Category: RESTAURANT FILE

New York: Fine dining at Daniel

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The reason for our NYC trip in the first place is that both Emma and I turn 30 this year (exactly a month apart) and we wanted to celebrate it properly! Properly probably means over the top for anyone else but bare with me. We got each others gifts in Tiffany’s and then went for dinner at Daniel – this lovely gourmet restaurant.

We had a wondeful evening and I would recommend everyone to visit Daniel. The food was superb, the staff friendly and professional and we just had such a fantastic time.

The meal started with an amuse bouche with aubergine. Smoked salmon with aubergine confit (left), aubergine soup (middle) and octupus with aubergine (right). It was very tasty, but nowhere near as good as the food yet to come.

Emma and I chose the same amazing starter; slow baked jade tiger abalone with cinco jotas, zucchini marmalade and avocado, wood sorrel, oregano gremolata. Absolutely gorgeous! I haven’t had abalone before and Google tells me it was sea snails we had. They were served warm in its shell with a lovely avocado purée underneath. The starter was rather large but felt very light and it was nice with the contrasting textures of silky, smooth, crispy etc.

Linus chose the tasting of rabbit with terrine with curly mustard and young vegetables, en gelée with tarragon, baby leeks and carrots. It was also rather large and looked amazing. Claes chose a silky melon velouté with tiger prawns that also looked incredibly good.

Out of the many maincourses I was torn between two meat dishes. In the end I settled for the same as Claes; roasted veal tenderloin with artichoke barigoule, braisked cheeks with tomato-jalapeño chutney, crispy sweetbreads, glazed parrty pan squash, French beans. The tenderloin was perfectly cooked and was melt-in-the-mouth delicious, but what really impressed was the lovely cheeks and the amazing sweetbread.

Linus chose the other maincourse I was thinking of and the one our strong minded waiter suggested; duo of beef, braised Black Angus short ribs with romanesco purée, seared Wagyu tenderloin, tomato stuffed russet potato, glazed chanterelles. It looked incredible and Linus was very please with his choice. No surprise there!

Emma chose a Daniel signature dish of slow baked black seabadd with syrah sauce, lettuce stuffed potato, shallot chutnet cromesquis (like an unbreaded croquetas). She was very please and it looked delicious, jus like everything else.

Both Emma and I felt too full after the mains, and we noticed that even in French gourmet restaurants in the States the portions are bigger. But after a short break we still managed to eat dessert. Thank God for that, since they gave us even more desserts because of our birthday celebration – so very sweet of them. They certainly know how to make you feel special!

Emma and I chose the sama delicious chocolate pudding; warm guanaja chocolate coulant, liquid caramel, Fleur de Sel, milk sorbet a bit like a fondant but with a les cake-y texture. It was a perfect way to end a meal, and yet we had more.

The boys chose a fruity passion fruit-vanilla vacherin, mango chutney, mascarpone chantilly, meringue. Fresh and delicious!

One of the extra puddings I think was the milk chocolate dacquoise, jivara parfait, toffee tuile and salted caramel-glass. Wonderful but almost too rich.

The other surprise dish was a lot lighter and went down quickly. Strawberry granité, crème dAnjou, sacristain, szechuan eepper sorbet. Wonderful!

We also got petit fours and a bowl with mini Madeleines fresh from the oven. We felt like Marie Antoinette with all the goodies! The post-dinner slow walk was mush needed, I assure you!

I can’t find the words to describe this meal proplerly, it was just fabulous and I think you should all go! It was also not very expensive considering we had a set menu (they only do set menus and tasting menus). The food was incredible and the service outstanding. We also got to see Daniel himself as he spoke to the table next to us because they ordered the tasting menu. Star struck!

Daniel
60 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10065

New York: Lunch at Oficiana Latina

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Another must on the to-eat-list for New York seems to be Café Gitane in Nolita, but when we were in the mood for lunch so did everyone else. Instead of queueing for ages we walked around the corner and chose another cosy place to eat. That’s a great thing with New York; if an area has one nice resurant that you know of there are without a doubt more good ones in the same area.

We ended up in Oficina Latina and is a pan-Latino restaurant with a nice lunch menu. Also our friend Linus had joined the gang at this point, so I can show you even more from the menu.

Claes chose a monster of a sandwich with steak, bacon, fried egg and pickles and it seem to never end. He just ate and ate and still had the whole thing left on it plate. It seemed.

Emma chose a more normal sized chicken salad that looked really nice and fresh.

Linus portion of tuna scewers with veg and rice also looked more regular in size.

I wanted a burger and I guess you just have to take my word for it that it is what is hidden underneath all that cheese. Cheese and pickled peppers were actually really nice on a burger, just fyi.

We liked this place, and it is perfect for a laid-back lunch. That burger and steak sandwich would also cure any hangover. Promise!

24 Prince Street
New York
NY 1001
(646) 381-2555

New York: Dinner at ‘Inoteca

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A restaurant almost everyone recommended in New York was Freeman’s, a cosy restaurant on the Lower East Side and I soo wanted to go. But unfortunately I didn’t get to reserve a table online so we chanced it on Thursday night, but without luck. It was a 45 minute wait and at that point, with low blood sugar it was (unfortunately not an option). Instead we chose another of the cute and cosy restaurants on the same street.

The place we ended up in is called ‘Inoteca and is a cosy Italian restaurant where you can sit either out on the sidewalk or inside. We chose the former since it was a warm evening and it was good fun sitting there people-watching, sipping wine and eating our supper.

We started with three bruschette that were all delicious. Ricotta and honey (left), pesto (right) and tapenade (at the back). They were really fresh and yummy and the bread was gorgeous. Perfect way to start a casual meal.

Emma chose chicken piccante and received this huge chicken breast. It was served with a salad with corn and croûtons and was nice and spicy.

Claes  chose the lasagnette, and as the name suggest it was a small portion of lasagne, but it was very nice and very filling, Claes said.

I chose the lamm ragu. It was really nice and full of umami flavours. Served with toasted bread and a fried egg it felt like quite a light dinner. Yum!

 

For once we were in the mood for pudding and we all chose the same; chocolate pudding. It was nice and had a velvety texture, but it was oh so filling. It was really sweet and tasted almost like chocolate fudge, so the whipped cream was a fresh contrast.

98 Rivington Street at Ludlow
New York, NY 10002
212 614 0473

 

New York: Cocktails at the rooftop of The Peninsula Hotel

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Only a few blocks away from our hotel you find the five star Peninsula Hotel. It lokks very old and grand with a marble foajé but if you take the lift up to the rooftop bar the ambiance is more casual. It is a fabulous bar with views over the rooftops of New York, nice cocktails and a cosy setting.

The cocktails aren’t cheap but still worth it for the view and ambiance. We only had one before heading out for dinner.

Emma and I had a refreshing and not very sweet cocktail that consisted of raspberry vodka, Chamboard raspberry liqeur and Prosecco. Perfect after a hot day out and about in the city.

 Claes followed the theme and had a bright red raspberry margherita.

Happy girls on holiday

The view

Wedding dinner at Ängavallen, Sweden

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My best friend’s wedding (not the film),took place my last weekend in Sweden, and we had a fabulous day with blue skies, sunshine and plenty to keep us busy and prepare for the wedding ceremony and the dinner party afterwards at Ängavallen.

As I always focus on food, I was in charge of the lunch for the bride and us bridesmaids during the day, and made sure I took some pictures of the food during the evening meal as well, as everyone was busy taking pictures of the bride and groom.

As this was a wedding and not a restaurant visit, I will not analyse the dishes, just show them to you. But I can assure you it tasted as nice as it looks and both bride and groom and all the guests were very happy. Enjoy!

Vichysoisse with panfried scallops, caviar and pork belly crumbs.

Lamb from the farm, homemade lamb sausage, roasted new potatoes with rosemary and jus.

Rhubard, salted caramel icecream with crumble and rhubarb crème.

Denmark: Gisselfeld, Zealand, Denmark

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My parents are good at coming up with nice places to visit, both at home in Skåne and across the waters in Denmark. As we were driving down towards the islands Lolland and Falster we stopped at Gisselfeld Abbey; a castle with a lovely orangery, park, shop and restaurant.

The orangery is really big and contains lots of different plants, and although I find it beautiful I definitely have a shorter attention span to such things than my gardening mother.

Isn’t it beautiful?!

Outside of the orangery there was a nice display of pots and plants and inside it was full to the brim with geranium and little orange trees.

I really appreciated the beauty of this place but when the blod sugar levels drop I was really pleased to find the restaurant on the grounds.

The restaurant and cafée was just as nice as the gardens. The tables were wooden and painted in a dark green and there was a box filled with cushions by the counter to put on your chair and sit comfortably.  Even the table decorations were thought through and consisted of edible pea shoots. How clever!

Both mum and dad went for the Paris patty; a beef patty served on bread with a poached egg on top and served with three different sauces. Simple but well cooked.

I was super hungry and went for the homemade burger served with quickly pickled cucumber and homemade dressing. Very nice!

Gisselfeld Klostercafé
Gisselfeldvej 12  
4690 Haslev
Denmark

Hix, Soho

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My friend Kristin, who I know from Uni back in Sweden, lives in London too, and we try to meet up once a month to catch up, enjoy good food and speak Swedish. The first time we met up we had oysters and pig’s trotters at Terroirs, so it is safe to say we’re both foodies.

My last week in London before going on holiday we had dinner at Hix, where we both enjoyed baked bone marrow.

We met straight after work and had time for a glass at Mark’s Bar in the basement at Hix before dining on the ground floor. The food is prepared in simple ways to enhance the fantastic produce. Seasonal food and local produce are definitely key words here.

I started off with a plate of girolles, just lightly fried in herb butter. The mushrooms were beautiful (and I should now, us Swedes take girolles seriously) and very enjoyable.

Kirstin chose sand eels with caper mayonnaise and received a huge plateful. I got to try them too, and they were definitely the best sand eels I’ve had.

Both Kristin and I chose hanger steak with baked bone marrow for mains. The meat was perfectly cooked (mine rare and Kristin’s medium-rare) and again the portions were huge. The bone marrow was mixed with a mustardy stuffing and baked in the bone and was absolutely wonderful. And a fun way to serve it too.

Although the portions were big we still ordered sides, which was totally unnecessary. I hardly touched my chips or Kristin her salad. We also got three sauces with the steak; a mint sauce, a hot mustardy sauce and both our favourites, the bearnaise sauce.

The food at Hix was delicious, but rather expensive. Absolutely worth it once in a while but when spending money in this price range I usually choose more complicated gourmet restaurants. This was my first time at Hix and although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I prefer St John in this restaurqnt category, but it is definitely a good thing that such a restaurant exists in Soho,

Bonus: Mark Hix’s recipe of the main course we had; hanger steak with baked bone marrow.

Amazing pizza at Santa Maria Pizzeria, Ealing

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I don’t remember exactly how I heard about these fab pizzas to begin with, but I think it was through Twitter. Then later I saw this article in the FT about the five best pizzerias in London. Since my friend Jenny lives in Ealing I made sure to tell her about this place before visiting her last weekend. But when we were strolling along looking for a lunch place it had slipped my mind, but suddenly we saw this cute little pizza place and I realised that is the one, and our lunch plans were sorted.

The pizzas looked amazing and we were starving, but it was hard to decide which pizza to go for; they all sounded lovely. In the end I chose one with buffalo mozzarella, mushrooms and truffle oil and it was amazing. Best pizza ever – hand on heart!

Jenny’s pizza was just as delicious (I know because I tried it), topped with prosciutto, parmesan, tomatoes and rocket. I struggle for words to describe it, that’s how good it is.

Once we had finished our meal and could lift our gaze from the plates we realised that the pizzeria looked really nice and cosy on the inside too. And everything they served was Italian. The wine, the sparkling water, the soft drinks and the icecream.

I have one last thing to say: GO!

The Botanist

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I met Jess and Laura for a spur of the moment drink on Friday that actually turned into a proper meal. We had some errands to do and then met up at The Botanist in Sloane Square after.

This busy bar and restaurant is always popular, but it was quite quiet in the dining room when we arrived, but it soon picked up.

We were pretty slow at ordering, too busy drinking Chapel Down sparkling wine and gossiping. But eventually we managed to decide on the starters.

Jess and Laura shared this smoked salmon with horseradish cream, Irish soda bread and lemon. Good produce and the girls were happy!

I chose half a dozen escargots served in plenty of bubbling butter with garlic and parsley and bread to dip of course. Although they were served off the shell, the snails were big and juicy.

After another while we also managed to decide on the maincourses, after asking our lovely waitress a number of questions.

Laura chose a lovely fresh salad with the most amazing lemon dressing. The salad consisted of purple broccoli, peas, broadbeans, radishes, goat’s cheese curd and candied walnuts.

Jess and I chose half a grilled lobster each, with tarragon butter and chips. It was Friday after all. It was beautifully plated on a round wooden board and the tarragon butter came in a mini copper pot. The lobster was perfectly cooked and melted in your mouth, and worked pretty well with the Burgundy Chablis we had to drink.

Apart from the nice food, I really liked the ambiance and the professional staff. We were probably a bit annoying, asking lots of questions, but our waitress was friendly and professional and offered her personal opinion which we really appreciated.

The Botanist does classic uncomplicated dishes and swim somewhere in the waters between a gastro pub and restaurant, but they do it well. It is focus on good procude and good cooking as well as good front of house. I find it perfect for some wine and a bite to eat after a busy day at work which was just what we were there for.

Taste of London part II

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There were 40 restaurants represented at Taste of London, offering 3-4 dishes each, and I did my best to try as many dishes as possible.

The first dish was from Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social; avocado purée with crab and sweet corn mousse. Very nice, but the texture made it feel very heavy, so the small taster size portion was the perfect amount. I like that the dish seems simple, but still different. I mean, I would never dream of inventing sweet corn mousse.

Next up was La Gavroche‘s smoked salmon stuffed with ricotta and chives and served with a truffle sauce. Great produce, an easy dish to make but that truffle sauce just made it delicious.

The man behind La Gavroche; Michel Roux Jr, posed happily for photos. Here with a random girl.

One restaurant I was curious to try was Bar Boulud, from the team behind Daniel in NYC.

Their ‘hotdog’ with brioche bun, lamb merguez, sour cream, harissa and coriander was amazing and I can’t wait to sample more from their menu. This hotdog was also one of the most popular dishes at the festival.

Above is the spread that was available from Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill.

I couldn’t resist the sirloin with mashed potatoes and café de Paris sauce. Pretty old school but delicious of course, although the steak was not the best I’ve ever had…

At Gordon Ramsay’s Maze I couldn’t resist this fun looking pudding;
pineapple and black pepper Bacardi slushy with raspberry jelly and vanilla yogurt. It was very refreshing and nice, although it didn’t seem that popular among others.

This pudding from Corner Room is amazing, and I have had it in the restaurant before. It is not supersweet and consists of many interesting elements; goat’s caramel, goat’s curd, crunchy biscuit, blueberries and shiso granita.

The last pudding was from Cinnamon Soho, Cinnamon Club’s newest edition. This mango and cardamom crème brulée was delicious with the little fruit salad on top although I did miss the caramelised sugar on top.

The festival offered lots of slowcooked meat and although I love it, I cook it al lot myself but it also feels more autumnal than summery, and I think that impacted the way I chose my sample dishes.