Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Food Culture Club Turku JUL 2011

As part of Turku being the European Capital of Culture 2011, Chez Dominique had opened a pop-up restaurant in town during the entire month of July. They had also invited 3 guest chef´s to serve their own menu during 3 special nights. Rene Redzepi(NOMA), Sven Elverfeld(Aqua) and Christian Bau(Victor´s Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Berg) were invited. My first choice would have been to book for the Rene Redzepi dinner but it was sold out in a couple of minutes. It was just as difficult as getting a reservation to NOMA so I had to "settle for" Christian Bau´s dinner instead. That wasn´t too bad as Christian Bau´s restaurant has 3 Michelin stars since 2006. So I can now almost say that this was my first time eating food made by a 3 star chef apart from Sushi Mizutani in Tokyo but that was Sushi so it doesn´t count.


What I found good with this dinner was that the entire menu was not only by Christian Bau but every second dish was a Chez Dominique creation.


CD -Chez Dominique

VG -Victor´s Gourmet Restaurant




















Rye cracker, fresh Herbs & creme Cheese -CD




Crab, Watermelon & Dashi -VG




"Nigiri" -CD




Foie Gras, raw Langoustine, Almonds & Apple -VG







Al Dente vegetables -CD

One of the simplest dishes of the evening but my favourite one









Red Gamberoni, Peas, Rice & Wasabi -VG









Egg & Truffle before



Egg & Truffle after...




Turbot, sweet, salty, sour & spicy -VG




Fennel & Black Lime -CD




The kitchen preparing for the dessert




Pigeon -VG



Dill & Buttermilk -CD





Blueberries, Meringue and Liquorice -CD




Schwarzwald memories -VG

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Steirereck** Vienna JUN 2011 Lunch

Before a recent Vienna trip i checked some interesting restaurants in the city and stumbled on Steirereck which is located in the City Park. Steirereck is rated with 2 Michelin stars and on the 22nd place on the 2011 worlds 50 best restaurants list. I was lucky to get a reservation for lunch with a couple of days notice.
This was my first time that I had a meal in a fine dining restaurant by myself and even though it was a nice experience I´m not sure if I´ll do it again in the future. It´s just so much better to share a nice meal with someone else.



On a sunny day they will serve Lunch and Dinner on the terrace




For Lunch you can choose 4 or 5 courses from the Lunch menu or have the 7 course Menu Steirereck


Amuse bouche #1 Watermelon


Amuse bouche #2 Mini Zucchini filled with cheese


Amuse bouche #3 Fennel granita


The bread selection of the day


Herb butter


Cured Pig´s head with Octopus, garlic créme, smoked Almonds and Potatoes


Crayfish with Parsnip, custard strudel & limes





Wienerschnitzel


An impressive cheese trolley



A selection of cheese and Asparagus bread


Warm Trinitario(from Trinidad/West Indies) chocolate with pineapple-pericon sorbet and coconut macaroons






As petit fours they served a selection of chocolate and dried fruits


The worse part of any restaurant meal would be the bill


A herb table in the dining room


I´m guessing that the one without a chef´s hat is the Executive chef HR











Toilet art

Monday, June 6, 2011

Olo* Helsinki Revisited May 2011

You could almost say that Olo is the Finnish answer to Noma in Copenhagen (even though I´ve never eaten at Noma yet). According to The Observer magazine in 2009 Olo is the best place in the world to eat Nordic food. That´s something to be really proud of. They serve high quality, tasty and (almost) most importantly good looking Nordic food. The nordic cuisine is definitely my favourite cuisine these days.
Olo was awarded it´s first star in the Michelin guide 2011 and I´m probably not the only one wondering why it took "Guide Rouge" this long.

My first visit to Olo was about 4 years ago and I have wanted to revisit ever since. But because there were so many other restaurants to try in town the wait has been this long. The chance to go back came when I gave two of my cousins gift certificates to Olo for Christmas and they were nice enough to ask me to join them.

A BIG thank you to all the participants and a special thank you to the 9 year old that joined us for the second time for fine dining and who behaved so well for the entire 5 hours. Even though she probably wasn´t too happy about the strict table manner rules!



Menu Nordic









Amuse bouche #1, mint yoghurt and black oil



Amuse Bouche #2, crispy potato, herring and waffle. The third one I can´t remember.



Vegetables, truffle and fresh herbs







King crab with peas


Salmon and friends



Turbot with fennel


Palate refresher. Lingonberry sorbet and dehydrated lingonberries


Carelian stew. A traditional finnish dish prepared in a modern way


Sea buckthorn and Rhubarb pre dessert


Rasberry with liquorice and strawberry soup




Petitfours. Rasberry, liquorice and After Eight. All made in-house.