Anticipation is building for this year’s Food On The Edge, the food symposium that
takes place in Galway, Ireland , on the 9th and 10th of October. 2017 Food On The Edge will
focus on food stories (#foodstories) from around the world as well as the theme ‘Action and Reaction’
prompted by the themes of the symposia to date.
To add to the 2017 stellar line up that was announced last year, including Paul Cunningham of Henne
Kirkeby Kro in Denmark and Ashley Palmer-Watts, Head Chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal,
Food On The Edge will play host to Nordic chef Magnus Nilsson of Fäviken . Not only is
Nilsson regarded as an authority on Nordic cuisine , due to his purist and perfectionist approach
to Nordic food culture, he is also regarded as a poet and philosopher. His restaurant, Fäviken , is
located in remote Sweden 375 miles north of Stockholm and is regarded as exemplifying the “new
Nordic” food trend, which venerates regional and local food. Nilsson became a household name
through the Netflix documentary Chef’s Table and his books Faviken and The Nordic Cook Book, both
of which are published by Phaidon.
JP McMahon , symposium director of Food On The Edge , said, “ there is great potential in Ireland
to learn from the nordic countries and we are delighted to have Magnus over to share his wealth of
knowledge and to hear his ‘food story’.”
Slovenian chef Ana Roš of Hiša Franko restaurant, will also travel to Galway in October to relay
her food story. Ana was named 2017’s Best Female Chef in The World by World’s 50 Best.
California-based French chef Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco , who was
2016’s World’s Best Female Chef, is also on the confirmed 2016 speakers’ list. Another Californian
chef flying in for the symposium is trailblazer Niki Nakayama of n/naka in Los Angeles . Niki was
also featured in Season One of the Netflix series Chef’s Table.
New York-based Danish star chef Bo Bech of Geist restaurant in Copenhagen and the The
Bride of the Fox pop-up series in New York City is among the speakers travelling from stateside.
Also travelling from the US, from New York City is Emma Bengtsson , executive chef at two
Michelin starred, Scandinavian restaurant Aquavit , as well as author Kat Kinsman , food and
drinks editor at Time Inc website Extra Crispy and founder of the mental health awareness website
Chefs With Issues .
Another leading Danish chef taking part is Torsten Vildgaard of STUD!O restaurant in
Copenhagen and former head of R&D at Noma.
As in previous years, Food On The Edge 2017 will welcome leading and rising international chefs
from five different continents to Galway, including rising star of Asian cuisine Hiroyasu Kawate of
Florilége in Tokyo , Japan , locavore chef James Viles of Biota restaurant in Bowral , Australia
and Margot Janse of The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français in South Africa .
Many of this year’s speakers have restaurants that feature on the prestigious World’s 50 Best
Restaurants list based on votes by chefs, restaurateurs, critics and gourmands produced annually by
Restaurant magazine, including Austrian chef Heinz Reitbauer of two Michelin star Steirereck
restaurant in Vienna , which is number nine on the list, Enrico Crippa of Piazza Duomo in
Piedmont, Italy , which is number 17 on the list, and Jorge Vallejo of Quintonil in Mexico City ,
number 12 on the list.
Other confirmed speakers are Soenil Bahadoer of De Lindhof in The Netherlands , Nicolai
Nørregaard of Kadeau in Denmark , Sven Elverfeld of three Michelin star Aqua in Wolfsburg,
Germany , ex-Noma chefs Samuel Nutter and Victor Wagman of BROR in Copenhagen , Tom
Adams of Pitt Cue in London , and Bertrand Grébaut of Septime restaurant in Paris .
A mix of panel discussions, 15-minute high impact talks, intimate sessions with leading voices and
some networking activity will be introduced for this years symposium. JP said “ This year will see
some new twists and turns. It’s important that we keep the event dynamic and actively encourage
delegates to network and build new relationships. ”
To buy tickets and for more information see www.foodontheedge.ie .
Follow the official hashtag #FOTE2017 for regular updates.
