Michelin Star Chefs Touch Down in Beijing

On November 22, the skies over Wangfujing will light up with one of the most opulent culinary events of the season, as the Hilton Beijing Wangfujing hosts six Michelin star chefs for their “Seven Courses, Six Maestros, Five Stars, One Night Only” event. Agenda caught up with General Manager Nils-Arne Schroeder to find out what it takes to capture the stars and the hearts of Beijing’s gourmands.

Tell us a little bit about this event.
In this event we bring together six of the world’s most internationally acclaimed Michelin-rated chefs for one evening of fine dining. Each one of them will create a dish based on their expertise and using regional and local ingredients.

This year the six chefs who will be joining our own Executive Chef Yu Xianggu are Alfonso Iaccarino, Peter Knogl, Lionel Rigolet, Christian Sinicropi, Pascal Nibaudeau and Eric Westermann. Between the six of them, they have 12 Michelin stars, and represent all of Europe’s finest culinary traditions.

What kind of food will be prepared at the event?
Each chef will cook meals reflecting their culinary tradition and expertise, meaning that each of the courses will be unique.

Alfonso Iaccarino, from the two Michelin star restaurant Don Alfonso in Sorrento, Italy is known as a studious chef who studies the 3,000-year-old culture and history of Italian cuisine as well as the cuisines of the region he travels to. He’s known for his passion for southern Italian food and wine, and grows all of his own herbs and vegetables in the mineral-rich soil of the Campania region.

Peter Knogl will be joining us from the restaurant Cheval Blanc in Basel, Switzerland. He was recently awarded the “Chef of the Year 2011” by the Gault Millau Swiss restaurant guide in October 2010, in addition to his two Michelin stars, one in 2007 and one in 2008. The German-speaking Peter Knogl is known to be uncompromising in his pursuit of freshness, and pays great attention to the natural flavours of ingredients.

Lionel Rigolet, the Millau’s Belgian “Chef of the Year 2007,” specializes in French cuisine, and his home restaurant, Comme Chez Soi, holds the record for continuously received stars with three stars for a continuous 27 years. The traditional, family owned venue has proven the perfect place for Rigolet to develop his talents, and he welcomes diners to the restaurant with his wife Marie-Thérèse Wynants. Some of his specialties include fillets of sole with a mousseline of Riesling, or prawn and apricot soufflé with crunchy pistachios and red fruits.

France will be represented by two stars, including Christian Sinicropi, the two-star Michelin chef from the restaurant La Palme d’Or, located in Cannes. A celebrity on the Cannes Film Festival circuit, Chef Sinicropi is known for creating whimsical and poetic dishes that follow the theme of films, such as the as “Amelie” (foie gras confit topped with gingerbread) and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (brioche French toast with aniseed and basil chocolate). If you’d like to see more of this work, you can always read his book “Petits Plats Grand Ecran” which features 60 recipes dedicated to cinema.

The other French chef at the event will be Pascal Nibaudeau, a one-star Michelin chef from Le Pressoir D’Argent in Bordeaux, France. The rising star of this event, Chef Nibaudeau is known for creative dishes, and one of his signature plates, Breton Blue Lobster served alone or accompanied by a béarnaise sauce with juices from the press, ceps and black salsify, embodies his unique mastery of skills.

Eric Westermann hails from the world-famous three-star Michelin Award Winning Restaurant Buerehiesel in Strasbourg, France, and belongs to a generation of passionate chefs who, firmly attached to their countryside and their traditions, have perpetuated and enriched gastronomic heritage. His own particular approach to getting to the heart of his ingredients and creating rich taste experiences has been described as the “Westermann spirit” and was passed on to him by his Michelin-rated father with whom he shared the kitchen for several years.

Do you know what dishes will be served yet?
The menu for the event has not been set, but last years’ dishes offered a spectacular variety and depth of flavor.

What was your inspiration for this event?
I wanted to create a culinary experience that has never been lived before. We’ve actually installed cameras in the kitchen where diners can watch chefs prepare the food they are about to eat, and each chef will join them and explain to them their inspiration for the masterpiece they have created. We trust that this will take the dining experience to a new level.

Food is something that I am very passionate about. As a matter of fact, I don’t even consider my job a career so much as a way of life. I enjoy everything that I do in my work, and even after so many years I am still encountering new things. Right now I am very fortunate to be in a city as exciting as Beijing, and I really look forward to sharing this special evening with our Chinese diners.

How can we take part in the event?
The event will begin at 6.30 pm on the Lantern Ballroom on Monday, November 22, 2010, with a champagne reception. People interested in the event can book tickets by calling 5812 8888 ex. 8401 or e-mailing wangfujing@hilton.com. Seats are RMB 1,588 (exclusive of 15% service charge) and are limited.

You can learn more about the chefs and what you might expect from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by visiting the following websites.

Alfonso Iaccarino
www.donalfonso.com
Peter Knogl
www.lestroisrois.com
Lionel Rigolet
www.commechezsoi.be
Christian Sinicropi
www.hotel-martinez.com
Pascal Nibaudeau
www.pressoir-argent.com/uk/
Eric Westermann
www.buerehiesel.com