A sense of place as Food on the Edge comes home

Food on the Edge returned to its spiritual home, Galway, after three years at Airfield Estate in Dublin, for its 2024 edition. The theme was ‘A Sense of Place’ and while forceful Galway weather unfortunately kept some speakers away, once the storm blew over, world class guests made it to Atlantic Technical University for the two-day symposium.

As usual, FOTE founder chef JP McMahon opened the event, welcoming guests, and expounding on the importance of a sense of place. As restaurants represent the interface between customers and the chain of people who work the land, it is important to recognize the sense of place of the land, but also of restaurants, which are under increasing pressure from socio-economic factors. The restaurant represents the end of the production chain that defines our broader relationship with nature.

Making a huge impression on the international audience was Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan, who spoke of Palestinian cuisine, nafas, and stories of the land.

"Being among peers all is a moment of humility," he said. "... but I am also very angry. How can you celebrate every producer in the world? How can we as chefs celebrate every sustainable impact and be silent about the massacre of 50,000 human beings? I've lost friends, I’ve lost peers, because in the end, it’s about one message. If we really believe in sustainability, it must be sustainability for all."

Chef Gary Usher, from the UK, whose strong social media game and savvy crowdfunding have allowed him to turn the restaurant business model on its head, spoke about building a new restaurant financing model, saying: "Humor and honesty creates loyalty... through crowdfunding, people are part of our business." Usher also spoke about Asset Community Values in the UK, where "integrating with the community has been key."

After the break we were treated to talks by chef and baking professor, Mathew James Duffy, speaking about rye sourdough, former elBulli Sommelier David Seijas, and Noma CEO Lena Hennessy.

Aisha Ibrahim of Canlis restaurant in Seattle spoke to the audience about the importance of integrating with a local community, being a family run fine-dining restaurant, and connecting with her roots as a Filipina in her talk, Cooking Through Identity. "All cuisines belong," she said. Birgitta Hedin-Curtin, CEO of the Burren Smoke House, gave the local perspective on her business' respect for the land and nurturing a community of suppliers and producers. FDL's Tom Jenkins shared his journey to alcohol-free foodie and spoke about the evolution of the no and low alcohol drinks paring in fine dining in his talk, No and Low Alcohol Innovation.

Dutch chef Joris Bijdendijk took to the stage to share his work with the Low Food Foundation and in particular the success they had in devising a way to produce a protein-rich milk, directly from grass. "Like this we were able to bypass the cow altogether," he said. "Imagine, if we could remove the cow from dairy farming and make milk from grass, what kind of environmental impact that would have?"

Long-time FOTE collaborator and sustainability innovator Matt Orlando opened day two talking about Awareness, Impact, and Responsibility in the food business. Orlando demonstrated how important it is to connect your brain to your body, to connect with reality and nature, by encouraging the audience to engage in a quick exercise. Incredible young chef Mark Donald, Executive Chef of The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, spoke about "time, place, and distilling whisky."

Also representing Scotland was Pam Brunton, the chef behind the acclaimed Inver restaurant in Loch Fyne. Brunton shared her family story linked to colonialism in Rhodesia, how she links to ancient Gaelic traditions of land rights, and how ‘nature belongs to no one.’ “How would that concept affect our minds today?" she asked. "By changing the physical landscape, we also transform our minds.”

From Donegal, Barrie Quinn of Portnoo Market Garden shared his journey from horticultural beginner to becoming a social media sensation and growing thousands of plants and ingredients to transform diets across communities. "26% of Irish people have glyphosates in their systems," said Quinn. The answer he says, is to go back to the old ways of growing our own food. "If you can grow your food, you should," he said.

There was probably no better person to talk about a sense of place from a local perspective than Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, a lecturer, chef, and author of the definitive history of Irish food, Irish Food History: a Companion. Najat Kaanache offered her uniquely international perspective taking us on a journey from New York to Fez, to San Sebastián.

Chef Sally Abé let us know that: "If you are a chef and a woman, you will always be asked if you are a pastry chef. It's actually because pastry requires attention to detail and the ability to read a recipe."

The closing address by JP McMahon brought the curtain down on another fascinating two days of brilliant minds, interesting personalities, and inspiring stories.