Luxeat

Reflections on eating out in Moscow

 

1. You can eat very well in the Russian capital. There is a good choice of all world cuisines , starting from Uzbek and Armenian, finishing with fine French or rustic Italian. (Not to mention countless Japanese fusion restaurants like Nobu, Megu or,my favorite, Nedalny Vostok)

Pork shashlyk at Ararat Park Hyatt Armenian restaurant

2. Going to Moscow on a budget and enjoying it’s best places can be tricky .Great choice, top interior design( e.g. iPad menus) and high quality ingredients (often flown from another part of the world) come with a price. It’s one of the most expensive cities in the world after all.

Fatty tuna sashimi at Megu

D.O.M. - back to the Amazon

 

Green tomato jelly

If you walk around São Paulo's Jardins area you could  be also strolling around an upmarket neighborhood in Los Angeles or any other megapolis. This is the drawback of modern travelling. You fly to another part of the world, but when you go out from your hotel ( I was staying at the very lovely  Fasano, ), you see Louis Vuitton and other brands shops that  can be found anywhere . The only "exotic"phenomenon was the 24/7 security and  incredibly high walls surrounding the local residences in Jardins. I didn't feel any danger but i guess there is a reason why they build them so high...

Alex Atala's D.O.M. is like no other restaurant I' ve been though. It is located in the bourgeois Jardins, but when you push the heavy door separating the dining room from the street, you are somewhere in the Amazon rainforest.

The ultimate seafood at Sushi Saito

 

 

When you sit at  a 7 places sushi counter, you will most likely end up making conversations with your neighbours. My neighbours at  Sushi Saito ( Jidousha kaikan Bldg. F1, 1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo,tel. 03-3589-4412 ) - a nice Japanese couple who comes to this sushi bar regularly and who also spends their summer holidays in the South of France. We spoke about sushi,fish in Japan,in France and  " why don't Europeans like their fish"  as they "overcook it and cover in sauces","so you can't even see which fish you are eating". This point of view was particularly interesting as somehow it's true.The philosophy of Japanese cuisine is the complete opposite. It is all about respecting  ingredients and instead of overcooking them, emphasising their freshness and natural texture.

At the legendary Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza

 

The father and the son - Jiro Ono and Yoshikazu Ono 

Those who have ever been eating out in Tokyo might know the difference between "Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza" (Tsukamoto Sogyo Building, B1F. 4-2-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo ,tel. 03-3535-3600), 3 Michelin stars  and "Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi" (2*). You can quite easily get a booking at the latter, while if you are gaijin, a  foreigner who doesn't speak Japanese, you have little chance of getting a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza. And you shouldn't even try walking in as  you will be most likely turned away.If you do want to eat sushi made by the hands of the "Japan's living national treasure", 86 year old sushi master Jiro Ono , you must speak Japanese or be accompanied by a fluent Japanese speaker. Claims of rude service and even foreigners discrimination at Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza have been surfacing on the internet. Therefore i was a little nervous before going there ,especially that the night before i read about  Andy Hayler's  unfortunate experience.

In fact,  I was treated really nice and  it was one of my best  sushi experiences in Tokyo ever .

Feijoada at Figueira Rubaiyat

 

One of the reasons why i really wanted to visit Brazil was feijoada. Once considered as "poor man's food",nowadays  feijoada is prepared  at some of the best restaurants in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian national stew consists of black beans, various parts of pork (ribs, ears, tongues, sausages, etc) beef; served with  fresh oranges,collard greens, roasted cassava flour, rice and other side dishes.  Feijoada is the ultimate comfort food, that's why even in Brazil, is not cooked every day. At Figueira Rubaiyat steakhouse in São Paulo, feijoada is served on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The restaurant is located in the exclusive São Paulo Jardins district and is owned by the same owners as Cabaña Las Lilas in Buenos Aires.

Images from Figueira Rubaiyat after the jump. Needless to say, I just loved the feijoada !

Noma

 

The dessert at the best restaurant in the world- poached pear with a sponge of frozen and aerated pine

Reserving Noma these days is as impossible as it was  reserving El Bulli few years ago. The worldwide recognition  and  "world's best restaurant" title means that people are flying to Copenhagen just for a lunch or a dinner . Obvioulsy I didn't think twice when Very Good Food  proposed me to go there together. It was my second time at Noma, Trine's- the 25th! Trine Lai was one of the first bloggers to blog about Noma (if not the first?) ; it's also thanks to enthusiasts like her , Copenhagen has become one of the most important gastronomic destinations in the world.

How did the dinner compare to my first time at Noma? Well, it was much longer as we had the big menu, only the snacks' part took about one hour.( If we count all the  snacks and sweets, we had around 30 different "dishes" brought on our table..)

I also think that cooking at Noma has evolved a lot and now it's more about new and unique  tastes than the ideology. They do exclusively  use  Scandinavian products such as Danish oysters or black truffles from Gotland, but what really impressed me were some fantastic  products combinations.

La Terrazza at Hotel Splendido

Images of sophisticated Ligurian cuisine (and the unique view of Portofino bay)  at  Splendido hotel  restaurant La Terrazza.

Comme chez soi, Bruxelles

 

"Sole fillets with a mousseline of Riesling and shrimps"

"George,in your restaurant one eats like at home" ,-  a guest once told to Georges Cuvelier, a former coal miner and the founder of one of the most famous Brussels restaurants -  Comme Chez Soi . Maybe the current chef, Lionel Rigolet is the fourth generation of the restaurant's dynasty, you  still eat like at home at Comme Chez Soi. The portions are generous and the classic as well as as the contemporary recipes are perfectly executed.

I love you,Umami Burger (L.A.)

Umami Burger in LA has completely changed my understanding what a good burger should be like. In fact , it has changed my life as i will never be able to enjoy any other burgers ( other burgers than Umami to be precise.) Soft Portuguese bread,amazing beef, grilled shiitake mushroom, tomato confit, caramelized onions, ketchup and parmesan tuile... Once you bite the burger, you forget all the miseries of this world. (Please keep in mind that the picture doesn't do the juctice. As there was no free table, i ate the burger in a car!)

Bo Innovation

Har mi, lo mein, chilli, sage,carabinero wonton

Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation in Hong Kong  is so passionate about what he is doing he could speak for hours about one or another product or a preparation method. Maybe he is  known for his bold statements, but what speaks most loudly is his creative yet delicious food and his ability of reinvention.