Before visiting France in the past week, I had no knowledge of top patisseries in a country that is hailed as the temple of pastry, not only in ingredients but also in its presentation. I was recommended a number of top Paris patisseries by Foxcroft Chef and co-owner Glen Williams, on request, and Pierre Hermé was one of them. Pierre Hermé has been called the ‘Picasso of Pastry’. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: World’s 50 Best Restaurant
Restaurant Review: The Clove Club disappointing : 26th Best In World!
The Clove Club was one of my three London restaurant bookings, having jumped to 26th position in the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list in June, and having been named the highest new entrant (from 55th position last year) this year. It has two Michelin stars. Continue reading →
Four of ten S. Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 Africa/Middle East finalists from Cape Town/Winelands!
Not only talented Young Chefs from South Africa, but also some of our top celebrity chefs will be involved in judging the best S. Pellegrino Young Chef in the Middle East and Africa, taking place in Milan from 25 – 27 June. Cape Town and the Winelands have four of ten Young Chef nominations for the judging region, and one celebrity Chef international judge. A total of 3000 Young Chefs entered the Young Chef competition globally.
The four Cape Town and Winelands Young Chef nominees, having to be under the age of 30 years to qualify, are the following: Continue reading →
Open Letter to Sarah Khan: Strange Selection of Travel + Leisure ‘Top Chefs in Cape Town’!
Dear Sarah
We are extremely proud to have you living in your newly adopted home city Cape Town, and that you are such a fantastic tourism ambassador for our country in general, and for Cape Town in particular. You put Cape Town on the world tourist map with your article earlier this year in the New York Times about Cape Town being the number one ’52 places to go in 2014′, the best free publicity our city has ever had.
I was therefore shocked to see your article about ‘Top Chefs in Cape Town’ in Travel + Leisure, and the choices you made in selecting what you have listed as the top five chefs in Cape Town: Luke Dale-Roberts of The Test Kitchen, Peter Tempelhoff of The Greenhouse, Reuben Robertsons Riffel of Reuben’s x 4 (in Franschhoek, Cape Town, Robertson, and Paternoster) plus Racine, Bruce Robertson of The Flagship, and Franck Dangereux of The Food Barn, in that order. You did not define your guidelines for selecting the five chefs, nor did you appear to use the same criteria in selecting the chefs that are on your list – the justification for inclusion appears more anecdotal and random. Equally, I am surprised about the chefs you excluded from the list!
You seem to praise Chef Franck for his ‘foreign pedigree, but why single him out when Chefs Luke and Peter also have foreign roots? Does that make them better chefs? All of the chefs on your list have worked overseas, so they deserve equal mention in this regard. You ‘warn’ Travel + Leisure readers to ‘watch out for these five Cape Town chefs and memorize their names now – they’re poised to break through to the global stage any day now‘!
Let me comment on each of your Top Chef choices: Continue reading →