By The Best Chef NEW CANDIDATES Top100 2023 chef, estonian cuisine, fine dining, fotografiska, peeter pihel, restaurant Comments Off

New Candidates 2022 the best chef — Peeter Pihel – New Candidates 2023

Peeter Pihel

Fotografiska

Peeter Pihel has been shaped by his childhood on Saaremaa, an island of 30,000 people in Estonia. He considers it a privilege having been born and raised on an island, where the scarcity of resources and produce pushes you to be creative — an attitude that he brings into his work.

For a large part of his career, he led the kitchen of Pädaste Manor, which was named the best restaurant in Estonia for four consecutive years. After getting off to a good start at home, his road led him to Sweden, where he spent four years at Fäviken Magasinet — widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in Sweden. After years of working in different kitchens with different teams, he still finds great pleasure in it — it is a magical world, where surprises and discoveries never end.

He has now returned to Estonia where he has founded Fotografiska Tallinn, a restaurant with a sustainable philosophy.

The Fotografiska, a sustainable philosophy

“Our whole philosophy and essence are intertwined with sustainability and we try to guide people to respond to it. In the kitchen or the bar, we use all the raw materials, from blossom to root and nose to tail. Whatever is left over finds its way to the composter and back to the fields. We grow herbs, preserve seasonal produce and keep bees in our rooftop garden to make the enjoyment of good food sustainable and with the smallest possible footprint.”

“Good, sustainable food not only delights people it also delights our planet”

“With our vision – to inspire a more conscious way of sensing the world – we are paying attention to what we eat and drink and trying to guide people towards more sustainable habits. We make the most of the fresh, local ingredients that come our way, whether it’s in the kitchen preparing a dish or behind the bar mixing up a cocktail. The minimal food scraps that are generated in the restaurant are put into the compost bin, where they are turned into compost within 24 hours. This in turn is given to farmers who supply the restaurant with raw materials or to other restaurants who, for example, grow herbs on site.”