analiese gregory is one of a new generation of young female chefs looking to shake up a world that until now has been largely dominated by men. she knew early on that cooking was going to be her life and over the past 15 years has worked at some of the world’s finest restaurants cheek-by-jowl with this century’s most influential chefs. these include the ledbury, london with brett graham; at le meurice, paris, with yannick alleno and most recently at quay, sydney with peter gilmore. over the past year analiese has been travelling europe working with michel bras at bras, laguiole and andoni aduritz at mugaritz, san sebastian.
“working with peter gilmore at quay for nearly five years opened my eyes to a new way of cooking, that instead of being a technician and replicating perfect plates, you could express yourself through them as well. this is a philosophy I have built on over the last two years working at bras, which had been a dream since eating there seven years ago. i spent mornings in the garden and on the mountains picking wild herbs before work, and I have learnt huge amounts about herbs, vegetables, and flowers, and how to respect and use them. michel would always impart little gems such as ‘you should only buy vegetables from people you know.’ over the past six months at mugaritz I have learned not to feel constrained by tradition or the past, but to feel free to change and innovate.
“so now I can’t wait to encounter the products of morocco, to source unique things that maybe I haven't used before and try to showcase it in different ways. I'm excited to work with argan oil, korarima and fruits from the atlas mountains. my cooking is french influenced with some chinese due to my chinese grandmother’s cooking, and the pastry kitchen has always been my first love, so I'm really looking forward to creating some beautiful desserts in fez.”
we are thrilled to be part of the next chapter in her story and welcome analiese as our chef in residence at restaurant 7 for a two-month period starting in september 2014.
future chefs :
Harry Cummins (British) and Laura Vidal (Canadian) have restaurant life in their DNA. Harry, has been in the kitchen since he was 15 years old, working in London at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen for three years before joining teams at several Michelin-starred restaurants including Zafferano, Wild Honey and Arbutus. He moved to Paris when an old pal from Fifteen, Greg Marchand, invited him to come help set his new Frenchie Wine Bar where he met Laura.
Laura’s love of wine started at Quebecois restaurant in Montreal where weekly wine tastings were organised for everyone from dishwasher to head chef to spread the love of wine. She was hooked and moved to Paris in search of fine vintages and adventure, and coincidentally also ended up at Frenchie where she spent the next three years travelling around European vineyards sourcing great wines for the new wine bar. So began their beautiful love affair and a shared passion for food and wine that they were destined to share with the world.
In 2012, they founded the Paris Pop-Up staging one-day, food and wine events. It proved so successful they took it on a round-the-world tour travelling to Canada, the US, Japan and South-East Asia in order to learn about each country’s culinary heritage and share their unique interpretation of it. When they returned to Europe at the start of 2014 the pair immediately headed for El Celler de Can Roca (voted best restaurant in the world in 2013) where Laura worked as Sommelier and Harry in the pastry kitchen.
“Moroccan markets filled with bright colours, spices, fresh herbs and fragrant teas have always appealed to me,” says Harry. “It's a chef’s playground and I can’t wait to get my hands on all these wonderful ingredients to inspire some fantastic dishes.” Laura meanwhile is excited to get to grips with Moroccan wines. “But also the herbs and spices that I could use to make vermouth, teas and infusions for original pairings,” she adds.
Let the fun begin. Laura and Harry begin their residency on Friday 7th November 2014 until end January 2014.
Anissa Helou (www.anissas.com) is a chef, food writer, journalist, broadcaster, consultant and blogger focusing on the cuisines and culinary heritage of the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa. Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, she knows the Mediterranean as only a well-traveled native can. Ms. Helou is the author of numerous award-winning cookbooks including Levant, The Fifth Quarter, An Offal Cookbook; Modern Mezze; Savory Baking from the Mediterranean; Mediterranean Street Food; Café Morocco; and Lebanese Cuisine, which was a finalist for the prestigious Andre Simon awards and chosen as one of the Los Angeles Times’s favorite books in 1998. Lebanese Cuisine remains the classic and most comprehensive work on this increasingly popular cuisine.
“I’m writing a new book about the foods of Islam and when I heard about the residency I thought it would be interesting to shop, cook and live the same life as local people while experimenting with what’s available in the market, which is very different to what I have in London or even the Middle East. Moroccan food can be linked back to Iranian food for example, they have lots of long simmered stews and sweet and savoury combinations, but rice is the main starch in Iran, and couscous is the starch in Morocco. Everything is different, yet there are common points and it’s interesting to take this as a familiar starting point, and to interpret it in a different way.
“My knowledge of other foods comes from this same ancient influence and inspiration. The fact that I have combined food writing and research with cooking is something that not all chefs have and I’m hoping this will add another perspective to the residency. I’m aiming to do four weeks of cooking, one Lebanese-Syrian, one Gulf Arab Emirates, one Iranian and one modern Moroccan with a lighter and healthier approach. Because of my background I want to offer one day of cooking per week, where a maximum of 12 guests will be able to do a hands-on cooking class with me before sitting down to enjoy what they’ve created.”
During February and March 2015, our chef in residence is Anissa Helou, a leading authority on North African, Middle Eastern and pan- Mediterranean cooking. During her residency she will be offering hands-on, one-day cookery classes plus dinner for small groups of just 10-12 at €175 per person. Due to the immense popularity of Anissa’s cookery courses we recommend booking as far in advance as possible.
Anissa will also be serving dinner four nights a week in the restaurant for a maximum of 20 people.