Monthly Archive for August, 2007

La Nave – Simple and Honest

admin / Published on August 24, 2007 in Italy and Restaurant. 2 Comments Tags: .

The View from San Michele

I’d like to tell you about La Nave.

La Nave is located on the Ligurian Riviera in a tiny town named San Michele di Pagana between Rapallo and Portofino. It’s a family style trattoria, very down to earth and very friendly. The food is simple and classic Italian dishes and very good. The reason why I want to tell you about La Nave is that I was completely taken by surprise by the food quality and the very warm atmosphere around this place. At first glance it really seemed like just an other indifferent beach restaurant.

I discovered the place a year ago and have eaten there six times now. Fish is the speciality of La Nave, and fish of high quality and good taste.

La Nave is owned by Piero and Adriana. They are excellent waiters and are the reason for the very special local sentiment, which I love so much about Italy, in the sense that they can adjust to any kind of customer, and make him, her or them glad: The lone business man, the ebullient mum-dad-three-kids-family, the couple in love.

This is a review of my three latest dinners there.

Frutti di Mare

Antipasto frutti di mare. I confess I ate it all. It was like candy, I couldn’t stop. The only one prawn there was almost as sweet as sugar.

Cozze alla marinara

Tasty muscles with a juice so lovely that I noisily spooned it up with one of the shells.

Risotto with various fish

The risotto is fantastic, the perfect firm texture of the Arborio rice, the flavours of subtle tomato and various kinds of sea food. Very delectable and way, way too large a portion for my womanly stomach.

A mixture of grilled fish

Various fishes on the grill stimulating my craving for always wanting to taste a bit of everything.

Langoustines and Prawns

Grilled langoustines and prawns. It’s my favourite dish of La Nave. I think that they have some kind of sauce that they glaze on the shell fish, because it doesn’t taste of the fish alone. There’re other slightly spicy flavours too. You’ll only get two of each but the quality is exquisite and the size of them is larger, than what’s on the plate with mixed grilled fish.

Jermann Pinot Grigio

I had a different wine each night, first some nice local Vermentino, and the second night a Jermann Pinor Grigio 2003, which was a little disappointing being not completely balanced and lacked fruit. Too acidic to my taste.

Gaja Chardonnay

The best wine was for sure this Chardonnay. A bottle of Gaja, my first one. Fruity and tannin to balance it, a full flavour and a good structure. One of the waiters came and gave me the cork from the bottle. I brought it home and keep it as a kind of souvenir. It’s a pale white and a pretty cork with almost no dark granulates.

Blueberries with Maraschino

Adriana is the grand dessert chef. I had blueberries with Maraschino liquor twice because it was so good and because I love blueberries. Very blueberried, and I was close to be in paradise.

Berries and Mille-feuilles

My last evening I felt like varying and not have blueberries. My choice was instead the delicious Chantilly cream with small puff pastries and berries, which was a very good alternative to my blueberries. Adriana was so kind to offer me a glass of Malvasia to accompany this fine dessert.

The final night I was lucky to watch the fireworks at the coast downwards from Rapallo. A spectacular ending of a nice trip to the beautiful Ligurian coast.

Good food, good and personal service. I certainly hope to be back some day!

Gastronaut’s Goodies

Trine / Published on August 15, 2007 in Petit Fours. 5 Comments

During the last months I have discovered some fabulous blogs about good food and good restaurants. I’m feeding myself and my laptop with creations of these sources in between my excellent eats escapes. I’m highly inspired by them.

To credit these great writers and photographers I’m mentioning them here.

Luxeat

Luxeat (English) by Aiste, beautiful food lover covering fashionable dining mainly in Paris, Côte D’Azur, France, New York, Florence and more. I love Aiste’s creativity, photos, videos, writing and the way that she compares restaurants in a few words.

allan østbjerg

allan østbjerg (Danish) by Allan Østbjerg. Allan writes about his life. We share the interest of nice places and gourmet restaurants. Allan’s blog is the most interesting Danish and well-written personal everyday life blog I’ve come across so far. Allan is rating the restaurants he’s visiting.

Food & Thoughts

Food & Thoughts (English) by Zarah Maria. Being non-native English speaker Zarah writes brilliantly about food, recipes, crops – and her life. When I read Zarah’s Me.Meme.MeMe.Mes I forget time and place. Her images are just beautiful.

Gastros on Tour

Gastros on Tour (French) by Laurent V and friends (I think because I don’t really speak French. So, LV, please correct me if I’m mistaken!). I discovered this blog last Sunday, when Laurent posted a comment on my About page, and I have already become very keen on reading these great, Belgian and French mainly, gastronomical stories. Although some of the text translates in my head like a very primitive autotranslation program would do it word by word, taking me half hour because I look up every other word. Sometimes I’m lucky that the Danes stole some French words like ‘overture’ for example. Then I can do it in 20, perhaps. Good practice.

What all of the above have in common is a good sense of humour. Thanks guys!

Enjoy!

Do plums have a sex life?

Trine / Published on August 13, 2007 in Petit Fours. 3 Comments

I have a weekend cottage. I love it there. It’s the complete opposite of my everyday life in the city. I find nature, peace there. It’s by the fiord, close to the water. The house has a big garden, where I try to grow a rose plant, a honeysuckle and to keep some of the weed out.

My Plum Tree

There are also a few fruit plants. Wild raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, red gooseberries. And a plum tree.

Branch with Plums

This year there are many plums on the tree, and I have been too busy doing other stuff and so haven’t managed to muck out the branches. The result is that the tree looks like a tired old man who carries loads of groceries home from the market. Some of the branches are almost touching the ground.

This weekend the first few plums were turning ripe. Time for harvesting. Yummy. I’ve been nursing the tree, removed the moss from it’s roots, done something about my bad conscience, an attempt to let the tree know that I’m still around. Naive enough to visualize it will hugely affect the extent of my crops.

Year’s first harvest - Yum!

While gathering musty and bad plums and picking the few almost red and ripe ones I discovered the weirdest plum I have ever seen in my life. It looks like it’s yearning for something, I don’t know. I bet it’s the most peculiar plum you’ve also ever seen. And I therefore couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Here it goes:

A Plum’s Lust

Unique noma

Trine / Published on August 11, 2007 in Denmark and Restaurant. 15 Comments Tags: .

I love noma. I just do. Of all the places where I have dined until this date, noma is the best one. Noma’s food is brilliant. Nothing more, nothing less. Pure and seducing. Noma’s like a drug.

Skate Wing and Mussel Liquor

Skate wing and mussel liquor with cauliflower in different textures

I wanted to dine at noma this special day, and to ensure that, I had booked my table back in April, almost four months in advance. This time my table was along the side in the middle, still providing full view over the room of the restaurant.
All the dishes were wonderful, well-balanced, sophisticated, innovative and surprising. A bombardment of beautiful picturesque food of the freshest fish, tender and savoury meat, delicate berries, tasty vegetables and frail herbs and flowers with subtlety and elegance. The service was great – especially the service of the sommelier.

Warm Lobster Salad

Warm lobster salad with red current wine and beach herbs

I think my favourite dish was the sweet and outstanding lobster, but maybe I am not quite within my rights saying that, because I eat lobster so rarely, and thus it might just be the scarcity of it that’s flattering me.
As I have written about noma already twice, I want to focus on the elements that surprised me this particular evening.

The Quail’s egg

Quail’s egg

One of the snacks was a bird’s nest with two quail’s egg, which had been smoked and brawned. The head chef, René Redzepi brought them to my table and told us to eat it all in one go. I expected the yolk to be dried because of the way that the egg looked, light brown on the outside. But the yolk was in fact liquid, the dense pulp spread around my mouth. I was astounded.

Oyster and cucumber

Oyster and cucumber

L’amuse bouche

I was completely taken aback when I first ate noma’s food, and I therefore imagined that a restaurant serving such innovative and original food, would be capable of surprising me with matching wines too. So, I decided to go for the set wine menu, to see how well the ensemble would be here.

1980 German Riesling

Interesting and fine wines that matched the food magnificently, I must say. For example the Muscadet that accompanied the appetizer comprising oyster and cucumber being light in colour and delicately fresh in taste. The Grüner Veltliner ice wine was the dessert almost by itself. Thick texture, full-bodied and so sweet but comprising acidity to balance the taste, a wonderful dessert wine, so intense that I could only sip it lightly.

Mosc oxe Tartar and Wood Sorrel

Tartar and wood sorrel with creamed tarragon and juniper

I remember as a child when walking in the woods, the grown-ups told me to pick the wood sorrel that grew in the forest floor and eat the fresh, tasty and green leaves. I would never have thought of finding this ingredient at a top-notch restaurant. In this picture the wood sorrel was brilliant. The dark and pure meat taste of the tartar combined with the dusty flavour of the leaves adding the hidden acidity and extracting taste like a salt. The intense green cream was like candy, and I could have licked the plate clean from it. The image shows how simple it the food is, and this is brilliance, the fact that a few elements can form such pleasure and perception. I wish, I could add a button right here on my blog, so you could sense and experience what I got.

Shoots, Malt and Potatoes

Shoots and malt and potato puré underneath

I was especially keen on the red wine, the only one, the Vosne-Romannée. It was weak on tannin and rich on fruit and fullness and very nice with the goat kid, which was a surprise too, by the way. It’s only my second time that I eat that, and this meat was amongst the finest I have ever had. The texture slightly like lamb, thready and with a taste so delicate like I would never imagine possible for goat’s meat. A bit like veal but finer and with a game flavour to it as well.

There wasn’t really room in my stomach for the cheese, but I just couldn’t say no. One of my close friends had specifically mentioned the cheese, when he dined at noma a couple of years ago. I tasted four different types, three from Sweden and a single Danish one. Wauuw, the Swedes really know how to make cheese! The first one resembled an Italian Parmigiano Reggiano and the taste was very similar. The cheese was a Kvibille Cheddar and seasoned for 24 months. The Danish cheese was a red-lead putty one as far as I remember, and there were also a goat’s milk cheese and a Sødermans Ädel blue roan of cow’s milk. I’m mad about blue roan cheese, all kinds, and this Sødermans was not sharp or ammoniacal in any way. All very delicious cheese.
We got another glass of the same lovely red Burgundy and I learned that you can easily drink red wine with a blue cheese, if the wine doesn’t contain sulphur and thus much tannin. It was indeed gentle velour that swirled around my mouth.

If I must state the single dissonance of this gastronomical concert it has to be with the appetizer; I found the cucumber a bit too acidic and powerful for the oysters. I know it might sound ridicules.

Raspberries and Beet Roots

Raspberries, beetroot and marinated rose hips

You know, I don’t think that I can really mark out any of the dishes to be my favourite one as they were all fabulous. I haven’t described every dish, and this is not an indication of those being not as good, because they were. The Champagne with grapes from nine different vineyards. And the delectable Danish dream and the A. Rousseau’s Vieux Marc de Bourgogne, which both accompanied my coffee. I even forgot to photograph the goat-kid and the delicious blueberries, I love love blueberries, which were completely covered by milk skin. A dark blue and purple course being the masculine counterpart to the pink lady of intriguing sweetness shown above.

A gala performance!

Lights of noma

This evening it actually rained, the sun wasn’t shining, but that didn’t matter. Leaving the place I felt like I was shining myself. Gilded by the Northern light of glittering unique noma.

Thank you, guys – especially to Pontus!

The full menu with the wines 2 August, 2007:

Raw shrimps and green gooseberries
Fresh cream and dill
2005 Domaine l´Ecu (Guy Bossard), Muscadet Sévre & Maine sur Lie ‘Granite’ Magnum, Loire, France

Shoots and malt
Potato puré
2004 Domaine Valette, Pouilly-Vinzelles, Bourgogne, France

Skate wing and mussel liquor
Cauliflower in different textures
1980 Wegeler, Riesling halbtrocken ‘Breg Rotland’, Rheingau, Germany

Warm lobster salad
Red current wine and beach herbs
2005 Mark Angéli (Ferme de la Sansonniére), Anjou Blanc ‘Les Fourchades’, Loire, France

Goat-kid and ”dust” of thyme
Hazelnuts and mushrooms
2002 Domaine Priuré-Roch, Vosne-Romanée ‘Les Clous’, Bourgogne, France

Raspberries and beet roots
Marinated rose hips
2006 Bricco Mondalino, Malvasiva di Casorzo d’Asti ‘Molignano’, Piemonte, Italy

Blueberries and milkskin
Pickled pine tree shoots and sweet bread
2005 Nigl, Grüner Veltliner Eiswein, Kremstal, Austria

Glashuset Revisited

Trine / Published on August 9, 2007 in Denmark and Restaurant. 0 Comments Tags: .

NOTE: New owner. Kim Møller-Kjær has moved to Villa Vest now!

Glashuset

Have you ever tasted a wine made from Danish dandelions? Well, I certainly hadn’t until about a couple of weeks ago.

Kim is still going strong! Absolutely. Delectable food made of fine quality products from the area around Lønstrup in the Northern part of Jutland.

The Garden Entrance

Kim had the night off my recent visit at Restaurant Glashuset, so the place was run by ‘Miv’ in the kitchen and Lars waiting the tables. It’s easy to figure out what to eat here, as there’s only one menu. Of the two different selections of wine menus I chose the Feinschmecker’ one, which offers more interesting wines than the cheaper wine selection does.

A Table

We started out in the Spanish mood so to say with Fino Sherry, Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla, and small tapas. A much more interesting snack, than what we got the first time I dined at Restaurant Glashuset. Salted almonds, a paste of sun-dried tomatoes, two nice types of sliced sausages, crispy chicken skin, and the best of them all the tiny cubes of a very delicious tuna fish. Raw apart from the sides which had briefly kissed the hot pan.

Prawns and Langoustines

Raw prawns followed with cauliflower and dill and on the side a very crispy langoustines spring roll with garlic and saffron aioli. In the bowl was olive oil with chilli and ginger, which in my opinion could have been left out as they didn’t add anything to the picture. I liked both the fish dishes, but one of my prawns was slightly floury. Both sorts of dill were perfect for the prawns. A nice 2004 Plantagenet Riesling, Western Australia accompanied these two dishes. Nose of petroleum(!), fruit and petrol, a nicely balanced taste comprising acidity and fruit with a medium to short after-taste. A bit of the petroleum remained at the back of my tongue.

Fettuccine, piment, rucola and truffles

Fettuccine with piment and rocula. And truffles. To be honest if the waiter hadn’t mention anything about the truffles, then I wouldn’t have noticed that smell and taste. The rest of the table disagreed with me though, so perhaps it was my allergies infected nose that wasn’t tuned in on that kind of scent. What I particularly liked about the fettuccine dish was the ‘al dente’ consistency of the pasta and the way that the bitter taste in the rucola leaves and the red piment cream matched each other. A couple of the fettuccines has stuck together but this hadn’t made them hard though. With the pasta we got a 2004 Allende Blanco, Rioja Spain.

Pork with Liquorice

A piece of pork from the local farm with almonds, pistachio nuts, lemon peel and liquorice. That’s the black dust over the plate. Very good, but although I’m the biggest fan of liquorice, I would be more careful with the sprinkler next time. Pork is very delicate in taste and can easily be over dosed by the black powder with the intense flavour.

Brawn of Pork

Pork brawn with a crackling, a white buttery sauce and rosemary. So simple, so elegant, so tasty.

Veal and tarragon

Rump steak of veal on mashed potatoes blended with tarragon and above it (in the photo) tarragon cream buttered on a slab of slate, which served as the plate for the main course. The baked tomatoes provided the acidity, which prevented the food from being stuffy.

Glasses Ready

With the cheese (six different good ones) we got two different glasses of wine. One which I knew was a Gewürztraminer and another glass of light yellow, unfiltered wine that the waiter asked us to guess what was. It looked like a wheat beer without the foam and quite thick in texture like a dessert wine like ice wine. I don’t recall what we thought it was but at some point I mentioned that it might even be Danish wine. The first scent in my nose was soap then lime fruit and apricots. Anyway, the liquid was a local wine made of dandelions. Dandelions. Quite impressive. We had absolutely no clue about that. So, apparently, now the town of Lønstrup is also on the wine map.

White Chocolate and Fresh Berries

The dessert comprised white chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet, fresh summer berries and a caramel of stewed condensed milk, which was fantastic. Freshness, sweetness and full enjoyment for the eyes. A lovely dessert with a lovely Mount Difficulty Muscat (I believe), Australia, wrapped in foil for us to guess, again, what that was.

Kim has got a new coffee machine since my last time. Great coffee, strong espresso. My kind of taste. By the way, Kim’s very generous with his coffee. The amount in the cup was three times the size of what I usually get in Italy. Are the people in Northern Jutland particularly found of coffee? Anyway, more value for the money. Literally speaking.

All in all, I got the strongest impression of all the courses from the two pork dishes, the veal and the dessert. These courses were simple, elegant and had made much more impact on me. As to the service, it was the same standard as my first time, and what I particularly liked was the way that the waiters were able to adjust their service to the clients – no matter if he or she was a tourist, a local, or a jolly Copenhagen blogger with her little black note book.

Thanks for a great evening and to Kim for the help with the photos!

Sunday 29 July, 2007.

Change my serviette, please!

Trine / Published on August 6, 2007 in Petit Fours. 0 Comments

Serviette from Le Sommelier

There’s something about gourmet dining that puzzles me a lot. The serviette and when it gets changed. At most of the top-notch restaurants I have been to, they change my serviette with a clean, ironed and perfectly folded according to that place’s custom every time I go to the loo. But not all gourmet restaurants do that, and the ones that do it, don’t do it at all times. Sometimes. For example, some places don’t give you a new serviette when you’re eating lunch. That’s my experience anyway.

Serviette from Søllerød Kro

As you know, when I dine out I usually drink a lot of water and I therefore must go to the ladies room many times during such an evening. This means that I can keep the waiters quite busy running back and forth my table. It becomes a habit, and if I return to my seat and find my old and used napkin still there, I almost get disappointed! Strange thing.

A Serviette from MR

This brings me to my question: Why do restaurants change your serviette during the dinner?

The reason why I ask this question is that I can imagine someone with a huge bladder wouldn’t need to go to the loo during a dinner. Not even once. Doesn’t this person get her/his serviette changed then? Isn’t that a discrimination?

A Serviette from noma

To me it would make much more sense if the waiters would change the serviettes for the whole table at the same time. I imagine for example after the main course or when changing from a fish dish to meat or whatever. And of course if I should drop mine by accident, like if I had dropped a knife.

A Restaurant Glashuset Serviette

A single change during an evening would be enough for me, personally. More than this is a waste. I would rather have the chair pulled out for me when I return to my seat.

What about you? I wonder what you think about this. Please state your opinion here if you have one!