About
travels for friends, food and wine - in exactly this order
From
San Sebastian, Spain
Born
July 21
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at ひろ家 at ひろ家
Local Izakaya/Kaiseiki restaurant serving great sashimi and fugu when in season.
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- Gerhard Huber shared Gerhard Huber's restaurant list The best restaurants in Helsinki in 2022
Professionals and influencers in the Finnish restaurant and food industry have once again voted for the best restaurants in the country.
https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/eat-and-drink/restaurants/the-10-best-restaurants-in-finland-in-2022
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- Gerhard Huber added a new restaurant list The best restaurants in Helsinki in 2022
Professionals and influencers in the Finnish restaurant and food industry have once again voted for the best restaurants in the country.
https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/eat-and-drink/restaurants/the-10-best-restaurants-in-finland-in-2022
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Zloam Wirt at Zloam Wirt
Greta lunch in a wonderful spot. Part of the new village resort close to Grundlsee in Styria/Austria there cooking is solid, sometimes with a twist.
This Cordon Bleu is unique as it uses the meat from chicken legs which get rolled up around the cheese and ham. It gets wrapped in the skin and then rolled in the pan crust. This creates an astonishing... More
Greta lunch in a wonderful spot. Part of the new village resort close to Grundlsee in Styria/Austria there cooking is solid, sometimes with a twist.
This Cordon Bleu is unique as it uses the meat from chicken legs which get rolled up around the cheese and ham. It gets wrapped in the skin and then rolled in the pan crust. This creates an astonishing juice and succulent dish, unlike any Cordon Bleu I had before. Less
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Well deserved meal after a short hike. They keep the fish in the lake next to the restaurant, so when you order the get them and prepare them for you.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Schanz at schanz. restaurant.
The newly minted 3 star restaurant in Germany. The owner/chef Thomas Schanz gained experience in some of the best classic restaurants in Germany, Traube Tonbach, Gästehaus Erfort and Sonnora, amongst others. His cuisine could be called modernized classic, the ingredients, all very well selected, are classic but the execution adds somewhat a modern... More
The newly minted 3 star restaurant in Germany. The owner/chef Thomas Schanz gained experience in some of the best classic restaurants in Germany, Traube Tonbach, Gästehaus Erfort and Sonnora, amongst others. His cuisine could be called modernized classic, the ingredients, all very well selected, are classic but the execution adds somewhat a modern twist. Sometimes by adding spices or acidity through fruits but most of all with some excellent sauces, some of the best I have eaten for a while. The cooking itself is flawless with the fishes being executed to the correct second creating a glassy and spongy texture.
One gets started with some snacks, one of them was a fish from the Mosel, the Gundel, which was served without head with juniper mayonnaise. Interestingly enough it reminded me of the Japanese sommer fish, the Ayu which usually gets served as a whole fish, providing a nice journey from the bitter head to the sweet tail. The truffle egg, a classic but when calibrated like this, is always a delight. Once getting to the serious dishes, the goose liver tart with Parmigiano Reggiano. A nice combination of sweetness with saltiness. The crab with cassis (see above regarding the fruit and acidity), yogurt and cornjus, an unusual combination to say the least, which even more so really worked.
After this very tasty beginning we were served 3 different fishes and the lobster. All of the fish were cooked to perfection. All of them paired with interesting sauces and very little condiments so that the fish played the key role of the dish. The red mullet was served with a hibiscus orange vinaigrette, sweet and sour at the same time, perfectly complimenting the mullet. The hake was sitting in Angostura Nectarine and Nutmeg-Consommé, combined with the fir tree tops it created a wonderfully layered flavor which was a really tasty symbiosis with the fleshy hake. However, the best was the black cod with kohlrabi, coconut and thym. Unbelievable, the cod reacted with the mixture of kohlrabi, coconut and thym astonishingly well. There was no sweetness which often is part of black cod dish in the Asian cuisines, it was new and completely satisfying.
The Eifler venison saddle, rolled in watercress (nasturtium) and then in aluminum foil, was cooked for 4 minutes at a very high temperature and 100% humidity in the steam ofen. Together with the chanterelles and the pickled radish it was a wonderful venison with the perfect texture and plenty of umami. To wrap up the savory dishes we ate sweetbread with crayfish. Also an unusual combination which really worked. The sweetbread cooked perfectly with a crispy crust and soft inner core was in complete harmony with the crayfish. The peas and the elderberry vinegar foam complemented the two main ingredients in adding acidity and extra texture. This fairly long meal got wrapped up with two desserts, not overly sweet and more on the fruity side and some petit four.
The wine pairing was by request exclusively German wines which worked very well with the food. The initial Sekt and one wine was from the paternal winery of the chef. Solid wines selected by the young Austrian sommelier Aleks Petrovic grew to the challenge of serving only German wines, the more local the better. He also is a genius when creating non alcoholic pairings. The drinks made on demand have quite a high complexity but he is able to combine the components into a harmonious drink well matching the food. Kudos!
The service is very friendly and is able to answer competently most of the questions regarding the dishes and were more than happy to get the information from the kitchen when asked very detailed questions about cooking times and techniques.
Overall this was a most satisfying meal, surprisingly almost better than some of the other German high end restaurants we visited. A well deserved third star to this fairly young chef and a great addition to the German 3 star family.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Essigbratlein at Essigbrätlein
Andree Köthe and Yves Ollech are true revolutionaries. They are self confident but very reserved and humble. Their language is not bold but very subtle. And they are obsessed with their plant based cuisine which tries to use every single part of any ordinary plant. They spend a lot of time finding shoots of already harvested kohlrabi or the lower part... More
Andree Köthe and Yves Ollech are true revolutionaries. They are self confident but very reserved and humble. Their language is not bold but very subtle. And they are obsessed with their plant based cuisine which tries to use every single part of any ordinary plant. They spend a lot of time finding shoots of already harvested kohlrabi or the lower part of withered sunflowers. Then they use them in their kitchen to create extraordinary dishes. But unlike others they do not seek the limelight and become preachers, they simply focus on feeding their dedicated fan base.
The menu at Essigbrätlein (the Franconian version of a Sauerbraten) is a 7 course menu which gets fronted by 5 amuse, all of them with the exception of the main dish plant based.
The amuse might be just a spoon with the already mentioned withered sunflower, dried and rehydrated paired with a droplet of cream. Or the shoot of a kohlrabi (the German turnip) which developed after the main head has been harvested. It symbolizes the attempt of the plant to continue to survive after it has been cut off. They roast it and put dried raspberry powder on it. This creates a wonderful bite, lush and succulent, pairing bitter and sweet aromas. They also give you a stalk of salad filled with celery which was so good that we had to order seconds. Unbelievable.
Plate after plate, each one dominated by one vegetable in variations one cannot think off, but executed expertly and deeply satisfying.
For example the humble cucumber, it gets dehydrated to change the texture but also makes the taste more concentrated, they get served on rice with a sauce of the cucumber. It is a play of layers of texture and flavors which one would never expect when reading the simple description “cucumbers with chervil”.
The plate simply called carrots is another masterpiece, the carrot is cut in cubes and put on top of red beets and tomatoes and topped with flowers. The instructions were to eat one cube of carrot with each spoon. Again a wonderful play of flavors and texture, a great delight.
The chanterelles served with reddish was an unbelievable umami explosion. Simply unbelievable.
The only meat course of the 12 course menu was a duck, steamed and then grilled, served with lavender cream.
To finish the meal, the Chefs kindly do not sugar load the diner, they only serve one semi sweet dessert, in our case the radish ice cream with dried herbs, a restraint dish but wonderful. However, there is more. The petit four were four slim leafs of chocolate topped with a variation of nuts and berries. One cannot think of a better way to finish a great meal.
The wine pairing is one of the best one can get, local and international wines, most of them served out of a magnum bottle, some of them bottled in magnum only for the restaurant so the back label still says 0.75l. The juice pairing is also one of the best with glasses dominated by vegetable juices and thankfully without use of the now ever present kombucha.
Why this places is not one “must go” list of the international foodie caravan is inexplicable but one must be thankful that it isn’t.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at toshi (隼) at Toshi (隼)
Yoshida-san gets better and better. The framework stays more or less the same (if you can read kanji or Chinese you will understand that the menu does not describe the course, it more like a general description).
Of course there were the classics, the deep black ball to start off, this time filled with uni and pineapple, shark fin in Foie gras sauce... More
Yoshida-san gets better and better. The framework stays more or less the same (if you can read kanji or Chinese you will understand that the menu does not describe the course, it more like a general description).
Of course there were the classics, the deep black ball to start off, this time filled with uni and pineapple, shark fin in Foie gras sauce with truffles, the 春まき (spring roll) filled with crab meat, the glazed Yamagata beef with sweet potatoe, all of this very, very good.
However, the best course was the exceptional Nodoguro. Fatty, opulent and so tasty. This one rivaled the greatest noduguro in Japan, the one at Mekumi.
A stunning meal!
And the wine tasting, nothing sensational, but also great classics with generous swigs without being overly priced.
Wonderful. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Lido 84 at Lido 84
Lido 84 is surely worth a journey. Riccardo and Giancarlo Camanini, two brothers coming from a family with no roots in the hospitality industry, run this lakeside restaurant with great earnestness and humbleness despite accruing numerous awards from all over the world. One of their dishes, the rigatoni cacio e pepe en vessie, has achieved cult status... More
Lido 84 is surely worth a journey. Riccardo and Giancarlo Camanini, two brothers coming from a family with no roots in the hospitality industry, run this lakeside restaurant with great earnestness and humbleness despite accruing numerous awards from all over the world. One of their dishes, the rigatoni cacio e pepe en vessie, has achieved cult status for its ingeniousness, taste and storyline.
Thanks to the fact that @Alex is a regular there, we were treated to an XXL version of their tasting menu, mixing traditional and new dishes.
I went there in August 2019 and I think in these three years, interrupted by multiple lock downs due to Covid, the food there has tremendously improved. The layering of tastes, the execution and the deliciousness of taste in each dish is astonishing. Some of their dishes is pure genius. They are able to create a deep flavor using only a few ingredients.
One of the early dishes was the Oyster and Bread. A Gillardeau oyster gets smoked a few seconds and served on a bread made with mungo pine and laurel. The ration between the fairly thick piece of bread and the oyster is perfect. The bread adds the needed acidity and texture to the sweetness and softness of the oyster. A classic like the uni truffle bite in Brooklyn Fare or the famous mifeuile of foie, eel and apple of Martin Berasetgui.
The Warm Fusilioni were served in a green sauce made of pistachios, laurel and green tomatoes. No cream or egg at all! The fat contained in the pistachios is enough to create a very creamy texture and the acidity of the green tomatoes added the edge to this great dish.
Another classic, the Spaghettoni with yeast crumble and butter. Smooth, succulent and incredibly satisfying.
When moved on from pasta and rice to meat, a veal sweetbread was served in two versions. One with honey and mustard and the other with an layer of tomatoes on top. The sweetbread was executed perfectly, crispy outside but soft on the inside. For me the one with tomatoes was the better one as I prefer the acidity to the sweetness of the honey.
Another great dish was the 752°F Eggplant alla Pormigiana. A eggplant baked in the oven and then finished table side with the sauce made of Parmesan. It created inside the eggplant a taste like lasagne. Wonderful.
And of course, the cult dish, the Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe en Vessie finished the savory dishes. This dish, inspired by a book of Apicius, cooked inside a femal pigs bladder is unique. All the ingredients are added, the bladder closed and then submerged into boiling water. This steams rather than boils the pasta. The variables of all the ingredients and the fact that one cannot fine tune the mixture anymore leads to a dish which will taste every time slightly differently. The Chef only can check the state of cooking in touching the bladder and feeling the pasta through the skin. It gets cooked on purpose “al chiodo“, which is slightly less then “al dente”, a not to the Roman origin of the dish.
Of course the setting on the shore of Lago di Garda and the great hospitality of the front office lead by Giancarlo Camanini maked this meal one of the great ones, one which you never forget. An experience which one will chase for ever to repeat.
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