Rioja is the oldest and most famous wine production area of Spain. It has been famous for centuries, and in 1991 it was the first (and for quite some time the only) production area with the highest rank in Spanish … Continue reading Wines of Rioja
Azurmendi is a restaurant in a futuristic building by the freeway near Bilbao in the Basque country in Spain. The restaurant of chef Eneko Atxa has three Michelin stars and ranks highly on the World’s 50 best restaurants and Opinionated … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Azurmendi***
The Spanish wine region of Navarra is famous for its moscatel de grano menudo, and the benchmark producer of moscatel is Bodegas de Camilo Castilla in the town of Corella. Navarra is on the northeast of Rioja in the North … Continue reading Moscatel from Navarra: Bodegas Camilo Castilla
Frantzén in the old town of Stockholm is a small restaurant that seats only about 20. It has two Michelin stars and ranks 31 on the World’s 50 best restaurants or 16 on Opiniated About Dining. There are a few … Continue reading Dining in Stockholm: Frantzén**
Sinne is a small restaurant in the Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam that was awarded a Michelin star in 2014. So it was about time I went to check it out. The cuisine is a mixture of Mediterranean and Oriental influences. You … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Sinne*
The reason I’ve not blogged for a week is that I was away on a study trip to France. This trip is part of the wine training I’m taking at the Dutch wine academy (Wijnacademie) to become a registered vinologist … Continue reading Wine Study Trip to Loire and Bordeaux
De Librije is our favorite restaurant in the Netherlands and we go there every year for our anniversary. We celebrate two anniversaries each year, and after 10 years of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the Librije in June, we decided … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2015)
Almost two years have passed since our last visit to Bord’eau, the two-star restaurant in Hotel de l’Europe, and so it was time to check the new developments on our home turf. Also because I was curious to compare it … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Bord’eau** (2015)
For our final night in Italy we went to another famous trattoria with 3 gamberi from Gambero Rosso: Locanda delle Grazie in Curtatone, on the border of the Parco del Mincio. The Mincio is the river that changes into a … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda delle Grazie
Le Calandre of chef Massimiliano Alajmo is one of Italy’s most famous restaurants, has three Michelin stars and is listed as number 34 on the World’s 50 best restaurants. It is located just outside of Padova. There are three tasting menus … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Calandre***
During our travels in Italy, we always try to include as many trattorie with 3 gamberi from Gambero Rosso as possible. Each year, leading gourmet magazine Gambero Rosso publishes a restaurant guide and there are only 18 trattorie in all … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Ai Cacciatori
It is always a joy to meet fellow food bloggers. Marina of Le Ricette di Baccos and I have been following each other’s food blogs for almost two years now. Since we were visiting her home town of Udine as … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Le Ricette di Baccos
Agli Amici is a two-star restaurant in the village of Godia, just outside of Udine in the Italian region Friuli. It is run by a brother a sister: he is the chef, she is the sommelier and maitre. When we … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Agli Amici**
We are in Slovenia and Croatia for a few days before heading back to Italy. Porec is a nice little seatown on the coast of Istria, and there we had dinner at seafood restaurant Ulixes. The restaurant has a nice … Continue reading Dining in Croatia: Ulixes
We had been looking forward to going back to Laite again, because we had good memories of our first dinner there in 2010. It is located in Sappada, a mountain town in the far North East of Veneto in the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Laite*
Aga is a new restaurant of chef couple Oliver Piras and Alessandra Del Favero, located inside a hotel near Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomiti. We decided to give it a try because Oliver Piras has been awarded chef emergente (upcoming chef) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Aga
In Italy a distinction is made between ristoranti, more formal restaurants, and trattorie, more informal restaurants with rustic food like grandma used to prepare it. The Gambero Rosso guide awards 1, 2 or 3 forks (forchette) to the best restaurants, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Pretzhof
Daalder is located on Lindengracht in the Jordaan neighborhood in Amsterdam. It has nice outside seating, perfect for dinner on a (rare) warm summer night. Inside the tables are small and a bit close together. Daalder doesn’t have a menu. … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Daalder
I use two rules for distinguishing a good Italian restaurant from a tourist trap. The rule in Italy is that the menu should have local dishes from the region (e.g. spaghetti alla carbonara is a good sign in Rome but … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Eatmosfera
Restaurant Aqua of chef Sven Elverfeld is the 3 Michelin star restaurant located in the Ritz-Carlton in Autostadt, the Volkswagen theme park in Wolfsburg, in the middle of Germany near Hannover. It is listed as #33 on the World’s 50 … Continue reading Dining in Germany: Aqua***
One of our favorite restaurants is the Librije, three Michelin star restaurant in Zwolle (Netherlands) of Jonnie and Térèse Boer (no relation). Less than a year ago, sister restaurant Librije’s Zusje (“zusje” means little sister) opened in the Waldorf Astoria … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Librije’s Zusje**
Inter Scaldes is a restaurant with manoir (hotel) that has had two Michelin stars since 1984. The current chef Jannis Brevet has been the chef since 2001. The name refers to its location between the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde near the village of … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Inter Scaldes**
Etxebarri is a restaurant unlike any other restaurant I’ve ever eaten at before. It located in the Atxondo valley in the Basque country between San Sebastian and Bilbao. Etxebarri is an “asador”, a grill restaurant that cooks on a wood-fired … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Etxebarri*
The Basque city of San Sebastián boasts one of the highest densities of Michelin stars in the world. We went there for a few days to try the local cuisine, and one of the highlights of our trip was our … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Martín Berasategui***
In 2010 we ‘discovered’ Piazza Duomo of chef Enrico Crippa in Alba, at that time still relatively unknown (although it already had two Michelin stars), thanks to the Gambero Rosso guide, in which it already had tre forchette. We liked it … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Piazza Duomo***
The next stop with tre forchette in our culinary tour is Casa Vissani, by lake Colbara on the road between Orvieto and Todi in Umbria. Because the restaurant is located outside a town, it is very convenient that it also … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vissani**
Reale is the restaurant of chef Niko Romito and his sister Cristiana in the mountain town of Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo. I had been curious about this restaurant with tre forchette from Gambero Rosso for a while, but it was always … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Reale***
The next stop in our culinary Italy tour is the beach town of Roseto degli Abruzzi, on the Adriatic coast in the region of Abruzzo. There are only 15 trattorie in all of Italy with a tre gamberi (3 ‘shrimp’) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vecchia Marina
Is there a good reason to go to Torriana, a small village half an hour inland from the Adriatic beach town of Rimini? Yes there is, and it is chef Piergiorgio Parini of Il Povero Diavolo. It is not the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Povero Diavolo*
Our favorite restaurant guide for Italy is that of “Gambero Rosso”. It is available as a book, but also as a handy app. The best restaurants are awarded one, two, or three forchette (forks), and the best trattorie are awarded … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda al Gambero Rosso
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