ICEx baby
As the launch of Latest TV looms, Andrew Kay expands the search for participents in his TV series International Chef Exchange to The Hague
Regular readers of this column may well remember the excitement I felt when I found chef Audrey Eussen at the Beaumont Hotel in Maastricht. That excitement was perfectly timed as it coincided with the news that here at Latest we had won our bid to run Brighton and Hove’s new local TV channel.
Audrey was delighted when I invited her here to take part in the Brighton & Hove Food & Drink Festival and even more delighted when I revealed that I had taken the project to my boss, Bill Smith, who said yes to me filming the event both here in Brighton at Drakes Hotel and then a few months later at The Beaumont.
The resulting footage is beautiful and spurred me on to do more. Subsequently we went to Rotterdam, swapping chef Rob from Hotel du Vin with Pepijn Schmeink from his restaurant Eendracht. In Rotterdam things were fun but not as smooth as in Maastricht or Brighton, but it certainly makes for some entertaining viewing and has given me the foundations for a superb cultural exchange project but also great TV.
Of course, all things of this nature come at a price, and, having created the model, I needed to find a further four restaurants to make a full six part series of hour-long programmes.
Fortunately for me I am joined in this venture by man about town Nick Mosley, who has been involved from the start in making the project work, finding partners and sponsors both here and abroad. We are now lined up to make four more programmes, music is being specially composed and the whole endeavour is taking off at a rate of knots.
Not unlike Nick and I who last week made a whistlestop visit to The Hague where we needed to find our next victim, I mean star! The Hague is an interesting city just a short train journey from Schiphol Airport. Very clearly divided between the old and the new, ancient and modern sits comfortably side by side in an environment that clearly benefits from the wealth brought to it by the presence of the International Courts of Law.
Working to a tight budget we flew and stayed Easy, both Jet and Hotel, the latter of which I have to admit is a rather good budget choice. After checking in we headed off to see the city at dinner, well at drink I should say, before going on to Garoeda. Indonesian cuisine is as much a part of the Dutch diet as cheese and I have to say at Garoeda it was exceptionally good, generous and well priced. We had a mid list rijsttafel that comprised of too many dishes to count. Amongst them some real gems, beautiful vegetables, great beef and stunning satays, and best of all some spicy mussels that were lip smackingly good. At around £60 for two including lashings of wine it was excellent value but not perhaps what we were looking for.
The following day we headed off to Basaal, a stylish bistro overlooking one of the city’s canals. It was closed for lunch but our guide had called ahead so that we could meet the chef and his team. Immediately when we arrived we sensed we were on to something good and after only 20 minutes of explaining the project the chef was up and in that kitchen preparing a series of tasters for us.
Before very long I was convinced. A dish of chicken livers with sherry set us on our way, followed by delicious lemon marinated horse mackerel, then beautiful brown shrimp croquettes with saffron mustard, perfect cuttlefish in a light cuttlefish sauce. A piece of pollack was so well cooked and seasoned that it made us wonder why we had over-fished cod.
We finished with delicate chocolate tarts, a delicious ice-cream served with dark hot coffee and biscuits and a plate of perfect Dutch cheeses, and yes there is much more to them than the rather dull stuff that our supermarkets choose to import. This chef was good, really good and really fired up about the food he prepares and the ingredients he sources. In truth an excellent match for an exchange with our chosen chef from Brighton’s 64 Degrees, Michael Bremner.
Now it’s all down to the red tape and the timings, getting Michael to The Hague with my trusty film guru Andy and getting Basaal back here. Watch this space for more news of the ICEx events, tickets will be in high demand and restricted. And look out for the ICEx TV show which will screen at our launch of Latest TV this summer.
Garoeda Restaurant: Kneuterdijk 18-A 2514 EN The Hague Tel: 070 3465319 www.garoeda.com
Basaal, Dunne Bierkade 3, 2512 BC The Hague, Tel 070 427 68 88 www.restaurant-denhaag-basaal.nl
64 Degrees, 53 Meeting House Lane, Brighton, BN1 1HB, 01273 770115, http://64degrees.co.uk
