Articles
The Culinary Revolution of Pedrito Sanchez
The first time Pedrito Sanchez popped up on my radar was through Luis Arrufat. “Your family’s from Malaga, right? Then you gotta make the trip to Jaen,” he insisted. I haven’t made it there yet, but I started digging into this chef. Turns out, he runs the smallest Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe, located in the […]
The Rise and Fall of a Food Latin Hood
Before COVID, there was a vibrant latin clique in the center of Donosti, at least in terms of food and restaurants. At that time, the Reyes Católicos street was like a testing ground for new restaurants. One big success story was Amelia, before moving to a better spot in La Concha where Paulo, the Argentinian […]
Raw and Rare: A Steak Tartare Expedition Across Continents
My earliest memories of tartare come from Venezuela, where my parents would take me to this restaurants where a waiter at the table served up this finely seasoned, slightly spicy raw meat mix. If there’s tartare on the menu, I’ll have it. It just makes sense to me. I don’t like the grotesque, ketchup-rich, soccer […]
Copenhagen’s Renaissance: The Birth of New Nordic Cuisine
In 1987, a Danish film that would become one of the great classics of culinary cinema was awarded by the Academy for Best Foreign Language Film: “Babette’s Feast”. In it, a refined French chef arrives in a primitive Danish village where they’re overcooking potatoes and cabbage, to teach them the secrets of haute cuisine. By […]
The Mystery of Gong Fu Tea
My first time in Asia, and I found myself entering a traditional Chinese tea house, “The Chapter” in Singapore. The place felt like it came straight out of a Chinese fairy tale. Stairs led to a corridor with private chambers, each with individual tables for savoring fermented leaf broths and, why not, a bit of […]
Lua: Crafting Mestizo Gastronomy in Donosti
I first met Aaron during those post-work conversations in a restaurant, where we’d gripe about everything that was going wrong. He’d often lament, “These kids in the kitchen don’t communicate with each other. They don’t make eye contact and say, ‘Let’s go to table three.’ And using a basting bottle for brown butter instead of […]
Exploring Amsterdam’s Culinary Scene: Kaagman & Kortekaas
Lost flight. Forced night in Amsterdam. I can’t remember the last time I had a normal flight. The upside: we can eat. The only place that welcomes us on a Wednesday night is Kaagman & Kortekaas. It looks promising from what I read on their website – a place with character and culinary expertise. An […]
Inside the World of Txokos
In the world of Basque dining, there’s a fascinating and somewhat secretive tradition known as “txokos.” They’re like exclusive dining clubs, and while they may sound romantic and mysterious, they’re not exactly what they seem. To get into one of these txokos, you usually need an inside connection, a member to vouch for you. It’s […]
Vietnamese Flavors from Berlin to Paris
I’ve never been to Vietnam, and I don’t know any famous Vietnamese chefs, except for Nguyen Thi Thanh, the lunch lady. In Venezuela, I grew up around Chinese and Japanese people to some extent, but I don’t recall connecting with people or restaurants from other Asian countries in the ’90s and early 2000s. My only […]
Dewakan Dinner: Last Waltz in Kuala Lumpur
Finally, the big night at Dewakan. We arrived at the restaurant with our luggage; we would head straight to the airport afterward. Darren Teoh, a Malaysian-born chef with a rich Chinese-Indian family background, leads the restaurant. Darren has placed Dewakan on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019, a first for a Malaysian restaurant. After […]