It’s been quite the year for Fine Dining Lovers, a new look website, plenty of global events attended and lots and lots of engagement from our loyal readers. As the clock ticks down on the year and, indeed, the decade, we had a look back at 2019 to see which were our most-read stories.
1. The Blue Java Banana
People went bananas for the Blue Java Banana, otherwise known as the Ice Cream banana, called as such for good reason: the flesh of the Blue Java banana has the consistency of ice cream and is flavoured with hints of vanilla.
2. Mauro Colagreco reigns supreme
The Le Chef compilation of the 100 best chefs in the world for 2020 has been released with chef Mauro Colagreco from the Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France named the best chef in the world.
3. The image that struck a chord
A picture posted by a chef on Facebook has been creating some serious debate about kitchen culture and how many chefs eat after or during service.
4. “Our whites are not suits of armour”, a Chef opens up about the Industry
One chef lifts the lid on the dangerous lack of mental health awareness and support in the hospitality industry with his brutally honest account of 20 years in the kitchen.
5. Chefs Share 58 of the Stupidest Food Orders Ever
If you're a regular reader you'll know that we love to share the stupidest food orders ever received by the chefs over on the ChefTalk forum. Whenever we've posted about this our readers in the industry have come back with some hilarious stupid food orders of their own, so we've decided to combine them in one list.
6. World's 50 Best Restaurants 2019, Mirazur at the top - The full list
Mirazur in Menton, France has been announced as the number one restaurant at the The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Singapore.
7. 22 Pics That will Infuriate Professional Chefs
Chefs need things to be done a certain way, which is why we know the next collection of images are going to send heads spinning.
8. Joël Robuchon Made The World's Best Mashed Potatoes: Here's The Recipe
Chef Joël Robuchon most famous, most delicious, most talked about dish was Pomme Purée: the only one of his creations he went on to serve at every single one of his restaurants around the world.
9. Sean Brock: putting the rest in restaurants
Fresh from nearly two years of much needed rest, the chef is back with an idea and set of ideals for a new restaurant that should have every young cook in America queuing up to work for him.
10. The sustainability of the chef: our survey on kitchen culture
Kitchen culture has been a major topic at Fine Dining Lovers for the past few years. We have focused on numerous stories of chefs and restaurant owners who have stepped away from the plate to bring better balance to their kitchens and some of the largest conversations within our community online have been those that touch on issues of chef burn-out, new models of working, case studies and personal stories around the idea of improving kitchens.
