And a chick chick here and a chickpea there

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Eating complicated dishes can be nice, but you won’t be tempted eating it every day. A simple dish however you are able to eat over and over again… a great example of a dish like this is hummus. I could eat hummus every day all the time, and if it weren’t for my wife stopping me I would 🙂 (so when she’s not there I do, I know I’m a rebel 😉 ) . I know I say simple which it is, but making a good hummus isn’t as simple as it might look. It does only contain a few ingredients, but still you will never be able to make it taste like the real Middle Eastern hummus. An option would indeed be buying it in the supermarket, but there again it still doesn’t taste the same. For me the spots to buy it is in a real Lebanese restaurant/shop, Israelian eatery or at an open air market at a Middle Eastern shop …In Antwerp the perfect place to get it (and even eat it) is at ‘Chickpea’ a so called hummus bar :-).

The story behind this place is quite unique, the owner/cook (aka Yossi Israël) is a former jeweler who decided a year ago to leave gold and diamonds for what they are and have a little career change and start working with another kind of jewel aka chickpea 🙂 Using old family recipes that have been used for generations and generations you can only imagine how wonderful this hummus tastes. If he made his jewels like he now makes hummus, those must have been some beautiful jewels 🙂

Chickpea is without any doubt THE best place to have hummus, pimped hummus (with lam stew, shrimps…) or hummus related dishes like falafel in Antwerp. Their eatery might be small, but the taste of their food makes it big… it may have been the hot temperatures, but I felt on holiday sitting on their terrace, sipping from my home-made lemonade and making my plate of hummus emptier with the help of a warm pita bread 🙂 (am I making you picture it 😉 ) Once you tried their hummus you won’t want anything else anymore. Thank god for Take away 🙂

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Chickpea

Address: Oudaan 4, 2000 Antwerp – Belgium

Website: www.chickpea.be

Fucking perfect

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

It took me a long time but I finally found my way to The Jane. For most people it is the name Sergio Herman (owner) that makes them go, for me the trigger was Gianluca Di Taranto aka The Jane’s sommelier!! He doesn’t believe me when I say it, but it is true (he was also the trigger bringing me to‘t Zilte a few years ago when he used to work there). It was not the long waiting time for a free table (about 3 months) that made me wait so long, but rather the hype around The Jane. I had already been lots of times to Pure C (Sergio’s other restaurant), so I knew the food would be great… I just had experiences in the past with restaurants being hyped so much, but when you actually went it didn’t meet up with the high expectation/idolization and the fuzz made around it (Dinner by Heston for me is one of those, that’s why I didn’t write anything about it). So I basically was a bit afraid I would be the same with The Jane. The second trigger (and in the end decisive trigger) was the fact that my wife told me out of the blue she wanted to go there 🙂 🙂 I was so surprised as she never comes up with stuff like this, usually it is me pushing restaurants 🙂 Strike while the iron is still hot was first thing that came in mind. The gods must have agreed with me, as the still had some free spots for the day we wanted to go… In the upper room bar that is, not in the actually restaurant. The big difference between both (in same building) is that in the ‘restaurant’ you sit at the table and it is executive chef Nick Bril (and Sergio Herman himself) prepares your meal. In the Upper bar room you sit a big bar and see the cooks prepare your meal right in front of you (you might call it show cooking 🙂 ). The upper room bar is also a good way to get familiarized with The Jane’s food style, but than in tapas style.

I cannot get around it, I must mention the building The Jane is situated in as it is so special! The Jane’s first ‘project’ name when Sergio Herman started was “La Chapelle”, maybe this already reveals where I’m going? The Jane is located in an old church that has been totally redone and is a true architectural masterpiece!! The pictures below will give you an idea, but seeing it ‘live’ is even more impressive. I love the high ceilings.

I won’t lie about it, once I made the reservation I was as excited as a puppy to go to The Jane (that’s how I become when I can try a new restaurant). I only had to be patient for 2 weeks between the reservation and the lunch itself. Which in The Jane terms is not long as sometimes it can take you months to find a free spot…

I cannot use another word that describes it better, ‘Perfection’. From the moment you walk in until the moment you walk out you get pampered by every single member of the staff you see during your meal. I know you might say this is normal as you pay for it… I agree, but you would be surprised how many places ask the same or more, but give less, or where the staff doesn’t feel like working and don’t give the same welcome feeling. The advantage of the upper room bar is that you can make your own menu or better choose your ‘tapas’ à la carte (between 5 and 20 EUR). So you don’t need to go for the tasting menu (basically a walk through the à la carte menu) if you don’t want to…. It was also our initial plan as after our lunch we still had to go to a wedding (you cannot go to a wedding hungry, can you?) . BUT the meat is weak and we took the tasting menu 🙂 :-). As Gianluca had told his colleagues from the Upper bar room we had to go to a wedding… so they speeded up things for us… luckily we aren’t rookies anymore and we (yes my wife also, I thought her well :-)) can handle some food.

In the end I’m also glad I took the tasting menu as you get to eat things you maybe wouldn’t have picked yourself due to some ingredients in it…like the chickenliver’s with black pudding for example is something that would scare lots, but in fact it was one of the best dishes ever, and this was only the 1^st dish we got 🙂 :-). Also remarkable that the oyster didn’t make me sick. I like its taste, but in the past every time I had an oyster (also in very good restaurants) I was as sick as a dog afterwards… My favorites were the chickenlivers with black pudding, the noodles, the lam stew, the sashimi, the buckwheat noodles with lacked duck, the steamed buns with pork belly … basically every dish was full of deep flavors and had all elements in a dish you would want there to be and therefore had one or the other reason to love the dish… ok maybe the oyster wasn’t my preferred one, but again it didn’t make me sick for a change :-). FYI, I didn’t take a picture from all my dishes as I ate some to quick and only realized afterwards I didn’t take a picture 🙂 (I know I’m using this sentence a lot, but I think I’m getting more greedy by the year I get older 🙂 )

It is also said a meal is only finished perfect if you get a good dessert, I can only say it was a fucking perfect ending of our lunch 🙂 my wife and I were supposed to share our desserts, but the plats were empty before we remembered we were going to share 🙂 🙂 but I was told the Raspberry with pistachio and chocolate tasted heavenly 😉

It was nice to be served cocktails, different types of sake or vermouths during my meal… Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer a good wine pairing with my food (It might also be because of the sommelier 😉 )… I liked every drink, but for me the drinks were a bit too strong to keep up the whole meal, especially knowing after this lunch I still had to go to a wedding :-). There just has to be a next time to try it all again without having some event afterwards and I think in the evening would be a better plan 🙂

It became a very long blog post and lots of smiley’s again, but you know that only means I’m very excited. I also got proven wrong, sometimes the fuzz and hype is just because they are just that good!!! Thank you Sergio, Nick and their The Jane team for the great (quick) lunch. So next time I won’t only come for the sommelier or because my wife wants to, but also for the fantastic food and to get Sergio Hermanized in the way it is supposed to happen (with more time)… even if that means I have to make a reservation at 8 a.m. …my 5 month old daughter will for sure help me to be awake in time 😉 :-)) like she did at 5 a.m. today to make sure I would have time to write this blog post 🙂

Restaurant The Jane

Website: www.thejaneantwerp.com

Address: Site ‘t Groen Kwartier, Paradeplein 1, 2018 Antwerp – Belgium

Good food can be closer than you think

August 6, 2015August 6, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

When I look for a restaurant I mostly look ‘far’ away, without actually realizing that on less than a 5 minute walk there is an eatery that can still my hunger as good as the restaurants far away 🙂 Although I must confess that I got to know it aka FAIM via the local Antwerp tv channel ATV, who showed it on one of their show’s called ‘hotspot’. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have known it as it is in a part of my town I never pass (until now). FAIM already exists for a while, but it was only in February this year they decided to open up for lunch. Before February their main focus was catering and private dining… This month they are also opened at night, because most of the catering and private dining events are at night time 🙂

The friend that joined me for lunch is actually an old colleague of mine who has the same weak spot as me, good food 🙂 🙂 I remember when we used to work together, the moment I walked in the office we would start talking about food and great restaurants (making other colleagues crazy)… we would talk that much (in our breaks, never during work itself 😉 )we became so hungry that 85% of the time it would result into a lunch somewhere in the area. As we are now not working together anymore, this time we just did it for old time sake 🙂 and FAIM seemed like to ideal place.

FAIM does not have an enormous ‘à la carte’ menu, but they do have something for everybody…next to that they also have a lunch menu and a ‘carte blanche’ menu that changes according what was available on the markets in the morning.. As you might guess, our interest went mostly to the ‘carte blanche menu’:-). This week’s special ingredient (when we were at Faim that is) were mussels and therefore also part of the ‘carte blanche’ and lunch menu… when the host overheard my friend saying he didn’t like mussels too much, he immediately interacted suggesting they could adapt the ‘carte blanche” menu without any problem at all and leaving mussels out of the menu … and so they did.

After finishing our refreshing aperitif (for me a glass of bubbles and my friend a glass of vermouth) and the appetizer celery soup, we were served Green asparagus with smoked salmon, scallops, little grey shrimps and a mousseline . ALL ingredients I adore in 1 plate, a win wine I’d say and a not to heavy way to start the meal. If it was cloudy I wanted red and when sunny white wine, it was sunny making we went for a white wine… the host suggested the Grüner Veltliner by Weingut Rabl. Summarized, SUMMER

The mean dish that followed was a classic entrecote (which they get from a local master butcher) with a little bit of choron sauce (bearnaise with tomato). This dish can either be heavenly or hell, luckily in this case it was more leaning on the good side than the bad side 🙂

We finished off with a red berries, gin ice and a homemade sabayon (the sabayon was nearly as good as my dad’s sabayon)… I would have loved staying some more, but duty called…

Maybe it was the sun, maybe it was the great company or maybe the food, but I had one great lunch that asks to be done all over again and I’m pretty sure who my ‘victim’ will be :-). FAIM is the perfect lunchspot for a good non-nonsense lunch

Restaurant FAIM

Website: http://www.faim-traiteur.be/

Address: Kerkplein 8, 2650 Edegem, Belgium

Summer in Antwerp

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Last week Belgium was suffering from way to high temperatures (which is unusual) up to 37°C. Believe me when I say it sounds better than it actually was, when it is this hot in Belgium it is not as nice as when you are in some southern Mediterranean village, but rather as dry as a cracker 🙂

With the exception of 1 evening last week were it DID really feel like being in a small southern Mediterranean village!! ALL thanks to Sepideh Sedaghatnia and her restaurant Divin by Sepi. (FYI you might remember her from one of my last posts). Imagine a hot summer night with from time to time a little ‘refreshing’ breeze while the sun slowly goes under, sitting outside with some friends around the dinner table , glasses filled with some bubbles or rosé wine and eating fingerfood …. the definition of a night when you are on holiday right?? I also wasn’t the only one feeling it, as everybody who was at Divin by Sepi Friday night had felt it. Difference with a southern restaurant, that in this case the service was good and very professional 🙂 🙂 , but nevertheless in a loose way.

A very important rule for when you eat at Divin is to relax and enjoy yourself and those are also Sepi’s only rules. I mean there are no obligations ((you do have to pay the bill all you smartypants out there), for example on the menu you have fingerfood and regular dishes, if you only want to go for fingerfood (no matter how many)… you only go for fingerfood, you don’t have to worry that somebody will think lesser of you or looks to you in a strange way :-)… We (me and my friends) are greedy people so we obviously went for both the finger food AND the regular dishes 🙂 (I just followed, I didn’t want to be rude 🙂 🙂 ).

I do like the concept of the fingerfood, which is comparable with tapas you have in Spain. What I liked about Divin’s fingerfood is that you saw influences from all over the Mediterranean that got overlapped with Middle eastern or better Iranian influences (as that is where Sepideh is from) resulting in summer on a plate (and served in a refined way). Maybe it would be easier to tell what fingerfood we didn’t take as we took 90% of the menu 😉 no no, just kidding. The first fingerfood dish was an Iranian wrap with dates, basil and feta (but the Iranian version of Feta). If a non-cheese lover (especially goat or sheep cheeses) like me liked it I mustn’t say more, do I? It is true that the dates in it made a bit sweeter (typical Middle eastern) and maybe that’s what made me love it??

The fingerfoods that followed were Soft shell crab, Kobideh sate, Falafel with tzatziki, a selection of refined meats and as frosting on the cake a Persian Pizza with grilled vegetables and harissa. One better than the other no doubt about that!! They tasted as well as they looked

The eyes are bigger than the stomach, especially when there is nothing in the stomach yet 🙂 I think we had overdone it with the fingerfood. When placing our order with Sepideh everybody decided to take a mean course (for after the fingerfood), the ladies at our table were intelligent enough to go for a fish dish…

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When the men (including me) saw ‘black angus short rib’ they had NO eyes anymore for other dishes… Again I repeat the eyes were bigger than the stomach aka greediness 🙂 Luckily Sepideh double checked with everybody after all the finger food who still up for the main dish. Let’s just say that we men split the meat instead of eating one each 😉 with exception for my buddy Jan who had a whole one for himself. And there’s another example of not having any obligations … in lots of other places they would have just served us everything. So we basically shortend the short rib 🙂

You might have noticed I didn’t speak about wine yet 🙂 and no not because we didn’t have any… We started our evening in a bubbly way with some Belgian bubbles from Ruffus which tasts just like champagne. FYI the reason it tastes like it is because where the grapes are grown, the soil is the same as the one in Champagne (Champagne’s soil ends in the Belgian region where Ruffus is made). That and the knowhow from the people making it 🙂 . If you ever get the chance of drinking it, I strongly advice it!

In my article about Sepideh’s book I said it was a pity there wasn’t a pocket version of the book. Good thing at the restaurant I didn’t need the pocket version as I had the original version 🙂 🙂 Sepideh in person…. I must say that Divin by Sepi has one of the broadest selections of wine I’ve seen in a restaurant. She has great wines from every continent (besides Asia I think) with a representation of a lot of countries of these contents, including the Middle East, Greece, etc.. Probably you’re thinking ‘Freak’ 🙂 “Whatever’ would my response to that be 😉 . The list was also nice a there were lots of wines on their that I’m sure nobody knows or barely know…but that are mind blowing!! For after the bubbles to make us feel even more on holiday Sepi thought a nice rosé by domaine OTT from the Provence would set the mood for with the finger food.

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Followed by a refreshing German 2011 Pinot Noire from August Kesseler. To finish with a 2007 Italian red (it just had to happen one moment or the other) Fumin from Valle d’Aosta for with our Black Angus. This was basically what the doctor ordered 🙂 🙂 We were still in the mood for something else after this, but as we were all parents with a babysitter at home… duty called. One important lesson for next time bring them to the grandparents for a sleepover 😉

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I did it again, I wrote a too long article, but you all know that only means I am very very enthusiastic :-)- Oh sorry I forgot the mention the dessert I’ll just let the picture speak for itself!!

Thank you Sepideh and team for everything!! See you very soon!!

No celebration without good food and wine

June 25, 2015June 25, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Birthdays are meant to be celebrated with good food and wine, that for me is a golden rule (every time something needs to be celebrated actually). A ‘rule’ my wife knows really well :-). My lovely wife knows that no present will make me happier than going to a good restaurant and have a good meal. My ‘birthday’ meal this year was even more special as it was ‘us time’ (for me and my wife) in a long time 🙂 (FYI a few months ago I became dad of a beautiful little girl that goes through life as Eloïse and during my birthday meal my mom looked after her). For my wife finding the right restaurant for me is a very stressful task, so to make sure she makes the right choice she calls in some help from gastronomic friends of mine(in this case my dear friend and top sommelier Cesar Roman). I don’t really believe I’m a difficult person to get something for, but apparently more than I know/think myself ;-). She also wants to keep it a secret for me… this year I decided not ruin the surprise by guessing where it will be (as I usually guess it. FYI, she said we were going to skydive for my birthday this year instead of eating :-). She has outdone herself even more than other years in finding a nice restaurant. This year I was fortunate enough to slide my feet under the table in a restaurant called Bistro Margaux in a little town just outside of Brussels. Before I continue I must say that they do have a very (sincere) friendly staff that like their job and maybe even do it with passion.

Chef and owner Thomas Locus only opened Bistro Margaux (a former café) in 2009, with the idea to open a small bistro. The success was bigger than expected as after 2 year (in 2011) Bistro Margaux already got awarded by the Guide Michelin with 1 star :-). In his dishes (or at least that is the feeling I had) Thomas tries to bring revisited versions of old French/ Belgian dishes and bring them in a more creative way with techniques he learned in top restaurants both in Belgium as abroad both classic and modern cuisine (Oud Sluis, Martin Berasategui, Bruneau, etc…). The restaurant is in a very nice cottage style I like a lot (it might look cool (as in cold) on the picture, but I assure you it wasn’t, even before the wine) . I loved their wine cellar!! If I ever move in to a bigger house, I have to have one of those 🙂

I would be a liar if I told you guys I still remembered exactly which appetizers we were served. I do still remember how they tasted and that I liked them and their main ingredient. I know that for some bloggers this would be not done, as they write everything down the whole time…but I’m at a restaurant in the first place to enjoy and relax, writing is usually the last thing on my mind. It is only afterwards that I share this moment of happiness and talk about the experience I had and I think you all know I only share if I really liked it 🙂 🙂 Nobody gets killed or dies if I forget to mention which appetizers they served or the glass of champagne I had with it 😉

What we were served after I do remember 🙂 We decided to go for Thomas’ 6 course meal… for the wine I chose to take a bottle (and not take the wine pairing, not sure if they did that). Choosing is always so difficult, do I go for red or whit? Strong or not strong? They had lots of nice wines, but the ones that caught my eye were a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in white and/or for the red an all time favorite a Valpolicella (in this case a Riserva)… but as they have a sommelier, I’m sure he was THE perfect person to help me to get out of this quest and so he did. Although the wines I chose would go would with the dishes, he thought a (as I wanted to go for a Sauvignon Blanc style wine) Austrian Sauvignon Blanc from close to the Slovenian Border would be a good match 🙂 For the people who want to know if, it was a 2014 Grassnitzberg for weingut Tement. A plesant nose, not to strong not to watery… just right and how I wanted it to be 🙂

We started our menu with a ‘Salade Nicoise’ (Tuna / Tomato / waterkcress/chlorophyll ), I’m sure they couldn’t have done it better in Nice 🙂

The second course was the ‘Paling in het groen revisited’ : Eel from the Oosterschelde prepared with green herbs/ kohlrabi /letucce

The 3rd course was maybe one of my favorites , Holstein beef with artichokewith truffle and pecorino. I could eat another one of those riiiiiight now .

The main dish was Pigglet with ‘korenaar’asparagus,comté cheese and scallion (young onion)

I’m glad Thomas served us fresh/light desserts (meaning no heavy chocolaty stuff). A combination of season fruits, homemade pastry and ice 🙂 the recipe for success

A wonderful meal that asks for a retry with the only problem being, WHEN 🙂 Thomqs serves well out balanced dishes where can taste that he knows his techniques and basics really well!

I also tried to convince Bistro Margaux’s sommelier to participate in this year’s contest to become Belgium’s best sommelier of 2015, but he felt he wasn’t ready yet and that his knowledge is not yet of the ‘best belgian sommelier’ level… I beg to differ as I think he would do really well! I do hope he still changes his mind!! Just in case he would change his mind I’ll add the link to subscribe for the contest 🙂

Find more info on Bistro Margaux on their website: http://www.bistromargaux.be/

They keep surprising us

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I have the feeling I keep repeating myself every year when I write about the new Bistronomy guide! Everytime it is launched I say it is a very good reference if you wish to eat well and want to get NO Nonsense food in Belgium and that they improve every year! BUT IT IS JUST THE THRUTH! Who thought Steve and Johannes (founders and owners) couldn’t surprise anymore or make their guide even better, think again, they succeeded to surprise again (and I think I’m not the only one) they literally spread their horizon since the last edition, this time they went across the language and even country boarders. After being a set value in Flanders, chefs from the French speaking part of Belgium, Luxemburg and even from the Netherlands have found their way to Bistronomy and in the guide.

For who doesn’t know yet what bistronomy stands for, it basically means No Nonsense food/restaurants where they serve bistro dishes that are brought in a more refined way. Thinking back to my visits to bistronomy restaurant gives me a big smile and the taste for more… BTW it doesn’t stop with the food as most restaurants also have a very nice wine selection like Les Eleveurs in Halle or Mondevino in Borgloon to name a few… but I don’t need to re-discover America, the motto described by the Bistronomy founders (that you seen below) speak for itself and describe exactly what Bistronomy stands for… and in case you doubt restaurants can be all that, just try and be amazed! Steve and Johannes were that excited about their new guide it was already in the shops the day before the press conference 🙂

Enjoy!

Floom makes you bloom

May 18, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Last weekend I’ve been a healthy boy, not that I am ever non-healthy as to me healthy means not eating fast food or unhealthy products. I rarely eat those, I always eat fresh and good products and eat lots of vegetables and fruit… BTW Healthy doesn’t need to mean Bio, because sometimes people seem to mix those 2. So basically last weekend I have been an even healthier boy than usually :-). I must admit it is because of my lovely wife I did it (for who else 😉 ). She took me to a pop-up brunch restaurant called Floom. I won’t say I was immediately tempted in saying ‘yes’, as in her opening sentence she mentioned Muesli a few to many times to my opinion and liking… Let’s just say that is that step over the extreme healthy line I don’t always feel like taking. It brings up the words “without butter and sugar” up in my head and those 2 just happen to be 2 of my favorite breakfast partners 🙂 🙂 Nevertheless I am always into trying something new and getting convinced my idea/thought about it was wrong…

Floom is a once a month pop-up brunch restaurant that serves a healthy brunch where sugar gets left out as much as possible. They do replace the sugar by natural sweeteners like agave syrup. What Floom tries to show people (like me) that food without the regular sugar and organic food doesn’t have to be dull or boring and lets not forget to make people healthier. Floom also has a wide rang of gluten free products… just FYI. What Julie (owner and founder of Floom) had prepared for us that ‘morning’ did look fantastic and I couldn’t wait to fill my plate (ooooh yeah I rime). .. Really she had prepared Apple-rhubarb clafoutis, chocolate donuts, mango chutney, Red beet salad, green pancakes to name a few… next to her regular selection of muesli that is… Julie’s smile and pride about her food did also give me that extra ‘push’ to try other things :-). I was that surprised and so busy with the food I forgot taking pictures like I usually do, so the few pictures you see are from Floom… I promise that next time I go I’ll try to post a few of my own pictures. But I’m sure these picture’s do the trick 🙂

You could really tell she had put (and puts) her whole heart in the food and lots of passion. She had even prepared a special banana bread for my wife as she knows my wife loves it so much … (my wife already did a few Floom brunches) I enjoy nothing more that people who work with their heart and passion!! I find it my duty to spread the word. I do! I also do my best in showing/letting those people know they are doing a great job and that I’ll try to help them in every way I can to spread that word and making their passion an even better success than it already is. I know they’re not waiting for it, but I’ll do it anyhow 🙂

Did she surprise me? Yes she did!! I was a bit skeptic in the beginning, but after the 2^nd time I filled up my plate I had no doubt anymore that the ‘extreme healthy’ (in my eyes 🙂 ) food wasn’t as bad as I imagined it. Muesli won’t become my daily breakfast, but it isn’t banned anymore from my breakfast table as it might have been before. One step at a time and maybe after my next Floom brunch they will have convinced me even more…

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I do hope you guys get to try one of the famous Floom brunches, do check their FB page or website. In case you’re not able to wait for the next brunch you can also order some of Julie’s home made products via the Floom website. If she was able to convince me, she can convince everybody (she can). You can also find more info on Floom on their website, as I’ve been very brief 🙂

Copa Jerez

May 15, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Everybody knows the prestigious culinary competition ‘Bocuse d’Or’, where countries from all over the world send their best team to represent their country with pride. A competition as prestigious you might not have heard from as much is the ‘Copa Jerez ‘. The ‘Copa Jerez’ is more or less the same principal with the exception that in this case a team consists of a sommelier and chef that have to create a 3 course meal paired with Sherry wine. BTW for those of you who don’t know sherry there are many typs of Sherry Dry sherry’s (Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso o Palo Cortado), sweet sherry’s (Moscatel o Pedro Ximénez) and semi-sweet (Cream, Medium y Pale Cream). You can read more about it on one of my blogposts 😉 (The blogpost). I fully support this contest!! First of all because ever-since my visit to Jerez or better to the Bodega of Tio pepe I became an enormous fan/lover of Sherry wines. Secondly the team representing Belgium this year are very dear to me 🙂 . Starting with the (TOP) Sommelier representing the Belgian colours this year is no-one less than Comme Chez Soi’s Cesar Roman (who originates from Spain). Cesar will be assisted by a chef who always puts a smile on my face when he serves me his food, Nico Corbesier (Les Eleveurs). A young dynamic team with a winners attitude that don’t take satisfaction with a second place 🙂

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I even support them sooo much that I (together with a few sommeliers and chefs) went to help/advice them on the dishes and their accompanying sherry’s. Before our commends and advice it was pretty clear this year’s team is a winning team, so you can imagine how it is after the advice 🙂 🙂 On the picture below you see a small assortment of the big assortment we (had – and what a sacrifice it was) to try to help our friends for the competition… talking about friendship 😉

I did take pictures of the dishes they will be serving, but I think it is better not to share them… that would only give the competitors the change to steal ideas. What I can say is that the dishes are a good mix of Spanish and Belgian influences and products they are proud of…

Join me and support the Belgian team by liking their facebook page!! I will keep you posted on how they did, but every facebook like will give them an extra reason to win.

Putting fun in factory visits

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I know it has been a long since my last blogpost and no I did not stop with my blog 🙂 I just had to give priority to my very very soon to be born daughter (6-7weeks) or better to all the pre–birth stuff that have to get done + I do still have a day-time job that asks a lot of my attention the last few weeks… basically I had less or no time to write. I did have time to have a night out with friends 🙂 It was up to these friends to pick a restaurant and in that way ended up in restaurant Silo’s that only opened its doors on December first (2014)?! So it is/was still brand new! What I was surprised about was the amount of publicity and attention from magazines and bloggers it got…Until I found out that the 2 couples owning Silo’s used to be the former owner from the Michelin star awarded restaurant Folliez in Mechelen (and I did rememberDanny Vanderschueren talking about opening a new restaurant (during Gala Diner of the Best Belgian Sommelier)) and a very well known caterer Daniel’s in Mechelen. But instead of what you might think they decided to walk a different path serving well prepared classic dishes instead of the Michelin star type of food (so non gastronomical) for normal prices.

I didn’t know well how to describe the restaurant until I read Bruno Verspauwen’s article in DM magazine a while ago. He said Silo’s felt like being in a restaurant in the Meatpacking District in NYC… and it really is like that as the restaurant is located in a former industrial malt house like there are many industrial building in the meatpacking in NYC… FYI, Silo’s used to be a Malt house. Maybe picture below will help you picture it. Also this makes it the funnest factory visit ever 😉 😉 I know the picture is taken in the dark, but I’ll be going back in a few weeks and hopefully be able to take a picture in daylight…

Silo’s is a big restaurant that doesn’t feel big. Let me clarify, normally when eating big restaurants one always fears a the bad acoustics and you almost have to shout to the other people at your table… fear that wasn’t needed as they’re acoustics better acoustics that in lots of small restaurants :-). I was told by Danny Van Landtsheer that this on of their main priorities before opening the restaurant at this location! Apparently the reason for the good acoustics is the good foundation of the old factory and the silo’s that are still present in the restaurant… anyhow if that is the real reason or not I enjoyed the fact I didn’t have to shout 😉

As mentioned before you can only find not sophisticated dishes on the menu, my eye immediately fell on the marrow-bone with mustard and herb crust 🙂 NJAMMY !! (only not too good for my cholesterol though, but you can’t undo done things I always say 🙂 :-)) As main course the pork-cheek Belgian beer stew just seemed like the perfect follower for the marrow-bones. for me at least, my lovely wife had the codfish with and our friends a succulent piece of deer filet and Duroc pork rib 🙂 Only thing left on the plats was its varnish everything, so I guess everybody liked it.

What I encourage 100% and found great is that ALL wines from on the menu can also be taken per glass!!! I know that sometimes you drank a bottle(s) but you are still craving for 1 more glass and not another bottle from the same wine to go with you dessert or just because you feel like 1 more glass… at silo’s it is possible, 2 thumbs up!! FYI they also had some great Luis Pato wines (just saying)

Resuming my dinner: I liked it and will be back 🙂 Oh and 1 more thing, do take the classic ‘Dame Blanche’ dessert with home made vanilla ice-cream and really chocolate sauce 🙂

P.S.: I hope you won’t have to wait too long on my next blogpost… but that’s out of my hands…

Restaurant Silo’s

Website: http://www.silos.be/

Address: Leuvensesteenweg 350, 3190 Boortmeerbeeck – Belgium

Where good food leads me

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / 3 Comments

I know the contrast couldn’t be bigger, a few days ago I was writing about a family diner and now I’’m talking about being dressed in a tuxedo and eating at one best restaurants in Belgium aka Sea Grill (2*)… but I just go where the good food leads me 🙂 or in this case where the Belgian top sommeliers lead me ;-). Like every year this year it was time again to nominate this year Best Belgian Sommelier and for a few years now is held at the Royal Radisson Blue hotel where Yves Mattagne’s Sea Grill is located. So why go somewhere else if you have the best you can have under the same roof. To read more about the game itself and Antoine Lebehel’s victory please check my previous blogpost .

As some of you might already know at the age of 12 I started doing chef school, so seeing young upcoming talents from the chef school PIVA helping Yves Mattagne to prepare this year’s Gala dinner another success makes me nostalgic. Not that I ever worked in restaurants of this level. I mean the fact that great chefs like in this case Yves Mattagne (The piva students also often work at banquets of the Royal Family,etc…) ask PIVA to have their students help them says something about the level of school aims for their students. I wanted to mention PIVA because a good education and good guidance is very important and will lead to successful career or at least give the students the possibilities to achieve it (I didn’t always realize that when I was still in school). If you can already learn at this level while in school, I’m sure once they actually start working the sky is the limit?! And no, they didn’t only get the “shitty” jobs, they were a helping hand at all levels, from doing the ‘mise en place’, preparing plates to cleaning and doing dishes like all the other cooks working there. (FYI in the picture bellow people in white are from PIVA , people in Black from Sea grill itself). The same goes for the waiters, they were also assisted by students from PIVA. WELL DONE both the students as Lucas Delforge (and the other teachers/chefs) of PIVA !!

It wasn’t the first time I was fortunate enough to join one of the banquets at the Sea Grill and yet Yves Mattagne is always able to surprise me with both the menu as the actual pieces of flavored art we are served. The Trophy of Belgian Sommelier is just the perfect excuse for me to get to the Sea Grill again :-). This year’s menu was yet another gastronomical feast paired with some very nice wines (being the Gala from the Belgian Sommeliers I didn’t expect otherwise).

After a few very nice glasses of J.L Telmont champagne and some appetizers (didn’t have empty hands, so couldn’t take pictures :-() my appetite was bigger than ever… feast your eyes on the menu we got served (scroll over picture to see what it was). FYI in one of my next posts I’ll be talking in more detail about J.L Telmont champagne.

This dish was served with a white wine made by a Belgian winemaker (former IT consultant like me 🙂 ) in Burgundy (France). It was a 2011 Terre Blonde by Domaine de la Douaix nice round wine and soon an addition to my collection ;-). The dish itself was very nice although initially I wasn’t sure about the black pudding, but the combo worked great and the dish went well with the wine.

We are very lucky people as with the grilled marrow we were served a unique champagne that was opened specially for this occasion (Normally they don’t open them easily), a Cuvée du Centenaire by J.L Telmont. What makes this wine so special is that it is a blend from wine from 1967 until 2005. The first smell made me think it would be a very heavy taste champagne, but after the first sip it was more fruity than imagined. Once it opened up it was like an angel p…. in your mouth 🙂 Nice!

Served with a 2010 Spanish 5 Fincas 2010 Reserva by Perelada. Its smell was familiar, but couldn’t exactly tell what it reminded me. Meat cooked with perfection and served with my favorite kind of mushrooms (porcini)… so for me they couldn’t go wrong.

Served with a 2007 Portuguese wine made 100% with Touriga Nacional grapes by Quinta de lemos. Just the way I like my wines although I think the wine they served with the next dish would have also worked really well with this dish… but maybe that’s just because it is one of my favorite drinks :-). The dish itself maybe seemed a bit heavy for already being almost at the end, but I’m not a difficult person 😉

Served with one of my favorites aka a 1847 Gonzales-Byass Solera

I do also enjoy that every year BRU seems to find the perfect way to stimulate people to drink more water by having it served by very nice young ladies (I know I’m becoming a dad, but I’m not blind either 🙂 ) So I actually have to thank them for being an added value for helping me to get home safe.

A very nice meal! They serve the food the way I like it, the “simple” way , I mean not too many ingredients that make you loose the focus on what you are actually eating. This doesn’t mean the food wasn’t served and prepared in a very refined way of course!! The only thing I wasn’t too crazy about were the coffee ice-cubes that came with the dessert… but that’s a personal taste. Besides that I enjoyed my whole meal and the great company I had during this meal!! I can’t wait for next year’s gala. Yves Mattagne’s team together with the students from PIVA chef school made this year’s gala another success!!

Cheers

Spinelli's Dolce Vita

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