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Edinburgh Live
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh celebrity chef up against UK's finest for coveted national award
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An Edinburgh celebrity chef is in the running for a major award - up against famous chefs from around the UK. Restaurant Online released its 'Chef of the Year' shortlist for the National Restaurant Awards 2025 and Edinburgh's own Roberta Hall-McCarron made the exclusive six-person list. She is up against heavy-hitting chefs from around the UK such as Mark Birchall of Moor Hall - a three-Michelin Star eatery in Lancashire - and Kim Ratcharoen, who runs Gordon Ramsay's three-star London restaurant. Roberta made her mark on Edinburgh's culinary scene with her early work at The Tower Restaurant, formerly located in the National Museum, the Balmoral Hotel, and the Castle Terrace, as well as working alongside Tom Kitchin at The Kitchin - a Michelin-star restaurant in Leith. She made a splash in Edinburgh's fine dining world after opening The Little Chartoom, a Michelin-guide Leith restaurant and wine bar which "ranges from subtle to bold flavours while always retaining a keen sense of balance", according to the Guide. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Roberta also co-runs restaurants Eleanor and Ardfern on Bonnington Road, rounding out a her prolific portfolio and garnering national fame. Restaurant Online says Roberta transitioned "seamlessly" to more casual ventures in her more recent ventures Eleanor and Ardfern. The celebrity chef has appeared on BBC's Great British Menu. The multi-hyphenate has also released a debut cookbook in 2024 called The Changing Tides which offers recipes that utilise Scottish produce such as game, fish, wild mushrooms, and berries. The winner of the coveted Chef of the Year award will be announced at the National Restaurant Awards on June 9.
Hamilton Spectator
14-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Burlington pizza chef bakes up two big wins
Cooking in his oven rigged to go up to 800 C amid melted and blackened cupboards was a regular part of chef Bart Nadherny's day before he opened his own pizza shop. Since the beginning, it has been a labour of love. 'I'd take these huge 50-lb. bags of flour home that I'd buy from the restaurant and make pizzas all the time,' said Nadherny, referring to his time living and working in Virginia. After decades of investing in his love for pizza, Nadherny went from a young pizza lover to a two-time award-winning chef for a pizza he makes regularly out of his Burlington shop, Son of a Peach Pizzeria. 'It was just mind-blowing, it was such a surreal experience,' Nadherny said. The pizza chef won first place at Toronto's Restaurants Canada Show on April 7, before landing first again in the Canadian Pizza Summit's Chef of the Year competition in Montreal just a week later. He took home $3,000 in award money. Nadherny won by cooking his specialty and addiction — the pepperoni pizza. 'I've made this pizza a million times in my mind, and here on the line,' said Nadherny, pointing behind the shop's counter. Next month, Nadherny and his wife, Kim, will celebrate 11 years since opening the shop. When the couple was thinking about where to settle down, Burlington was an easy choice. 'We chose my old stomping ground of this beautiful Golden Horseshoe area,' he said. Nadherny grew up on farms in Beamsville, where his love for fresh produce and vegetables was first born. The business name came from Nadherny's mom, who grew up on peach farms, earning her the nickname 'Peachy' and making him the 'Son of a Peach.' More deep-rooted than the name is how his parents and grandmother inspired his love for pizza. 'My grandmother was Italian and my earliest memories of pizza were us making it together,' said Nadherny. By 15 years old, Nadherny worked in a fine dining restaurant in the Niagara region before studying at New York's Culinary Institute of America. He then studied regional Italian cuisine in Jesi, Italy. Nadherny said all his experiences have shaped the care he puts into his work today. ' There's just like so many little things that we try to do ourselves,' he said. This includes dicing the pineapples for the pizzas and choosing quality ingredients. For about five years, the shop did not offer a traditional pepperoni pizza because the couple could not find the right one, he said. 'We enjoy the pepperoni that's dry, it's heavily spiced, it cups and chars a little bit on the top and it's more of a cured salami versus a deli meat,' said Nadherny. These are decision the two make together, he said. The couple met in Washington, D.C., where Nadherny moved after Italy, and instantly bonded over food. At the time, Nadherny still worked in restaurants. 'She was like, 'Why don't you have your own place?' and she really pushed me to do it,' he said. The couple has now gone from making doughnuts in their little condo kitchen in Washington to owning Son of a Peach Pizzeria and their doughnut shop, called The Sunshine Doughnut Co. After a decade at the pizza shop, Nadherny has entered the competing part of his career. In March 2026, he will take Son of a Peach to Las Vegas' International Pizza Challenge. He will also compete in Montreal and Ohio. Although Nadherny is used to working under stress, competing is a new ball game, he said. 'It's just like thought after thought after thought; meanwhile, you're trying to erase all those thoughts to put the sauce on nice and relaxed. Lay the cheese on nice, and relax,' said Nadherny. The chef told himself he wouldn't compete again, but he now thinks otherwise, realizing its value in showing others how they run their shop with integrity. 'Do you put that salt in or do you cut that basil properly? Do you roast those mushrooms?' he said. 'Every little bit is important and the less ingredients you have on the pizza and the more flavour-foreign your pizzas are, the more each one of those ingredients is amplified.' Cheyenne Bholla is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. cbholla@
Hamilton Spectator
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Burlington Son of a Peach Pizzeria chef earns two national pizza-making awards
Burlington can celebrate a multiple award-winning pizza chef. Chef Bart Nadherny, owner of Son of a Peach Pizzeria and The Sunshine Doughnut Co. , won two awards for his pizza this month and also qualified for an international showdown. At Toronto's Restaurants Canada Show on April 7, Nadherny took first place in the Traditional category. Along with a $3,000 prize, he earned a spot in the International Pizza Competition in Las Vegas next March. On April 15, Chef Bart won first place at Canadian Pizza Summit's Chef of the Year competition, hosted by Canadian Pizza Magazine in Montreal. That win also includes a guaranteed spot in the Las Vegas international competition, and an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas for two. 'This is absolutely surreal,' Nadherny said. 'We've always put love and creativity into every pizza we make — but to be recognized twice in one week, and now have the chance to represent Canada on an international stage, is beyond anything I imagined.' Chef Bart Nadherny of Burlington's Son of a Peach Pizzeria won two national pizza-making competitions in April and advanced to compete in an international competition in Las Vegas next year. Colleen Cross, editor of Canadian Pizza magazine, said Nadherny earned Canadian Pizza Chef of the Year honours with a pizza called The Pig + Peach. 'We'll be featuring it in an upcoming issue of Canadian Pizza, a trade publication for the industry,' Cross stated in an email. She said Nadherny's winning pizza featured house-made peach barbecue sauce. Cross also said Nadherny took second place in the same competition last year. John Gutenkast, an award-winning pizza chef from Ohio who hosted the Restaurants Canada Show's pizza competition, said Nadherny made 'a wonderfully simple pizza, but I think his crust and dough set him apart from the rest. 'His crust was a crispy char, which added to the cupping pepperonis' strength of taste. He also had pepperonis under the first layer of cheese. Nice! And I think his vivacious personality and passion for pizza won the judges over.'
FACT
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- FACT
Reif Othman opens two new restaurants inside the world's longest cantilevered building
Savour pizza and ramen while suspended 100 metres above Dubai. Reif Othman is one of the UAE's most popular chefs. He is behind FACT Award-winning restaurants and was named our Chef of the Year in 2022. Now, the celebrated chef has launched two new concepts inside The Link at One Za'abeel. Known for his unconventional take on Japanese street food, SIO is a dedicated ramen house that dives deep into the soulful simplicity of Japanese comfort food. Taking its name from the Japanese word for 'salt,' the concept elevates the traditional noodle shop experience with a refined yet heartfelt menu. Highlights include the signature SIO Ramen, a bowl brimming with homemade broth, tender steamed chicken, marinated egg and a bright pop of sudachi citrus; the indulgent Carbonara Udon, crowned with an onsen egg, crispy beef bacon and shaved pecorino; and the bold, broth-less Spicy Vongole Ramen, where fresh clams combine with hojiso, shiso leaves, and a fiery kick of yuzu togarashi. Next door, KONA — meaning 'powder' or 'flour' in Japanese — marries Italian tradition with Japanese flair. This bold pizzeria offers more than just the familiar Margherita and Pepperoni. Signature pies include the Diavolina, layered with gochujang tomato sauce, marinated Wagyu ribs, and galbi mayo; the Ama Ebi, which combines spicy tomato sauce, red yuzu kosho, and fresh shrimp; and the daring Spicy Kaki, topped with beef nduja and sweet persimmon. While KONA might be new, pizza is hardly uncharted territory for Reif, who was behind the marvellous menu at Moonslice Pizza when it opened in 2021. 'SIO and KONA are very personal projects for me,' says Chef Reif Othman. 'They reflect my love for pure, bold flavours and my passion for pushing culinary boundaries while always staying true to craftsmanship and authenticity. I'm excited for guests to experience these concepts and taste something both familiar and completely new.' Reif hails from Singapore and has made his mark on Dubai's dining scene. Throughout Reif's career, he has garnered numerous awards, including a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand and a spot on the inaugural MENA 50 Best list. His restaurants include Hoe Lee Kow, Reif Kushiyaki and TERO (The Experience by Reif Othman). Later this year, he will team up with 7 Management to open Yubi Handroll Bar on Dubai's first licensed street. SIO and KONA can be found in the space formerly occupied by Arrazuna in The Link and are open daily from 12pm to 11pm. GO: Follow @siobyreif and @konabyreif on Instagram for more information.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Forbes
From Fjords To Fine Dining: Inside The Rise Of Greenlandic Cuisine
Greenland cuisine is making it's mark in the culinary world. There's a particular thrill in traveling to the ends of the Earth. But for those heading to Greenland with HX Expeditions, that thrill now comes with a plate of reindeer carpaccio and a glass of Arctic berry beer. Beginning May 24, 2025, the world's longest-running expedition cruise company will launch a new culinary initiative designed to introduce guests to Greenland's landscapes and its largely unsung gastronomic traditions. At the helm of the program is Inunnguaq Hegelund, a celebrated Greenlandic chef who's been championing his homeland's cuisine long before it was buzzworthy. To him, food is more than sustenance. It's heritage. It's climate. It's survival. 'Greenlandic cuisine is deeply connected to nature, tradition, and sustainability,' he said. 'This initiative allows us to tell these stories through food.' And stories, it turns out, abound in Greenlandic cooking. Traditionally, the cuisine developed out of necessity. There were no olive groves, vineyards, wheat fields, or dairy farms. What existed was the sea, the ice, the wind, and the animals that endured them. As a result, Greenlandic fare is grounded in what the land gives—and gives sparingly. It's a cuisine of resilience: dried fish and whale blubber, reindeer meat and snow crab, herbs foraged during the short burst of Arctic summer. But in the hands of today's Greenlandic chefs, these age-old ingredients are being reimagined into something both rooted and revelatory. That's the spirit HX wants to bring aboard its ships. Guests will not only taste Greenland—they'll meet the people behind the flavors. Hegelund will be joined throughout the season by a rotating cast of Greenland's most exciting culinary talents, each offering their own interpretation of what it means to cook in and for this place. Laasi Biilmann, a rising star in the region and recipient of Greenland's Chef of the Year and Innovator Award, will be aboard from May 31 to August 15. Biilmann is known for applying modern Nordic techniques to native ingredients. Expect dishes that blend elegance with primal roots: musk ox tartare with spruce oil or cod paired with seaweed and fermented crowberries. It's fine dining that still smells faintly of saltwater and driftwood. Following him is Eli Nuka Johansson, who'll be sailing from August 31 to September 27. Johansson brings a playful, global sensibility to Greenlandic staples—using local ingredients like capelin and ptarmigan in ways that draw from both Asian and Mediterranean influences. His style is unexpected but never gimmicky. Every bite feels like a small act of cultural translation. Also joining the lineup is Jørgine Tobiassen, who takes a more purist approach. With a focus on hyperlocal produce and sustainable sourcing, her dishes are often simple but deeply evocative—think pickled angelica with char roe or pan-seared reindeer loin with Arctic thyme. She'll be on board the MS Spitsbergen from July 29 to August 11, offering guests a chance to experience Greenland through her lens: fresh, pared back, and undeniably personal. HX is committing to sourcing at least 30% of its food and beverage offerings from local and regional Greenlandic suppliers to support this onboard transformation. That means the fish was likely pulled from nearby waters, the microgreens grown in Arctic greenhouses, and the meat harvested under centuries-old traditions. Even the drinks are local: HX has partnered with Qajaq Brewery, founded in 2015, to serve its small-batch Greenlandic beers as part of the all-inclusive beverage program. Made with glacial water and local botanicals, the beers are an extension of the same ethos—craft, connection, and a deep reverence for place. 'We are incredibly proud to be working alongside Inunnguaq and other local chefs to bring the tastes of Greenland to our guests,' said Stefan Engl, VP of Hotel Operations at HX Expeditions. 'This partnership is not just about food; it's about sharing Greenland's deep cultural heritage through its flavors. By sourcing ingredients locally and collaborating with community suppliers, we're creating a truly authentic culinary experience that highlights the unique beauty of Greenland.' It's a bold move in an industry where lobster buffets and Caesar salads still reign. But then again, Greenland has never been about doing what's expected. It's a place where traditions run deep, nature sets the menu, and food—perhaps more than any view—lingers. So yes, come for the glaciers. But stay for the dried halibut. And the stories that come with it.
