Where to See the World's Top Chefs

Mar 8, 2011
Catherine Turnbull

Top chefs on stage for Flemish Primitives - Visit Flanders

The chef of the world's top restaurant is among a mouth watering brigade of international stars who will cook and reveal their secrets of the kitchen.

More than 1500 foodie fans are expected to attend what is hailed as a dazzling showcase of the best cooks in the world, in Ostend, Belgium.

The idea is for chefs to team up with scientists and explore gastronomy in its widest sense.

In a one-off event three chefs - Rene Redzepi of two-star Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, declared the best restaurant in the world in the San Pellegrino 2010 awards, will meet two Michelin three-star holders; master of the French terroir, Michel Bras and Netherlands chef Sergio Herman of Oud Sluis, famous for his oyster burger.

Feted as one of the most influential chefs on the international gastronomic scene, René Redzepi has re-invented the Nordic kitchen. As head chef and owner of the 3-star Michelin Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, he has drawn on his own cultural heritage, offering an inventive blend of Nordic and Macedonian cuisine with a distinctive emphasis on regional specialties. Classically trained, Redzepi began his career in 1993 at Copenhagen’s Restaurant Pierre André. Before opening Noma in 2003, Redzepi worked at the 3-star Le Jardin Des Sens in Montpellier, France; Ferran Adrià’s acclaimed El Bulli in Rosas, Spain; Thomas Keller’s 3-star Michelin restaurant The French Laundry; and lastly, as sous chef under Chef Thomas Rode Andersen at Copenhagen’s Kong Hans Kælder. Chef Michel Bras, a master of “la cuisine du terroir” has never left his native Aubrac region, but is internationally known. He is a self–taught, as is Sergio Herman, and a self–made man.

These culinary giants are among a smorgasbord of talent to have a head to head including: Dominique Persoone (The Chocolate Line, Belgium) meets Alex Atala (D.O.M., Brazil); Pascal Barbot (Astrance, France) meets Magnus Nilsson (Faviken, Sweden), Gert De Mangeleer (Hertog Jan, Belgium) meets Jonnie Boer (De Librije, Netherlands), David Martin (La Paix, Belgium) meets Giorgio Nava (Carne SA & 95 Keerom, South Africa), Jack O’Shea (UK) and Thomas Bühner (La Vie, Germany), Kobe Desramaults (In de Wulf, Belgium) meets Alexandre Gauthier (La Grenouillère, France), Sang Hoon Degeimbre (L’Air du Temps, Belgium) meets Josean Martinez Alija (Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain) and Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana, Italy)There will also be an afternoon of master classes with experts each two-and-a-half hours long, including:

Meat: Cuts, ageing: David Martin - Jack O’Shea - James “Jocky”Petrie ? Fish: North Sea and by-catch: Filip Claeys
Fermentation and pickling: Sang Hoon Degeimbre, Xavier Nicolay and Magnus Nilsson
Liquid Nitrogen: Kristof Coppen
Precise temperature: Bruno Goussault, Sang Hoon Degeimbre and Xavier Nicolay.The Guggenheim cooking techniques and flavours: Josean Martinez Alija
Cheese and Science: Farmer’s raw milk cheeses - Cheese and beer pairing, Michel Van Tricht - Ben Vincke (to be confirmed)
Patisserie: The Best of Passion Pâtisserie

The event in Ostend is named The Flemish Primitives 2011 and aims to bring together chefs to exchange ideas and innovation.

Artists in the 15th and 16th century, ’The Flemish Primitives’ were masters in combining talent with new techniques. The event ‘The Flemish Primitives’ wants to continue in the same spirit through respect for food products and beverages, the knowledge of the classic cooking techniques combined with a stimulation of new techniques and creativity. By promoting interaction between Flanders’ new generation of top chefs, the world’s most innovative chefs, scientists and artists, the event wants to deliver a creative boost for the food industry and gastronomy in Belgium and the world. The event is an annual meeting place for cross fertilisation between the food and beverage industry, gastronomy, the wine world, artists and scientists.

Six Belgium chefs will give hour-long demonstrations, including