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December/Januar y 2023 XI MAGAZINE AT PAGE 36 Three innovative formats __________________________________ Nusr-Et, Istanbul and 22 other venues worldwide Luxury, social, VIP: meat is also this in the restaurants of Salt Bae, aka Nusret Gökçe , butcher, chef, ‘gastronomic entertainer’ and Turkish-Kurdish restaurateur who has become famous for his creative way of salting meat, popularised by videos that have gone viral on social networks. From the first restaurant he opened in Istanbul in 2010, he has created an empire and will arrive in Milan in 2023. At his place you can eat fine meats at a very high price - the Golden Giant Tomahawk covered in gold flakes costs 1,600 euros - but critics have raised doubts about the quality of the cuisine. For some, however, it is the place to go (and be seen). __________________________________ Firle Estate, East Sussex, UK Nick Weston in this restaurant in the English countryside offers the ‘Hunter Gather Cook’, a visceral course in which, before eating a meal prepared by the chef, meat is plucked, skinned, quartered, herbs are gathered and tubers extracted from the soil. The experience, and the transparency about the origin of the ingredients, is what a certain segment of customers is increasingly looking for. And here they find it all. __________________________________ La Filetteria Italiana, Milan Travelling the world in the wake of the most prized and unusual meats: this is the idea behind this format (six sales outlets in Milan) where zebra and kangaroo, crocodile and ostrich, bison and camel fillets are on the menu, alongside the more ‘normal’ Iberian pig and venison. As if to say: if it must be meat, let it be of a type never tasted before. Even in times of crisis. __________________________________ Wagyumafia, Tokyo and Hong Kong The absolute star in these seven restaurants is wagyu, offered in a different way in each point of sale, from live cooking in a butcher’s shop to haute cuisine sandwiches, from gourmet hamburgers to Yakinuku, the Japanese grilled meat at Omakase, a sort of show-cooking in which the chef decides everything, starting with the menu. Excellence expressed in a thousand ways, contaminating haute cuisine and street food. ________________________________ BOX Between war and climate change, how much will meat cost in 2023? The year 2022 saw food prices reach record levels due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine and climate change-related droughts. According to the FAO, world prices of commodities such as wheat and vegetable oils were the highest ever recorded. Costs have risen (fertilisers +41.6%, feed +35.9% - source: Ismea - in addition to the well-known increases in energy), the war has caused problems in the supply of fodder, especially maize and barley, logistical difficulties have continued, and all this against the backdrop of strong demand from the catering sector following the reopening of premises. In the pork sector, this was compounded by the effects of African swine fever (ASF) reported in 11 Member States, including Italy. In 2023, prices are expected to stabilise, with consumers possibly reducing their use of high-end meats as a result of the economic crisis. However, this could also lead them to favour eating out. All the more reason to ‘tell people about’ the product on offer, emphasising its origin and distinctive characteristics. __________________________________ ________________________________ BOX FA setback for plant-based In the meantime, there seems to have been a setback on the vegetable-based ‘fake meat’ front, perhaps also due to excessive funding and expectations. This is reported by Forbes, which points out that in the US - where everything started in 2022 - sales in large-scale distribution have dropped by 10% and the share price of companies such as Beyond Meat has plummeted (from USD 108 to USD 12). The reasons? Excessively complex labels (which report excessive industrialisation), high prices and doubts about health benefits. But there are already those who see the solution in ‘hybrids’ between vegetables and lab-grown meat. __________________________________ AT PAGE 38 DO YOU KNOW? Proteins from the soil AN INCREASINGLY WIDE PUBLIC IS CHOOSING ENRICHING THE MENU WITH VEGETABLE PROTEIN DISHES... WITH A PINCH OF CREATIVITY by Elena Consonni Italians at the table are increasingly aware and choose by looking not only at their taste (and their pockets) but also at the effects of their choices on their health and the environment. According to the latest Coop Report, which takes a snapshot of Italian lifestyle, 53% of our fellow countrymen now recognise identity consumption styles. They are mostly upper class and relatively young (under 44 years). Some of them follow a vegan diet (3%), others a vegetarian one (6%), but even more - 13% - are those who have decided to reduce their meat consumption. According to the Coop report, there are now one and a half million Italians who profess to be vegan or vegetarian. But more and more are so-called ‘part-time’ vegans. This