May food news: editor’s picks

Karen Chekerdjian Olive Oil

Beirut-based designer Karen Chekerdjian is passionate when it comes to olive oils, and believes Lebanon has some of the most flavoursome and well-produced bottles. A few months back, she started sourcing and selecting extra-virgin olive oils from five Lebanese family-run domains – Fattal, Metni, Antar, Zahad, Kohor – across four contrasting Lebanese regions. A few intense tasting sessions later, she narrowed her choice down to six olive oils based on their inherent quality, level of acidity, unique blend, organic approach or the traditional stone-disk pressing method used to extract them. Karen then picked a dark-tinted glass bottle from Italy – designed to preserve oils from direct sunlight - and designed a graphic identity that would best translate the quality of the golden nectar. The six exquisite olive oils are now on sale in her eponymous concept store.

www.karenchekerdjian.com

Writer: Marie Le Fort

Mugaritz: a natural science of cooking

When chef Andoni Luis Aduriz first opened Mugaritz in Guipuzcoa in northern Spain in 1998, no one came. He spent his days waiting for the phone to ring, staring at the surrounding hills and meadows, and the oak trees after which the restaurant is named. These days, securing a reservation is an act of endurance as rabid fans clamour for a taste of his hyper-futuristic take on Spanish cuisine. The food is part performance art, part molecular gastronomy and wildly unfettered culinary genius as Aduriz, who trained with Ferran Adria, turns ordinary ingredients into extraordinary dishes.

His recently released cookbook ‘Mugaritz – A Natural Science of Cooking’ is a distillation of the past 14 years, its 70 recipes – including his fabled potatoes coated in clay to resemble stones, lettuce hearts soaked in vanilla brine, and cucumbers infused with gazpacho water – paired with photographs that feel like high art. We’re not sure anyone would ever attempt to produce any of the dishes at home, but the creativity of even the simplest recipe is revelatory and proof that even in the saturated, often jaded world of dining, there’s still room for genuine wonder.

www.phaidon.com

Writer: Daven Wu

Bacon Jam, Eat 17

Jam and bacon aren’t words often uttered in the same breath. However, when Chris O’Connor, chef and director of London's Eat 17 combined the bacon and onion topping of the restaurant’s signature burger into a relish, a new condiment was born, quickly becoming a hit with Walthamstow’s foodies. Bacon jam can be spread on bread, cheese and crackers, added to various dishes or eaten on its own. Made in Wales by Patchwork, a traditional pate food producer, Eat 17’s jam is a flavoursome concoction, combining Den Hay smoked bacon, bourbon, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic and even coffee.

www.bacon-jam.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Oyster Shell Vessel by Reiko Kaneko and cocktail by the Drink Factory

Reiko Kaneko, a British-Japanese ceramicist, creates simple and geometric objects, inspired by her early childhood spent in Japan. She combines modern technologies and age-old traditions, creating work that is experimental and theatrical. She is also strongly influenced by the fine food and drinks industry. Recently Kaneko was approached by Tony Conigliaro from the Drink Factory, a bartender and research collective, and asked to collaborate on a bespoke vessel for their newly developed Prairie Oyster cocktail. It can be savoured in Kaneko’s creation at 69 Colebrook Row, it’s delicate flavour, made up of reformulated and clarified tomato juice (resembling an oyster), horseradish vodka, sherry, red wine vinegar and Worcester sauce, topped off with a salty oyster leaf.

69colebrookerow.com
www.reikokaneko.co.uk

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Oyster Shell Vessel by Reiko Kaneko and cocktail by the Drink Factory

Reiko Kaneko, a British-Japanese ceramicist, creates simple and geometric objects, inspired by her early childhood spent in Japan. She combines modern technologies and age-old traditions, creating work that is experimental and theatrical. She is also strongly influenced by the fine food and drinks industry. Recently Kaneko was approached by Tony Conigliaro from the Drink Factory, a bartender and research collective, and asked to collaborate on a bespoke vessel for their newly developed Prairie Oyster cocktail. It can be savoured in Kaneko’s creation at 69 Colebrook Row, it’s delicate flavour, made up of reformulated and clarified tomato juice (resembling an oyster), horseradish vodka, sherry, red wine vinegar and Worcester sauce, topped off with a salty oyster leaf.

69colebrookerow.com
www.reikokaneko.co.uk

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Rocambolesc Gelateria, Girona, Spain

Willy Wonka’s factory has been re-created in an ice cream parlor in Girona, where strange, industrial-looking machines and candy-coloured walls are used to create a dream-like environment, full of equally mysterious and fantastical ice cream flavours. A hand-written menu adds to the charm, along with the shop’s bicycle benches, which serve as an homage to the traditional ice cream carts. Olga Pajares, a freelance interior designer from Barcelona, was responsible for the dreamy interiors. At Rocambolesc, all creams and desserts come straight from the Celler de Can Roca restaurant. Alongside traditional flavours, are artisanal ones, such as fruit wine gums, guava jam and cotton candy.

rocambolesc.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Miroir by Herve Van der Straeten for Ruinart

Collaborations between champagne houses and designers are not uncommon, but this one has caught our eye. Ruinart, Champagne producer since 1729, invited Herve van der Straeten to create a limited collection of coasters and coolers, designed as works of art. For the project, Van der Straeten decided to explore the pure, translucent nature of a Chardonnay grape, Ruinart’s key ingredient. The elegant ice buckets, each with a unique number, mirror the golden colours of Blanc de Blancs. Their simple, geometric shape will appeal to the design cognescenti, while a collector will appreciate the special stamp, dating each piece.

www.ruinart.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Yoobi Temakeria, London, UK

London’s Soho is no stranger to fast-food sushi parlours. But its latest opening, Yoobi, founded by Nicolas Steiner and Carolina Rodrigues stands alone, serving only hand-held temaki rolls. The pair have lived on every continent and between them practiced architecture and brand management, choosing London for it diverse community and fast pace.

Yoobi has made eating sushi super-easy– no plastic cartons and chopsticks needed. It’s cone-shaped rolls are popular in Brazil, which is home to the temakeria concept and where Carolina has lived.  Yoobi’s menu is Japanese with a Paulista twist– it uses plenty of fresh and raw vegetables, such as asparagus and avocado, topped with citrus mayo. The salmon comes from three Scottish farms, and tempura is replaced with croutons. The wholesome cones are served in light, geometric interiors, designed by restaurant designers Gundry and Ducker in close collaboration with Rodrigues, one of Yoobi’s two owners, and an architect. This makes a trip to Yoobi’s colourful temaki a far more exciting lunch interlude than a Tesco’s BLT at your desk.

www.loveyoobi.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

Vero chocolates and pastries

Vero shop in Hong Kong is renowned for its passion for chocolate, as well as its artisanal approach. Recently it has also launched a collection of modern classics and less conventional sweet treats. Traditional delicacies can be found at Vero in abundance, but not without a modern twist – new truffle cheese cakes, black forest pastries and chocolate raspberry tarts are all on the new Classics menu. However, Vero is also a place to try something slightly different. Choose from potato cakes, made of a cream puff and hazelnut chocolate custard cream, or coffee éclairs, garnished with coffee fondant. Vero’s pastries are all handmade daily in the shop, and carefully arranged to seduce with their diverse combination of ingredients, sure to suit a variety of chocolate moods

www.verochocolates.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko

VL92 Gin

When Sietze Kalkwijk graduated from design Academy in Eindhoven, he travelled to Kyrgyzstan and discovered a distillery where the vodka was of such extraordinary taste and purity that he brought it back home to sell in the Netherlands. Kalkwijk stored his spirit at the warehouse of Dutch distillery Van Toor, with whom he soon teamed up to produce the VL92 brand.

What’s special about Sietze and Van Toor’s gin is that it is built upon a malt wine foundation, and uses a fragrant mix of spices, including coriander. This month the gin will be shipped to London in style - on board of the original VL92 freighter, after which it was named. All London gin enthusiasts will get a chance to sample its exotic flavours and watch Sietze present the first box of his fragrant spirit to world-famous bartender Alex Kratena

www.vl92.com

Writer: Maria Kuzmenko