The week that was (11 August 2016)

- Of course, we couldn’t get through this week and not talk about the Olympics. While Callan chose to tread that path by exploring the fast food offerings dedicated to the Games (actually), my attention is on Massimo’s refettorio (you will remember the concept from the Milan expo). I couldn’t help but pull out a few of my favourite Massimo thoughts (from the Eater article) below:  

"... the concept "is not a charity project, it is a cultural one." According to him (Bottura), waste became the most important problem related to food in a society that cannot handle its redistribution of resources. That’s not something new: Bottura says that this is the foundation of the Italian cuisine, or cucina povera, when matriarchs needed to use all the parts of an ingredient to provide a meal to their families. "We are going to bring back our grandmother’s way of thinking and are translating it into a contemporary work: ‘Do not throw away that piece of meat, don’t waste this Parmigiano-Reggiano crust,’" Bottura says."

"We, contemporary chefs, are going to think at least for one day as our grandmothers did. We want to explain to the world what is possible to do with an overripe banana, an ugly tomato, or with bread crumbs," Bottura says. The Rio Olympics will provide the stage. "The answer to the universal exposure that I am having now is: fight waste. I hope I can make people think more about that. That would make my prize [the World’s 50 Best designation] worth its while."

- Which is a lovely segue to farmer needs a farm, a beautiful idea born in Kyneton Vic. Retired farmers are being paired with tree changers to share their knowledge and wisdom. Community and wisdom and respect for elders. Just yes.  

- The Fin Rev took a look at “top chefs at food festivals”. You may remember Lethlean took the concept to task not so long ago. Here they look at the pros (getting a holiday, sharing ideas, hanging with mates, keeping your brand prominent) and cons (over charging, poor quality/poor representation of your brand). They also skim over the concept of collaboration - which I think is just as fraught on both sides of the coin. 

- And now a couple of well trodden paths in this missive - there was another touch up for Baird and the ridiculous lock-out laws. We also probably need more waste free shopping options (also because I felt this week needed a little Frenchie love), and, at some stage, I think we need to talk meat (and those meat free meat options). I’m not yet convinced. Finally, did you see this article about the state of affairs in QLD after they changed their land-clearing laws in 2012? They want to do the same thing here in NSW. I have mentioned it before. If you haven't already, please sign the petition?

The week that was (4 August 2016)

- Time Out are hosting a talk - “Is the nanny state taking the taste from our restaurants?” - at the Belvoir on Monday. “Rare, cold-pressed and unpasteurised foods are increasingly common in Sydney’s bar and restaurant scene. But what are the risks, both for customers and the establishments that serve them? Is the nanny state trying to step in and control our diets at the expense of quality? Which vendors are exempt? What happens when food laws are ignored?”

As it happens, I have been having this very discussion with a friend recently. Restaurants get away with a lot that manufacturers don’t. This could be a good thing, it might not be. Personally, I am not willing to give up aioli made with raw egg yolks, but the argument is important, as much to protect yourself and your restaurant as anything else. The panel includes John Fink and Jake Smyth, alongside a gastroenterologist and an investigative journalist. $35 gets you a ticket and a Mary’s burger and a drink. Done. 
 
- In other theatrical news, I went to see The Beast at the Opera House last night. A lot of it made my blood boil, but some of it was quite funny – particularly the parts pertaining to food. It made me think about some of the trends/ideas we carry on about, and the subsequent judgment we pass on others. That’s not ok. I admit I am occasionally guilty of it myself, I am a terrible food snob (particularly re sustainability/ethics) - and so it did give me pause for reflection in regards to how I respond to trends, to knowledge - how can we deal with moral superiority (and, that horror, dieting superiority), both in and out of the kitchen?

I think it may be part of a bigger problem as there is so much information available to us now. Of course, we can’t know it all (in fact, the more I learn, the more I realise I don’t know), but we need to be conscious not to confuse knowledge with wisdom, or knowledge with “cool”, and, perhaps most importantly, knowledge with power. Food is about sharing not segregating. 
 
The religious fanaticism with which we approach food needs to be tempered. Of course I want to encourage food that is sourced ethically and sustainably. I think we need to pay more for better quality food and make that (and ideas/education as to how we can make that produce affordable - in the way you use it and the way it fuels your body), but I also want people to enjoy it. I believe much of our societal angst around food comes from unnecessary guilt and questioning – too much fat/carbs/sugar/alcohol (ok, that last one’s for me). I think we need to kill that. 

There are some really interesting thoughts bouncing around at the moment regarding this psychology of eating – have we intellectualised it so much that it’s become hard to enjoy? if so, that’s a problem.

What would Lulu Peyraud say? What would Elizabeth David say? Bah humbug.

- And thus, I quite enjoyed this from the NY Times Wine School – in fact I like the whole concept. “Every wine lover’s history is littered with grapes, producers and styles that for one reason or another have been cast aside … everybody comes to his own conclusions for reasons that are as psychological as they are physical. But I would never presume to dispute matters of personal taste. We’re all wired differently, and sometimes even the same wine with the same food can strike two people entirely antithetically.” Let's extrapolate this out a little: If you don’t like skin contact wine, power to you. If you do like a red wine on a winter’s night, that’s fine too. Don’t like your beer sour, no sweat. Your tastes are yours and yours alone. Simple.

- Finally, further to last week’s note on Bloom, Brash Higgins’s Jura-style wine. Mike Bennie very kindly took the time to give me the background on that style in Australia: “The best example has been out for a while from Crittenden (‘cri de couer’ it is called, and they use savagnin which is the actual grape of vin jaune, rather than chardonnay), also Kangarilla Rd have a VJ offering using savagnin, and, of little note, but quite few others use flor in winemaking (hey, even Brian’s rizza is under flor and used by Brosé originally for their coq au vin d’Australie!).” Legend. Thanks Mike. x.

The week that was (28 July 2016)

- You should read the Relae Sustainability Report. It’s most excellent – from how to recycle coffee grounds to grow mushrooms to why we need more filtered water and less bottled (these guys also have a policy of consolidating the un-drunk table water for cleaning).
 
Christian Puglisi explains his reasons behind it: “The mindset expanded from being focused on organic agriculture to looking at other parts of our business to make sure that we made the right decisions all over … Everything we do should have a sustainable and reasonable approach. Everything from how we differentiate our waste to what we invest in as a business needs to be focused on the long run and that all types of resources should be treated with intelligence and respect. Whether that involves using backsides of printed menus to take notes or re-fermenting wasted wine to vinegar we have implemented a mindset where everybody tries to make sustainable choices and finds a joy and pride in reducing our waste or consumption.”
 
So many great ideas. And this leftover wine to vinegar thing is a thing … I read it somewhere else very recently. I like the idea – it reminds me of a crazy fermented cheese dish I ate in the south of France – were they would pot all the left-overs from the cheese board to re-ferment in a crazy melange of hectic flavours. Just quietly, I'm hoping the vinegar taste a little better than the cheese did!

- While we’re on sustainability we should acknowledge Ronni Kahn and her Think.Eat.Save events held on Monday. Bravo to all involved. Waste is a huge issue. – “roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted or lost.”
 
- And then on to NYC where Dave Chang talks to Wired about his “unified theory of deliciousness” - a theory he has devised on food inspired by advanced logic.
 
The theory itself is a little complex, and Chang tells it best, so you really should read the article - it’s about isomorphisms (“concepts that can be expressed in different ways while retaining their core form.”) and the way they loop back to the original “… if you can recognize that music, you’ll blow people’s minds with a paradox they can taste: the new and the familiar woven together in a strange loop.” I thought it was a great article, so thought-provoking.
 
On creativity: “I’m a big believer that creativity comes from working within constraints.”
 
On his spicy pork sausage and rice cakes: “I’d never seen a connection between Bolognese and mapo tofu before, but Joshua had inadvertently discovered this overlap between them. We hit the middle of a Venn diagram, creating something that incorporated enough elements of both mapo tofu and Bolognese that it could evoke both of them, while being neither one precisely.”
 
And then the Ceci e pepe: “I’m making this all sound like a very intellectual exercise. And creating this food can be just that, but eating it shouldn’t be. These dishes should taste seamless; they shouldn’t feel like math equations. In fact, the more obviously conceptual a dish is, the less powerful it will be … Ceci e pepe is too explicit. It’s telling diners what to think instead of letting them draw their own conclusions. The element of surprise is part of the magic.”
 
And of course those pork buns: “That’s what I was chasing, that split second when someone tastes something so delicious that their conversation suddenly derails and they blurt out something guttural like they stubbed their toe.”

The week that was (20 July 2016)

- The Omnivore's Dilemma turned ten last month. There is quite a bit floating around from Pollen speculating on what has changed since it was first published. The cost of food is a big issue and so I thought this was particularly interesting: "My hope is that people will start to revalue food as something worth spending more money on when possible. After all, a remarkable number of us—a majority—got comfortable in very short order paying hundreds of dollars a month for a second telephone account, and for television (which once was free!). I think a significant slice of the consuming public is getting used to the idea that food produced in alignment with their values costs more and is worth more. But of course, there remain people who won’t be able to afford the higher prices of sustainable food, and that’s where the difficulty arises. How do we make this food available to them? That, I think, is the big challenge of the food movement: to democratize sustainably and ethically produced food." Hear, hear.
 
- FoodService have relaunched their mag with a posse of contributors from around the industry. Among them is Huckstep, giving a little rant on his thoughts behind why a review is appropriate in the first few weeks. You know my take on it. 
 
- I am endlessly fascinated with better ways to connect producers/farmers and chefs/cooks and so I find the community supported agriculture model interesting (essentially it's a subscription model paid in advance to the farmer). "The goal was for C.S.A. farmers and members to build a mutually supportive long-term relationship. Members would get straight-from-the-farm produce from a farmer they knew and trusted, and farmers would get financial stability." It's been a mainstay in the US for a while now and according to the NY Times is now somewhat being bastardised by big business (which kind of misses the whole point of connecting the farmer to the consumer). We have examples of this model being successful here - Jonai Farms in Vic is one that springs to mind - they are fully subscribed with a waiting list that extends for years. Are there any NSW models??

- Another favourite soapbox topic - food and art. This week, Pete Wells reviewed In Situ at the San Fran Museum of Modern Art, where Chef Corey Lee's restaurant is taking that to the next level. More art installation than restaurant, Lee and his chefs are faithfully replicating the dishes of other chefs around the globe to create a curated (fair use of that word here) menu of the world's greats. It is a collaborative work, with the dishes' originators closely consulted to ensure accuracy. "One thing In Situ proves, just by existing, is that certain chefs are now cultural figures in a sense that once applied only to practitioners of what used to be called high culture: literature, concert music, avant-garde painting. A Redzepi dish can be visited in an art museum in 2016, and nobody finds this very strange." Like I said, next level. 

- Spinning food and art in another direction, there are two food related plays debuting next week and both of them are taking the piss. In Adelaide, Schmidt takes aim at the "insidious" thinspo culture (“The idea that some forms of eating are clean and better might be somewhat true or it might not, but it’s when turns into a sort of moral statement that I disagree.“), while in Sydney we will get Eddie Perfect's The Beast (a “confronting, disturbing and hilarious play that gleefully tears apart middle-class trends, social climbers, foodies, wine-snobs, helicopter parents, self-serving do-gooders and self-righteous snobs”).

The week that was (14 July 2016)

- Sustainable, an American documentary, debuted in Sydney last night. While some of the terrors of the modern food system were included in the film (the infographic illustrating the path the Mississippi takes through farm land, collecting nitrates via the run-off, before dumping them in the Gulf of Mexico - that “dead zone” we regularly see on the news - was particularly terrifying) but there was also so much happy in this film.
 
The story followed the work of Marty Travis who bought back his family farm 16 years ago (he is the seventh generation to farm it) and set about revitalising the soil, re-connecting the farm to the restaurants he supplies and eventually re-building the local community (creating a co-op to educate on sustainable farming and then to on-sell the produce). He is an astounding man.

Concepts I want to know more about (piqued by the film): the role of trees and livestock on carbon sequestration; the impact of tilling on water retention in soils; landrace as a population of genetic diversity (as opposed to a breed of pig!); how we reintegrate agri and culture; swapping chemistry for biology; placing regenerative agriculture before sustainable agriculture; and finally, the ways nature swoops in to transform the earth before we have realised the problem, looking at both the immune system of plants (why insects will attack one plant, leaving the others around it intact) and the type of weeds that will grow first to regenerate, often suggesting what the land needs before we know. 
 
- Much is said of the wines made at the base of Mt Etna in Sicily (Med #3). There was a nice little article in the NY Times looking at the renewed viticultural interest in the area and, due to the last point above, I particularly liked this: “It’s hard to visit without encountering evidence of past eruptions. Turn a corner and you may see an entire field of brown lava rock, bare except for yellow genestra flowers, or broom, the first plants to grow back. Genestra indicates a relatively recent eruption. With time, pine trees will begin to take hold. It’s all part of the process that, over many years, breaks down hard rock into the soils in which so much life thrives.” The circle of life. 

- And with that, I'm going to come full circle too. In the introduction to her first book, A Book of Mediterranean Food, Elizabeth David defined what it was to eat in the Mediterranean. It was 1950. Rationing was still in place in England. And yet, they published her book - her writing is so evocative and so beautiful - they considered the dream to be as relevant as the recipes. If you have't been you will want to go, if you have, this will transport you back. 
 
“The cooking of the Mediterranean shores, endowed with all the natural resources, the colour and flavour of the South, is a blend of tradition and brilliant improvisation. The Latin genius flashes from the kitchen pans …
 
From Gibraltar to the Bosphorous, down the Rhone Valley, through the great seaports of Marseilles, Barcelona, and Genoa, across to Tunis and Alexandria, embracing all the Mediterranean islands, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, Crete, the Cyclades, Cyprus (where the Byzantine influence starts to be felt), to the mainland of Greece and the much disputed territories of Syria, the Lebanon, Constantinople and Smyrna stretches the influence of Mediterranean cooking, conditioned naturally by variations in climate and soil and the relative industry or indolence of the inhabitants.
 
The ever recurring themes in the food throughout these countries are the oil, the saffron, the garlic, the pungent local wines; the aromatic perfume of rosemary, wild marjoram and basil drying in the kitchens; the brilliance of the market stalls piled high with pimentos, aubergines, tomatoes, olives, melons, figs and limes; the great heaps of shiny fish, silver, vermilion or tiger-striped and those long needled fish whose bones so mysteriously turn green ...” 

She goes on, there's cheese, there's butchery, there are spices. If you don't own it, you should. 

The week that was (7 July 2016)

- Last week, in Paris, L’ami Jean was one of nine restaurants that opened its doors and invited a stranger to cook for the evening, the stranger was a chef, he was also a refugee. “In a country where the dominant narrative is that refugees live off the state and are a burden on the society, and where French cuisine dominates the food scene, the project offers a small but striking counter narrative, showing that refugees can bring skills and are more than willing to work.” Cooking is a call to act. I love it. 
 
- Magnus seems to think so too. This week The Long Read looked at Magnus (“His food is not popular, exactly – it has been deemed important cultural material”) and his restaurant (“… Fäviken is at the vanguard of restaurants whose food is also talked about as an expression of moral values. This comes, in part, from Nilsson’s commitment to regional and local sourcing”). They look beyond the fine dining, to his food for the masses via his charcuterie business, his hot dog van and his solution for a natural soft serve (“The best way of pushing [the world] in a direction that you want is to make the change yourself rather than go to food conferences and make little statements that people don’t really care about.”) Ouch.
 
But where the article really pushed my buttons was the references and discussion around that place where food and art interact - “One of the premises that has elevated Nilsson’s work to international acclaim is that food is art and therefore deserving of painstaking care, auteurship, intellectualisation, and occasional worship. To some, this truth seems evident, but it is hardly a given – for hundreds of years, food had no such place in culture.”
 
They looked to this opinion piece written by former NY Times critic William Deresiewicz, who created a stir in 2012 when he argued that while food had moved into the realm of art, it was not art. “Both begin by addressing the senses, but that is where food stops. It is not narrative or representational, does not organize and express emotion. An apple is not a story, even if we can tell a story about it. A curry is not an idea, even if its creation is the result of one … A good risotto is a fine thing, but it isn’t going to give you insight into other people, allow you to see the world in a new way, or force you to take an inventory of your soul.” Hmm. 

Unsuprisingly, he got slammed. You only have to read the L'ami Jean story above, (or anything by Massimo et. al.) to know why. However, it was well-written and thought provoking. So too, was his response to the outcry: "People clearly take this food stuff very personally ... which only strengthens my conviction that it has become a kind of new religion. People believe in food, the way they used to believe in art. The question is why … food is always unique. You have to be there, have to be present, have to be in contact with the thing itself. You have, in other words, to be here now. If the purpose of religion is to bring us into relationship with reality, perhaps it’s no surprise that food is our religion today.” He has a warning for the future too: "Churches, dogmas, heresies, schisms, senescence: you have all this to look forward to." Indeed. 
 
- There is no question food can be in art, and this week The Archibald finalists were announced with two chefs among them: Annie Smithers was painted by Daniel Butterworth, while George Calombaris was painted by Betina Fauvel-Ogden – his portrait winning the packing room prize.  I also really loved this painting by Athena Xenakis Levendi of the Fratelli boys – which is, ladies and gents, the trifecta – food, art and a good cause! #keepsydneyopen

The week that was (30 June 2016)

- The Fin Rev released their Food and Wine Issue last week. I was fascinated to read the story behind Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief tech officer for Microsoft, who has subsequently written all the Modernist Cuisine books - his food lab, and his dedication to exploring the science of food and cooking, is phenomenal. There was a glance at four of the wonderful chefs and restaurants that have opened in the Australian countryside - Igni, Fleet, Brae and Biota. And Crapology, a photographic blog dedicated to the beauty of left-overs.

- Last week a farmer from Inverell rode his horse over the Harbour Bridge. It was a plea for awareness regarding land clearing. Australia ranks third among the developed world for land clearing, you don't need a bleeding heart leftie to tell you that is not ok.
 
The NSW Government are proposing changes to the Native Vegetation Act. Essentially these changes will remove the modest checks and balances they currently have in place, in particular the requirement that farmers, developers and agribusinesses ‘maintain or improve’ the land they are working in regards to native vegetation and land clearing.
 
Similar legislation was passed in 2012 in Queensland. It was an unmitigated disaster and resulted in 300,000 hectares of vegetation ripped from the earth. This was not the act of farmers, whose land is the legacy and their future, but rather big business taking advantage of a very foolish decision. Please let's learn the lesson, not repeat the mistake.
 
Watch the intro to the doco Restoring Earth here, read Neil’s open letter to Premier Baird here, sign the petition here.
 
The panel discussion following the screening of the doco floated some interesting ideas:

The importance of humus (decaying organic matter) in soil structure, water retention and thus land conservation and carbon consumption; the importance of roots in the soil; healthy soil's impact on human health, our water cycle and the health of the climate; the need to combine ecology and agriculture; the need to combine health and agriculture; a potential role (and rewards) for farmers and land-owners in environmental goods and services; closing the gap between traditional and innovative methods - putting the info back in the hands of those who can do something about it, the farmers; getting farmers talking to farmers, with education carried out in the paddock (the sustainable forestry system in Victoria was cited as an example of this working); finally, the question was raised, why is it we all know our doctor, but don't all know a farmer?

The solutions are all around us - just more talking, thinking and looking. Do you think the oyster knows it lives in its very own spoon?

The week that was (23 June 2016)

I watched Steak (R)evolution on Netflix this week. It's long, but worth watching - an impressive and in-depth look at one cut of meat through the cultural prism of multiple countries. Not so much exposé, but rather exploration (and celebration). I love understanding the ways culture and terroir change traditions of consumption. I also love how food becomes identity and how identity sells food (or polarises). To cap it all off, the story is told by a Frenchie, Franck Ribière ... Just so much to keep me watching!
 
An early, but perhaps obvious admission, is that the French don’t really do red meat all that well. The wet, lean steaks in the butchers’ shops have oft been a source of my curiosity (especially when compared to their exquisite poultry and pork products). Ribière puts this down to the traditional French breeds - high muscle and thus high in collagen - which is broken down only with long, slow cooking. While others were barbecuing, the French were pot au feu-ing.
 
Comparatively, the British breeds are absolute machines when it comes to converting grass into fat. This breeding stock has become a sought after commodity. As ubiquitous as they are, I did not realise Angus were such a great and, relatively recent, branding triumph (it was only in the '80s, with the breed slipping into obscurity, that the people of Aberdeen decided to brand the Angus cattle. Now, for better or worse, they’re everywhere.) While in the UK, Ribière also looked at the (delicious) flavour attributes of longhorns (which we now have in Australia), with the owner of the Ginger Pig, and the Scottish highland cattle (these genetics have apparently also been sent here). 

Of course the poms, les rosbif as the French have mockingly called them, also have a climate that blesses them (the Pollyanna view of things) with green, verdant pastures much of the year. This means beautiful, consistent grass-fed beef, that can stand up to quick cooking. Since the 16th century the Brits have been roasting beef - it’s become their national dish. The once derogatory term has now been spun around as the Frenchies try to figure out what they can learn from their mates across the water. (A stubborn mistake they also seem to have made with Italian coffee.)

Further afield, he takes the requisite trips to Japan (fatty wagyu, thin steaks), Argentina (who are exporting all the traditional grass-raised gear and eating the feed-lotted steaks - a whopping 60kg per person per annum), and to Tuscany for Dario Cecchini’s bistecca alla Fiorentina (he who gutted that pig on stage at MAD). There's a 22 year-old French woman building a herd to protect a dying breed and three generations of women in NYC running one of the city's best steak houses (they hand-select each steak - before double cooking); I loved the crazy Croat explaining his own version of biodynamics and carbon recycling; and the Joe Beef guys (Canada), singing the praises of small producers while imploring people to step away from the tender trap - Dave McMillan used natural wine trend as an analogy for what should happen with beef (“… we’re still very far away from getting people to feel the same about the beef - natural beef.”)
 
Ribière’s number one is found at Bodega el Caprichio, in Leon, Spain. Rather than being entirely focused on the breeds, José Gordón is all about age and only works with seriously old cows (we're talking 11 to 15 years old). Furthermore, José, a producer and chef, serves only castrated males – he believes the testosterone helps with a 'hormonal cleansing', ridding the beef of saturated fats. However, for José, the most important aspect in the selection of his cows is their temperament “I’m looking for animals with character – they must be docile and noble.” Of course they should be noble. 

There is so much knowledge scattered through this doco - great people, doing great things. How well do you know your steak?
 
- Coincidentally, The Guardian ran this article on the Basque tradition of txuleta – the old dairy cow scenario – it's making its way to London and, despite the huge costs, it's doing incredibly well.

- Further to last week’s look at the controversy surrounding the 50 Best, you might want to read this brilliant interview with Andrea Petrini; a judge for the past decade, Petrini was asked to step down this year. He had some pretty interesting things to say about both the awards and the state of food.
 
On France: “Going to restaurants is a means of expression recognised by popular culture, but the French culinary establishment still hasn’t understood this. France is still seen with that Cold War image, an old-regime that will never change.” 
 
On his dismissal: “… after all the polemic caused when Le Chateaubriand was the number one French restaurant in the list. He (William Drew, head of the World 50 Best) was frightened … because of all the complaints and accusations made by the three-Michelin-starred restaurants and the Relais and Chateaux ones, who threatened to – and did – stop serving San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna ... Drew was worried that San Pellegrino would abandon the 50 Best. Something they did in part, because they are no longer main sponsor.”
 
On trends: “The days of the immutable, drawn-out tasting menu are numbered, and will be collectively rejected … People want to compose their own menu. It won’t be imposed from the top any more.” and “… food is becoming not more elaborate but more cooked. It’s not a coincidence that Bertrand Grebaut, one of the smartest young chefs in France, since two years ago – and without publicising it – has been serving more classic sauces revisited in his own style.”

- Finally, there was a cheeky little re-run in Hospitality Mag of their interview with Massimo after MAD Syd. “I think what Australia has to do is find traditions. And what are traditions? Traditions are innovations that are well done. When people realise that an innovation was extremely well done, it becomes tradition ... get closer to the farmer, the fisherman, the cheese makers, and start with primitivism. So, for example, cook with fire, then after that you start adding techniques and creating new dishes, or through a contemporary mind, you start reinterpreting some plates that are part of growing up. Like that, you create a new Australian cuisine.”

Our culinary culture has much that has been written and much still to write ... exciting times people. 

The week that was (16 June 2016)

The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards were held this week in NYC. You will all have seen the list, you will also know we (ok, Melbourne), will be hosting next year, so what else do you need to know?

The awards, now in their 15th year, are considered by many to have surpassed Michelin as culinary guide of choice - in part because of their global reach and in part due to their judging criteria (or lack thereof). This is also the very reason people find them controversial. I have talked a lot about this recently through the prism of the wine world, and the way they are incorporating new judging systems that are not about seeking faults, but instead about seeking the delicious. For some reason, this seems to really piss people off.

Let’s start with the voting system (read 1- 5 below, or simply check out their new, snazzy little graphic here):

1. It’s an academy made up of just under 1000 members.
2. The academy is comprised of 27 chairpersons/chairpeople (both horrid words!), each chair represents a different geographical region (the geographical delineation is revised each year to ensure balance). GT's Pat Nourse is chairperson for our region (Oceania, Australia and NZ).
3. These chairpeople choose 35 buddies to further represent the region. The group must be chosen with a balance of 1/3 chefs and restaurateurs, 1/3 food writers and 1/3 gourmands. (Note the group also must change by 30% each year).
4. These chosen ones cast seven votes. What constitutes ‘best’ is left to the judgment of these "trusted and well-travelled gourmets". There is no pre-determined checklist of criteria.
5. There are rules: they must have dined at the restaurant in the past 18 months. They must also cast three of their four votes outside their own region.

This last point is clearly where Australia comes unstuck. Given the Euro/US focus of the geo regions, how many of the 936 members out of our region will have been to Australia in the past 18 months? And, to be clear, we’re not talking about a fair dispersal by population (there are only 5 chairs across all Asia), instead the regions are determined by the location of cool restaurants - it's a vicious cycle. 

Enter Tourism Australia. Enter the Invite the World to Dinner campaign. Enter Rene Redzepi and Noma Australia. Enter the cash we are now spending to host 800 international guests for the 2017 awards.
 
So, has it worked? Well, not so far … Attica dropped one place to 33 and Sepia fell off the 100 altogether. Brae climbed, but Quay took a significant tumble. 

That said, looking at the example of Latin America, it may be too soon to tell. The Latin American 50 Best off-shoot is in its 4th year and, this year, eight of their restaurants made the top 50. It’s taken a few years to hit peak (are we at peak?) Latin America. Thus it appears the gestational period for results may be greater than the 18 month voting period. (For contrast, there were only six north American restaurants in the top 50, the UK only had three, Italy had four and the Frenchies, are absolutely furious with only two).  
 
Perhaps the bigger question is, is it morally correct?? I love the fluidity of the awards and the judging, but does it all mean nothing if the votes are garnered by local tourism bodies flying these lucky 1000 around the world? Are we just buying votes??
 
In comparison to the Michelin Guide (which is, perhaps not incidentally, one of the greatest examples of content marketing - they created a food guide so people would use their tires to get there), a steady home and sponsor for these awards has never been apparent. Restaurant Magazine (where it began) is no longer involved, San Pellegrino no longer hold the naming rights. It now seems to be a wrestling match among tourism bodies, and next year, for better or worse, it's our turn. And, if content marketing has been ok for the past 115 years for Michelin, why should we take issue now? 
 
Ok, enough with the controversy, because I love these awards. Why? Take a look at the diversity in the top ten…
 
10 – Asador Etxebarri, Axpe – run by a former lumberjack, the focus on wood means it is the elusive ingredient in all his dishes. I ate there a couple of years back and loved every smoke-kissed dish. This is perhaps the most traditional in the top 10.
 
9 – Steirereck, Austria – A hotel that’s been in the family for generations and has been synonymous with fine dining over the years, and yet now you dine in a massive, modernist glass cube, with food created to match. I only know what I’ve read here. Anyone??
 
8 – Narisawa, Tokyo – the cuisine is based on 'innovative satoyama', the space where arable meets the forest, a small-scale style of agriculture and forestry that is in danger of disappearing – it’s all about living in harmony with nature. Interesting to note this was not number one in the Asian top 50.
 
7 – Mugaritz, San Sebastian – the only restaurant to have stayed in the top 10 for the past eleven years. I had the great pleasure of meeting and subsequently interviewing Dani Lasa, head of research and development. These guys devote months each year to the creative process, closing their doors to do it.
 
6 – Mirazur, Menton – Perched on a hill where Italy meets France. Personally, I loved the little anchovy and lemon scenario, but found the rest lacking, the famed vegetable garden severely so.
 
5 – Noma, Copenhagen – a pretty significant slip for a restaurant that has flirted with the number one position for the past seven years. Of course, they have been in Japan and Australia for a significant chunk of the 18 month judging period, so have in some respects may have expected the slip.
 
4 – Central Restaurante, Lima – As I mentioned, it was a big year for the South Americans (they also had restaurants 11, 12 and 13). 
 
3 – Eleven Madison Park, NYC – a big city restaurant, also the winners of the inaugural Art of Hospitality award.
 
2 – El Cellar de Can Roca, Girona – the three Roca brothers were last year’s numero uno.
 
1 – Osteria Francescana, Modena – Oh, Massimo! I love the collaboration between art and food that has been forged with his wife, Lara, and “cooking is a call to act” was one of my favourite catch cries of MAD Syd. During his acceptance speech in NYC he stated: “The most important ingredient for the future is culture.” In my eyes, this man can do no wrong. If you haven’t yet, I implore you to watch to Massimo on Chef’s Table.
 
The one thing that does appear to tie all these restaurants together is their ability to polarise diners. For every glowing report from a friend, I can counter with an equally scathing report from another. But isn’t that taste? Isn’t that art?

And, perhaps that's the question, is this more about art than about taste?? This photo essay, looking at one dish from each of the 50 best, makes it clear art plays a huge role in all of them. (You will need to ignore the atrocious first pic (sadly of Septime, one of my Parisian faves) and their incessant ads.)

Andre Chiang suggests that is exactly the point “… (it’s) not about rank or who’s on top of the other, but it is an indication of trend and direction, because these 50 chefs who choose to step out from their comfort zone are pushing the boundaries and leading the culinary scene of tomorrow.”

For Massimo, the way the awards have guided the evolution of gastronomy is only one part of it: “Everything changed in the last 15 years in gastronomy. There’s a community — a community that has been created around 50 Best, we are not here as competitors. But we are here as friends.”
 
Food, art, debate, community and a little controversy for good measure. I love it. 

The week that was (9 June 2016)

- So, where does this put us on the international scale, I hear you ask. Good question … and the answer is but a week away. In the meantime, I have clues:
 
The “back 50”, from the World’s 50 Best, was announced this week. As always it was greeted with controversy. I love it. Among the Aussie contingency, Brae climbed (from 87 to 65), Quay fell back (from 58 to 98) and Sepia dropped off (last year they were at 84 - and awarded "the one to watch" - read Martin having a little crack here, and re-announcing plans to close the restaurant at the end of their lease in 2018). 

Singapore’s Burnt Ends (with Aussie chef Dave Pynt) came in at 70, while Tets's Waku Ghin appears to have also fallen out of the 100. Attica is the only other Australian entry in the 100 to be omitted from this back 50, but, with Shewry in NYC we can presume they are sitting pretty in the top 50 (they were 32 last year).
 
Of course there were also global dramas: both of Keller’s restaurants dropped out of the top 50 (after the shellacking Per Se received recently, this could be chicken or egg or truth). Plaza Athénée, L’Astrance,Mani and Le Chateaubriand also took a tumble into the back 50.
 
The World’s 50 Best will be announced on Monday (Tuesday morning our time) in NYC alongside the “surprise” announcement that Australia (Sydney-ish) will host next year’s awards. Hopefully this will also result in more awareness of all the amazing that is happening here ...