London’s annual food and restaurant festival in Regent’s Park was opened this year by Noma’s René Redzepi, one of the world’s most talked about chefs.
London’s annual food and restaurant festival in Regent’s Park was opened this year by Noma’s René Redzepi, one of the world’s most talked about chefs. With over thirty restaurants serving signature dishes out of festival stalls, we asked him what he thought about what was on offer. “I was really surprised,” he says. “These chefs are going to cook for 60,000 people during four days and the quality they’re putting out is incredible. At Noma in a whole year we cook for 20,000, so it’s just a staggering task.”
While the rain turned the experience into a gastronomic Glastonbury by Friday evening – with attendees trenching through the mud in plastic shells and wellies –the weather did not deter anyone from queuing to sample dishes from some of London’s top restaurants including Kai Mayfair, Le Gavroche, and L’Anima. Unsurprisingly, this year’s Best in Taste Award went to Michelin-starred Club Gascon, for their delectable foie gras burger and summer truffle. We asked chef Pascal Aussignac how they keep the standards high when cooking for so many people. “Because we have to,” he says. “We are here representing our restaurant and what we do.” Other standouts were Club Gascon’s peculiar spicy duck with popcorn, The Modern Pantry’s Krupuk crusted soft shell crab with Singapore style sauce, and curious brew, the champagne lager from English wine company, Chapel Down.
Redzepi, who enjoys Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, Hibiscus, and St John when in London, was also here promoting a new Danish food festival which he is helping to organise. MAD Foodcamp launches this August in Copenhagen harbour over two days. “It won’t be the same type of numbers as Taste of London,” he explains. “But it will be about making the food we do at Noma, and the food other Nordic chefs prepare at their restaurants, accessible to people.”
The Foodcamp organisers have set up a not-for-profit foundation and entry costs will be low. “The focus will be on experimenting and moving things forward – not accepting the status quo,” Redzepi explains. Drawing on the growing interest in the new Nordic cooking’s emphasis on seasonality, sustainability and provenance, outlined by Claus Meyer (Noma’s co-owner) in The Manifesto for a New Nordic Kitchen, the festival aims to attract an international audience, while also showing the creative potential of regionalism. “It’s so boring to travel and have second, third, fourth, fifth hand versions of exactly the same dishes that you can get anywhere in the world,” Redzepi says. “That's why we want to keep learning and sharing knowledge.”
The inaugural Mad Foodcamp runs from 27 – 28 August in Copenhagen.
Ananda and Neil visited Taste of London on Friday June 17 at 5:30pm.
Text by Ananda Pellerin and Neil Wissink.
Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. Contact The Hunger here.
