
Sly Documentary Exposes Chefs Who Catered to Despots
Documentary highlights chefs who cooked for infamous dictators, exploring their culpability and the stark contrast between lavish meals and national suffering.

Documentary highlights chefs who cooked for infamous dictators, exploring their culpability and the stark contrast between lavish meals and national suffering.

Black and White brand full-cream evaporated milk, imported from the Netherlands, has been a crucial ingredient in Hong Kong's daily life for 85 years, particularly in milk tea and local diner culture, becoming a symbol of the city's culinary identity.

French photographer François Prost documented nearly 150 US strip club facades for his book "Gentlemen's Club," traveling 6,000 miles. His project, which avoids depicting nude women, explores American culture through these establishments' architecture and their "normalized" presence, even in conservative areas.
London's dining scene is buzzing with 10 new restaurant openings in Summer 2026, offering diverse culinary experiences from Italian seafood and French brasseries to Hong Kong-inspired barbecue and modern British tasting menus. These establishments emphasize bold flavors, accessibility, and unique concepts, solidifying London's status as a global culinary hub.

Copenhagen's food scene transformed from basic fare to a global culinary force, driven by the New Nordic Kitchen movement and the influence of Noma. Despite recent controversies surrounding Noma's founder, the city continues to emphasize quality, seasonality, and sustainability in its dining.

A culinary journey reveals a shared Mediterranean identity through a simple chickpea flour batter, baked or fried into various dishes like cecina, farinata, panelle, karantika, kalinti, panisse, cade, and socca, demonstrating a history that transcends modern political borders.

Hong Kong's Cantonese restaurants saw revenue plunge 27.9% in Q1, while non-Chinese eateries grew. Leaders urge cultural export promotion, citing South Korea's success, and call for innovation and dedicated food streets to revive the sector.

The Bear, a culinary comedy-drama, is returning for its fifth and final season. The show, which began in 2022, followed a chef returning to Chicago to run his deceased brother's sandwich shop, transforming it into a fine-dining establishment. It became a surprise hit, praised for its realistic depiction of restaurant life, naturalistic dialogue, and strong performances, gaining international appeal and cult fashion trends.

Die Netflix-Show "Culinary Class Wars" kombiniert Elemente von "Die Tribute von Panem" und "Squid Game" mit einem Kochwettbewerb. 80 Köche, darunter Laien und Profis, treten in absurden Herausforderungen gegeneinander an und kochen mit exotischen Zutaten.

Raimunda de Jesus Sá, known as "Tia Dica," transformed a life of hardship into a successful restaurant, "Cafofinho da Tia Dica," in São Luís, Maranhão, preserving local culture and boosting the historic center's economy.

Foz do Iguaçu's culinary scene offers a unique blend of Brazilian, Argentinian, and Paraguayan flavors, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange. From churrasco and native fruit popsicles to Paraguayan chipa guazú and Argentinian parrilla, the region's gastronomy reflects its diverse heritage.

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ's "Taiwan Travelogue" won the International Booker Prize, with author and translator Lin King highlighting the novel's exploration of Taiwanese identity and colonialism. The book, set in 1930s Japan-occupied Taiwan, delves into political questions and the complexities of national identity.
Following their swearing-in, BJP MLAs Agnimitra Paul, Dilip Ghosh, and Tapas Roy organized a 'fish festival' across Kolkata to counter perceptions of the party's aversion to non-vegetarian food. The events, attended by numerous party workers and locals, featured traditional 'machh-bhat' lunches, aiming to reassure voters about preserving Bengali culinary identity.
Following their swearing-in, BJP MLAs Agnimitra Paul, Dilip Ghosh, and Tapas Roy organized a 'fish festival' across Kolkata to counter perceptions of the party's aversion to non-vegetarian food. The events, attended by numerous party workers and locals, featured traditional 'machh-bhat' lunches, aiming to reassure voters about preserving Bengali culinary identity.

Keir Starmer's January visit to In and Out restaurant in Beijing has made the UK prime minister unexpectedly popular in China, with the restaurant fully booked since his dinner and diners ordering from a specially printed 'prime minister's menu'. The Yunnan cuisine restaurant where Starmer dined during the first UK PM visit to China since 2018 has seen a surge in customers curious about the British leader's food choices, in contrast to domestic criticism he faced for pursuing closer ties with Beijing.
More than 100 Italian chefs in London created a 440.6-metre-long tiramisu, officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest ever made. The record-setting dessert was assembled inside Chelsea Old Town Hall using 50,000 biscuits and thousands of eggs, comfortably surpassing the previous record of 273.5 metres set in Milan in 2019. Chef Mirko Ricci, who previously held the title before losing it to Milan, led the two-day attempt to reclaim the record.

Industry figures express concern that social media cooking videos are discouraging young people from pursuing formal culinary training. Will Murray, former Dinner by Heston chef and owner of Fallow, says apprenticeships are struggling to attract talent as people turn to online content instead of traditional cookery courses. Meanwhile, MasterChef judges Anna Haugh and Grace Dent have criticized unrealistic TikTok recipes that don't work in practice.
Twitch sensation iGumdrop, known for her online food streams, is now a contestant on MasterChef Global Gauntlet, representing Team Asia-Pacific. She impressed Gordon Ramsay with her wagyu beef satay, aiming to put Malaysian cuisine on the global map. Securing her white apron, iGumdrop proved her culinary skills extend beyond the internet.