I am lucky to be part of The World’s 50 Best Family, for a few years now. And I must say each gathering is bringing not only excitment but perspectives about the interesting food scene.
During the Asia’s 50 Best talks in Macau, the conference organized before each 50 Best’slist announcement, I attended the presentations they organized around the theme of the ‘vital ingredients’.
On stage, Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa and his team from Den – who have changed the Japanese fine dining scene in a more casual way – made a performance on stage about their main vital ingredient in the restaurant: soul. For Zaiyu and his team, the human part of the project had always been the most important matter, putting a sense of fun and sharing into the dining since their very beginning: “Our vital ingredient is people, which include our team, suppliers and customers.”
On stage, Asia’s Best Female Chef 2019 Garima Arora of Gaa restaurant in Bangkok began her talk explaining the role of spices during her childhood in India, saying that each house in the country had its own collection of herbs and spices, to be cooked and prepared for each occasion in life. In her restaurant Gaa, she uses the most important thing she has learned through spices’ tastes: food pairings the different flavours, highlighting the positive of each ingredient with another, as she has been doing in her signature dish “strawberry and caviar”.
Then, pastry chef of Il Ristorante Luca Fantin in Tokyo, Fabrizio Fiorani, talked then about his “vital ingredient”, sugar, explaining the construction of his dessert ‘Zucchero’, using sugar as the main ingredient, and not as something to avoid.
The third part of the speeches was held by the female Thai chef Bo Songvisava from Bo.Lan restaurant in Bangkok who oriented her speech about the beauty of her « vital ingredient »: the salt. From the Ancient Egyptian salt to the Japanese culture where salt is still used to wish good luck before the game starts, the necessity to eat salt has always been a priority for our health, in order for our body to function properly. She reminded us we can find salt – which enhances both tastes and flavours – in many other aspects than table salt, such as in seaweeds and vegetables. Bo was concerned about the fact that the sources of salt – both from the sea and the land – are highly polluted with plastic, of which 90 percents can’t be recycled… “Every day, Microplastic get into our food and drinkable water and inside our body without even realizing it…” stressing the fact it was just the tip of the iceberg, as pesticides and insecticides are also getting into our soils, and water.
As you can observe, the global subject that was present in every single talk, was about the most essential ingredient for us all: our nature. As it is impossible to ignore today the sustainability subject, which is not a question of quantity, but a question of the quality of distribution of the food.
Of course this subject is concerning me a lot. And I believe the only way to feed the population sustainably and healthily with an efficient distribution and production, is to begin with optimizing the diversity of fresh food within the local areas and the involvement of small producers. In order to operate, I believe it is important to invest chefs in the role models in that perspective, in order for them to bringing their passion and dedication into healthier food.
The session of sustainability was all about the subject: “How can we survive if we keep using current industrial practices?” with a prestigious panel of experts on stage: the chefs Bo Songvisava (Bo.Lan, Bangkok), Rodolfo Guzmán (Boragó, Chile), Shinobu Namae (L’Effervescence, Tokyo) and the forager Valeria Mosca (Wood*ing wild food lab, Milan), who exposed their position about the subject.
Valeria said that education about foraging can help us think about a new concept of sustainability that goes beyond ‘organic’. “I strongly believe in the next generation. In our food lab, we are investigating human gastronomy, harvesting, analysing, cataloging wild roots in order to transmit the knowledge…Responsibilty is the most important value we should promote today.”
As a chef coming from a foragers historical country as Chile, the chef Rodolfo Guzmán said “sustainability is not a definition, but only a process. We need to accomplish all together sustainable goals.”
Bo – from Bangkok – exposed that her way to act sustainably was to work with local producers and famers “I support them as much as they support me… We are trying together to minimize our impact to the world…”, and explained the recycling at Bo.Lan restaurant: “We separate the waste in the kitchen in 20 bins, in order to re-use fruit peel for example.”
While Bo called for single-use plastics to be banned, Shinobu Namae from Tokyo was more balanced in his vision: “It’s all about finding a balance and finding ways in which we can decrease the use of single-use plastics, sometimes a plastic bag can keep the quality of food to avoid waste….”
Reminding us the beautiful quote of American writer Wendell Berry, Crystyl Mo, China 50 Best Academy chair said: “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”
And as activist Helen Keller once said “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement…” and I do believe deeply in the positive evolution towards the achievement of sustainability.
The website www.thefoodalist.com is the property of:
Phone: +32 (0) 477 / 66.24.18
Email: amelie@thefoodalist.com
Privacy policy
Data Protection Declaration and Consent to Use Data by www.thefoodalist.com
Data protection is a matter of trust and your trust is important to us. We respect your personal space and your privacy. Therefore, protecting personal data and collecting, processing and using them in conformity with the law is an important concern to us. So that you feel safe while visiting one of our web pages, we strictly adhere to legal provisions when we process you data and would like to inform you here about our data collection and use of data.
By agreeing to the following data protection declaration you consent to www.thefoodalist.com collecting, processing and using your personal data by adhering to the data protection laws and the following provisions.
1. Responsible Body
The body responsible for collecting, processing and using your personal data in terms of the Federal data protection laws is The Foodalist, 88 rue Franz Merjay, 1050, Brussels.
Should you wish to object to The Foodalist collecting, processing and using your personal data in accordance with these data protection provisions in total or only to individual measures, you can send your objection by email, fax or letter to the following contacts:
The Foodalist
88, rue Franz Merjay
1050, Brussels
Belgium.
Tel: +32477662418
amelie@thefoodalist.com
2. Collecting, Processing and Using Personal Data
We only store and process personal data when you have voluntarily supplied us with it; such as by filling in a contact form. If we collect any other personal data, you will be informed in this privacy policy or on the respective web pages, of the intended purpose of use and, if necessary, asked for your consent to store and process the data. Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted if this is necessary to implement the contract, render our services or you have given your prior consent.
3. Newsletter
For sending the Newsletter, we make use of the e-mail address given by you and for this we need your confirmation that, as the owner of the e-mail address, you consent to its receipt.
Should you later decide that you no longer want to receive a newsletter from us, you can object to this at any time without thereby incurring any other costs than the transmission costs in keeping with the basic tariffs. Notification in text form sent by one of the contact options given under point 1 (e.g. email, fax, letter) is sufficient for this purpose. There is, of course, also a cancellation link in every newsletter.
4. Cookies
We use cookies only to make the use of our pages easier for you. Certain pages may store personal data on cookies if you have explicitly agreed to this in advance. In principle, you can also access all the information on our web pages if you have disabled cookies. In case you do not accept cookies, this can lead to a limitation of functionality.
5. Log Files
During every access of our page user data is transmitted by the respective Internet browser and stored in protocol files, the so-called server log files. The datasets stored here contain the following data: date and time of access, name of accessed page, IP address, referrer URL (original URL from which you arrived at the website), the amount of data transmitted, product and version information of the browser used.
Subject to possible legal retention obligations, users’ IP addresses are deleted or anonymised after use has been ended. During an anonymisation the IP addresses are changed in such a way that the individual information about personal or material circumstances can no longer be allocated to a certain or to an ascertainable person except with an unreasonably high expense of time, money and manpower.
6. Safe Data Transmission
Your data is transmitted safely by using encryption. Nevertheless, nobody can guarantee absolute protection. However, we secure our website and other systems with technical and organizational measures against the loss, destruction, access, change or dissemination of your data by unauthorized persons.
7. Right of the Concerned to Receive Information
According to the applicable data protection laws, you have the right to free information regarding the stored data on you as well as the right to correct, block or delete this data.
We take the protection of your data very seriously. In order to ensure that personal data is not given to third parties, please send your request by email or by mail to the following address, clearly stating your identity:
The Foodalist
88, rue Franz Merjay
1050, Brussels
Belgium.
Tel: +32477662418
amelie@thefoodalist.com
Standard Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for orders placed online at www.thefoodalist.com
We would like to familiarise you below with our standard terms and conditions, which govern how we process and settle your purchases. The www.thefoodalist.com website offers merchandise for sale.
1.1 For orders placed online at www.thefoodalist.com
When you order the merchandise on the site, your contract is made with
Amélie Vincent -The Foodalist
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
1.2 By clicking on "Buy now", you are placing a binding order for the items in your shopping cart. Once you have submitted your order, we will immediately send you an e-mail acknowledgement of your order. This confirms that we have received your order but is not an acceptance of your offer. A binding contract is formed when the items have been despatched.
1.3 You consent to the assignment of the seller's claims for payment of the purchase price to third parties, in particular to www.thefoodalist.com.
1.4 In the event that an item you have ordered is unavailable, we will let you know as soon as we can and, where payment has already been made, make a refund to your payment method without undue delay.
2.1 All prices on the www.thefoodalist.com website are given in euros. Subject to section 2.5 below, the prices given on the website on the date the order is placed shall apply. The stated prices are final prices (totals) and include any applicable delivery charge and value added tax (VAT) at the applicable statutory rate. All items remain our property until full payment of the purchase price.
2.2 We deliver within Europe only.
For orders within Belgium, the shipping charge is 15 euros.
In any other European country, the delivery cost is 20 euros.
2.3 Express delivery is available for certain orders, if it is requested by email.
2.4 If you decide to return any item ordered in accordance with these terms (see section 6 below and our return policy) we will refund the standard shipping charge. We will not refund any additional cost associated with express delivery.
3.1 We accept the following payment methods: Paypal.
Please note that we only accept payments from accounts within the European Union (EU). You are responsible for any costs associated with money transactions.
3.2 In the case of credit card purchases, your card will be charged when we ship your order.
3.3 You consent to receiving invoices and credits solely in electronic form.
Subject to the further terms set out below (including some important exceptions), when you purchase an item from www.thefoodalsit.com have a statutory right of revocation: The first thing you should know is that if you decide to return merchandise, you can use the return shipping label enclosed with your order, or it can also be printed out from your customer account page. If you do not have access to a printer, you encounter problems downloading the return shipping label or you require a new return shipping label, you can contact Customer Care to request one (contact details below). Please help us to avoid unnecessary costs by always using the return shipping label when returning merchandise.
Information regarding the statutory right to cancel:
You have the right to cancel your contract with us within 14 days without giving any reasons. The cancellation period will expire 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires possession of the last item in your order.
To exercise the statutory right to cancel you must inform us by contacting us in one of the following ways:
The Foodalist
Amélie Vincent
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32477662418
By using the attached cancellation form, (you may use this form but you are not obliged to do so).
To meet the cancellation deadline, you must send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.
What happens after you have told us you wish to cancel
If you cancel the contract under the statutory right to cancel, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction (Paypal).
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest. You must return the items you no longer want to us without undue delay, and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you told us you were cancelling the contract. We will bear the costs of returning the goods provided you use the return shipping label provided by us for shipment from the country in which delivery was made to you, otherwise you will be required to pay the return shipping costs. You are only obliged to cover any depreciation in the value of returned items if the depreciation is attributable to your improper handling of the returned items when examining their condition, properties and function.
Cancellation form
(If you wish to cancel the contract, please complete this form and return it to us)
Attn: The Foodalist
Amélie Vincent
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32477662418
I/we (*) hereby give notice that I/we (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*):
— ordered on (*)/received on (*)
— name of customer(s)
— address of customer(s)
— signature of consumer (s) (only if this form is notified on paper),
— date
(*) Delete as appropriate
The right of cancellation expires prematurely for contracts subject to sealed goods which have been unsealed after delivery and which are not suitable for return due to hygienic reasons.
End of notice
Subject to the further terms set out below (including some important exceptions), when you purchase on www.thefoodalist.com you have a statutory right of revocation: The first thing you should know is that if you decide to return merchandise, you can use the return shipping label enclosed with your order. If you require a new return shipping label, you can contact Customer Care to request one (contact details below). Please help us to avoid unnecessary costs by always using the return shipping label when returning merchandise.
Information regarding the right of revocation:
You have the right to cancel your contract with us within 14 days without giving any reasons. The cancellation period will expire 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires possession of the last item in your order. To exercise the statutory right to cancel you must inform us by contacting us in one of the following ways:
The Foodalist
Amélie Vincent
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32477662418
Consequences of revocation
If you cancel the contract contract under the statutory right to cancel, we shall reimburse to you all payments we received from you, including delivery costs (with the exception of supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise. The refund will be sent to your Paypal. If you used a gift voucher for your purchase, we will credit the relevant amount to your gift voucher account. We may withhold reimbursement until we have/has received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest. You must return the items you no longer want to us without undue delay, and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you told us you were cancelling the contract.
Cancellation form
(If you wish to cancel the contract, please complete this form and return it to us)
Attn:
The Foodalist
Amélie Vincent
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32477662418
I/we (*) hereby give notice that I/we (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/:
— ordered on (*)/received on (*)
— name of customer(s)
— signature of consumer (s) (only if this form is notified on paper),
— date
— address of customer(s)
— date (*)
Delete as appropriate
The right of cancellation expires prematurely for contracts subject to sealed goods which have been unsealed after delivery and which are not suitable for return due to hygienic reasons.
End of notice
8.1 Without prejudice to your statutory right to cancel set out above, we offer you the option of returning items ordered from thefoodalist.com website within 100 days of you receiving them. This return option allows you to return items to us, even after the 14-day cancellation period has expired (see "Statutory Right to Cancel above).
8.2 If you are returning merchandise, you can use the return shipping label enclosed with your order, or you can print the label out yourself from your customer account page. Please contact Customer Care if you have any problems downloading the return shipping label or you do not have access to a printer.
8.3 Your returned items will be deemed returned within 100 days if you send it within such time.
8.4 Your exercise of this return option is limited to unworn items that you have worn/tried on only as you would have in a shop. All returned items must be returned in their original condition, intact and undamaged, and in its original packaging. Until the period for exercising the statutory right to cancel expires, the statutory provisions governing returns shall apply exclusively.
8.5 The voluntary 100 days return right does not exist for contracts subject to sealed goods which have been unsealed after delivery and which are not suitable for return due to hygienic reasons.
8.6 We do not offer exchanges for returned items. If you wish to purchase a new item, please place a new order.
Any refunds are paid automatically to the Paypal account.
If you used a gift voucher for your purchase, we will credit the relevant amount to your gift voucher account.
For questions please contact our customer care team on amelie@thefoodalist.com.
Please contact us if an item you have purchased from thefoodalist.com website develops a fault. Nothing in these terms shall affect your statutory rights.
These terms are governed by Belgian law. Any disputes may be submitted for online resolution to the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution platform, or in front of the Belgian courts.
The Foodalist
Amélie Vincent
88 rue Franz Merjay
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32477662418