Latest news with #Anne-SophiePic
Euronews
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Mission Michelin: Chef Anne-Sophie Pic prepares meals for outer space
Two Frenchwomen are set to give new meaning to the expression: "The sky's the limit". As announced by the European Space Agency, Sophie Adenot (who, next year, will fly to the International Space Station with her co-graduate from the class of 2022 Raphaël Liégeois) has worked with French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to develop the "bonus" dishes that she will take on board the ISS. No unappetising substitute at the bottom of the tube for this representative of the homeland of haute cuisine: as ESA points out, Sophie will be bringing a piece of French gastronomy into space with a special menu created with Anne-Sophie Pic, the world's most Michelin-starred chef. The dishes selected - "bonuses", not the full menu - are emblematic of French cuisine, but have been completely revisited, such as: Anne-Sophie Pic, notes ESA, is one of the leading figures in haute cuisine, constantly pushing back the boundaries of taste and emotion with her daring creations and intuitive approach. Her three-star restaurant 'Pic', in Valence, France, won Tripadvisor's 'Best Restaurants' award in 2024. She was also named best female chef in the world in 2011 by the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards. "It's a great challenge that Sophie Adenot has offered me and it's quite extraordinary", commented Anne-Sophie Pic, the three-Michelin-starred chef from Drôme, on ICI Drôme Ardèche on Thursday. When "last winter" the astronaut asked her to prepare festive dishes for the ISS, the chef "didn't hesitate for a single second to say yes". These bonus dishes account for 10% of astronauts' meals in space. "It's a bit of exceptional cuisine to give them courage", smiles Anne-Sophie Pic. Shellfish bisque, crème de foie gras esprit, onion soup with pink berries, braised beef effiloché, rice pudding and hazelnut and coffee chocolate cream: "The aim is to give them a taste of things they like". But to go into space, "these dishes are necessarily textured in a certain way", explains Anne-Sophie Pic. "It's classic cooking, but at the end, these dishes are restructured, blended and cooked thoroughly to remove any bacterial problems" and to make them "easy to eat". "It has to be fairly compact", but as the chef points out, it "can be extremely good and tasty". The food was packaged in partnership with Servair, a French company specialising in airline catering, using sterilisation in flexible sachets to preserve the taste qualities while guaranteeing very long storage at room temperature. Adenot, 42, a former helicopter test pilot, is due to carry out her first mission aboard the ISS in spring 2026. During a six-month mission called εpsilon, she will perform a variety of tasks, including European-initiated scientific experiments, medical research and station maintenance. Travelling at a speed of 28,800km/h at around 400km above the Earth, the ISS completes around 16 orbits around the planet each day, which can make it difficult to spread out breakfasts, lunches and dinners, notes The Guardian. Astronauts generally eat three meals a day, with a daily calorie intake of 2,500 calories as a rough guide. Because of the special requirements for food preservation and hygiene, feeding an astronaut can cost more than €20,000 a day. The food delivered aboard the International Space Station must be non-friable, light and have a shelf life of at least 24 months, according to the ESA. The bulk of the menus in space consist of canned or freeze-dried meals in plastic packaging that astronauts can select from a predefined list of options provided by the institutions. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a luxury and are only available when a spacecraft arrives with new supplies. Traditional gastronomy in space may not be the preserve of science fiction, continues The Guardian. Last April, ESA announced a project to assess the viability of producing laboratory-grown food in conditions of low gravity and high radiation, in orbit and on other planets. The team involved said the experiment was a first step towards developing a small pilot food production plant on board the ISS within two years, enabling future French astronauts to make 3D-printed bibs and laboratory-grown chips.
Local France
02-07-2025
- Science
- Local France
Michelin-star chef prepares ISS meals for French astronaut
Parsnip and haddock veloute, chicken with tonka beans and creamy polenta, and a chocolate cream with hazelnut cazette flower will also be on the menu, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday. Food delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) must meet strict specifications. It cannot be crumbly or too heavy and must be able to be stored for two years, the ESA said in a statement. Fresh fruit and vegetables are only available after a new spacecraft arrives from Earth with supplies, so most meals in space are canned, vacuum-packed or freeze-dried from a set of options provided by space agencies. But to spice things up, one out of every 10 meals is prepared for specific crew members according to their personal tastes. 'During a mission, sharing our respective dishes is a way of inviting crewmates to learn more about our culture. It's a very powerful bonding experience,' Adenot said in the statement. Adenot's menu was developed by French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who holds a total of 10 Michelin stars and was named best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2011. Advertisement Pic said it was an 'exhilarating challenge' to develop the menu, which includes four starters, two mains and two desserts. Adenot, a 42-year-old former helicopter test pilot, is scheduled to arrive for her first tour aboard the ISS in 2026. A pair of NASA astronauts returned to Earth in March after being unexpectedly stuck on the ISS for more than nine months after problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Forbes
Hotel Review: One&Only One Za'abeel Resort, Dubai
A vertical resort in a vertical skyscraper: One&Only One Za'abeel It's a name with a lot of nerve: One&Only—as if all other hotels are simply beside the point. Given that it's been years since I sampled the brand, I decided to put that boastful name to the test by checking into the property's newest Dubai opening, One&Only One Za'abeel. Dubbing itself an urban, vertical resort, the 178-room and 51-suite hotel certainly makes quite the entrance to the Dubai skyline—no easy feat, considering the grandiosity that is the Dubai skyline. Behold 'The Link': billed as a 'boulevard in the sky,' the world's longest cantilever, an 8500-ton steel structure hanging as if by magic between the two skyscrapers of One Za'abeel. Picture a structure taller than Seattle's Space Needle perched sideways in the clouds—a horizontal skyscraper: only in Dubai. Inside it is a food hall like you've never seen before, with eight open kitchens and more options than anyone knows what to do with. Many worlds in one: Indonesia-in-Dubai at Andaliman The architecture makes for quite the scene—and to match it, a stay at One&Only One Za'abeel is quite the experience. Here's why. Skyline suite SLEEP Talk about a palace in the sky: my plush room on the 50th floor gave wraparound views for days, with a shower the size of a house and a tub that had me feeling as if I were floating above the futuristic horizon. The boon is in the details: Each night I found a designer silk eye mask and herbal pillow spray left beside my bed; the custom-made made lotion and hand wash by Montroi smelled divine—a signature scent called Al Sama that saturated the property. Just being in my suite was an experience of serenity and luxury. Indonesian delights at Andaliman EAT The 'vertical resort' concept translates to stepping off many elevators into myriad worlds, and the culinary experience is at the heart of it all. On the spectacular rooftop pool deck—more on this later—you land in Japan: Tapesake gives legendary Nobu a run for its money with delights like Wagyu Gyoza, braised short ribs with citrus garlic oil and, my favorite, a seafood stone pot in which fish, prawns and calamari cooked before my eyes. The Garden floor—underneath The Link, an imposing sight from down below—is Southeast Asia, with the superb Andaliman serving Indonesian cuisine: Rengginang tuna & crab with rice crackers; Udang grilled prawns with pickled pineapple; Es Tung-Tung coconut and black rice ice cream with caramel popcorn. Find France on the 27th floor at La Dame de Pic, helmed by Chef Anne-Sophie Pic. I ordered a cocktail made with Campari, sweet vermouth and lavender, then savored the scallops with celeriac sake and coconut foam; for desert, the 'cheese creation' was ice cream-flavored cheese—or was it the other way around? I welcomed the tasty whimsy. Finally, although the StreetXO is primarily meant to transport you to Spain—it's the creation of Spanish chef Dabiz Muñoz, from Madrid StreetXO—I knew I was in for more than that when I walked through the cavernous, graffiti-covered entrance and spotted waiters wearing uniforms inspired by straightjackets. The mashup of cuisines here certainly borders on madness—but it's a delectable madness: salmon Mediterranean aguachile, Thai cold soba sashimi, Nigiri croquetas—yes, that's sushi-style fish served on Spanish croquetas instead of rice—and the best menu name of all: 'lobster awakens on the Goa coast,' which involves curry, lobster, and lots of fun. A mirage? Views from the pool deck atop The Link SWIM Back to that spectacular pool deck: Dubai loves a superlative, and One&Only One Za'abeel is home to the UAE's longest infinity pool, on the top deck of The Link. It's a respite in the sky with the ultimate Dubai view, which I took in while sipping a 'Japanese Mary,' made with clarified tomato sauce and Togarashi. For contrast, down below is the Garden Pool, which beckons with a whole other vibe: Palm trees, dark wood and rose-tinted, Batik-style cushions evoke the Asian tropics. Longevity Hub by Clinique la Prairie BE WELL Don't call it a spa—it's a wellness clinic. To be precise, the world's first (there's that Dubai superlative again!) Longevity Hub by Clinique la Prairie, featuring 29 treatment rooms for wellbeing and clinical therapies. I booked a session with a longevity coach and therapist, the obscenely attractive and very knowledgable Alejandro, who plugged me into various high-tech machines that read everything from my body fat to the metals in my body, producing a full assessment of my 'longevity index,' which—phew!—was pretty strong. Then I had a divine 60-minute massage that, without a doubt, increased said longevity index astronomically—as did my entire brief stay at One&Only One Za'abeel.
South China Morning Post
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
How perfume-making inspired one of the world's best female chefs
Anne-Sophie Pic's affair with Hong Kong is anything but a passing fancy. Sure, she has her Baccarat-adorned jewel box of a restaurant, Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic , which rises high above the Central cityscape and was awarded one Michelin star a mere four months after opening in 2023. But she was already smitten on her first encounter with Hong Kong more than three decades ago, during a university programme at the ISG School in Paris that also took her to South Korea, Taiwan , Singapore and Japan, at a time when she was seeking to distinguish herself from her family's gilded, three-Michelin-star legacy in Valence, France. Anne-Sophie Pic with pastry team members Eric Verbauwhede and Léo Faler. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic 'It was 15 days, but enough to discover the city and understand it more,' Pic recalls of her stint spent traversing Kowloon, eating her fill of seafood and street food. 'Hong Kong was different from other [places] around it. Full of energy. It was remarkable.' Advertisement Suffice to say, the Hong Kong of today is vastly different from the halcyon days of the late 1980s, but the Asian bug never left Pic. As one of the world's most lauded female chefs, she is a giant in the pantheon of haute French cuisine, overseeing five restaurants across four countries with a tally of eight Michelin stars, including the three-Michelin-star Maison Pic, and La Dame de Pic restaurants in Paris and Dubai, with a star each. In Asia, Cristal Room is her only outpost following the closure of La Dame de Pic in Singapore last May, and it's where she expresses her affinity for Asian ingredients most fully. The interior of Cristal Room, overlooking Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic At a recent lunch, rarefied ingredients from across the continent were seamlessly woven into ethereal, architecturally constructed dishes that emerged from an open, multimillion-dollar kitchen: Hokkaido uni and kuromame (black soybeans) were shrouded under gossamer-thin milk crisps in a starter dish; Pic's famed Berlingots pasta parcels rested in a thick pool of madras curry tinged with camomile; while an entrée of glazed red mullet was complemented by a ponzu sauce and a beurre rouge flavoured with assam and Buddha amacha, an uncommon Japanese tisane, which lent it a delicate depth. Each course is a journey through Asia, evoking the spice-rich markets of Jodhpur in one bite, and the crisp mountain air of Wakayama in another. Anne Sophie-Pic's famous pasta parcels. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic To indulge in Pic's cooking is to be offered a peek into her culinary philosophy of 'suffusion' – a term that denotes the slow spread of a feeling, colour or scent through a medium. It also happens to be the title of her latest cookbook; it's the framework by which Pic creates her dishes, inspired by her lifelong love for the art of perfume-making Nishimera trout marinated with licorice and yuzu lactic vinaigrette with kombucha and smoked pine oil. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic 'I was very eager to discover the world of perfume, because I had the intuition that the olfactory part was the first entrance to the taste,' says Pic. 'It's very important for me to imagine dishes like perfume, to pair some aromas together to give emotions. And if you are sensitive to art, you are more able, perhaps, to give emotion to other people.' Suffusion, a new book by Anne-Sophie Pic, who currently holds 10 Michelin stars. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic Many of her dishes can be described as perfumed, inspired by musks and flowers. This approach also carries over to the non-alcoholic pairings, where Asian teas play an outsize role. There is a milk-clarified aperitif of apple and Japanese buckwheat tea, of which I shamelessly ask for a refill; a Da Hong Pao from Wuyishan, in Fujian province, prepared tableside using a traditional gaiwan tea bowl that exhibits the 'rock charm' characteristic of this varietal; and a genmaicha Collins mocktail to go with dessert – a personal favourite of Pic's. Anne-Sophie (left) in Cristal Room's kitchen. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic Despite holding court at the leading edge of fine dining throughout her 30-year career, Pic has not been immune to the vicissitudes of post-pandemic consumption. After a six-year run at Raffles Singapore, her one-Michelin-star La Dame de Pic shuttered against the backdrop of a record number of restaurant closures in the city state: more than 3,000 in 2024 alone. A representative for the hotel simply addressed the decision to close as reflecting 'an evolution of the city's social trends and business dynamics, as well as both parties' alternative business strategies'. For her part, Pic remains steadfast in the belief that fine dining is akin to going to the theatre or to the museum. 'You need it,' she says. 'It's culturally very important for your soul, for your spirit, for your knowledge.' Camus artichoke roasted and glaze with saké Figs leaves and LongJing beurre blanc. Photo: Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic Still, Group Pic is making changes. First, a return to à la carte, to allow diners to choose how much time they want to devote to a meal. Second, a doubling down on tableside, or guéridon, service to create a connection with guests and elicit a sense of discovery, both of ingredients and technique. Advertisement
