In her latest feature, LA-based food writer Kerstin Kühn talks about: Claude Bosi, Andoni Luis Aduriz, and Jock Zonfrillo coming to California for the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle. This month saw the return of the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle, where, for one night only, on 9 July, some of the world's top chefs swapped restaurants.
Rene Redzepi travelled from Copenhagen to Thailand to take over the kitchen at Nahm in Bangkok; Yannick Alléno flew from France to Brazil to cook at D.O.M. in São Paulo; Italy’s Massimo Bottura went to New York’s Momofuku Ko; and Ben Shewry left Melbourne in Australia for Belgium’s In De Wulf. Here in California the Bay Area’s two-Michelin-starred restaurants Atelier Crenn, Coi and Manresa took part in the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle and hosted guest chefs Claude Bosi, Andoni Luis Aduriz, and Jock Zonfrillo respectively.
London’s Claude Bosi from the two-Michelin-starred Hibiscus came to San Francisco together with his head chef Ian Scaramuzza, the current Roux Scholar.
>>>Read our winner's interview with Ian here
Together they took over the kitchen at Atelier Crenn, whose chef patron Dominique Crenn had traded places with Inaki Alzpitarte at Le Cheateaubriand in Paris. Their menu included dishes such as a hibiscus sphere with blackberry; yellowfin tuna, tomato and raspberry, smoked foie gras, nasturtium and pickled pluot; and wagyu beef, preserved watermelon and anchovy. Meanwhile Spanish chef Andoni Luis Aduriz of the two Michelin-starred Mugaritz in San Sebastian cooked at Coi, also in San Francisco, in the absence of Daniel Patterson, who had a much shorter journey to Washington State’s Lummi Island where he cooked at Willow's Inn. Aduriz served dishes including anchovies with radish ash; whole calamari with hazelnut and wheatgrass; and crushed tofu with burnt redwood and caviar.
Finally, Jock Zonfrillo from Restaurant Orana in Adelaide, Australia, visited Manresa in Los Gatos, with David Kinch away in Tokyo at Narisawa. Zonfrillo cooked a colourful menu including black cod head, halibut, beach succulents, Meyer lemon and coriander; grass-fed wagyu beef cooked over madrone wood, spelt, beetroot, spinach and eucalyptus and a dessert of Californian French toast - brown bread, cinnamon cured egg yolk and Yerba Buena infused maple syrup.
Sponsored by S. Pellegrino, the Gelinaz! restaurant-swap is the brainchild of Italian food writer Andrea Petrini and film producer Alexandra Swenden, who put together a group of 37 chefs from 17 countries on four continents. The line up comprises chefs from the world’s most lionised restaurants, including the likes of Magnus Nilsson from Faviken in Sweden; Mauro Colagreco from Mirazur in France; Virgillo Martinez from Central in Peru; and Albert Adrià from Pakta in Barcelona. For the event, each chef travels to another country, takes over another chef’s kitchen and for one night only prepares a unique eight-course tasting menu using local ingredients on site. The surprise for diners lies in the fact that they don't get to find out who cooked their dinner until the end of the evening, meaning that anyone from Alain Ducasse to Alex Atala could be behind the stove. Here is a full list of the Gelinaz! Chef Shuffle:
- Danny Bowien, Mission Chinese Food, New York, USA cooked at Noma
- Sean Gray, Momofuku Ko, New York, USA cooked at Hibiscus
- Sean Brock, McCrady's, Charleston, USA cooked at Osteria Francescana
- David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos, USA cooked at Narisawa
- Daniel Patterson, Coi, San Francisco, USA cooked at Willow's Inn
- Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn, San Francisco, USA cooked at Le Chateaubriand
- Carlo Mirarchi, Blanca, New York, USA cooked at Central
- Blaine Wetzel, Willow's Inn, Lummi Island, USA cooked at Mirazur
- Colombe Saint-Pierre, Chez Saint-Pierre, Le Bic, Canada cooked at Spiritmuseum
- Kobe Desramaults, In De Wulf, Dranouter, Belgium cooked at Pakta
- René Redzepi, Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark cooked at Nahm
- Paul Cunningham, Henne Kirkeby Kro, Henne, Denmark cooked at Husk
- Bertrand Grebaut, Septime, Paris, France cooked at Hotel De Russie
- Alain Ducasse, La Plaza Athenee, Paris, France cooked at Lido 84
- Yannick Alleno, Le Doyen, Paris, France cooked at D.O.M.
- Inaki Alzpitarte, Le Cheateaubriand, Paris, France cooked at Chez Saint-Pierre
- Mauro Colagreco, Mirazur, Menton, France cooked at Hisa Franko
- Alexandre Gauthier, La Grenouillere, Montreuil/Mer, France cooked at Le Calandre
- Davide Scabin, Combal Zero, Rivoli, Italy cooked at Mission Chinese
- Fulvio Pierangelini, Hotel de Russie, Rome, Italy cooked at Mikla
- Riccardo Camanini, Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy cooked at Faviken
- Massimo Bottura, Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy cooked at Momofuku Ko
- Massilmillano Alajmo, La Calandre, Venice, Italy cooked at Le Doyen
- Ana Ros, Hisa Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia cooked at Borago
- Andoni Luis Aduriz, Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain cooked at Coi
- Albert Adria, Pakta, Barcelona, Spain cooked at La Grenouillere
- Magnus Nilsson, Faviken, Järpen, Sweden cooked at Mugaritz
- Peter Nilsson, Spritmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden cooked at Combal Zero
- Mehmet Gurs, Mikla, Istanbul, Turkey, cooked at Orana
- Claude Bosi, Hibiscus, London, UK cooked at Atelier Crenn
- Yoshihiro Narisawa, Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan cooked at Attica
- David Thompson, Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand cooked at Le Plaza
- Ben Shewry, Attica, Melbourne, Australia cooked at In De Wulf
- Jock Zonfrillo, Orana, Adelaide, Australia cooked at Manresa
- Alex Atala, D.O.M., San Paolo, Brazil cooked at Blanca
- Rodolfo Guzman, Borago, Santiago, Chile cooked at Septime
- Virgillo Martinez, Central, Lima, Peru cooked at Henne Kirkeby Kro
Kerstin Kühn is a freelance food and travel writer, specialising in restaurant and chef stories. The former restaurant editor of Caterer and Hotelkeeper, she relocated from London to Los Angeles in 2013, where she lives on the city’s trendy East Side. With a vast network of chefs from around the world, Kerstin has profiled the likes of Michel Roux, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, the Roca brothers and Massimo Bottura. She is a regular contributor to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, FOUR Magazine, M&C Report and Spinney’s Food, and also writes her own blog, La Goulue. You can follow Kerstin on Twitter @LaGoulue_
