S3 Ep20: Niklas Ekstedt - The Brutality Of Working At El Bulli - Hiring An Unknown René Redzepi & How He Made Cooking Over Fire Sexy Again!

Today we're truly honoured to be joined by one of the most famous Michelin starred chefs in the world in Niklas Ekstedt, who's inspired a whole culinary movement by opening his restaurant 'Ekstedt' in Stockholm in 2011. Niklas decided to get rid of all modern appliances; ovens, grills, microwaves, sous vides and replace them purely with birchwood fuelled fires. This creates a significantly increased amount of challenges for his cooking but also forces him to be creative and innovative to the point where he's invented some of the most famous dishes in the world. Today he takes us through his incredible journey from; growing up in rural Sweden to travelling to America to work for the late Charlie Trotter in Chicago and then onto being an early employee for El Bulli. He hated his time at El Bulli so greatly that he eventually walked out and headed back to Sweden to set up his first restaurant at just 21, where he employed a certain gentleman called René Redzepi. Niklas shares with us some of the most entertaining stories from these times but also some incredible advice on how to get the most out of your talents. He's a pure joy to listen to. ------------- Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have! Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto.. . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.