TIme to reflect a bit: wonderful quote that I just read

"to laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons...to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better...—this is to have succeeded.

     ~ ralph waldo emerson  

Sangria recipe (one of many you can mix and combine)

One of the beauties of Sangria recipes is that you can use a variety of different wines in the recipe mix. just atke the one you used the previous day or one cheap wine (in Spain we use the tetra brick wines :-)

The beauty of the basic Sangria recipe is that it is as delicious as it is easy, and it only gets better as you spice it up with your own additions!so go out and start trying and mixing and changing some of the ingredient

For example you can change the red wine for white or cava and you will have an interesting variation that will always surprise your friends

All in all it will take you 5 minutes to do it, so what are you waiting for ?

Ingredients:

• 1 Bottle of red wine (Rioja or VAldepenas rules), however white wine or cava will also do
• 1 Lemon cut into wedges
• 1 Orange cut into wedges
• 1 peach, apple or nectarines will also add amazing flavour 
• 2 Tbsp sugar (or maybe 2,3 or 4 if you prefer a sweet one)
• 1 Shot brandy or cointreau or rum could also do (whatever you have handy)
• 2 Cups ginger ale or club soda (fizzy water will do) - You could also do orange or lemon soda and don't use then much sugar as the flavour sodas have already much sugar on them
• Lots of ice cubes

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight (a couple of hours and lots of ice cubes will also do, but then try to have the wine in the fridge ahead of time, but the flavours of the fruit will not be capture that well).
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Brunch in Vilnius

If there is something we love is having brunch on Sunday’s. I would not call Vilnius the Paradise of brunch but it does offer a good number of options. Here is some of the selection (beyond myself cooking brunch at home, not a bad option either once in a while


The luxurious: Radisson Blu Astorija Hotel.
Didzioji 35/2, Vilnius LT-01128
Tel: +370 5 212 0110

Not your every Sunday brunch, pricey specially for Vilnius standards (35 Eur per person). However it has a very elegant environment (most of the people do dress up to come here), buffet quality is superb combining a good selection of hot mains (meat, fish, rice, veggies), seafood and cold platters. The dessert selection is excellent and the juice selection and coffee and tea comes also with a glass of nice champagne


The (Sunday) early riser: Shakespeare Hotel.
8/8 Bernardinų gatvė
Tel. 85 2665885
The location is superb, among the cobbed streets of Vilnius and near the lovely St. Anne church. In the lovely and classy bar of the hotel, it welcomes both hotel guests and visitors, but more often that not there is at a maximum a couple of tables occupied. This is an oasis of tranquillity, with lots of light coming from the windows on a sunny day. You order from a la carta menu and it is rare to spend more than 15 Eur per person even if you order 2 plates. Great omelettes and English breaklfast, Lithuanian eggs (if you like fried eggs style which I don’t L) and some other egg combinations, including eggs and steak for the very hungry. Furthermore good selection of sweet plates (pancakes, portridge, fruit salad). And amazing enough 10% discount if you pay with Amex. Only issue is that they close at 1030 (although you can stay much longer chatting and getting coffee)

Cosy, kids friendly and great outdoors (in the summer) – Pizzeria Uzupio
3 Paupio gatvė
Tel. 8~5 2153666
Almost in front of the Angel statue, in the middle of the Bohemian Uzupis neighbourhood, what looks like a nice but just a pizzeria is a great option for brunch. Apart from their pizza and pancakes menu (huge, large and lovely ones), there is an entire range of eggs and omelettes to choose from on Sunday for brunch. Even if does have a home speciality of  omellete on a pizza, ideal for vegetarian or for the very hungry. Their terrace is great on any sunny day and it is a very cozy and homie place in the winter (which you can add a soup to your selection then). Difficult to spend more than 20 eur per pop


Cheap and reliable– Double Coffee (for brunch ideally in Gedimino prospectas)
Gedimino pr. 5, Vilnius, Lithuania
Tel. +370 656 778 61
Nothing fancy or too special on the menu but very reliable. Service is just OK (have not seen them smile too much to tell you the truth). Large selection of pancakes and other potatoes plates, good coffee and nice atmosphere. Ideal to then do some shopping walking along the Sunday’s market in Gedimino or the busy shopping streets around. 15 Eur

Finally not for brunch but I do have breakfast almost every day (as it opens at 8 am) at Fortas at Algirdo gatve. Great service, quick and always smilie and helpful. Great coffee, good freshly squeezed juice, you can choose from light breakfast (French breakfast, freshly baked croissant with butter and raspberry sauce), hungrier (American breakfast with sausage and fries) or the humongous omellete. You will not spend more than 8 Eur and be ready for a great day. In the summer you can have breakfast outside on the tables they set up for this

Starting to discover Riga (I): a drink at night

I usually get to Riga on Monday night quite late and I had dinner in Vilnius. However it is always still time (specially in the  spring – summer time) to enjoy a drink. Some of the options I have discovered

Drink with a view: Sky Bar at Radisson LAtvija

Probably the best view in Riga as it is the tallest building on this part of town. Drinks (usually all cocktails are just average) and ambiance (way too many large groups and hotel guests) are not really at par with the view (superb in all angles) but you need to refresh your eyes once in a while here

A view with a nice setting for a chat: Albert Hotel Lounge
33, Dzirnavu  Iela, Riga

While the view is a bit more spectacular at the Radisson, the open terrace / lounge of the Albert see above) is still has a great view and it is a much nicer ambiance if you plan to stay for a long chat (which will probably required a blanket at some point). Terrace has about 6 tables (the inside part is much larger) and drinks are ok. Ideal for both before dinner or after dinner time and very central also

Old town great shots and live music – Shot

Shot, Torņa 4 (Jēkaba kazarmas), Ríga

Just at the entrance of the old town if you are coming from the park, with also an outdoor and indoor part (street level both) and for what I have heard great live music (on Monday there is no live music so I can just rely of what I have heard) . Large menu of different shots, each one of them more interesting (both in terms of the names and the combinations). It seems to be the place in the world where Bolts has managed to really make an entry with their different flavours. Order 2 or 3 shots and enjoy. Really worth a visit (and pace yourself with the shots)

My sporting idols - Mr Raul Gonzalez leaves Real Madrid today after 15 years

Funny to think that for 2 weeks in a row I found myself writing about sports (as an spectator) and its influence on my life. Today Mr. Raul Gonzalez, captain and Real Madrid player for the last 15 years announced that he is leaving the sporting club and will play his last 2/3 professional years in a foreign league (England or most likely Germany at Schalke 04)
For many of you who may not follow football or Real Madrid this may mean nothing. However for those football lovers (I don't even believe they need to be Real Madrid fans) Mr. Raul represent one of the se few players who stay on the club all their life and represent their values above all
For me Raul does and has represented many of the values that I respect and follow in life: passion, love for the shirt, professionality, commitmment, dedication
Obviously I will never forget his goals and the times that I jumped from my sit to celebrate them. Funny enough even if I like football since I was a kid I was much more of a basketball fun (specially when talking about Real MAdrid). However as I spent many years abroad, watching Real Madrid on the TV was many timse how I did re-connect with my country and Raul is in most if not all of those memories from Brazil, UK, Czech Republic, South Africa, etc... he will be part of my 20-35 life memories for sure


Link to MArca TV Video tribute to Raul career and goals
uff difficult to contain tears when reviving so many memories of joy

I remember how I did "strike" from the national team on the Euro 2008 (When we won!!!) as the national coach decided to not pick him even if he had been the second highest scorer of the League. For someone who did give so much for his country I am so sad he was not part of the 2008 and/or2010 national team achievements

I did join the entire Bernabeu each time when during the 2007/08 league he did score and we all shout "Raul Seleccion" (Raul national team) and "El 7 de Espana" (Spain's #7).

I remember how during your last 3 years I kept betting with my friend and another truly madridista Fran Gonzalez that you will score at least 15 goals and how you did each year except this last one. And how I felt that maybe it was better to not wait to buy a little key chain with the Real Madrid shirt, your number 7 and your name this year at the Real Madrid shop

A legend and an example of "madridista" leaves. Raul enjoy to the fullest your last 2 years and please come back. The biggest of this sport have only a place in this world and that is Real Madrid

See you soon (and I guess I will have to watch now the German League)

The feeling of having my country being World Champion

 

I still remember being in the streets of France during the past world cup in Germany after France and Portugal just made it to the semifinals. Lots of people in the streets of Paris (there is a large Portuguese colony in Paris) celebrating, just happy to be from their country and what their football team has achieved
I remember sending then an sms to 2 of my best friends (Philippe and Fran) telling them that "...one day the streets of Madrid will be having such celebration"
True that months later Spain become basketball world champion in Japan and we had a similar celebration but being basketball Spain's second most popular sport and probably also the world's second, it is not the World Cup, aka the football one

Little I knew that only 4 years later Spain will be World Champ. Yes not only we did pass the quarterfinals, our biggest enemy until date, not only we beat Germany on probably our best game and against probably the team that played best football on the world cup, but we WON THE FINAL
On this opportunity as with most of Spain greatest achievements in different sports in the past 4 years I was in a foreign country. So the celebration is mostly personal (apart from sharing it with Andrea and a couple of Lithuanian friends that were supporting Spain also)
I jumped after the goal, I screamed and I look at the sky. The last 2 minutes I was in my knees, all those previous defeats were on my head, I remember almost each of them since I was a child (the penalty from Eloy at Mexico 86, Raul injured in Korea and the ref invalidating 2 legal goals, and so for so on) but now tears (or cold sweat?) were there, and a feeling of great joy, of achievement or national pride. I knew that many years from now I will always remember where I was that day that Spain won the World Cup
I sent SMS to many many people, I responded to tons of friends' that send me congratulations messages (thank thank very much to all of you)and I did enjoy immensely seeing Iker Casillas, our great captain, raising the World Cup, an image I have many times envisioned on my head but never pictured me in Vilnius (Lithuania) happening like this
I have been wearing the Spanish National Team shirt (old one because the new one has now ONE start of World Champ :-) and the Spanish Flag around my neck for the last 2 days. I will keep celebrating and enjoying for a long time, the feeling of joy does not leave you

As my very good Brazilan friend Gustavo Fonseca says, "...enjoy it because it does not happen very often. I was born after 1970 so I missed Pele's 3 titles, so I waited 21 years for Brazil to win (and not only that but Argentina won 2 titles in the meantime). We won it twice but we never played as Spain did this time. Spain has revived the dogma that you need to play well (not pretty but well) to win the World Cup".

So here we are ready to enjoy for a long time (and hoping that the basketball team will win again the world champ in Turkey in September :-)

And singing  "La copa ya esta aqui, la copa esta en Madrid" (The cup is already here, the cup is in Madrid) and ready to buy my new Spanish National team shirt that will have from now on and forever at least one star of World Champ

Thank you for this great memory for life 

My Gazpacho Recipe

There are many Gazpacho recipes, almost every cook has its own. And then you have the ingredients, likely every time you cook gazpacho it will taste a bit different. Here is my version

Some good wine choices to buy at Madrid Airport - Reds (II)

When we talk about the red wine selection you can always play safe and spend your money in "classics" (but always amazing ones) as Rioja's Marques de Caceres and Marques de Murrieta or Ribera's Protos to name a few.
However maybe you want to try something different or you want to be spending a bit less, here you have some recommendations for 3 wines that I think could make you happier when you open them back home or you give them as a present:

Some good wine choices to buy at Madrid Airport - Whites (I)

One of the things that I really hate with the security rules after the famous Shoe Bomb incident is the ban on liquids (which BTW if you want my opinion is total BS and just a way to increase sales at the airport and manage the people's fear management) . So I used to buy 6-8 bottles and just curry them with me on my hand luggage. Now I am forced to buy some of them if I can / want to check in my bag or to buy them at the airport

The good news is that at least on Madrid airport at the Aldeasa shops the wine selection is not that bad (probably the biggest complaint is lacking some interesting wine regions as Bierzo, Madrid just to name a few). Let me give you some of my recommendations (Cuatro Rayas, MAr de Fredes and Santiago Ruiz) :

First tips on our new city: 5 restaurants I like in Vilnius (I)

We have been living for now over 3 months in Vilnius so we start having some OK knowledge on restaurant and places, although I am sure this will only improve with time :-)
Being a rather small city (500,000) and not being Eastern Europe among my culinary destinations of choice, I was a bit worried about the range of choices. I have been in the city for consulting or BD work several times, but my experience was reserved to 2 or 3 top restaurants, mostly French. But the city has exceeded my expectations, which is nothing but great.
I am not going to put all contact details (you can find most of them on http://www.balticsworldwide.com/tourist/lithuania/restaurants.htm or trip advisor) but my personal notes on them

Rather late but never too late: a great restaurant in Paris

I should have written this one almost on my first entry. However I never did. Today while organizing some business cards I found their BC and I could not resist any longer :-)
During 2006 and 2007 one of my best friends Juan Villalobos was the CFO of ING Direct in France. He did live in the St. Germain district (on the 6th). Juan is a Cosmopolitan guy but inside him he is a Cuenca (in La Mancha, 2 hours from Madrid and a magical city) born and raised and feels very proud of his origins. So obviously he did know about a Cuenca born chef who also happen to be 5 minutes from his house (the restaurant used to be at 10, rue Saint Julien and has sinced moved to 45 Quai des Grands Augustine, about 10m from its original location) and in my opinion one of the most creative and yes riskiest chefs (in terms of "Gastronomioe Espagnole") that I know. The restaurant name Fogon (formerly Fogon St. Julien)
Another great advantage of going there with Juan is that we did not even bother to order. The Chef Alberto Herráiz (extremely well known and with many different cooking books already published) will come out and suggest the tapas we should try that day. Then gave a choice of different rice dishes and then voila, the result was always amazing
So here the star plate is the Rice. But again this is a risky place :-) so don't come here expecting a normal paella or the ones serve to most of tourist. Alberto plays with many different ingredients (from french influenced by using foie to all types of seafood, Jamon Iberico (ham), meat or vegetables) and many different ways to cook the rice (caldoso, meloso, seco). So throw away your expectations and just get ready to discover new ways to flavor rice. He also follows a similar line with tapas (never too many on the menu, just a selection) and top of my mind is always his inventive gazpacho (Cold soups in different formats). Now I remember a lettuce gazpacho that was as special as different as delicious)
And by the way as a final note he always uses mineral water "Solan de Cabras", from Cuenca, with some old design bottle that it is just great (and this happened much earlier that the fashion industry has discovered this brand)

Fogon (formerly Fogon St. Julien
45 quai des Grands Augustins - 75006 Paris -
(+33) 01 43 54 31 33
fogon@fogon.fr
http://www.fogon.fr/en/index.html

Great discoveries on the Asian restaurant front (Madrid, Spain) - II

The second discovery was even more pleasant.
Oam Thong, in Corazon de Maria 17 (just in front of the back exit of the parking of the Silken Puerta de America, aka you can just park there and enter in the restaurant within one minute)
This is the best thai restaurant in Madrid (Krachai, see below is not far behind) Much better that Thai Gardens, at least in terms of food quality and prices. However it is true that the service was slow (only 3 people serving a rather large dinning room).
The decor is nice, light browns and lovely lights and since the moment you enter the place you know. The food was great. Good amounts (not huge), great taste, had some lovely beef on red curry, a great soup and some entrees that were just delicious. To end up, one of the best ever sticky rice (with Mango ice cream) that I have tried (and I am not a huge fun of dessert, so this is rare for me to say and praise)
Don't know what you are waiting for, next time somebody tells you about not having good Thai restaurants in Madrid, just go there, they will change their opinion forever!!!


And once you enjoy this one you can still try another one :-)
I have been in Restaurante Krachai +34 918 336 556 Calle de Fernando VI 11 (near the house in Chueca) several times. The decor, all in white upstairs and more lounge style downstairs is phenomenal. The restaurant is rather small so make sure you do reserve, specially for dinner on Friday and Saturday. Overall the food is very good but if you are hungry, please share a menu degustacion with your couple, friend and family. For only 30 Eur, you get to sample a very generous amount of different plates that it seem coming in small quantities when you start and you don't know where to stuff the last pieces when you are about to finish. If not the overall menu is large, always with very interesting propositions that will make your choice difficult but always certain you will choose well. Large but not least for an Asian restaurant in Madrid it does have a great wine selection (both Spanish and some interesting non-Spanish wines)

Great discoveries on the Asian restaurant front (Madrid, Spain) - I

As you saw on one of my recent posts, we keep trying and selecting different restaurants on the Asian front in Madrid. Not only that but there is more thai ingridients at my house these days than ever before, so eating curries and similar is becoming a norm, a good one I may say

So lately I did try a couple of restaurants. Nobody has recommended them to us but I read some reviews and I had a good feeling about both.

Fisrt one was Phuket Thai, in calle Atocha 115 (91 3896359) (almost in front of the side entrance of Reina Sofia Museum). On appearance it may remind you of the cheap chinese reataurants that you can find on dozens around the city. Even funnier if you take a closer look you may realize that this restaurant used to be an old meson (typical restaurant castellano) and they have just done the minimal changes on the decor to look a bit Asian. Paper napkins, aka not a fancy restaurant on the Thai Gardens style;. But hey you come here to have a good meal at a good price is that is precisely what you get.
The pad thai is some of the best I have tried in town. Very good Tom Yam (seafood) soup and in general large portions. The "menu de degustacion" seemed interesting and an attractive option if you are not in the mood for thinking that day
3 of us were very happy with the choices although Andrea was not that convinced
Definitively worth the try and quite large so you may be able to get a table late on a Saturday without a reservation

A wine from Baleares (yes from the island): AN2

One of my discoveries last year was to find an amazing wine from Baleares, not your usual wine producer region in Spain (not a usual DO). In general most of the wines made in Mallorca are geared towards the thirsty tourist hordes and do not aspire to excellence.

From the winery Anima Negra, which has been making some of Spain’s top wines since the mid-90s. Anima Negra works mostly with the island indigenous varieties of Callet, Fogoneu, and Mantonegro, blending them (but usually in small quantities) with Cab Sauvignon or Syrah.
Their most famous wine (in terms of retail popularity as they have another wine on the 60Eur range that is produced not every year) is AN 2. I have tried both AN2 2005 and 2007 (this one is the one in most of the shops these days)

IN this case the AN2 has aged 12 months in French & American oak, and I have seen it retailing usually around the 20€ (aka not cheap at all) :-) but still worth it
It has a light but brilliant colour, in a way weaker than usual spanish wines. The smell will surprise you, cherry and mineral notes, original to start. In the mouth it will surprise you. It is both original and complex, quite earthy and with red fruit for sure. It finishes well

It will tell you something and make your food way better that you thought :-)

(Updated) An amazing surprise from Jumilla from a wine shop in Chueca (Madrid) that is doing great things

I was the other day on one of my favorites wine shops in Madrid, a not so old shop in Chueca formerly knows as “La carte des vins” and now Bianco& Rosso in Infantas 18 (within the plaza Vazquez de Mella).

http://11870.com/pro/bianco-rosso

I did buy several bottles to take with me to Vilnius but wanted to take a couple of interesting bottles for lunch with my parents and family

He recommended to me a wine from Jumilla, so knowing it will be a good one clearly qualify for the “interesting” part (until not so long ago Jumilla was know was very cheap wine of very low quality, almost Sangria wine. However several winemakers has risen the bar in the region and have been producing several award winning wines)

The bottle this time was Juan Gil 2005 from the Bodegas of the same name. To start with the label is really elegant and classy. A rare avis on its design on the Spanish label ecosystem

The wine is made from the typical grape in the region Monastrell (Mourvedre) is made from 45 year-old Spanish vines and aged for 12 months in American and French oak.

With a colour that may remind you lots of the Catalan Priorat, dark red, almost black intense/Inky purple color with light oak, black fruit and hints of tea and tobacco on the nose. Full bodied. A bit of blueberry and a long black cherry finish. It is smooth but leaving your mouth as a thick mouthfeel. We had it with a couple of spoon plates (potatoes with mushrooms and beans with rabbit), what a combination.

More amazing even is that the wine usually retails for less than 10 Eur. A definitive buy to surprise always your host

TOP 10 wines 2009 - Value and quality

Recently I have been asked several times about some of my recommendations from down to earth (aka price/quality ration) wines beyond the very well know ones, so here is my 2009 Top 10 list, with no particular raking among them. I have tried to balance whites and red, several regions and different values. Some of these wines are very easy to find, some of them harder :-) but you will love them when you find them
(please notice that you have in many cases dedicated blog entries on some of the wines). Prices are standard prices found on wine stores

Legend - Wine Type – Region – Name – Grape and year - Winery

Under 5 Euros
White – Rueda – Cuatro Rayas – Verdejo 2008 (Agricola Castellana)
Red – Valdepenas – Vina Albali – Tempranillo 2002 (Felix Solis)

Between 5-10 Euros
White– Rueda – Naia – Verdejo 2008 (Bodegas Naia)
Red – Toro – Bajoz Crianza - Tinta de Toro 2005 (Pagos del Rey)
Red – Somontano –Laus Crianza – Merlot / Caubernet Sauvignon 2005 (Bodegas Laus)

Beteween 10-15 Euros
Sparkling (Cava) – Gramona Gran Cuvee de Postre - Xarel-lo, Macabeo y Parellada (Gramona)
Red – Bierzo – Petalos del Bierzo – Mencia 2007 (Descendientes de J. Palacios )
White – Rueda – PR3 – Verdejo 2008 (Prado del Rey)
Red – Toro – Prima – Tinta de Toro 2006 (Familia Mariano Garcia)
White – Segovia (Castilla y Leon, Vinos de Castilla) – Ossian – Verdejo 2007 (Aalto)