Back to the future with Michelin chef Mads Refslund

“I think there’s a really big story to tell here,” is what Michelin-star chef Mads Refslund had to say about the food and people he encountered while in Armenia for the first time last month.

Originally from Copenhagen where he co-founded Noma restaurant, 5-time winner of the World’s Best Restaurant award, Refslund brought the principles of New Nordic cuisine to Tsaghkunk Restaurant and Glkhatun in the village of Tsaghkunk, 45 minutes away from Yerevan, for a limited dinner series put on by the Gagarin Project.

Refslund and his team based themselves in the village for a month to explore local ingredients and food traditions, particularly those around nearby Lake Sevan, to build not just a menu but a multi-dimensional culinary experience true to the flavors of Armenia. His food philosophy is all about “going back to the future,” or cooking the way we used to in the past: using organic and seasonal ingredients to preserve their natural flavors.

In the current moment Armenia finds itself, Chef Refslund offers poignant words of advice, originally for local chefs, but from which we can all draw strength: “Be proud of who you are, where you are, and all the things you have around you. You have a strong case.”

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