Celebrity Life

After years of listening to clients’ pleas for a Palm Beach restaurant, celebrity chef Todd English has returned with a new namesake eatery, Todd’s by Todd English.

The post Todd English Brings Star Power to the South Dixie Dining Scene appeared first on Palm Beach Illustrated.

For one day only, treat yourself to an epicurean spread of immense scale this May.

The post GastroFest: Feast to your heart’s content at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

For one day only, treat yourself to an epicurean spread of immense scale this May.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

“People travel a lot more and they want to learn about new cultures,” says Gert F. Kopera, Executive Vice President, Restaurants Global for Hakkasan Group. “Trying new food is as big a part of that desire as looking at art, going to concerts and shows, enjoying beautiful scenery and exploring great buildings.” Chris Hanrahan reports.

The restaurant scene has changed so much over the last 10 years or more that it’s easy to forget how much better and more diverse it is today than it was before. People eat out more often than they used to and they’re far more knowledgeable and adventurous about food than before - in good part thanks to the surfeit of cooking shows on television and the Web, helmed by an ever-growing army of celebrity chefs and foodies.

We’ve all witnessed the flamboyant rise of molecular gastronomy, and of “deconstructivist” cooking, nose-to-tail eating and the foraging and locavore movements. Open-concept kitchens have become the norm. We all want to eat healthier food with simpler ingredients, while also minimising our carbon footprint. Increasingly, we choose restaurants that follow socially responsible policies and practices, such as sustainable sourcing and waste reduction.

The Net and social media have had a huge impact on restaurants and restaurateurs. “Professional (food) critics are no longer the end-all for new restaurants; their opinions are important, but sites like Yelp mean that the opinions of the everyday guests can make or break a restaurant’s reputation,” notes the lightspeedhq website.

[caption id="attachment_139364" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] The swanky bar at Hakkasan. Photo by Haruns Maharbina & Joe Sabarto.[/caption]

“Bloggers with enormous followings create sites devoted to their love of food and dining, leaving restaurants even more open to criticism and reviews. Things are changing fast, and restaurants have to work hard to stay competitive and relevant to an extremely fickle customer base.”

The way people behave in restaurants has changed. The businessinsider website has published a long article about a Midtown East, New York City restaurant that carefully monitored how smartphones were affecting the actions of its customers.

In 2004, diners took an average of eight minutes to decide what to eat. By 2014, they took more than twice as long - 21 - minutes to
place their orders. Much of the delay was caused by customers checking messages and surfing websites on their phones - not to mention taking selfies with their friends. And as their plates arrived, they photographed their food as well.

How will restaurants change in the next five to 10 years? One of the most qualified people in the world to answer this question is Gert F. Kopera, Executive Vice President, Restaurants Global for Hakkasan Group. During a recent visit to Jakarta, the 56-year-old hospitality industry veteran, cancer survivor and latter-day fitness fanatic (he walks 16 km a day, takes the stairs up eight flights to his office, ignores the temptations of airport lounges in favour of strolling around the terminals and even reads while walking) sat down with Prestige (we suspect he would have preferred to do the interview standing up!) at Hakkasan, his company’s glamorous new gourmet Cantonese restaurant, which sits on top of the Alila SCBD hotel on Sudirman.

[inline-quote author="Gert F. Kopera"]"“You should go to the warungs and the food stalls. This is life, this is heritage”"[/inline-quote]

Brand authenticity, Kopera said after leading us on a whirlwind “back of house” tour (a rare opportunity for a journalist), is something today’s consumers desire more than ever. “They are looking for the real deal - genuine experiences and brands that stand for something,” he added. “Millennials, especially, are interested in discovering cool/hip dining experiences.

“People travel a lot more,” went on the top executive, who has over 30 years of global experience in hospitality and oversees his group’s collection of edgy restaurants from Las Vegas to Mayfair in London and Uluwatu, Bali. “Look at what’s happening in China. Up to 10 years ago, very few Chinese could travel overseas. Now, millions of them do and they all want to learn about new cultures. Trying new food is as big a part of that desire as looking at art, going to concerts and shows, enjoying beautiful scenery and exploring great buildings.

“People really want to try the local flavours they’ve read about or seen on TV or their smartphone screens. I think that that aspiration holds true in every price category, from fine dining down to coffee shops and food courts. So I would say that those global brands that have opened thousands of outlets - all of them looking alike and operating in more or less the same way - will not be the consumer’s first choice in future. What I call the blanket brands will diminish in importance as time goes on. In fact, I see that happening already - everywhere I go.”

Kopera, who lived here from 2003 to 2005 when he was Managing Director Indonesia of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, has a handsome residence in Las Vegas filled with art he has collected over the years, including more than a few Hanafi abstracts that he picked up for a song during his time here. But he doesn’t see very much of his residence or family owing to his extreme – some would say insane! - travel schedule. He was on the road for no fewer than 260 days in 2018.

[caption id="attachment_139362" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Photo by Haruns Maharbina & Joe Sabarto[/caption]

It was a desire to see the world that propelled Kopera, who was born in the Netherlands and is an Austrian national, into the international hospitality industry in the 1980s. His first job was as a commis waiter at the Vienna Hilton. In search of more colourful challenges, he later moved on to the Middle East, becoming Hotel Manager at Al Faisaliah, A Rosewood Hotel, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2000. He went on to manage Rosewood properties in Tokyo and St. Moritz, before moving to Indonesia.

Kopera subsequently relocated to Dallas, Texas, completing his nine-year career stint with Rosewood as Vice President of Food & Beverage in 2012. He was Senior Vice President, Food & Beverage at Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in Dubai and Chief Operating Officer of D.ream (Doğuş Restaurant Entertainment and Management) in Istanbul, Turkey before joining Hakkasan Group in Las Vegas in February 2017.

“To really learn about a culture when you’re travelling, you must try the local food and restaurants,” Kopera pointed out. “I have lived in 17 countries and I’ve always eaten local. I tell everyone: “You should go to the warungs and the food stalls. This is life, this is heritage.’ Aside from family, culinary experiences are the most important things in life.”

For a while, he waxed lyrical about the Malagasy cuisine he sampled while living in Madagascar, including mofo gasy, a breakfast food, and foza sy hena-kisoa, a seafood platter. “Many visitors are afraid to eat this food, but they love it when they try it,” Kopera said. “You can’t understand the French unless you sample oysters and cream. You can’t appreciate Austria without eating Wiener schnitzel. If you go to Hong Kong you’ve got to eat jelly fish. In Shanghai, you must go to a snake hot pot restaurant. Keep an open mind and just try!

[caption id="attachment_139363" align="aligncenter" width="667"] Hakkasan’s signature opulent interior. Photo by Haruns Maharbina & Joe Sabarto.[/caption]

During the back-of-house tour, Kopera proudly pointed to the spotless cleanliness and spick-and-span tidiness of the Hakkasan kitchens and storage rooms. Photographs of every dish on the menu are taped to the walls for the guidance of chefs and staff.

“Running a portfolio of top restaurants is all about having good systems in place,” Kopera said. “Everybody has to know what they’re doing. I don’t have a culinary background, but that doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be a doctor to run a hospital, but you do have to be able to manage people and systems.

“Above all, what you need to succeed in the food business is passion and creativity. It has to be a calling, and a lifestyle. Nobody should go into this industry if they’re just looking for a job. The workload is tremendous, the hours are long and the stress can be immense. But I think that if you really love what you do, then you can say that you don’t work – and I can honestly say that I have never worked an hour in my life!”

The post Gert F. Kopera: Trying New Food is a Part of Learning New Cultures appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Asia's premier haute cuisine festival is back for its 23rd year running - featuring culinary celebrities, masterclasses and more.

The post What to look out for at World Gourmet Summit 2019 appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Asia's premier haute cuisine festival is back for its 23rd year running - featuring culinary celebrities, masterclasses and more.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Imagine you could have access to over 2,000 wines and rare Burgundies in one location in Hong Kong. Then imagine you could sample a selection of them by the glass in a sleek setting paired with creative Cantonese cuisine. Well you needn't imagine any longer, because it's all waiting for you on the second floor of the new H Code building, at PIIN Wine Restaurant.

A passion project of Burgundy aficionados who also own two domaines in the region, Château de Meursault and Château de Marsannay, the restaurant offers an impressive wine programme that focuses on large format bottles as well as rare wines and older vintages. With the intention of making Burgundy more approachable, a variety of affordable labels are also present on the wine list. 

PIIN, named after the Chinese word for ‘taste’ and ‘to savour’, is a wine restaurant with Chinese cuisine at its core. When asked why Cantonese food had been chosen, above all others, to pair with their wines, the answer was simple: it’s all in the texture and flavour. Chinese cuisine is renowned for its different textures in food, from crispy roast pork or smooth tofu for example, which pair well with the luscious texture and silky tannins of Burgundies. The subtle nuances of flavour in both the wine and the food make for a rather delicious marriage.

[gallery ids="139031,139035,139030,139027"]

The menu, created by a former Fook Lam Moon chef, puts forward a range of small dishes that are available à la carte and in signature or premium tasting menus, with options for wine paring. Highlights include Cantonese classics such as slow-cooked pigeon smoked with jasmine tea leaves, a crispy deboned chicken wing stuffed with glutinous rice and garlic, and a nourishing double-boiled soup made with the season’s best produce. Other dishes that Chef Ming has gotten creative with include the cigar duck roll and a classic claypot rice with steamed minced pork made for one.

Some notable pours and pairings include the velvety 2016 Domaine du Château de Meursault, Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epenots, with ripe blackberry and cherry on the nose, and the bright, citrusy crispness of 2016 Domaine du Château de Meursault, Clos du Château. Both Burgundies match the smooth textures of dishes such as Japanese bean curd braised with Maitake mushrooms. The savoury, earthy 2001 Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, on the other hand, is a great pairing for dishes like smoky cold abalone with plum sauce and the cigar duck roll.

Tasting Menus

Signature: HK$980 per person + wine pairing $680 / premium wine pairing $1,800

Premium: HK$1,180 person + wine pairing $680 / premium wine pairing $1,800

The post PIIN Wine Restaurant Debuts with Fine Cantonese Cuisine and Over 2,000 Wines appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.