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Chris and Jeff Galvin champion natural wines at Cafe A Vin

Brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin have changed the name of their recently-opened Cafe De Luxe bistro in Spital Square to Cafe A Vin, in a move towards promoting natural wines.

The name-change marks a new direction for the informal side of their east London operation (which adjoins La Chapelle), which will now offer a wine list concentrated on promoting organically grown natural and biodynamic wines. While the food menu remains the same - offering dishes such as pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven, tarte flambee and Mediterranean salads, the wine list will showcase small, artisan growers who create wines with minimal to no interventions in the winery. Many of the wines on offer will be unfiltered, made without the addition of sulphur dioxide, and created with fermentations of wild yeasts.

Chris Galvin told Yes Chef! what prompted this change: "When we opened Cafe De Luxe we thought it would be a local cafe and a cocktail bar, but we obviously didn't do our research well enough because where we thought we'd get lots of city bankers coming in for a cocktail after work, in fact we are in the epicentre of the legal world and we have customers who are much more interested in drinking wines than cocktails. Lots of our clients have cellars and are very knowledgeable about wine, and while we've been going on research trips to France to learn more, we've discovered this big movement towards the fruity, crisp flavours often found in natural wines.

"Lots of these growers are rebelling against the French Government which increasingly tries to control wine production. They are passionate about what they do but because the wines are mostly free from sulphites - which means they're healthier - they can be unstable, and need to be kept at cool temperatures, so can't be sold in supermarkets. We want to support them and introduce them to our customers, who are open to learning more about wine. In the food world there has been a massive drive towards provenance, and finding out where food comes from, and it's the same with natural wines."

The new wine list will feature 60-100 bins, but the wines available at La Chapelle (which include a vertical vintage list) will also still be available in the cafe on request.

Marcus Wareing to open new restaurant next year

By Rosie Birkett

Marcus Wareing, the two-Michelin starred chef who notoriously split from Gordon Ramsay Holdings in 2008 to open his own restaurant at The Berkeley hotel, has said that he is planning on opening a second restaurant next year.

The chef made the revelation at an AA Awards dinner menu tasting (for which he is consulting on the menu) at the Park Lane Hilton, where he said that he was "looking for the next thing," but stressed that he will remain in the kitchen of his restaurant at The Berkeley.

"The key thing for me is I'm not going to leave the Berkeley," he said. "I'm going to do what a lot of chefs have never done, which is open other restaurants, but stay in the one house.

"You can continue coming to the Berkeley and you'll see me cooking there, but what I have got is a fabulous infrastructure to be able to move people on to the next step of their career, and invest in them."

Wareing said that his next venture, which he expects to happen next year "when I've been up and running at The Berkeley for three years", will be in London, and will be a more informal operation, in accordance with the current trend for relaxed dining. "I'd be looking for something more relaxed and much bigger - it would be in the middle of something like the Wolseley and Scotts."

The chef also gave his opinion on Gordon Ramsay's recent relaunch of Petrus.

When asked what impact he thought the new restaurant would have, he said: ""None. None. I don't think it's going to have any impact whatsoever on the industry because it's been done. I ran Petrus - I pretty much put the concept together, and this is not the old Petrus, this is the new Petrus. Petrus is just a name - so what? To me it's irrelevant - it goes back to that question 'what does it become?'

"Petrus used to stand in a deluxe five star hotel in Knitsbridge, now it's on a backstreet in a new building. The reviews have said it all. The best word people have used to describe it is 'beige' - it's beige. If you really want to go and eat at Petrus, come to the Berkeley, because that's where it really is."

Call for support for Hulstone in countdown to Bocuse d’Or

With less than five weeks to go until the European final of the Bocuse d'Or, the Academy of Culinary Arts is calling on the UK to support Simon Hulstone, the British candidate. Hulstone, chef patron of the Michelin-starred Elephant restaurant in Torquay, is representing the UK for the second consecutive year, and will fly to Geneva in June to take part in the European heat.

The Bocuse d'Or, recognised as the Oscars of the Culinary World, is a biennial culinary competition established in 1987 by one of the world's most lauded chefs, Paul Bocuse. Since then, it has added three regional heats - Bocuse d'Or Europe, Bocuse d'Or Asia and Bocuse d'Or Latin America.

Brian Turner CBE, President of the Academy of Culinary Arts and a Bocuse d'Or judge says: "Nothing can prepare you for the Bocuse d'Or as there really isn't anything else like it in terms of culinary competitions. Everything about it is huge and the atmosphere is closer to that of a football World Cup final than a cooking contest. For the candidate, there is an immense amount of pressure and you have to prepare and rehearse for months to even get close to the quality expected by the judges."

Whilst other countries invest thousands of dollars and euros in the competition, Britain has traditionally been slow to support its candidate. Hulstone will be supported by his commis chef, Jordan Bailey, chef coach, Nick Vadis, UK executive chef of Compass Group, President of the UK team, Brian Turner and John Williams MBE, Executive Chef, The Ritz, himself a past competitor in the Bocuse d'Or.

The European finals take place in Geneva on the 7th and 8th June with Hulstone presenting his dishes to a panel of 20 international judges at 2.20pm on the 8th. If he is awarded a placed in the top twelve, he will get through to compete in the World Final in Lyon on January 25th-26th, 2011.

Andrew Jones, from Electrolux Professional, a keen supporter of the British Bocuse d'Or candidate says, "Britain's plans for the Bocuse d'Or do not end in Geneva or Lyon. By securing support from all areas of the industry and the UK a solid platform for future British candidates will be set. More support means better awareness, a bigger pool of future candidates and ultimately a better chance of Britain bringing home the trophy. We are not asking for huge sums of money, even small donations will help contribute towards Simon's success."

For further information, please visit www.bocusedor.com or contact Michelle Diederichs on Tel: 0207 787 2558

A Passion to Inspire Cookery Competition held at West Suffolk College

On Tuesday 23 March 2010, 'A Passion to Inspire' Cookery Competition, sponsored by Infusions, Russums and First Contact Chefs took place at Zest the Restaurant, at West Suffolk College, Bury St Edmunds. The competition was organised by lecturer Paul Harding to give second and third year Hospitality students a chance to show off their skills and impress professional chefs. The competition was split into two sessions, with six of the NVQ Level 2 students taking part in the morning and nine students from the NVQ Level 2 and 3 courses taking part in the afternoon. In each session, the students were asked to produce a main course and dessert for two covers; and the students in the afternoon session were also asked to cost the dishes.

Murray Chapman from First Contact Chefs and John Jackaman and Haydn Lyell from Infusions 4 Chefs mentored the students throughout the competition and prominent East Anglian chefs including Simon Barker, The Angel Hotel, Nick Claxton-Webb, Ickworth House Hotel, Jeremy Medley, Oundle Mill, Eric Snaith, Titchwell Manor, Shara Ross and Tom Stewart, Hotel Felix and Paul Warner, The Grid judged the student's efforts using a set judging criteria.

In the morning session a joint merit prize was given to Anthony Powell-Collis and Thomas Naughton with Yasmin Nealon taking first prize. In the afternoon session the merit prize was given to William Day. The first prize was an all expenses trip to the Skills for Chefs conference working with amongst others Claude Bosi, Theo Randall and also the opportunity to work on the Gala dinner with Murray Chapman, and this was awarded to Daniel Webb.

13 Restaurants Announced as AA Rosette Winners

The new additions to the AA's restaurant guide have been announced, with 13 restaurants receiving new rosette accolades.

Just one restaurant, the The Burlington Restaurant, Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey was awarded four AA rosettes, while 12 restaurants across the country gained three.

The four AA rosette winner The Devonshire Arms (which started life as a 17th-century coaching inn) has received the recognition through the cooking of head chef Steve Smith, who joined the property in the spring of 2008 from Seaham Hall.

AA Hotel Services' group area manager, Giovanna Grossi said, "I am delighted to welcome a dozen more restaurants into the higher Rosette awards; with additional praise going to The Burlington Restaurant at The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel & Spa for its immense achievement of four AA Rosettes."

The restaurants to receive three AA rosettes include Steve Love's recently opened eponymous restaurant in Birmingham, Paul Kitching's Edinburgh venture 21212, Aubergine in London and former-Aubergine chef William Drabble's Seven Park Place restaurant at the St James's Hotel, also in London.

Drabble, who joined the St James's Hotel along with former Capital GM Henrik Muehle in September last year, said of the award: "Joining St James's Hotel and Club back in September represented a huge challenge for me after spending 10 years at Aubergine and I am delighted that all the hard work is paying off. Henrik's vision for enhancing guest experience at the hotel has also been key to ensuring that everything runs so smoothly and successfully."

Full list of three rosette winning restaurants and their chefs:

Colette's at the Grove, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Chef: Russell Bateman

Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge. Chef: Mark Poynton (formerly at Midsummer House)

21212, Edinburgh. Chef: Paul Kitching (previously at Juniper in Manchester)

Aubergine, London. Chef: Christophe Renou

Waldo's at Cliveden. Chef: Chris Horridge

Launceston Place, London. Chef: Tristan Welch

The Green Inn, Ballater, Aberdeenshire. Chef: Chris O'Halloran

Hell Bay Hotel, Bryher, Scilly Isles. Chef: Glenn Gatland

The Alderley Restaurant, Alderley Edge, Cheshire. Chef: Chris Holland

Seven Park Place, St James's Hotel, London. Chef: William Drabble

1901, Andaz Hotel, London. Chef: Dominic Teague

Loves Restaurant, Birmingham. Chef: Steve Love