Chef. The magazine for Chefs around the World. Issue 1 Jan/Feb 2021

Welcome to the first issue of Chef, a global publication that builds on 15 years of publishing Chef Magazine in the UK and more recently Thailand.

May you live in interesting times is an ancient Chinese proverb, though in fact, of course, it is a curse. In reality, our industry is living in existential times.

Our world has been turned upside down by the covid emergency with countless restaurants forced to close (some never to re-open) and millions of staff thrown into uncertainty and many out of work.

But, the creativity that informs our industry has been evident as restaurants and their staff seek imaginative ways to navigate a way through the pandemic. Chef aims to scour the world to find the best ideas.

In this issue, we feature James Altucher’s compelling and apocalyptic view of New York’s future. He believes the city is dying. His article was met with fury when it first appeared on social media. He received death threats. As we prepared Issue 1 of Chef, New York was heading towards a new covid crisis. It makes Altucher’s piece even more compelling.

His article will be viewed more somberly by many concerned that other cities around the world could face similar challenges. London, for instance, remains eerily quiet. In this issue we speak to a farmer whose once–thriving London club clients have zero customers.

Elsewhere in this issue we explore the growing trend of Corporate Social Responsibility in the hospitality sector as it reaches out to the wider community.

We also poll chefs around the world on how they have responded to the challenges thrown up by the covid emergency.

Elsewhere, we talk to a farmer delivering some of the finest meats available in England. And, in another article, we explore where meat may come from in future. You will be surprised.

2020 has been a very difficult year for our Industry but as we look forward we have to believe that people will start to travel again and that your restaurant will be back to pre-pandemic times before long. In the meantime keep being creative and try not to lose the dreams and ambitions that made you want to be in this amazing industry.