Annually, the city of Reykjavik holds Iceland’s largest food festival and competition. I’ve had the pleasure of competing at this event twice where 17 top chefs around the world come to take over a restaurant and compete for 5 days. Iceland for me, definitely ranks amongst one of the most beautiful places in the world. I was lucky enough to be able to experience seeing some things that many will never have the opportunity to – standing on the beach with a group of chefs from all over the world, gazing up at the sky in awe over the Northern Lights will be something I’ll never forget. Iceland offered many of these experiences along with a cutting edge, new Nordic cuisine style of food.
The unique experience of cooking in the capital of Colombia was a memorable one. For the Botoga Food & Wine Festival, chefs travel from all over the world to bring their own, distinctive style to this city. In the food world, Colombia is still a bit under developed, but the beauty of cooking there was all the young cooks and chefs were unbelievably welcoming and excited to learn new cuisine.
Barcelona is one of the most vibrant food cities in the world. From the unbelievable food markets with pristine produce and fresh, local proteins – it’s hard to find a bad meal here. What I appreciate most about this city, is that the local, rustic comfort food restaurants packed as much of an experience and flavor as the Michelin starred restaurants.
I’d be lying if I wasn’t a tad bit nervous about my first visit to Russia. I think St. Petersburg was the perfect city to start off with because I believe it’s the most diverse and most familiar to Western culture. I think the cuisine in St. Petersburg is still a bit underdeveloped, but it’s the only place in the world where you can enjoy Beluga “000” caviar, world’s most premium vodkas, and visit palaces that are literally gold plated. This city is definitely one I would visit again one day.
The Discovery channel is what brought me to Taiwan, filming an eight day documentary with myself and two other chefs that ended with a competition using local flavors and ingredients called Taste Taiwan. The hospitality that I found from the locals in Taiwan is of such that I never experienced anywhere else in the world. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity of this experience. There aren’t many times you can tour an entire country in 8 days and also have it documented every step of the way. Experiencing Taiwan first hand helped refine my knowledge of Asian cooking. I’m also proud to say I left Taiwan with a check in the win column.
