1. 50Tt
issue 82 — 237236 — issue 82
briefing
Food
Bar Nou
Barcelona
Bread and tomato or Pa amb
tomáquet may be the iconic dish
of Catalonia but until now the
beloved culinary treasure got little
attention from restaurants. Close to
Barcelona’s Plaza Catalunya, how-
ever, Bar Nou combines culinary
know-how with fun in this modern
rendition of a Catalan diner.
A prominent altar showcases
the preparation of the dish; bright
food photography lines the walls.
The concept is the brainchild of
food entrepreneur Miquel Angel
Vaquer, who was enlisted by the
owners to revamp their restaurant.
The ample menu includes the
breadth of Catalan cuisine and
an instructional guide helps the
uninitiated to pair each dish with
the correct combination of bread,
tomato, salt and olive oil. — la
barnou.cat
The Heyward
New York
Named after Charleston-born
poet DuBose Heyward, this spot
blends coastal-US cuisine with the
requisite industrial trappings of a
new Brooklyn opening.
The Williamsburg venture con-
trasts its Southern-style hospitality
with raw steel and antique furnish-
ings. “We chose a design aesthetic
reminiscent of the post-industrial
era mixed with the European-
influenced feel of early 1900s
Charleston,” says co-founder
Christopher Brandon.
The Heyward blends southern-
Atlantic flavours with ingredi-
ents sourced from the eastern
seaboard. Think shrimp and grits
with chorizo, shishito peppers and
a buttery shrimp broth (pictured).
Winter risotto is made with roasted
parsnips, pomegranate and
hickory-smoked chestnuts. — jm
theheyward.com
Wheels of fortune
Italy
Italian bank Credem houses 422,000 wheels of
Parmesan worth some €150m. The arrangement
dates from the Medici era and, in exchange, the bank
offers cheese-makers loans against the value of their
dairy investment.
Hisashi Todoroki Rice
Nagano, Japan
Born into a farming family in
Nagano, self-taught designer
Hisashi Todoroki worked with
fellow agrarians to come up with
a catchy packaging solution to
help sell his Koshihikari rice. The
numbers on the outside represent
the amount of rice in a bag by
the go: the Japanese equivalent
of a cup in European cooking, or
around 180g. The rice is grown in
the village of Kijimadaira where it is
fed by the waters of the Tarukawa
and Magusegawa rivers. — jt
todoroki-design.com
Q&A
Spencer Hyman
Co-founder
and partner,
Cocoa Runners
After careers in the gaming
and e-commerce industries,
as well as stints at Amazon
and as COO of Last.fm,
Spencer Hyman founded
Cocoa Runners in 2013 with
business partner Simon
Palethorpe. The company
seeks out and sells the world’s
best single-estate chocolate
and distributes it to customers
by monthly subscription.
How has the market
for artisanal chocolate
developed?
When we launched Cocoa
Runners over a year ago
there were only four single-
estate chocolate makers in
the UK and only 20 to 30 in
the US. Now there are over
150 in the US and around
10 in the UK.
How do you account
for the growth in the
industry?
It’s only been possible to
make single-estate choco-
late in the past decade or
so, as before then it was
too hard to secure consis-
tent supplies of high-quality
beans. In many parts of the
world, cocoa-bean export
is a government monopoly.
It’s only in the past decade
that the cost of the machin-
ery has come down to
prices that enable people
to self-fund or kick-start
their operations.
Is there a gap in the
market?
Very few people know the
what, the why or the who
of single-estate chocolate
but once they taste the bar
they want more and want
to know more. So we set
up Cocoa Runners. — jaf
cocoarunners.com
Q
A
Stauffenberg Gin
Berlin
Sit in an artsy Berlin bar and you
might see a historic name on the
spirits shelf. Distiller Franz von
Stauffenberg, a relative of the army
officer who tried to assassinate
Hitler, began creating spirits in the
2000s to make use of the over-ripe
plum trees on his land in Jettingen,
Germany. His one-man operation
uses a 1930s copper still to make
180-bottle batches of organic gin
with 19 botanicals. We’ve yet to
test the claim but he insists the
blend is hangover-proof. — kb
stauffenberg-gin.de
Anacravo
São Paulo
Beijinhos (literally “little kisses”)
are a staple sweet at Brazilian
children’s parties and cousin of the
iconic brigadeiros; chocolate balls
made with condensed milk. Here
that’s blended with coconut, coco-
nut milk and butter, with cloves
on top. Chef Silvana Oliveira and
Adriana Elise (pictured, left to
right) opened their shop to add a
gourmet touch to the confection.
Traditional flavours sit alongside
the likes of caramelised banana
and Brazilian-grown fruit. — fp
anacravo.com.br
Moveable
feast
Global
Preface
Defying geography is a theme this
month with Nordic style in Milan, a
US coffee shop opening in Tokyo
and gin distilled in Berlin. Stir in
Turkish craft beer plus Brazilian
kisses and you have a culinary
cocktail that is truly cosmopolitan.
Blue Bottle Coffee
Tokyo
Bay Area bean fiend Blue Bottle
Coffee has cafés throughout the
US but crossed the Pacific this
year to open its first overseas
outpost. Located near Kiyosumi
Garden, the imposing two-storey
building holds a cupping room,
roaster, pastry kitchen and coffee
bar. Expect exquisite espres-
sos, single origin or blended drip
coffees and pastries as part of
a welcome addition to a Tokyo
coffee scene that is bubbling up
nicely. — jaf
bluebottlecoffee.com
photographers:JoséHevia,LéoSoares,stilllife:davidsykes
Q
A
Q
A
Tune in to The Menu
wednesday 19.00 uk time
Every Friday, Monocle 24
listeners are served up a platter
of cutting-edge chefs, exciting
restaurants, bartenders with
new ideas and the latest food
trends from Helsinki to Hong
Kong, Sydney to São Paulo, on
The Menu. Sounds tasty.
The
Heyward is
on the site of
iconic Brooklyn
jazz bar The
Zebulon

2. 50Tt
briefing
Food
issue 82 — 239238 — issue 82
Wolf it down
France
Parisian food co-op La Louve (“she-wolf” in French)
will aid farmers and producers engaged in envi-
ronmentally responsible practices. Supported by
the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, the venture
launches in later this year in the 18th arrondissement.
Atac Besi
Owner and
founder,
GaraGuzu
brewery,
Turkey
Literally meaning “black
sheep” in the local dialect,
the aptly named GaraGuzu is
Turkey’s only micro-brewery.
The team of 13 people, based
in the southwestern city of
Mugla on the Aegean coast,
started brewing in mid-2014.
The company now makes a
light, hoppy amber beer and a
blonde ale. We caught up with
the founder to find out more.
How easy is it to launch
a brewery in Turkey?
Getting a production
licence was the most
difficult part of the process.
We are the only company
in Turkey to receive a
brewing licence in the past
four years. People here are
not used to seeing local
Turkish beer brands for
sale because they do not
exist. Meanwhile, in South
America almost every
neighbourhood makes its
own variety.
What has the reaction
been like?
Mainly positive. We have
not marketed our brand
properly yet but we do
already have a strong fol-
lowing. That’s something
that has happened because
of the excitement felt by our
customers. The GaraGuzu
logo and name, which was
created by Bahadir and
Burcu, has received a lot
of compliments. The pun
in our name is a reflection
of our quirky nature. I think
our candid stance comes
across and that’s some-
thing people appreciate.
How hopeful are you
about Turkey’s brewing
prospects?
Turkey today has a very
young and very dynamic
population. Around the
world interest in craft
beer has been growing
immensely during the past
20 years – what we are
doing with GaraGuzu is
a part of that growth. — adc
190 252 2255569
Q
A
Anima Cakes
Buenos Aires
Having honed her craft selling her range of cupcakes
at a London market stall, baker Inés Maisano
(pictured, below right) returned to her native Buenos
Aires. There she built on private orders and corporate-
event commissions, gained through word of mouth,
before starting this cute café on a secluded, leafy
street in the city’s Barrio Norte.
Maisano’s original cupcakes are still the main
draw amid the spare, industrial décor of chipboard
and exposed lighting but freshly iced carrot cake
and lemon sponges provide further temptation from
the white-tiled counter. The menu also offers hearty
breakfasts, sandwiches and salad options for hungry
diners of a more savoury inclination. — vb
154 11 4805 8005
Bjork
Milan
Opened in 2014, this brasserie
brings a touch of Scandinavia to
the bel paese. Bjork offers Swed-
ish and Norwegian craft beers
alongside Italian wines, including
those of the owner’s native Valle
d’Aosta. Danish smørrebrød (open
sandwiches, pictured), lox (brined
salmon, pictured), wild boar and
elk sirloin adorn the menu. Interiors
are northern European-inspired,
with a 1960s chandelier from
Hans-Agne Jakobsson and
cushions by Svenskt Tenn. — ic
bjork.it
Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories
Vilnius
The fact that Lithuania isn’t known
for its coffee culture was seized
on as an opportunity by Emanuelis
Ryklys when he started roastery
Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories in
2011. “In general the environment
of Lithuania is good enough to
release your ideas in to,” says the
Vilnius-based entrepreneur. “Lots
of institutions now try to support
newcomers, although there are
always issues with the old bureau-
cratic culture.”
With an eye on the city’s third
Dark Times coffee conference, set
to take place this autumn, Ryklys
would also like to expand his cold-
brewing and roasting operations
to include a bar. His minimally
designed, brown-bottled brew
signifies a bright future for the
black stuff in Vilnius. — jaf
crooked-nose.com
Jammy Yummy
Miami
The popularity of her mother’s
tomato preserve at a birthday
dinner led Agnèz Dias to found
Jammy Yummy, the first US
specialist in vegetable jam. Her
six flavours, which include baby
portobello and caramelised onion,
use vegetables sourced close to
the company’s Miami base. Hours
of stirring and stewing follow before
the jams are packaged in colourful
jars. “Forget bringing wine to dinner
parties,” says Diaz. “Vegetable jam
goes so much further.” — sdq
jammyyummy.com
Alt Milk
London
Some almond milk contains as
little as 4 per cent of the nut by
volume but a fifth of London-based
Alt Milk’s creamy elixir is made
from the organically grown stuff.
The cold-pressed milk also carries
a sweetness from the addition of
dates, vanilla and just a pinch of
Himalayan salt. “It’s my favourite
in tea,” says Rachel Hurn-Maloney,
who founded the firm in 2014, “and
delicious in smoothies, cereals and
porridge.” Next she plans to work
her magic on cashew milk. — ec
alt-milk.com
Moon Izakaya
Hong Kong
With its full-length windows and
outdoor seating area, Moon Izakaya
is markedly more welcoming than
Hong Kong’s other Japanese
options. “Japanese restaurants are
usually very shut off,” says owner
and head chef Wong Ka Wai, who
has 10 years’ experience in some
of the city’s best sushi restaurants.
“We want to experiment with a
more open atmosphere.” Moon
Izakaya’s specialities are highly
seasonal so try the firefly squid
sashimi this spring. — cch
1852 2811 1227
Star dish
Skirt-steak taco
Tijuana Picnic, New York
Chef Alex Lopez is a native of Mexico City but spent 12 years train-
ing in the kitchens of Asian restaurants before joining Tijuana Picnic
in Lower Manhattan. “We thought it could be fun to use his experi-
ence in that type of cuisine to inflect some non-traditional flavours,”
says business partner Jean-Marc Houmard. “In the skirt-steak
taco, Lopez adds shizo leaves, often used with sushi rolls.” This
colourful interpretation also involves marinating the steak in Sambal
chilli and hoisin sauce, then giving it a topping of spicy aioli and
pickled vegetables. Houmard teamed up with New York food-scene
heavyweights Jon Neidich and Huy Chi Le to make the restaurant
a reality. — mdb
tijuana-picnic.com
photographers:WestonWells,VeraRosemberg,gaiacambiaggi
stilllife:davidsyekes
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