I looked, tried and liked

February 5, 2013February 5, 2013 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

Saturday my fiancée and I tried and discovered a new little restaurant called Mi’ró. The location of the restaurant is maybe a surprise to lots of people as the area it is in is not known as the most popular part of town. Although more and more people seem to find their way back to Borgerhout and are opening lots of nice restaurants here. I actually grew up a few streets from this restaurant and lived here until I was 12 years old, so I enjoyed seeing this neighborhood heading back to its rightful place. When I then read on a fellow blogger website (be_gusto in Dutch) Mi’ró made a special version of one of my favorite dishes Vol-au- vent (aka vidée or koninginnehapje)….I just had to try this and needed no more convincing!!!

Already from the moment you walk into this restaurant you can immediately feel the good vibe. Maybe it is because the restaurant is not too big (only 7 or 8 tables) or the big photo of old Borgerhout hanging there? It also has to be said that the vibe only became better and better during the evening and this was not because of the wine ;-). It is also due to the very friendly and caring host and hostess!

I started with homemade grey shrimp croquettes (I had heard they were exquisite) and my fiancée followed me, but took the cheese version of the croquettes (don’t worry, they also have non fried dishes). I think that what makes these croquettes so special is as they have a Spanish touch to them, they reminded me of the croquettes filled with Iberico Ham I had in Barcelona a couple of times. This might be due to the fact the chef/owner has worked some years in Barcelona in avery good restaurant ( Comerç 24, FYI a restaurant you als have to try!). Anyhow to make a long story short(er) those where some nice croquettes.

As a main dish I just had to pick the Vol-au-vent, no matter how tempting the other dishes were. My fiancée took the Corvina with “schorseneren” and a champaign sauce. The vol-au-vent did meet my expectations, what made it different and special is that they used instead of regular mushrooms they used Enokitake mushrooms; they added duck stomachs (which they can leave out if you ask, and this proves all is made freshly on the spot!) Instead of puff pastry that usually comes with a Vol-au-vent they gave very big croutons. I would truly recommend it to try classic dishes with a twist.

There were very nice wines on the wine list. We took besides Lacrima Baccus cava to open our tastebuds, 2 different red wines I had an Italian Marchesi Antinori wine a Bolgheri ‘il bruciato’ (had a very rich and round flavor and I really those buttery tastes in wines (or butter in general 😉 ). My fiancée on the other hand took an Argentinian wine from the Mendoza region called “Fabre Montmayou” which was also a nice choice.

To sum it all up, we had a very nice dinner and they for sure haven’t seen the last of us!

Bistrot Mi’ró

Address: Moorkensplein 28, 2140 Antwerp Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)3 235 03 25

Me versus 117 by Wout Bru

December 14, 2012December 14, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

117 by Wout Bru

You guys can’t believe how happy I was when I first heard that Wout Bru was opening a “pop-up” restaurant in Antwerp. In the past I tried a few times to get to his restaurant in France, but something always came in-between. So knowing that he would bring his whole kitchen crew from “Chez Bru” with him made it even better, as this way I just knew the level of cooking would be star level, even though you could read in most newspapers that this was not Wout’s aim in Antwerp (but let’s call a cat a cat, even when relocated a Michelin star teams stays a Michelin star team). So you can imagine that my expectations were high about the food and Wout or shall I say Mr. Bru didn’t disappoint me as I can really give no comments on the food (also not on the quality). All dishes we got were nice looking dishes that tasted the way they looked.

117 by wout bru

But, yes unfortunately there is also a “but”, it wasn’t the “total experience” one expects to have especially when paying over 100EUR per person (the min. budget you to count at this restaurant is 100EUR, unless you don’t drink). If I think back at my dinners at restaurants like Pure C or even Nuance where I paid more or less the same price (around 130EUR per person drinks included) I got spoiled from the moment I came in until I stepped outside. This was the thing I was missing at “117” I know they are only open for 5 days and that this is just a “pop-up” and not yet oiled machine (which is logical after 5 days). It were not the big things, but the little things that ‘bothered” (maybe not the correct word to use) me. For example not getting amuses or some “special kind of cookies” with our coffee or when my friend booked the table they asked to make sure we were there punctual at 6 pm (which we were), but they only let us in at 6:10pm….

It was also a shame to see that the serving staff was far from being at the same top level as the kitchen staff. It felt a bit like sitting in an old rusty car that has a Rolls Royce engine, it drives ok but you just know something missing. Don’t get me wrong it were all friendly (I admit cute) young ladies, but you just missed that “sparkle” that separates the good from the best. Again, it were the small things like refilling the glasses of wine, not that I’m too lazy me to do it myself, but you know what I mean… especially when you pay 130EUR per person it are just these little things that make it worth going to restaurants like this instead of a regular restaurant.

I think if they do a few small adjustments in the serving area they will make this “pop-up” experience a trip the wonderful world of gastronomy for everybody. It would be a loss if Wout’s impeccable reputation as chef and restaurateur would become less (in the eyes of lots of people) after this “pop-up” adventure. Because I know they are the best and that’s where they should always belong!

Ok, enough of the “bad” comments, back to the good part of the night (besides my wonderful table guests!)! The food was without any doubt very good and did indeed pet my taste buds! (for a correct price to my opinion).

Feast your eyes on some of the Njammy dishes we were fortunate enough to try! I have to be honest that I don’t remember in which order I got them (besides the desserts), so I’ll just show them in the order I think it was 🙂

FYI, I didn’t eat all these dishes myself 🙂 we had 5 courses per person. Just move your scroll over the picture, this will bring up the hoover text specifying which dish it was.

117_Vitello Tonnato

117_veal sweetbreads

117_belgian endive with ham

117_veal cutlet 117_king crab 117_milk pig 117_porc legg with truffle 117_seabass

117_ lobster lasagna

117_Feuillantine

117_tarte citron

My personal favorite dishes were the Milk porc and the lobster lasagna.

To accompany our wonderful food three of us first took a glass of Jané Ventura cava (the 4^th person took a Hendrick’s Fever tree Gin and Tonic) after that we had a white Italian Gavi di Gavi followed by a 2009 red Gevrey-Chambertin from Domaine Marchand –Grillot. The red wine was slightly young, but after it got some air it opened up nicely.

117_Gevrey Chambertin

I’m sure this won’t be the last time I’ll try Wout’s food, next time i’ll go to to Chez Bru to get Bru-anized. One thing is sure, the good food made me happy and I have the picture to proof it.

117 happy me

FYI: A great surprise yesterday evening was to see Dagny Ross enter the restaurant to have dinner. To all the men reading my blog, she even looks better than on TV (or is this inappropriate to say now that I’m engaged? :-))

If you are lucky you might still be able to find a free spot at this restaurant, check http://www.117bywoutbru.be for it.

Another level of Italian food

November 7, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

Normally I’m not really into going to an Italian restaurant outside of Italy, but from time to time I make an exception. This time it brought me to Franco di Taranto’s restaurant Spiga d’oro. No regular pizza or pasta dishes like in other Italian restaurants, but real refined Italian gastronomical dishes that get served with some of Italy’s best wines (which fyi doesn’t always mean expensive). Spiga d’oro stands for quality the whole way! There were actually 2 reasons that convinced me to try this restaurant, firstly because a while ago I met and had dinner (quit a few bottles of wine passed the review that evening) with Gianluca and Anne-Sophie (Franco’s son (sommelier) and his future daughter in law (not putting any pressure ;-)) and I really liked them. Secondly because Spiga d’oro has already for a few years a score of 14/20 in the Gault Millau guide.

To open our taste buds, they served us a pumpkin soup with some kind of pancetta in it (if my memory remembers it right). This got followed by some Bio “Aquarello” risotto with pumpkin and red mullet that got finished off with some very special and delicate Laudemio olive oil. Our main course for the night was indescribable good and some of the best pieces of meat I have ever eaten, we had the Tagliata di Bovina, mosto di vincotto, andiva con miele di tartuffo. This piece of meat melted like butter on your tongue. Finally I finished my dinner with a piece of lemon meringue.

My compliments to Franco and his team as they bring Italian food to another level!

Of course we also drank some wine with our dinner. I have to be honest that the thing I like about Italian wines, is that I know more about them than about French wines 🙂 But it is a fact that in a restaurant you always fall back on the wines you know and usually pick the “safe” wine. If it were not for Gianluca, I would have chosen a Gewürztraminer or a Vermentino. Gianluca then suggested me to try a white wine from Lazio ( a region not really known for its wines), a 2011 Donnaluce made by Poggio le Volpi .I’m really glad we took Gianluca’s advice! This wine had it all, the great smell, fruity taste with a lovely aftertaste that felt like a party in your mouth 🙂 (me and my friends who joined me for dinner liked the wine so much we are buying some bottles this weekend). With our heavenly meat we drank a 2007 red wine from Trentino, Moratel made by Cesconi.

After this meal it is really clear to me why this restaurant has received such a good score in the Gault Millau guide year after year. The whole Spiga d’oro team really does their best to make your dinner a very nice experience and a rememberable evening by combining their knowhow with good quality products.

Before I leave you, I have to share a picture of my partners in crime to try Spiga d’oro, you guys are the best!

I can only advice you to try Spiga d’oro.

Restaurant Spiga d’oro

Website: http://www.spigadoro.be

Address: Leuvensesteenweg 43, 3191 Hever-Boortmeerbeek Belgium

Phon n°: +32 ( 0)15 520 535

The one man restaurant

November 2, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Devotion, that is the word that I can use to describe Thomas Verbist from restaurant ‘T leeuwekopke. Cooking, serving and cleaning, Thomas does it all himself in his restaurant and he does it all with a smile (if only there were more people like him). If this doesn’t confirm that he likes his job than what will? After years as chef on cruise ships and private yachts Thomas decided in April (this year) it was time to come ashore. You might think that because Thomas does everything alone that this might influence on the waiting time, but I can say for a fact that this wasn’t the case. ‘T leeuwekopke only has room for about 10-12 people, which allows Thomas to provide his guests with all the attention they need. This restaurant is a cozy restaurant that truly gives you an ‘at home’ feeling.

For my Fiancée it was already the 2^nd time at ‘T Leeuwekopke and she told me I had to try this restaurant. I’m glad she did! We had also asked from friends of ours to accompany (Beatriz and Tim).

On the blackboard written ‘à la carte’ menu you’ll find 2 types of starters, 2 main courses and 2 desserts. I don’t know it for a fact, but I think that Thomas decides every morning what he’ll put on the menu.

Back to the food! As appetizer Thomas made us a yummy pumpkin soup (you might be surprised how difficult it is to make a good soup). This was followed by some Scallops with scorzonera also known as black salsify and duck as starters. Wild seabass, deer fillet and sole as main courses. We finished with some apple pie (I looooooooooove apple pie)

We drank a 2011 Austrian Grüner Veltliner from Netzl with our starter. For our main course we went for a red 2009 Portuguese Douro wine named D4U (Douro for you).

I can only say that I’m glad I tried ‘T leeuwekopke , honnest food for an honnest price and served with a sauce of love and devotion.

Restaurant ‘T Leeuwekopke

Website: http://www.tleeuwekopke.be/

Address: (close to the vrijdagmarkt)

Leeuwenstraat 6, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)497 37 71 06

Taste of Antwerp 2012

August 15, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Don’t forget this Thursday THE culinary event from Antwerp opens its doors again on the ‘Vlaamse’ and ‘Waalse’kaai. The 2012 ‘Taste of Antwerp’ Festival is the place to be if you like top gastronomy and a great feast for a modest price.

The prices of the dishes are indicated with ‘b’ (restaurant coupons). You can buy these coupons in strips of 9 for 10EUR

Thursday at 6pm Vicki Geunes and Roger Van Damme will offically open the culinary event of the year!

You can find more info on Taste of Antwerp on following weblink

If you feel like have something extra special at this event, you might want to book a table to taste the 5 course menu prepared by the Dream team menu. The dream team exists of chefs who have a score over 15/20 in Gault Millau. For this year this team is Viki Geunes (’t Zilte), Wouter Keersmaekers (De Schone van Boskoop), Axel Colonna-Cesari (Centpourcent) and Dave De Belder (De Godevaart). The Masters of cheese Michel Van Tricht & Son will also be serving a special cheese taster.

Reservations can be made via following link

On top of that you can also win one of Belgian’s top chefs to cook in your kitchen, for more info check this link

Hope I’ll see you there!!

Walrus and me

August 2, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

If you are expecting a heroic story about me and a walrus, I’ll have to disappoint you…

What I do have for you guys, is another great spot to do some nice eating, called Walrus 🙂

I actually got to know this eatery thanks to my mom, she ate at Walrus with a couple of friends and liked it. I, trusting my mom’s taste, of course wanted to try this… (just to change and not go to the same restaurants again). I can say for a fact that I officially like it :-). Summarizing my impressions: Good honest food, good portions, a pleasant environment, cute waitresses and last but not least, normal and correct prices for both the food and drinks.

I’m a quit big eater and usually feel like eating a starter, but the problem is that sometimes I’m the only one at the table to feels like eating 2 whole dishes… Lucky for me Walrus had a great solution for this, a Tapamix (with some very nasty meatballs). So the tapamix made my evening even better 🙂

Our choice of dishes tonight went to the Vol-au-vent (I really love this dish) and for my company Salmon with baby spinach and mashed potatoes. A feast for both the taste buds as the eye…

To make a long story short (or shorter, because I always like to give you guys the whole picture 🙂 )

If you don’t feel like cooking and want to have some good food in a nice environment, Walrus is the place for you…

Hope you’ll like it!

Walrus eatery

Website: http://www.eetcafewalrus.com/

Address:

Jan van Beersstraat 2

2018 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0) 3 238 39 93

My birthday weekend part 2

June 5, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

So as you could read in my previous blogpost, I’m a real spoiled boy! The first part of my birthday was already mind blowingJ. For who thought it stopped there, I’ve got something coming. This year my fiancée really had outdone herself to make it something great. She had a family and friends part, which are both very important to me. I can reassure you that they really made my day(s). Ok the looooots of gifts I got (like a Le Creuset pot (I’m too cheap to buy it myelf) didn’t make my weekend worse 😉

After the amazing dinner with my family and a brunch with my best fiends (I’ve got the best friends ever!), I actually thought that was it. But noooooo sir, as cherry on the cake my girlfriend had booked a table at restaurant Veranda. You cannot believe how long I’ve already tried to get into this restaurant!!

If I would have to describe this restaurant in a few words I would say that this is a restaurant serving highly gastronomical food (Michelin star level) with no nonsense attitude, in a normal brasserie I might even say bar like setting (which actually makes you feel more comfortable ) for a very normal price.

I did have high expectations as many great Chefs had told me so many great stories about this restaurant… I do indeed have to confirm what they said, as it was a very nice experience. The restaurant only has one menu that changes every x days, but also the wine list changes constantly.

Our menu for the night was Rouget with fennel (served with white Bastingage from the Loire Valley 100% Chenin) . Followed by Encornet (a kind of calamari)with green asparagus (served with a Bellotti Bianco, even though it is a table wine I still liked its rich taste). As a main course they served a lambs shoulder served with Grenache from the Languedoc (with the dish it worked, I wouldn’t drink it without food) called Matin Calme . We finished off with getting 2 different dessert (yes per person, we’re greedy I admit 😉 )

A true petting of the tongue (I think the pictures speak for themselves), this is definitely a restaurant I’ll be returning. (If I manage to find a free spot). A true price – quality value! So thank you to the team of the restaurant and also to my fiancée for making this all possible. One restaurant less on my to do list 🙂 jeeeeeeeej

Restaurant Veranda

Address:

Guldenvliesstraat 60

2600 Berchem, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)2 18.55.95

My birthday weekend

May 29, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

I really consider myself very lucky, especially after I have seen how much my girlfriend, my family and my friends have done to give me a wonderful birthday weekend filled with lots of friendship and a looooooooooot of food!

My birthday weekend or I might even say week, as last already started last week J. Last Wednesday I already celebrated it with my dad. My dad suggested a Spanish or rather for Basque cuisine at restaurant Comocomo. yes,that is right, an Italian going to eat Spanish, funny stuff 🙂 )

I can only say that this restaurant really surprised me in a very positive way! The first time I passed the restaurant I thought it was a sushi place (without looking at the name that is), because there is a long flat-belt conveyor (transportband in Dutch).Just like at Harvey Nichols in London at the top floor.

The way it works is actually the following. Comocomo have 7 different colors of plates, every color stands for the type of dish. For example Yellow was for dishes with cheese, blue for dishes with fish, green for veggie dishes….

At the end of your meal they’ll just count the amount of plates you have in front of you, the more plates you eat the cheaper it gets 🙂

They have about 60-70 different pintxos and if you saw something on the blackboard that you didn’t find on the carrousel yet, you can just ask for it… FYI, they have their hams, etc…. imported from Spain!

And don’t worry, you’ll eat more than enough, in fact I think you’ll eat even more as there are soooo many yummy things passing by (I had to stop, because my girlfriend started giving me a ‘ didn’t you have enough’ look… so I stopped, but I could go on and on and on 🙂

Also the wine lovers will like this place as Beatriz has made a very nice selection of some of the best Spanish wines (most of them can also be taken per glass). To help people to know where a certain Spanish wine is from, they added a map that indicates all the great Spanish vineyard regions (so you can even learn something about Spanish wines). We went for a Tempranillo by Aranleon (we had 3 bottles, so I think we liked it)

So if you want to have a nice evening with friends and try something different, Comocomo is definitely something for you!

Restaurant Comocomo

Antwerp restaurant:

Kammenstraat 75
2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)3 232 02 10

Brussels Restaurant:

Antoine Dansaertstraat 19
1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 (0)2 503 03 30

Stay tuned for the second part of my birthday…..

Il macho bien soigné

April 27, 2012April 27, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

You can really see that people like it to go out for dinner, as even during the week it is so difficult to find a restaurant that is not fully booked! Even with a long list of restaurants I want to try, it still stays difficult. Thanks to my guarding angel, I managed to get a spot at restaurant ‘Il Macho’. I have to be honest, that I had never heard about this restaurant, I actually discovered it while looking on the website of restaurant ‘Bien soigné’ which is of the same owner. The pictures I saw from Il Macho looked very inviting, so I figured, why not try it… My fellow eater and I got a spot at the bar, I know lots of people don’t like this spot, but for me this is one of the best spots in a restaurant

Yummy food, friendly staff (not sure who of both guys was the macho 🙂 )and a relaxing interior with a good price-quality-quantity value, that is how I would describe restaurant Il Macho. Although they have nice dishes on their ‘à la carte’ menu, my friend and I choose something the suggestions on the blackboard, where you could clearly see that Il macho only wants to work with products in their season. My friend took the grilled asparagus, with smoked salmon and beurre blanc. I on the other hand took the garden salad with Gambas, what was nice that they also put grilled/in oil marinated paprika in the salad which gave it a nice extra flavor.

The restaurant also has a nice selection of wines all for a normal price, per glass you’ll pay between 4-6 EUR. We started our Macho adventure with for me a spumante from the in Friuli based Tenuata Pinni and my friend a prosecco from piemonte by Araldica. The fact that they took sparkeling wines from these regions, shows that they really try to be different than all the other restaurants. As Friuli is more known for its white wines and Piemonte for its red wines and not really for their sparkling wines! Good job guys!

We continued our dinner with for me Cod fish with asparagus, samphire, apple and hollandaise sauce. My fellow eater had risotto of wild king scallop, asparagus and lamb ears (the vegetables, not the animal).

I still had some room left (surprise surprise) and took the apple tartlet as a dessert (I love apple desserts)

I can only say to try this restaurant yourself… and I’m sure you’ll like it

Enjoy!

Restaurant Il Macho

Website: http://www.ilmacho.be

Address:

Graaf Van Egmondstraat 19

2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0) 3 293 63 81

Birthday mission part 2

April 12, 2012 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Keeping a secret from your girlfriend is never easy, especially for me, because talking is something I tend to do a lot (so I’m told ;-)). So you can imagine how difficult it was to shut up about her 3 birthday celebration days?? I really like to see the look on her face when she gets surprised, as only then I know I’ve completed my mission successfully. For the part with her family, I decided to do it at restaurant InVIncible. The fun part about this evening was that she had no clue what I had planned 🙂 , but she was reaaaaally happy that her family was waiting for her in the restaurant.

This was my first time that I came to restaurant Invincible but fact that both Kenny and his wife Wendy had worked at restaurant Pazzo 🙂 (you all know how much I love this place) already reassured me… Restaurant Invincible is actually where the renowned restaurant Gin Fish had been (until 2010).

What I like about Invincible (besides they’re great selection of wines), is that the restaurant is big, but yet small… for people who are dining alone they have a big bar/counter where they can eat while seeing the chef preparing their dinner, for people who prefer dining more quit they have some nice tables and for a business dinner you can easily dine or lunch at the table on the mezzanine… FYI, the acoustic is also good

About the food I can only say we had some niiiiiice eating 🙂 I had first taken a vegetarian dish (yes, be you didn’t expect that) I took the gratinated Portobello mushrooms with a chili-Jack Daniel’s butter. Another popular first course at my table was Rillettes of fresh and smoked salmon with a salad of Parisian mushrooms and Parmesan cheese (presentation in a very appetizing way)

As main course I took some nice Côte à l’os (soft like butter) with some pomme rôti, béarnaise & garden salad . Other dishes at our table were the Quail and the cod fish candied fennel sauce & soft Absinthe sauce.

We finished with a chocolaty dessert

Our dinner got accompanied by some nice 2011 South African Syrah, The Wolftrap, that I had chosen from the wall of wines that I could overlook from where was sitting