kerriar
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Posts posted by kerriar
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It would be hard to fault paulbrussel's top end recommendations. Sea Grill in particular cannot be long away from its third star.
Looking for "local treasures", the best advice would be to stay away from the tourist traps around the Grand Place and also to some extent the Sablon. There are exceptions and close to the Sablon you can trust either:
• Ciao at Rue J Steven 28 (tel 02-513.03.23) sober Italian style food cooked with some care, evenings only, best to book, not particularly cheap and certainly no pizzas.
• Le Clef des Champs nearby in rue Rollebeek (tel 02-511.11.93) main stream franco-belgian cooking, run for may years by an attentive couple for whom this is a way of life rather than a business (an observation which really applies to all the places mentioned), he at the stove and she front of house, food is fresh and authentic.
A bit further afield (i.e., 10 minutes by taxi – Brussels is compact) Chez Marie on rue Alphonse De Witte (02-644.30.31) has one star and offers a very good value fixed lunch. Carte is more expensive but wine list can contain some well priced finds. Although I personally like this place a lot, for some reason the style and the food does not appeal to everybody – one friend told me he will not go back there as it has "too many left-wing media intellectuals" for his taste which must be a new line in restaurant reviews. It’s a bit hard to find – if you go there ask the taxi to drop you by the "steamship" style Radio Building in Place Flagey and Chez Marie is just behind the church.
Also serious-end Italian for either lunch or dinner is La Crèche des Artistes in rue de La Crèche (tel 02-511.22.56) which is mentioned elsewhere under Brussels.
Of these, the best authentic local lunch spot for your parents would probably be Le Clef des Champs
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camp_dick, I am afraid the explanation is clear - Ireland is just plain expensive. When eating out, the rip-off feeling is often not too far away and I guess Jaymes's daughter and son-in-law will be aware of this as they grow accustomed to the undoubted charms and beauty of the place.
This just makes it all the more important to do some research, to talk to people and to profit from honest resources like eGullet or SlowFood. There are plenty of spots, above all in Cork, where the outstanding quality of the local ingredients, the honest dedication of people for whom running a restaurant is a way of life rather than a business opportunity and the sheer quality of life makes dining a pleasure comparable with anywhere in Europe. Unfortunately there are not enough of these places.
I eat out a lot across the euro zone - generally for pleasure and sometimes for business. Dublin in particular can be poor in the price/value ratio but at its selective best more than holds it own. A Friday lunch some weeks ago in Thornton's was comparable to the upper level in any European city and I happen to think that for (the well-disciplined who don't stray) the prix-fixe lunch in Guilbaud's is something of a bargain by the standards of two star places generally.
There are however too many places where modest standards and some superficial style is acceptable as an excuse for high prices and which swim along unquestioningly in the current undemanding prosperity. Happily, in time many of them sink under the weight of their own pretentiousness or lack of ability - if somewhere has been around for years,sustained a reputation and holds its own with a clientele who come back regularly, it's probably ok notwithstanding the sometimes stiff prices.
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Auberge du Cedre is rightly a very popular place and reservations are often difficult. Because of this we've also stayed at Domaine du Pélican at Gignac in the Hérault where Monsieur and Madame Thillaye de Boullay offer rooms and, by arrangement, evening meals. Like all small chamber d'hotes you need to book ahead - the telephone number is +33 (0)4 67 57 68 92 and the fax is +33 (0)4 67 57 68 92. The house is relaxed and the rooms are spacious enough for some privacy. It's also a beautiful quiet location with views over the valley of the Hérault.
Madame has something of a reputation as a cook in the locality and often prepares meals for groups or family event – she uses mainly local ingredients with some imagination and the result is near the top end of good domestic French cooking. The wines are their own and, as Graham Tigg says, the area around Aniane and Gignac is the heartland of modern Languedoc wine production. Conversation over dinner will inevitably turn to wine and you'll probably get an amusing and informative local insight on Mondavi's attempted incursion a few years ago. (Be sure to watch a copy of Mondovino before you go for a perspective on Aimee Guibert.)
Mas de Daumas Gassac is nearby and when you visit there to taste the wines, be sure also to come away with a few bottles of their balsamic style vinegar – it comes as a surprise to find this but the quality is stupendous and, unlike the wines, I don't think you can get it anywhere else. Grange des Peres is also a few minutes away but generally they do not receive private callers though off-season you can try anyway. The lesser known Domaine de Conquettes produces wines which match the style and quality of their better known neighbours and in my view offer the best buying opportunities in the area in both the reds and the whites.
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Auberge du Cedre is a favoured destination. It's a marvellous place with a wine list (very fairly priced) which you could use as your route planner in the certainty that it will lead you to no mistakes.
The website gives what is really just a summary. The wine list at table is a beautiful hand-written production with comments on the wine, the vineyards, geology and above all, the producers with details extending sometimes to their families and careers.
Unfortunately, I think the auberge closes in December but check it out if you want to touch the pulse of the region where the best producers are driven by the search for quality, character and the sense of terroir.
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The city of Cork and the surrounding county have some of the best restaurants and food producers in Ireland - some local resident will no doubt fill in the gaps very soon.
Although it may take some planning - so start now! - they should not miss what I think is Ireland's best restaurant. The effort of getting to a small island in Roaringwater Bay in West Cork will bring them to the unique restaurant run by John and Ellmary Desmond on Heir Island.
It's tiny - less than 30 places with a single sitting per night and the word of mouth reputation can mean it's booked out months in advance. There is no choice on the menu but virtually everything will be locally sourced and cooked by a self-effacing chef who has mastered, and then simplified, the techniques and philosophy of classic French cooking.
Some years ago, one Irish publication asked the country's top chefs to nominate where best they liked to go when they eat out. John's almost inaccessible little place came top of the list - enough said. Put the names into Google and you will get nothing but glowing praise.
During the quieter seasons they run what they call the world's smallest cookery school - as someone who has done a number of courses there I can only suggest you check it out if this is feasible.
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I hope that this fits within Albiston's frame of reference but readers of this thread might like to know that the inestimable Wolfgang Siebeck has recently made one of his rare forays into English in defence of German food (well, a somewhat moderated defence).
It's at Would you like cabbage with your dumplings? where after a brief run through some highlights, he concludes that "Yorkshire pudding and Bratkartoffeln are equally indigestible. Nevertheless, they should never be united on the same European plate."
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Accepting that these lists are really a poor way to select a restaurant (Stephen W says it all), I can't help pointing out that little Belgium has 3 nominees here - from the innovative Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem (near Gent) via De Karmeliet (Bruges) to the very very classic Comme Chez Soi in Brussels.
Leaving aside Monaco, this seems to be the highest per capita representation for any country which only confirms my long held prejudice that Belgium is one of the best places to eat in the world.
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Good choices - for food and accomodation. At Easter you will need to reserve both at Le Briqueterie and Aux Armes de Champagne. It seems you are travelling by car as each are some distance from Reims.
Apart from Champagne lists, you will find two very good wine lists here which are worth exploring.
From memory, the family who run Aux Armes de Champagne are also wine merchants and have a well-stocked and well-priced store on a street behind the hotel in Epine.
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Germany is a big country - it does have a lively food culture but sometimes you have to dig a little to find it, especially if you are approaching from the outside.
It's all really a bit like German wine - they produce some of the best whites in the world and it is hard to source complex wines with a capacity to age like their best rieslings at an equivalent price. You need to know that these are kept for home consumption and may need some work if you want to track them down.
I'm not sure whether Germans want to keep the better things for themselves or whether they just think that nobody else would be interested. Maybe it's just a large country syndrome.
As if by way of confirmation of hidden treasures, they also have some outstanding contemporary food writer and some have already been mentioned. The best has to be Wolfram Siebeck who usually writes for Die Ziet but see also amazon.de for his books (I hope). He is well informed, stylish, consistent and writes with an attention to detail that make his columns so valuable. He can also be opinionated, tetchy and, where he thinks it is justified, blunt. He never hesitates to puncture pretension wherever he finds it. All of these together make him very readable but he always writes in German. His topics however deal with food generally and his reviews of restaurants outside Germany are always worth keeping - he recent views on London restaurants can be found in translation via links elsewhere on this site. This apart, I think some of his books have been published in French but they are really worth translating for a wider audience.
Like many of the better things in life, you need to do a little work to find them.
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From a long term Brussels resident - on Dandoy´s Earl Grey biscuits, the only thing I can do is to quote James Joyce ´"....yes....".
Admission - I live within walking distance of a Marcolini shop and have worked hard on resisting the layered desserts. Schneich's photo have finally killed months of good intentions.
By the way schneich - where do you go to in Brussels for things like tarte tins? I often go to Germany for serious kitchen gear - destination trips such as e.g. Manufactum in Bonn (also on web at manufactum in german or manufactum in English (but a bit limited)
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Brussels is one of the great food cities of Europe. It doesn't get so much attention on this thread for some reason - perhaps people who visit or live here simply have their own favourites.
There is info buried in old postings. Try some of the following:
or
Hof van Cleve in Belgium 3 Michelin stars, Benelux new 2 & 3 star restaurants 2005
or
Recommendations for Brussels, Home of gastronomy
A search on the site may turn up more. This is just a quick check but you should find plenty of useful stuff. Try going for places that are not listed in the more commercial tourist guidebooks - they often have the best surprises.
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Well I've been a couple of times but too long ago to give recommendations. However, as I've noted in the Digest, Arnaud and Veronique Daguin (son of Andre of Auch, brother of Ariane of NYC) has just renovated a hotel-restaurant called Hegia that sounds fantastic. I do know his cooking from the Hotel de France and Jean-Louis Pallidan and it's very good.
What an incredible website! What an incredible place! What interesting looking food!
Having chanced across this posting during a short coffee break at the desk, I'm playing the Hegia link over and over. Really now - time to stop and get back to work but with a nice day dream for another time.
(Pity about the prices though - they bring you back to earth quickly enough - but perhaps for some special occasion in the future, who knows?)
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Agree with postcode about the Bridgestone series - they are written in a style that is hard to take but unfortunately there is not much else around.
In Galway, Goya is dependable. There is also a good small bakery/coffee shop in Oughterard (on rhs as you travel westwards). Its really a bit typical of the kind of place to look out for - small, locally focused and based essentially on the kind of home baking that is still prevalent in Ireland, perhaps because larger commercial bakeries are uniformly dismal.
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athinaeos:
straying slightly off-topic:
I'm going for a very short trip to Athens 3.-5th of March, will have the possibility to freely choose lunch or dinner on Saturday.
What's your best shot? (I'm not looking for too internatioalized cuisine).
Thanks in advance.
Viking, another choice could be Kollias in Piraeus.
The website here is also only in Greek http://www.kollias.gr/ but you will find details elsewhere on this site. Have a look at the website anyway - it has been put together by the soul of an artist
Was there with a friend last October and eat a marvellous and varied meal - everything in the kitchen looks so good that we ended up ordering enough to fill the (not very big) table. Freshness and straightforward skilled cooking are the keywords. Mainly Greek people eating and almost no English to be heard. Good selection of Greek wines and if you are not familiar, just trust what they suggest.
Both of us later recommended Kollias to different friends - in my case the result was to be woken up with a mid-night phone call from there to let me know that they had just finished eating the best fish ever.
One thing to be aware of - in each case the taxi driver had enormous difficulty in finding the place in the back streets of Piraeus. But persist and it will be worth it. Here also you will need to reserve.
Compared with the previous recommendation, Kollias is probably without any Michelin star and more demotic in style. Why not try both.
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Corinna - thanks for such a clear, comprehensive and enthusiastic review. It's a great pity that I didn't have this before going to Dublin last weekend and Mint is certainly marked down as a must next time.
As it was both Friday and Saturday night were disappointing and, in particular, bad value for money. I'm not sure what input Novelli has in reality at La Stampa but the combination of strange treatment of good materials and poor service did not impress.
6 small Carlingford oysters arrived dressed with a sweet balsamic vinegar and one or two unidentifiable ingredients – cost €16. Two other starters were scallops in what looked like a rather heavy pastry shell and a gateau of salted cod which was judged to be the best choice.
Wine service was erratic – the list itself is a bit limited for a place with such pretensions any they are not shy about mark-ups. Champagne was a Heidsieck non-vintage at an horrendous €95 per bottle. Half way through the oysters, we were asked if we were ready to taste the Amarone we had asked for with the main course – when we politely suggested waiting a bit, the bottle was just left on the table and the "sommelier" disappeared although in time we did manage to get a second bottle before finishing the main course. (The wine was very good by the way) Main courses – venison with a reduced wine sauce, black sole served meunière and magret of duck with a chutney sauce – were correct if not particularly inspiring. Average cost of main courses was around €35.
The room remains one of the loveliest in Dublin and always impresses visitors to the city. Pity the food does not deliver what the prices might suggest. Give it a miss.
Saturday night was in what used to be Ernie's in Donnybrook. It's changed hands and also name. Ernie's great art collection has been scattered to the four winds (i.e., was included in a recent fine art sale at Lisney's). Food, wine and service were below par and I feel no rush to go back there so don't worry too much if I can't remember the current name.
Ernie's was never at the cutting edge but had a lovely old-fashioned athmosphere and was a place where you could bring your mother for a treat.
I fear the next time I go to Dublin the Lord Edward will have been pulled out of its time warp - progress is great but some places remain unchanged over years because they have already found the right formula.
On some warm positive notes, the Guinness is as good as ever and the Merrion serves a great late breakfast at weekends. Their afternoon tea is not bad either but defeated my appetite – a lovely touch was to be asked if we wanted the leftovers wrapped up for us.
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Thanks vigna for the rapid and useful reply - you have given me a very clear idea about what to expect. I took the opportunity to go back to your original posting and found some useful additional information about eating in this part of Germany. We will eat in the Hotel Friedrichsrühe on just one night and were looking for guidance.
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Any of you Germany experts able to give an update on the Wald und Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe?
Michelin gives them one star and four fourchettes.
We will go there sometime later in the year (it's a prize with no choice - awful things) and I want to get some idea about what to expect - regional food, wines etc. - although I strongly suspect it will be a German interpretation of French cuisine.
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Budgets and Geneva don't seem to go together really. This is a beautiful city but really caters for the well-heeled.
A few overnights there in recent years have produced nothing memorable. If I have to go to Geneva for a few days, I find it preferable to stay in France and commute. Towards Annecy, there are several good choices and he should be able to dig up something on the French forum. If I lived in Geneva, I could easily imagine driving the 50 km or so to Annecy for a trip to the market (one of the best in France) and lunch by the lake. I have even known people to live in Annecy and commute to work in Geneva because of cots and life-quality reasons.
If your brother finds he has something serious to celebrate tell him to head in the other direction towards Lausanne to visit Freddy Girardet's old place in Crisier. Freddy is long retired and the new owner is Philippe Rochat. http://www.philippe-rochat.ch/
I don't know what has happened in recent years but for perhaps a quarter of a century, Girardet's was considered to be one of the best restaurants in Europe. It was certainly a destination restaurant and the one time I eat there was in the company of a small group who made an annual prilgrimage to Freddy (somebody had dropped out at a late stage and I got the nod.) The food was rich and based on complex classic recipes - lots of cream, foie gras, truffles! The place was not cheap then but had a relaxed unpretentious elegance that did not intimidate. Freddy came himself from the kitchen to the table and explained and advised about the meal.
I know this may be of little use but if I find something useful for the French side, I'll let you know.
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You could try Kronenhalle for reasonably good Swiss food. This place is a long established Zurich institution. Food and atmosphere is well above average but it is the paintings on the wall which will stay in your memory - they include origionals by Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Chagall, etc. Most of these painters eat there and this was James Joyce's daily haunt when he lived in Zurich.
The main dining room and bar have light fittings made by Giacometti. The athmosphere is chic but unpretentious. The prices will probably be a bit hard on your Canadian dollar but you'll have already guessed that this is not a cheap city.
There is a website at http://www.kronenhalle.com/ but only in German.
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Brussels has never had a specifically vegetarian culture but many places will go out of their way to be helpful. The best choices would be in more ethnic restaurants where non-meat dishes are a standard part of the culture. Brussels has plenty of these – Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian etc. so you should have no problem.
Vegetarian restaurants do exist and seem to be increasing in number and quality. The Exki chain, which could be described as vegetarian fast food, has several locations – see their website http://www.exki.be/. They are pleasant, bright and airy and suitable if you want something quick.
L'Element Terre is on Chée.de Waterloo near the corner with Rue du Mail and seems ok. It's near the rather trendy Chatelain/Bailli area where there is a good choice of places to eat. The crowd will be local/international but should be less overrun with tourists than the streets around Grand Place.
Mi-Figue Mi-Raisin serves nice lunches on Rue Archimède (metro Schumann) near the European institutions. There is no real reason to go to this area however unless you are a public building junkie – it's all rather dull and don't expect the magnificence of Ottawa.
Your hotel is near the Grand Place. This you should see but really try not to be tempted to eat in the tourist traps around there. You'll do eat much better elsewhere – have a look at some of the Brussels places mentioned elsewhere on this site. People who live in Brussels expect good quality and reasonable prices (at least by London standards) and it's worth searching out the places where locals go.
These are usually a bit away from the city centre but this is a compact city so you will not have to go very far.
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This may be a bit late but in Killarney, Gaby's on High Street is a dependable fish restaurant. It's run by a Belgian family who have been there for 25 years or more. You go there for seafood platters and lobster - the raw ingredients are sourced locally and are handled intelligently. Wine list is not bad.
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Here are a few observations from a recent trip to Poland.
Restauracja Polska Tradycja at Belwederska, near the Hyatt, is in a suburban villa decorated in the style of a hunting lodge (or at least what I expect a Polish hunting lodge would look like). Food is of a similar style – venison, duck, and carp – all presented in a way that tells you this is all cold weather food. Wine list is short and looks like something from a run-of-the-mill western supermarket. Most people were foreigners with just the occasional Pole hosting a group of business types - just as grendelyn indicates. Count around 200 zloty per head with wine (a lot more if you opt for caviar and a shot of vodka).
Nothing cutting edge about the place – the food and service are of a sufficient standard to give an enjoyable evening in a Polish athmosphere. The roast duck with apples turns up on almost every Polish menu and invariably confirms the adage about never trying to cook a duck in a single operation – breast and legs/thighs just need different treatment.
La Bohème is in the same building as the Opera on the Place Teatralny. Style is French international and it really could be anywhere. I was there for a business lunch and although competent, there was little memorable about the place.
Further afield on the border with Belarus, the Pension Uroczysko Zaborek www.zaborek.com.pl near the Janow Podlaski stud farm is well run with authentic local food. If you go there, forget about drinking wine but watch the guy with the vodka bottle who fills up your glass whenever he gets a chance.
On wines generally - choice is limited and confirms that Poland is not a mediterranean country. Avoid house wines which generally come from low-end Hungarian or Bulgarian sources. There is still far too much production of wine as a commodity in these Eastern countries and rather little evidence of any drive to upgrade quality.
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I am travelling to Warsaw at the end of the month to see a concert and was wondering if anyone has any updates to this topic.
I'm also looking for updates here - am about to leave for 6 days in Warsaw. Any recent reports welcome.
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One strong recommendation has to be Rutz http://www.weinbar-rutz.de which is a combination of shop, winebar and restaurant. The wine list is one of the best you will find anywhere and the restaurant prices are a modest mark-up on the shop prices. Even if you don't go to Berlin, the list itself is a marvellous read - the website is in German but a click on "weinkarte" will bring you there. There are plenty of moderate priced bottles but if your credit card is robust there are many interesting things higher up the scale. A rare 1983 Coulée de Serrant from Nicolas Joly can be had in the shop for €119 or alternatively €134 at your table - it's a lot to spend on a bottle of wine but compared with what you might pay for the same wine in a London or New York restaurant, this is a bargain.
The staff are enthusiastic, professional and helpful - they speak French and English if your German is not up to the task. Food is imaginative, light and the menu is flexible enough to allow you to concentrate on wine drinking.
Cookery Courses in France
in France: Cooking & Baking
Posted
A bit outside the areas indicated but may I give a serious recommendation to the courses run by the people at Le Cheval Blanc at Lembach in the heart of the northern Vosges.
The website at http://www.au-cheval-blanc.fr/index2.html needs some updating but the courses are held regularly throughout the year and reflect seasonal products. The 2 day autumn course which concentrated on preparation and cooking of game was outstanding.
The area has its own particular beauty at this time of the year and summer dies slowly here as the trees and fields change colour.
The professional kitchen team take the courses seriously and attract mainly French people so you'll need to speak some French to benefit.