madridfusión in Spain, Parabere Forum in Spain, Qaray-Mistura in Peru, Ñam in Chile, Alimentarte in Colombia, MesaTendencias y G-11 in Brazil, Street Food World Congress in Singapore, From Forest to Table, Sustainable Amazon Gastronomy in Peru and Ecuador, World of Flavors of Culinary Institute of America and Aspen Ideas Festival in the US, Copenhagen Cooking and Food Festival in Denmark, ExpoMilano in Italy and others. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Developing an innovative, simple and elegant cuisine, Kamilla Seidler has been the first female chef invited to participate in the International Council of the Basque Culinary Center in 2014, she is a member of Det Danske Gastronomiske Azademi (Danish Gastronomy Academy) (2015), has been recognized as 2016 Latin America’s Best Female Chef, and the Best Chef in South America in 2014. She has received several other international awards for her work and her life dedicated to spreading a message of respect, dignity and pride through the food, a dedication recognized by institutions of the prestige of the Basque Culinary Center that selected her as one of the finalists of the 2016 Basque Culinary World Prize, meant to recognize chefs with transformative initiatives around the world. WG Magazine catches up with Kamilla Seidler… It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Kamilla Seidler tells us how she found her way into the culinary field to become one of the most innovative and most sought-after chef! I started culinary school when I was 21, after having a small design store with my mother after high school. I was in doubt on what to study and was interested in everything from architecture to law school. One day I was reading the newspaper and saw that the culinary school of Copenhagen was starting classes a couple of months later and I decided to try it out. Probably inspired by Jamie Oliver and other similar cooking shows coming up at that time and thought it would be nice to at least know a bit more about cooking. I didn’t realize that this would be a life changing decision at that moment.
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PALMITO SEDOSO CON CHARQUE DE LLAMA Y YEMA DE HUEVO POCHADA
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PAPAS NATIVAS EN SAL ROSADA CON FLOR DE CAPUCHINA Y ALCAPARRAS DE SAUCO
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When I see ingredients, they start matching with others and then suddenly a dish is born from imagining how it will taste. Then the process of actually making it starts.
Kamilla Seidler started her career working at some of the best restaurants, she tells us how it helped her as a chef…
Working with the team in Mugaritz as a very young and un-experienced cook was without knowing the best decision I have ever made. It was again pretty casual and I honestly didn’t have any idea of the importance of that very special place when I arrived. I learned the difference between being a cook just to have a job and being a cook because it’s a part of who you are. The eye for detail and the seriousness of the place mixed with smiles and good colleagues made me understand that this was the profession that I wanted to dedicate my to. As in any other restaurant it is not a single Kamilla Seidler life person who makes it special but the team. I was lucky enough to be at Mugaritz at a very special time where a lot of very talented people helped me learn and for that I will always be grateful. Dani, Kamilla Seidler’s cuisine is unique, a vision to Leire, Taty, Llorenc, Santi, Luca, Danny, Susana, guide guest through Bolivia without having them Fredy and many many more, are all part of who I move from their seats. Inspired by a combination am today. of fresh and quality ingredients. A cuisine very Kamilla Seidler tells us what ingredients inspires creative, artistic and delicious with the finest her, her favourite ingredients and ingredients that produce, creating a composition of flavours which she may have given up on… is complex and modest yet impeccably balanced… I believe that all cooks build up a library of flavours and memories around food and that is what you use when you make new dishes. When you are suddenly introduced to a whole new world of ingredients that you don’t know and have never seen before that’s when it get’s exciting (and difficult). Suddenly you are back to your knowledge on cooking techniques but having to go through all these new flavours. We started to learn the Bolivian ingredients with the team and started to understand how they best work and from there mixing with know-how on how to create the most interesting plates contemplating Bolivian culture and tradition without doing a traditional restaurant.
We work with seasonal ingredients, so every time that changes is exciding. Right now we are working with kallampa mushrooms, racacha and the Amazonian fish bagre. In a country as bio diverse as Bolivia, it’s impossible to play favourites. We have new or different products to choose from all the time. Avocado, blue potatoes, fish from the Amazon, quinoa, copoazu, wild vanilla etc. Aloe Vera I haven’t been able to make delicious yet. Tunta, the dehydrated potato from the Andes, are difficult to convince foreigners about because of its strong fermented taste. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Kamilla Seidler’s special cooking techniques behind her signature dishes… We try to keep the products intact and therefore manipulate as little as possible. We search to use ancient cooking techniques and ferment and smoke a lot. We are doing pastrami of carrots but also something as beautiful as fresh palm marrow doesn’t need manipulation besides being separated with great care one thread at a time. Creativity, Technique or Produce… Produce and creativity go hand in hand, it is fundamental for the kitchen that we run. We like technique but Gustu is also meant to be a restaurant that fits into its context. We can’t afford to be as experimental that people only comes back once a year so we are also going for comfort and always flavour first. The restaurant and the education program at Gustu – how do you balance your work with these two roles? Gustu has transformed into a restaurant for practice after the Manq’a School program was born. The basic training is now offered in 11 schools in Bolivia and two schools in Colombia where after the young aspiring cooks can continue with professional practice at the restaurant. Manq’a has graduated 2700 students in basic gastronomic training. The first years were a struggle to balance teaching and cooking, maintaining a certain level for the guests and managing a team without any experience but I’m very proud of the team that has been with us from the start and are now the ones running the daily operation.
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TERRINA DE CERDO CON REPOLLO MORADO Y TRIGO
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BISCOFLAN CON GANACHE PICANTE Y SORBETE DE CACAO SALVAJE
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What was the feeling to be 2016 Latin America’s Best Female Chef… Of course very surprising but a great honour being recognized by our colleagues. I’m happy about awards and recognitions because it’s a good indicator for the team but I’m much more interested in the social impact that we can have on the surrounding community. I believe that the award was partly given because of the type of restaurant and foundation that we have been running. Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Kamilla’s advice to those entering the kitchen for the first time…. That it is everything but glamorous. It is a PhD in cleaning and it is hard work. Only do it if you can’t help yourself. But then when you find out that this is your dream, then do it right and go all in.
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MICHELANGELO CESTARI GUSTU BOLIVIA
Michelangelo Cestari was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. He studied at the Centro de Estudios Gastronómicos in Caracas and began his professional career with Chef Carlos García. Then he moved to Europe where he worked at restaurants like Mugaritz in San Sebastián-Donostia where he met Kamilla Seidler. After accepting Claus Meyer´s invitation, he landed in La Paz in 2012 with the mission of consolidating the initiatives of Melting Pot Foundation in Bolivia and promoting a Gastronomic Movement similar to the Movement of New Nordic Gastronomy. The first project of the foundation in the country was the training of street food stalls and the design of the gastro-tourist circuit of traditional food Suma Phayata. But the ambitious dream really began with the design and establishment of Gustu Gastronomy S.A., a socially focused commercial enterprise, umbrella of Gustu Restaurant, Q’atu Bakeries and the educational program Gustu School. The restaurant has been recognized as the best in Bolivia and # 14 in Latin America and the educational program has evolved into the Manq’a Dining and Cooking Schools, a legally independent entity that operates 11 units in Bolivia and 2 in Colombia, where Michelangelo is a board member. He is also founder and board member of the Bolivian Gastronomic Integration Movement - MIGA, an entity dedicated to implementing tourism, gastronomic and productive initiatives as fundamental bases for the country’s integral development, initiatives such as the Gastronomic Encounter Tambo which is composed of fairs, markets, workshops and symposiums; and the MIGA Tourist Routes that identify and promote sectors with gastro-tourism potential in different regions of the country. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Michelangelo Cestari has presented these initiatives in important international forums such as the International BASE FORUM of the Inter-American Development Bank – BID; the Innovation Center of the Catholic University in Santiago, Chile; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, Culinary Action of the Basque Culinary Center, CAF Dialogues of the Latin American Development Bank and others of similar importance. Michelagelo Cestari speaks with WG Magazine… Tell us how you found your passion for cooking to be one of the most sought-after pastry chefs.. Well, I am not a renowned pastry chef, but I was actually head pastry at a couple of restaurants in Copenhagen. Currently I am dedicating my time to the overall management of the company and its social initiatives. Since I was very young I used to cook with my dad, an old fashion Italian lawyer that loved to take the time to prepare at home all kind of Italian dishes. Unfortunately, my dad died when I was 14 years all, and my mathematician mother did not like to cook, so I was responsible of the food at home. Take us through your experience at Mugaritz… Before reaching Mugaritz my approach to kitchen was average and simple (I believe). I saw cooking as a way to reach financial independency and personal empowerment, but Mugaritz helped me to understand cooking as something more, a way to understand the nature of societies, the behaviour of human beings, the decisions that people take, and the reasons of things. From Mugaritz my career took off, I definitely grew as professional and a person, I become a better professional a better person.
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Within Gustu, the Gustu School, you offer young children a culinary education… I realize a relevant fact, motivation, pride, inspiration, personal security means much more than an academic background or money. Many people told us that Gustu will not work due to the lack of professionalism within the Bolivian people, although I agree that it has been a difficult to manage and lead youngsters, but once they receive the opportunity to grow, to learn without boundaries, to make mistakes without conflicts… they become the most effective engine to the food movement. The greatest challenge hasn’t been to lead the people, but it has been the most gratifying achieved goal. Tell us about the Manq’a initiative… Manq’a is the result of the lessons learned at Gustu School, implemented on a massive scale. Manq’a is a sustainable educational component that we insert in vulnerable area of societies that through education and food services, seek empowerment, pride and sustainable development. What keeps you motivated at this point in your career? The simple fact that I feel every morning, when I wake up, that my work can support the development of long term improvements to my society, help me to keep my self-motivated. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Filipino by birth, Jordy’s desire and drive to take his country’s food to the next level. Opening his first restaurant Black Sheep in Manila, subsequently it was named one of the 15 best restaurants of 2015 by CNN. Serving refined Filipino food where his techniques, creativity and inspiration all stemmed from his experience and culture.
JORDY NAVARRA A FILIPINO CUISINE SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH PRATICALITY TOYO EATERY PHILIPPINES
His vision for his next restaurant is Philippine cuisine via a culinary journey taking him back to the very basics – where produce is grown organically, without cutting corners. He and his team continue to venture around the country to discover and support the country’s organic farmers. They work on soil where the only fertilizers are natural compost, they have discovered beef from cows that run free in the north of Luzon and have even found salt harvested from a farm in Batangas where the extraction process is done only by drying in the sun. Jordy is a highly-talented chef, forward thinking, passionate with his country’s cuisine and produce, hospitable, soft-spoken and humble. The culture of his restaurant is built upon the contribution from each and every team member. His food doesn’t just carry his name, it’s much more than that – it starts with the farmers who harvested the produce, the warm culture and hospitality of his country and the ideas and vision that came together from his team as a whole. He is a chef whom we can look up to and a culinary superstar in the making. WG Magazine 2017 -
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He worked at the legendary three-Michelin starred restaurant The Fat Duck, under Heston Blumenthal. His refined techniques, attention to detail and understanding of what it takes to be at the top level are just a few of the many skills he acquired there. He then worked at Bo Innovation in Hong Kong where his horizons were broadened with Asian flavors presented in unusual and forward-thinking styles. WG Magazine catches up with Jordy Navarra… His passion for cooking, Jordy tells us how he found his way into the culinary world… I found my way into the culinary field by trial and error, basically. I tried a lot of different jobs and eventually started cooking after discovering the world of fine dining and creative cuisine. I was just so addicted to learning about cooking and eating, discovering cultures through food and studying techniques and processes about cooking. Everyday there’s something to learn.
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Passionate about his cooking, a dining experience that is focused and inspired by a combination of fresh and quality ingredients with an impeccably balance… For us, I feel finding balance in the food we make is the ultimate goal. We try to be as efficient as possible using less ingredients to have a clearer flavor profile in mind. Most importantly, we want
Working for top chefs helped me understand the amount of work it takes to make a quality experience. There are no shortcuts to using the best ingredients prepared well.
flavors that represent our food culture’s flavor profiles. Jordy’s culinary philosophy…
The culinary philosophy we have at Toyo is to make an experience that is inspired by Philippine food culture, ingredients and techniques. When we come up with dishes, we do our best to make sure Jordy Navarra we feel that it represents the culinary philosophy we have. Same goes with our beverage program. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Ingredient obsessions – Jordy tells us about ingredients which inspires him, his favorite ingredients and ingredients difficult to work with… Right now, we’re very much inspired by Tapuey, which is a fermented alcoholic rice beverage in the Philippines that is made in the higher elevation areas of Northern Luzon. We’re experimenting using it to flavor our dishes as well as to become the inspiration behind finding practices that are native to the Philippines and our culture of food and drink. Always we love to work with all kinds of seafood at the restaurant. Since we’re an archipelago that has a country with a strong fishing culture (whether it be freshwater or saltwater fish), i enjoy very much learning about what seafood we have and discovering new ways of serving them.
I feel that I haven’t been able to master any of the ingredients we work with at the restaurant. There’s always something new to use and discover, and our team constantly tries to make our preparations with ingredients better every day.
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Special cooking techniques signature dishes…
behind
Jordy’s
We enjoy working a lot with wood and charcoal, especially grilling. In the rural areas of the Philippines, people generally use wood and charcoal to cook with and that really imparts a unique taste to the food they do. That’s something that we apply to the food we have at Toyo. Creativity, Technique or Produce… I think produce is the most important because that comes before all else. Without good produce, no amount of technique or creativity can save the dish you’re working on. At this point of his career what motivates Jordy Navarra… I still feel that I’m just starting out as a chef and what really motivates me is the process of learning hand in hand with the team at the restaurant. There’s always something you can learn to improve individually and collectively, and I enjoy the pursuit of that. Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Jordy Navarra’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time… The best advice would be to keep trying and to always follow what you feel most passionate about, and to always taste the food!
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OAXEN - SWEDEN
MAGNUS EK PRE DINNER FOOD
OAXEN SWEDEN
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Since finishing restaurant school in 1984, Magnus Ek has worked his way up as a chef. In 1994 he and his business partner and wife, Agneta Green, took over a small seasonal tavern, Oaxen Skärgårdskrog, or Krog, on the island Oaxen in the archipelago of Stockholm. The island is connected to the mainland by cable car and ferry. This is where they began creating with ingredients and wine pairings to produce exclusive food experiences. They were foraging for and using the ingredients that grew in the woods behind the restaurant and out on the waterfront. After only one season they jumped on the opportunity to buy the spot and were able to set their focus on quality. Agneta took the step to become a qualified sommelier whilst Magnus explored and researched the island’s wild herbs as well as the small local farmers and producers. Magnus cooked on stones, and he even invented a smoking apparatus. The word got out and their reputation spread. Almost overnight, people arrived from all over the world to the small island. At the heart of Oaxen’s cuisine has been a collaboration of creatively utilizing sustainable local elements and ethically produced ingredients. As their status grew, Magnus and Agneta were recognized as the forerunners of New Nordic Swedish cooking. The tavern cultivated and grew into one of the most highly rated eateries in Sweden and was regularly named one of the 50 best restaurants in the world by Restaurant Magazine.
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WAGUY
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Oaxen Krog has not been just about the food, but the imperative and natural journey from farm to table. They use local ingredients exclusive to the Baltics, and even have reserved permission to pick certain herbs on the island. Chef Ek regularly forages through the woods to gather products for his menus. Nature is an important element in Magnus’ gastronomy as he also grows his own herbs and vegetables nearby. With the passing years they realized that life on the island became more and more impractical. With not being able to be open all year round and with the solitude of the island, Oaxen Restaurant was not as regularly lavish a restaurant as it warranted being. They decided to move on but carry their reputation and food ethics with them. The old Oaxen Krog closed after 17 years with a lavish autumn dinner in 2011. Today, the Oaxen is in a former shipyard hall in Stockholm. But Ek did not say goodbye to a natural kitchen. Magnus and Agneta began to search for a new location nearer Stockholm. They found Gamla Djurgårdsvarvet, an old shipyard, construction of the new Oaxen Krog began 2012 and in the spring of 2013 the new Oaxen Krog and Slip opened in Stockholm.
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Just as on the island, the new Oaxen Krog & Slip lies by the water, in an area festooned by the shipyard industry which had been there for many years. The Slip serves the house’s interpretation of Nordic bistro fare with hearty and uncomplicated dishes, where many are intended to be shared. All of the wines originate in Europe from small vineyards often with an organic profile. WG Magazine catches up with Magnus Ek… It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking, Magnus EK tells us how he found your way into the culinary field to become one of the most innovative and most sought-after chef! When I was around 12 the biggest mystery was how to make béarnaise sauce (most béarnaise sauce was in powder form when I was a kid) and when I found a recipe in a cookbook it was like as I found out the answer to al problems in the world. I made a meal for my mother father and two sisters and they got so happy and I started to cook al the things I liked to family and friends. And from there it al went on. Magnus Ek’s cuisine is unique, a cuisine very creative with the finest produce, creating a composition of flavours and well balanced… Well most of my dishes you should eat a little bit of everything at the same time, and I always thinking that the main component should never be spoiled by other flavours and when you eat it, it should always be the first flavour or the last after you have swallowed it because the main ingredient if it’s a langoustine or a celeriac rot or a peace of meat should be so good in it self.
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FLÄSKSIDA
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ÖRING
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Magnus Ek’s culinary philosophy… I explore the wild herbs on Djurgården, I choose unique ingredients from our neighboring regions to the Nordic region’s ultimate limits where quality, taste, sustainable agriculture and humane animal husbandry is required to get end up in our kitchen. We cook our ingredients in a modern way, but old and traditional techniques are the foundation of our approach. Ingredients which inspire Magnus Ek and ingredients which he has not been able to master… Right now its winter so there is not so much green vegetables around except green house grown stuff (who usually don’t taste or have a nice texture) so right now I’m very focus on seaweed and how to use them in different ways. Roasted yeast, I have eaten one dish that tasted good with roasted yeast but I have never found anything that tasted good with it my self.
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Special cooking techniques behind Magnus Ek’s signature dishes… I don’t have just one or two cooking techniques, I use many different ones but I like fermented food and in general and how it changes the flavour and texture of the ingredients. And cooking with really hot temperatures with long resting. Creativity, Technique or Produce… I would say produce because that’s where it all starts. If you start with something that does not taste any it is really difficult to make something that taste good.
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SKOGSKAPRIS
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Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Magnus Ek’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time… Some one said that inspiration is for amateurs and I think that is true. You have to find the inspiration in your self, you must like what you are doing because it is hard and stress full with a very good portion of cleaning and frustration over that many things doesn’t goes as you planed them.
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LE SERVAN - FRANCE
KATIA and TATIANA LEVHA FROM STEM TO STERN LE SERVAN FRANCE Tatiana and Katia are two half-French half-Filipina sisters with cumulative their backgrounds in Manila, Hong Kong, Thailand & France share their favorite spots for eating out in the French capital. With their forty-seat restaurant, offers a traditional French cuisine with a little Asian twist. After growing up partly around Asia and partly in France, Tatiana spent time at L’Arpège and L’Astrance before undertaking the project of working with her sister Katia, who had just come back from the Mandarin Oriental London. Tatiana uses classic French techniques and imagination in the kitchen, while Katia runs the front of the house with her extensive knowledge. Together they opened Le Servan, their own restaurant which they wanted it simple, with good comfort food and quality products.
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KIKO MOYA
L´ESCALETA IN ALICANTE´S MAGIC MOUNTAIN
L´ESCALETA SPAIN Francisco Moya Redrado was born in Cocentaina, Alicante. His family opened a little hotel in the inland town of Onteniente, after which they opened a small restaurant in Cocentaina called L’Escaleta, referring to the narrow staircase that descended into the restaurant. At this time, Basque-Navarre dishes were relatively unknown in the area and L’Escaleta immediately featured recipes from the cuisine. The restaurant was a family affair, at 14, Moya would work in the kitchen on the weekends, grumbling when he had to peel garlic because he couldn’t stand the smell. At the time, it didn’t seem that kitchen work was for him; as soon as he turned 16 he started working as a waiter.
of his stage with the Roca brothers in El Celler de Can Roca. There he realized that their work in the kitchen, wine cellar, and pastry section made the perfect trinity for any respectable restaurant. During this time he also had the chance to study under the late Santi Santamaría, the Manchegan Manolo de la Ossa, and Antonio Velasco, among other master chefs. At the onset of the new millennium, L’Escaleta moved into a country house on the skirts of the Montcabrer Mountain, which one can see from the large windows in the restaurant. Moya was impatient to bring his newly acquired knowledge to the menu, but his Uncle Ramiro, who had always been cautious about embarking on new gastronomic adventures and sceptical about his desire to innovate immediately, convinced him that the time would come for that, and it was better to forge ahead slowly and without shortcuts. So, under his uncle, Moya positioned himself in all the kitchen stations and imbibed their own philosophy in which raw ingredients were of primary importance. Their obligation was to avoid false appearances aesthetically and to eschew fancy sauces that could overshadow the purity of their flavors.
L’Escaleta was always a symbiosis within the family. With the coming of the second generation, Moya became in charge of the kitchen. His cousin, Alberto Redrado, who was chosen the best wine steward of 2009 by the Real Academia de la Gastronomía However, in 1998 Moya had a chance to apprentice and the Cofradía de la Buena Mesa, became the at Ferrán Adrìa’s legendary El Bulli. After that initial restaurant manager. Both work together and consult experience, he shifted towards kitchen work, doing each other continuously on each dish presented. apprenticeships in several Navarre and Catalan A Michelin star since 2001 and numerous awards restaurants, among which he has a very vivid confirm that L’Escaleta is one of the best restaurants memory of the restaurant Talaia in Barcelona and in Valencia. WG Magazine 2017 -
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ODETTE - SINGAPORE
Award-winning chef Julien Royer is co-owner of Odette, a Modern French restaurant located at the iconic National Gallery Singapore. Established in collaboration with The Lo & Behold Group, Odette offers a constantly evolving menu that showcases globally sourced produce underpinned by classic French culinary techniques.
JULIEN ROYER
THE ESSENTIALS OF ESSENTIAL CUISINE
ODETTE SINGAPORE
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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. Royer has devoted years to forging lasting relationships with some of the finest boutique producers from around the globe–including suppliers from Japan, France and Australia. He 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.
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In 2016, Royer will be the only Singaporebased Chef and one of the headlining personalities at the Ubud Food Festival in Bali, Indonesia. He recently presented in a Four Hands dinner with Chef Arnaud Bignon from 2-Michelin starred London restaurant, The Greenhouse. Royer will also serve as mentor and judge at the San Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 Competition held in Seoul, Korea. Prior to Odette, Royer won over diners and critics during his four-year tenure at JAAN at Swissotel the Stamford, Singapore. The restaurant received numerous accolades under Royer’s leadership, including 11th place on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2015 and 74th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2015 long list. Royer was also named Chef of the Year at the World Gourmet Series Awards of Excellence 2014. WG Magazine catches up with Julien Royer… It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Julien Royer tells us how he found your way into the culinary world… My journey to becoming a chef started from an early age in the French countryside of Cantal, Auvergne. My family’s rich agricultural background meant that I was growing up surrounded by nature. This gave me a deep sense of respect for seasonality and the integrity of ingredients.
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UNI
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I started out wanting to be a baker. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my Grandmother, Odette. Some of my greatest childhood memories are tied to tarts that she would make. From prune tarts and blueberry tarts to cheese tarts, there was always a tart for every season. I began my career as a chef training with Michael Bras in Laguiole, and then moved to Durtol where I worked for Chef Bernard Andrieux. From there, I went to London to be sous chef to Antonin Bonnet at Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant, The Greenhouse. In 2011, I moved to Singapore to take up a four-year tenure at JAAN at Swissotel, and in 2015, I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to start Odette. To be honest, it’s not so much of being innovative, but rather focusing on developing a good understanding of taste. I’ve come to realize that the more I’ve matured as a chef the more confident I’ve become in removing elements from a dish rather than adding to it. It’s all about bringing the focus back to the fundamental pleasure of eating and allowing remarkable ingredients to shine through strong cooking techniques with a touch of garnishing and sauces. While technique and sourcing are important, I don’t enjoy artifice in my dishes.
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Julien’s cuisine is unique, it is a dining experience inspired by a combination of fresh and quality ingredients with an impeccable balance on a plate… Bringing balance on the plate is a constant and daily task. You have to taste everything – from the basic mise en place of coulis, puree, sauce, jus down to the product itself. Part of the work is to taste and educate the palate on a daily basis and to be able to visualize where modifications need to be made to strike that balance. It’s tricky, but it’s really about tasting and developing an understanding of ingredients in its various forms, textures and natures. For example, the flavours of lamb continues to evolve throughout the season so you’ll need to keep tasting the product and tweaking the seasoning according to the day’s offerings. It is also extremely important to maintain balance on the menu on the whole. The tempo of the meal is of utmost importance and has to flow stylistically in terms of intensity of flavours, with crescendos and decrescendos in the right places. It has to have a sense of coherence from start to finish. For example, you would never start off with a dish of burnt charcoal and serve a delicate raw scallop after. If I had to draw the flow of the menu – it’ll be like heartbeat. It needs to build and get stronger, then end smoothly and softly.
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MARINATED FREMANTLE OCTOPUS
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HAND DIVED SCALLOP ‘AU NATUREL’
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Julien Royer worked with some of the best chefs – Michel Bras and Bernard Andrieux, he tells us how it helped him as a chef… As one of my early mentors, Chef Michel Bras has had a great influence on my journey as a chef. His belief in allowing vegetables to take equal footing on a plate with the proteins, has instilled in me a deep respect for the integrity and purity of each ingredient in every dish. Beyond that, he has also taught me the importance of humility, open mindedness and respecting the individuals who play a part in delivering the restaurant experience. He has always had a way with people and treats every member of the team with great respect. He’s played a huge part in opening my mind and seeing how a chef should conduct himself outside of purely cooking. With Chef Bernard Andrieux, I developed a firm understanding of classic French culinary foundations. He was always a bit tougher in the kitchen and more old school. He was very focused on training all the chef de parties on making quality consommés, jus, stocks, vegetable broths, and sauces. I’ve been very lucky to have served under the tutelage of both chefs. You always try to take a bit of all your experiences and make them your own. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Julien describes his culinary philosophy, and takes us through the process of creating a new dish… My cooking style is very much produce-driven. It is guided by the best available produce and is continuously evolving. I also try to stay grounded to the values I learnt as a young chef, which are to respect the taste, terroir and integrity of ingredients. At Odette, every ingredient has its place and purpose, and is treated with the utmost care to highlight its purest flavours. The core of Essential Cuisine is to offer honest cooking that makes remarkable ingredients shine. It’s all about honesty, honoring the integrity of ingredients and giving heart to the people who cook, serve and enjoy the food. When I create a new dish, I think of the best available produce and ingredients and work together with the team to produce a dish that pleases all our palates. For example, we’re currently working on a dish with sweetbreads and garlic. We’ve continuously tasting and trying to find the sweet spot between my preferences and that of my sous chefs. When we finally find that mid-point which pleases everyone, it is more likely to please our diners as well.
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THE 55’ SMOKED ORGANIC EGG
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Julien tells us what ingredients inspires him, his favourite ingredients and ingredients that he may have given up on… Asparagus from Asperges de Roques Hautes in the Marseille region. It’s a truly exquisite ingredient. Typically with asparagus, you’d use the top of the spear and remove the bottom third as it’s often too hard and fibrous. With this, we’re able to just shave off 2-3mm. We are the first restaurant in South East Asia to use it. Black preserved Japanese shallots from the Fukuoka prefecture are also a stunning ingredient. They are similar to black garlic but are Japanese baby shallots or Rakkyo. It has a pungent taste and is oniony, velvety and yeasty without being overly strong. The product is very unique and is not commonly used, even within Japan. This is really dependent on the mood and the season. One thing that often comes back is citrus. Lime, yuzu, calamansi, kaffir lime, lemon, sudachi – a touch of citrus can transform a dish and add depth and dimension to it. Bread. We’ve tried it many times but it’s a difficult job. You need to have an understanding of the flavours and technical complexities of baking and most importantly, the right hands. It takes years of practice and understanding. I have a lot of respect for bakers.
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CHOCONUTS
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Special cooking techniques behind Julien’s signature dishes… We are not the most avant-garde in terms of the use of cooking techniques. Instead, we try to keep the essence of classic French cuisine with the use of sauces. The DNA of French cuisine to me are these sauces. Every meat course, for example, will always come with a jus. We also try to use every part of the produce we work with. For example, seafood and poultry are always transformed into bouillon, consommé or sauce. We try to make the most of every ingredient. Creativity, Technique or Produce… Without question: produce... Chef Michel Bras has a great saying which guides my approach to food – “Technique serves produce and not the other way”. You may have a strong grasp of technique, but if the product is bad to begin with, you may be able to make it less bad but you are still unlikely to transform it into an exceptional dish.
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LEMON T’ART
MADRID FUSÍON MANILA 2017
Julien Royer tells us what motivates him… Seeing my staff grow within the team is extremely rewarding. We have two members on our service team who had never worked in a fine dining setting prior to joining us. I have been very impressed by how much they have grown in their 1 year and 4 months with us. It is very humbling to know that they have grown their skillsets with us and know that they will use us as a reference when they eventually move on to new challenges in their future careers. As a chef, the changing seasons, working with remarkable produce, discovering new ingredients and meeting people is also a great source of motivation and inspiration. Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Julien’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time… While being chef may be perceived as a glamorous profession now, this was not the case 10 to 15 years ago. I think it is dangerous for this consideration to be the main motivator for young people to become a chef as they might not have the patience for it. The reality is, being chef is a vocation that requires a lot of sacrifice. For example, instead of hanging out with friends on the weekend, you will have to work. Instead of getting off work at 6 or 7pm, you’ll likely be stuck in the thick of the dinner rush and will only likely leave the restaurant closer to midnight. The first few years of my career were not glamorous at all. I spent months washing pots and pans, peeling potatoes, and scaling fish. If a young chef is really passionate, I’d tell them that it’s the best job you can have with endless progression from day one. Whether you want to make the best burger in the world or open the best restaurant, if you are passionate you can do it. It’s difficult, but if you have the heart for it and are willing to put in the hard work and make the necessary sacrifice, you can do it. WG Magazine 2017 -
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SIMON ROGAN THE GREAT FOOD CONSPIRACY L’ENCLUME UNITED KINGDOM
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AULIS CANON
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Over the past 25 years, Simon has developed his distinctive and inventive cooking style that has led to awards, Michelin stars, and worldwide acclaim. Building a culinary destination in Cartmel, the southern Lake District, Simon opened L’Enclume in 2002, which has achieved two Michelin stars and has been voted by the Good Food Guide as the Best Restaurant in the UK for four consecutive years. This was followed by the more casual Rogan & Company in 2008. Cementing his commitment to the area, in 2009 Simon began developing his own farm 12-acre natural farm just outside Cartmel where he grows vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers. In 2014, Simon launched Fera at Claridge’s in Mayfair, London and within four months it received a Michelin star. A honorary degree for a Doctorate in Laws from Lancaster University in 2013, and the following year, he was awarded an honorary fellowship for his contribution to Culinary Arts from the University of Cumbria. Most recently, Simon awarded AA Chef of the Year.
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WG Magazine catches up with Simon Rogan… It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion for cooking and where they grew up. Simon Rogan tells us how he found his way into the culinary field to become one of the most sought-after chef! I grew up in Southampton, with my father working in a wholesale fruit and veg market - so I’ve always felt incredibly passionately about sourcing the finest local ingredients. This later translated into a passion for cooking. Before opening L’Enclume I worked with some great chefs such as Keith Floyd, Marco Pierre White, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Alain Senderens in Paris. Over the past 25 years I have really developed my own distinctive cooking style and am constantly thinking of ways to change or improve this. Simon Rogan inspiration creating a new dish… Most of my inspiration comes from Our Farm and the wild, diverse produce available around it. I am also so fortunate to be based in Cumbria as the food scene is fantastic. There are many passionate artisan suppliers, who share my simple desire to work with exceptional ingredients. Special cooking techniques behind Simon Rogan’s signature dishes.. Aulis at L’Enclume is our development kitchen and chefs table and is at the center of all that we do in Cartmel. It serves to constantly provide all new material for all our restaurants and gives the chefs a creative space to test out new ideas or techniques. It’s one of the most high-tech kitchens in the UK and an incredible environment to work in.
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A magical Cumbrian hideaway. Simon Rogan’s iconic riverside restaurant, where passion and creativity showcase the finest home-grown, hand-picked ingredients and harness the powerful connection between food and nature. ‘Ingredients that change with the seasons inspire my menu development and ensure a truly traceable dining experience’ Simon Rogan
LE SHORTHORN BEEF
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LE TRUFFLE DUMPLING
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Ingredients that inspire Simon Rogan, his favorite ingredients and ingredient he has been unable to master… At the moment kohlrabi is a really exciting ingredient to work with for me. We grow this at Our Farm in Cartmel so we know that it is as perfect as it can be. It’s great to know that our guests are experiencing the freshest and most diverse seasonal produce that we can possibly offer. My all-time favourite ingredients are scallops. Anything we tried to do with Cotton lavender was quite nasty! Creativity, Technique or Produce…
Keeping my extremely talented team together motivates me beyond all else, and the constant pursuit of perfecting a dish or a technique...
Creativity and technique are both underpinned by produce - so it’s a combination of the three. We fundamentally believe in strengthening the link between produce and what we eat, making this journey as simple as possible. We are lucky in Cartmel as year-round growing on Our Farm affords complete control over the ingredients we serve on our menu. We then use technique and creativity to really highlight the provenance of the produce. Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, Simon’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen for the first time…
Simon Rogan Always try and learn as much as you can from who is around you. I’d also encourage young chefs to be patient, the best success comes through sheer dedication. WG Magazine 2017 -
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GENE GONZALEZ
ELEMENTS OF CULINARY DEVELOPMENT
CAFÉ YSABEL PHILIPPINES
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Twenty five years ago, Gene Gonzalez opened, as chef-owner, Cafe Ysabel in San Juan with the kindness of my charming landlord couple Susan Roces and Fernando Poe Jr.; who rented out a small section of Tita Susan’s family home. A wonderful area to be in, having affluent, well-traveled, young patrons who delighted in personal dining. The path was difficult and it seemed that every dedicated 14-hour day was well rewarded with praises and smiles by the guests that, sooner or later, he all got to know. Cafe Ysabel became San Juan’s best kept secret and eventually been consistently in the top 100 restaurants list. It also has become a foodie mecca for visiting tourists who are taken by their expatriate friends in Manila. Aside from a series of apprenticeships in France and Italy, he completed various specialized courses in food arts at the Culinary Institute of America and the California Culinary Academy. Apart from founding and running the pioneering Center for Asian Culinary Studies, Gonzalez is one of the Philippine’s most prolific cookbook authors, penning iconic creations such as “Cocina Sulipeña”, a book on 19th century recipes from Pampanga, and a recent award-winning series on Filipino food. He has undertaken research and development projects with major food manufacturers and flavor laboratories, and his consultancy has bolstered over 60 local successful food establishments.
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HALIBUT AMANDINE
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His restaurant Café Ysabel is set in a handsome ancestral home with a lush garden, remains a constant among discerning diners, an oasis in northern Metro Manila. While Gonzalez’s curiosity, vision, and experimentalism has been paving the way for the country’s culinary scene for more than 30 years, it is clear that he will continue to play a vital role in its future. WG Magazine catches up with Gene Gonzalez…
LENGUA SULIPENA
Gene Gonzalez tells us how he found his way into the culinary world to become one of the most sought-after chef in the Philippines! I was cooking since I could stand up on a stool. My growing up years were surrounded with food as I grew up with my Capampangan grandmother who runs a typical Pampanga household with a huge kitchen. We had our own bakes, cooks, lechonero and the household evoked the seasons as they were always preparing preserves like crabfat, achara, chutneys and traditional sweets. I was exposed to a good balance of provincial or barrio cooking eaten by the staff and food “upstairs” on gentrified Pampanga cuisine. This was further brought up another notch as my grandmother came from a line of families that lived in Sulipan, Pampanga which was the center of cuisine in Luzon and the playground of the principalia. WG Magazine 2017 -
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Gene Gonzalez describes his culinary philosophy, and the inspiration creating a new dish… Cuisine is dynamic and is a sign whose main variable for development is the economy and historical experience. Tracing historical and regional development of Filipino cooking guides us to the outcome and evolution of recipes. We cannot turn our backs on historical or ancestral recipes. We should preserve them and seek inspiration from their use of ingredients and methods.
PRAWNS THERMIDOR
Inspiration comes from Satori flashes of realization, emotions are converted to overt acts of cooking and a recipe is created after to which emotions are elicited from an audience of diners. Through the years, Café Ysabel was a seat of innovation. From the Ube Vichyssiose, to what was once one of the World’s largest coffee creations lists, to a movement of Filipino chefs called Alta Cocina Filipina where it was formed... to the daring cigar, food and wine trio dinners… to the chocolate dinners (that had chocolate from start to finish.. Now on dinner number 8)… to losap: Pagkaing Pilipino (that proved Filipino cuisine can be innovative and be patronized by the country’s top gourmets) to Filipino food and wine pairings… My school has also become a guardian of recipes as our Research’s Development Center has become a very busy hub of curious cooks.
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PASTA TRENTISSIMO
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Gene Gonzalez’s ingredient obsession… Though cultures may differ, understanding is brought about by the simple act of eating. As I immerse myself in a culture of another country, I look at the Filipino version or ingredient, then a magnificent obsession of testing out a concept starts. Looking also at related cultures, one looks at the Asian rice culture and the great similarity of cooking methods and recipes of what can be harvested or forged from rice. In the Western areas, one looks at the link of the European experience especially the influences it has had on my town because of the world sugar trade and the royalties it has entertained. With regards to the ingredient mastery, exposing oneself to cooking methods and their use has taken me around first to the Western hemisphere as apprentice and curious cook which eventually brought me to Asia as technique, ingredients and the order of eating has made me roam it the past 20 years. This made me go full circle and I am back to looking at Filipino food as we have more than 7,000 islands. I know it will take more than a lifetime to look at but I want to cover as much ground as I can. Ingredient knowledge and the etymology of their usage is most important. I really have not given up on any as I feel cooking is just putting everything together in the correct time, temperature and action…
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Special cooking techniques behind Gene Gonzalez’s signature dishes… “I started with innovative techniques and pushed it as in the 80’s I had set up Chef Giannina with its blank plates, lemon meringue foam with Chicken Katsu, rose petal ice cream hot savory flavors on soups, reduced sauces. Eventually, in the 90’s the first sparks of Filipino creativity gave way to our restaurant breaking out of the crispy pata, kare-kare bubble and we innovated flavors based on traditional tastes such as sinigang na bayabas sa bulalo, bistek na pusit with fried plain plantains dried banana blossoms, Ensalada with innovative dressings and usage of different vinegar from different regions. ROASTED BONE MARROW
Creativity, Technique or Produce… Gene Gonzalez adds “On Creativity, Technique or Produce are okay but two most important is respect for ingredient and respect for the diner. Socratic questions stream during the culinary development process…Will it give credence to the ingredient? Will eating it be easy to comprehend? Will it satisfy stomach and soul? Will appreciation transcend time and even as memory still be enjoyable conversation? What motivates Gene Gonzalez? Motivation for me is being happy as I look forward to my daily work. Putting Philippine cuisine and development of Filipino chefs has become my journey and I hope I am contributing to the pool of what Filipino cuisines is busy working on… Putting Philippine cuisine in the world map!!!”
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PAELLA SULIPEÑA
ANGRY SAUCE PASTA- SEAFOOD AND SPICY HOMEMADE POMODORRO PASTA TRENTISSIMO
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THE TEST KITCHEN - PHILIPPINES
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Josh Boutwood has lived a nomadic life that earned him a colorful cooking career. Born in England to a British mother and Filipino father, he spent his early years growing up on the tropical island of Boracay before moving to Spain at age 10 to continue his education.
JOSH BOUTWOOD FROM TRASH TO TREASURES THE TEST KITCHEN PHILIPPINES
In 2010, after various stints in Scandinavia and the UK, and armed with with the passion to expand Filipino traditional flavors, Boutwood returned to the island of Boracay to open his restaurant, Alchemy. Since then, he has won more than 20 medals, including the titles in 2012 and 2013 Best Chef at the Philippine Culinary Cup. In 2016, Boutwood was part of the National Culinary Team of the Philippines, winning 1 gold and 2 bronze medals, and contributing to winning the overall Championship. In 2012, Boutwood joined the Bistro Group of Companies to assist them in creating concepts and dishes. In January 2017, he opened his own restaurant The Test Kitchen. Seating 22 and with an ever-changing menu, he has created a stage to allow his creativity to flourish. WG Magazine 2017 -
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“Due to my obsessive drive to keep pushing is the start to my motivation. Also seeing young chefs have a drive to pursue a future in our trade is very motivating” Josh Boutwood Currently we are still working on our curing program, cured lamb is still high on our interest as It’s interesting to learn how chefs find their passion well as yeast extracts. I’m in love with curing as the for cooking and where they grew up. Josh tells major part of the process is time. Time is perhaps us how he found his way into the culinary field to my favourite “ingredient” of all. I’m happy to wait become one of the most sought-after chef in the 4-6 months for an item to reach its prime. Philippines! Salt, is extremely useful in many preparations. I was brought up in a hotel & restaurant centric home, both parents had restaurants either side of Special cooking techniques… “You know now days the world, my mother in the UK and my father in techniques are so varied and a lot of chefs share the Philippines. When I was leaving high school I the same, although I believe time and patience is set my sights on becoming an architect yet after one of the main techniques in the test kitchen.”. a while I found that cooking and the stress and pressure that comes with it, attracted me to take up Creativity, Technique or Produce… cooking. I was able to work with some great chefs Produce, definitely the most important. With and restaurants and through perseverance I am creativity you can mask a substandard product, where I am now, although I am still pushing and with technique you can transform a substandard setting goals, I am the type of person that is never product but why? I ask myself. We should always content and need to keep pushing. start with the best produce and that does not mean the most expensive, its about using ingredients at Josh’s culinary philosophy… their best. From there we can apply creativity and My culinary Philosophy is simple, I am produce technique in that order. driven and only work with ingredients that I feel are at their ripest. Ripest not meaning mature or sweet Being a chef is perceived as a glamorous profession, but in a sense where I see them having the highest Josh’s advice to chefs who are entering the kitchen potential in the application. I work using a mental for the first time… Triangle, it is from there I explore 3 components and find ways to balance them out. We don’t have It is far from glamorous, the few that may be recipes so each time we create we ensure that the perceived as having a glamorous lifestyle are few. We work long hours, in hot kitchens with very little 3 points of a triangle are balanced. time for any personal attachments. Your heart must Ingredients that inspire Josh and his favourite be in it to be able to strive in this trade and having a partner/wife who is equally as supportive helps! ingredients… WG Magazine catches up with Josh Boutwood…
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LOCAVORE UBUD - INDONESIA
EELKE PLASMEIJER
LOCAVORE’s cuisine is an unforgettable culinary adventure. Led by classically trained chefs Ray and Eelke, the passionate and dedicated kitchen team creates unique, contemporary European fare from the finest of locally sourced seasonal ingredients...
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Eelke Plasmeijer started his kitchen career at the age of 14 in a restaurant in his Dutch village. Working his way up through the ranks, he trained at hotel school and a two-Michelin star restaurant in Amsterdam. Visiting a mentor in Jakarta in 2008, he was persuaded to take over as head chef at a restaurant in the city. Ray applied as sous-chef, the two hit it off and soon moved to Bali, where they ended up running the kitchen at Alila Ubud together. “Working within the Alila concept of using local ingredients where possible, we decided to take it to the next level and use only local food. Then we started thinking about starting our own restaurant instead of staying within the hotel industry...” The rest is history. Both chefs are married to Indonesian women, and their sons were born a month apart.
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RAY ADRIANSYAH Ray Adriansyah was born in Jakarta to Sumatran parents. His mother was an excellent cook and Ray grew up with a deep interest in traditional and international cuisines. While studying in New Zealand, he decided to quit the business school he was attending and switch to cooking. After graduating from culinary school in Christchurch, he returned to Jakarta and obtained the position of sous-chef under Eelke. They’ve been working together ever since. “It was a gradual decision to use local ingredients. We started using a few at the beginning but our commitment continued to grow. I’m very proud to use ingredients that are not imported; I wish more Indonesian chefs would do so. There are so many benefits all around.”
GO LOCAL OR GO HOME LOCAVORE UBUD INDONESIA Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer’s ingredientdriven menu celebrates the farmers, fishers and food artisans of Indonesia. Through these ongoing relationships, they ensure the freshest of seasonal produce and ethically fed meat animals. And by working closely with local farmers, Locavore supports sustainability within its community. Over 95% of the kitchen’s ingredients are Indonesian. Locavore’s own garden provides some seasonal vegetables and herbs, further reducing the huge carbon footprint of imported foods. Eelke and Ray painstakingly source the animals they use in their kitchens, ensuring that they were free ranged, raised on wholesome natural foods and dispatched with respect. The chefs honour the animals they use with creative dishes in which very little is wasted. The marriage of fresh, local ingredients with the inspired dishes of these prizewinning chefs has proved enormously popular with international diners who love both the concept and the food.
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DOOREYOO - SOUTH KOREA
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TONY YOO
THE ART OF KOREAN BBQ & FERMENTATION
DOOREYOO SOUTH KOREA
Tony Yoo is one Korea’s most celebrated young chefs. Growing up in rural Gangwon province, he learned about the freshest of local ingredients from his grandmother. He also drew inspiration from his father, who was also a chef. After studying Korean culinary heritage—with a focus on vegetarian temple food and traditional spices—Yoo set out to learn and train in other parts of the globe, including a stint at Aqua, a twoMichelin- star German restaurant. Upon returning home, he launched successful modern Korean restaurants, receiving the country’s first Michelin star, and the Award of Ministry of Agriculture in 2011. Yoo is now the owner-chef of Doreyoo, a restaurant focused on serving the finest Korean dishes using seasonal, organic ingredients, and traditional fermented sauces and pastes. WG Magazine 2017 -
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ROBBY GOCO CYMA PHILIPPINES
IT’S GOAT TO BE BACK But aside from that, he is a passionate believer that food is more than just what we take in; it is also about what we leave behind. We need to be more conscious of our food and how it can affect the planet. We need to go beyond what tastes good and looks good, and also think about how we can maximize our ingredients and minimize waste. His main advocacy is to support the local farmers and help the local industry progress.
Raoul Roberto Goco or more commonly known as “Chef Robby” is the Director for Research and Development and Managing Partner of Cyma Greek Taverna and Green Pastures, a farm-to- table concept. He graduated with a degree in Culinary With this in mind, Chef Robby created Green Arts from the California Culinary Academy in 1995. Pastures, where he builds his menu by looking at what’s available around him. Here, all produce “Good food is a right, not a privilege”- Chef Robby come from farms, ranches, and fisheries guided by Goco the principles of sustainability. His inspiration for His main motivation in his professional career is crafting his recipes is the story of each ingredient to create, innovate and build distinct food service and the farmers who nurtured and cared for them. concepts to provide the Philippine dining market a better choice. So in 2004, Chef Robby opened Cyma Greek Taverna, which takes 3,500 years of Greek culinary excellence. With over 8 branches nationwide in the Philippines, Cyma still remains a crowd favorite despite being in the restaurant industry for more than 10 years. Cyma promises to deliver that one-of- a-kind OPA moment – a moment that will always be about bringing people together for a “flourishing” experience that starts with great food, then goes beyond by nurturing the soul and the spirit.
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He was a recipient of the 10 Outstanding Entrepreneurs of the Year Award in 2008 and a finalist of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2012. He was also nominated as Best Chef in Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets Awards in 2012. Chef Robby is also the man behind the sumptuous menus of various restaurants such as Tequila Joe’s, Achiote Taqueria, Go Greek, Munchtown, Le Monet, Hotel Luna, Vitalis Villas, Yumi and many others.
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SALLY CAMACHO - UNITED STATES
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SALLY CAMACHO WHAT CAME FIRST THE DUCK OR THE EGG
PASTRY CHEF UNITED STATES
Beverly Hills. A turning point in her career, and the core basis of her training, she learned all aspects of the hotel industry from plated desserts, chocolate work, and catering such events as the Grammy’s and Academy Awards. Chef Sally was selected by former Alain Ducasse, Executive Pastry Chef, Frederic Robert to be his Assistant Pastry Chef for the opening team of Five Star Five Diamond Casino/Resort - The Wynn, Las Vegas. She prepared daily buffets for 7,000 guests, while overseeing the Chocolat Patisserie.
Sally joined Bradley Ogden, commanding the sweet kitchens at the James Beard Award winning restaurant, Bradley Ogden in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, as Executive Pastry Chef. She created Chef Sally Camacho is considered to be an up menus daily inspired by freshly picked Farmer’s and coming leader in modern day confectionery Market produce. arts. According to Sally, she grew up at the kitchen table. “My first memory is standing on an apple In 2007, she was on the first All Female Pastry box waiting for my mom to start to cook”. She was Team to compete for the “National Pastry Team raised in Culver City, California where her family Championship”, receiving the Silver Metal and the held strong to their Asian and Pan-Pacific heritage. award for Best Sportsmanship. At the Camacho house, barbequing, frying whole fish with spices, and secret Filipino family recipes, Rising, to yet another challenge Sally took on the were the norm. She remembers fondly the first newly renovated Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort, time she helped roast a whole pig amidst family Aventura, Florida, as the Executive Pastry Chef. laughter Yearly visits to the Philippines, ingrained There she created pastries for three fine dining restaurants, room service, and banquets. While her love of intensity for flavor. at the Turnberry, she taught classes on Wedding Chef Sally Camacho received her Associates Cakes, Petit Fours, and Bon Bons and Pralines at Degree in Culinary Arts at the California Culinary Ewald Notter’s School of Confectionary Arts. Academy in San Francisco. Her love of travel took her to the Caneel Bay Resort, a Rosewood Hotel As Pastry Chef for WP 24 at the Ritz Carlton, property, in the Virgin Islands where she learned to Los Angeles, Sally comes full circle. She creates desserts with Asian influences such as, Marjolasian, spear fish, and scuba dive. Calamansi Vacherin, Almond and Jasmine “Kumo” Sally’s search for knowledge returned her to Cloud, and the Flavors of Thai Ovaltine. Her her home to Los Angeles, to work with, Donald imaginative creations are no doubt the perfect Wressell, Executive Pastry Chef at The Four Seasons ending to the WP24 experience. WG Magazine 2017 -
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