2019 EDITION

Monday Nov 11, 2019

Tallinn Creative Hub

Põhja pst 27a, Tallinn 10415, Estonia

The second edition of Ideas-Flavours-Experiences explored the chefs, innovators and thought leaders in their respective fields. The days leading up to the main event had explorations around Estonia and four hand dinners.

The Monday event culminated with the announcement of the Best Restaurants in Estonia by White Guide. Furthermore, the Craft Drink Festival took place on the premises show-casing the best of local producers, available to the public and event attendees all day. The best beer sommelier and barman competition were chosen on the main stage throughout the evening. A kick ass after party followed.

SPEAKERS

Our speakers in 2019 were of exceptional caliber, building on the success of 2018. Whether we talk about food tech, innovation in service culture, sustainability throughout the culinary process or the ways to make and pair natural wines, these experts had you covered.

SPEAKERS

Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal is proprietor of three Michelin starred The Fat Duck, two Michelin starred Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London, one Michelin starred The Hinds Head, Dinner by Heston Melbourne and Dubai (2020), and The Perfectionists’ Café. His restaurants have been voted the best in the world and have remained at the top of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the last ten years. In addition to his career as a chef, Heston has written seven cookbooks and has starred in several television series as well as several global partnerships including Heston from Waitrose, Heston Blumenthal Precision by Salter, Sage & Everdure by Heston Blumenthal.

TOPIC: Fireside Chat with Heleri Rande

Niklas Ekstedt

A pioneer of Nordic gastronomy

Niklas grew up in Järpen, a small village in Jämtland in the northern parts of Sweden.
Opening his debut restaurant at the age of 21, Niklas subsequently spent stints at el Bulli and the Fat Duck before heading to his Nordic roots.
Drawn to the birch woods of the Stockholm archipelago, Niklas quickly transitioned from using a grill to exercise a cast iron pan on open flames – laying the foundation for a new kind of fine-dining and altering the course the Nordic food movement. Covered in ash and soot, Niklas and his team is on a continual journey to discover, employ and evolve what was once a lost art of cooking.

TOPIC: Fireside Chat with Mattias Kroon

Karen Gruet

Assistant Manager, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons**, UK

Currently Assistant Restaurant Manager at the Michelin two-starred Restaurant at Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, near Oxford, Karen manages to juggle new motherhood and her restaurant role with ease and charm. She has been at Le Manoir since 2014 when she joined as a Chef de Rang, and moved up the ranks from Assistant Head Waitress to Head Waitress to her current role. On 4th February 2019 she received the prestigious Gold Service Scholarship award at Claridge's.

TOPIC: Service Masterclass - How to Deliver on a High Level

Hendrik Otto

Chef de Cuisine at Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer**, Berlin

Hendrik Otto began his culinary career at the young age of 17 and is now the Chef de Cuisine at Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer and has worked in this kitchen since 2010, offering guest classic dishes with a modern twist. In 2010, Otto and his team at Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer were awarded a Michelin star, and in 2011 their status was upgraded to two Michelin stars. While working here, Otto was also nominated as Berlin’s Master Chef and Cook of the Year by Gusto in 2012 and 2013 respectively, paying tribute to his skills, creativity and individuality. The Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer has held its two Michelin Star status since 2011, and holds 18 Guilt Milau points as of the 2018 rating.

TOPIC: Life-long Learning

Frédéric Vardon

Born in Normandy, France, to a family of butchers, Frédéric has always been driven by a deep love for the land and the honest toil of farm life. Serendipitously, the milestones of his career are marked by three Alains. Upon graduation from culinary school, he got his start in the kitchens of chef Alain Dutournier, followed by the late Alain Chapel and, finally, Alain Ducasse, with whom he spent 14 years cooking in the group’s most prestigious restaurants around the world.
In 2010, Vardon opened Le39V Paris. There, he combined seasonal ingredients and French classic techniques with his own innovative approach to conjure up signature dishes. The restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2012.
In 2017, Vardon launched Le39V Hong Kong in the West Kowloon district, on the 101st floor of the ICC Tower.
He is committed to promoting French gastronomy as often as possible. Thus, he is always present to different events in France and abroad. He also organizes some dinners all over the world.

TOPIC: Learning from the Three Alains

John Wurdeman

Founder, Pheasant’s Tears Winery in Georgia

John was born in USA and received his Masters in fine Arts at the Surikov Institute in Moscow. John has lived in Georgia for more than twenty years, initially to collect ancient polyphonic folk songs. As an artist enamored with the lovely landscape, he stayed to paint and collect music. Most ancient Georgian folk songs are sung at the table and through travelling to different regions on song expeditions John became enraptured with the diverse food and wine culture of Georgia, founding Pheasant’s Tears Winery in 2007. John continues to paint, collect songs but the wine and wine tourism business has taken over a substantial part of his life, including running multiple restaurants, managing tours, and lecturing around the world.

TOPIC: Natural Wine Journey

Melinda Joe

Journalist, Japan Times

Melinda is a food writer based in Tokyo. Originally from Louisiana, she earned a degree in fine arts and literature at the University of California at Berkeley before moving to Japan. She is a Japan Times columnist, as well as the Tokyo correspondent for Gourmet Magazine Sweden and Tokyo editor of the 12Forward restaurant guide. Her writing, which has been translated into four languages, has appeared in numerous publications such as Newsweek, Nikkei Asian Review, Conde Nast Traveler, and The Wall Street Journal Asia. A certified sake and wine specialist, Melinda is a panel chair in the sake division of London’s International Wine Challenge. In 2019, she was an inspector for the inaugural World Restaurant Awards.

Bill Knott

Journalist, Financial Times

Bill Knott started his career as a chef before co-founding the food and drink magazine Eat Soup in 1995. He has since written for a host of magazines and newspapers worldwide, including stints as restaurant
critic for the Daily Telegraph, BBC Good Food and BA High Life and - in his present incarnation - The Gannet in the Financial Times. He has written the monthly Masterclass column in Restaurant magazine for the last 15 years, featuring a host of top chefs cooking their favourite dishes. He is also the wine columnist for The Oldie, and has led food and wine tours to Champagne, Bordeaux, the Rhône, the Loire, Sicily and the Douro Valley.
Bill has also featured frequently on television and radio, appearing several times as a judge on The Great British Menu and a pundit on Daily Politics, as well as on Radio 4's The Food Programme and Today.
When not travelling the world in pursuit of great food and wine, or as an ambassador for the international humanitarian charity Action Against Hunger, he lives in West London, surrounded by cookbooks. He never skips lunch.

Aylin Tan

Aylin is one of Turkey's leading food writers, pens the weekly column “Fork & Cork” for Hurriyet Daily News. She is the author of “A Taste of Sun & Fire: Gaziantep Cookery” and winner of the Sophie Coe Award for food history in 2008. She has contributed to several international reference books, most recently "The Oxford Companion to Cheese." Originally an architect specializing in conservation, she has also served as project manager for the World Bank Turkey's Cultural Heritage Project.

Marko Kovac

Founder of Karakterre: annual natural winegrowers salon in Vienna. Having been associated with wines for almost 20 years, Marko Kovac runs Karakterre— one of Europe’s leading natural wine salons based in Vienna, Austria. For eight years now, the salon’s been gathering winemakers from all over Europe, as well as professionals that create the natural wine community. Marko also exports wines to Thailand where he’s consulting Gaggan group of restaurants on changing the perspectives of drinking habits in Southeast Asia. Together with a friend winemaker, Marko has made his first natural, sulphur and chemical-free organic wine - a Malvasia Istriana - in his native Croatia in 2016.

TOPIC: Natural Wines & How to Pair Them

Marc Stierand, PhD

École Hôtelière de Lausanne’s Associate Professor of Service Management and Director of the Institute of Business Creativity. His research focuses on managerial and organisational cognition and management education and development, with a particular interest in personal and team creativity, intuition, and talent.

TOPIC: a trained chef, Marc will speak about his fascinating research "Creativity and Aesthetics: The Case of Michelin-starred Chefs”.

Virginia Anne Newton

Director of Media Relations & Special Events, Restaurant Geranium, Copenhagen***

Originally from the United States of America, Virginia is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. While her University degree is in Political Science, her career has included working in both the film and television industries. She lived in Nashville, Tennessee as well as Los Angeles, California before moving to Germany where she left the entertainment world behind and entered the financial sector. For 10 years she worked as the Finance & Contracts Manager for an aeronautical engineering firm based at the German Space Operations Center, just outside of Munich. In the fall of 2015, Virginia followed her passion for food to Copenhagen where she works as Director of Media Relations & Special Events for 3 Michelin-starred Restaurant Geranium.

TOPIC: Customer Relationship and Service Management

Paul Webster

VP Business Development, Livit Design

Paul Webster is VP Business Development at Livit Design in Madrid, Spain, the world’s leading F&B Strategic Brand Consultants and Restaurant Concept Design Company and also of Livit’s very own test-lab restaurant 1889, Fast-Fine Pizza in Stockholm, Sweden, where AI & technology drive sales and guest behaviour.

TOPIC: How Artifical Intelligence in Restaurants Manifests Itself - Case Study of 1889 Fast Fine Pizza, Stockholm

Tove Oskarsson Henckel

Editor in Chief, Gourmet Magazine

Tove is the Editor in Chief at Gourmet Magazine, based in Sweden, working as a freelance journalist with a sommelier degree. She is also a contributor to the daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet and 360 Eat Guide. Tove travels around the world to visit restaurants like Noma in Denmark, Saison in San Francisco, Fäviken Magasinet in Sweden and Narisawa in Japan. She loves fine dining, but just as much she enjoys street food in Seoul, hamburgers in Chicago and oysters in Tomales Bay.

Iñaki Bolumburu

Nomad Chef, Former Sous Chef at Nerua (#32)

Originally from Derio, a small town on the outskirts of Bilbao, Iñaki is the first generation of cooks in his family; curiously, his family has always been linked to the environment and its gastronomic tradition, the product ; farming, foraging, hunting, fishing, preserving , fermenting ...

When he had not yet reached the counter, Iñaki already wanted to help in the kitchen. His first memories with his hands in the dough is when he helped his cousin to batter the zucchini collected from the family garden.
At the age of 15 he entered to the Artxanda hotel school in the city of Bilbao, where he first met haute cuisine.

After working and learning the traditional cuisine of his surroundings in several restaurants, he had the opportunity to be part of some of the worlds bests restaurants like ;, Mugaritz (San Sebástian, Basque country), Pure C (Cadzand, Netherlands), Noma (Copenaghe, Denmark) and Nerua (Bilbao, Basque country) where they made him the chef that is today.

Currently, Iñaki is starting his own way as a nomad chef, cooking in a concept of pop-up restaurants in order to promote and teach his traveler cuisine with Basque roots to the entire world.

TOPIC - From Bilbao to Nomadism

James Hacon

Partner, THINK Hospitality

James is a multi award winning hospitality marketing, brand & development strategist, he has worked as an executive, consultant and investor to provide strategic advice to more than 50 hospitality brands in more than 10 countries. His experience stretches almost all sectors of hospitality from independent Michelin starred restaurants and boutique hotels through to multi-site restaurant brands and international hotel companies.
He is a sought after hospitality sector speaker, facilitator and emcee, regularly being invited to conferences, forums and dinners across the world.
He is the co-founder of the Restaurant Marketer & Innovator, a judge at the Great British Takeaway Awards, an Ambassador for the charity Only A Pavement Away & on the advisory board of the Global Restaurant Investment Forum.

TOPIC: The Art of Service

Kaja Sajovic

Kaja is a food and wine journalist from Slovenia, working for the main Slovenian broadcaster, Slovenian National Television (RTV SLO) as the editor of Food/Travel department with a reach of approximately 650.000 readers daily. She is also a contributor for several Slovenian leading food, wine/travel magazines: Dolcevita, Vino, Ljubljana Exclusive. Furthermore, Kaja writes for foreign media as well, main being Fine Dining Lovers website and Turkish Gastraea magazine. Currently, Kaja is working on an upcoming book about Ana Roš' story for Phaidon New York, titled Sun and Rain.
She is a regular on the 50 Best and Gellinaz circle, being the Slovenian ambassador for the Gellinaz shuffle, attended 50 Best ceremony, and regularly attends leading gastronomical conferences around the world (Madrid Fusion, Gastromasa ...).
She is also the co-author of Slovenian gastronomic strategy 2021.

Silver Saa

Silver was born and raised in rural Estonia. He got introduce to the restaurant business working as a dishwasher on his summer breaks from school. The school educated him on classic French and Estonian cuisine and gave him the opportunity to stage at restaurant Ö, which was the best restaurant in Estonia at the time. After finishing school, Silver worked for Swissotel Tallinn and made a transition within the company to go and work for The Savoy hotel in London. After returning home Silver started his first head chef position at a small 40 seat restaurant in the city center with all the creative freedom he needed to make is mark. He worked there for 3 years and had the opportunity to stage in Denmark and Finland. The restaurant got ranked nr.8 on the 50 best restaurants of Estonia list within the first year and became the talk of the town. During that time he trained his skills and refined his cuisine and got more advanced technically up to the point he had to move on due to the limited options in the kitchen. He pursued to adapt his style and make it more personal. Years later he partnered with Sparkling Group to open his own restaurant ORE in the Old Town of Tallinn. Within the first year the restaurant got ranked nr.8 in the Baltic states and nr.5 in Estonia according to White Guide Nordic . Ore is a chic-casual restaurant that offers cuisine which is refined, minimalistic in presentation and layered in flavor. Each of the dishes on the menu have a story behind it, nothing is created just for the sake of creating. Inspiration is drawn from all parts of the world whilst paying respect to seasons and terrior. Foraging and fermenting are common practices in the kitchen at Ore. Silver is always questioning everything, looking for new ways to improve and to lead the development of Estonian gastronomy.

TOPIC - Collaborating with Foreign Chefs

Andrey Shmakov

Executive Chef, SAVVA Restaurant Moscow

In 2013, the position of Metropol’s Brand-Chef was taken by Andrey Shmakov. Andrey discovered his culinary skills while working in a German shipping company, following which he began to sharpen them in Italian and French restaurants in his native Tallinn. Before coming to Moscow to make his culinary dreams a reality at the legendary Metropol, Andrey has gained experience by working in a number of European restaurants, most of which were Michelin-starred.

He worked in Tallinn restaurants Kadriorg and RIBE, in restaurants in the Grand Hotel and Radisson SAS, got on-the-job training in Noma and Chez Dominique.

Andrey’s outstanding professional feature is commitment to experimentation. In his practice, he used different cooking techniques, for example, molecular cuisine or low temperature cooking.

The menus of Metropol’s restaurants combine the most attractive components of various culinary traditions: Scandinavian thoroughness, Italian cheerfulness, French delicacy and Russian identity.

In 2017 the French restaurant guide Gault&Millau has released its first Russian issue. A special Gault&Millau award — Executive Chef of Hotel — went to the Executive Chef of SAVVA Restaurant and Metropol Hotel, Andrey Shmakov. He was distinguished as one of the main creators of the contemporary gastronomic image of Russia. Now his contribution in the development of the national cuisine is appreciated internationally.

TOPIC - Cross-Border Cooking

Tiffany J. Ng

CEO, RSVP

Originally from San Francisco, Tiffany has made Europe her home the past 12 years. She kickstarted her journey in F&B by founding Silver.Spoon, an immersive gastronomic experience agency in 2009 that operated in multiple countries. over the years, Silver.Spoon grew from a hobby project while Tiffany completed her masters degree into a full-fledged members community while working with a large variety of clients looking to position and activate their brand through immersive dining. Meanwhile, colleagues around the world were creating their own pop-ups as a creative outlet, branding opportunity, or for knowledge exchange.

Tiffany realized that despite the value these experiences brought both guests and organizers, it did not come without significant obstacles but one that had a clear solution. So, in 2016, RSVP was born; she and her team are developing a tech platform with the vision to empower our industry to create collaborative and new economic opportunities by eliminating the barriers that stand in the way from planning, sourcing, selling, to managing pop-ups, whether in- or out-of-house. RSVP is also the world’s first solution that fully integrates pop-up events tools with daily restaurant bookings management.

Paap Uspenski

Paap Uspenski is a entrepreneur, harbour captain, DJ, islander, and one of the founders and organisers of I Land Sound, a 4-day, eco-friendly summer festival for 5000 guests that takes place on the picturesque islet of Illiku, located off Saaremaa, the biggest island in Estonia. Amidst an astonishingly beautiful landscape, the aim of this festival is to bring people the best that music, art, nature and being together has to offer. Since its birth in 2017, I Land Sound has valued highly environmental sustainability. On its third happening year in 2019, all eco-friendly practices were brought together under the banner of ‘I Land Green’, making it the official environmental project of the festival. Visit https://ilandsound.ee/roheline. In January 2019, I Land Sound was honoured with a ‘Green Action 2018’ acknowledgement at the Culture and Tourism Gala of Saaremaa county.

Bek Narzi

Bek Narzi is a public speaker, blogger, influencer, entrepreneur, restaurateur and writer whose most recent accomplishment has been the release of his first book The Art of Hospitality that has already become a best seller in Russia.

Bek has given many seminars throughout Russia and Europe and is a compelling mentor who specialises in bringing the best out of people in all avenues of the hospitality industry. He was listed in the top ten bar and restaurant entrepreneurs in the world by Havana Club and has opened award-winning venues all across the globe as well as launch his own thriving restaurant brand Pachamama Group that has several venues spread across both London and Moscow.

He is a highly-infectious, captivating and sensational motivator that tackles all aspects of business communication and development and self-improvement with a rapier wit and a razor-sharp eye for problem solving. As a result the content of his seminars have proved indispensible to those he as inspired and helped along on their personal roads to success in the hospitality sector.

Matthias Diether

Executive Chef, 180 Degrees

Born in Berlin and raised in southern Germany, Matthias Diether found his passion for cooking, helping out at his uncle’s restaurant during weekends and school holidays. He gained his professional knowledge with the great German chefs Lothar Eiermann, Harald Wohlfahrt and Dieter Müller, and managed gourmet kitchens in Dubai for the Ritz Carlton, the Emirates Palace and the Shangri-La. In 2010 he founded his signature restaurant First Floor in Berlin, where he was able to perfect the elegant and artistic cooking style which he is known for today. His passion for French cuisine shows itself with his modern and individual interpretations, incredible subtleness and opulence are the features that made him the culinary favourite in Berlin. Today he is establishing his culinary home in Estonia, having worked at Pädaste manor on Muhu Island, and found inspiration in Estonia's unique regional cuisine.

The elegant menu from 180° by Matthias Diether delivers on clean and intense flavours. Modern European cuisine served with exquisite attention to detail and immaculate presentation.

Mattias Kroon

Mattias Kroon is food writer and journalist from Sweden, now based in Paris. Published in most quality newspapers in Sweden and magazines over the years, and acting as editor for a few. A writer and contributor to international books and guides, at the moment working on the book about celebrated ***Frantzén in Stockholm. As well as several tv-series, such as the recent Four Hands Menu with Niklas Ekstedt. Host of gastronomic events and trips, moderator of talks and conferences. And the 2019 recipient of the prestigeous French food writing award Les Plumes d’Or.

Tobyn Excell

Originally from Kent in South-East England, Tobyn studied Anthropology before working in various top kitchens in London and the UK for over 10 years. As a chef he felt a strong need to understand the natural world around him and the role he played in it, so Tobyn moved into research, working at Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen, and Forager in the UK. Tobyn was eventually drawn back to his native countryside, where he has established Sael Projects.
Sæl Projects is a space to explore our roots in the land. Researching the natural landscape’s ecology, our agricultural history and our food culture, we seek to rediscover forgotten flavours, unearth buried knowledge from past generations, and revitalise our bonds with nature through taste.
Sael Projects runs SixSeats, a monthly event for only six people in Tobyn’s country home. SixSeats is an immersive dining experience connecting people with nature in which SP collaborates with chefs, growers and producers to showcase the latest ideas and flavours from the test kitchen.
Tobyn will launch Sael, an experimental farm and restaurant in rural Kent, in Spring 2021.