Tamas Ferencz

We have wanted to try the Schwarzwaldstube for a long time and finally we could make a stop during our short journey in Alsace. We went for lunch to this historical place lead by Mr Torsten Michel head chef.
They offered a small degustation menu for 195 Euro (5 courses), a Large degustation menu for 245 Euro ( 7 courses), a vegetarian menu for 165 Euro ( 6 courses)and the full a la carte section was also available.
We opted for the a la carte menu. For starter we had Bretonian lobster with brown crab, scallops, the creamy soup of muscat pumpkin and the roasted fillet of red mullet. All starters were delicious and really well completed.
The red mullet was perfectly cooked, the jus had great depth of flavours. Lobster was tender and perfectly balanced with the avocado and saffron dip, the creamy muscat pumpkin soup was just superb.
From the main course selection we had the sauté of veal kidney with sweetbread, venison with fried duck liver and the grilled Alsatian pigeon with fir honey and black pepper, tossed artichoke chips, lemon and ginger sauce. Mr Michel has added some Alsatian influence to his world class French cuisine, this was one of the best pigeon dish I have ever eaten.
The sauce of the veal kidney and sweetbread came with pickled pumpkin, young onions and creamy veal’s head sauce. was precisely cooked it had perfect flavour and acidity. The best dish of the lunch was the venison. Medallion of venison was served with fried duck liver, glazed pineapple and jus of braised venison’s shoulder in Bourbon Pointu. All were perfectly prepared, the quality of the various ingredients were top- notch, and the intensity of the sauces were all perfect.
The staff were on the highest level of professionalism, the service was all over excellent.
Glad we have managed to visit this remarkable place before the very heartbreaking fire which has unfortunately destroyed the building. We wish all the very best with rebuilding the place. Less

L’Atelier du Peintre is a Michelin starred restaurant in the old town of Colmar, very close to the St. Martin’s Church. We have chosen to celebrate here my mother’s 70th birthday. We have contacted the restaurant prior to have them arranged flowers and cake. On arrival the table was beautifully set with a gorgeous bouquet in the middle.
They offer two different tasting Manu and the a la carte selection. The Petite Galerie menu with 5 courses for 73 Euro and the Grande Galerie menu with 7 courses for 89 Euros.
We all have chosen this time from the a la carte menu. For starters we have ordered the duck liver with celery emulsion, the seafood platter and the egg soufflé’s with roasted tomato cream. All were beautifully plated and tasty. The egg soufflé although sounds strange but the combination has worked out well.
Our main courses were the pigeon with plums, the roasted monkfish and the matured beef fillet. The monkfish was served with beetroot, blackberry and shrimp sauce, the beef fillet came with a tomato tart on the side, colonnata bacon and summer truffle. The pigeon was served with plums, almond milk and oregano sauce. This was attractively plated and tasty although the meat was was quite hard. All our dishes were nicely presented, varied in terms of taste and visual appeal.
The restaurant has a great variety of wine to choose from. The service started a bit slow but once it got going it was smooth, knowledgeable and friendly.
The restaurant was as good as we hoped but without any wow factor. However my mother had a really memorable birthday celebration. Less

We went to this small family run restaurant in the old town of Marbella. Had no reservation but we could get a table with a time condition.
We began our meal with a sautéed king prawns and caponata starters. Both dishes were perfectly cooked and presented, the prawns were tender and tasty, the caponata with aubergine, courgette, cherry tomatoes and capers were very nice as well.
For main we have opted a fregula Sarda and spaghetti carbonara both cooked the authentic way.
The fregula is a Sicilian dish. In the Sarde version small pasta balls cooked in prawn bisque served with wild claims, prawn tails, bottarga garlic, chilli and cherry tomatoes. The home made pastas were cooked beautifully, the prawn bisque had plenty of flavour with just the right hint of chilli.
The place is certainly above the rest of the Italian restaurant in Marbella. The food is first class, the staff was very attentive and efficient. Highly recommended. Less

After visiting Quique Dacosta’s flagship restaurant last year we have returned this July on a Sunday evening.
This year the QD restaurant offer the Self Portrait menu for 210 Euro with additional wine pairing.
This menu contains many elements from last year’s “Evolution and Origen” menu, just few dishes were changed and some dishes had some fine tuning, all of them were creative and delicious.
After the appetisers in the starter section they have one new dish, the “Glutinous rice cocoa” with herbs and pickles. The main selection has more changes this year. The four new dishes: the Royale of blue crab from Albufera, Ray fish with black butter, creamy rice variety with grilled chestnut and contain rabbit Royale of snails. The new starter dish and the rabbit Royale dish both were extraordinary, top of the league.
We could not fault anything in the service but this visit was different from the previous one. The vibe and the atmosphere was missing and the service was not as attentive as last time. We did not feel rushed but would have been nice to give a little bit more time between courses. It was probably a “last night service before day off” case, which could be acceptable elsewhere but not in a world class restaurant.
All in all it is an extraordinary restaurant with well worth three Michelin star and It is still a “Must do” if you are in the area. Less

Creative and contemporary cuisine in a family owned restaurant with 100 years history and tradition in La Nucia. The chef/owner Cristina Figueira learned the traditional way of cooking from the the family roots than by the inspiration of Ferran Adria she went to study the modern cuisine to Joan Roca (El Celler Can Roca).
The result is a happy marriage of modern and the traditional flavors. She makes perfectly prepared, unusual dishes with carefully selected local products in delicious combinations.
The restaurant is tiny and cosy inside with nice rural decoration.
They offer two different menus. The Temptations menu is 52,40 Euro with 4 snacks, 3 starters , 1 main dish (with an option to choose between a fish, meat or rice dish) and dessert. The Centenary menu is 68,30 Euro with 6 snacks, 5 starters, a fish dish, a meat dish and the dessert variety. We opted for the Temptation menu with wine pairing.
Among the starters we had the steak tartare, poached egg in potato and iberian pancetta broth with mushroom, for mains we had codfish and baby lamb. All the dishes were delicious.
The sommelier is Francisco (Cristina’s husband) who assorted sublime (mainly) local wines. The wines were perfectly complementing every dish. The restaurant’s own cellar is situated in the basement of the building.
The staff is attentive and very friendly, there was no any time pressure, the plates were arriving in a good rhythm. The only negative issue was the description of the dishes in Spanish and English, sometimes they were not translated properly.
Excellent restaurant with high quality dishes and reasonable prices. Less

This restaurant was opened in 1757 in a beautiful building in the historical centre of Turin. The head chef Matteo Baronetto is a talented and ambitious young chef who had worked under Carlo Gracco in Milan.
The restaurant offers 3 different menus and full a la carte selection. They serve Baronetto’s improvisation gastronomic menu for 135 Euro, the traditional menu for 110 Euro and the Nel Tempo menu for 125 Euro.
We have opted for the Nel Tempo menu. In seven courses they were serving each course in traditional style and the chef’s modern contemporary intuition. For us the traditional versions were acceptable but chef’s contemporary versions were given a new meaning to an absolutely inedible and giant gastronomic mistake.
After the appetisers we had anchovies in green sauce, violet prawns in salsa rosa, Bresaola with rucola and parmesan cheese, Piedmontese style ramen for starter and sea bream a la meunière, Rossini fillet steak and veal chops a´la Milanese for main dish.
The quality of the food was a huge let down and certainly not up to the level of other restaurants of the same league we have visited.
The presentation as well as the taste of food had lack of any imagination and innovation. We were served by a senior member of staff, without a single smile, with very little explanation on the plates. He should have retired a while ago, as certainly his job was no longer pleasing him. Nor was pleasing us…
We did not bother having dessert (cheesecake), just asked for the check, paid and left. The bill was 480 Euro which is the new reinterpretation of the word “Rip Off” for the quality of food they were serving us. All through our dinner they kept pouring water for us, when the bill came we have understood why… they have charged a very excessive price for the water, 20 Euro for a single bottle and we had altogether 4 bottles!
The sommelier was a very pleasant and helpful young gentleman, by his suggestion we had an excellent Gattinara Molsino 2014 from the Nervi winery. This was the highlight of our dinner. Less

We have dined here on a midweek evening but due the extremely windy-stormy weather the terrace was not open.
We have ordered some aperitifs in the bar before dining at the restaurant than we were seated by a nice table close to the window, possible with one of the most amazing view of Lake Como. From the moment we have stepped into the restaurant we felt like in a theatre decades ago. Everything was classy and traditional , from the service, design, setting and uniforms.
We have chosen from the a´la carte menu.
For starters we had the marinated wild salmon with caviar and the steamed Sicilian prawn with cocktail sauce, our choice of main was a traditional French dish a "the duck a la presse".
The jus of the duck was prepared by the table than they served the parts separately. First came the duck breast with Belgian endive, potato cream, pak choi and Perigord sauce with black truffle. After a little break they served the the duck legs with salad leaves and fruits.
The entertainment provided by a music group added greatly to the ambiance.
All together the surroundings and the service were one star class but the food was not. It was a nice experience to see the old school technic and service but I doubt it will be repeated. Less

We have spent 2 days in Marbella for a music festival in July and we were fortunate enough to be able to have lunch at this long time bucket- list restaurant. Sadly the restaurant in this form is closing down end of October, so we really could enjoy the fantastic creations of Dani Garcia in the last moment.
The restaurant is situated outside of Marbella in the Puente Romano Hotel Resort. The establishment inside is stylish, the atmosphere is relaxed.
After the nibbles our meal started with his famous green tomato gazpacho with scallops, followed by a white gazpacho with false herring roe, Andalusian style beef tongue with caviar and anchovies with truffle and smoked eel.
For main they have served red prawns with pil-pil gazpachuelo and pepper, Gipsy stew with tendons and sea snail, Grilled sea brim, baby goat cheeks and belly.
The bread selection was served with one of the most delicious selection of cow, sheep and goat milk butters.
This time we didn’t order matching wine for the menu. Our choice was an excellent French rose- a bottle of Chateau Simone (2016).
The service was faultless and helpful, we never felt rushed through our meal. The whole menu was beautifully presented and delicious.
Excellent meal, every Michelin star is well deserved. I am sure whatever gastronomic direction Dani Garcia will choose for the future he will do it with care and attention to all details. Best of luck for the future. Less

Little sea food restaurant run by the former El Bulli chef Rafa Zafra and his wife Ana Gotanegra in the gothic district of Barcelona. The restaurant is in a small street very close to the Santa Maria del Mar church, very hard to find it without local knowledge or GPS. The dining room is a small space with rustic interior and an impressive fish display in front of the open kitchen.
On the menu they only offer fresh, properly cooked seafood dishes without any unnecessary frills just high quality ingredients at their best.
After the snail and olive nibbles we had marinated mackerel, crayfish carpaccio, fried anchovies, sautéed clams and red prawns to start, baked John Dory, tomato salad, Portobello mushrooms and white asparagus for main dishes.
The highlights were the baked John Dory shared by all of us which was exceptionally fresh and tasty and the delicately cooked prawns from Roses-Costa Brava.
Our dessert order was a portion of home made Catalan cheesecake to share. The texture is very similar to the famous Basque cheesecake but a little bit creamier. It was simple divine.
The wine list is limited but well balanced with high quality international and Spanish wines.
The service was very professional all along our dinner with different really good dish recommendations. This was very important as the written menu is short and not very detailed. All was perfectly explained by our lovely young waiter. The restaurant is clean, friendly the atmosphere was relaxed.
Delightful experience. Less

The restaurant is just 5 min taxi drive from the city centre in a nice location. It’s discrete and cozy inside with a very smart playing with lights, that makes you focus on the dishes.
After some hesitation we have chosen the Festival menu (215€).
Firstly amuse bouches were served, all with exceptional tastes and character,
followed by several starters. First came an orange salad with 19 different ingredients. Spring pickles, Charcoal grilled green pees with emulsion of its pod and vanilla, Mackerel with white garlic. The fifth course was asparagus dish with sea anemone. My wife normally does not like asparagus but this was sublime and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
After a little break the main dishes were served us. Marinated prawn, langoustine with sagebrush, Semi cured hake, steamed sea bass, Smoked duck breast and veal pastrami. Every course was prepared with care and attention each one with it’s own special details - without any repeat- and incredible flavours.
We have requested if they could change one dessert to “A trip to Havana” signature dessert from the classic menu? They said “Sure” and made our evening perfect.
Very difficult to try to describe our experience in writing. From start to finish everyone was working to make each and every guests special. From the first moment, we have noticed the professionalism of the staff. They were attentive and quick to response every question or order. That night Josep Roca came to the tables and greeted their guests.
The food was one of the most amazing we have ever tried, I am still feeling the taste of the pastrami and the Elderberry dessert. The whole experience was exceptional, every bite, the service and the style. We have reserved our table 11 month ahead it was more than worth the nearly one year waiting time. We would go back tomorrow! Less