Willy Slawinski

On 27 April 1992, a visionary cook died in Ghent at only 44 years of age. At that moment, he was renowned both nationally and internationally for his avant-garde vision of gastronomy and how cuisine should evolve. Willy Slawinski was mentioned together with French top chefs Michel Bras and Pierre Gagnaire, and with his restaurant Apicius, he had quickly obtained 2 Michelin stars and a 19/20 from GaultMillau.
Many of his ideas have proven to be true – among others, his vision on fast-food cuisine, which was still in its infancy during the first half of the 1980s – and modern cuisine currently employs many of his techniques. The chef was the first in Belgium to serve dishes lukewarm, to reduce cooking times and to work with fresh herbs. Instead of serving rich cream sauces, he was already experimenting with complex vinaigrettes during the early 1980s.

On 27 April 2007, 15 years after his death, Homarus Cookbooks is posthumously publishing the testament of this notable cook in a limited edition of 2,000 numbered copies in Dutch and French. This unique notebook is intended to acquaint the reader as much as possible with the ideas of Willy Slawinski and thus to capture an important component of our culinary heritage. In a sober folder, the reader is treated to 6 topics each containing 6 different parts.

1. Willy Slawinski – La Cuisine Réfléchie

A book explaining the biography and philosophy of the cook comprehensively and in detail, based on the authentic manuscripts of Willy Slawinski. Copies of a number of his philosophical texts are reprinted. This book is further illustrated with photos, newspaper articles and images that evoke the spirit of the times.

2. The Restaurant of the Future

Willy Slawinski had very concrete ideas about what the restaurant of the future should look like. There would no longer be a clear difference between the kitchen and the dining room; eating out at a restaurant would be a total physical and spiritual experience. Based on the ideas of his father, son and architect Pawel Slawinski has drawn up an architectural plan with illustrations and text.

3. Testimonies

In this soberly executed book, the floor is given to seventeen people who knew Willy Slawinski well: former suppliers, customers, friends or chefs who worked with him. They tell a personal story, illustrated with sober black & white-photos.

4. Recipes

Willy Slawinski was very frugal when it came to writing down his recipes. In this book, the reader will find 21 deliberately chosen recipes that provide a very good illustration of the innovative philosophy of Willy Slawinski.

5. Menus

Two faithful facsimile-reprints of two menus from the restaurant Apicius, including the prices indicated in pencil.

6. Envelope with paraphernalia

A sealed envelope containing ten facsimile-reprints of letters, faxes, order forms etc. that provide a view of the personal world of Willy Slawinski. Included are the plan for the herb garden signed by the chef himself, an order form with the purchase prices for fish from 1979 in his own handwriting, a letter from GaultMillau and a case with passport photos.

ONLY AVAILABLE IN DUTCH AND FRENCH.

Willy Slawinski