05-03-2015
39-year-old Canadian chef Daniel Burns of restaurant Luksus at Thorst, a bistro seating 26 people included in a beer bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, one Michelin star without having a single wine in the list. "Why beer?", he explained during his lesson at Identità Milano, "why not?" (photo credits Brambilla/Serrani)
One needed the gift of ubiquity, it’s often been said, to be able to appreciate the content of each of the 86 speakers in the eleventh edition of Identità Milano. Despite missing many, we were lucky enough to be able to listen to one closely. Canadian Daniel Burns was part of the Identità Estreme format for a peculiarity which our readers probably know by heart: his Luksus in Brooklyn is the first restaurant in the world to receive one Michelin star without having a single wine in the list. Just beers.
Yet Burns is not “extreme” just because of this or the incredible curriculum that allowed him to break the bank in New York – he was the pastry chef beside Heston Blumenthal, Renè Redzepi and the head of the Momofuku test kitchen, of a certain David Chang, that is to say 3 of the greatest chefs in the world in the last 15 years. He’s a producer of brilliant ideas and special projects. He confirmed this in the few words we shared when the congress was over. During your speech, you said that in the future fine dining restaurants will be simpler and less expensive than they are today. An interesting concept. Can you please tell us more about it? I just meant that what I see as the trend is for restaurants that are opening up these days by chefs who are trying to do "fine dining" restaurants; there is less focus (if any) on doing things grand in the old school sense, that is to say white table cloths, fancy linens, fancy glasses, etc. Instead, there is a focus on the ingredients and to make the room meaningful and comfortable in terms of whatever the chef/restaurateur thinks that means. Money is spent on products and to make the space real and comfortable but not stuffy or grand.
Scallops, maitake mushrooms and silverberry, a dish presented at Identità Milano
Behind him, Identita's shoot: Massimiliano Alajmo, Gualtiero Marchesi and Pierre Troisgros
Gabriele Zanatta’s opinion: on establishments, chefs and trends in Italy and the world
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt