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Written by Carole Kotkin

Published: 08 January 2016

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 20 November 2015

A Museum of a new kind has just opened its doors in Paris. Les Caves du Louvre, not far from the eponymous museum, offer an new take on wine and terroir with an interactive cultural visit.

With the help of Wineinparis, a mobile application downloaded prior to the visit on cell pones or tablets, the journey of initiation is meant to awaken every one of your senses to the tasting of wine.

The experience unrolls in an incredible atmospheric 18th century cellar which happens to have been the wine cellar of the King of France Louis XV, curated by his sommelier Trudon,    

Blending workshops, tasting room and boutique combine to make the visit a different experience in wine.   

Admission starting at 11€, 52, rue de l’Arbre sec 75011 Paris www.cavesdulouvre.com

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 19 October 2015

You can now hop over to Vienna to catch the opera, or an opereta, visit the Belvedere or the Leopold Museum,  stroll and nosh at the multinational stalls of Nasch Market, enjoy the Café Zentral like early 20th century intellectuals, or enjoy a Sacher Tort and a wurst and beer.

On Friday, October 16, Austrian Airlines naugurated its first non-stop flights  to Vienna from Miami.

Flight service from Miami is offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Austrian Airlines will fly Vienna - Miami throughout the entire year arriving and departing from Terminal J, Departures Level, Miami International Airport, said  Austrian Airlines’ CCO, Andreas Otto.

The flight duration from Miami to Vienna, a distance of 8,400 kilometers, is approximately 9 hrs 45 minutes. Flights can be booked at www.austrian.com, by telephone at +1-800-843-0002 or in a travel agency.     

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 07 August 2015

Finalists – from Japan, Taiwan (China) and South Korea – will compete on September 4 – 6  at the Komazawa Olympic Park in Tokyo

For three days, September 4 – 6,  Tokyo - the ninth stop of the Gelato World Tour (GWT) -  will become the Gelato-Capital of the world as 16 selected gelato artisans of the Far East region, coming from Japan, Taiwan (China) and South Korea, compete for the prestigious “World’s Best Gelato – Far East Asia” title in the futuristic setting of the Komazawa Olympic Park.

Exploring the world in search of flavor

The Gelato World Tour, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Economic Development, is the first international traveling competition in search of the best flavors in the world.

After touring eight cities around the world – Rome, Valencia, Melbourne, Dubai, Austin, Berlin, Rimini and Singapore – GWT, under the aegis of Carpigiani Gelato University and Sigep – Rimini Expo, the most important trade fair worldwide for  artisanal gelato, pastry, confectionery and bakery products, will culminate in Rimini, Italy for the  WORLD’S BEST GELATO competition.

The top 16 gelato flavors of the Far East Asia region were selected by a Jury directed by Mr. Kato (President of the Japanese Association of Pastry Chefs) and including eminent Japanese personalities in the food industry:  Mr. Sakai (President of the Japanese Association of Gelato); Mr. Mochizuki (Executive Chef of the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo) and Mr. Yanai (Gelato expert).  

The top three flavors will represent the Far East Asia region at the Grand Finale of Gelato World Tour 2.0 to be held in Rimini, Italy in 2017.  

the Top 16 Flavors Vying for the title of “WORLD’S BEST GELATO" are:
 

• Salted Pistachio and Orange Vanilla Mascarpone by Taizo Shibano, Malga Gelato, Nonoichi, Japan
• Caribbean Moment by Goro Sugiyama & Akiko Motomura, La Napoli, Tokyo, Japan
• Samurai Zen (Caramel Houji Tea) by Kazuki Kawarada & Akiko Tagami & Shouhei Takegami, Samurai Gelato, Fukuoka, Japan
• Chocolate Banana & Nuts by Jun Tanaka & Shinzato Kaoru, Vito Atelier, Fukuoka, Japan
• Rum Nuts by Yosuke Nakai, Gelateria Sincerità, Tokyo, Japan
• Amalfi Coconuts with Meringue by Munehisa Tomoyuki & Munehisa Tomoko, L’oiseau Bleu, Yamaguchi, Japan
• Natsumatsuri (Summer Festival) by Akira Hattori, La Verdure, Yokohama, Japan
• Yogurt with Honey, Berry Sauce and a hint of Rose by Kazuma Nagasawa, Syokuto Hananoeki Agritown, Sano, Japan
• The Concert of the Forest by Shohei Nakagawa & Nakagawa Mariko, Shinpachi, Tokyo, Japan
• Panda (Bamboo and Black Beans) by Atsushi Kurisaki, Claret, Kobe, Japan
• Roasted Pumpkin by Yuki Nakatsuka & Tamaki Namiko & Waki Masanori, La Dolce Vita, Sakai, Japan
• La Dolce Vita di Tè by Yu Lee & Amber Lin, NINAO Gelato Classico, Tainan, Taiwan
• Soy of Cheesecake by Seongdeok Park & Daesoo Park, Dolcefreddo, Daegu, South Korea
• White Passion by Andrea Bonaffini, Yellow Lemon, Taipei, Taiwan
• Burning Chocolate by Michiko Akamatsu, Royal Farm Akamatsu, Takamatsu, Japan
• Delizie al Limone (A Memory of Amalfi) by Yoshifumi Arita, Arita, Nagasaki, Japan 

To follow the stages of Gelato World Tour log on to: www.gelatoworldtour.com .

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Written by SFG

Published: 04 August 2015

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 18 May 2015

Tartempion is a fictitious character, often featured in 19th century French literature, especially in comedies, and was made famous by the satirical journal Charivari between 1849 and 1850. The name was then commonly used to designate just about any obscure or non-existing character. A nobody.

My father – who had a whole library of Georges Courteline’s “ Les Tribunaux Comiques” – used it often to ward off pesky questions and it stuck. I even use it today, in the 21st century, when one of my grandchildren overhears a conservation and butts in asking “who are you talking about?” I always shoot back: “Tartempion.” Nobody.

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 18 May 2015

Photos SZD: (Left) 90-year-old Emma Vidal at the Merletto Museum in Burano, (right)  Johannes Vermeer,  The lacemaker (c.1669-1671)

Every day, Emma Vidal, one of the last lace makers, sits with her dwindling group of friends at the Merletto Museum in Burano, to make exquisite gossamer-like lace and gossip. doesn;t she look like Vermeer's 17th century painting of a lace maker? a little older, a different way of holding the delicate work - a pillow vs. a wooden stand -, the fingers are gnarled by age and humidity, but they are both engrossed in the minutia of their art.

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Written by Press Release

Published: 30 April 2015

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 08 December 2014

Brussels, the Capital of the European Union, is not only a busy metropolis with charming neighborhoods, world-class shopping and hotels, cultural life, museums, architecture, but a foodie heaven plentiful of gastronomic restaurants, fabulous beers, brasseries, regional cheeses and foods, street vendors, and chocolatiers.

 

Brussels, Belgium -- It is past 11 p.m. and nightlife is hopping everywhere: a buzz of different languages rises from the long line of tourists clustering in front of displays of chocolate truffles and prettily wrapped boxes of Leonidas Chocolatier, one of the late-night souvenir stores open in a narrow cobbled street lined with cafes and sidewalk restaurants, off the fabled Grande Place in the heart of Brussels. 

Close by, spellbound camera-flashing crowds gather around the Manneken Pis, the diminutive peeing statue that oddly came to symbolize Brussels, wondering which of his 710 outfits on display at the Brussels City Museum he will wear that day. He was naked. 

 Who would expect such sense of humor in the Capital of Belgium andthe Capital of the European Union?

This city of around 1 million inhabitants, at least 25% of which are employed in one or another related administrative position, is where the future of Europe is being debated. And yet... comic strips are everywhere: in the form of city sponsored urban graffiti or giant frescoes on house façades and covered arcades -- mall-like galleries that rival those of Milan or Genoa. 

And the temple of whimsy is the Museum of Comic Strip Art, a must-see building designed by architect Victor Horta in 1906, where Hergé’s Tintin and Captain Haddock are kings among a plethora of characters that have delighted kids since the birth of the comic strip. 

This is the country that gave birth to surrealist painter Magritte, mystery writer Georges Simenon, creator of the famous inspecteur Maigret, to the irreverent graphic artist Felicien Rops contemporary of Baudelaire and to Jacques Brel, the poet, songwriter and singer

Hip young people, chic women in designer’s clothes, street performers with or without their dog, tourists and business people fill the streets. As the music and songs of Jacques Brel, telling of the melancholy dark gray skies of Flanders, and the boring Belgian bourgeois life, resonate in my head, I can only recognize the skies, overcast even in summer. Brussels has changed. 

The spectacle of the city eclipses the gray skies

It is not only a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis with charming neighborhoods, sophisticated shopping, a rich cultural life, museums, Gothic and beguiling Art Nouveau architecture, but an exciting foodie center plentiful of gastronomic restaurants, brasseries, cafés and bistros, with fabulous beers, regional cheeses and foods, street vendors, and chocolatiers. 

In the heart of Europe, Brussels has a bit of every capital I’ve been to in Europe, without the hyped prices. And best of all, the city is on a human scale with everything at a walking distance, even though you can depend on good public transportation. A 4-euro all-day pass can get you almost anywhere, either by subway, tram or bus. 

From the very centrally located hotel where I stayed, Le Meridien, right in front of the Central Train Station, I could walk anywhere as I discovered this city I remembered as stiff and dull. 

Stumbling upon the magnificent Grand Place or Grote Markt – today a UNESCO world Heritage - I was amazed. It completely overwhelmed me to stand in the middle of this grand space that writer Victor Hugo described as “Europe's most beautiful square” which hosts the annualOmmegang Pageant, a spectacular reenactment of Emperor Charles V's entry into the city in 1549. 

The jewel of the Grand’ Place, The Town Hall or l’Hotel de Ville, one of the most remarkable architectural works in Europe, is a witness to the vicissitudes of history. First built in 1421, this stunning building was destroyed by the French King Louis XIV in 1695, and then rebuilt at the start of the 18th century. 

The surrounding houses, homes to different guilds of craftsmen -- brewers, bakers, butchers, tailors and ironmongers among many others -- from as early as the 13th century have unique façades of dissimilar styles sporting coats or arms or trade, statues and latticework. Once the place to find all of Brussels' food markets, the Grand’ Place is now inhabited by 21st century businesses, lively cafes and restaurants sprawling onto the plaza. The surrounding streets, named after the foods for which they were famous, such as Rue Marché aux Herbes (Herb Market St.), or Rue Chair et Pain (Meat and Bread St.) are still home to many of the city's traditional style restaurants and cafés. 

I had the great fortune of watching a free opera performance of Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci in the Grand’ Place at dusk while sitting in a terrace café, sipping wine and eating cheeses. With the last aria, the Town Hall 300-foot-high spires magically lit up against the night, and I strolled to one of the side streets for another treat: a hot Belgian waffle sprinkled with sugar. 

History, Waffles, Mussels and Frites

In Brussels most everybody speaks English, aside from Flemish, German and French and most everybody is willing to talk about the country’s rich past, as if 16th Century Emperor Charles Vwho was actually born in Ghent and was said to speak "Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to his horse", or Emperor Maximilian and the Austro Hungarian Empire were around the corner. 

Another testimony of the complexity of Belgium’s history is the splendid St. Michel and St. Gudule Cathedral with its remarkable 16th century stained glass windows, and its stunning organ made from 4300 pipes. It is a synthesis of several styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque which reflect the various empires that parceled and ruled this small country until it became independent in the 19th century. 

Other highlights: The House of Parliament, the Royal Palace and its park lined with linden trees, the museums and the Court of Justice next to which are the excavations of the underground Justice Hall and Palace of Charles V which turned up when a new parking lot was being built 

In the city center one surprise follows another as you turn from one street to the next corner. The glass-and-iron-roofed Galleries St. Hubert, an art nouveau shopping arcade built in 1847 with quaint boutiques, book stores, chic cafes and chocolate stores, leads to the exuberant Rue des Bouchers: jammed with people, teaming sidewalk display mounds of fresh seafood that restaurant serve along with regional fare like the traditional mussels and frites dipped in mayonnaise like the ones we had at Chez Leon washed down with Brussels’ famous handmade beers: Geuze, Kriek or Lambic. Stands sell hot waffles sprinkled with sugar or with a huge variety of toppings to satisfy the most insatiable American tastes. 

A walk to the beautiful Sablon Square leads to a square surrounded with houses from the 16th to the 19th century known for its antique dealers, decorative outlets and fine antique shops. Its many regional restaurants, wine bars, chic restaurants and cafés are local haunts where Belgians and visitors alike can feast on mussels and oyster from Zeeland, lobsters and shrimp from Ostende, skate in all its variations... and chocolate shops. 

A Chocolate Mecca

Belgium has one of the world's highest chocolate consumption rates, at an average of more than 15 pounds per person per year. With a yearly production of over 172,000 tons of chocolate, there are more than 2,000 chocolate stores, 200 of which are in Brussels. All of them are a magnet for tourists and locals alike. Connoisseurs consider Belgian chocolate the best in the world, thanks to the high percentage of cocoa, the ultra-fine grind of the cocoa beans and tiny amounts of added alcohol. 

It is not uncommon to see serious, life-changing decisions being made as people hesitate between artful displays of hand made bonbons, heavenly ganaches, lush truffles or pralines at the jewel-like boutique of Wittamer’s -- the Sablon Square chocolatier, official purveyor to the Belgian royal family, where the British chocolate designer Michael Lewis-Anderson gives free rein to his imagination with exquisite chocolate creations or eccentric chocolate for wear designs (Louis Vuitton shoes, hats...) made with a variety of chocolates; or at USA distributed Marcolini and Neuhaus – the inventor of the “praline,” a chocolate cover with a creamy nutty filling –, or Galler, who specializes in the dark chocolate. At an adjacent two-stories boutique and café we sampled chocolates then at tea-time had Wittamer’s pastries with coffee, and the best hot chocolate in town. 

Cutting edge food and tradition ... with a modern twist

The selection of Brussels as the capital of the European Union in 1993 marked the inclusion of international fare, trendy and cutting-edge food to traditional fare. You can still expect the heartywaterzooi of chicken stew, or have a first course of fat white asparagus from Maline in May and June with the delicious little grey shrimp from Ostende. But it takes restaurants like the Vert de Gris to combine both, drizzle them with truffle oil and make a stupendous dish. 

Belga Queen, a sleek brasserie with a stunning décor set in a former hotel and bank on rue Fossé aux Loups, is designed, conceived and owned by genial restaurateur Antoine Pinto: an oyster and martini bar offers a selection of over 600 local beers, and the menu at a chic dining area under a high, vaulted, stained-glass ceiling lists fabulous dishes prepared almost exclusively with Belgian ingredients. 

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Written by Anna Fifield, The Washington Post

Published: 28 October 2014

  Read the full story in the Washington Post 

KYOTO, JAPAN — In a university laboratory in Kyoto, a city known for producing the most exquisite food in a country known for its exquisite food, a group of renowned chefs in white coats has been conducting experiments with one question in mind: Can science make their perfect dishes even more perfect?

Forget the “molecular gastronomy” that has become all the rage in Western capitals. Forget Ferran Adrià, the “deconstructivist” Spanish chef, with his “culinary foam” and spherical olives. And forget José Andrés with his liquid nitrogen strawberries.

Here, a group of nine chefs and three scientists is pushing the boundaries in the most minimalist, nuanced way, part of an effort to ensure that this ultimate “slow food” remains relevant in a fast-paced world. The chefs are tinkering with a way of cooking that has remained unchanged for centuries.

First, in the dedicated Japanese Cuisine Laboratory at Kyoto University’s school of agriculture, the chefs played around with the temperature at which they steamed abalone. Received wisdom says it should be steamed at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or the boiling point of water, for two hours.

“But we wondered, ‘How about we try lower temperatures?’ ” said Tohru Fushiki, professor of nutrition chemistry at Kyoto University and a leading researcher on oishisa, or tastiness. He is one of the chief proponents of washoku, the traditional Japanese cuisine that was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural treasure last December.

So the chefs spent six months — yes, six months — steaming abalone, changing the temperature in tiny increments. “It turned out that even two degrees had a huge impact on its deliciousness,” Fushiki said in his university office. The perfect temperature to steam an abalone, they concluded, is between 140 and 148 degrees, depending on how it is used.

The second six-month period was devoted to coagulation. Not content with coagulating food, they experimented with coagulating air.

“How can we make the smell of air?” Fushiki recalled the chefs asking. “Let’s whisk and make bubbles, so that each bubble contains the air, and the smell spreads when the bubbles pop.”

Another experiment involved seeing how long shiokara, or pickled squid guts, could last. (Discovering the true expiration date was apparently not a pleasant experience.)

Now, the chefs are focusing on the time it takes for your tongue to fully register the flavor of a food. Salt and sugar hit the palate straight away, Fushiki said, but it takes five or six seconds for each flavor in red pepper to be captured by your taste buds.

But the chefs decided they wanted to delay the amount of time it took to experience the full flavor of a mouthful. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we come up with a dish that lets you taste different flavors one after the other over a period of seconds?’ ” he said.

These changes count as revolutionary here, in the old imperial capital of Japan, renowned as the bastion of Japanese culture.

Washoku is a key part of that culture. A basic washoku meal consists of a bowl of soup, rice and three dishes. Washoku chefs think a lot about “umami,” a fifth primary taste usually translated as “savory.”

Culinary secrets are passed down through the generations. There are no recipe books. There is not even verbal instruction. Chefs of Japanese haute cuisine have traditionally learned the “mite nusumu” way — by looking and copying (literally: stealing) what their superiors are doing.

In his kitchen on a recent day, Motokazu Nakamura was preparing lunch courses that looked like they’d been made by Leonardo da Vinci.

Nakamura is the sixth-generation chef at his family’s 190-year-old eponymous restaurant, an “isshi soden” where a chef’s secrets can be passed down only to one son and heir.

The main pillars of the menu, regardless of the season, are white miso with Western-style mustard — which gives the soup a rich, pungent yet somehow delicate flavor — and tile fish, which has been used by generations of Nakamuras. The current chef often just brushes it with sake and grills it.

“We take an analog approach,” he said, looking more like a science professor than a chef, with his tie and white coat.

But he is branching out, participating in Fushiki’s lab. “Chefs cook and provide something for people to enjoy,” the 52-year-old chef said. “For that, we need to use our imagination. That would have been unheard of for our ancestors.”

The restaurant, which has three Michelin stars, preserves all the traditions expected by people who spend $230 each on dinner. It is housed in an old wooden Kyoto building, a series of private rooms with tatami mats, connected by hallways that run between outdoor zen gardens where water trickles with just the right amount of tinkle. The rooms smell of scented burning wood.

But Nakamura is beginning to tweak the recipes by studying the science behind them. “I knew how to cook it, but it was coming from my instinct. I didn’t know the science behind it,” he said as he arranged slivers of raw fish on a plate.

While the chefs were preparing lunch, Bunji Nakamura sat at a small table in a corner of the kitchen, long eyebrows creeping over his glasses as he watched his son intently.

“I already handed the leadership of the restaurant over to my son, so I don’t make any objections to what he wants to try,” the fifth Nakamura chef said, a simple lunch of rice and fish soup in front of him.

“If you have too many sailors, your boat goes up a mountain,” he added, using the Japanese version of “too many cooks spoil the broth.”

Still, he admits to being a little perplexed by the newfangled technology in front of him, like the electric grill.

“What’s important is that the food reflects your heart,” the elder Nakamura said. “Even if you measure the ingredients to the exact gram, your food won’t be good if you don’t have a mission to have people enjoy your food.”

The way Japanese chefs are using science to hone their craft is “totally fascinating,” said Greg de St. Maurice, a University of Pittsburgh PhD student who is writing his doctorate on the food of Kyoto.

“They’re using science very differently from the way it’s being used in the U.S. It’s something that is very new to Japanese cuisine,” he said. “Now chefs are realizing, especially in the old restaurants, that their methods are not well suited to contemporary cooking.”

It’s not clear yet whether their experiments in the lab have changed the food these chefs are serving in their restaurants. These things take time here (give it a few decades).

“But what has changed is their mind-set. They come to the lab so that they can play and experiment with food, and learn new things that they can apply in their restaurants,” St. Maurice said.

Still, Motokazu Nakamura agrees with his father that heart remains the most important factor: “The basic foundation of cooking is that I make this and people enjoy it."

_________________________________

Yuki Oda contributed to this report.

Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 19 September 2014

 
Over three days in Piazza Fellini in Rimini, Italy, mounting tension, expectations and, needless to say, a few extra pounds swelled the crowds as 24 gelato artisans – the top three winners from the eight leg tour culminating in Rimini – made over 14,500 lbs of their best gelato and sold over 70,000 cups and cones to over 70,000 gelato lovers.
 
The commotion at the tents set for the show, the din of tongue clicking, sighs of contentment and interjections of appreciation over each flavor amped up until Sunday evening at the Grand Finale of the Gelato World Tour when the finalists deserted their post to present  his/her own single best flavor before an imposing assembly of judges gathered to rule which of the 24 would win the title of World´s Best Gelato.
 
After three days of sampling perfectly churned gelatos from 24 artisanal gelato makers from around the world – a amazing feat of talent and logistics considering the hot weather –  interspersed with cooking classes and visits to the historic town of Rimini – where Julius Caesar pronounced the fateful “ The die is cast” before crossing the Rubicon a few kilometers north west of Rimini –,  to the grand Rimini Fiera Convention Center – a sprawling green architectural palace –, and the Carpigiani Gelato University and Gelato Museum in Bologna,   we were ready to join the other judges at the Grand Final of the Gelato World Tour.
 
Italian and international Gelato masters, renowned experts   – the  technical judges votes counted for 45% –, food writers and journalists from top Italian and international print and broadcast media  – votes counted for 25%, solemnly tasted.  analyzed  and graded each entry.  Outside, the people's choice counted for 25% and the peers votes counted for 5%.
 
Judging gelato is fun but not easy. Every entry using the best-possible artisanal ingredients tasted great. Each bite packed a wallop of sensory stimulation, a celebration of the primary ingredient undisguised by additives or cloying, heavy ingredients that mask the original flavor.
 
And… First Prize went to   “Almond Affogato” made by Gelato Artisans John & Sam Crowl (Cow and the Moon, Sydney, Australia).  The flavor base was a vanilla bean gelato with roasted caramelized coffee almonds folded throughout with strong Kenyan coffee and swirled with salted caramel sauce.
2nd Place went to flavor “Grumpy Heart” made by Gelato Artisan Francesco Mastroianni (Il Cantagallo, Lamezia Terme, Italy) with pistachios from Sicily  and 3^rd Place went  to “Hazelnut Heart” made by Gelato Artisan Alessandro Lancierini (Gelateria Fiore, Suzzara, Italy) with fresh Italian hazelnuts.
Miami's own Stefano Versace, who placed 2^nd during the American Leg of the Gelato World Tour in Austin, Texas, won honorable mention in the People's Choice Award for the flavor The Scent of Sicily. A delicious reconstruction of the Sicilian cannoli with  fresh organic ricotta cheese, organic almonds, pistachio from Sicily, candied fruit, lightly flavored with a touch of organic blood orange and Sicilian lemon zest, all swirled with creamy caramel.
 
 

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Written by Michael Green

Published: 14 August 2014

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Written by Hannah Simpson/Miami Herald

Published: 04 July 2014

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Written by Simone Zarmati Diament

Published: 15 April 2014

May 21-24, Crémant, Cru & Déjà Vu -  the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience with hot seminars, food and fun in grand style. The 2014 Seminar Series will make you discover the hottest trends in wine and food with seminar such as "I Get a Kick from Crémant;"   "Tour d'Grand Cru," a tasting with Bernard Retornaz, President of Louis Latour; and "Déjà Vu in the Vieux Carré;"  focusing on the French Quarter revitalization, renovation and revision of the city's great eateries.

Click here  for a full line-up of seminars and to buy tickets

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Written by PRESS RELEASE

Published: 26 March 2014

Two Michelin starred restaurant Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Northern Spain, will celebrate the launch of the new 2014 season by running a competition that will give six winners and their guests the opportunity to be the very first to try the new menu. The all-inclusive lunch takes place on the 8^th of April 2014, the day before the official opening date of the restaurant.

Mugaritz, from celebrated chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, will reopen its doors after devoting four months to the development of its new menu. During this time, the team has worked behind closed doors, elaborating on their previous research and developing new techniques with the aim of achieving new sensations and flavours.

Considered one of the most innovative chefs of our times, chef Andoni Luis Aduriz works closely with scientists, anthropologists, musicians, artists and many other experts in various fields, their collaborations summing up to an incredible creative process. The result is an astonishing experience translated into 50 dishes.

Registration for the prize drawing opens on Thursday 27^th March 2014 at 10:00am on the Mugaritz website (www.mugaritz.com) under the “You Open The Doors of Mugaritz” section. Participants will have until the 31^st of March to complete the entry form. At 9:00am on Tuesday the 1^st of April, the fortunate winners will be contacted by the restaurant. The new Mugaritz menu, drinks and service charge are all included, but guests will need to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.

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