Wine, Food, places and thoughts around the world

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

2010-08-10T09:46:00.001-07:00

"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)

2010-08-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

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

Slightly over 2 pounds of tomatoes—the riper and redder, the better

One cucumber—as long as your hand or smaller

One onion—plain white onion

(optional) One-half a pepper, diced—red or green, there is a family debate about which is better but they seem the same to me

2 cloves garlic—feel free to increase or decrease according to taste (but be careful, you don't want to kill all vampires that night :-)

Baguette—length of baguette the size of your hand (no breadcrumbs, sliced bread, etc.)

Olive oil—you’ll need about 2 tablespoons

Water

Vinegar—white wine vinegar works the best

Salt and pepper

Peel tomatoes. Easiest way to do this is to slice a small, shallow “X” across the bottom of the tomato and drop it in boiling water. Once the skin starts to separate at the X, fish the tomato out and put it in a bowl of ice water (to stop it from cooking further). When it has cooled you can peel away the skin.
In the meantime put the baguette in a bowl of water to soak.
Some people take seeds and pulp out of the tomatoes, I don't. I just Chop them and put into food processor or blender (I use the Thermomix, my best friend in the kitchen)
Add cucumber, onion, pepper and garlic to processor. Blend together well in processor. The smoother you can get it, the better.
Drain water from baguette and press remaining water out gently. Add baguette to tomato mixture in processor and blend again until smooth. Pour into bowl.

If you don’t have enough space in the processor, pour some of the tomato mixture out into a bowl. The remainder can be added and mixed in after blending.

Mix in olive oil.
Add vinegar to taste.
Add water to desired consistency. You shouldn’t need to add too much—a cup or two maximum, but probably less. This will of course dilute the vinegar taste a bit.
Add any salt and pepper as needed.
Chill in refrigerator before serving.

Gazpacho is often served in Spain with small bowls of fine chopped cucumber, onion, tomatoes, and bread. These can be added to individual bowls of gazpacho by the diner, as desired.

Gazpacho will keep for several days covered in the refrigerator. If the amount is too much for you, you can freeze any extra “paste” you have after Step 5 (before you put oil and vinegar). To serve, allow to thaw and continue from Step 6.

Que aproveche

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

2010-04-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

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:

- Vina Albali, Gran Reserva de Familia 98. Valdepenas DO. Say Vina Albali is a synonymous of value for money. Always excellent wines with a great value. Don't confuse this one with Vina Albali Gran Reserva 98 (which is much inferior than this one in my opinion). This one is part of their high end line. This wine is made from 85% tempranillo and 15% Cab (Sauvignon). Aroma has a lot of fruit, cocoa and spices. In the mouth it is very rich but smooth at the palate. Intense and long finish.

- Portia 2005 - An excellent Ribera del Duero DO (even if I am not a huge fan of RDs). Around 10 Euros. You will see the label from a distance light orange and the top looking like a vasp (yellow and black horizontal lines). 100% tempranillo. Intense colour, dark cherry, Strong on the nose, light on the mouth, typical strength of Ribera, lots of fruit mixed (very fruity in fact for a Ribera) with animal notes and spices. Becomes more and more interesting. Probably better with portk and chicken than beef.

- Bajoz 2005 - Toro DO. From vinery Pagos del Rey. I love the wines from Toro. So intense, dark red, just can stop drinking them. I discovered this one at Corte Ingles and next time I was at the airport I show it on the shop and even cheaper (I think it is 6 Eur). Purple core with reddish rim that is starting to brown slightly. On the nose it takes time (make sure it is not too cold) but once it comes to you it feels the nosefruit plus earth, mineral as most Toro. The palate is a straight forward wine that is not hard to enjoy. Some fruit (cheery and berry and something more sweet like vanilla) and later on a rich wet earth quality. In the end very easy to enjoy.

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

2010-04-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

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) :

Cuatro Rayas - Rueda Verdejo (please note there is also a Cuatro Rayas Sauvignon Blanc). Usually they have the latest year, meaning right now they will be selling 2009. I already mentioned on a previous post (http://winefoodaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/01/top-10-wines-2009-value-and-quality.html), excellent wine for less than 5 Euros. They serve this one at many of the paradores in Castilla Leon. Good colour, yellow with a bit of lemon and green, Fresh and intense on your nose, mostly fresh fruit/ green apple, and on your mouth, clean flavours for the typical Rueda 3 month in Barrica, mostly fruit but not fruity and good and delicate end of your palate. Nobody will be disappointed but amazed you only pay 5 Euros

Another two options on the white, although more expensive (between 10-12 Eur) are also interesting and in general people will like them (even if I am not a huge fan of Albarinos at least in terms of value for money)
MAr de Fredes - To start with you will love the bottle (see picture) and probably keep it for candle lighting. Intense blue and interesting shape. One of the most famous grape albarinos (DO RIas BAixas) and always present in many good shops. Light yellow/gold color, not very intense on your nose but Smooth-textured, elegant, intensely flavored, and balanced. Should be drink within 1-2 years and goes very well with seafood and white fish

Another Galician Albarino grape option is Santiago Ruiz (from the winemaker of the same name). Label is great (a handmade map that Santiago made to explain people attending her daughter's wedding how to get to the vinery), this is a very light wine, to drink very cold, very light yellow color but very good for another day of seafood

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

2010-04-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

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

St. Germain (French Cuisine), probably with La Provence and Sticklei (and the one within the city hall building) the most upwards market restaurants (and in general most expensive too). However St. Germain is rather small, cozy and even if expensive it always seems more approachable. Apart from some general good French entries, it has always 2 or 3 fresh fish (seabass, sole, dorada) that is rather difficult to try in Vilnius. Very good wine selection and excellent desserts and cheeses. Not your everyday restaurant but the one to treat you, your couple or friends once in a while

Bistro 18 - Probably the hottest restaurant in town. Although I always miss that the owners will be more part of the atmosphere and approach clients to talk to them and show their passion for the place, the waitress are always very nice and the service is very good
Bistro 18 decoration is rather minimalistic and trying to use wine as the main theme around the restaurant. In fact you can try to reserve the table within the small wine shop set up on the right side of the restaurant as you enter. this is perfect for a business dinner for 4 or 5 people
The menu is not large (this is the norm in almost every good restaurant in the city) and has always a selection of 3-4 soups (which you can try all in the soup trio), offering daily salad, rissoto, pasta (there several other choices but usually the day selection is more creative and interesting) and fresh fish offering and then 4 or 5 choices for meat. You can always choose a salad and potatoes (please try the mashed potatoes. Just amazing (and I don't really like mashed potatoes that much). Another good alternative is just to go there take several wines by the glass (good selection always (for being in EE remember) and some cheese plate

Sue's Indian Raja - An indian place in Vilnius and a good one? Actually yes a very good indian that I believe will even do fairly well in almost any European city (with the exception of London probably). The menu is fairly large and it has all the indian typical plates you are used to find (vindaloo, tikka, tikka masala, etc...) with veggie,chicken, shrimp, lamb or beef. Good soups also, yellow dal and good naans. And if you want spicy always ask them to make it spicier for you. The vindaloo could even kill you if you want to :-)

Zoe's Bar & Grill - Next door to Sue's is Zoe's. Another great place and also with great atmosphere. Very decent cocktails if you fancy an aperitif. Good onion soup and Thai soup (although this one is fairly spicy so your choice :-) Menu for mains is quite large. A selection more around thai/oriental like different curry's, steaks, sandwiches and more. I have always like everything I tried here. The creme brulee was very good although suddenly it is not in the menu any more. The place is open until late so I good choice if you have just get out of the movies at 22 and also lovely to see the cook grill your food near you.

Rene - If one place is different in Vilnius this is Rene. It is a Belgium place, where everything that happen around their service is a surprise (a pleasant one). I am not going to describe as this is part of the fun, but I am sure you won't feel as "your usual waitress".Mussels are fresh 3 days a week (usually Tuesday, Friday and Sunday) and then you can enjoy 6 different cooking recipes (and always with the great frites and mayo). Soups are good and abundant. If not a mussel day, the stew and the sausages (4 types) are fantastic. Also the large fish stew as a main is a really good choice. The only CONs if any to the place are that the Belgium beer selection is not large (only 3 to choose) and avoid the salads. But you will always go back to Rene

Next one on Vilnius will be Brunch in Vilnius

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

2010-04-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

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)

Some great oriental restaurants in Madrid

2009-11-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

Madrid just used to have very little good oriental restaurants until not long ago. Apart from 3 / 4 top luxury japanese or chinese restaurants (Robata, Thai Gardens, Tse Yang (at Villa Magna)), there were very little quality around the 25/35 Eur range. However many more restaurants have appeared in the last decade and some of them are more than worth a try

Cafe Saigon, Maria de Molina 4 (corner with Castellana) - Reservations 91 563 1566
Probably the better know out of this pack (and now has some other restaurants from the Group in Madrid and other cities (San Sebastian's Maria Cristina Hotel has one) . Usually very busy in the weekends (impossible to get a table without a reservation, having 2 serving shifts), but you will get easily get a table during the week although it is always lively. The decoration is superb (which is even more surprising as there are on the bottom of a office building), high ceilings, very good service and good food. They have good combo menus but the "a la carta menu" is also good. Has one of the best noodle soups in town, called "Sopa de arroz Vietnamita" (which could also be a main), very good green salad with duck, great noodles (3-4 types nromally) and good fish and seafood plates, among other things

A recent discovery and not very well know is Asia Xang
+34 914 134 920 Paseo de los Cerezos 2. Very closed to the corner of Ramon y Cajal with Alfonso XII, on a very quite area, very easy to park on the street (a plus on a busy weekend in Madrid) and with an amazing terrace in the summer (just by the street, quiet and relaxing and always great temperature at night) but the inside of the place is also nice and well decorated. I have never had a problem finding space but could be quite busy on the weekeds. It has a number of combo menus, ranging between combining chinese and thai to a more japanose one. Decent sushi, great dim sum (probably the best I have had in Madrid), great squid and St Jacques grilled with a light soi sauce, good teppanyaki de solomillo y el "maki california". Service is always friendly and you can eat for 30 Eur a piece, even cheaper if you try,
Definetly you should give it a try

Others worth a try could be

China Crown, Calle de la Infanta Mercedes 62 28020 Madrid - 91 572 14 64
A bit more expensive than the others, around 40 Eur, but good food, and always a nice atmosphere and a bit different plates than the usual ones

Don Lay, Paseo de Extremadura 30+34 914 634 546

A wear looking restaurant (as it was an old meson castellano in which they have basically change nothing but the name), it does serve a great sunday Dim Sum. My cousin whom is Taiwanese always takes us there. That is a good recommendation for sure

Some regional wines recommendation I want to try soon

2009-10-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Reading Conde Nast magazine, on the Spanish edition, they make some recommendations around some new winemakers (or not so new) but in some of Spain 's new regions and called "Vinos de Autor", term that qualifies for wine developed not based on the region but on the winemakers ideas and love

I am dying to try them, as some of them are also from some of the regions that I have learnt to love in the past 3 years while living in Spain. But don't expect to go cheap :-(

Capricho, Red Wine, Author Adolfo Gonzalez, DO Cigales, 2005, Winery La Legua, Grape tempranillo, 24 months in barrels from Central Eastern europe

Selectus, Red Wine, Author Manuel Lorenzo, DO Vino de la Tierra de Castilla (from Chincilla in Albacete), 2005, Winery Los Aljibes, Grape Syrah/Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 months in french barrels

Dalmau, Red Wine, Author Vicente Cebrian, DO Rioja , 2005, Winery Marques de Murrieta, Grape Tempranillo/Graciano/Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 months in french barrels

Venus, Red Wine, Author Sara Perez, DO Montsant (Cataluna) , 2005, Winery Venus La Universal, Grape Carinana/ Sirah, 20 months in french barrels

As Sortes, White Wine, Author Rafael Palacios, DO Valdeorras (Orense, Galicia) , 2007, Winery Rafael Palacios, Grape Godello

In Rueda – Verdejo and more (2)

2009-10-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

So after Bodegas Naia, we went to Bodegas PradoRey. I really like the concept they have put in place (about time somebody in Rueda does this. I have seen it a bit more in Rioja and Ribera although not much). An entire experience around wine, visiting the cellars, the great restaurant where to taste excellent food and their wines (or other as the selection is nice) and a very good shop with wine and products for the region. The group (which has originally wines from Ribera del Duero) invested over 9 Mio Euros on the complex.

Here apart from their Verdejo (PradoRey Verdejo 07) and even a cheaper version of Verdejo with a cheap Viura Grape (the wine sells for 3-4 Eur), they have worked 2 wines that I really like. One goes along the high end version of Verdejo that I mentioned on the previous Rueda post. The wine is called “PR3 Barricas”. The other one a very nice surprise “PradoRey Sauvignon Blanc”, semi dulce (semi sweet), working on similar lines of the IceWine but much much cheaper and en excellent taste

“PR3 Barricas” – so the grape is 100% verdejo, they mention they use a soaking process with CO2 (called Boreal) which gives the grape already an special treatment. Wine is then fermented on 3 types (that is why it is called PR3) of Central European Oak barrels (of 300 liters), where it stays for 9 months (once again almost triple that classic verdejo). Its alcohol degrees is actually quite high for whites on 13,5%
The bottle on its one is different as the bottom of the bottle is wider than usual. Very nice looking (don't know if you can see that on the picture). Visually the color is yellow, very shiny with some greens. On the nose intense, some toffee also. On the mouth very intense, stays on the mouth much longer that most verdejo. So great for rice or risotto, but I think it can “maridaje” with some stronger than usual cheeses. Have to try this
I bought some bottles and also a surprising present for friends to try this one. They will love you ☺

“PradoRey Sauvignon Blanc”, semi dulce (semi sweet), what a nice surprise. Excellent dessert wine, good value for money (compara with the 20+ Eur IceWine from Austria and even more expensive from Canada). Light colours, smells like pear and taste is light, semi sweet with some mature fruit at the back of your palate.

In Rueda – Verdejo and more (1)

2009-10-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

We are talking here about the ultimate white wine in Spain. Don’t get me wrong, there are many other grapes and regions making excellent white wine (godello grapes from Valdeorras and Monterry to give you an example) but Verdejo is the best internationally known and also a great value for money, which excellent bottles on the 5-10 Eur price range

I was actually in Rueda 3 weeks ago buying some wine there. So here are some of my recommendations and a couple of very nice discoveries

Naia – This is an excellent white wine and very good winery (many thanks to Cristina to help us on a busy day. She was really helpful and fun and love sharing with her our ideas on New Zealnd wine, where she was on the harvesting in Spring this year. But please organize the winery so people can come and taste the wines!! We need to develop this in Spain). They actually doing a good job on exporting their wine to the US (I have seen their bottles in several shop sin San Francisco).
Their “classic” Verdejo now in the shops in 2007 (Naia 2007). Keep in mind that “classic” verdejo is only in the barrels for 3 months, so usually you can’t have them for more than 3-4 years after they have been bottle, and on the 2 year mark they are at their peak. This applies to all the bottle of Verdejo (Classic, see about the new version below)
Furthermore, take a look at a very good and simple review that I subscribe very much
“Excelent quality for a small price. Both nose and taste is all fruit, citrus, melon also floral notes. This is an refreshing wine that drinks so easily that my glass keeps getting empty without a blink. Great to drink on it's own, goes very well with fish, even had pizza fruity di mare with it, sushi etc. The better the weather the better this wine comes to its right. Right out of the fridge is a bit to cold but on a summer day that will take only a few minutes to be resolved, although it doesn't always gets that time :0)”
One note he does not mention is the colour. Typical verdejo, pallid gold, with touches of wheat and a light very light greens.
I keep buying this wine over and over and you should do too

In the same winery and as it seems to be now a tradition in the region they are preparing a luxury or high end wine, which basically means that the bottles stay on the barrel for usually triple the time of the “classic” verdejo, giving the wine an stronger body, much goldish color and an oak-flavour on the palete
This is the case in Bodegas Naia, which has been doing the Naiades for a number of years. The one I tried was the 2006. This wine is selling for 15-20 Eur (although I have heard that they are selling it for 35 USd in the US!!!). It is expensive but not that much if you compare that most albarinos sell for this price and I think these are much better wines in most cases.
Let me share with you a review that I like on Naiades 2006
“Very interesting. My 1st verdejo with obvious oak treatment. I really enjoyed this. Improved with air. Was nice really chilled and even approaching room temp. Paired fairly well with arugula salad, parmesan-truffle oil dressing. Excelled with quinoa, greens and a yogurt tofu all with indian styles spices. The nose was so creamy, while the palate was more metallic or river stone like. Toasty oak, green bananas (stole that from slave2thevine) and yellow apples….”

Lisbon: mostly where to eat and some more tips

2009-10-10T01:46:00.000-07:00

Classic Lisbon

Restaurante Pap`Açorda
R. da Atalaia 57
1200 Encarnação, Lisboa, Portugal
213 464 811‎
This is in the barrio alto. Difficult to find. Usually great food and trying to be hip. The service has an attitude but you can fund a posh night here and the location is great to walk around after

Pastéis De Belém
R. de Belém 84
1300 Santa Maria de Belém, Lisboa, Portugal
213 637 423‎
This is the place for the pasties de belem (custard pie as the English will say). Just on the right side (in you have the sea on your back) of the monasterios dos jeronimos and across the Belem monument to the famous Portuguese explorers. The pasties are just amazing, take a whole box with 5 just baked inside, close your eyes put one on your mouth and you will be in heaven

Restaurante Porto de Santa Maria
2750 Guincho
Portugal
214 871 036‎

If you want fresh seafood and a taste of quite luxurious restaurant this is the place. However you need a car as it is easily 30 minutes from Lisbon, but actually probably 20m drive from Estoril.
It is on a almost deserted beach so a great place to take a stroll after lunch or feel really special at night looking at the stars after a great crayfish

Hotel York House – As Janelas Verdes

R. das Janelas Verdes 32
1200 Santos-o-Velho, Lisboa, Portugal
213 962 435‎

this is a small boutique hotel. It does serve food in a little terrace outdoors by the pool. The place is just fantastic for a very relaxed dinner with no noise or nothing to bother you around

As Docas

This is the area right under the 25th april bridge, which is full of restaurants (mostly old warehouses converted) and plces to go out at night

Some of the nice restaurants are:

-Restaurante Espalha Brasas
Doca de Santo Amaro, Arm. 9 - 1350-353 LISBOA
Portugal
213 962 059‎

Restaurante Doca 6
As docas, Lisboa
Portugal

The not well known tip - NOT to miss
An amazing place for fresh seafood is Cervejaria Ramiro‎ Av. Alm. Reis 1, 1150 Anjos, Lisboa, Portugal‎ - 218 851 024‎

Little wine route in Rueda (Noia, Prado Rey and more) - I

2009-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Our wine fridge was getting quite empty and being Rueda just 90 minutes away from Madrid and with the lovely days of September, we did a small road trip to fill the white wine gaps for the family

We decided to try different things, so we went to a vinyard, went to another vinyard that has expanded into a restaurant and shop and also to visit a large shop in Rueda that carries many wines

First we went to Bodegas Naia. Naia 2007 and 2008 have been some of my favourites whites in Spain in the past years. Although we are in the middle of the harvest so it was difficult to even buy the wine there today, I had an interesting chat with one of the staff members around the several wines that they produce, their distribution (Naia is actually fairly well known in the US and it is well distributed there) and other challenges. Also as usual I did chat about why we keep not investing in Spain on creating an experience around wine and the vinyards where you can go, taste wine, have food, visit the winery and more. The wasn´t an answer around this topic although Cristina (from Naia) have been in New Zealand and was talking about how interesting it was to see this concept in action.

This lead us to Prado Rey Winery which has recently open a restaurant (Colores de Rueda), a very nice shop and does tours of the cellars, so yes the full experience. The shop was beautiful, personnel was knowledgable and I did like the presentation of the products. However it wasn´t that easy to do a wine tasting and only after we ate at the restaurant we got to try on eof their wines.
Prado Rey Verdejo 2008 This wine, with appealing greenish tones, features varietal aromas from Verdejo on a complex background and exotic fruit with aniseed hints. It gives an sunctuous, fleshy, fat impression in the mouth with a very pleasant aftertaste. It dies too early into the mouth, which is in the other hand very common on young verdejos. A likable wine that goes easy with fish and seafood. A decent alternative for an Albariño

They are also making a combination Prado Rey Birlocho. A very good priced wine for 3,5 Eur that combines the Verdejo grapes (similar as the 2008 Verdejo) with Viura. Did not have the chance to try it but bought a couple of bottles to do so soon

The restaurant "Colores de rueda" was actually very nice, rich cuisine, good choices (including a very good fresh fish selection which being Rueda deep Castille is always remarkable). The service was efficient and we did enjoy the meal and we tried some of their wines. I will stop here more often but they should try to do some menus where they combine their wines (or at least make wine combination suggestions) with some specific plates

In terms of their wines, as most of the wineries Prado Rey Winery is developing a high end version of their classic verdejo wine. The same was the case at Naia (with the Naiades). This type of wine is staying for 9 months (instead of 4 months as the other Verdejo varieties) in the barrels, creating richer and more complex wine flavours. In the case of Prado Rey PR3. Using 3 types of different central european barrels. The yellow colour is stronger in a way greenish, very fresh and brilliant. I could smell some toffee and some fruits (peach maybe) que fermentan en tres tipos de barrica centroeuropea de 300 litros. Es de color amarillo pajizo tirando a verdoso, limpio y brillante.
Tiene una gran nariz, en primer termino salen tostados muy finos y minerales, algo de salinidad como a mar, luego salen frutas tropicales y frutas de hueso ( melocoton,albaricoque). En boca tiene buena acidez, te llena la boca, es glicerico, espeso, balsamico, con un final seco y algo amargo, pero muy agradable.
Me ha gustado.

Enjoying a good rice place in Denia (Alicante), Spain

2009-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have had the chance to spend a good number in Denia in Alicante, about 4 hours drive from Madrid. I am not a huge beach guy but I like Denia and its sorroundings (specially the Mongo mountain, always changing always different depending on the angle and place you look at it

Apart from that, the food is excellent and there are tons of great places and not very expensive ones to enjoy the fish but specially to enjoy the regional speciality RICE!!! And not just paella which may what many people from outside Spain knows but many other ways to cook it like

- Arroz Negro (Black rice, aka rice with calamari and calamari ink)
- Arroz a banda (First you cook the broth with fish, once you have it you clear the fish and you just cook the rice on the broth with shrimp and calamari and you serve dry and with Ali Ali (let´s say like a garlic mayonaise), hmmmm
- Arroces caldosos (rice with broth, almost soupy)
- Fideuas (cooked similarly with with small noodles instead of rice)

So here you have a couple of recommendations for places, both of them already in the road "carretera de las marinas a denia", both almost by the beach in Las Marinas

Restaurante Jamse
C/ Passarell 3
03700 Denia
965 783 506

Nice and simple outdoor covered terrace, paper cloth and napkins and plastic table and chairs, but you come here for the food. Good service and in 2 years I always see the same waiters, always a good sign. when you reserve over the phone (and you must or you will never eat here and in season it is always full) they ask you for the rice you want and when you want it. So if you reserve for let´s say 15, you go there 1430, order some starters (try the tellinas, really small clams cooked with butter and lemon, or/and sepia or chopitos (different calamari/ squid) and then by 15 the rice comes in a big pan ready to be served. You will left full so take it with time and enjoy,
We love the arroz a banda here and once we try to fideua (which was different than the typical one having the noodles much thicker ones)
You will eat for 25 Eur per peson (maybe 30 if you order dessert)

Restaurant L´Estanyo
Llac Sanabria, 6A.
Tel.: 96 647 42 42 (Denia)

The setting of this restaurant is a bit more scenic as Jamse as it is by the beach and you can see the sea by some of the tables and it has a truly outdoor area. As Jamse, you wont eat here without a reservation. Tables are a bit more set up and less plastic and also good service (although sometimes the noise in the room maybe not allow you waiter to even hear you)

Apart from some of the starters already mentioned, we love here the escombro, which is actually very deep fried calamary, really amazing
Here we usually go for the arroz caldoso (the soupy one). I really like the one with crayfish. Also the arroz a banda here is really good
At night this is also a good spot for a drink and a tapa if you don´t feel like dining

Enjoy and let me know next time you are around Denia

Around Zamora and the border with Portugal (I)

2009-08-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to spend a couple of days between Zamora and the border with Portugal recently and we come across different places that could make an excellent short weekend trip to do some sports, enjoy nature, relax and obviously eat and drink well, so here we are

We started stopping for lunch in Zamora. I had some other restaurant in mind (El Mirador) but it seemed it was closed. So taking a look at other choices I come across an interesting proposition called “Villa Claudia”
It is not the easiest place to find (not even with the GPS) so before you go there just check on google maps or some other map how to get there. But it is worth it

Villa Claudia
Ctra. Almaraz,
Carretera Almaraz, Km 1. 49027 Zamora.
Teléfonos 980 52 99 96 / 658 99 31 38
http://www.villaclaudia.org/

The building is al old farm, quite large although the dining room seems small and a bit dark; probably quite cozy in the winter. Very nice prepared tables, simple but elegant. Nice and attentive service

Menu is not too large, but it can cater to all gastronomical moods. More oriented towards salads and sharing entrees in the summer and lots and interesting looking spoon plates (”Pucheros y Cazuelas”) for the winter (Cocido (garbanzo pie stew with pork and beef), fabes con almejas (been with clams) and different rice types))

The salads we shared were nice, fresh and interesting combination of flavours, although we went for the classic ventresca (tuna) salad with peppers and lettuce (Ensalada de ventresca con cogollos de Tudela y pimientos
Asados). We also tried a very nice and compensated carpaccio de pulpo (octopus carpaccio). Even if most of the spoon plates are the winter there was still a small but still yummy summer election. I went for the Morcillitos de Ibérico con setas y hongos (pork leg with mushrooms), really good, the meet was very soft and it was almost melt in your mouth and very smooth flavor with the mushroom taste. Having said that, hope you are hungry when ordering the plate ☺

Don´t know why we did not feel like wine so we went for Sangria (it was not in the menu but they did one for us. Really strong and nice taste), but the selection of Toro region wine was really large and it is worth to mention it as this region is producing great wines in the last years

Will think about repeating the visit next time in Zamora although this time we should good in the winter and try the stew

A great restaurant in Avila: El Almacen

2009-08-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

On my way up to Oviedo (Asturias) with a couple of friends from the US, I wanted to stop in one of our favourite historical cities within one hour of Madrid (Toledo, Alcala de Henares, Segovia, Avila) for lunch and enjoy some nice food and views. At the end I decided to stop in Avlila and I did look for restaurant choosing at the end to stop at El Almacen

El Almacen
Carretera Salamanca 6
05002 Avila
920 211 026

To start with the location is great, just at in front of the Muralla de Avila (the medieval wall from the XIII century), right after the “Cuatro Postes” (Four postes) monument in the old cross roads in Avila and the roads to Salamanca and the Barco de Avila (N110 Avila – Toledo)
The restaurant just went under a large renovation recently and the result is excellent. One of the sides of the main room the restaurant is all windows which allows you to eat while enjoying the amazing view of the walls and the latest addition of the new festivals building of Avila
The style of the room is modern and tries to avoid a bit the typical castillian meson style while still providing you with a very cozy and although the entire restaurant does allow smoking (which is usually a NO NO for us) at least the distance between the tables is very large and allows you to enjoy your meal with no thinking of the smoke bothering you. However I have read that as they also allow to smoke cigars sometimes you may not be able to really enjoy your meal. Being such a nice restaurant and having 2 very different rooms in the restaurant it is difficult to imagine we they have not taken care of this
The menu is large and offer different ways to add modernity to traditional plates. We love the nidos de morcilla (pig blood nests with small rice noodles), see how he plays with the idea of the “morcilla de arroz” but combining the rice outside the morcilla and with a red pepper souce (although I may admit I have read some other blogs and people did not enjoy them as much as we did) to cold soups for the summer (tomato cold soup) and great spoon plates in the winter. Very well presented all of them and ideal both for sharing a couple of them or enjoy one of them yourself
For the main we did focus mostly on the meet and choose different combinations of Solomillos de ternera or Lomos de Cerdo (beef or pork), apart from the typical but always great ways to cook the lamb and small pig that is done so well in Avila and Segovia, like the cordero and the cochinillo. The Solomillo is offered perfectly cook, with great meet quality and very well done sauces as a blue cheese (excellent!!) one or a sauce of uvas y vino blanco (Grapes and white wine). The lomo was done with a suca eof foie and hongos (mushrooms), equally good. If you don´t fancy meat, there is always a choice of at least 5-7 fresh fish plates. We did try the Atun Rojo (Red Tuna fish) and it was really excellent
The selection of desserts is also really good but please note that you have to choose them at the beginning, as some of them take some time to be prepared. While the chocolate fondue was OK, the emborrachado de almendra (Almond Drunk cake), was an amazing way to combine almost paste (marzapan style more or less) with cold and hot. Really superb
We did choose the wine house, price at 10 Eur. Artazuri, 2005 Navarra. Great wine, with the right level of complexity, smooth, a bit of red berries and apple, and it did complement the excellent meal (both meat and tuna). Overall the wine menu was very good and well priced
For a price of 40-50 eur each, I believe it is really a great culinary experience that combines with the amazing s

Some tips on MiIano

2009-07-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

I am very far from being considered a connoisseur of Milano, but I have been in the city several times in the past years (my first trips there were when I was working at Vodafone and I have among others the opportunity to go to watch the F1 Monza) and I have several places that it may be useful if you are just looking for a good restaurant, a chill out place, a decently price but good value for money hotel (this is rare in Italy!!!!) or some more

First at all let me recommend the Sheraton Diana Majestic. The hotel is just fantastic overall but you don't even need to stay there (as prices are Sheraton prices in Italy, so easily 300 Eur a night so unless your company pays for it probably not your option) to enjoy the best of the hotel which is its outdoors bar. A cool and large garden, dressed up as a night club where it is just great to spend time listening to music, talking to friends and enjoying your drink

For a great place to eat on a sunny day and hot day, something like an oasis either for food or a drink I really recommend 10 Corso Como Cafe, in the trendy (although almost at the outskirts of the city) and full of restaurants Via Corso Como. The place is located in the inner courtyard of a traditional milanese palazzo and it surprises you as you enter the courtyard because for a moment you think you got the wrong place (as you are thinking about a trendy place). But once you get into the courtyard the place is just great. There is a gallery and a bookshop; there is a design store and a restaurantand a café and an amazing courtyard garden (it seems there is also a 3 rooms hotel). I did not have the chance to taste many things but the cold mango soup (or gazpacho de mango) was just great.
www.10corsocomo.com

Milano is full of restaurants and many of them I am sure are great. In fact when we come here with Vodafone, the company organized an amazing weekend and we have 2 just memorable dinners. However it was almost 4 years ago and I don't remember the names of the restaurants. But I can recommend a small place, probably a place that you may not even take notice on a normal day and even I felt a bit expensive for what it was but I had such an amazing plate there (my mouth is still watering just to think about it) that I need to mention this restaurant. I also did like the service and the look of the place. Also as it is near station centrale and somehow near some nice hotels in the area. And I have read that it opens 365 days a year, from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. The name of the place is Hosteria Tipica La Cadrega
Via Generale Gustavo Fara, 1 - 20124 Milano (MI), Italy +39 02 6738 2931
www.hosterialacadrega.it

I started with some octopus on a wine like souce. It was really nice and got me ready for what it was coming. I was obviously looking at the homemade pasta and I decided to try the Macheroncini with ragout beef souce. What a choice. The pasta was just perfect, the sauce was kind of a curry sauce with small pieces of beef, each time it reached my mouth I was just shaking. Great great great :-)

Last but not least I had a last recommendation. Hotel Windsor Milano, Galileo Galilei 2
www.hotelwindsormilan.com
I did pick up a hotel that was near the train stations in order to get to the Malpensa Express quickly. I was type of afraid of the choice by looking at the website. It looked like the typical hotel, overpriced, old and in bad shape. The hotel from the outside did nothing to convince me otherwise. But I had a positive surprise. The corridors were nice and spacious, clean and shiny. The room was big, in great condition, good bed, great bathroom, free internet in the room (and fairly fast). And it was a 100 Eur a night hotel. A good recommendation if you are just passing by and will just have to do some work and to sleep in the room.

The forgotten pleasure of staying at a real 5 star hotel

2009-06-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

I used to spend lots of time in 5 star hotels when I was working as a consultant and having engagements in Brazil, India, Portugal, etc.. I remember having stayed in amazing hotels as the Marriott at Copacabana, Oberoi in Delhi, Janelas Verdes in Lisbon, to name a few. But obviously after being a consultant and then a Telecom Executive I did become an entrepreneur. Even if I travel lots and lots and I do stay at nice hotels but not usually at really nice hotels.
Last week as we did travel together with a mission from the Spanish Foreign trade institute and we were put in the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo. WOW I have forgotten the pleasure of staying at such hotels. It is not about the room or the location, as this may sometimes be as good as the places I do stay these days. It was about the little details. It was about the packaging of the shirt they bring you from the dry cleaning, about then bringing you pineapple slices on the pool, about the team at the entrance getting you a taxi, explaining them were to go precisely, taking their license plate and making sure the air con was working, etc... I would never try to make the value equation work if those extra touches make up for the huge price you would normally pay but I can say that while you are there you are transported to a different world and that world is an oasis on its own and when we live at the speed we do, that oasis is sometimes all you need at that particular moment

If you are in Cairo and you have the chance to be at the Four Seasons The First Residence please do stay (BTW their Thai restaurant is excellent and really good value for money, I truly recommend it)

An amazing restaurant in Salamanca where you will not imagine, A gas station on an industrial park!!!

2009-06-14T09:27:00.001-07:00

wowwww, this is all I have to say!! Just kidding but what can I say after what we experienced in Salamanca. We had a meeting with our (mmCHANNEL´s) strategic partner Unkasoft in Salamanca where we have been before several times. Last time we did eat at the Hotel Montalvo, within the industrial park with the same name. We have a very good "menu del dia" deal so no complaints. However Hugo Lanchares did promise that next time we will have a very nice lunch and I know he is a person who does enjoy food and wine
So last week when Tony told us to folllow him and we parked outside a gas station (Repsol) within the industrial park (just 5 minutes from Unkasoft headquarters) I was a bit surprised. We did enter through the gas station (whom for those who don´t know are nothing very fancy to say the least) and come up through the stairs and then we open the door. Surprise surprise :-)

An amazing and well decorated room, modern, clean, well designed. With a room for kids to play and very spacious. Shelves with books (on cooking, salamanca region, restaurants of Spain,..). On the table every details was perfectly designed (cutlery, colours (combining browns, whites and blacks), very original chargers (stone ones) and make you feel in front of a delightful experience to come
the food was excellent. Carlos (the chef) prepared a menu for us, that being very well priced, had an aperitive, 2 entrees, main (choice of meat or fish) and 2 desserts. Everything was great. Plates where very well decorated and presented, original combination of flavours and forms (squid cut like corn pieces on a cookie base with ink and pesto, caneloni of ox tail ("rabo de toro"), salmon hamburger (I can´t wait to try to cook the recipe at home)
Carlos did come at the end of the lunch and chat with us which just added that little detail to finished up an amazing experience we had at his restaurant. The bill arrived and we could just think on when we will be coming back

Carlos Barco Restaurante
Poligono industrial Montalvo III C/ Segunda N. 9 (Encima de la gasolinera repsol)
Carbajosa de la Sagrada (Salamanca)37188
Phone number: + 34 923197884
SPAIN

Link to Carlos Barco restaurant web site

Link to a blogger from Salamanca with lots of details on Carlos and his restaurant

Spain cathedrals

2009-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

I was with Andrea in Salamanca and looking at the amazing cathedral there she asked me is Salamanca one of the most impressive cathedrals in Spain? How would you rate it?

That make me thing for a while about how will I classify the amazing cathedrals in Spain (which I believe I have had the opportunity to see many of them if not all)
So obviously this is my ranking which I am sure many of you will have a different one or a very different one, however I hope it helps those looking for some guidance

Tier 1 - The most beautiful, well known or just the "standards"
Leon, Burgos, Seville and Santiago

Tier 2 - Well known, tons of admirers and for many tier 1 in many cases
Salamanca (old and new), Oviedo, Toledo, Zaragoza, Palma de Mallorca

Tier 3 - Interesting, different, lesser known but fascinating anyhow -
Segovia, Cuenca, Zamora, Avila, Barcelona, Palencia, Malaga, Cordoba

Tier 4 - Not in the capitals but as beautiful and special
Jaca, Santo Domingo de Silos, Astorga, Burgo de Osma, Siguenza

A couple of hotels in Istanbul

2009-04-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

during the past 24 months I have always stayed in 2 hotels. One of them now owes my heart but both are really good

First one is Marmara Pera Hotel, near the always fun and busy Istiklal street with tons of nice places to spends time at (live music, food, drinks) as you may have read on my previous posts. The hotel on its own is really different, being circular all rooms have street view and the furniture does try to be a bit vintage. The breakfast room is large and the food complete and the prices are right. It is not noisy and the beds are nice (although it is almost impossible to get a queen bed). On top of this you have the great restaurant at the top, with some of the best views and drinks and a superb location and you have a very good buy (prices are around 120-150 Eur per night)
However I wanted to find a more unique place for my upcoming stays

So I try the Sofa Hotel in the Nicantasi area, the coolest area in Istanbul, packed with trendy bars and glamorous shops.

This is one of the best places I have stayed in my life, and I can tell you I have been in many places. The place is special and unique. Great service, the guys at the reception really mean well, the room is just spectacular, great bed, silent, the space seems created to spend time there. The bathroom is just an experience on its own. Gigantic shower (you can stay there for an hour), bath products from L'Occitane, superb bath rope
Then a Chaise Lounge where you can read for a while after coming back from work. And the room is equipped with a DVD player, music stereo and more
They always leave a fruit basket at your arrival to the room that can serve as a snack for your stay, they leave little orange/chocolate treats every night, what else can you say

Apart from the cafe area (where there is a nice book shop and very good sofa where I do work for a long time and the ice coffee is great), there is one of the trendiest bars in Istambul called Longtable

Haven´t have the time or budget to try the Spa yet but I am sure it is a great place

Just a few small details to improve: Breakfast is nice (although at 22 Eur I usually just go down the street to the House Cafe) and the concierge is probably where they can improve (they don´t seem to be on top of their game but improving). Then WIFI should be available in all rooms and for free in a hotel catering to travellers like me (at the end I spend up to 4 hours in the cafe area where WIFI is free and good but I will prefer to do this at my room specially on the after dinner work time)

The room price at 140-150 Eur is a superb price for a place that can compete with any 5 star hotel around the world

I do believe the Sofa leaves up to their new mission "A personalized experience" and I always look forward to be back here

Istanbul II: drinks, tapas, an amazing dinner and more drinks in Pera

2009-04-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Pera is a great neigborhood near Taksim but it seems very local and it is one of the key nightlife spots for young (and no so young turks)
But before nightlife there are a lots of things you can make happen in the neighborhood
If you want to snack a bit and have some Raki (fresh grapes drink mixed with water and ice that Turkish drink all the time specially in the summer and that I love) go to Pera and get lost of the streets behind the Marmara Pera hotel in the Pera neighborhood where any of those places with tables outside serve great Turkish tapas and drinks. It is also a great place to go out at night and have drinks and listen to live music.
Here in this neighborhood is also Babylon, a multi-purpose performance space/club, is the trend-setting live music venue of Istanbul. Lots of jazz, blues and interesting performances. Check www.babylon-ist.com for the dayle live music performances

For a good dinner (but really really expensive for Istanbul prices) and even better drinks with probably the best view of the city go to the restaurant at the top of the Marmara Pera Hotel, Mikla. Very posh and the food is served well but in small plates and you probably won´t be full and your wallet empty. However I do think their cuisine is good and some of the fish plates just superb. But if you are not in the mood to spend that type of money (around 90 Eur for dinner) then just go there for a drink. The bar is great in the winter and if cold you can just watch the view from the inside. In the summer the views become superlative, you can go upstairs to the outdoors terrace (where the pool just complements the ambiance) and sip very well done Mojitos while watching one of the best views you will have in your life
http://miklarestaurant.com/

Some Istanbul places I: from an afternoon drink, an snack and dinner at Ortakoy

2009-04-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have been lucky to spend many times in Istanbul. I first discovered the city in 1997 when I was there for 4 months working on a consulting engagement with Accenture (former Andersen Consulting). I was more of a tourist on the weekends but I really got to love the city
During the last 2,5 years we have had several clients in Istanbul and now we have a small office, so together with my turkish country manager I have got to discover both posh and local places
let me bring you some of them

For a little walk and a drink while enjoying one of the most beautiful and relaxing "water" view I always like my sunday walks at Ortakoy. Love to have a drink at one of the semi open terraces, you can always eat a potato with 1000 toppings in one of the little kiosk where the toppings are presented graciously in different figures. The view of the Golden Horn from here at sunset is just amazing. Just be aware that what it may seem as a little taxi ride may take up to an hour on a sunday afternoon. Why not walk from Besiktas to Ortakoy?

Finally if the potatoes are not your thing or you are still hungry and you don´t want to move out of the area, there is a very good oriental and green cuisine restaurant in Ortakoy, Banyan (which they also have a branch at has also a branch in Nicantasi)
http://www.banyanrestaurant.com/tr
The restaurant is on a second floor near the Radisson and facing an amazing view (check the picture on the website for an idea)
To start with the view of the Ortakoy Mosque is superb. On the background the Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi) and thus connecting Europe and Asia, between Ortaköy (on the European side) and Beylerbeyi (on the Asian side)), which at night and since April 2007, a fully computerized LED lighting system of changing colours and patterns, developed by Philips, illuminates the bridge at night and makes it a superb show on its own
With such a view (which in the spring and summer is even better with their terrace), the food does really plays along well. A mix of Asian, thai, fushion well cook, presented and serve. The banyan plate is a good option if you dont want to think much for the starters and sample most of them a little bit and then all mains are good

Tea and pastries in Madrid

2009-04-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

just a short post to tell you about a couple of places I love to spend time but better to have something to bite there when I am feeling more as "foreign" tea style or boulangerie

First one is Deli Panific. I think there are very few places in Madrid making real french boulangerie and Deli is for sure the best. Great pastries (croissants, pain aux chocolat, chausson aux pomme (and the even better the frambroise version), amazing bread (try the little brochette with 4 bread styles), other french delicacies (very good foie de canard) and an unforgetable tarte aux tatin with a very thin crust (both in individual version and family one :-) and also a fig style one

It is in Chueca almost with Alonso Martinez (Hortaleza 75, Tel. 91 702 4658)

Second place is Vailima, an english tea room / Salon de Te in Barrio Salamanca. A very extensive selection of teas, nice china in a small but cousy space and really good "bizcochos" of orange, raisins and other versions
Very nice for a little snack or relaxing conversation around 5 pm any day
they also sell all type of teas

Vailima, General Pardiñas, 54, Tel. 91 309 0955

Another great one from Toro - Prima 2006: the region keep delivering great wines -

2009-03-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

I just got a note from one of our friends about a bottle we brought to him a couple of weeks ago when we meet him. On this own words "Stupendous! Exquisite! "

Prima 2006 is a classic Toro wine. Great value for money (around 8-10 Eur per bottle on the wine shops), an amazing flavour coming from its Tinta de Toro grape (90% plus 10% Garnacha). Smooth-textured, mouth-coating and you can feel the blackberries and I usually find in Toro wines a bit of spice on the flavour
Buy it now because I believe this wine will be even better in 2 years from now

Mexican restaurants in Madrid (in Spanish so far)

2009-02-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

Taqueria Birra - Sencilla, si hace bueno una terraza en una plaza preciosa (Plaza de las comendadoras), tacos riquisimos (el picante de pollo y bacon es amazing, but hot as crazy also y buenas margaritas
La puso Antonio Castro hace 14 años desmontando en México una cantina de 1818 y trayéndose su tramoya auténtica, las cocineras y los meseros, el producto genuino y la sabrosa promiscuidad de una de las cocinas con más personalidad del mundo.

Xaman Ek
Avenida Alfonso XIII, 39, Madrid, 28002

Muy posh pero increible forma de combinar la cocina mejicana tradicional con cocina de fusion. Por ejemplo un carpaccio de pulpo con guacamole, el clasico polo al mole, todo todo esta muy muy rico. Es carillo pero para una cena especial es increible. Aparca el portero

La Panza es primero
Hay varios por la ciudad pero a mi gusta el que esta en el barrio de chueca. En la calle libertad 55
Pequeno, estrecho siempre lleno, todo lleno y decorado con luchadores mejicanos. Buenas margaritas (buenisimas) o el agua de limon si no quieres alcohol. Me encantan las cazuelitas, los tacos, el guacamole rico
Me gustan los centro (para dos o para uno si hay mucha hambre) de pollo por ejemplo el de flor de calabaza. En la esquina esta tambien esta dentro del mismo grupo el Barriga Llena. Mas tranquilo y con mas espacio pero igual con menos sabor

Tambien del mismo grupo y a 50 metros esta el sabor a mi, en Augusto Figueroa 55. Me encanta para desayunar tipo brunch una gran tortilla con todo dentro, zumo y cafe. Deliciosa manera de empezar el dia

Hay varios mas interesants como el Buen Recaudo tambien en chueca (corte tipo Xamn Ek pero mas barato) o La mordida en la calle Belen (cerca de Alonso MArtinez) con buenas cazuelitas aunque las margaritas defraudan en mi opinion (y es un poco caro para lo que te ponen). Aun si me gusta pasar de vez en cuando

Por ultimo una tequilaria en la callle recoletos, no me acuerdo del nombre pero tiene mas de 200 tequilas

A few tips on Barcelona - Food I

2009-02-15T02:55:00.000-08:00

I usually spent a couple of weekends a year in Barcelona, apart from the WMC fair (one week in February) and some short business trips, so I have some favorites and fewer favorites in the city

For a good lunch I like to pass by the restaurant at the market of Barceloneta. The building was completely re-done and the restaurant faces the main square (and it is part of Husa restauracion group). It has an outdoor terrace and a large “comedor” with lots of lights. They always have a nice menu. Rice is very good, lots of shrimp, cigalas, muscles, etc.. You can even buy your fish at the market fishmonger and bring it to the restaurant for them to cook it. The menu goes with 4 starters to share and a main (fish, rice or meet), with dessert, coffee and wine and water for 25 Eur per person.

Near Barceloneta in fact you also have on the Joan de Borbon street lots of choices around fish & seafood oriented restaurants. Very simple on their décor they all have great and fresh fish and seafood.

For dinner I like many places. One of my most repeated choices is Semproniana in C/ Rosselló 148, 08036 Barcelona, Spain+34 934 531 820. First thing it will catch your attention is the Funky but very warm decor. It is mostly made from collages from cans, food stamps and similar material. Also take a look a the table décor like the napkin holder made out of a twisted fork, so far so on. Amazing and very creative cuisine, from very interesting entrees like the Brazo de Gitano (crepe of catalan sausage (Butifarra)), the cold and warm (foie with a cheese ice cream) just amazing and a very good combination of fish and meet. Leave some space for the desserts, as they are the right way to finish this delicious experience. The wine list is very good, more than 200 references and you can find good value for money or interesting and rare bottles (all mostly Spanish)

Another choice for dinner is to go to Born neighborhood. The choice of nice restaurants here is large and I can say that I have never had a bad experience with any of my choices. You can have a nice dinner for 60 Eur for 2 excluding wine. One of the restaurants I like is Arrel del Born in Fusina 5. Plates are large if you want to go with a group of friends and share or just enjoy yourself. For the main you can go for the rice (5 types of it), the portion are very large be careful here ☺ or the fish (tuna, sea bass) is really fresh. Desserts are mostly chocolate based and they really add a touch. The atmosphere even on a Saturday night is fairly casual so jeans and a nice shirt will do. And near by there are several clubs to have a drink if you still up to it (or you can always catch a taxi and go to Mirablau for a great drink with an amazing view of the city or come here for a coffee in the summer fairly late to see the sunset while shipping a coffee)

And my final choice is brunch at the Gran Hotel La Florida in the Tibidabo mountain. The views are best in the city, if warm enough (being Barcelona this could happen almost on any given month of the year) you can eat at the terrace and the food is really fantastic, service attentive and you will not go hungry. It is not cheap but your companion will be really impressive and you will be really pleased. Make a reservation, as it is usually quite busy on Sundays.

Finally a wine from South Africa that I did like!!!

2009-01-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine
Chardonnay, 2005

A femine, elegant barrel-fermented Chardonnay Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine

A vibrant fusion of flinty freshness, lime blossom and refined ruby grapefruit tones with a hint gooseberry. Delicate and elegantly structured with nuances or roasted almond and vanilla. Fantastic with seafood. Remind me of a complex albarinho wine

A bit expensive for being SA (and drinking it in SA) but excellent anyway

Some wine pics from one of my partners

2008-12-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

One of my partners Carlos Valdecantos loves facebook and uploading real time pics. On these case he did some pics of wines he liked through the year
An interesting selection based on Spanish Red Wines
Enjoy!!

Link to Carlos Facebook Wines Pics Album )

Upcoming blog posts

2008-12-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to force myself to write some more post in the near future and also keep some of the ideas about what will those be handy :-)

Wine ones:
- Couple of Osborne 3 and 4 grape red wines
- Jimenez Landi
- La casilla - manchuela
- Laus - Chardonney Somontano

Food:
- Mexican restaurants in Madrid
- Some of my favourites international restaurants in Madrid
- A nice dinner (one cheap and one expensive) in San Francisco
- A hotel and dinner in Dubai (good value for money)

More to come
CAM

Wine from Valencia: Mestizaje Bobal 2006

2008-12-24T08:13:00.000-08:00

Once again looking on the lower end (in terms of pricing) of the wine menu I found the other night while having dinner at Xamán Ek, one of my favorites Mexican Restaurants in Madrid together with La Taqueria de Birra (both deserved a future post on my side)
this wine from the Utiel Requena region. And yes there are wines from the Valencia State, in fact there are 3 regions or DO Valencia, Alicante and Utiel Requena

The D.O. Utiel-Requena is a region of mostly red wines. In fact 94.27% of the wine-growing area is given over to red varieties. White varieties represent 5.73% of the vineyards of Utiel-Requena (while whites are actually a big part of the production in Alicante and Valencia DO)

The grape varieties protected by the Denomination of Origin Utiel-Requena are:

* Reds: Bobal, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah (recently authorized).
* Whites: Macabeo, Merseguera, Planta Nova or Tardana, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (recently authorized).

The Bobal grape is probably the most interesting one of them. You will not find a single wine made purely of Bobal (will not be that good) but combined with other grapes the result is really nice and again on the less than 10 EUR in retail category

Bodegas Mustiguillo Mestizaje Bobal 2006

As usual taking a quote from Gerry Dawes Blog about the winery, "Mustiguillo, a charming small winery built on the site of a former stable, has become the star of the Utiel-Requena, despite the fact that they sell their wines with non-denominación de origen status"
The star winemaker Antonio Sarrion is a champion of the local grape varity Bobal and is convinced the best way to obtain top quality fruit from this variety is to use the bush system of training the vines.

The wine

Colour: Red
Grape Types : Cabernet Sauvignon,Grenache,Merlot,Syrah/Shiraz,Tempranillo,Bobal
Country : Spain - Utiel Requena
Vintage: 2006

As mentioned before this is an example of combining Bobal with other grapes. On this case it is a blend of 50% Bobal with the other 50% comprising of Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo grapes. Could sense several smells, maybe vanilla or black cherry, red fruit for sure. Thick and almost you can chew on it on your mouth and the palate. Firm yet round tannins. The wine is medium to full bodied with a good length. It went really well with the spicy mexican food

Some vegetarian options in Madrid

2008-12-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

If you are vegetarian and contrary to what people think Madrid is becoming a great city for you. Obviously if you eat seafood and fish your options multiply by 100x but even if not there are many options for you. As Andrea does not eat beef or pork I do get to sample of these restaurants mny times and I have been through the veg. dilemma myself a good number of times

Let me give you some tips, combining Italian restaurants (pasta and pizza are always a safe bet for you and some vegetarians restaurants or restaurants with vegetarian menu):

- Pulcinella: in my opinion the best Italian in town. There are 2 restaurants one in front of each other (one is smoking and the other is not), both have 2 seatings (21 and 23). Great italian decor and good service. Pasta is amazing so does risotto. Also all the plates with tomate are a killing. Try the provolone with tomato, quite melted and combined with bread, just amazing. All the pasta with "calabaza" are great and also unique in Madrid. But anything you will ask you will have a great dinner (have not tried the pizza but they say they are also very good). And the plates are huge so ordering 2 pasta plates will be more than plenty for 3 people
For Friday and Saturday you need to reserve for sure
C/ Regueros 7
28004 Madrid, Spain
+34 913 197 363

- Tono i Pepino: more on the italian restaurant from Napoli. Table cloths with red and white squares. Very good pizzas, with thin crust and large size. Quite a large restaurant, probably easier than Pulcinella to get a table without reservations. Andrea loves this place (I still prefer Pulcinella)
Probably less than 35 eur

Fernando VI, 29
Madrid
91 308 7370

- El Septimo: what a lovely place this is. Great decor (reminds a lot to the decor at La Vaca Veronica but on a larger scale), colorful, great service. It has a large menu, always with seasonal plates and combining platos de siempre (croquetas, ceviche, etc..) with interesting ingredients like apple (aka croquetas de manzana (apple)). Lots of nice salads (try the ensalada Agli), always a couple of soups or creams on the menu. A lovely vegetarian lasagna. And nice coffees to stay chatting for a while. Good price also. Don't miss it

www.elseptimo.com

C/ Diego De León 7
28006 Madrid, Spain
+34 915 622 940

- La Isla del Tesoro: I have not been here for years, but still remains one of the most recommended vegetarians in town (in fact it is the top pick for vegetarians in the Lonely Planet). Interesting proposition in terms of daily menus with international cuisine menus (monday Greek, ... Thursday Bolivian,... so far so on). I was always very full after eating here for a very good value. Check their website for the combination of menu by day and cuisine

www.isladeltesoro.net

C/ Manuela Malasaña 3
28004 Madrid, Spain
+34 915 931 440

Enjoy!!

A night of food and wine to remember

2008-11-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

Past thursday we have the opportunity to attend the first event of the Gastronomy Club in Spain which we just started
We prepared an event that was almost 2 events in one in order to be so impressive that we will make sure that even being the first even it will be a success and fully booked. Well we failed here as we only managed to fill half of the planned capacity. However what can I say about the event, it was just amazing, unforgetable

We started the first hour and fifteen minutes was about white wine (including champagne and port) and cheese and what we call in Spanish "maridaje" or the marriage of flavours between the cheese and the wine

Out the 4 wines and the 4 cheeses I want to mention to of the combinations:

The third white wine is my initial recommenation. The name was "Ossian" from Tierra de Castilla (Segovia in this case) with the typical Rueda grape - Verdejo and done under ecological agriculture principles (no chemicals) . The wine has spent 9 months in oak barrels. Really intense flavour, vanilla and small flower touches, improving as it dies on the back of the mouth and capable to increase the flavour of a very intense Italian pecorino cheese, of sheep milk of 8 months.

The fourth one was an increadable cheese to start with. I dont think we left a single drop of cheese. For the Spaniard who dont know this cheese it can be compare with the "Torta del Casar" from extremadura
The name of the cheese is "monte da vinha amanteigado" of Vimiero (Alto Alentejo)
Maturity of minimum 20-30 days done with sheep milk. Soft, creamy intense flavour, extraordinary. Probably the winner of the night

So which wine would you use to battle and even better marry this amazing cheese with? Well the answer is let's marry portuguese with portuguese so we went with a Port. Port from the Osborne house, 20 years. The swetness but strong texture of the port went very very well with this cheese

How do we eat - discussions about what our eating does to the world

2008-09-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the visit of one of the friendliest person I know in this world and a colleague from INSEAD, John McElligott & his lovely wife Maria Abou Khalife
Some of our other INSEAD friends in Madrid (Marco Weigang, Guillermo Falco) and their respective partners meet for a drink and to enjoy la noche blanca in Madrid. We had a wonderful night and also we got into a huge chat about the reasons behind some of them (Marco, Ammon, Andrea) being vegetarian

Just posting here John's view about his hot topic or what our eating habits are doing to fish
The starving ocean
http://www.fisherycrisis.com/

We also got into what some particular animal's farting were doing to the environment and why then we should stop eating food

Cow Farts: Global Warmers Or A Load Of Hot Air?

http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO873.html

Always good at least for a reflection

An slovenian trip

2008-07-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

Went for a very nice dinner in Ljubljana. The name of the restaurant was Cubo. At first because of its location, in a warehouse area near an office part in Ljubljana is not very promising. But the inside is just another world. Very nice ambiance, good lighting, very good service, knowledgeable wine waiters (wines below were recommended by them and I give them a. A good mix of light starters (not that easy to find in the region, very plates are usually too heavy) and good fish (did not try the meat). The risotto wasn’t great but I give a very high review to the overall experience.

Belaquela Klivel; mix of grapes chardonney, rebola and a mix of local grapes. The wine is from 2002 and it mixed well with a light seafood or risotto. Average in terms of appearance and bouquet, but very nice taste. Dry and with a bit of personality

Then I move to try a red wine from the region. Usually in the CEE I prefer overall whites over red. However this red particularly was very nice. Mainly because I ordered tuna and it is always complicated to choose the right one. The name is Sutor, from 2003. The grape is a Merlot (which I am not a huge fun). It was a soft bouquet, good taste and average appearance. Went well with the tuna

Bierzo Recommendation

2008-07-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed I keep trying to discover new wines from many different regions around Spain and other countries. The Bierzo region (northwest of Spain, in Castilla Leon almost at the border with Galicia) was until as recent as ten years ago producing just grapes. The main grape in the region is the “mencia”. A wine that we love from this region and by now very well known is Petalos del Bierzo. But also I have been seen his price going up for around 17-20 Eur in retail. For that reason I have been trying some less known wines with a more reasonable or day2day price. One that I like is Encomienda from 2003. Full in your mouth and strong on your palate. Not as refined in your mouth as the Petalos but a very good buy for a nice meat stew or a nice meat cut

Some tips for restaurants in Madrid (1)

2008-06-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

Many times when people visit Madrid or they have friends over this fantastic city they always ask me for recommendations
Before I even come back to madrid I created a small list of tips for hotels, restaurants and places for drinks. Now I will probably update this one but let me start from the "classic" one:

Some ideas about restaurants

Luxury/ Romantic

Combarro
Calle Reina Mercedes, 12 (+34 91 554 7784
The place maybe is too big for a really romantic dinner but it is very nice and the seafood takes another dimension here
This luxurious restaurant serves Galicia's best seafood, cooked according to traditional recipes. Try the octopus a feira (steamed with olive oil and paprika), empanadas (tuna-filled puff pastries), sea bass or bream. As you walk in, the first thing you will notice is a glass floor with an aquarium underneath that is full of live seafood in genuine Atlantic seawater. The restaurant is divided into several dining rooms decorated with antiques, wooden floors, ochre-coloured walls and costumbrista paintings. Valet parking.

A couple of other 2 nice seafood restaurants with maybe a bit more couzy atmosphere are Gran Barril (Calle Goya) or La Taberna del Puerto de Fernan Gonzalez (better downstairs for raciones that in the restaurant, in barrio Ibiza, calle Fernan Gonzalez)

Menta y Canela
In Plaza Cuzco Now
Tfn: 91 359 11 94 y 91 359 69 33
Great food and you can get a very nice table in the garden (depending if the weather is good)

Good value and romantic

La Vaca Veronica
Dirección: Moratín, 38.
Zona: Centro.
Metro: Banco de España.
Tfn: 91 429 78 27.

Small place with very nice service, this place is really romantic and has excellent food (pasta fresca (pasta con carabineros is excellent), good fish and excellent cakes)
Also near the Santa Ana and The Palace hotel area. You will need to reserve

Excellent meet cuarto y Mitad. Bolivia, 21 (fairly near Santiago Bernabeu)
Madrid
28016
This place is really easy going and it could look like you got to the wrong place but meat best meet in Madrid and you really need a reservation for this one

Specializing in grilled meats since it opened in 1986, the best thing on the menu here is the Galician beef. It is best accompanied by fried potatoes and peppers. For starters, you can choose from a selection of salads, egg dishes, pork, sausage, and cheeses. Wash it all down with a fine wine or champagne from the excellent cellar, and try a homemade dessert. You are surrounded by a simple, tasteful decor of white walls and checkered tablecloths. There are two floors with enough room to sit 180 people and a lovely outdoor terrace in summer. Valet parking.

Taqueria Birra
Dirección: Plaza Comendadoras, 2.
Zona: Centro.
Metro: Noviciado.
Tfn: 91 522 80 49.
Tipo de cocina: Mexicana.

The location is superb, in one of the most lovely squares in Madrid. The terrace is usually open since marhc and really good mexican (not tex mex but traditional). Really spicy if you want
Tapas

Best tapas is to go to the area of the hotel Palace and in the back of this hotel there is 2 streets full of great bars with good beer and wine and excellent tapas

Also another great place for tapas in the other part of old Madrid (near Palacio Real) is El Almendro (the tapas here are more Andulucian style, with eggs, jamon, salmorejo, and buen fino)
C/Almendro 13 (Metro La Latina)
Madrid,
Telephone: 913 65 42 52
is an institution in the Latin district that combines an historic Madrid feel with tasteful modernisation. A young and hip clientele mix with the seasoned veterans, favouring the crafty new wines to tired old beer. But the house sherry is still popular with both sets and the tapas is the best in town.

New Zealand White Wine - Huia 2000

2008-06-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

During our trip to New Zealand in 2000 (one of our favourite trips of all time) we have the opportunity to be there while the Marlborough Wine festival was going on. what a discovery!! I truly recommend going if you happen to be in New Zealand in February
We try lots of wines and certainly we did like the whites more than the reds
One of our favourties was Huia (www.huia.net.nz) and we decided to bring home a number of bottles (which it did become an odessey on its own) of sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riestling, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay from 2000
Last week we finished our last bottle which we have kpet for a while. A wondeful, Fresh, Fruity but dry Sauvignon Blanc.
This was to maintain vivacious fruit aromatics and flavour of this variety.
This wine shows a good aromatic intensity, layered with flavours ranging from apple and pineapple on my opinion. Great on the back of your mouth Huia Sauvignon Blanc is delicious with seafood, salads with cheese and not very strong fish

Let´s start - A white sweet Australian wine

2008-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we put our friend Andreas Kubach to a test when the dinner host Silvia served a difficult French gelatin with ham and egg plate. Difficult difficult to combine

Andreas did surprise us with an Australian Yarra burn from 05. The grape was a viognier (very rarely used outside France). The result was really good. A cool and sweet wine (similar on my opinion to some german riestling) but not a dessert wine. Ideal for this plate or some interesting salads. A nice smell with some flowers and a bit of fruit and smooth on the palate

The wine seems to be selling for 17 USD
http://www.aussiewines.com.au/wines_online.php?pid=280