Luxeat

Noma- the best restaurant in the world

According to The World's 50 Best Restaurants list,Noma is the best restaurant in the world in 2010. I love Noma and I am glad i went there last year as now it will be impossible to get a reservation!

Having said that i don't understand what Le Chateaubriand is doing on the list as number 11(you can see the whole list here). Le Chateaubriand has a higher position than L'Astrance.. )

Meanwhile, such extraordinary restaurants like L'Osier in Tokyo are not even in top 100.. And how Zuma  London( a trendy yet banal Japanese chain who got the 66th place) is more "worth" to be on the list than Sushi Mizutani  or Sushi Kanesaka in Tokyo is beyond my understanding...

Comerç 24 ( Barcelona)

One word could describe Comerç 24 (C/ Comerç, 2408003 Barcelona, Spain 933 192 102) - "overhyped".The dishes sounded better on the menu ("pizza-sashimi") than they were in reality and even if i really enjoyed some dishes like tuna tartare,some were disappointing. I don't say that the dinner at Comerç 24 was bad but it didn't live to it's avant-garde image neither.

P.S. As in Inopia and Cal Pep most of the clients that night were foreigners. It didn't bother me at all( again, i was a foreigner!), but makes me wonder why all these places are not so popular among the local people?

Inopia (Barcelona)

Inopia (C/ Tamarit, 104, 08015 Barcelona, Spain ,93 424 52 31)is run by Alberto Adria, the younger brother of Ferran Adria(no need for introductions).It's a lively, funky place with loud music (one of the songs played was Sade's "Smooth Operator" )and great energy. The extensive menu includes regional classics but also foreign products and dishes, such as "Wagyu" beef or a mini Inopia hamburger. 

Cal Pep (Barcelona)

From all the tapas restaurants in Barcelona I've been (posts to come), Cal Pep (Plaça de les Olles 8 Barcelona, Spain,34-93-310-7961) is the most seafood oriented. Clams, shrimps,cuttlefish, tuna is masterfully prepared according to the Catalonian tradition. Like most of the good tapas places, Cal Pep is crowded during the lunch, but if you get a place you won't regret.Even if it was cloudy outside, i felt  sunshine in each of the Cal Pep tapas.

What surprised me most though how touristy all these places in Barcelona are.Well, i was a tourist too, but so as  maybe 80% of the clients at Cal Pep or Inopia. I guess if you are searching for "gems" where only locals go,you won't find them in Barcelona. After all, the food was very good, so who cares!

Stuck in Barcelona

Tapas,paella on the port,jamon Iberico,more tapas... Volcano eruption..Who could have thought?

( Cal Pep,Inopia, Quimet i Quimet,Comerç 24 coming soon)

The schnitzel, tafelspitz,etc report

I happend to spend the last days of 2009 in Vienna, the home of opera and Viennnese cuisine. Wiener schnitzel,tafelspitz,Sacher cake, apple strudel,lot's of hot chocolate, coffee and glühwein. I am glad that i  never put on weight as i think i've had the calories intake for the rest of 2010!

Some highlights from my New Year trip in Vienna.

Hello Tokyo..

I am in my favorite city in the world and my first dinner here was at Ukai-tei Ginza , teppanyaki restaurant in Ginza. Needless to say the "super top quality" beef steak was a reminder that Japanese have the best beef in the world...

Noma- the rise of Scandinavian gastronomy

Yes, it is a pot with soil,radishes and turnips and yes, you can eat them all, including the leaves...

Interesting how the concept of gastronomy has changed over time.Before, a gastronomic restaurant would have been unimaginable without foie gras and other products typical to French " haute cuisine". Now people travel Not to have foie gras but instead experience new and refreshing. "Experience" , "new" and "refreshing" would be the best description of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. In Noma you will find exclusively Scandinavian products and they do have truffles sometimes , but they come from Sweden. So no French foie gras, Italian truffles, Spanish ham or Russian caviar. This must be a reason why Noma is called "Noma" , which are the first two letters of Scandinavian words "Nordic" and "mad" (meaning "food").

Istanbul wrap up

 

5 nights is way too short to discover Istanbul.The capital of three former empires, Istanbul is like a piece of bachlava, many layers of richness and sweetness. The appetite grows by eating it and still, after finishing all the plate, you want some more.

Power eating at Köşebaşi

Can a shashlik kebab be so delicious that your understanding of a good shashlik changes forever? So good that you keep thinking of this amazing dish that is melting in your mouth days after your lunch in Köşebaşi Levent and can’t wait to return there and experience that unique feeling ?