Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth is one of Britain’s best chefs.  Her restaurant “Core by Clare Smyth” in Notting Hill has three Michelin Stars and is one of London’s most sought after restaurants.  She has been named the World’s Best Female Chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurant, been the Good Food Guide’s ‘National Chef of the Year’, She got a perfect score by the Good Food Guide. She’s won the Chef Award and she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire - to mention a few of her achievements.  Clare is basically “Da Bomb!”

This shoot was a cover shoot for Observer Food Monthly Magazine.  A real pleasure working with her and her restaurant.  

Shot for Observer Food Monthly Magazine

Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo

I have too admit that the introduction to this trip to Padua didn’t bode well for an amazing meal.   We rocked up to a roadside hotel on the side of a semi industrial district of Padua, Sarmeola di Rubano, at about 11pm.  The hotel, only a few hundred meters from our final goal and objective of the trip, the acclaimed restaurant Le Calandre.  The hotel had closed and we had to call and wake up the staff to come and let us in.  There we were met with a hotel that felt like Miami Vice on a budget.  I eventually got to my room quietly hoping that the Le Calandre, a couple of hundred meters down the road, would be considerably better.

When I first saw the restaurant from the outside it didn’t look like we were up for much of an improvement.  The restaurant entrance and windows looked good, but the building looked more like a mix between a South of France building estate and an industrial warehouse.  However, as soon as we walked into the bistro that is in front of the restaurant itself, we realised we were somewhere special.  Le Calandre restaurant is run by the two brothers Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo.  Max (Massimiliano) is the chef and took the restaurant in 1992 and took it from one to two Michelin stars in 1996, making Max the youngest ever chef to get two Michelin stars at the age of 22.  At the age of 28 Max gained the restaurant its third Michelin star, making him the youngest ever chef to get that accolade.  The restaurant has maintained its three Michelin stars ever since and Chef Alajmo has been given the nickname “Il Mozart dei fornelli” (The Mozart of the stoves).

The restaurant is a family business run by the two brothers Max and Raf.  The adjoining bistro is run by their sister Laura.  The restaurants were previously run by their parents Erminio Alajmo and Rita Chimetto.  The family now run several of Italian and international restaurants as well as having a bakery section that supplies food to external shops, bistros, restaurants and cafes.  

So - when a chef like Max, receives me with open arms and insists that it is a true pleasure to be photographed by me, then it is a true sign of his humility and generosity.  We did not only get to eat the taster menu at Le Calandre, which was exceptional! - but we were also invited to dine in the Bistro and their new restaurant on St Mark’s Square.  For the latter we were transported on a wooden speedboat, not unlike what you see in a James Bond Movie.  

The restaurants run by the Alajmo family do not only provide excellent food, but also an experience that makes you smile and laugh, makes you excited and stimulate all your senses.  So - to call Max the Mozart of the stoves may be an understatement.  

Shot for Cook Magazine

 
 

Twin Gardens

Last time I went to Moscow I was about 16 years old. A very different place, but also a very different experience.  Back then I was young, on a trip with other international students and youngsters. This time I was on a trip for the Italian food magazine Cook, Corrier Della Sera to photograph the twin chefs behind the restaurant Twin Garden. Last time I probably ate crisps and cheap sandwiches, this time I ate exclusive Michelin star food and crabs with champagne.

The idea and process of traveling to Moscow is more intimidating and different than actually being there. Apart from a taxi service on the airport with drivers aggressively approaching you, trying to trick you into paying extortionate prices, (which can remind a little of traveling to a country that relies on tourism,) apart from the blatantly apparent class difference, and apart from the size of the buildings, Moscow actually reminded me a little of Norway.  It was a cold December week, but as there was no snow, it was dark most of the time.  People tend to wear similar outfits to what we wear in Norway - practical navy, grey and black winter clothes.  Although the architecture was grander than in Oslo - it had the same colouring and texture.  

We were well taken care of in Moscow by the team behind Twin Gardens. The Michelin star restaurant (19th best in the The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards) served up vegetarian taster menus (a first in Moscow?!) with wines made from Mushrooms, tomatoes, beetroot to mention a few. Although I have to admit that the wine is not the type I would enjoy on its own whilst watching a long film, the small tasters of it served with accompanying meals - worked perfectly.  Oh - and the tomatoes!  Grown locally on their farm Twin Farm - they were so tasty they even made the Italians give an impressive nod. 

Impressed by the restaurant in Moscow, we had a second day where they took us to their restaurant on the outskirts of the city. In the middle of a Luxury shopping mall - (and by luxury I meant LUXURY Russian style,) was the twin brothers Ivan and Sergey Berezutskiy’s second restaurant Crab and Wine.  This restaurant serves only crabs and wine/champagne as indicated in the name.  Here they had a large crab aquarium in the restaurant (as well as several filled aquariums with crabs in the basement).  The aquarium in the restaurant was probably around 2m tall and 8 meters wide. Here the guests could get a PS4 remote to control a claw, and pick their own crab using the remote (as if out of a James Bond villain scene in a James Bond film).  We were served 7 different types of crabs, on three tables pulled together to fit them all, and champagne to accompany.  An experience you’ll find hard to replicate.  

The chefs Ivan and Sergey were identical twins by looks, but were very different in behaviour. Sergey was the more introvert, softly spoken and didn’t speak much English, and Ivan was the opposite. (That Sergey also had the flue when we were there made it easier to know who was who when I spoke to them - not always easy when you don’t know them well).  They were extremely hospitable and introduced us to the modern and traditional Russia through food.  As many surprises as expectations were met.   

Shot for Cook 

 
 

Skye Gyngell

Experiencing the serene and calm environment of ‘Spring’ restaurant in Somerset House, London, is like a breath of mountain air in contrast to the busy street (The Strand) just outside.  The pure light and white tones are like the Greek sun in comparison to a grey London day.  This is not just the feel of the restaurant, but as Skye Gyngell walks in, I realise that this look and feel is a true reflection of the head chef herself.  Skye is Australian, trained in France and has previously worked as the food editor for Vogue.  She is also known for getting a Michelin star at her previous restaurant Petersham Nurseries.  All previous experiences have now come together it the perfect harmony which is Spring Restaurant.  

Oh - and to make it a little bit more perfect, it also prides itself in being a plastic free restaurant.  (That is, all apart from the bin bags, which there is no current alternative for.)  

Shot for The Observer Magazine

Giorgio Locatelli

I have worked with Giorgio Locatelli on several occasions, but never had the chance to hang out with him for a couple of days and to dine at his restaurant.  When I take portraits of a chef I get a good feeling of who they are and the connection they have with food, (especially when food is incorporated in the shoot).  However, when I have a chance to spend a day with a chef, at his or her restaurant, taste their food and hear them talk about it, I get the full impression of the passion they have for the food they make.  Giorgio is very much one of those chefs that is eager to share his passion.  His love for the bread they make on the premises was shared alongside his love for fresh ingredients and pasta.  

This shoot was also working with a team from Italy, which meant that I didn’t understand much of the conversations, but in return Giorgio’s passion was worn even more on his sleeve than normal. 

Giorgio has recently seen an increase in popularity in Italy as well as UK as he is now one of the judges in Italian Masterchef.  When I stepped outside, his fans from Italy were pacing up and down in front of the restaurant hoping to get a glimpse of the great chef.  One stopped me as I was taking some exterior shots and asked me, with eager eyes: “Is the chef inside”?  I said I didn’t know, trying to allow Giorgio some privacy, but she took that as a ‘yes’, and continued to pace up and down in front of the restaurant, in the hope that he would come out - and she could look like she was casually passing by.  As Giorgio came out, she jumped at the chance to get a selfie with the Chef.  Giorgio agreed, and she walked away happily, glancing down at the image on her iPhone.  Just another sign to prove my theory that the true passion for food is engrained in all Italians.  

Shot for Cook Magazine

Secret recipe - Jack Monroe and Monica Galetti

It’s always impressive to see chefs at work.  Mixing up their magic potions and presenting it as if it should be in some art gallery.  But every chef has some secret, go-to ingredient.  Maybe its something to help the dish look good, or it could be to give the dishes that signature taste.  This feature for the Observer Food Monthly revealed what Monica Galletti and Jack Monroe had up their sleeves.  Monica’s go-to secret is charcoal.  She uses it to introduce a shock factor.  The look of the dishes differs and it gives a slight smoky flavour.  

Jack Monroe however, uses Sage and Onion crumbs to give that extra flavour to many of her homemade dishes.  

Not only did I try to show the chefs and their ingredients in this shoot, but I needed to portray the feeling of secrecy.  So I took the idea of using charcoal literally for Monica and I brought in the secret agent suitcase and a good few handfuls of Sage for Jack.  

Shot for Observer Food Magazine

 
 

Vitantonio Lombardo

I have been very lucky in my career and had the chance to travel all around the world to work with some of the world’s best chefs. This trip for Corriere Della Sera’s ‘Cook’ magazine took me to Matera in the south of Italy, right in the middle of Spaghetti Western country.  The town Matera is a city built into the mountains in the middle of this desolated landscape.  The houses and hotels are basically caves.  The town had only recently been made into a modern city.  It previously didn’t have a modern plumbing system which meant that the town had been left to disintegrate, considered poor and nobody wanted to live there.  It became a dumping place for rubbish and a playground for drug users until the government put a lot of money into it and modernised it.  Work began in the 1970’s and it is now one of the ‘must see’ destinations in southern Italy.  The houses, (or caves,) are still there but now they have built in plumbing and are desirable to locals, businesses as well as tourists.  The town has been the backdrop to many films, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ being one of them.  

The Michelin star chef Vitantonio Lombardo packed down his Micheline star restaurant in Salerno and opened up shortly after in Matera, getting a Micheline star almost immediately, being the first restaurant in Matera to get one.  

I spent 2 days in Matera, photographing the town, but also Chef Vitantonio Lombardo and his restaurant.  Lombardo invited us to a 2 hour lunch experience which ended with a dish where we had to snog a pair of lips up from a plate, not using any cutlery, wearing earphones with an Italian love song on.  It’s not many exclusive restaurants you see the diners pushing their whole plate into their faces, licking up a lipped shaped cake - but it was strangely nice…. Almost like being a teenager abroad, experiencing your first holiday romance:  Slightly unsure how you approach the ‘lips’, the fear of the unknown, but when the lips (desert) meet your lips, you can’t stop…

Shot for Cook Magazine