Time to put the sommeliers in the spotlight: William Wouters

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

In the world of gastronomy it are always the chefs that are put in the spotlight! Time for a change I’d say and put that spotlight on the sommeliers for a change :-). Especially with the ASI Worldchampionship for sommeliers coming to Belgium in 2019, they deserve it more then ever! That’s why I’ve send 10 questions to a few top sommeliers to find out more about their world… The first sommelier I’ve send the questions to is William Wouters aka ‘el presidente’ 🙂 or better the chairman of the Belgian Sommelier Guild and the person who we have to thank for bringing the championship to Belgium. I personally already know William since I’ve been born and have to admit that I look up to William when it comes down to wine and knowledge about wine!! He has learned me lots of things and still helps me to discover wines, vineyards, etc… I also know for a fact that I’m not the only one looking up to him. Lot’s of Top sommeliers still ask William for advice or help. For many years William has worked and participated in lots of competitions at international level with results one shouldn’t be modest about!! What I also always liked about William is that his motto is “wine doesn’t have to be expensive to be good”!!! A motto that was also a golden rule in his restaurant (Pazzo)

Every winegrower, (top)sommelier or person involved with wine I mention I’m from Belgium comes with a at least one story about a crazy night they had at the Pazzo winebar with William 🙂 (who used to be the owner of Pazzo). 2 years ago William decided to leave Pazzo in the good hands of chef Ingrid Neven and Tom Dhooghe. The mean reason for that was William being able to spend more time with his wife and kids in Portugal. William’s wife Filipa Pato is a very renowned Portugese wine maker who comes from a long line of winemakers in her family. You could also see it as William changing sides 🙂 from sommelier serving the wines, to winemaker making the wines.

Although it must be said he also spends lots of his time with his other passion… football. William is also the cook or better person coordinating the cooks for the Belgian national football team (Red Devils) and therefore also travelling a lot with them.

What is your favorite wine region to work with?

Bairrada – you all know why… 😉 😉

What does it take to be a good sommelier according to you?

A broad knowledge of all beverages and a good culture about food. Perhaps the most important thing is: a very good “social” intelligence

Is the job of a sommelier underestimated/valued?

Underestimated because a sommelier is a kind of a barometer in direct contact with the customer. He feels the straight needs and consequently acts to them. A good sommelier is a big added value in the front of a restaurant, bistro, wine bar, wine shop,…

When and how did you get the passion for wine?

From small on I was intrigued by the complexity of wine and the wine world in general, the diversity, the interaction with the climate, soil, grape varieties, perception of the winemakers, link to gastronomy… the more you know, the less you know, the more you want to know… (Confucius 🙂 )

Who is your big example in the wine/sommelier world?

Obelix, he fell into a barrel with the magical potion as a kid, I think sometimes the same happened to me, but I was probably too small to remember

What is your approach for pairing wines(or other beverages) with dishes?

Feeling… This is the biggest challenge for a sommelier! There is no such thing as right or wrong… Depends of many factors : people, the mood, time of the day, the weather, the budget, taste, …

Which wine region would you recommend everybody to visit and why?

Bairrada – you know why… 😉 . No, no kidding, I would recommend to visit as many wine regions as possible. As a sommelier it is very important to go into the vineyards and speak to the winegrowers and winemakers to understand better the wines that are made, and why they are made in a certain way. Wines for me should always reflect the place they are coming from. Authenticity is a key word for me

For which wine would you make a big sacrifice to be able to taste?

For all the wines I don’t know. So I think I still have a lot of work to do!

What is your most wonderful memory of hotel management school?

That I always “had to be” a volunteer to go to things related to wine and other beverages. I really loved it! Also to share these experiences with the friends and colleagues gave huge satisfaction.

A culinary or wine experience everybody should have had besides have a meal at your restaurant?

Whatever, wherever, whenever be open minded and keep your eyes, ears and certainly your tastebuds open! This is the intriguing trigger that will always keep you eager to improve as a sommelier! You are never done!

Limburg hospitality at its best

May 31, 2016May 31, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Ever since the birth of my baby girl my life has changed in so many ways. I prefer spending time with her above any other thing in this world!! As a result one of the changes that had to be made is going less out for dinner then before 🙂 I know it sometimes seems like I still go out very often, but in reality it is a lot less than before. If I had problems choosing before where to go, I can say it didn’t become easier now I go out less… Do I try something new or go to a place I’ve already been lots of times?A luxury problem, but still a problem ;-). For my birthday last week it was faith that brought back to a restaurant Mondevino I had been craving for to go back for 2 years (mainly because it’s quit distant from where I live). Why faith? To make a long story short, I won a voucher for a 5 course meal for 2 people 🙂 I never win something (definitely because I have too much love in my life), so it just had to be faith telling me something. My birthday also seemed like the perfect opportunity to use the voucher. Mondevino stands for the well-known Limburg hospitality, comfort, great food, great wines and for an evening never to forget (or afternoon if you go for lunch 😉 ) . I had also taken my precautions and found a little hotel close by… better safe than sorry!!

On a very sunny day like it had been that day, one just wants to sit outside! So we did… but only for the apero as in Belgium the sun has to shine quite a bit before you can really stay out all night. We started our night with (how else) local Belgian bubbles (Trilogie) from the Optimbulles winery accompanied by perfectly (thin) sliced dried ham and some olives and shrimp/curry based appetizer. All that followed was the perfect recipe for a wonderful evening great food paired with the perfect matching wines… As Kris (the owner) and his wife Agna know I’m a wine lover they took our pairing to another level (or my pairing as my wife didn’t want to drink/taste as much as me)….

The First dish from our menu was a revisited version of ‘vitello tonnato’. Tuna sauce combined veal, asparagus and roasted butternut. For the wine we started just outside of the traditional Burgundy (Côteaux Bourguign) region with a 2015 Sacy wine 🙂 (Sacy as in the grapes, not the word sassy 🙂 ) made at the Domaine Gueguen. The Sacy grape is a grape ripens early, and produces light-colored wines low in acid and alcohol. A grape that had almost disappeared… if you found it was mostly in a blend from Crémant de Bourgogne. In the nose it does remind a bit of Sauvignon… but in the mouth it is fresher and les “full” or aromatic, but a very nice match with the delicate flavors of the dish.

Sacy wine

Catfish with white cabbage, cockles and fresh herbs…for this dish Kris had foreseen some “spielerei”: 2 glasses of wine and for me to find out which wines it were… n°1 didn’t tell me anything as it was pretty closed at the first sniff. N°2 was familiar, but as always from where do I remember it?? My first tip was that they were both from the same country, but from a different part of that country 🙂 🙂 After a while Kris finally pulled me out of my misery and revealed the wines… Both French, the first one a 2014 Grenach made by the Le Plan estate from the Côtes du Rhône regoin and the second a 2014 Chardonnay by Pascal Marchand from Burgundy.

Next the Duroc porc belly with brioche, mushrooms and radicchio…This dish was without doubt given to make me crave for the dish that followed which was a very succulent piece Solomillo “Duroc” meat perfectly cooked and still waters my mouth just by thinking of it. For these dishes some Italian wines seemed to do the trick 🙂 The first a 2013 Refosco from the Terre di Ger (Friuli Region) and the second wine a 2007 Guidalberto (red Tuscan) from the Tenuta San Guido (better known as the winery that makes Sassicaia – one of the Super Tuscans). Although The Guidalberto was a very gentle , delicate and tannic wine that I usually prefer drinking, I did prefer the Refosco with the Solomillo meat… In general a Refosco is quite powerful and tannic, with a deep violet color and a slight bitterness and mostly gets blended with a merlot to soften it. But in this case the 100% Refosco is actually fruitier/juicier and a nice marriage with the dish.

Strawberries with lime, vanilla and ‘Napoleon’ ice sorbet. Napoleon is a in 1912 invented Antwerp piece of candy with a lemon taste, it is hard at the outside and a soft very very lemony and inside (historic Belgian piece of candy). From this piece of candy the Mondevino made a sorbet 🙂 combined with the sweetness of the vanilla and strawberries it was a very refreshing dessert! Kris paired with a legendary HungarianTokaji dessert wine made by the The Royal Tokaji Wine Company. The official name of the wine is Hàrslevelü Late Harvest pajzos Tokaij … not to sweet, just right 🙂 with a rich aroma with hints of peach and ripe apple and a juicy finish.

For me a dish is perfect when it has deep flavors that blow you away. Flavors that only can get obtained when a chef cooks with love and patience. A perfect example would be a Belgian stew that has cooked long and slow and rested overnight is a whole different story than one quickly made and immediately served… Only the first one will have to first one will have the flavors it is supposed to have!! To come back to the Mondevino dishes, they all had these deep flavors… which basically shows that the chef knows what he’s doing and he’s doing it with passion that he wants share with as many people possible(passionate people are always best)… resulting in me also eating it with lots passion as every bite invites for a second bite…

Very satisfied we turned to our hotel for a good night of sleep (without having to wake-up early as our baby girl was at my mom’s 🙂 ).

Thanks again Kris and Agna for making my birthday dinner so wonderful and see you soon! I am also sooo in love with your Berkel meatslicer 🙂

Healthy comfort food in your own home

April 29, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Food trucks are more popular than ever before!In Belgium, one of the pioneers of making food trucking more popular and getting them on lots of big events is ‘Jean sur mer’ aka Jan Kegels. Jean sur mer stands for fair, sustainable and seasonal fish dishes. One of THE classic dishes on their menu are the kibblings that I was fortunate enough to taste on multiple occasions and I enjoyed AAAAAAAAAAA lot. Whoever says they don’t like comfort food are definitely lying 🙂

FYI a kibbling is a piece of fish with a coating aka batter around it 🙂 Like the fish from fish&chips 🙂

The only problem is that you don’t always have a food truck in the neighboorhoud to get you that comfort . For this problem our dear friends of Jean sur mer have found a solution!! Jean sur mer has launched his own kibbling batter that is available online via the Jean sur mer website or in one of the following shops:

Slagerij Gadisseur, Moeshofstraat 150 2170 Merskem,
Comptoir, Volkstraat 23 2000 Antwerpen,
Vishandel Delice, Bredabaan 291 2930 Brasschaat,
De Visbar, Bredabaan 314 2930 Brasschaat,
Hielkema Hengelsport, Ertbrandstraat 55 2950 Kapellen,
AD Delhaize Kapellen, Ertbrandstraat 209 2950 Kapellen,
Carrefour Express Mariaburg, St Antoniuslie 26 2930 Brasschaat,
Supermarkt Alhoceima, Galifortlei 10 2100 Deurne,
Deurnse vishandel , Plankenbergstraat 49 2100 Deurne,
Robbyfish, Fortbaan 68 2160 Wommelgem.

What is good about the ‘Jean sur mer’ batter is that you can use it either as batter to fry your fish in a fryer OR if like me you don’t have a fryer at home, you can use the batter (without adding liquid) to bread your fish and bake it in a regular pan… BTW this way of preparing your fish is a good way to make your kids eat fish.

Anyhow so next time you’re craving there’s an easy solution to still that craving! I could have made pictures about how-to, but I’m sure the instruction film on the following link will be much more helpful 🙂

She’s worth it

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

I love my wife enormously!! She has already been my rock already for almost 17 years and will keep being it for many years to come. Although she says I don’t need to take her to special restaurants or places in general (read: “use the money for a bigger gift(s)”)… I do it anyway 🙂 Reason 1 because I like it myself going to great restaurants, reason 2 she just deserves it! I admit that I also do it because she sees me going to special restaurants on many occasions with other people and I don’t want to have her think I don’t like to do this with her … For her birthday this year I absolutely wanted to take her to Chalet de la Forêt. “AGAIN” I hear you say?? Last time I was here the chocolate dessert I had was soooo amazing that it was something my chocolate addicted wife just HAD TO HAVE!! Luckily they still served the dessert.

Another reason I like going to Chalet is because of my dear friend Cesar Roman. He always finds ways to surprise me during a meal. A great example about how Cesar is from a few years ago when he was still working at ‘Comme Chez Soi’ , he knew I was a big sherry fan, so he paired my whole meal with sherry’s …An amazing meal that I will always remember! This time for my wife’s birthday it wasn’t any different! Not that I had doubts that this time the quality or standards would be less than the other times. I was however curious how the experience would be now I wasn’t there with a winemaker or for an event. Curious to see in what way Cesar will be surprising me this time. Wine wise that is. When I was there with winemakers they obviously serve that winemakers’ wine. I was also very interested to know why Cesar chose to serve certain wines with certain dishes or maybe the other way around maybe the chef made some dishes to go with a particular wine, now he had the liberty of choosing whatever he wants.

As expected and just like the other times our afternoon at Chalet was perfect !! They have an eye for detail and try to make your time at their restaurant an unforgettable experience every single time you visit them. Chalet de la Forêt stands for high quality products prepared in a ‘not too sophisticated’ way, but yet special. What I mean with that is that is still an understandable dish and you still know what you have a front of you.

You can say without exaggeration that you get spoiled at Chalet de la Forêt! When you enter you take place in one of the comfortable armchairs or couches and before we even decided what we would eating we were already served an assortment of appetizers. It speaks for itself that we were served an appropriate drink to go with those appetizers and that’s where Cesar came into the game 🙂 We are no difficult people, my wife likes bubbles and for me the type of wine doesn’t matter that much as long as it is good…For my wife Cesar had chose a zero dosage Champagne from the Drappier vineyard. Zero dosage basically means there is no sugar added to the champagne or better to the wine before the bubbles are formed in the bottle. The fact that they don’t add sugar makes it a very unique product where the nature (even more then with ‘regular’ champagnes) is the main actor or better the quality of your grape the most important factor as you don’t “camouflage” it by adding sugar. For Cesar this seemed like the perfect and subtle way to start our afternoon. For me on the other hand Cesar had foreseen a glass of the first wine made by our mutual friend William Wouters named Roleta Russa (Russian roulette) :-). William actually made this wine as he wanted to find out what it would be like to make a wine without the help of his wine making wife (Filipa Pato). Compliments to my dear friend and mentor, if this was only a test I’m looking forward when he is out of his test phase 🙂

Sitting in the armchairs and enjoying all the delicious bites only gave us the taste for more it felt a big like sitting in a theater where you are getting warmed up for the big show that is about to start with a fireworks in the end 🙂

When they asked us to move to our table, we expected to immediately start eating the dishes we ordered, but No sir, after cleaning our hands with warm towels (that always reminds of my dad doing funny things when they used to give warm towels at the end of a meal at a Chinese restaurant. Worst part of it all it that I could see me doing that with my kids when they get a bit older #weareourparents ) more appetizers followed. In my case even with a very special pairing, namely with a very old Rotterdam juniper 🙂 distilled in an old school craftsmanship way (so not using modern techniques or machinery to make it). I didn’t drink my whole glass… as we were just getting started and it was a pretty strong juniper.

For the menu itself I started with a suggested dish, hop shoots with home-smoked salmon and a perfectly poached egg. One of those dishes that you don’t care it is impolite to clean your plate with a piece of bread. I like hope shoots, too bad they are only around and available 3 weeks a year…to good things about them, is that when you see them on the menu you know spring is there and you can already smell the summer sun getting closer 🙂

My wife opted for the first course from the menu itself, the Limousin beef Tataki with tomato aromas capers and old Balsamic vinegar (I could see a slightly jealous look on her face once I got my plate 😉 ) Again here we were in Cesar’s hands to find us the perfect pairing. For my wife again some bubbles (she just can’t get enough of it) and for me whatever he had to offer;-)

For my wife he brought a glass of La Closerie les Beguines extra Brut champagne which is a different one then the one she had with the appetizers. This champagne was also served in a regular white wineglass instead of a champagne glass to bring out more the wine behind the bubbles and gives you the chance to explore the complexity of the champagne. I know to some people it might seem funny that top sommeliers like Cesar take a lot of time to find the perfect glass to serve a particular wine or drink… but I dare you to try yourself serving the same wine in a few different glasses. You’ll be astonished the world of difference in flavors depending on the glass you’ll be exploring!! The reason for Cesar choosing a different champagne, is because with the Limousin tartar you need something slightly stronger, the zero dosage wouldn’t be at its proper place here.

For with my dish Cesar wanted me not to try 1, but 2 wines that according to him worked very well with the dish. 2 great wines I must say. The First one was a rather ‘classic’ wine, a 2011 Bourgogne Village (chardonnay) from the Leroy vineyard ( is considered as one of the best red Burgundy winemakers). In Burgundy the “Village” wines might be considered as the ‘simple’ wines, but it is at this level where a winemaker can actually show his talent as this is mostly the entry level by lots of people… if one likes the simpler wines, the step towards the more complex big brothers is easier made. The second wine was maybe the biggest surprise, a 2014 white Rioja wine which is a Malvasia grape blend? I honestly didn’t know Rioja made such good white wines.. which also the reason why Cesar served it 🙂 Even though the 2014 Rioja Blanco is relatively young it already has the complexity of a good Bourgogne or Rhône wine. I think that this comes because of the fact the grapes are grown on 80 year old vines, the high location of the vines and the the wine ages for 12months on new French oak. A very impressive wine, no wonder it has been chosen as best Spanish white wine! This also shows that the Rioja Region can make more then only good red wines. Wines like this ask for a moment of silence if you ask me (which is something very hard for me to do)

Bourgogne

For with our main course, the duck, our dear friend had foreseen a 2003 Barbera d’alba from the Elio Grasso. A winemaker that strives for harmonious and balanced wines, something I totally agree with when you taste this wine. I’m very impressed however with the long finish this wine has with beautiful notes of cassis and licorice… so if you’re a dark red fruit lover I’m sure you’ll like this wine just like me. If I must give a comment, for a Barbera it is softer then other Barbera’s I’ve tasted, but nevertheless a celebration together with the duck.

Le moment suprême, the chocolate dessert (that we got after a asparagus based pre-dessert).! I think my wife is still dreaming about this dessert! A mixture of warm and cold chocolate of different texture with if I’m correct some caramel undertones that makes every bit a pleasure and a moment in heaven. Last night my wife even asked me if they don’t do take out of this dessert 😉 (it might sound like a joke, but she doesn’t joke about chocolate 🙂 ) . With this Cesar served a French ‘Noix du pays d’OC’, a bio-dynamic distilled drink based on wine that is made with the noblest part of the fruit. You get the sensation of a higher alcoholic drink, but the affinity of a low alcohol liquor that only has a 17% alcohol percentage. A nose filled with nuts like almonds, pecan nuts with a little freshness of bergamot and I remember the scent of a brioche (bread). The taste from the Noix reminded me a lot like a sherry finishing with a pleasant caramel like aftertaste.

Asparagus pre dessert

A birthday wouldn’t be a birthday without a candle… I think Cesar found about my wife’s birthday via FB as I didn’t tell him or anybody at the restaurant… but I could clearly see my wife was very happy with the fact they did something 🙂

To end out meal a cup of Arabica coffee blend from Antigua & Guatemala beans and how else, a table full of sweets, cakes, chocolates, etc…

Full and very satisfied we return home and can’t wait for our next Chalet experience and Cesar’s surprises!!

40 Years Young Charly

April 9, 2016April 9, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

A few weeks ago the ‘beau-monde’ from the wineworld gathered to celebrate the 40 years existence of Young Charly. It was 40 years ago that the Mortlmans family or better father Mortelmans opened his small wineshop in Merksem. Back then they only sold French wine. First of all because that was the wine country father Mortelmans loved, but also at that time in Belgium 95% of the wines drunk in Belgium were French. It was only upon arrival of son Mortelmans aka William that they broadened their selection with Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (to name a few) wines. In 40years Young Charly grew out into one of the biggest wine importers and sellers in Belgium, representing some of the most renowned wine estates around like Ornelaia, Gaja, Col d’orcia, Masi, etc…

I have known Young Charly whole my life, not always as a drinker though 🙂 At young age I remember always driving by the Young Charly shop in Merksem with my dad when going to a big supermarket further down the street or to look for Porcini mushrooms. As a wine drinker, I have to be honest I only started visiting their shop more often after a friend of mine started working there 🙂 So basically I have to thank this friend as thanks to Young Charly I discovered lots of wines that until then I only knew by name. To me what is important for a wineshop, is being guided before you do a purchase. I mean I usually buy wine according to a dish/meal I’ll be preparing and it is with that menu I go to the wine shop with the hope they’ll be able to help me finding a perfect match… With Young Charly I’ve always found that match!!

When I was asked to join this ‘beau-monde’ to celebrate the 40 years of Young Charly I didn’t need too much convincing after the mentioned it was at restaurant ‘t Fornuis (in Antwerp 1* since 80’s and an institute in Belgium) and that 4 top wine estates would be present. Basically a combo of top sommeliers, journalists, amazing food and unforgettable wines…

The 4 wine estates that were present were Niepoort, Col d’orcia, Artadi and Michel Chapoutier and they brought their best stuff 🙂 A sommelier’s meal wouldn’t be the same if they weren’t asked to taste everything blind and respond to some questions. From the wines of Artadi, Niepoort and Col d’orcia we had to guess the vintage, for Michel Chapoutier we knew the vintage, but we had to guess the ‘terroir’ 🙂 Could it become more difficult? In my case I have to admit that it was mostly guessing I did. I did always now which was the oldest and the youngest wines… but to really tell which vintage or even crazier the piece of land they come from was a bridge to far for me as I’m not a top sommelier like the others present 🙂

The wines we ended up tasting:

Niepoort: Batuta – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2013 & Redoma 2014
Artadi: Viña el Pison – 1998 – 2007 – 2010 – 2012
Michel Chapoutier: Ermitage 2012 : Les Greffieux – Le Méal – Le Pavillion – L’ermite Hermitage: Chante -Alouette – 2014
Col d’orcia: Poggio al vento – 1990-1995-1999-2006

Although all the wines were good, there is always that wine you prefer over the others. Which in my case were the Batuta 2013; the Ermitage Le Méal; Viña el Pison 2007 and the Col d’orcia 1995 🙂 .Strange enough you also immediately find out the people sharing the same taste pallet as you. The funniest tasting or revealing of the wines we tasted was without any doubt the one from Niepoort. I like Dirk Niepoort a lot, I have never met a wine enthusiast as big as him. Besides making lots of different types of official wines, he also has countless projects running besides that and on top of that he supports lots of new young wine markers trying to find their way through the world of winery. His comments of this wines were basically that he didn’t like any of the wines he brought 🙂 🙂 but said that even though some of the wines were bad, they matched perfectly with the food they were served with :-). Again, he’s a wonderful person who love wine and has it running through his vanes like no other :-).

The fact that this celebration was at restaurant ‘t Fornuis was special to me as the restaurant has been on my list for a loooooooong long time, but never managed to get there. The restaurant serves classic Belgian/French cuisine from the highest level using the best ingredients available!! The might seem simple to the eye, but I can say for a fact that never to judge a book by its cover as sometimes the simple things are the most difficult to make.

We started with a ‘crab salad’, followed by surf and turf 🙂 leek with sweetbread, langoustine and truffle sausage. The main course was a fancy chicken (I forgot which one it was :-)) with Morel mushrooms and chicken kidneys. We finished our meal with crema catalana and a lemon meringue. If there is a heaven I hope they serve all of this (including the wines 😉 )!! It all tasted heavenly. I always love dishes with deep flavors in it!!

The only thing I don’t like about meals/events like this with winemakers? I end up liking the wines very much, buying them and in the end going on a wine trip to visit the wineries 🙂 eeeeeeeeeevery time again… I need more holiday to visit all of them and more room to store the wines 😉 😉

It was again amazing to be part of something this wonderful!! I can’t wait for Young Charly to celebrate its 50 years anniversary 🙂

Website Young Charly: http://www.young-charly.com/

No cooking for me tonight, just eat-ing

March 18, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I love cooking, but when we can be lazy or make life easier for ourselves we just do it!! There are lots of ways of being lazy (food-wise), going to a restaurant, do a take out, get your ingredients home delivered (but in that case you’d still have to prepare it) or maybe even have a prepared meal home delivered. f I haIve to be completely honnest, I’ve never been a home delivery or take out kinda guy… I think that I’ve only done it 3 or 4 times in my entire life, but as I’m always open for trying something new (or re-try) I thought I’ve give it a shot and order a home delivery meal via ‘Just Eat’ that make home delivery even easier then it already was. Why just eat? Because I had heared lots of great things about this website…

Just eat basically bundles all the restaurants that do home delivery and you order your meal via their website. You can see it as online shopping, but in this case for a prepared meal :-). Only in a few mouse clicks you can order you meal hours, even hours in advance!! So not like in the old days where you had to wait for the restaurants to be open before you can pass your order. You just indicate where you are located, after this you’ll get a page with all the restaurant that do a delivery in that specific location. Go to the menu and place you order and if wanted you can already pay in advance. After that it’s just waiting for it to be delivered 🙂 It doesn’t get easier than this on a lazy evening, you only have to get out of your couch to open the door 🙂

My initial thought was that you’d only be able to order pizza to get home delivered, but let’s just say that over the year’s the range of food you can get home delivered has grown!! I was surprised of the wide assortment of cuisines. Does this mean people got much lazier? 🙂 😉 My wife and I decied to order some sushi (although the fried chicken did also look tasty. I actually wanted dim-sum instead of the sushi (as my wife is a bigger Sushi fan then I am), but my wife “forgot” to order it 😦

Nevertheless I ate it all…and was happy I could be lazy for a change. Up to my next lazy moment and Just eat 🙂

Sommelier themed lunch: Italy vs. USA

March 9, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / 2 Comments

To yearly tradition I was present at the Zonin sommelier themed lunch. This lunch is basically the Zonin wine estate bringing together Top sommeliers for a blind wine tasting to talk about the wines served during a lunch in a great restaurant. An event they do in lots of countries all over the world. I can hear you think that this seems like a way to promote Zonin wines, which in some way is correct, but in last editions they also served non-Zonin wines. What I maybe should have also mentioned is that all sommeliers write down their thoughts on every wine, give it a score and as it is a blind tasting guess which wine it is and its vintage. Afterwards they collect all the answers and see how they would be able to improve their wines. So you could see it as a Marketing strategy, but I rather see it as a case study to improve your products! That some wines getting served are being liked and turn up on the sommeliers wine list is a plus and a compliment to the winemakers or better a sign that they made very good end product.

This year’s sommelier themed lunch took place at Le Chalet de la forêt in the green part of Brussels. Last time I was here I enjoyed my meal, but wasn’t blown away, this time however I did get blow away. Not sure what the ‘problem’ was last time, but I became a big fan after this lunch!! This year the lunch theme was to distinguish the Italian from the American Zonin wines. They would serve wines from both countries, made from the same grape, and it was up to us to say which one was from one of their Italian estates and which one from their Virginia estate. I must admit we got surprised in a positive way a couple of times. To support what I said earlier, they don’t even sell their Virginia wines outside the US and UK :-). Anyhow it was a fun afternoon amongst friends as I know most of the sommeliers present and of course Lorenzo Zonin, whose daughter has 10 days difference with mine 🙂 (10 day older if I’m right)

I do know that I’m not a top sommelier or a sommelier like the other people at the table, but I like good food, good wine and I love talking about it 🙂 AND I have learned a lot over the last few years from the others at the table.

All of this said, after some great finger food it was time to start our lunch with a Gamberoni tartar with cold consommé and Oscietra caviar. A pleasure for the taste buds because of the little spiciness from the tartar and freshness from fish and citrus. I started my lunches in worse ways 🙂 . FYI I did take pictures of my own, but I chose to use some from the photographer Pascal Hermans as nothing beats pictures of a real photographer!! I’m sure you’ll which ones are mine and which ones aren’t 🙂

As for the wines being served with this dish I was 98% sure when tasting which one it was, Vermentino, as I thought remembering it from visiting some of the Zonin estates last year. Funny enough I was right about the wines, but the one I thought was Italian was from Virginia and vice versa. I was confused by the typical ‘vementino’ scent and thought this could only come from Italy, as the other one was more floral, fresh/fruity. I personally enjoyed or better I wouldn’t mind having a few bottles from the Vermentino from the Rocca di Montemasi estate for this summer.

If only the blind tasting would continue this way, I would definitely recognize more easily 🙂 But they made it harder 🙂 instead of 2 we got 4 glasses of wines from 2 different blends… oooooh boy 😦 These 4 wines that were the pairing with a signature Chalet dish: Noirmoutier sole “forêt” with parsnip, champagne butter and truffle. A piece of art in a plate that you don’t want to destroy 🙂 but glad I did it as it was njammy.

As for the wines, like mentioned they made it harder by putting 4 glasses instead of 2. Admitted that they helped us a bit letting us know that there was Viognier and Chardonnay. Up to us to decide which ones and also from which country and their vintage 🙂

I didn’t found out which wines were viognier and which chardonnay, but that’s where it stopped for me 🙂

Up to the reds, here again 4 glasses 🙂 Tips here were that there were 2 ‘Bordeaux’ like blends, 1 Sangiovese and 1 Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo I distinguished pretty fast due to it specific more orange color.. The same for the Sangiovese due to its specific nose (don’t know how to explain it), but also because it is one of my favorite red wines from the Zonin estates aka the Il Solatio . This gave me a little push in the back to find out which ones were the ‘Bordeaux’ like blends. When they revealed the wines, I must say I was surpised to find out the Nebbiolo was a ‘Barolo’ from Virginia!! I would have sworn it was a blend from Italy. I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one!!

I almost forgot, these wines were served with the half wild duck (not sure which half 🙂 🙂 ) with fruited fennel and gravy (no, not your average meat gravy). I remember once a famous Michelin Star chef telling me what the perfect dish was: ‘when somebody finishes its plate and wants an other one exactly like it, that’s the perfect this’. This duck, was one of those dishes that if I could have, I would have 🙂 The meat melted like butter and the gravy had a some of that American BBQ taste in it that we all love (I think it’s called calories ;-)). No seriously, mind blowing dish!!

The cherry or frosting on the cake was the dessert that was specially given as they found out Lorenzo was a chocoholic 🙂 and it was of the same level as the previous dish with the big difference being that a second dish of this would kill you 🙂 🙂 and you’d be condemned on having a nap in the restaurant 😉

And as if the chocolate wasn’t yet a step close enough to heaven, they paired with it what is for me that best vin santo I have ever tasted, the vin santo from Castello d’albolla!! They served just like the other wines that we didn’t know what it was, but you could guess that one out of a thousand.

It was again, like previous times a wonderful lunch!! I’ve learned and enjoyed at the same time. Special thanks to Lorenzo Zonin and the Chalet de la Forêt team (with their to Sommelier Cesar Roman) for making this all happen.

In case you would have more question about Zonin wines, please contact Hasselt Millesime as they can tell you everything about it!!

All you need is love

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I’m not too much into all the Valentine fuzz, but the restaurant where I wanted to make reservations just happened to have an open spot at the same date 🙂 So if it makes you happy that I call it a Valentine’s day dinner, I will…

It was already for a while that my wife and I wanted to eat at Vietnamese street-food restaurant ‘BÚN‘ in the city center of Antwerp. Every time passed by it, it just looked so cozy and the plates very tasteful. Also every time we said we have to come here some day… I had also read the host of BÚN Huibrecht was the former maître of restaurant Pure C and the hostess Hao Truong that worked a long time in her sister Truong Thi Quyên aka Gwen ‘s famous restaurant ( know from a cooking show on the Belgian Food channel Njam about Vietnamese food) Little Asia in Brussels. So a winning combo I’d think and a reason for us to go?!

Our ‘we have to go here some day’ took a bit longer than expectedfirst of all because of the fact the restaurant can only sit around 16 people. So finding a free space is harder and if you want to make reservations it has to be after 20h 🙂 Which in our case means finding a babysit of have a sleepover at the grandparents for our little baby girl… which you only want to do when your baby is not sick and the fact it’s winter time doesn’t make it easier 🙂 BUT luck was at our side like I said before on valentine’s day 🙂 You can also go before 20h, but in that case it’s just the walk in principle as no reservations are taken before 20h

When I think of Vietnamese cuisine, I think of Chinese food but a bit more spicy and spring rolls aka Nems (as I used to eat lots of these in a little Asian place behind highschool 🙂 ) I know sad of me!! Keen on learning/ eating something new we entered the restaurant to. What was funny to me was that Huibrecht (who used to work as maître) was cooking and Hao (who I think used to cook) serves the customers… I would have expected it the other way around. Nevertheless I had a very nice night with a lot of coziness. I know not everybody likes to sit at the bar to eat, but in our case it just felt right! Coziness, but obviously also loooooooots of love in the air. Us sitting at the bar brought back lots of great memories of the time we used to life in Gent and had lots of nice dinners at a little restaurant (Fin du monde) at the bar… aaah good old days 😉

On the menu all dishes I didn’t know, so we just took almost everything on it 🙂 Except the soups, as I’m not a too big asian soup fan… but I did have Tofu (my wife ordered it while I was in the bathroom 🙂 it was nice, but Tofu will never become a friend of mine..

For drinks we took wine, but they do also have a nice assortment of fresh fruit juices like a ginger with pumpkin and mint juice 🙂 for the lovers 🙂

As a dessert we took the suggestion of the evening a coconut/rice beignet with passion fruit (I could feel the electricity in the air)

If this is street-food than I can say that I’m a big fan of street-food! I do enjoy that they serve their dishes tapas style to share and at non exuberant prices which allows you to take more and discover more of this kind of cuisine

See you again very soon!

It’s all about making good choices

February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

When I used to work for my previous employer I used to have more days off of work… so when I now get invited for a lunch I have to choose wisely, as I also need to days for when my baby girl gets sick 🙂 So I don’t just want to take a day off to afterwards regret I took one. A few days ago I choose well joining the lunch with the winemakers of Masi at the Bocconi restaurant that is located in the Amigo hotel (one of if not THE fanciest hotel in Brussels/Belgium – last time I was here, was to hang with my friends from the P!nk band). It was a good decision as Masi is producer of my favorite wines, the Valpolicella wines with as their top wine the “Amarone” (which has same status as a Barolo or Brunello di montalcino). When arriving at the lunch I was even more convinced I made a good choice of joining as when arriving I found out the lunch was themed “Amarone lunch” 🙂 🙂 so basically “Amarone” served throughout the whole meal with exception of the aperitif and 1 white wine. I can say for a fact that I already had worse drinks during lunch 😉

It is also always nice when tasting a wine to have the winemakers in front of you! They can tell you anecdotes or stories about how a wine is made or were it found its origin. This time it was not different. During our lunch we were joined by Raffaele & Giacomo Boscaini members of family that owns Masi. Also at our table, 2 Belgian top sommeliers Gianluca di Taranto(The Jane) and Bram van der Aa (previously Pazzo). So enough knowledge around one table for me to learn many new things.

What I personally like about Amarone or Valpolicella in general, is the notions of cherries in it (this is also why I like drinking Merlot wines because of the red fruit flavors) that give the wine a touch of sweetness and fruitiness. Obviously depending on the producer of the wine the fruitiness, etc… will differ, but it will always be in there 🙂 During this lunch I was fortunate enough to taste 6 Amarone wines from 1988, 1990, 1995 and 3 from 1997 and what surprised me is the freshness of these wines. I mean when you think of a 30 your old wine, you think of the total opposite of fresh and 1 glass would be more than enough…

The 6 Amaroni we tasted:

1988 – Masi Costasera Amarone
1990 – Masi Costasera Amarone
1995 – Masi Costasera Amarone
1997 – Vaio Serego Alighieri
1997 – Amarone Cantina Privata – Campolongo di trobe
1997 Amarone Cantina Privata – Mazzano

All 6 were obviously mind blowing, but everybody unanimously agreed that the 1990 Amarone was the favorite of the day! Elegant, velvety wine at the top of it game very soft and round in the mouth… in Belgium we have a saying for how good this wine was “like and angel peeing on your tongue”!! Like I said earlier, not one of these six wines had a disturbing heavy taste you might expect from wines this age, rather round well balanced wines. Every time I drink a good Amarone (or Valpolicella) I always remember why I like them so much 🙂 I could also keep talking about how good and wonderful they are, but I just don’t know enough words and I do think you get my point… The plans for another trip to Verona are getting more real than ever before (FYI, this last sentence is for my wife 😉 😉 )

I do also want to say a few words about the 1 sparkling and 1 white wine we had as I personally didn’t know Masi had sparkling wine 🙂 . For the sparkling wine Masi opted instaid of buying land and start growing their own grapes to join their forces with an existing winery making sparkling and white wines. In this case it was the small estate of Bossi Fedrigotti that is located in the Trento region. Masi doesn’t have the ambition to start mass production of sparkling or white wines, but this is rather completing their wine range by adding high quality white and sparkling wines… which to my opinion they certainly achieved with Bossi Fedrigotti as I think they share the same vision as Masi “better less but good, than a lot and not as good”. From the sparkling wine aka Conte Federico for example there are only produced around 10.000 bottles… but if you get hold of a bottle do try it! I’m sure my wife would be a fan of this bubbles, easy to drink, no disturbing bubbles and a bit of fruitiness…

The Bossi Fedrigotti white wine was a very special blend that if they’d tell you, you wouldn’t believe it. The Vign’asmara (the wine’s name) is a blend of chardonnay with traminer :-). To say it Masi’s own words: “The pronounced perfumes of the Traminer grape, a typical Trentino variety, are combined in an unusual and innovative way with international Chardonnay flavours. Ageing in French oak casks enhances the elegance and the personality of this wine”… I couldn’t say it better myself.

You might have noticed that I didn’t talk about the food yet, but during this lunch it were the wines that played the main role! The food was nice, nothing too complicated… Just some good food to accompany the wines. As the wines were strong, you the dishes also had to be of a stronger kind. We started with a Risotto with radicchio and Montasio cheese. This dish was followed by a beef roast with polenta and broccoli. We finished with an apple dessert and mint ice cream. Sorry I must rephrase, we actually finished with a ristretto coffee… one person actually would have preferred drinking a cappuccino, but after hearing (at the table among the Italians) it was not done to have a cappuccino after 14h, he (non Italian) didn’t dare to take one 🙂 🙂

I had a wonderful lunch and am looking forward to visit the Masi winery!! I could have saved you a lot of reading by just saying in 1 sentence the wine was great 🙂 but you know by now how enthousiastic me gets 🙂 In case you have more questions about Masi wines or want to purchase them in Belgium, please contact Young Charly

Soon more about the Masi Wine estate (after my winery visit 🙂 :-))

And so the healthy lifestyle continues

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

After having the Hello fresh experience for more than a half year, my wife suggested it was maybe time to try something different…something even healthier. Is that even possible was the first thing that popped in my mind?? I mean is that possible without actually going on a diet…which is something I refuse to do as first of all I like the way I am and secondly when you stop with a ‘diet’ you gain more weight then you actually lost in the first place… My wife thought Pascale Naessens‘ way of living or cooking seemed like a perfect candidate. I have to admit that I initially was a bit skeptic about it, as I wasn’t really keen on preparing dishes/recipes from somebody who is not a real cook… in my head (without at that time having seen an actual recipe) Pascale Naessens‘ food was the equivalent of the recipes of a dietitian that for me stands/stood for flavorless boring food… so basically food that doesn’t really put a smile on my face 🙂 . To satisfy my wife I just took a few recipes from the Pascale Naessens website (that are available in English, Dutch and French) with the idea that this way she would notice that the fuzz around those books and food is just a ‘hype’ and the books nothing more than beautiful pictures bundled in a book… To make a long story short, in reality I didn’t end up showing my wife, but rather myself the recipes were much better then skeptic me initially wanted to acknowledge 🙂 After trying those 4 ‘trial recipes’ I ended up buying 5 of her books 🙂 🙂 To start marking the recipes that seemed like something we would want to eat, put them in a spreadsheet and make a week menu by making a selection from the list until we tried all of selected recipes (without repeating the recipes until we prepared every recipe).

So far 90% of the recipes were able to convince me… ok ok I’ll admit they were just good… About the remaining 10% we didn’t like, it is just 10% and it for sure is just a matter of taste. The lentil soup with turmeric would be an example of those 10%. A few examples of the 90% would be the Fluffy blueberry cake, Cod with mustard-soy sauce and tomatoes, stuffed Turkish peppers, casserole with tomato, eggplant, zucchini and mozzarella, etc… Just to name a few.

Pascale Naessens‘ philosophy is simple, you basically have to leave bread and modified carbohydrates out of you plate when eating. This basically means that instead of having the traditional meat/fish, vegetables and potatoes/rice/pasta in 1 plate, you eat meat/fish with vegetables or vegetables with pasta, rice, potatoes, quinoa, etc… Also use oils like olive oil or sesame seed oil, coconut oil or omega-3 fats. Me, I stick to using Pascale Naessens recipes for dinner and desserts (without flour), but if you would want (like my wife) you could also use her breakfast and lunch recipes… but I love bread and I sometimes need my traditional food (I love eating tooooo much). Which by the way is also something Pascale emphasizes in her books and in interviews, that it is no problem to sometimes have something different… if it is occasionally … ok, with me it is maybe a bit more than occasionally, but not much more!! I do try to stick to the “Pascale” way of eating when I’m at home (that’s why I go out so much to eat 🙂 🙂 no no, just kidding).

What I also like about her recipes is that they are simple and easy to make (which leans against my life motto about food: simple food is best), but very tasty and that is what it is all about, right?! If I would indeed lose some weight because of these books, it is a bonus but definitely not the main reason to follow this way of eating!! I see it more as expanding my horizon in the search for good food and recipes.

So far I followed the recipes how they are written down and they are all well explained… the only thing that does drive me crazy about some recipes is the use of words like‘some’ or ‘a bit of’. I have experience with cooking and usually have the instinct/ feeling how much she means, but I’m very sure that for people who are not used to cook or don’t have a culinary background this could ‘ruin’ their dish and therefore not having the dish how it is supposed to… but it just would be easier if it would say 10g of … ok I know I’m nitpicking 🙂 luckily it is only in just a few recipes. My idea for when I tried all the recipes we had chosen is when preparing them a second time maybe modify the recipes a bit, not by adding things, but rather by for example instead of using the fish from the recipe, use a different kind of fish, or meat, etc…you could see it as “re-inventing” Pascale’s dishes to surprise yourself and your dinner guests and avoiding eating the exact same thing more than once 🙂

People who know me, know that for me to make a step like using these recipes must mean that I’m really convinced of it… if I wouldn’t have been the line would have been drawn after the 4 trial recipes…

I would say, try and see if she convinces you like she convinced me and thousands (maybe millions) of people around the globe! Enjoy

Spinelli's Dolce Vita

My passion for life

Belgium