Category Archives: Reviews

Culinary Books: “Fäviken – 4015 Days, Beginning to End” By Magnus Nilsson

Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End is a vital commentary on food culture today and includes illuminating essays on subjects as wide ranging as creativity; balancing familial responsibilities while running a restaurant; the hypocrisy of sustainability in restaurants; the search for lagom; social media; imitation vs. plagiarism; haute cuisine; the art of hospitality; and the importance of craft over innovation.

In 2019, Magnus Nilsson closed Fäviken, his one-of-a-kind restaurant in remote Sweden – a difficult decision, as it was close to his heart and at the height of its success. Here is the Fäviken story: how it became a world-class destination, how the industry it was a part of has changed, and why Magnus eventually elected to pursue new projects.

The book also includes a chronological list of every dish ever served at the restaurant and highlights 100 memorable recipes. The book’s stunning photography includes a mixture of archival photographs and newly shot images of the food, the restaurant, the staff, and the surrounding setting of Northern Sweden.

A textural cover made of blue cloth and red paper with a wood-grain effect references the shape and color of the Fäviken building.

Magnus Nilsson is the author of Fäviken (2012), The Nordic Cookbook (2015), Nordic: A Photographic Essay of Landscapes (2016), and The Nordic Baking Book (2018), all published with Phaidon.

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Top Culinary Arts Videos: “Japanese Fried Rice” From Teppanyaki Hoen In Kyoto

Fried rice in Kyoto as part of a lunch menu, including Wagyu beef, vegetables, herbs and an egg.

Teppanyaki Hoen(鉄板焼 豊園) is a restaurant located on the 2nd floor of the Hotel Nikko Princess Kyoto.

This Teppanyaki restaurant commits on using the best ingredients when cooking your meal. High-quality Japanese Wagyu and seafood, fresh vegetables from the Kyoto area, and salt from France. Their theme is to provide the best fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine. There is also a sommelier present at the restaurant who can recommend you the best wine for your preference.

The restaurant is spacious and even has a private room, so you can come with children without any problems.

World’s Top Exhibitions: “Raphael 1520-1483”, Rome’s ‘Scuderie del Quirinale’

Five hundred years after the death of Raphael Sanzio, Italy pays homage to the supreme Renaissance artist with a great exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale. Raphael died in Rome on 6 April 1520 and it is in Rome that he owes his universal fame. It is therefore particularly significant that this national tribute should take place in the city where the artist from Urbino fully expressed his formidable talent, and where his life suddenly ended at only 37 years of age. 

More than one hundred masterpieces that are autographed or, in any event, are attributable to Raphaelesque ideas shall be gathered together at the Scuderie for the first time, including paintings, cartoons, drawings, tapestries and architectural projects.They will be joined by an equal number of works for comparison and context (sculptures and other ancient artefacts, Renaissance sculptures, codices, documents and precious masterpieces of applied art) amounting to a total of 204 works on display, including 120 paintings and drawings by Raphael himself.

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Top Podcast Interviews: Thomas Frank, Author Of “The People, No: A Brief History Of Anti-Populism”

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with Thomas Frank, author of “The People, No”, an eye-opening account of populism, the most important―and misunderstood―movement of our time. 

Rarely does a work of history contain startling implications for the present, but in The People, No Thomas Frank pulls off that explosive effect by showing us that everything we think we know about populism is wrong. Today “populism” is seen as a frightening thing, a term pundits use to describe the racist philosophy of Donald Trump and European extremists. But this is a mistake.

The real story of populism is an account of enlightenment and liberation; it is the story of American democracy itself, of its ever-widening promise of a decent life for all. Taking us from the tumultuous 1890s, when the radical left-wing Populist Party―the biggest mass movement in American history―fought Gilded Age plutocrats to the reformers’ great triumphs under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Frank reminds us how much we owe to the populist ethos. Frank also shows that elitist groups have reliably detested populism, lashing out at working-class concerns. The anti-populist vituperations by the Washington centrists of today are only the latest expression.

Frank pummels the elites, revisits the movement’s provocative politics, and declares true populism to be the language of promise and optimism. The People, No is a ringing affirmation of a movement that, Frank shows us, is not the problem of our times, but the solution for what ails us.