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Masters of Modern Luxury: Alain Ducasse

Alain Ducasse has redefined what it means to be a great French chef. He was the first one to open restaurants around the world, and today his 20 restaurants on four continents hold a total of 17 Michelin stars. Across this far-flung empire—which stretches from the gilded Louis XV in Monaco to the bistro Benoit […]

Copenhagen’s Next Wave

Chefs who came up at Noma are opening inventive restaurants of their own and taking the Danish capital’s cuisine into adventurous new territory. At 36, chef René Redzepi is far too young to be thinking about his legacy. But as he bikes through his native Copenhagen in white sneakers, hair flopping as he goes, such […]

Dining: Experimental Course

Is it art or is it dinner? At the gastronomic road show known as Gelinaz, the question is unavoidable. Consider, for example, what happened on the night of September 9, 2013. On an outdoor terrace in Lima, Peru, overlooking ancient Incan ruins, 24 of the world’s best chefs—including Albert Adrià of Barcelona’s Tickets, René Redzepi […]

Culinary Masters Competition 2012: A Cure for the Commonplace

José Andrés may be one of the most innovative chefs in America, but he came up through the profession in the conventional way. Born in Asturias, Spain, he entered the kitchen when he was just a teenager, attending culinary school and serving a long apprenticeship at El Bulli, the revolutionary restaurant in Catalonia where Ferran […]

Wardrobe: From Toe to Head

In the world of fashion, the word cult is often thrown around, but never has the term been more appropriately applied than to men’s shoemaker Berluti. With a creation myth that describes founder Alessandro Berluti crafting shoes for a troupe of wandering acrobats before settling in Paris and opening a shop in 1895; a client […]

Dining: Toque of the Town

Paris has waited a long time for Thierry Marx. For 10 years he ran the kitchen at Château Cordeillan-Bages in Gironde, where he made a name for himself as one of France’s most progressive chefs. Yet with two Michelin stars and daring dishes like risotto made of soy sprouts, he always seemed a little too […]

New Capitals of Cuisine: Scandinavia: The Landscape Artist

“We have to go see Mr. Duck,” says Magnus Nilsson. I have just arrived in Jämtland, located about halfway up Sweden’s western coast, and have only begun to acquaint myself with this young chef who looks like a Malibu surfer but wears a Russian fur hat and packs a rifle in the back of his […]