kai-m

Hello all, a friend of mine, who is a chef, will be in Florida for his honeymoon. They will be in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West (maybe Orlando as well). Some friends want to present them with great night at a great restaurant. Can anyone give some recommendations? "Problem" is: the 2 are head chefs in a european 2-michelin-star-restaurant that serves a pretty modern cuisine. So their standards are kind of high... But something with a "unique" concept would be great as well. (Or a really great steakhouse) Thanks alot! Greetings k.

Reassuring to hear that Iam not the only one who felt a bit disappointed by the Osteria. But Iam not sure about Combal.zero either - from what I saw and read the cuisine there seems to rely very much on culinary jokes and silly gimmicks. Having eaten at 3 of italys most renowned restaurants by now (and some regular 1*-places), all of them very different (La Pergola in Rome, Il Duomo in Sicily, La Francescana) and all of them kind of disappointing, Iam not sure anymore if italian high end cuisine is really worth the time/journey/money... greetings kai

Glad that you had a great meal, FDE! Some of those dishes look interesting indeed. Maybe I have to go back there - but I have to say that our first dinner at La Francescana in June 2009 was rather disappointing, all in all. The foie gras with 40-year old balsamic vinegar, coated with crushed hazelnut and almond was amazing - one of the best foie gras dishes I have ever had. The "5 different versions of parmeggiano reggiano" was very good as well. But the rest of our 9 course meal was rather mediocre in hindsight - especially when compared to other top end avant garde restaurants, such as Amador in Langen/Germany or Alinea in Chicago. (I see you had the same pasta dish that we had - and I don't know how many other, more traditional restaurants you visited, but had way more interestng pasta dishes in some simple trattorias around Modena and Bolona.) Service was extremely stiff, the manager being pretty arrogant (especially when talking about "all those stupid bloggers"...). How long was your evening there? We were in and out in about 2 hours... it seemed like Mr. Bottura was not present that night and the staff wnated to get home early... (some diners arrived after us and even left before us). Not what you would expect in one of the worlds top 10 restaurants Pictures (not very good at all) can be found here: http://sternefresser.de/index.php?id=143 But maybe the only had a bad night and we need to go back there. Greetings kai PS: regarding he different menus: we had the "classic's" menu. And it seems that the best dishes of that one (foie gras, parmegginao) are also part of the "Contemporary" menu.

Hi all, today I had dinner at a nice thai restaurant with some friends. Some of us had roasted duck, but one person in our group who travels to thailand almost every year claimed that duck actually is not really thai food and that even in thailand they only do it for the tourists - if they serve it at all... I was (am I still am) skeptical about this remark, since I seem to remember roasted duck from Bangkok food markets. So I asked the young waitress - who confirmed what my friend said: duck ist not really a "thai ingredient". When I asked her why they serve it then, she said something like "because you people love it". I still cannot believe this. Maybe she grew up over here and doesn't have a clue. Or she is too young to know. But maybe she is right. So: is there anyone here who can clarify this? Maybe even a someone from thailand? Thanks! Greetings kai

Thanks for the report! It's been a while since we have been to Il Duomo. We found the food very good and the restaurant itself lovely (even though we were seated at the "worst table" in the tiny wine-room next to the kitchen), but the service was way too formal, for our taste (a general problem in italy, I think). The full bearded maitre had a kind of "arrogant joviality" to him, while the unsmiling sommelier was rather "distanced". Not so nice. And I wonder how you managed to eat around 15 courses...we had a 6 course menu and could barely eat it all... Got to go there again on our next sicily-trip. Do you havee more pictures you could post? Iam very curious! Thanks! best kai

Yes, the lightning was not so good - and I don't like to use flash in a restaurant. Regarding the dishes: the foie gras doesn't look very appealing but was absolutely amazing tastewise. One of the best foie dishes I ever had. The parmeggiano-dish, the pasta e fagoli and the bollito/non bollito were very interesting in conception and very good in taste as well. The rest, unfortunately, was rather mediocre. So was the very stiff service.

For anyone who is interested, here is our report about Osteria Francescana, with lots of pictures: http://www.sternefresser.de/index.php?id=143 regards kai

Yes, sure, "Meloncello" is not "bad", the service is friendly - and certainly for lunchtime it is quite alright, if you are in the neighbourhood. I just wouldn't bother to walk out there again (or take the bus) specifically to eat at this place. There are other, equally good or better ("Montanara") options that are closer to the centre. That's all I wanted to say. But as you say: to each his own. Greetings kai

I cannot really second "Meloncello" - the food was just okay, and given the fact that it's rather far from the city-centre, it is not worth the ride, imho. Our favorite in Bologna was Trattoria La Montanara, via Righi 15: Cozy restaurant, many local diners, friendly young staff and very good traditional food at decent prices. @tupac17616: our dinner at Osteria Francescana was a rather mixed experience. We had some of the dishes that you had as well and while some were great (the parmeggiano for example) I have to say that for a 2*-restaurant the "ordinariness" of some dishes was a bit of a letdown. Also, I found it interesting that the (pretty self-satisfied) maitre was very dismissive about "stupid bloggers", as he called them. The style of the service and the ambiance reminded me a bit of Alinea - too bad the food was not half as good. Since you mention it in your article: we were there on a saturday night and the restaurant was only half full...maybe that's why Bottura didn't bother to make a round in the restaurant. But maybe he wasn't there that night... greetings kai

Any new reccomendations for the island? We will be in the region between Bastia, L'Ile Rousse, Lumio and Calvi in june. There are some michelin-*-places (or hopefuls für a *) in that area. Anyone been there? Thanks! Greetings kai

The view is really nice, indeed. When were there, there was even a huge fireworks right in front of the terrace, due to a wedding in the house...gorgeous! Can't wait to read your update! (Speaking of a nice view: a friend of mine raves about the restaurant in the hotel hassler: great view of the spanish steps and fantastic food) greetings kai

Yeah, I had seen your review in that other thread, fortedei. It was strange to read about your extremely negative experience, though, since I only know people who love the place and have gone there every year on their holiday, for years... Italian diners, on the other hand, didn't seem to love it that much, either.

Yes, tupac, but this was an old rumor. The article from the italian wine magazine is brand new, though, and seems to be well founded, especially since they cite an italian restaurant critic and the owner of the nearby restaurant "La Pineta"... http://www.winenews.it/index.php?c=detail&id=15745&dc=15

Hello, as far as I could see Fulvio Pierangelinis very famous restaurant doesn't have it's own topic... ...and maybe it doesn't need one anymore, because I have read on an italian website (dated april 13, 2009) that the restaurant has been closed indefintely since october 08. Can anyone confirm this? Maybe some of the italy-specialists here? Thank you! regards kai

We'll be in the area in june - great to find so many nice recommendations here! Any more recent visits to other places? @tupac17616: We want to go to Osteria Francescana as well, especially after reading your report... Could you tell me about their prices? I figure that the tasting menus are quite expensive, but usually italian restaurants have very reasonable wine prices... Is it true what I read somewhere, in a blog, that they don't serve wine by the bottle?? Do they have a dress code? And some people (italians especially) complain about the place being very "stiff" with the waiters hardly cracking a smile. Is that so? Because such an atmosphere would be a reason for us not to go - that is not what I need on my vacation Italy seems to be a bit behind in that regard - everywhere else the staff at top restaurants loosens up more an more, giving the whole thing a relaxed atmosphere. But in italian michelin-starred-restaurants (or wannabes) they still walk around in bow-ties with buster-keaton-like stone-faces... At least that is my experience. greetings kai