Thomas Keller^[1] is on a roll at the minute. After announcing plans last week that he would be working on a series of restaurants onboard luxury cruise ^[2]ships, the chef has also announced plans to open a new restaurant in Manhattan.

The “classic American” restaurant will be part of the Hudson Yards development in which Keller will also advise, helping pick 11 restaurants for the site.

Speaking about the role with the New York Times, Keller said: “We’re assembling a dynamic group, at different price points with ethnic diversity.” He added that this would include French, Gree, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese food.

Keller, who runs Per Se and The French Laundry, once number one on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants^[3] List, will help oversee the development of one million square feet of restaurant and retail space inside the new project which is expected to open in 2018.

Here’s the chef speaking to us back in 2012.

References

1. ^{^} Thomas Keller (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} restaurants onboard luxury cruise (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} World’s 50 Best Restaurants (www.finedininglovers.com)

Seeding a chili pepper^[1] is one of those tricky kitchen tasks. What part should you cut first? Is it better to slice the pepper lengthwise? Will the seeds get everywhere?

Luckily, you can learn how to seed a chili pepper in under 30 seconds. That’s thanks to this nifty video from Whole Foods Market that shows you every step of the process. 

The only tool you'll need is a pairing knife so you can make a few cuts. If you are afraid of cutting yourself while deveining the pepper with the knife, try using a spoon instead. It’ll work just as well and keep your hands steady. 

Removing the seeds will help tame the spice in jalapeños, serranos and other hot peppers so you can put them in your favorite dishes. Learn how it's done:

HOW TO SEED A CHILI PEPPER

Via Whole Foods Market/YouTube^[2]

References

1. ^{^} chili pepper (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} Whole Foods Market/YouTube (www.youtube.com)

A new series of dinners at the Bulgari Hotel in Milan kicked off last night with Danny Bowein from Mission Chinese in San Francisco and New York cooking the first.

The series of dinners are part of the Epicurea festival^[1] which aims to promote global gastronomy by invited a number of chefs from all over the world to show off their skills in Milan.

Yoshihiro Narisawa, Inaki Aizpitarte, Virgilio Martinez, Magnus Nilsson and Rene Redzepi are just some of the chefs lined up to cook at the monthly dinners which run until June.

The series will end with a special Italian feast prepared by Luca Fantin, the executive chef at Bulgari Restaurant Tokyo.

A full list of the dinners, who will be cooking and details on exactly how to reserve your place can be found here.^[2]

References

1. ^{^} Epicurea festival (www.bulgarihotels.com)
2. ^{^} here. (www.bulgarihotels.com)

The Norway team have been announced as the winner of the Bocuse d’Or ^[1]competition for 2015.

The winning team was headed up by chef Ørjan Johannessen. Second place went to the United States who jumped from seventh in 2013 to gain a place on the podium - they were headed up by chef Philip Tessier. Third spot was awarded to many people’s predicted favourites Sweden and chef Tommy Myllymaki.

The best commis chef prize was given to the team from Finland and their chef Antti Lukkari. The special fish prize went to the Japanese team and special meat prize was awarded to Finland.

Summarising the event, Honorary president of the competition Grant Achatz ^[2]said: “It’s been an amazing experience here in Lyon and I had a lot of food, all excellent. I will say that it becomes very apparent when you’re sitting up here watching all these teams put so much effort in how much hard work is done.”

Chefs represented teams from 24 countries around the world came to Lyon to take part in the bi-annual competition which was founded in 1987 by the legendary French chef Paul Bocuse^[3]. The teams work for two years perfected a specially made meat and fish platter to present to the judging panel which is made up of high profile chefs.

The European Bocuse d’Or awards in 2016 will take place in Budapest

References

1. ^{^} Bocuse d’Or (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} Grant Achatz (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} Paul Bocuse (www.finedininglovers.com)

Italy's most famous foods - buffalo mozzarella and Neapolitan pizza  - are coming to the streets of Geneva and London as part of a haute cuisine congress known as Le Strade della Mozzarella^[1].

The gourmet food festival dubbed The Mozzarella Roads is an annual celebration that takes place in the Italian town of Paestrum, located near Naples. Now, it has gone on the road. Its first international stop was in Paris^[2] last fall but this year includes a visit to Geneva's Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues and London's historic Baglioni Hotel.

On February 17th, Geneva will host Italian chefs Saverio Sbaragli, Ilario Vinciguerra and Peppe Guida for a spectacular one-day event celebrating Neapolitan pizza.  Then the newly opened Kytaly restaurant will showcase the delicious creations of famous pizzamakers Franco Pepe, Gino Sorbillo and Giuseppe Giordano.

A few days later in London, on February 23rd, Le Strade della Mozzarella will set up shop at the Baglioni Hotel at Hyde Park Gate. Master gelato maker Simone Bonini will showcase his buffalo milk gelato while Francesco and Salvatore Salvo will unveil the true Neapolitan pizza. The evening will come to a close with the famous Neapolitan ragu prepared by Giorgio Scarselli and a panzanella salad from Maria Rina.

Throughout both events guests will be able to savor traditional Italian products like pastas, tomatoes and cheeses and purchase quality ingredientes Made in Italy. For more information, visit the event website^[3].

WHAT MOZZARELLA ROADS GENEVA
WHEN February 17th - 3 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m.
WHERE Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues
WEB www.lestradedellamozzarella.it^[4]

WHAT MOZZARELLA ROADS LONDON
WHEN February 23 - 2:30 p.m to 7:45 p.m.
WHERE Baglioni Hotel at Hyde Park Gate
WEB www.lestradedellamozzarella.it^[5]

References

1. ^{^} Le Strade della Mozzarella (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} international stop was in Paris (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} website (www.lestradedellamozzarella.it)
4. ^{^} www.lestradedellamozzarella.it (www.lestradedellamozzarella.it)
5. ^{^} www.lestradedellamozzarella.it (www.lestradedellamozzarella.it)