Cooking World

The author of restaurant’s gastronomic concept - the young talented head-cook Ivy Stark, who has already been awarded with several premiums, had time to work at many fashionable restaurants (Dos Caminos, Rosa Mexicano, Match).

To create completeness of a restaurant image, Stark combines aromas, colors and smells, creating a certain unity of cuisine and a place.

Elegance and the refinement peculiar to the French cuisine, mix up here with courageous aromas and components recall associations with the Mediterranean countries.

After the recent visit in Morocco, Stark became inspired to create such dishes, as the crust hen stuffed with Wienerwurst. Ingenuous nature of the Moroccan cuisine is combined here with refinement of the French cuisine.

Menu contains a number of tempting dishes, which can satisfy tastes of the most refined gourmets.

The chief-confectioner of the restaurant, John Mil, acknowledged by magazines Pastry Art and Design as one of ten best chiefs-confectioners of the country, combines queer components and aromas in the desserts.

In New York’s downtown on 204 West 55th Street has opened two-level restaurant Amalia.

The Founder of Amalia – Greg Brig, the owner of such popular New York restaurants, as Aspen, Groovejet, Jet East and Jet.
He has tied the concept of the restaurant to adjoined Dream Hotel and has named in honor of great Sigmund Freud’s mother.

Amalia embodies the Freudian concept. This is an improbable state, where unreal things become real and unexpected at first sight elements carry out the set role in the project.

The impressing and unusual internal design, specific musical background and complex Mediterranean menu have transformed here in a unique combination.

An eccentric atmosphere of the restaurant is built on a sexual appeal and a secret of a ramshackle Prague private residence.

Pierre Herme - the most fashionable confectioner in the world.
Despite of the age, which doesn’t get into a category of middle-aged, the successor of four generations of bakers - confectioners from Alsace has had time to do a lot. He was the head-confectioner of legendary house Fauchon and the head of well-known Parisian confectioner’s shop Laduree, has opened own house Pierre Herme Paris and school of confectionery art, has published the whole series of books.

Today boutiques, cafe, luxury supermarkets, chocolate bars with his name on a show-window work not only in Paris, but also in Tokyo and New York. The owner of loud titles prepares dishes not only according to classical French recipes, but also creates his own, mysterious desserts. Only one his dessert can combine bitter and sweet, sour and spicy substances.

The world of haute cuisine is a ringer of haute couture, therefore every year Herme House creates at least two collections: spring-summer and autumn-winter. Each of them is devoted to the certain theme and has its own name.

In the London hotel The Langham, located nearby the Bond Street, has opened cocktail-bar Artesian.

The creator of bar’s interior was well-known designer David Collins, the author of private apartments for many celebrities, founder of numerous fashionable London institutions, as, for example, Claridge’s Bar and Noby Berkley in Metropolitan hotel. Artesian’s interior combines exotic east motives and magnificent accessories in pseudo-colonial style.

Rum is a main shtick of Artesian. Many years ago this drink was an essential line of the budget in colonial England. It has not lost the popularity in modern Britain.
Bar has more than twenty cocktails on the basis of rum and about fifty variety of thus drink, including Havana Club Maxito Extra Anejo (Cuba), Brugal Siglo de Oro (Dominican republic), Bacardi Ron 8 (Puerto Rico), Barbancourt 15 Reserve du Domaine (Haiti), Oronoco Premium white rum (Brazil), Zacapa Black Label Limited Edition (Guatemala), Plantation 1998 (Nicaragua), Santa Teresa (Venezuela).
It is necessary to add, that Artesian should be also visited by quite decent collectors of gastronomic impressions. Even for the sake of the traditional English tea and the evening gastronomic menu, which is updated daily.

Here are some quotations from the most extensive meat part: stakes with wild mushrooms and potato (28 dollars), grilled T-bone (41 dollar), pork chops (34 dollars), grilled lamb fillet (35 dollars), steak from venison (36 dollars).

Besides Mark Marillo enjoys culinary talent, he is a skilful wine expert. Therefore the majority of menu’s items are accompanied with his recommendation concerning wines. However Romanov – is all the same not French, but a Russian restaurant. Therefore wines are not its strongest point. And special pride of the restaurant is the vodka menu.

Michael Izraelian assures that he managed to collect the fullest collection of vodka in the USA. Its lion’s share is made with export grades from Russia, but there are some vodkas and strong drinks under this name with the most different degrees and taste from the most different places. Among them there are Jean Mare XO, Idol, Ciroc and Grey goose (France), Reyka (Ukraine), Ketel one, Van Gogh and Effen (Netherlands), Chopin and Belvedere (Poland), Fris (Denmark), Vox (New Zealand), Boru (Ireland), Level (Sweden), Roberto Cavalli (Italy), Pearl (USA).

Restaurant Romanov which has recently opened in the Western Hollywood, an area of luxurious boutiques and red Ferrari, - one of confirmations of western fashion for Russian cuisine.

Romanov is not one more cheap popular-souvenir Russian stylization.
This is modern gastronomic restaurant with a magnificent interior in an imperial style, the broadest choice of Russian cuisine dishes, the separate caviar menu and a small bent in a meat theme.

The founder Michael Izraelian, the son of the Russian immigrants, who own corporation from some restaurants, elite automobiles rent company, and also brand of mountain water from Armenia sold at expensive American and European restaurants and spa, calls his restaurant high-end Russian steakhouse.

The head-cook of a new restaurant is Mark Marillo, who has worked at such popular restaurants of Los Angeles, as Saddle Peak Lodge, Cafe Pinot, Felt and Nic’s Martini Lounge. The basis of the menu from Mark is made with dishes of Russian cuisine: ravioli “Trio” (17 dollars), pancakes “Империал” with a salmon, sour cream and black caviar (16 dollars), a borsch (9 dollars), roast duck (28 dollars), roast quails (26 dollars), a guinea fowl baked in goose (25 dollars), baked trout (24 dollars), Ossetrina pod Syrom (27 dollars), beef Stroganoff (26 dollars), black caviar (served with pancakes, onions, eggs and sour cream, 30 dollars) and many other dishes.

The majority of used products are grown specially for this restaurant on farms in Santa Cruz Mountains. These are vegetables, fruits and cereals grown exclusively with the help of biodynamic and organic methods. At that cooks try to use on kitchen only fresh products, gathered in the morning of the same day.

The owner of the restaurant was the head-cook in restaurant Silks in five-stars hotel Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco. He was in charge of restaurants Schweizer Stuben in Germany, Akelarre in Spain and L’Esperance in France. Then he has again returned to the States and became the chief of the legendary restaurant Ernie’s in San Francisco.

In 1995 he has founded his own restaurant Sent Sovi in Saratoga. It was an excellent opportunity to try himself as a victualer and to earn some money. In July, 2002 he opened Manresa.

To make the most of all riches of taste, there is constantly varying seasonal menu, some testing menus and so-called gastronomic courses. All dishes are selected for one menu not casually. Supplementing each other, they become the true gastronomic show.

Each dish is supplemented with an unusual serving and accompanied by waiter’s detailed story about the used products and technologies.

However each should know when to stop: everything in the restaurant cannot be extravagant. Therefore unusual dishes and serving are accompanied with simple, unostentatious service.

However Manresa is a restaurant of the modern Catalan cuisines. Its name goes from the name of medieval Catalan city known due to surprisingly beautiful Gothic monastery. The choice is not casual, as Catalonia is that region of the world where recently has taken place culinary revolution.

The majority of kitchen’s components are unique, because the question is about unusual equipment. Such technical equipment is equally difficult to find in any country. It was made on an individual demand. Besides for creation of such kitchen there won’t be enough designer from an ordinary company-supplier.

This kitchen was created by Mark Novak, the person, who worked with the best world cooks - Thomas Keller and Alain Ducasse.

The kitchen looks as chemical laboratory. It is a real “Ferrari”. Due to the modern equipment the cook almost is not limited in the search and can do thing of what other cooks cannot evn dream.

For example, to prepare fish almost instantly at a very high temperature. It will not burn down, its initial structure will change completely, but taste remain the same.

Or, on the contrary, to prepare meat at the lowest temperature that will make it so soft, that the customer will not need a knife.

Cooks of the restaurant were trained in Europe at the best restaurants. Including The Fat Duck and El Bulli, which head today the list of the best world restaurants.

The molecular cuisine enjoys the increasing popularity. Ice-cream from a herring, purees from mussels or from pumpkin have long ago turned from shocking viands on a table to quite ordinary phenomenon. One of the founders of a molecular cuisine is David Kinch, the owner of the Californian restaurant Manresa which is included in the list of 50 best restaurants of the world.

Manresa is well-known far beyond the bounds of California and even the USA.

The minimal cost of the tasting menu not taking into account alcohol exceeds hundred dollars.
Now Manresa has two Michelin stars and 27 Zagat Survey points. It draws to restaurant even greater attention. Popularity is amazing also because the restaurant is not in Las Vegas, Hollywood or New York, but in the small provincial small town of Los-Gatos forgotten in hills of Santa Cruz. Here there are very few solvent gourmets and celebrities. Besides Manresa is very small. It has only 68 seats, and many people, wishing to arrive there should wait for some months.

British newspaper The Guardian has published the list of ten best cafes of Amsterdam where visitors may enjoy an excellent coffee and in which sale of beer and alcoholic drinks is allowed.

To visit for a year all cafes of Amsterdam, it is necessary to attend four of them every evening, marks Russian edition Turist.ru.

The ten best include:

1. Cafe Welling, address: J.W. Brouwerstraat.
2. Cafe’t Arendsnest, address: Herengracht 90.
3. Brouwerij’t IJ, address: Funenkade 7.
4. Wynand Fockink, address: Pijlsteeg 31.
5. In ‘t Aepjen, address: Zeedijk 1.
6. Cafe Alto, address: Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115.
7. Kafe Latei, address: Zeedijk 143.
8. De Jaren, address: Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20-22.
9. Arc, address: Reguliersdwarstraat 44.
10. Rokerij, address: Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 41.