Dutch Designer Marcel Wanders Out-Geeked by Blanch & Shock at Galleria Illy

Only a fool tries to upstage Marcel Wanders by out-smiling, out-dressing, out-tanning, out-hairing or out-flirting the tall, dark and handsome Dutch designer. But were you to tie your hair in a bun, as Josh Pollen did, or hide your intense gaze behind protective goggles, as Mike Knowlden did, you might find it relatively easy to out-geek Wanders. These ingeniously inventive – and skinny – young chefs managed just that at the London launch for Flos of the beautiful Wanders Can-Can Lamp at the Galleria Illy pop-up this October.

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28 November 2011 By Leave a Comment
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With Old Memories & New Techniques Chef Pino Cuttaia Finds My Inner Sicilian Child at Galleria Illy

 

When Pino Cuttaia advises young, ambitious Sicilian chefs to follow his example and work abroad to experience new techniques and unfamiliar foods he is not necessarily pointing them towards London or New York. The overseas destinations he has in mind are on mainland Italy and in particular the north, where you find such curiosities as polenta and, stranger still, butter. Butter, for the uninitiated, is a dairy product made by churning milk or cream and is often used in place of olive oil. [Read more...]

10 October 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Belgian Chef Viki Geunes Lays It All Out on The Table at Galleria Illy

“Spain,” Belgian chef Viki Geunes told a group of London foodies at the Galleria Illy, “is more technique and less product. Whatever I do must add value to the product.”

By evoking Spain the two-star Michelin chef at ‘t Zilte in Antwerp was asserting his opposition less to the contemporary cuisine of an entire nation than that of its most famous chef, Ferran Adrià. And by aligning himself instead with “the Nordic kitchen” and its obsession with exceptional vegetables from local producers and small farms he had one particular Nordic kitchen in mind, Rene Redzepi’s Noma. [Read more...]

26 September 2011 By 2 Comments
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For Galleria Illy Tea Talk, Didier Jumeau-Lafond of Dammann Frères Brews Cup of Anti-Snob Snobbism

“There’s no good tea, there’s no bad tea,” Didier Jumeau-Lafond of Dammann Frères, the exclusive Parisian sellers of 3,500 fine teas, told the 13 September gathering at the Galleria Illy pop-up. “There is just one tea, the one you like.” [Read more...]

21 September 2011 By 2 Comments
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With illycaffè’s Francis Francis X7 espresso machine, perfection has its limits

one-touch Francis Francis X7As an amateur barista who’s been through 7 home espresso machines in a dozen years I understand the appeal of a foolproof model that makes you the same beautiful espresso every day. With most semiautomatic machines you need to get the beans, grind, measure and tamping pressure just right and then hope the machine’s volatile brewing pump is not sputtering nonsense to at least have the possibility of a properly extracted espresso falling into your cup. If you’ve received one of these recalcitrant appliances for Christmas you may already be pondering the ethics of regifting the bloody thing, perhaps as a wedding present for your ex-partner who’s marrying your former best mate. [Read more...]

6 January 2010 By 13 Comments
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World’s thickest, moussiest espresso crema

a spoonful of sant eustachio espresso crema
The technique used by Rome’s renowned Caffè Sant’Eustachio to produce an astoundingly thick, foamy head of crema atop its signature Gran Caffè is a closely guarded secret. Screens on each side of the Astoria espresso machines block the view of nosey cafenatics seeking a peek at any covert manoeuvres performed by the baristas. Author/blogger David Lebovitz suspects that a small amount of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is added to the water to agitate the foaming action as espressos are pulled. My contacts at illy in Trieste and the incomparable Caffè Terzi in Bologna agree that some form of foaming agent is used. If so, the powder is likely added out of view and the screens are merely props in a theatrical illusion.

12 November 2009 By 20 Comments
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Pizza bianca romana conquers Londinium

spianata st paul's city of londonThe City of London was founded around 50 AD, when Emperor Claudius and his Roman army built a fortified settlement on the River Thames. Nearly 2000 years later, the scent of a quieter Roman invasion is wafting through the Londinium air, rousing knowing noses from their morning misery and lunchtime lethargy and pointing the way to the nearest of 5 bakeries emitting the heady fumes of pizza bianca romana. [Read more...]

6 June 2009 By Leave a Comment
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