Happiness is on the Plate

As a young chef, James teamed up with other free spirits, to create a cooking collective The Young Turks, and a series of pop-up restaurants. Their idea was to establish a collaborative, generous, helpful and adventurous cuisine.

Denmark is clearly spearheading a new style of cooking that is local and inventive. In Aarhus, Thorsten Schmidt is one of the pioneers of this Nordic revolution. He is a creative and prolific chef, in tune with the incredible nature that surrounds him.

In the United States, Alice Waters is a superstar. Founded in 1971 in Berkeley, California, her restaurant Chez Panisse has become a legend. It is a meeting place, a place of “pilgrimage”, and the epicenter of the good food freedom movement in the kingdom of junk food.

n the last decade, Colombia has entered a new era. For a long time stifled by conflict, the country is finally picking itself up, and gradually reconnecting with its roots and traditions. Leonor Espinoza and her restaurant Leo Cocina y Cava is part of this impetus.

Reputed Brooklyn chef Eric Werner settled in Tulum, in the Yucatan Peninsula, six years ago. Werner, who is fascinated by Mayan culture, opened Hartwood, an open-air restaurant in perfect harmony with its environment and the local community.

Arnaud Daguin has set up his guesthouse “Hegia” in a superb 18th-century Bastide. One might think he would be happy just to welcome guests from all over the world, but he also throws himself heart and soul into promoting organic farming and sustainable agriculture.

Father Godfrey Nzamujo has set up the Songhaï Centre in Porto-Novo, the capital of Benin. The center plays several roles. It features a system of organic agriculture, it provides accommodation and houses a restaurant, and food production is carried out there, with a sales outlet.

Luke Burgess’ endeavors to reconnect cooking with the soil. In the space of a few years, this young chef has managed to create, for his restaurant “Garagistes”, a network of producers that provide him with exceptional ingredients, from the smooth-shelled oysters of Bruny Island to the Wagyu beef.

In the province of Zhejiang, in Hangzhou, Dai Jianjun is passionate about preserving the ancient dietary doctrines of Chinese food knowledge - an art form he is seeking to salvage. Dai’s project involves protecting endangered farming produce, by setting up restaurants that serve traditional cooking.

Head of the restaurant at Manresa in Los Gatos, California, pioneer of earth-friendly haute cuisine David Kinch learned cooking in France, Spain, Germany, and Japan. His restaurant is located close to the electronic chips of Silicon Valley.