After 18 months of tumult, what’s next for the hospitality industry? How can restaurants be a positive force in an ever-shifting world and how should gastronomy respond to the challenges of climate change? A stellar panel of chefs will seek to answer these questions and more at #50BestTalks: Aftershock, which will take place in Antwerp, Flanders, on Sunday 3rd October as part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 events programme. Find out more about what’s in store...
The tide-turning events, enforced closures and changes to daily life that characterised much of 2020 and 2021 didn’t just challenge hospitality businesses to reinvent themselves in myriad ways, but also led many chefs and restaurateurs to reassess their practices and seek new, progressive paths. From sustainability and the impact that our eating habits have on the planet to topical questions of authenticity and the amplification of diverse cuisines, and finally the examination of accountability and wellbeing in an industry suffering from a labour shortage – many issues came to the fore on a global level, challenging the industry to improve and change.
It is these pressing issues that will be the focus of #50BestTalks: Aftershock, the latest edition of 50 Best’s thought-leadership forum first created in 2014. The event will take place in Antwerp, Flanders, on Sunday 3rd October from 3pm CET as part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 programme, with the new edition of the list and awards announced two days later, on Tuesday, 5th October. Save the date to follow the event live on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Facebook and YouTube channels – and now meet the three chefs who will debate some of hottest topics in the gastronomic world today, plus the moderator who will guide us all through it.
Daniel Humm
Chef Humm (image: Sebastian Nevols)
If Humm’s Eleven Madison Park was already considered a decade-defining venue after reaching the No.1 position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 and becoming a member of the Best of the Best group, it is now striving to do the same all over again. When Humm reopened the restaurant in June 2021 after 15 months of closure, he did so with an entirely plant-based tasting menu, celebrating humble vegetables such as beetroot and cucumber. Swiss-born Humm also started collaborating with non-profit Rethink Food in 2020 and continues to donate meals to New Yorkers in need, fuelled by a proportion of every tasting menu sold at EMP.
Selassie Atadika
Chef Atadika
After spending a decade working on humanitarian projects with the UN and teaching herself how to cook, Atadika enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America and has since conceived her own brand of new African cuisine. Midunu – which translates as ‘let us eat’ – is her project to challenge diners’ perceptions of West African food. Despite having a physical home and events space in the residential Tesano neighbourhood of Accra in Ghana, the restaurant’s culinary concept is all about nomadic eating: Atadika curates multi-course experiences across the city that focus on delivering her country’s bounty to the table by integrating underutilised grains and protein.
Junghyun Park
Chef Park (image: Evan Sung)
Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Park studied food sciences at university before cutting his teeth in renowned kitchens from Australia to the UK and back in his home country, including working with Brett Graham at The Ledbury in London and Jungsik Yim at Jungsik Dang in the Korean capital. In 2016, Park opened his first restaurant, Atoboy, in New York with his wife and partner Ellia Park, followed by Atomix in 2018. Park’s combination of traditional Korean and western techniques in a fine dining context has already won him a devoted following and several national awards, including a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant.
Moderator: Regula Ysewijn
Regula Ysewijn (image: Greetje Van Buggenhout)
Ysewijn is an accomplished culinary historian, writer and photographer born and raised in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ 2021 host region of Flanders. Her books Pride and Pudding, Belgian Café Culture and Oats in the North have received international acclaim. As an expert in the evolution of food and drink culture and historical recipes, she consults for organisations such as the UK’s National Trust, TV programmes and museums. She is also a judge on the Flemish version of hit TV show The Great British Bake Off.
Tune in to watch #50BestTalks live on Facebook on Sunday, 3rd October at 3pm CET.
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