Category: Eating

Eating1 Comment

Dining in Amsterdam: Bistrot Neuf

StefanGourmet

Bistrot Neuf is a brasserie-style French restaurant with classic French food like oysters, lobster, snails, bouillabaisse, cote de boeuf (prime rib), crème brûlée, and a nice wine list with many wines by the glass. The latter is not surprising as it is next to, and affiliated with, wine store Chabrol. The wines are mostly from France with some from other ‘old world’ wine countries. Wine is always expensive in Dutch restaurants, often marked up to 3 times the retail price or more, and unfortunately Bistrot Neuf is no exception to that rule. Expect to pay at least 50 euros for … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Bistrot Neuf

Eating4 Comments

Dining in Paris: l’Astrance***

StefanGourmet

Paris is a 5-hour drive and it is one of our favorite cities in the world, so we like to visit once every one to two years. There is only one surprising thing that is less great about Paris: so far we’ve not been very lucky finding a restaurant there that we really liked. We tried a two-star restaurant that was good but too expensive and a bit boring, and the other restaurants we tried were all mediocre. I had had my eyes on l’Astrance for some years, but so far never managed to secure a reservation. l’Astrance has the reputation … Continue reading Dining in Paris: l’Astrance***

Eating3 Comments

Dining in the USA: Fleming’s Steakhouse, Salt Lake City

StefanGourmet

After our less than memorable experience at Gem’s Steakhouse in Deadwood, South Dakota, we decided to celebrate the last night of our vacation in the USA by going to a steakhouse in Salt Lake City. Locals recommended Fleming’s, a chain of steakhouses with over 60 restaurants all over the United States. We were not disappointed this time: it was one of the best steaks we’ve ever had. Fleming’s uses USDA ‘Prime’ beef, aged for 21 days. For those of you who are not from the US, let me quickly explain about USDA beef grades. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) … Continue reading Dining in the USA: Fleming’s Steakhouse, Salt Lake City

Eating17 Comments

Dining in South Dakota: Gem Steakhouse, Deadwood

StefanGourmet

We are in Deadwood, South Dakota, a wild west town from 1876 and still has some of its original charm (most of it is drowned out by countless slot machines though). It was nice to be back in a slightly more populated area after touring national parks in an RV for a week, so we decided that we would eat out instead of cooking at the campsite. Steak is usually a safe choice outside of major cities in the US, so I checked out TripAdvisor to find a recommended steakhouse in Deadwood. Gem Steakhouse seemed a good choice, located in … Continue reading Dining in South Dakota: Gem Steakhouse, Deadwood

Eating15 Comments

Dining in Chicago: Alinea***

StefanGourmet

Being jetlagged has its advantages. I’ve just had a fantastic dinner at Alinea and am eager to blog about it, but I wasn’t sure when I would get around to that as I will be travelling in areas where wifi is not something to count on. We went to Alinea with friends from Chicago where we are also staying the night. I’ve slept really well after the dinner at Alinea for about 6 hours, but now it’s 5am (i.e. noon in the timezone I left yesterday) and I am wide awake. So what better thing to do then to do … Continue reading Dining in Chicago: Alinea***

Eating7 Comments

Dining in Amsterdam: Bussia

StefanGourmet

Bussia is one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam. It is a true Italian ristorante where you eat antipasto, primo, secondo, dolce instead of pizza. Everything is made from scratch from fresh ingredients and they have a nice selection of Italian wines. The service is as professional as it is friendly. Last night we took a friend there for her birthday, since I knew she would enjoy this. And she did, as did we! Although you can also eat à la carte, the main attraction of Bussia is the six-course daily menu (antipasto, pasta, risotto, fish, meat, dolce) that you can … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Bussia

Eating6 Comments

Dining in Sweden: Pio Country Club

StefanGourmet

Despite the cheesy name, Pio Country Club, in south Sweden along the road between Halmstad and Simlångsdalen, is a very good restaurant. Two years ago we had a very nice mid-summer’s dinner there with typical Swedish mid-summer’s dishes in haute cuisine fashion with paired wines. This year we discovered that the guy who runs it is a fan of Argentina, has visited the country and serves great Argentinian food.  They have a garden where they grow their own vegetables and everything is freshly made from good quality ingredients. Reservations are required; since it is a bit out of the way … Continue reading Dining in Sweden: Pio Country Club

Eating3 Comments

Dining in Amsterdam: Ciel Bleu**

StefanGourmet

The Okura hotel in Amsterdam has two restaurants with michelin stars: downstairs the traditional Japanese (Kaiseki) restaurant Yamazato* and on the 23rd floor Ciel Bleu** with a magnificent view on downtown Amsterdam. We had not been there in a few years, and were looking for a special occasion to go to Ciel Bleu again. This occasion presented itself when two American friends were in town, and we decided to celebrate the occasion by having dinner at Ciel Bleu together. Since it was a weekday and we all had to work the next day, we chose the 5-course summer menu (95 … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Ciel Bleu**

Eating15 Comments

Dining in the Netherlands: De Librije***

StefanGourmet

Every year since De Librije has been awarded its third star (in late 2004) we have celebrated our wedding anniversary on June 15th with a dinner at De Librije. The first time in 2005 was very special, as it was our first dinner at a three-star restaurant and we were completely blown away by both the food and the wine. As I’ve written before, follow-up visits to a restaurant are like sequels to a movie: it is hard to beat that first great experience. But De Librije has held up quite strongly, and that’s why we keep coming back. We … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: De Librije***

Eating3 Comments

Dining in Italy: La Mola, Varazze

StefanGourmet

During our weekend in Italy we did not only stay in Turin to eat at Combal.Zero, but we also stayed at a friends’ house at the seaside in Varazze with an amazing seaview and the sound of the crashing waves lulling us to sleep. Her brother recommended La Mola just around the corner, and we liked it so much that we had dinner there the second evening as well. La Mola is the type of restaurant that you can find a lot in Italy: simple but good and honest food with friendly service for reasonable prices. Outside of touristy areas, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Mola, Varazze

Eating2 Comments

Dining in Amsterdam: Lastage*

StefanGourmet

Lastage opened up less than two years ago at a stone’s throw from Amsterdam Central station. I tried it last year and was impressed with the quality of the food, wine, and service, especially considering the very affordable prices. Meanwhile they have been awarded a Michelin star, but the prices are still the same. You can choose 3 to 6 courses with 2 choices per course for 38 to 62 euros (US$ 48 to 78 at today’s exchange rate), with matching wines for 7.50 euros ($9.50) per glass. Given this price level this is a very good place for a … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: Lastage*

Eating15 Comments

Dining in Italy: Combal.Zero

StefanGourmet

  My regular readers may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a few days. That’s because I was in Italy, to visit friends and to eat at Combal.Zero. In September we dined at Combal.Zero in Rivoli (close to Turin, Italy) for the first time and were totally impressed with the food. So much, that we wanted to go back there again soon. And so we did. Combal.Zero has two Michelin stars (I can only guess why there aren’t three), ‘tre forchette’ (3 forks) from Gambero Rosso (the highest rating from this leading Italian guide) and ranks 59 in the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Combal.Zero

Eating2 Comments

Dining on Costa Adeje, Tenerife

StefanGourmet

We’ve just spent a week on Tenerife on the Costa Adeje. Most of the restaurants there are cheap and offer mediocre quality at best. Reviews on the internet are not of much use because most people going here seem to like this mediocre food and appear to award five stars (out of five) only if the service is friendly. Although we have not sampled restaurants exhaustively, here’s my take from a week’s stay with links to the full reviews I posted on TripAdvisor. 1. Rosso sul Mare in La Caleta: our favorite. Authentic Italian, great seafood, nice decor, good view, … Continue reading Dining on Costa Adeje, Tenerife

Eating1 Comment

Nihonryori RyuGin gets very well-deserved 3rd star

StefanGourmet

I just found out that Nihonryori RyuGin in Tokyo has received a very well-deserved 3rd star in the 2012 Michelin guide for Tokyo. We had dinner there in February 2011 and it was the best meal we’ve ever had. Everything was delicious as well as technically perfect, and the matching sakes and wines were amazing. So was the check, but it was definitely worth it! I already wrote in my TripAdvisor review that a 3rd star could not be far away. I do not always agree with Michelin (there are especially too many 3-star restaurants that do not deserve them anymore) … Continue reading Nihonryori RyuGin gets very well-deserved 3rd star

Eating6 Comments

Dining in Italy: La Torre del Saracino

StefanGourmet

For the 12th anniversary of our first date, I surprised Kees with a visit to La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, near Naples. We had been there twice before (in 2008 and 2010), but this was the first time we went there straight from home without going anywhere else. La Torre del Saracino of chef Gennaro Esposito has two Michelin stars (worth a detour), but according to us that should be three (worth the journey). La Torre has two degustation menus (Proposta di Ciro of 6 courses and Proposta di Salvatore of 8 courses) that change with the seasons, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Torre del Saracino

EatingLeave a comment

Amsterdam dining: Utrechtsedwarstafel

StefanGourmet

Even though are favorite way of dining is to let the chef decide what to cook and the sommelier which wines to serve with it, we had never yet tried Utrechtsedwarstafel because of the pricetag (between 65 euros for 3 course with basic wines and 125 euros for 5 courses with premium wines) and mixed reviews on Dutch leading restaurant review site Iens. But since their formula is exactly the way we like it, we decided to give it a try and go for the full treatment (5 courses with premium wines). We had high expectations of the wine pairings, … Continue reading Amsterdam dining: Utrechtsedwarstafel