Small producers - Big surprises

That is the feeling I have in front of some of the bottles we had in the last few weeks. Really some amazing surprises from tiny producers not easy to find but able to give good emotions:

Vignai da Duline - Chardonnay 2008 - Based close to Udine you find this small producer with only 6 hectares cultivated respecting the terroir and in a very natural way. The owner, Federica and Lorenzo are lovely and this Chardonnay was a fantastic pair with some mozzarella di bufala campana. I have in my cellar also one of their red, Morus Nigra, from the grape Refosco del Peduncolo rosso. Cannot wait to try it as well.

Valter Mattoni - Trebbien 2010 and Arshura 2009 - Found these two wines that I was looking to try for a long time at Osteria IO Personale (see previous post) in Firenze. Two real garage wines coming from this tiny producer in the Marche. The Trebbien (100% trebbiano) is produced in only 1000 bottles went absolutely fantastic together with our antipasto, it was a real surprise. The Arshura (100% Montepulciano) was also a gem. It is really a well made wine at a very decent price. The only problem is to find it considering it is produced in only 3000 bottles. Buonissimo

I Vigneri di Salvo Foti - Vinulidice 2008 - This was really a big surprise. First of all a bit of background on this wine. Coming from a  0,35 ha. vineyard planted at 1300 meters (YES, it is one of the highest in Europe) on the slopes of Etna, the most active italian Volcano. It is produced with local grape varieties (Alicante, Grecanico, Minnella and other smaller varieties).  It is cultivated only by hand and by mule and no refrigeration, yeasts or filtration are used in the wine making process. It is bottled according to the phase of the moon. What to say?? First of all it was really sparkling, who knows if this is the way it is supposed to be or something funny happened in the bottle. But it smell and taste really well. It paired fantastically with a Dos de Cabillaud and everybody around the table loved it.

Cave des Tilleuls Fabienne Cottagnoud - Amigne 2005 - Once again a show on how good could be a swiss wine. This 2005 Amigne from the village of Vetroz situated on the wine paradise that Valais is, was a great example of potential of aging of swiss white wine. It was so good with our little antipasto that I wanted to scream to have more when the bottle was over. Fantastico.

This is all for tonight, I am sure more small producers with big surprises will follow.....stay tuned.

In love with Tuscany

Last post of November dedicated to some other amazing experience we had in this lovely region of Italy.

Being in Chianti last weekend driving through this amazing hills with an enchanting view was just magical, all these colours mixing up like in a beautiful painting...it was just a fantastic experience

Our path leads us to the tiny and very typical village of Panzano in Chianti were we booked for lunch at Dario +.
Dario Cecchini is a butcher in this village that thanks to his smartness and definitely good marketing create a huge business around the famous and typical bistecca alla fiorentina. In the village there is his butcher shop plus three restaurant, Dario + opened only for lunch and where we had our meal, Solociccia opened only for dinner and l'Officina della Bistecca.

Our lunch was lovely not only for the very high quality of the food (for lunch two menus are proposed, one that includes a fantastic hamburger made with this high quality meat, and a second called accoglienza that includes a dish called "sushi del Chianti" and other top local delicacies) but also for the conviviality and the possibility you have to make new friends during the meal. Lunch is in fact served on a big table where everybody can make friendship with their neighbour, so that's what we did! A very nice experience extremely recommended. Also to mention, you can take your own wine and drink it with no additional charge!

Cinta senese

After this lovely lunch we headed to a meat and salumi paradise, Macelleria Falorni in Greve In Chianti. In the beautiful main square of Greve under the arcades you find this place where you can really find all what a meat lover want including an incredible selection of all different and possible kind of salumi. We are looking forward to try some of the Cinta Senese specialities we bought there!!!!

And to close these set of recommendation we cannot avoid to mention a place where you can find some good wines to pair with all these lovely flavours. The place to go when in Firenze is Vinoteca al Chianti. Fantastic selection of sometime very small italian producer but also some fantastic stuff from Burgundy and an amazing selection of Champagne. At the end of my morning of purchase they offer me a little sip from a bottle that they had there open without telling me what it was. As soon as the liquid touch my lips it blows my mind....no wonder, it was an Yquem 1982!!! Only this was worth the trip to this fantastic enoteca. A must go for all wine lovers.

MILANO

Lovely weekend spent in my city that I am starting to love more and more now that I am not living there anymore. No restaurants to talk about considering that both nights we were there we had excellent dinner at friend's places where we shared some great food and a few amazing bottle of wines.
What I want to briefly talk about are a few places in Milano that I absolutely love and one more recent discovery.

First of all my favorite wine shop: Cantine Isola in Via Paolo Sarpi. In the middle of the Chinatown of Milano you can find this amazing little wine shop with one of the best and most interesting wine selection in town. You can feel the passion and the continuos research that the owners put to choose the labels they are presenting. Also, not to forget, this place is a great spot for "aperitivo" considering that they have an incredible number of wines that you can try by the glass together with an interesting selection of different kind of crostini that keep going out of the kitchen during the whole evening. Really a place not to miss in town.

A few steps away from the enoteca you can find another little gem for gourmet fanatics: La Baita del Formaggio. As the name may suggest here the speciality is cheese, an incredible selection, but also their salumi and cotechino are good. If I would be living in this area would be so easy to organize a dinner with such amazing shops nearby!!!

Another "must go" for me when I am in town is Comptoir de France in the area of Porta Romana. First of all is a wine shop, with an amazing selection of wines from all region in France. But the real reason that took me here every time I am in town is to make a supply of terrine. They have a great variety of this amazing pate' coming from different french region. Our favorite is the most classic "Terrine de Campagne". Amazing paired with a glass of simple and easy red wine.

And now the most recent discovery. Downtown Milano in one of the side gallery in Corso Vittorio Emanuele a new super-luxury mall opened:Excelsior Milano. What interests us (especially me!!!) is the heaven you will find on the floors underground. First of all a really interesting cellars with a beautiful wine selection plenty of interesting labels and producers. But then the food section....I can hardly imagine a better selection of delicacies all in one place than here. If you love food I think this place will become one of your hot spot not only in Milano but in the whole Italy. Try and judge it yourself!!

And as I mentioned at the beginning let's talk a bit about the wines we had during the week end as well.
First of all an amazing red coming from the North part of the Rhone Valley. Crozes Hermitage La Rouvre 2007 from Yann Chave. An amazing and complex Syrah and definitely one of the best price-quality value I had recently. Normally wines from this denomination are less considered and easier but this one was really a hit.
Another very different but also quite impressive red was the Grumello 2007 from Mamete Prevostini. I love these Nebbiolos coming from the mountain not only for their elegance and perfumes, but also because I love this area of Italy and I admire all the work that all the winegrowers of this area needs to do in order to produce these fantastic wines. Chapeau to all of them!
Another mountain wine, a very different product. The "Vino da Uva Stramatura - Fletry Au Vent" from Grosjean. A passito (sweet style of wine) with grapes dried by the wind produced in Valle D'Aosta in a very limited number of bottles. Absolutely lovely it paired amazingly with our dessert.
And from Italy to France again for the last wine. Coteaux de Layon Fleurs d'Erables 2010 from Domaine des Sablonnettes. Chenin blanc from the Loire Valley produced by this really small Domaine. Not overly sweet was a fantastic companion for a cheese plate with a selection of Brie de Meaux, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Blue d'Auvergne and Langres. 

Around Europe

I am in the middle of another big period of travels.  Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Rumania, Italy, and not much time to enjoy this autumn at home taking advantage of all the bottles lying in my cellar to drink in front of the roaring fire in one of this humid and chilly November night. But should I really complain? Of course not, I am living so many beautiful experiences, meeting a huge amount of interesting people with so many different cultures and of course, why not, trying and sampling some fantastic and interesting new dishes.

In this moment I am in Firenze, where we are keeping finding unbelievable restaurant and trying the old ones that we already loved. Last night we went again at Osteria Io Personale (see my previous post) and experienced again a fantastic culinary delight. Today for lunch we found another hidden gem, Il Teatro del Sale close to the amazing mercato di Sant'Ambrogio where you can find amazing fruit and vegetables and what your foodie mind always dreamed about. Teatro del Sale is part of a group of restaurant all in this corner of the city and it is connected to the restaurant Cibreo one of the most renowned restaurant in Florence. It's a private circle (but is pretty easy to become a member) and it works as a restaurant but in the night there are all kind of events that you can enjoying while having dinner (music, theatre etc.) and it works as well as a gastronomy shop with some incredible quality products in offer. I found here a wine that I was looking for that I had almost no hope to find especially in Italy. It is produced by a guy from Florence that moved to France in the area of Banyuls, deep south of France, closed to the border with Spain. Check out the website : http://www.vinyerdelaruca.com/
This wine is produced in only 1000 bottles in a complete byodinamic environment with maniacal precision to details. Also the bottle shape is very different and fascinating and apparently all bottles are handmade by a friend of him leaving next to his vineyards. It is not cheap but I am so glad that now one bottle is going to be in the cellar. I can see this wine to be the best companion to an amazing chocolate dessert.
Coming back to our lunch the concept in this restaurant is pretty casual but the quality of food is really top. There are a number of antipasti that you can take from a large buffet, all with seasonal vegetables and freshly made. We had some creamy and lovely polenta, a broccoli pure' , a lentils salad, some beets and potatoes salad and a few others. Also all the bread and focaccia that you can choose are handmade and so flavourful. From the open kitchen the chefs are screaming which plate will come out next and when the plate is out all the people go queue (shortly) for their portion. Today we also had some lovely paccheri with tomato sauce and an incredible grilled chicken with roasted potatoes. Really a simple but amazing lunch.


Our restaurant in Georgia


Just coming back a few days ago, precisely to last Sunday I also want to spend a few words about my Georgian adventure. Considering I was with a colleague in Trabzon for work we decided to head to Georgia, that is only two hours away, precisely to the city of Batumi, a seaside resort on the black sea. Trip was lovely all along the coast and it is incredible to see how simply and poorly some people can leave. Once we pass the border you can still feel that we are in an ex Russian republic and some ruins of ex Russian Army camp can still be seen. The city is weird, mixing new and incredibly modern building to some ex Soviet Union style huge building almost falling apart. Foodwise the experience was interesting. We went to one of the nicer restaurant in town and food was, I would say, pretty good. Some differenf little fish as appetizer and a very nice Batumi Kebab as main dish, consisting in very tasting meat mixed with some beautiful yogurt. The thing I loved more of the whole lunch experience then was the bread. Just ouf from the oven, warm and absolutely delightful. This world is full of surprise and that's why is so exciting (even if a bit tiring) travelling so much.

Lovely Georgian bread

Osteria IO Personale - Firenze

It is with quite high expectations that we went to this lovely little restaurant discovered by V (yes, it is all to her credit this time) on a lovely October night in Firenze. The restaurant is in the area of Borgo San Frediano, in our favourite Oltrarno part of town. Here you are not overwhelmed by the crazy amount of tourists invading the city on the other side of the river and you can really enjoy a true Florentine experience. But don't expect to find traditional Florentine cuisine here...this is something different and we will discover it soon.

The restaurant is quite small, so it is definitely better to book in advance. We will discover during the evening that the chef is a young talented 24 years old "kid" who already has a experience in a very important restaurant in San Sebastian, Martin Berasategui. The atmosphere is quite modern and very elegant, you can have a quick peek on their website here. 

After we were seated we received the menu and a lovely white wine as aperitivo (Bianco di Custoza, I dont remember the details only that was mainly made with Garganega grapes) to accompany a little snack of mini-mini "muffins" with olives. The first big surprise came from the menu. Forget the usual concept of primo, antipasto or secondo, here the menu is divided into "IL PESCE" (the fish), "LA CARNE" (the meat), "LE VERDURE" (the vegetables) with a proposal of cheese and dessert. And another huge surprise, especially for a restaurant in Tuscany: THERE IS NO PASTA!

Ok, now that you have recovered from the shock I can keep going with the rest of the night.

Considering we were very curious about the proposal we decided to go for a tasting menu with 4 different dishes.  We picked two from the meat section and one from the vegetables also to keep a bit of consistency with our wine pairing.  Touching quickly on the wine list, it is small but with some interesting proposals of very small producers. Forget the big names, here there are interesting things to discover. Our pick was a Bolgheri Rosso Poderi Ritorti 2008 from Azienda Agricola I Luoghi, a really nice and smooth wine, not too powerful as some of the wines of this area tend to be, but rather really elegant.

But now let's go to our meal, we had:

• Tartare di Manzo con Gelato di Sedanorapa e Vinaigrette di Alici (beef tartare with kohlrabi ice cream and anchovy vinaigrette). Amazing the quality of the meat, interesting and really well done the combination with the ice cream of kohlrabi. Fantastico! 
• Gnudi di Ricotta e Pecorino con Crema di Melanzana Pomodoro Confit e Pesto (sort of gnocchi made from ricotta and pecorino in an aubergine cream, tomatoes confit and pesto). Very delicate plate, the gnudi are tender and they pair very well with the cream. Really nice but probably the plate that impressed me less. 
• La Cinta Senese. Three little taste of different part of this special black pig that is living only in Tuscany. A zucchini cream with a crumble of salsiccia from cinta senese, a little hamburger with porchetta of cinta senese and to finish the salami of cinta senese. The hamburger and the crumble of salsiccia were to die for, absolutely loved the strong flavours of this dish and it went soooooo well with the wine.....LOVELY!!!
• Dolce: for me Tiramisu' Personale and for V Souffle' al Cioccolato and extra virgin olive oil with a basil gelato and tomato confit. What to say, an amazing end of a really good dinner. Tiramisu' exceptionally light and in a version I had never see before, the souffle' one of the best desserts I have had in a long time. The combination of flavours between chocolate, basil and tomato was stunning.....

So, definitely I suggest this restaurant and considering that the menu changes frequently we are already looking forward to being back and finding other creations of this young chef. Also the service was extremely nice and friendly.  BRAVISSIMI!

A delightful weekend

Finally a weekend in our sweet Lausanne home....it is raining and cold, the perfect weather to find the excuse to stay in and spend the weekend cooking and enjoying the coziness of our apartment. And of course the perfect time to go down to my beloved cellar and pull out some nice bottles to go with what we are cooking.

So starting with Friday....we began with an apero and a lovely prosecco from Casa Coste Piane Colfondo (prosecco with yeast at the bottom of the bottle and not filtered, as it was produced 30 years ago). Very different from normal prosecco and primarily for the lovers of new experiences, but generally everybody loves it.

After that with a lovely risotto with peas and goat cheese we drank a fruity and incredibly easy to drink Pinot Noir from our area of Switzerland. The producer is Domaine Le Satyre from Begnins and the wine was a Pinot Noir Le Satyre 2010. Really lovely wine from this micro-producer and to top it off, a very cool bottle.

To close our meal in style we had a pear tarte tatin with an amazing Moscato d'Asti d'Autunno 2010 from Saracco. It was probably one of the best Moscato I have ever drunk, if not the best.

And now let's pass to Saturday. Here from good that it was on Friday I will pass to amazing as an objective to describe our dinner. Considering we wanted to do something special and we are now in full hunting season we decide to go for some game. I prepared a fantastic stroganoff of venison with wild mushrooms. Quite simple to prepare but what a delight for the palate. To accompany such a treat we drank a Bandol Longue Garde Cuvee' Jeremy 1998 from Domaine Le Galantin. All of this in front of the fireplace....what could you desire more from life. The wine was complex and full of amazing flavours and smell, it paired incredibly well with the venison. I bought this wine this summer in Bandol for a ridiculous price.....such a fantastic find!!!

Can it get better than this???  Probably not but it can get closer.....on Sunday evening we made some lovely fishcakes....we mixed tuna, salmon and cod and we made this kind of fish patty...they were absolutely fantastic. Even better was the wine we open to accompany the fish cakes. A Cinqueterre 2005 from Azienda Agricola Buranco.  This wine is produced in a very limited number of bottles in one of the most stunning areas of Italy: Cinqueterre. Here the viticulture is really heroic, super steep hills falling into the sea and the work of the farmer here is extreme. All is done by hands, no space for any help of mechanic tools. The result is a wine of fantastic pureness, with an incredible golden color that screamed that is coming from the sea. No need to say it was a great pair with our fishcakes.

What a lovely gastro-weekend....and tomorrow heading back to Toscana for more adventures....we'll keep you posted.

Ristoranti nr. 5 - Toscana

And now to probably one of the best dinners with no doubts in the best setting we have been in the last year, if not ever.

So first of all where this took place? In an amazing boutique hotel/country house called "La Petraia" close to the village of Radda in Chianti, but really difficult to reach. The road that arrives here is not paved and is windy and steep, so if you are going with your car be ready for some adventure. But when you arrive paradise is in front of you, pictures are clearly showing which unforgettable spot is this one. The estate is run by a Canadian couple who moved here a few years ago and completely felt in love with this place. Most of the products you can eat are farmed by them and also some of the meat comes from the animals that are grown on the farm (chicken, cinta senese etc.).

The excuse to come here was given by one of the birthday present I made to V last year. The present was two tickets to take part to this event called "Outstanding in the Field" an itinerant gastronomic tour that touches different places in the United States and Canada, and that this year includes some dinners in Europe including this one at La Petraia. You can look at the website for more information. What I can say is that we had really big expectations from this event and these have been surpassed greatly.

The event started at 3 pm and we were greeted by the staff of Outstanding in the Field with a lovely glass of sparkling wine and with some crostini, prosciutto di cinta senese cut on the spot and some other lovely snacks. The apero continued for a couple of hour on which we also had a short tour of the farm before being transferred to the incredible and stunning setting in the middle of the vineyards where the dinner took place. Here are some pictures, I guess no further comments are needed as the beauty speaks for itself.

Here as well you can see the amazing menu we had during the event. A special mention to the meat coming from Dario Cecchini, the famous butcher of Panzano in Chianti and a kind of crazy gastro-star of the area and with foodies. He also served the so-called Sushi del Chianti - it was an absolutely amazing dish and so unexpected.

The greatest thing of the whole event was the pleasure of sharing with lots of people coming from all over the world an amazing dining experience in one of the most incredible spot you can imagine. When the sun start to set the mix of colors that spread on the hills and painted the vineyard with yellow and pink was pure magic.

It was a moment of perfect peace and it was a night of great fun. For sure we want to be back to La Petraia to experience this place in a normal period but as well for sure we want to experience again another event with Outstanding in the Field. If this is their standard of working the word outstanding fits absolutely with what they do and what they are organizing all around the globe....in one word: BRAVISSIMI!

Fiorentina Cooking 

Sunset at La Petraia 

Ristoranti nr. 4 - Langhe

And now let's talk about one of our favorite areas in Italy, the Langhe.

Wine cellar at Villa Tiboldi

This time we spent our weekend at Villa Tiboldi a lovely house immersed in the vineyards above Canale d'Alba. Certainly an amazing place to stay, with one of the best pools and settings we have ever experienced. Great wine selection at very reasonable prices, not only from the producer that is part of Villa Tiboldi (Malvira') but also from other Piedmont producers. One downside was that the food was not exceptional especially compared to the options that you can find in this area. During our two dinners here we had the chance to drink an amazing Barolo Pajana 2000 from Domenico Clerico and two super Nebbiolo: one from the area (Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 2004) and one from a less known region in the north of Piedmont called Gattinara (Gattinara San Francesco 2000 from Antoniolo). Really good and again super QPR.

The two culinary highlights of the weekend were two very different places in style and offers: for Saturday lunch we headed to our all-time favorite agriturismo in Italy: Cascina Abate. We love this place for his simplicity, for the passion that the owner and his family put on what he does and for the amazing and simple food you can have. A number of antipasti (including a Tartare of Fassone Beef and an Insalata Russa to die for), two primi (Tajarin con Ragu' and amazing Ravioli del Plin), a secondo (if you are lucky you can experience a 22 hours slow cooked pork (in a wooden oven) that melts in your mouth) and some desserts. It is just lovely to spend a few hours here and enjoy the food, the talk and the super relaxing atmosphere you can find here.

And on Sunday again one of our preferred restaurant in the heart of Barbaresco just next door to Cantine Gaja one of the most famous and worldwide appreciated Italian wine producer: Antine'. The food here is incredible, well presented and the atmosphere is formal but you can still feel very relaxed. Considering both of us will have a long drive ahead we were not able to indulge as much as we would like, but we were still able to have one antipasto and one primo each.

tartare at Antine' 

For V, Girello di Vitello al Punto Rosa con Salsa Tonnata Tradizionale, a revised and modern version of the vitello tonnato and absolutely amazing; for me, a Battuta di Vitello Piemontese con Uovo di Quaglia Fritto, a tartare of exceptional quality with a fried quail egg on top.

As primo we get for V some maccheroni handmade with a light carbonara sauce (fantastici) and for me agnolotti del plin filled with potato and porcini mushroom with thyme butter.

The wine list in this restaurant is huge and you can choose between an enormous variety of Barolo and Barbaresco. For this time considering the drive ahead we had to go low profile choosing a lovely Barbera d'Alba Superiore Gallina 2006 from Ugo Lequio wine that accompanied greatly our meal.

The quality of this restaurant leaves us always speechless, we would love to come back to Langhe all the time not only for the quality of the food and the wines you can have but also for the peaceful and lovely feeling you can experience when you are for a few days in these hills and vineyards.

Ristoranti nr. 3 - Firenze

And now I want to dedicate this post to the city where we spent most of our time during late summer and early fall and that we learnt to love immensely: Firenze.

The excuse to come here so often is given from my half that she finally decided to learn the language of Leonardo. We arrived here in a deserted city on a suffocating hot August day: 40 degrees and everybody, except the hordes of tourists,  already on the beaches. We will leave close to the end of September a much more alive city but still invaded by tourists. Still you do not miss the magic and the atmosphere that this city is able to give you despite the crowd.

And now let's talk a bit about our eating experience:
First of all a real jewel, a great and simple spot we found in the area of San Niccolo', just two steps from Ponte Vecchio: Zeb Gastronomia. It's an old gastronomia (deli shop) that still works like this but in which has been created a small restaurant. Few seats available and all on stools facing the big "bancone" (island) where some of the creation of the kitchen are ready to be taken. We ate here several times and every time was better than the last. Everything is "fatto in casa" by Alberto (the son) and Giuseppina (the mom) the two person that runs this place. Just to name a few plates we tried: amazing antipasto of mixed salumi and figs, mozzarella di bufala con tartufo, amazing handmade pasta (pici with pesto sauce ricotta and dried tomato, tagliolini al tartufo nero, ravioli filled with fiori di zucca in a burrata sauce, pici with thyme pesto) and then some incredible polpette (meatballs), melanzane alla parmigiana and of course desserts like homemade cheesecake .... and I could continue for a while but I dont want to spoil the surprise of those who want to go here.  Not to forget a great selection of wines, lots of small production and biological wines from all over Italy. We had one night a lovely Fumin 2008 from Grosjean a tiny producer from tiny Valle d'Aosta that was absolutely lovely even if my half considered it a bit too "wild".

Another spot we loved was a little restaurant close to our apartment: "Il Santo Bevitore".

Very nice atmosphere with some great dishes. The night we ate there I had a fantastic tartare di chianina that married really well with the excellent Chianti Classico Riserva Borro del Diavolo from Ormanni. The wine list is not huge but it has some good choices as the wine I just mentioned. Close by the restaurant you can find "Il Santino" a bar ideal for apero with great selections of salumi and cheese and again some lovely wine by the glass.

Other two places that are worth to mention are the restaurant "Il Latini" and the pizzeria "Il Borgo Antico". The first one for a genuine and lovely real Tuscan atmosphere with a very solid Tuscan food selection going from Ribollita to Pappa al Pomodoro and I have been told with one of the best fiorentina you can find in the city (I did not have one the night I was there because nobody wanted to share with me....). The second for the setting in the beautiful Santo Spirito square and especially for one of the best pizza I had in a long time. If you go there try the Pizza Borgo Antico, I am sure you will not regret it.

Our intention is to be back soon and continue our Firenze culinary adventures.

Ristoranti nr. 2

IL GATTO NERO CERNOBBIO

We have been here already a few times and despite the fact that the food is not the most memorable (good...but again not the reason for the trip), the wine list is pretty limited and not with special choices and that the restaurant is famous to be a hot spot for football player and accompanying "veline"we absolutely love this place.
The view from this little corner of paradise a few kilometers from Milano and above Cernobbio is stunning.  Eating here in a warm summer night enjoying the breeze and what your eyes have in front of you is an unforgettable experience. The service as well is ver intriguing, go here and you will see why. A few pictures will help you understand why we love so much this ristorante.
Last suggestion: when you call to book ask for the table with the best view and try to pretend is a special occasion....maybe, but just maybe you will have some chances to get the table you can see in this picture.

Ristoranti nr. 1

As promised in the coming days I will list some of the amazing restaurant we visited during these last couple of months. Tonight I will start with:

Osteria Le Panzanelle-Lucarelli : fantastic osteria in the middle of the countryside close to Radda in Chianti. A small but super-nice wine list and food simple but amazing and reflecting the real soul of Tuscany.We had two primi to remember: some amazing Pici all'aglione and a plate of Gnudi, a kind of gnocchi that were absolutely unforgettable. Pasta are all "fatte in casa" (handmade) and you can clearly taste it! To accompany this robust food a great Chianti Classico Riserva from a very small producer called Porta di Vertine, everything was absolutely amazing including the relaxing setting. A place worth the trip on the windy roads of Chianti.

Pici all'aglione

Gnudi

I AM BACK....I AM ALIVE!!!

Cannot believe that the last time I wrote here was more than a month ago. Time flies and especially during this last period. We spent our time traveling like crazy; in these last 50 days I have spent many days in Florence and a host of other locations: Alba, Udine, twice in Athens, twice in Trabzon and Bucharest....way too many planes, airports and kilometers by car.

Panino Con Lampredotto

But the reality is that I also had the occasion for some fantastic dinners and eating some amazing meals. So, where to start? From the panino with Lampredotto I had in Florence or from the amazing fiorentina we had in Chianti? From the curious brain meatballs I just tried in Bucharest or from the Kofte, this lovely meat dish from Trabzon? Let's say that definitely the culinary highlight of this last period was Italy, the bella Italia. We discovered some amazing new restaurants in Firenze and the weekend we spent in Chianti was simply incredible....we love this area and it is amazing how peaceful and remote could be a spot that it is only a few kilometers away from Firenze. For tonight just a few pictures of this amazing time, more restaurant and wine suggestions to follow.

Ferragosto

And already Ferragosto has arrived. The so-called "Ferragosto", the 15th of August, is one of the most sacred days of holiday in Italy, and the day when 99,99% of the population is on holiday, enjoying barbecues at the beach and throwing "gavettoni" (big container full of water) at one another. When growing up I did not even consider the possibility that somebody in the world would have to work on this day, and here I am in Switzerland where in some cantons today is a holiday and in others not .....strange country! But you may ask, why are some Swiss on holiday while others are in the office? That is because Ferragosto is a Catholic holiday and as Vaud (the canton in which Lausanne is situated) is Protestant, the Vaudois are working, while in Lucerne (the canton where Lucerne is located) is Catholic and so we are enjoying the day in the sun and free of work. 

But I digress, let's go back to the main theme of this blog...food and wine. I would say it was quite an exciting week gastronomically speaking. A few dinners out at some nice restaurants on Lake Leman and some good stuff at home as well. My highlight, foodwise, was on Thursday night at Restaurant du Port in Pully : a great Perch Filets Belle Meuniere. I love this fish coming from Lake Leman and in all the years I am living here it is only the second time I am ordering it. I love the texture, the taste and the way it is presented. Beautiful and super yummy, I could have eaten another full portion. This restaurant is a really good option in the area, lake-side table with amazing mountain views, a peaceful setting under the trees and prices that are reasonable (always considering that we are in Switzerland, so my reasonable is relative). Only downside was that the wine was a bit of a disappointment, a Calamin Grand Cru 2009 from Pierre Fonjallaz from the Lavaux area. A bit too simple and flat; I was expecting more.

Great things happened at home as well when on a Wednesday night my lovely half prepared for me a great Chicken Jalfrezi. Jalfrezi is a ‘hot’ dish given additional heat by being cooked with fresh green chillis. It usually also contains visible onion, tomato and capsicum. It is the addition of the green chillis and probably the addition of extra chilli powder that sets this dish apart from other typical curries. And it was really really hot. I enjoyed it even if I suffered a bit. To wash down all this chilli we opened a bottle of one of our favourite whites, that would pair perfectly with this spicy Indian food. Gewurztraminer Vignoble d'E from Domaine Ostertag in Alsace. This Domaine is run in byodinamic style since 1998 and their wines are pure, simple and brilliant. The sweetness present in this wine, and typical in Gewurztraminer from Alsace, pairs incredibly well with the spices and the heat of this dish. The only pity was that the bottle finished too quickly.

The other highlight of the night was the luxurious Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Icing that my lovely wife  prepared ....I will let the picture speak for it!

After all this food we needed to be a bit active as well and so we went for the weekend to one of our favourite hiking destinations in the French mountains. It is a tiny refuge in a remote valley above Saint Gervais Les Bains called Refuge de Miage. We arrived there late Friday evening, but the magic of this place consists also on the fact that 10 minutes after arrival all your troubles and working related stress are gone and will not return during your stay. The place is run by a lovely French family and all the food is all homemade. Their omelette with potato and lardon is fantastic and on the Saturday night we decided to indulge over a Fondue Savoyarde with Cepes. Eating at the table outside watching the sun go down on the Dome the Miage is amazing; eating a fondue at the same time is even better. The wine was also lovely, a Chignin Bergeron from Domaine Jean Vullien. Wine produced from this Savoie domaine is made of 100% Roussanne. Really drinkable and went so well with the fondue. But the real treat comes with dessert. A luxurious "Tarte aux Myrtilles" with a fair amount of cream is the best end of a fantastic meal in the mountains.

And what about the day of Ferragosto??? Well, we decided to celebrate it in style going back to our beloved neighbour, France! V (my lovely half) decided to swim a non competitive 2,5 km race in Lac d'Annecy and it was up to me to arrange the eno-gastronomical side apres the race. The weather was awful on our way to Annecy but as soon as we parked the car all the clouds open up and a warm sun started to shine. It was the best start of a gorgeous day. The swim was great and after that we drove to a restaurant in Duingt (20 minutes from Annecy), Clos Marcel. This restaurant is part of a beautifully renovated hotel on the shore of the lake at an amazing spot at the end of the Lac d'Annecy. The design is very modern, but still very cozy and welcoming. We sat down at a table close to the lake and we made our order. For me  

Le Bœuf en Carpaccio, Mariné au Soja, Gingembre et Citron Vert Copeaux de Légumes et Petites Pousses as starter followed by a beautiful lapin with girolle and polenta fritters. V ordered tuna in two different versions as starter and daurade royale as a main course.  I have to say that the rabbit was one of the most amazing dishes I have in a long time in the restaurant. The meat was super tender and the combination with the chanterelles and the polenta fritters worked together in an amazing way. We paired this great meal with a very interesting wine from a micro winery from the often underestimated area of Jura. An Arbois Pupillin Ploussard 2009 from Domaine Hughes Beguet. This wine is produced in only 2400 bottles and is very different than most of the wines you probably tried. It is quite light and it has a very funky nose with lots of pepper and a bit of smoke. It went fantastically with the food. It will be nice to find more of this wine even if it is not probably an easy task. It was a great way to celebrate the FERRAGOSTO!!!

A lovely surprise from Santorini

When I think about Santorini my first thoughts goes to the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in my life, it is such an amazing island. The white of the house mix magically with the deep blue of the sea and the dark colour of the volcano soil. It is one of the most incredible place I have ever been.

And now another thought will come to my mind when thinking about Santorini......WINE!

We had last night an amazing bottle of white wine coming from this island: Assyrtiko Thalassatis 2009 from Gaia Estate Wines . The wine has a fantastic smell of grapefruit, orange but you can also feel his minerality. In the mouth is full with a great long finish. Another confirmation of how wide is the world of wine and how many great surprises it can reserve. Next time I am in Athens I will look for more!

Fete de Suisse and a busy week

Monday 1st August, La Fete de Suisse. Everybody is wearing clothes with the national colours, everybody is out partying, the shores of the lake are busy like they rarely are, everybody is out enjoying a barbecue and waiting for the big fireworks on the lake in the evening. Of course we need also to celebrate and we decide to do it in pure Swiss Style: with a great fondue and some lovely Swiss white wine. We decide to go to a small, typical cafe - Cafe' de Paudex. For the occasion they have a piano player accompanying our perfectly Swiss dinner under vine trellises. The weather, during this weird summer, is for at least one night on our side, nice and warm enough to be able to dine outside with just a polo shirt. The fondue is deliciously cheesy and the best meal to celebrate this special day. We enjoy our fondue with a nice Savagnin Blanc from Domaine Gallard from Lavaux. Savagnin Blanc is a grape mostly known in France for the incredible Vin Jaune from the area of Jura, here in Switzerland, we have a dry version that accompanys perfectly the pot of melted cheese.  We finished our evening enjoying the beautiful fireworks on the lake - spectacular and not to be missed!

The rest of the week was a lot of work but some interesting new wines have been drunk on the last couple of days. On Friday night with friends we opened an interesting Bandol Rose from Domaine J.P. Gaussen for apero. We bought this bottle at the Domaine, definitely a place that if you are in the area is worth to see. It is a very small familiar Domaine and Mr. Gaussen is a typical old style French Vigneron that immediately struck us with his eccentric personality. His Bandol Reds are quite well know and can age forever. His Rose has everything a rose needs and is a nice accompaniment with our little apero.  After that we opened a bottle of Ilatraia 2005 from La Brancaia. This estate, owned by a Swiss couple who moved to Tuscany long ago,  has property in the Chianti area but as well in Maremma and the latter is where the Ilatraia is made. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot with a very international style. I bought this bottle a few years ago when I was making my first steps in the wine world. We really enjoyed it with our chargrilled steaks. However, I am not sure if I would buy it again, as I said the style is really international, and while the wine was really good I think it lacked a distinct character. And on top of this it is not that cheap!

And then, last night I had a first in my life. I am a bit ashamed to say this, especially because I am such a food lover, but last nigth was the first time in my life I prepared my own pesto. Pesto is normally something I buy at the supermarket and simply throw on my pasta on nights that I am in a hurry and have no time to cook. Of course I try to buy the smaller artisinal products as opposed to the cheap supermarket brands but nevertheless ..... But last night I have to say it was another story. I decide to do the pasta al pesto on the way that is done in Liguria and that I ate when I was last there. With the fresh basil we picked up at the market in the morning, I prepared this fantastic little pesto sauce and together with the pasta I cooked some diced potatoes and french beans. The result was stunning, the perfect plate for a summer night. BUONISSSSSIMO! Of course, we needed a bit of wine to go with our homemade pesto and so we opened a bottle of white from a very small producer from Liguria in the Colli di Luni area, GIUNCARO 2009 from Santa Caterina di Andrea Kihlgren. The wine is a blend of Tocai and Sauvignon Blanc and only 4600 bottles are produced. It was the perfect regional pairing with the pasta.

A lovely mix of flavours

Being a good Italian, I am not a big fan of mixing too many flavours especially when the combination seems odd to a traditionalist like me. But when my lovely wife proposed that we barbecue rib-eye steaks rubbed with coffee and cocoa I thought.....risky, but why not, let's give it a chance.

And oh my gosh, the result was amazing! The flavour was intense but the rub did not kill the flavour of the meat and the combination of flavours was an absolute winner. Smoky, crunchy, juicy and with this subtle flavour of cocoa and coffee on the back of your palate, is an absolute success.

It was difficult to find a wine able to keep up with these lovely and very strong flavours. From the cellar I decided to pick up something from the South of France, a Cotes du Luberon 2004 from Chateau La Verrerie . A 50% Syrah and 50% Grenache, we bought the bottle directly at the estate, a beautiful property that is absolutely worth a visit if you are in the area. The wine is quite strong and very rich with a powerful palate and it will do his honest job paired with these beautiful steaks. Yummy!!!!

Zucchini night

Finally after the worst July weather we remember during our six summers in Switzerland, the good weather seems to have finally returned. Strolling in town through our beloved Saturday market in Lausanne we decide, taken by the beautiful colour that they are showing on the market stands, to dedicate our night to The Zucchini. Antipasto will be Zucchini Flowers filled with Ricotta, Mint and Chilli and then we will have a Penne alla Carbonara with Zucchini. It takes some patience to prepare the flowers, you really need to be careful not to break them while filling them otherwise all your lovely filling will be dispersed in the oil. Also, frying is not something we are used to and there is a bit of tension on the preparation, but everything will go well. The flower will be perfectly crunchy and, even if a bit of the filling will run out into the boiling oil, they will keep a good shape - veramente buonissimi! The carbonara also will not disappoint, probably it would have need to be creamier but the combination of all the mixed flavours was lovely. Finally a lovely night on the terrasse overlooking the lake, enjoying perfect weather and an amazing meal.

You may be asking which wine we paired with this lovely treat? Once down in the cellar, I decided to pick a Spanish white wine, Verdejo El Transistor from the Compania del Vino Telmo Rodriguez http://www.telmorodriguez.com/index.php/en/brands/cebreros/27 from the area of Rueda. It was the perfect wine to pair with our menu of zucchini; it was drinkable but complex at the same time, absolutely lovely to enjoy with these dishes and on a summer night. I bought it from a Spanish supplier http://www.decantalo.com/es/ as I dont think it is available in Switzerland. It was a real pleasure.

Chateau Prieure' Lichine - Margaux 1982

My first post will be about a bottle I drank a few days ago, on a Friday night with friends to celebrate something special that has happened in our lives. So I decided to open a bottle I bought recently of one of the best vintages in Bordeaux - 1982. I bought this bottle from a trusted retailer in Zurich, but of course there is always a bit of tension when opening a bottle that is 30 years old. What to expect? A dead wine or something spectacular?  In 1982 I was 7 years old and Italy won the football world cup in Spain, what a year! Will the wine keep up with my expectations? Let's see.....

We opened the bottle half an hour before drinking, then we poured it in the glasses and here we are...already the colour is beautiful, deep red without a sign of his 29 years. On the nose is fantastic, complex with loads of smells making it hard to believe that this liquid spent so much time in this bottle. On the palate it confirms all the good feeling he already promised from the nose, it is smooth, silky, in a few words beautiful!!!!

I have one more bottle and will keep it for another special occasion, this wine is FANTASTICO!