Compendium Volume 8 Australia

STAR POWER GLOBALLY

STAR POWER GLOBALLY ACCLAIMED CHEFS SKEWING VEGETARIAN 1 1 RICARD CAMARENA, VALENCIA Top-class veggie cuisine requires, above all, one thing: the very best and freshest produce. Few places are as well placed for this style of cooking as Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city. Known for la huerta, the fertile land that surrounds it, this natural pantry supplies the whole of Spain with citrus, and the talented gardeners also supply the city’s best chef, Ricard Camarena, with everything his heart desires His eponymous restaurant is located in an Art Deco-style former pump factory where, in the spacious dining room, the chef serves elaborate menus based on sun-drenched vegetables, fresh herbs of the day and locally sourced fish and seafood. You’d hardly notice that meat is missing, given the fireworks of flavours and products the kitchen ignites. Vegetables take centre stage, most notably in the Oxalis Trail menu. It is 100 per cent plant-based and features creations such as artichokes in tiger-nut milk with fig-leaf oil or tomatoes confit in butter with creamy sheep’s-milk sauce and fresh herbs. “Our vegetable dishes taste so intense because we work with local varieties grown without genetic manipulation or chemicals,” says Camarena. “What’s freshly harvested in the morning is on our table by noon.” 54

2 3 4 PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BRUNO CALADO, CLAES BECH-POULSEN, DOUGLAS MCWALL, © MANDARIN ORIENTAL, EVAN SUNG; OPPOSITE PAGE: MIKEL PONCE 2 ENCANTO, LISBON Portuguese star chef José Avillez runs seven restaurants in Lisbon; at Belcanto, he has been awarded two Michelin stars. Right next door is the atmospheric one-star Encanto, where he offers a vegetarian tasting menu with 12 courses, an exciting play of flavours, textures and temperatures. All the ingredients come from farmers and gardeners in the region; highlights include confit egg yolk with artichoke and bean consommé, and black rice with spinach, sheep’s butter and black truffle. 3 GERANIUM, COPENHAGEN The Danish capital continues to lead the way: Rasmus Kofoed’s eatery – interestingly, set in the national football stadium – ranks number one in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. It is now also breaking new ground since Kofoed declared, at the end of 2021, that he would henceforth do without meat altogether. Now, the stars of his elaborate menus are fish, seafood and vegetables, creatively arranged as in a veritable umami bomb of celery with seaweed, dried mussels and crunchy seeds. 5 4 L’ARPÈGE, PARIS Alain Passard is the veggie guru of haute cuisine: the three- Michelin-star-chef was the first top chef in recent history to put plants at the centre of his celebrated creations. To this day, he brings nature and its fruits to the plate as straightforwardly and deliciously as any chef around the globe. Even though morsels of meat can now be found on the menu here and there, he remains a visionary when it comes to cooking with vegetables, with almost all his ingredients reaped from his own gardens. 6 5 ELEVEN MADISON PARK, NEW YORK In recent years, no chef has caused as much of a stir as Daniel Humm, who transformed his celebrated Manhattan hotspot into a vegan restaurant after a pandemic break. Since Humm was yet again awarded three Michelin stars for his new format in October, the hubbub has subsided, and guests can devote themselves to dishes such as a trio of asparagus – marinated with mustard vinaigrette and hyssop, crispy fried, and in form of an elegant dumpling – in the eatery’s usual stylish ambience. 6 AMBER, HONG KONG A symphony of beige and pastel tones with a spectacular golden ceiling sculpture: this is the setting in which Richard Ekkebus reinvented his craft. Since 2019, his menus have been entirely devoid of dairy products, gluten, refined sugar or salt. Instead, the Dutch-born chef focuses on the flavours of nature, with vegetables taking pride of place. Many ingredients come from Japan, such as Fukuoka tomatoes with homemade tofu or amadai (a type of perch) with rice and sake marc. 55