Meet the real star chefs of Europe
3. eat & meet – chefs who like to say hello
who & where
sat bains nottingham
lefteris lazarou athens
quique dacosta denia spain
mathias dahlgrun stockholm
bo bech copenhagen
Reassuringly, plenty of chefs at the top of their game really do prefer cooking in their own restaurants to flying around the world, building a global empire. Admittedly, it’s unlikely that Jamie Oliver will put in an appearance at Fifteen, either in London or Amsterdam, so be more adventurous and head to Nottingham, now a culinary hotspot thanks to Sat Bains, an equally outspoken and provocative rising star of British cuisine. Bains is almost always in the kitchen of his eponymous restaurant where he cooks up adventurous dishes such as pig’s head carpaccio with scallop and pickled apple.
In Athens, hang out with Greek glitterati and admire unobstructed views of the Acropolis at Varoulko, restaurant of Lefteris Lazarou, a consumate charmer as well as an outstanding chef who believes in working the room to hear diners rhapsodise about beguiling dishes such as moussaka of langoustine and mint.
In the pretty resort of Denia on Spain’s Costa Blanca, Quique Dacosta has the kitchen located by the entrance to his El Poblet restaurant. This means the ground-breaking chef can greet customers as they arrive and keep an eye on their reactions to his extraordinary dishes that are more reminiscent of conceptual artworks than dinner, and have names to match, such as “living forest” and “abstractions of the sea”.
Sweden’s leading – if somewhat shy – culinary light Mathias Dahlgren leaves his kitchen at the Matsalen in Stockholm’s Grand Hotel only to explain the ethos behind his exquisitely presented “modern natural cooking”, and his plans to take New Nordic Cuisine even further forward. While over in Copenhagen, huge TV personality Bo Bech has a mini kitchen out front at his restaurant Paustian, where he finishes many of his arrestingly different creations –including raw fjord shrimps with pomelo and red roses, lamb cheeks with oxidised mushrooms, and unripe green tomato with rhubarb and lemon – before serving them up personally to the table.
Restaurant Sat Bains, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, England, + 44 (0)115 986 6566, www.restaurantsatbains.com Varoulko, 80 Piraius, Athens, + 30 210 522 8400, www.varoulko.gr El Poblet, Carretera Les Marines, Denia (near Valencia), +34 96578 4179, www.elpoblet.com Paustian, Kalkbrænderiløbskaj 2, Copenhagen, +45 3918 5501, www.bobech.net Matsalen, Grand Hotel Stockholm, S. Blasieholmshamnen, Stockholm, +46 (0)8 679 3584, www.grandhotel.se
4. cooking schools & day classes
who & where
rosa jackson nice
daniel rose paris
angela hartnett & eric chavot london
giuseppe sylvestre tuscany
It pays to be savvy with cooking schools and find out exactly who is really doing the teaching. The Alain Ducasse school just outside Paris is impressive, but it is ultra pricey, very serious and Ducasse is never there. For a real insider perspective on Ducasse’s beloved Provençale cooking, try Rosa Jackson’s Les Petits Farcis cooking school in Nice. Here a typical day includes shopping in the Cours Saleya market with Rosa, a Cordon Bleu-trained food writer, before producing the definitive ratatouille and pissaladière.
In Paris, everyone’s talking about how to get hold of one of only eight tables at the no-choice, market-led Spring, where chef-owner Daniel Rose doubles as maître d’ and triples as sommelier. It’s great news, then, that he also runs occasional cooking classes. But you have to stay on the ball because inevitably they sell out the instant dates are announced.
Among the best connected cooking schools in London is Tasting Places which organises masterclasses with many of the capital’s leading chefs. TV star and Italian specialist Angela Hartnett, who has just opened her new restaurant, Murano, under the Gordon Ramsay banner, is always a sell-out. Eric Chavot – of double Michelin-starred The Capital – entertainingly shatters many myths about French haute cuisine. Tasting Places also run residential course in a gorgeous Tuscan setting, led by Giuseppe Silvestri, otherwise head chef at Harrods.
Les Petits Farcis, Nice, www.petitsfarcis.com
Spring, 28 rue de la Tour d’Auvergne, Paris, +33 (0)1 45 96 05 72 www.springparis.blogspot.com
For Tasting Places holidays and events in London and near Rome and Florence, see www.tastingplaces.com
Fly me there…
Sterling flies to Amsterdam, Athens, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Florence, London, Nice, Nottingham, Paris, Stockholm and Valencia. See pages 102-104 or www.sterling.com for more details
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