The Bistronomy Chef

It is not a name-up-in-lights reckoning of celebrity chefdom either. It is about craftsmanship and engaging with farmers, providores and diners in new and meaningful ways. There is an ever-present, gung-ho enterprising determination found in bistronomy from a group of chefs for whom cooking in their restaurant kitchens on a daily basis is their prime source of succour … and survival.

The restaurant industry has always been mercurial, but the bistronomy chef is the battle-weary survivor. It is an approach brazenly driven by the market (in all senses of the word) and a tenacity for survival by cooking. For the majority, the chef wears many hats: having to play chef, investor and restaurateur, all the while outlasting slowing economies, ever-present industrial relations issues and competition. In this economic environment — and as the cultural trend for formal dining continues to be an endangered species — the bistronomy chef has had to cast about for new ways to make dining special, and in doing so has created restaurants that deliver real heart and passion.