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lekkerwijn

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About lekkerwijn

  • Birthday April 25

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  1. There are some really wonderful drinking and dining options in the region. Its much like visiting Napa and Sonoma - there are quaint towns throughout the Finger Lakes with a interesting things to see and do. It is a lot of driving. Summer and Fall are insanely gorgeous in the region. As a Cornell alum who grew up in the region, there is a lot to love. There are three wine trails and are worth investing time in- Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka. Wine Traveler has a great Instagram account with lots of ideas and resources https://www.winetraveler.com/new-york/finger-lakes-wine-region/ But you can also find great beer, spirits and mead. Wine quality has really improved exponentially in the past 10 years. The state parks in the Finger Lakes are some of the most pristine in the region particularly Taughannock Falls and Watkins Glen Not sure how committed you are to Penn Yan, but I think Ithaca is much nicer. Its about an hour drive away. I saw you were excited about Watkins Glenn, its pretty much half-way between the two towns. Ithaca has much nicer hotel options, fantastic restaurants, hiking and more cultural options including museums and theater. In season, the Ithaca Farmer's market rivals anything in California. Cornell also makes some truly wonderful ice cream at their student-run dairy store and their orchard store has interesting experimental fruit and vegetable varietals. The Vegetarian at College Town Bagels (everything bagel, veggie cream cheese, tomato, melted muenster) is the hangover breakfast that got me through many a biochem lab. (N.B. I'm obviously very biased in my zealot-like nostalgia) Other fun things to do: Visit the Mackenzie-Childs factory and store in Aurora, the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, the Corning Museum of Glass, Watkins Glen Racetrack I'm assuming you are driving up there but if you are flying - consider flying in and out of Rochester so you can spend an hour or two at the flagship Pittsford Wegmans (just trust me on this one) and make a stop at the Strong Toy Museum.
  2. February-March 2019 Update Athena Restaurant - We now live on the border of Greektown and recently tried this classic. Portions are humongous. Food is hearty but unexceptional. BomboBar - They sell over-the-top doughnuts and hot chocolate. They often have long lines. Hot chocolate was good. Dough was unremarkable but the custard filling in a syringe was very tasty. We went on a cold night and later in the evening. I'd try it again earlier in the day when things are fresher. Cellar Door Provisions - Described by Bon Appetit recently as the most perfect little restaurant in Chicago. We agree because it is just our type - intimate and local, seasonal and produce driven food with just the right amount of sprouting and fermentation. Its a welcome diversion from huge, hearty, meat and potatoes that seems to dominate Chicago in winter. Very small but well curated wine list or you can go next door to Chicago's best natural wine store, Diversey Wine, chose a bottle for $10 corkage. This is our new favorite place in Chicago. Mako - The newest omakase spot in the city. We were there on the first weekend of service and we are sushi snobs. Those are important caveats to our feedback. They serve an omakase that includes courses from the kitchen. Those dishes were the best part of the meal. The neta is high quality and we liked the flow and combinations. I appreciate the limited use of butane. The shari was minimally seasoned (FWIW I prefer a more vinegar forward style), properly al dente and nicely packed. However, because the room was chilly and pieces were batched prepped behind the sushi counter, the rice dropped in temperature too much before serving. This made the al dente texture less appealing. Pieces served a la minute were better but still could have been warmer. Bottom line is most wouldn't notice or care. I'm looking forward to trying it again when they have their sea legs. Monteverde - Its super tough to get a table, but I managed to snag a 7:30 pm last minute table on a weeknight. We had a lovely meal. Order the salad! It brightly acidic with a mix of bitter, crunchy and textural veggies. Scallops with lentils and pork belly were both smokey and perfectly cooked. Pasta dishes are fantastic, portions are small but they're rich and toothsome. We loved the cacio pepe. We cannot wait to go back! Will book early and often to make this our neighborhood Italian. Groundswell Coffee Roasters - I'm working my way through the various West Loop third wave coffee. Of the mix, so far my least favorite. Espresso was a bit bitter. But will try a couple more times to make sure it wasn't a barista issue.
  3. Its still sinking in that I live in Chicago now. This is the initiation of a running log of places we've tried since I accepted this job offer. Food budget has gone up given the significantly lower cost of living in comparison to DC and Manhattan where we have spent the past fifteen years. I can count on one hand the number of times I visited Chicago prior to this move, so we are more or less starting at ground zero here. Note for Chicago visitors - my colleagues have informed me of a very Midwest challenge when figuring out where to eat in Chicago. Any place that crowd sources reviews will be totally unhelpful as there is a strong cultural inhibition against giving anything but a 4 or 5 star review. Same is true of your Uber drivers. Caveat emptor. Topolobompo - I love going to high end restaurants by myself. I ordered the classic, slightly shorter tasting menu. Everything was impeccably prepared and beautifully plated with warm, homemade tortillas accompanying several courses. The flavors are so complex and there is a lot to experience on each plate. I liked the meal. I didn't love the meal. The Loyalist - This was our introduction to where the cool kids go on a Saturday night. We both had burgers that were properly prepared with buns that held up and garnish that complemented the beef. But my salad came overwhelmed in buttermilk dressing, a bummer because otherwise it was likely to have been a great salad. I tried the $30 aged negroni made with 30 year old Campari. It was mellower and less bitter than typical. Not sure I'd bother with it again though. Next - Silk and Spice menu runs January through April. Some critics have been underwhelmed by it in comparison to other menus. We thought it was pretty delicious but have no basis for comparison to past menus. Some aspects of the meal were a bit odd and purely for show - like the buddha's hand hanging above the table filled with a custard. But the dishes worked and we were impressed by several dishes including the curry dessert, crab salad and lamb with tandoori bread baked tabletop. Publican - Chicago food in winter is notably hearty. In particular meats and fish really shine. Vegetables were less special, but I'd be curious to see if summer brings fresher prep. Ice cream and sorbet were very meh, but the s'more was delicious. I find the seating there weird and uncomfortable. Also its freezing if you sit too close to the door and very noisy. Little Goat Diner - If you want to go on a weekend, make a reservation a few days out. I had a caesar salad with fried chicken that was pretty excellent. The salad mix is more than just romaine with some herbs and radishes giving it complexity and the dressing is perhaps tahini based? Fried chicken was perfect. Its a solid "fake healthy" salad. Girl and the Goat - I walked in on a Saturday night and grabbed a seat at the bar. Service was really friendly and attentive on a night when the place was packed and the kitchen was slammed. I really appreciated that they pointed out dishes that could be ordered in half portions. Goat empanada was fried and filled with a super savory goat ragout. The scallop was cooked to the proper temperature but could have had a harder sear. The side of green beans was excellent - some of the best veg I've had since getting to the frozen midwest. Sushi-San Omakase - This was an act of desperation and a mistake I will not repeat. After a chaotic week, I wanted to drown my stress in solitude over sushi and booze. It was on an Eater list for best sushi in Chicago, which I am learning is a very low bar. The booze was good. I have nominal tolerance for this stupid trend of ungapatchke sushi. The sushi was overwrought and there was too much butane torching for my taste as well. But the neta could have been excused if the shari wasn't so totally fucking awful - zero acidity, mushy, dense, heavy and sticky. This may be the biggest trade-off of leaving NYC - accessibility of acceptable sushi at the last minute. Ramen Takeya - Good lunch choice near work. Decent bowl of ramen but broth needed to be hotter. Blue Door Kitchen - I met a friend there for brunch with zero expectations. The shaved brussel sprout salad was delicious. Eggs Benedict was properly prepared with a sufficiently runny egg. I walked away pleasantly surprised. Limitless Coffee - Good local mini-chain. I was pleased with my properly made if not a little large cappuccino. Sawada Coffee- Japanese-style coffee shop. But for some reason, the espresso drinks with milk have a sweet taste but they didn't add sugar. Perhaps its the milk they use.
  4. Well, hopefully better than 2010... Our last trip was in January 2015. My best and biggest recommendation is that you visit Babylonstoren in Paarl. It is agro-tourism on steroids. They have an edible garden that is one of the most incredible things we have ever seen and a phenomenal produce-focused restaurant. We stayed in one of their guest houses, which I highly recommend for the all-you-can-pick-to-eat produce and because you get access to their spa, hiking trails and can have every meal in there. If you just want to visit for a day you can, but a reservation at Babel is a must. Restaurants -Generally we've had good food in South Africa, but it tended toward being overly plated - lots of gels, foams, etc which I find very annoying. Here's some standouts Grand Roche Hotel - Eat outside, beautiful view. Deep library of older South African wines. The Test Kitchen - Its a favorite of the Worlds 50 Best list; get the tea pairing La Colombe - Expensive and not particularly memorable Quartier Francais - Expensive and not particular memorable Wineries/Wine Stores - We also travel to wine country with Styrofoam wine shipping boxes that we can then check with our luggage. They're often difficult to track down locally and its far cheaper than trying to ship wine back. On this particular trip i think we brought three with us as our goal was to stock up on rare South African wines. Sadie Family - If you can find it, drink it or buy it. They're mostly known for their reds but their whites are phenomenal as well. The Wine Kollective - Tiny little shop in Swartland but worth the schlep. They specialize in local micro-production and natural wines. Hotels: Akademie Street Boutique Hotel, Franschoek - We have stayed there twice and really love their guest cottages and spectacular breakfasts. Kensington Place Boutique Hotel, Cape Town - Cute hotel in Cape Town. Nice bathrooms, pool and breakfast.
  5. Ahhh... another person who didn't love Arzak! We were underwhelmed by the food but overjoyed by their extensive and ludicrously priced wine cellar. Their sommelier was a total asshole to us. He made one suggestion for a bottle of cava that was laughable and was almost offended by our very knowledgeable questions. He didn't want to discuss wine with us at all. We ended up texting photos of the list to a Spanish wine expert friend to help us with selections. It took an hour but we ended up with two amazing bottles of older Spanish reds and a white Bordeaux that were far more memorable than the meal. Elena Arzak actually sat with us and had a glass of the white, something I assume she doesn't do often unless the bottle is worth her time. She is a lovely person. We are planning to go back to San Sebastian this spring and plan to skip the food at Arzak and just order a couple bottles in their bar. Extebarri is always a crowed please and I think they punch far above their weight relative to their Michelin status. Their top ranking by Worlds 50 Best is one that is truly well deserved, unlike some others. We were at Disfrutar in April 2015 only a few months after they opened and already clearly on their way to world class status. There are many comparisons that we drew to our meal at El Bulli in 2009. But I think that the big difference was that El Bulli was inventing these techniques that others have now evolved and there was something more cutting edge about what they were doing. Tickets is probably more technically similar to El Bulli, but that makes sense given who the chef is.
  6. The only place to go right now is Scarr’s on the LES. That little write up doesn’t do it justice. Hands down the ultimate NYC pie. Also their subs and Caesar salad and natural wine list in a setting that is so throwback are perfection.
  7. This is a fun thread...Working my way through the back and forth from top to bottom: For high end Italian Marea, Maialini and Lupo are our running favorites. Marea is by far the most formal of the group but Maialino has the better wine list. Lupo's pasta tasting menu is really fun. Via Carota is open for breakfast and IMHO that is the best time to go. No waiting for a table. No insane crowds of Japanese tourists like Buvette. Le Coucou is so over-rated. I"m over it. But if you really want to go, tables can be booked online for lunch exactly 4 weeks in advance. Something about Frenchette rubs me the wrong way. But I think that Batard, which is on the same block, would be the perfect choice for you - they take reservations and you can chose 2-5 courses. Food is excellent. You should consider Atla for lunch or breakfast. Its never that hard to get a table during that time and the food is excellent. I think superior to Cosme, which should only be reserved for brunch. Dinner is insanely over-priced - ($25 mole with 4 tortillas... wtf) Agree that you cannot go wrong with Union Square Cafe or Gramercy Tavern but Le Coq Rico and Nur on the same block are both excellent choices as well. Eleven Madison Park sounds like it is off the table but FWIW, you CAN get seats in the bar if you go right when they open without a reservation at either lunch or dinner. If you want the EMP food without the EMP price tag, Nomad and Nomad Bar are both great as is their fast casual outlet Made Nice. Not exactly Midtown, but I am a massive fan of Gloria in Hell's Kitchen. You'll get this fantastic cross of seafood from someone trained at Le Bernardin with natural wine via Contra/Wildair Take your kids for pizza at LES Scarr's. Best traditional NYC pizza in the city right now but made with house milled flour. Chinatown - great New York Noodletown is my hands down favorite right now.
  8. Don't I know it. We purchase it in France and bring it back to the US. We've found that restaurants in Europe and Asia can have bottles that are reasonably priced in comparison to what we'd pay for the same bottle at retail stateside. He couldn't have found a more perfect way to insult us to our faces. What we should have said is that 2006 Comtes is "airplane" bubbles. At the time Qatar Airways was serving it in business class. A couple months later we had a good laugh about it while polishing off at least two bottles on the three hour flight between Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires.
  9. Don - you can move this to rants about 3-Michelin Star restaurants thread if you'd like. Two trips-ago to Paris we went on a Michelin binge, eating at Epicure (lunch), Alain Ducasse (dinner) and Ledoyen (lunch) in the span of three days. As noted previously, Epicure was totally unmemorable. I had to dig back into my Instagram to remember what we ate and even then it didn't really ring a bell. Alain Ducasse ... It was a totally memorable meal but for all of the wrong reasons. We arrived at the restaurant and they brought around the Champagne cart with, as Mark notes, 6 or 7 different luxe choices including some by magnum. We may be unusual in this preference, but we like to drink Champagne like wine, with a meal. And we prefer grower Champagne. So we declined the cart and asked to see the wine list. A rather surly, older Somm showed up at our table clutching a huge wine list tightly against his chest. In haughty French accent-inflected English he says, "I understand you wish to drink Champagne by the bottle..." and then proceeds to rattle off what was in the cart as if we didn't hear it the first time. We explain, that yes, we want a bottle. I think he assumed we were being cheap Americans, so then he asks what kind of Champagne we are "familiar with". We explain that we prefer grower Champagne and in particular like Selosse, Prevost and Laval. He sneered. Cleared his throat and said, "A meal like this requires something a bit more, errr, refined." Then he recommended Taittinger Comtes de Champagne. Ledoyen ... They had a lot of Selosse on their wine list and were more than happy to sell us whatever we wanted by the bottle. Also the food was a lot better than Alain Ducasse and far more memorable than Epicure. Our meal at Guy Savoy in late September began with something of a repeat performance by their younger, slimmer Somm of what we experienced at Alain Ducasse. This time at least he let us review their wine list. After explaining our preference for grower Champagne, we asked for suggestions from their list. He offered us two - one at 180€ the other around 900€. When we asked him to describe the difference between the two, both were NV brut, he rolled his eyes and said "the maker". Grrrr.... Ultimately he did recommend a rose champagne that was actually really nice and something we would drink again. It was only 200€, marked up 400%. So moving forward we will just conduct the Selosse test - our new proxy indicator for a restaurant that will understand our POV on wine and life.
  10. This brief review will include the restaurants visited on our two most recent trips to Paris. Now that Don is asking for detailed reviews of 3-Mich restaurants, I will start to add more "color" there. If you want to get treated like a fine-dining troglodyte then these are the places to go. Having had meals in the past 4 years at Guy Savoy, Arpege, Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, Epicure, Ledoyen, and Astrance the only one that I would happily pay my own money to eat at again is Ledoyen. My vehement POV at this point is that 3-star experiences in Paris are not my preferred way to spend my dining dollars anymore. By far the best meals we have had in Paris recently were at more casual places. Pastry Jacques Genin - We always visit there on our trips to Paris and their tea room in the Marais is a long time favorite. Don't miss the caramels (they are 100% worth the €120/kg price tag), tarte citron and mocha. Pain de Sucre Patisserie - They specialize in savory pastry which is a nice change of pace from the sweet stuff. Cedric Grolet - The hottest new pastry shop in Paris. Products are stunningly beautiful, but I wouldn't make a return visit. Gateaux D'Emotions - BEST Canele de Bordeaux that I have ever had. At the corner of Varenne and Rue Bac, its a great addition to the already insane pastry crawl in that neighborhood. More Casual Dining Restaurant Champeaux - Good example of a casual French brasserie. Without a doubt, do not miss the souffles. L' Assiette Paris XIV - Laid back French brasserie with classic preparations. Warm and friendly service. Frenchie To Go - We went for breakfast. Great coffee and pastry along with heartier options which is somewhat unique in Paris. Frenchie Wine Bar - Fun and buzzy. Great wine list and fresh, produce forward preparations. Les Enfants du Marche - We spent an afternoon there eating and drinking while it poured. We tried half the menu and really loved everything. The food isn't light but its modern. Curated but high quality natural wine selection. A must go on all future trips to Paris. Le Rigamarole - When Americans make Japanese style food in France and magic happens... Also a great natural wine list. Service is warm and friendly. La Bourse et La Vie - We went for lunch. Food is good but not otherwise memorable. Best part of the meal was the young American on a trip with his girlfriend at the table next to us. He mistook the bowl of brown sugar cubes for cookies and ate two of them while she sat in horror. L'Avant Comptoir De La Mer - No reservations, standing room only seafood. Menu is famously on the wall and hanging from the ceiling. Food was great, but we didn't think they were very helpful when it came to selecting wine by the glass. Would just order a bottle of something familiar next time - they have a great selection that is fairly priced. Breizh Cafe - Modern, high end crepes. We sat outside under blanket and heat lamp for dessert. Very enjoyable. La Regalade Saint Honore - Classic French brasserie. You really can't go wrong with anything on their menu except the souffle which had so much grand marnier in it that it was almost inedible. Seating there is both tight and awkward so if that will bug you, not a good choice. Love their all you can eat pate. Mokonuts - By far our favorite meal on our most recent trip to Paris. We had the entire menu (only 5 items) and a gorgeous bottle of Pet Nat. Only open for breakfast and lunch. Their sweet-savory cookies are phenomenal as well. Restaurant Baieta - Newly opened with a seafood focused menu. Highlights were the octopus and savory poultry. They also recommended a red Sancere that was surprising and really delicious. Fine Dining Restaurant Kei - We love Kei. Its not on any cool list. Their price fix 52€ 5 course lunch is the best deal in town. Also they pour insanely good champagne by the glass. Alain Ducasse at Hotel Plaza Athenee - NEVER AGAIN... Maybe I should have been impressed by the bowl of steamed haricot vert, but I wasn't. The somm was as offended by our preference for Laval (edited) as we were by his recommendation of Comtes. But these are stories for another thread Ledoyen - We had a really lovely meal there and enjoyed everything we tried. Service was attentive but not cloying and even a little casual, which we liked. The famous caviar tart is not to be missed. Restaurant Epicure - Totally unmemorable meal. Guy Savoy - We ordered the tasting menu and should have ordered a la carte. Service was dismissive. The famous chestnut and truffle soup is the only thing I'd want to eat from that meal again. Also, we were served variations of potato chips with two courses. They were the second best part of the meal.
  11. I'd like to get your thoughts on two hot topics in the restaurant industry right now: the impact of the #MeToo movement and concerns about diversity and inclusion. There has been a heated debate about how journalists, traditional/digital media should approach these issues and its impact on their coverage or assessment of restaurants, chefs and restaurateurs. Despite some pressure, Michelin, Worlds 50 Best, OAD and the newly launched World Restaurant Awards are not responding to the under representation of women and people of color (token best female chef awards notwithstanding) nor have they addressed #MeToo. On both points, James Beard has arguably taken the most significant leadership position on these challenges through their programming and awards. Very little has been written about the role of opinion leaders and social media influencers. This is interesting since the combined interest of these stakeholders drove significant changes in the sustainability, nutrition and sourcing practices of the industry over the past 15 years and they have heavily rewarded leadership in these areas. What is the role of opinion influencers in tackling these systemic industry challenges? Do opinion influencers have a duty to discuss #MeToo and diversity and inclusion as it relates to dining with their readers and followers? How, if at all, should these issues be taken into account when considering what restaurants to promote, dine at or review? Should opinion influencers be demanding better leadership practices, diversity and inclusion? Should awards and rankings ask their evaluators to take these issues into consideration or include them in their evaluation processes? Please do not interpret these questions as being critical of your writing or social media presence. As a talented and experienced, albeit amateur, eater, who has been involved with several awards/rankings programs, I grapple with how to approach these issues myself.
  12. Aldo Sohm isn't my style either. And I completely see what you are saying about the wine list, service and decor. I also recognize that for people looking for a wine bar and heavy nibbles near the theater district there are not a lot of choices. FWIW... my preference close-ish to the theater district for excellent seafood and natural wine at much more approachable prices and a more relaxed atmosphere is Gloria at W53rd and 9th. Another good alternative for a wine bar more similar to Aldo Sohm, but still in that neck of the woods, is Morrell near Rockefeller Center.
  13. After nine years, we returned to San Sebastian. I seriously question our sanity in waiting so long to return. If you love food, wine and beaches it is paradise on earth. As always, more detailed photos and info on wine available on my Instagram. Fine Dining: Nerua, Guggenheim Bilbao - This meal was just weird. Despite a "seasonal" menu, every dish was a mushy ball in some sort of broth. It was a strangely monochromatic (mostly brown and white) menu with the sole truly fresh seasonal dish consisting of tomatoes. We drank their last bottle of Prevost - no joke, their Somm made a big fuss about it. Service was slow and inattentive. Arzak - We wanted to love this meal, but didn't. The issue wasn't the food. We generally really enjoyed it, although some dishes for the same course varied very differently in quality. That said they have the most incredible wine list that is so bizarrely and cheaply priced that it took us 45 minutes to make a selection. Their senior somm was not working the night we were there. The somm who was on service that night had nominal interest in engaging us in a conversation about their deep cellar of older Spanish bottles. The bottles he did recommend were all pretty pedestrian and marked up 300%. If we ever went back it would be to sit in their bar and drink wine. Etxebarri - This was our second visit, actually 9 years to day from our first visit. We loved it on our first visit and its still excellent. But its become much more polished over the past nine years and has lost some of its more rustic charm. Be sure to tack on the caviar and percebes additions. Make a request at the start of your meal for the warm cheese flan. Note, they have two wine list - one that is more pedestrian and another that has some older, more rare vintages. Also, on Sundays they serve pintxos in their downstairs tavern on Sundays from 11-2. They're offal focused prepared by a junior somm (no joke), but it sounds fascinating and someone needs to try this. Azurmendi - This meal was absolute perfection. By far our favorite in the region. You can order off of two menus - one classic and one more experimental. We went with the classic menu. We also ordered some gorgeous bottles of wine and their somm is delightful to work with. I can't speak highly enough of this meal and if you go for one splurge this should be it. Rekondo - We went for the wine to be honest. Their cellar is one of the biggest in the world and the wine is exceptionally well priced. We were very pleasantly surprised by the food. The seafood is really excellent - we really loved the white shrimp in particular. They will also make you a beautiful plate of cheese and jamon iberico. We didn't get desserts but they looked excellent. Pintxos, San Sebastian: La Cuchara de San Telmo (open Monday, website says they arent) - Excellent seafood options. We enjoyed the razor clams, foie gras (huge chunk for cheap), octopus Bar Martinez - More options on the bar, including an awesome tuna stuffed pepper Ganbara Bar - If you go to one place for Pintxos, this should be it. Order off the menu rather than choosing from the bar (though the Jamon Iberico on medialunas is excellent). We loved the confit tuna collar with onions, percebes, and mixed mushrooms with raw egg yolk. Note they also have a downstairs bistro. Atari Gastroteka (open Sunday/Monday) - We went here twice, again order off the menu rather than the bocadillos on the bar. Excellent options included - lightly cured salmon with fresh cheese and salmon roe, platter of tuna with olives and pickled peppers, octopus, patatas bravas Bar Bergara (open Sunday/Monday) - They have some of the prettiest bocadillos in the city. Bar Restaurante Hidalgo 56 - We ordered lots of stuff off their menu including the tuna tataki, mushrooms and black pudding volcano Bar Antonio (open Sunday/Monday) - We ordered a ton of stuff both bocadillos and off their menu. We weren't super impressed with their kobe burger (it was gristly) but their seafood offers were excellent. Note they also have a lovely downstairs bistro that some say is better than Ibai. Tips: 1- Many pintxos bars are closed on Sunday and Monday. Plan accordingly. 2- If you go and you are a wine drinker, plan around visits to Rekondo, Arzak, Elkano and Kaia-Kaipe. Make a stop at Goni Ardoteka, which is an excellent wine shop. 3- If someone offers you percebes, order them! Goose barnacles are a local delicacy and can't be found anywhere else in the world. 4- Coffee sucks in this town. We found one acceptable place called Old Town Coffee. Others say Sakona is excellent, we disagree.
  14. Just got back from a 5 day food and wine binge in Copenhagen . Pics are on Instagram including specifics on wine. Higher End: Noma: This was our 6th Noma meal (1 in the old space, 3 pop-ups, 1 Justin Timberlake party) but the first in their new space. The new space is stunning. The all vegetable meal was exquisite, and may well have been our favorite of all of our past meals. We didn't miss the meat or seafood. I'm aware that having been so many times we get a little extra attention, but the choreography of their meals is something to behold. Wine pairing was catered to our tastes and included our favorite white Tschida. Amass: Very fun meal - really enjoyed their roast chicken 3 ways that included a chicken salad made of offal. Slow cooked tongue was also delicious. We ended up going back the next afternoon for their 5th birthday party where they were serving hot fried chicken on croissants. Restaurant Barr: Least favorite meal in CPH. We had basically their entire menu. Their mains are much better than the starters - schnitzel and roast chicken are excellent as was the smoked mackerel. 108: A visually stunning tasting menu. Very vegetable forward, fresh local ingredients. Excellent natural wine list. Second favorite meal after Noma. Stylistically very similar. Palaegade: Famous smorrebrod. Definitely get the shrimp. Relae: This was our second trip to Relae. Their summer menu is not as enjoyable as the one we had in winter. Note their Prevost champagne is very well priced. Casual: Gasoline Grill: They make a seriously excellent burger and fries. We preferred the cheese burger over the butter burger. DOP - Den Okologiske polsemand: Best hot dogs we have ever had. The whole wheat buns add real heft. Snappy casings and interesting toppings. The Corner at 108 - We ended up having breakfast there with Rene Redzepi who had also stopped in for an espresso on his way to the office. Pastries are excellent as is the Tim Wendelboe coffee. My favorite meal item was the coddled egg with caviar. We also went back to buy wine to sit and sip while dangling our feet in the river. They have an excellent selection of high end natural wines. Hija de Sanchez - People go nuts over these $8 tacos. But we felt that it was good but not excellent in comparison to the quality of tacos we can get in the US. The cocktails on tap are so fun. 10 Ved Stranden - Our favorite wine bar anywhere on planet earth. We made it a daily stop. They have an excellent natural wine selection and serve really delicious food as well. Lovely setting with outdoor seating. Alice, CPH - Excellent ice cream. Homemade cones. Try the raspberry and pistachio. Coffee Collective - Famous CPH coffee. Their coffee softserve affogato is the thing of dreams. They also make kombucha now, which is very refreshing on a hot day. Den Vendrette - another well known natural wine bar. We weren't super impressed.
  15. Pineapple and Pearls was very new when we moved away from DC in early 2016. Despite the accolades to motivate us and regular trips back to the area for both work and pleasure since then, we had our first meal there over the weekend. For obvious reasons when we are back in town we usually hit up our nostalgic favorites but we were able to get relatively last minute 9:30 pm seats at the bar. We found the most memorable aspect of the meal to be how unsatisfying it was. I don't think it lived up to the hype. It would be entirely fair to @ me because we were seated at the bar and that isn't the same thing. But I am someone who believes the bar experience and quality should be as good than the dining even with a slightly different or truncated menu. A bar menu should make you want to go back for the full dining room experience. This is especially true of you are still paying high end tasting menu prices. I left the dinner thinking the food was a lot of overwrought gimmick not backed up with flavor. To be clear nothing was bad or offensive. The technical execution was there. I just didn't love the meal.
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