Welcome in my livingroom

October 17, 2011October 17, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I know it won’t come as a surprise, but this weekend I went to a restaurant 🙂

I must say that this time I picked out something special., I went to restaurant “Carrod’s”. What actually initially attracted me to this restaurant, is that the owner Stephanie runs and works alone in this restaurant. So I really wanted to see how she managed to do this? On top of that Stephanie is running to become ‘BRU lady chef of the year 2012’, she is also part of ‘Jong Keukengeweld’ and lots of magazines are writing about her… So my curiosity got stimulated even more.

The only thing that might scare off some people about this restaurant is that it is located in Borgerhout, the multicultural part of Antwerp with not the best reputation (I don’t mind as I lived here in my childhood).

One advice, if you want to come here, you’d better book a table in advance. When booking your table you have to let know for which formula you’re going for, you can choose between day menu of a suggestion menu. The day menu would be a soup, main course and a dessert at 15EUR. The suggestion menu would be a 4 course dinner at 30EUR. Currently there is also the ‘Jong Keukengeweld’ menu, but this only until the end of ‘Jong Keukengeweld’. Both menu’s change daily, which is very remarkable (The Jong keukengeweld menu was the same over the whole period). Knowing Stephanie didn’t study at cooking school, she has a modern art background… she only started cooking after having worked for a while at the Hilton hotel… after that she decided to get her chef’s degree and she has the restaurant for about 1 year now. We went for the ‘Day menu’ as we didn’t have that much time to eat.

Once she opens the restaurant door for you, you immediately feel at home. First off all because the 3 tables are in the former living room of the house, but also because of the friendliness and spontaneity of Stephanie,who also immediately wants to know what you want to drink. We went for a glass of Spumante. The soup was fennel soup with watercress and pink peppercorns (I’m really not a soup eater, but this was some good soup!). The main course was a spaghetti carbonara like pasta, but with brussels sprouts, turnip (knolraap), sweet potatoe, trout and I think I tasted some goats cheese. With our main course we drank a 2007 Refosco from Villarosso. To finish our meal we had a Dame Blanche. Overall a very nice meal and I honestly felt like being at a friend’s house for dinner, the same cosiness and great talk as I would have at a friend’s house (with nice food) . During my dinner I also saw some dishes from the Suggestion menu pass by and I must say they really looked very nice and I’m returning for sure to try the suggestion menu.

So basically if you like the ‘at home feeling’ and none of that fancy panths thing, this place is definitely the place for you!

Restaurant Carrod’s:

Website: http://www.carrods.be

Address:

Krugerplein 18

2140 Borgerhout, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)498 06 23 21

Meat and eat, what’s in a name :-)

October 14, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

I could try to give this post a better title, but why… the name speaks for itself.

A while ago I was at this event near the marnixplaats in Antwerp and that’s when I noticed this little restaurant that really attracted me a lot called Meat and Eat… I think it was because it is small restaurant, where you can see the chef prepare your meal.

So last week I decided to go there with a buddy of mine. The place was really full, and people really kept coming.. So lucky for us we made a reservation 🙂. As you might have already imagine, this restaurant is specialized in meat, so if you are a veggie I wouldn’t really recommend this restaurant…

The story behind this restaurant is actually also very nice. This restaurants used to be butchery from the father of the current owners. The 3 brothers wanted in some way continue in their father’s foodsteps… what they did with opening a meat restaurant, where you get served good meat for a normal price. And I really want to add that the owners are of a remarkable friendliness .

As it was Thursday, we took the Thursday special which includes a piece of steak of 700g for 2 with French fries, salad and a bottle of wine. ME LIKE 🙂

I enjoyed myself and would for sure return!

Bistro Meat & Eat:

Website: http://www.meat-and-eat.be/

Address:

Vrijheidstraat 63

2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0) 3 238.11.15

And so my trip ended

October 13, 2011May 2, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

And so a trip comes to an end, after mowing the lawn (YES, she made me work) at Zia Livia’s house and having a great meal…

There are still two more things I wanted to tell you guys about this region (for now).

A little town that I want you guys to visit, is Cividale. Cividale is another picturesque little town , filled with lots of history. This town was actually founded/ created by Julius Caesar around 50 BC. And after that lots and lots of tribes have concurred this little town….When entering this little town you do this walking over the “Ponte del Diavolo’ or devils bridge….

Ofcourse being close to the sea, I really should speak about where the beaches are 🙂

When you have children and you want to see wild Dolphins (YES, dolphins) you could have to go to Grado. Grado is a peninsula surrounded by beautiful azure colored water where you can find around 30 wild dolphins that life here whole year round. Why I also advice this spot for people with children, first of all because you can walk 10 minutes before you’re finally in deep water, but also because the beach of Grado is full of natural iodine… which is good for children’s’ bones . I like to go there for the great Ice cream salons 🙂 + it has a nice little town and harbor .

Me and my parents (when my brother and I were younger) we always went to Marina Julia. It is nothing special, not as beautiful as Grado or the other beaches nearby… but the best place to do windsurfing and/ or Kitesurfing! too bad I didn’t take a picture, there were really at least 50 of them

If you prefer swimming in Deeper water or diving I would advise you to either go to Duino, a little harbor near Trieste or Sistiana, as there the water is immediately deep. When my brother and I were older we preferred going to these two beaches.

There are still many more places to visit in this region, but I have to stop somewhere 🙂

Maybe I’ll post something about the local dishes… only if you guys want me to? Let me know

And so our trip continues

October 12, 2011May 2, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Sorry for delay, but here the story continues…

It seems like I did nothing else but eat during this trip 🙂

Let me maybe tell something more about the wonderful region Friuli Venezia Giulia. When you ask people which regions in Italy do you know, 90% will answer Tuscany and maybe Umbria… But there are so many other beautiful regions in Italy, like Piemonte (as you could see on my previous posts) and Friuli. Friuli is a region that not too many people know, they might have heard talking about Trieste , which is the capital and most important city in this region, but that’s about it… I’ve been travelling to this region whole my life, I can guaranty you that this region has a lot to offer. Like Illycoffee, this coffee is original from Trieste :-). Also some of the Italian white wines are from Friuli.

Maybe I should first start by showing where Friuli is actually located:

Trieste is a city that has really one of the most beautiful front views ever… If you look at the picture right above, this is a view you have while driving with your car towards Trieste. As’ Illy’ is the local coffee brand, you really have to drink a ‘Illy’ or another local coffee in Trieste! My favorite spot would be “Cremcaffè’ at Piazza Goldoni 10. But there are ofcourse many many bars where the’ Barista ‘will let you taste why Trieste is the city of coffee. Not so long ago ( a few years) Trieste’s façade has totally been renovated, which resulted to an even more spectacular view (to my modest opinion) and the fact the city is right next to the sea, makes this city a ‘must see’… If you would go to Trieste and you are standing on the “Piazza Unità d’Italia” you’ll know what I mean! If you are a sailboat fan, Trieste is really THE place to be the first week of October, as in that week there is a regatta called ‘Barcolana”. A really magnificent thing to see. Another ‘must see’ is the beautiful ‘Castello di Miramar’ and its gardens. The story behind the castle is a bit tragic…

Udine would be the next city I would recommend to visit. I like this city because it is not too big and not too small, just right 🙂, with the most beautiful picturesque squares. You really think of being inside a painting like ‘piazza matteotti’, that to my opinion one of the most beautiful squares! (especially when the open air market is there). If you re into design and/or furniture, you have to go to the town ‘Manzano’, which is still part of Udine. This town is not for nothing called ‘the Capital of chairs’, it is. One of the most famous designers from this town is Calligaris. This town also has a GIANT wooden chair standing on a square before entering the town! See picture below. If only I were a better photographer, then I would be able to really show the beauty…

For all you hungry people out there, San Daniele is a ‘must do’. I could keep eating that ham. For me this is more tasty the Parma ham. Up to you to decide. The pest period to go would be during the ‘Festa del Proscuitto’ (in June) mmmmmmm, just the thought of being there.

To be continued, tomorrow more about this great region.

Tasting Bordeaux in the streets of Brussels on Wednesdays

October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Every wednesday of October there are Bordeaux wine tastings in 5 trendy bars in Brussels. Last wednesday 6 and 9pm there were tasted more than 1200 glasses of wine or more than 200 bottles 🙂those ‘Brussels people’ sure know how to drink! They have a wide assortment of red, white and rosé wines from the Bordeaux region for a price between 4 and 20 euro and op top of that they have foreseen some nice music to go with this liquid of gods!

So definitely THE place to be after work on Wednesday if you like great wine, great atmosphere and a vintage location

If I can’t convince you, maybe this little video can

For the next editions you have to go to:

woensdag 12 october at London Calling

rue de Dublin 46, 1050 Brussels. Metro Porte de Namur

Concert van Christophe Astolfi Trio

woensdag 19 october at Les Pénates

rue de Vergnies 42, 1050 Brussels. Metro Flagey

Concert van Alexandra Vassen (DJ set)

woensdag 26 october at Bar du Matin

Chaussée d’Alsemberg 172, 1050 Brussels. Metro Albert 3

Concert van Jack Fire

Hope to bump into you!!

Cheers

Pizza in 90 seconds

October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

New Yorker Puzant Khatchadourian has invented a machine that can prepare a pizza in 90 second??

You first choose which of the 3 pizza’s you want. Once you made your choice, the machine starts preparing the dough and at the same time it spreads tomatosauce and choose on top. Depending whichi pizza you choose it will take between 90 second and 3 and a half minutes for the pizza to be ready.

My question would be, how does it taste? If anybody has tried it already, let me know!

A Must do culinary event

October 7, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

For everybody who likes the best food you can get in one of the most beautiful Belgian cities! At the end of this month there will be a 3 day event in the city center of the world famous Bruges (Brugge).

The reason for it is that Brugge is one Belgium’s cities with the most star restaurants, pastry chefs and a few of the world’s best chocolatiers. That is why between 29 and 31^st between 11am and 9 pm of October the culinary event ‘Kookeet ‘ will take with participants like Karmeliet***, Hertog Jan**, De Jonkman*, Aneth*, Sans Cravate*, Patrick Devos, Bistro De Refter, ’t Stil Ende, ’t Pandreitje and the list goes on and on. The entrance to the event is free, but every dish that gets served has a price between 3 and 9euro (which is certainly reasonable as it are the best chefs preparing it). You can find the dishes that will be served on the following Link: http://www.bruggeplus.be/nl/kookeet

I’ll be going, hopefully I’ll see you there!!

And yet we went to another vineyard

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Today my aunt asked my something I have never heard before… she wanted to invite us to a restaurant???? She never did this, as she makes everything better herself. So not accepting it is not an option. Apparently lately she does this more often together with some friends 🙂 (which is really great) She invite us to this very nice restaurant near the Slovenian boarder, Azienda agricola Stanig aka “Al vecchio Gelso” Which is also a vineyard 🙂 (I like). She actually wanted to take us to Stanig, as she had already been here a couple of times and liked very much. But also because she knows my brother is really crazy about the local wine called “Ribola Gialla” which you have in the form as a regular white wine and as a kind of spumante that I actually didn’t know also existed. So she wanted us to taste it and when maybe even take a few bottles for my brother. When I arrived at this restaurant I immediately knew this was something I liked, surrounded by vineyards, apple trees, etc…. lovely.

We first got offered a glass of this famous “Ribolla” or as they call it “Ribollicine”, and I can guaranty that it was indeed good. The grape has a realy nice smooth taste with tones of citrus in it. Really worth trying!!

But ofcourse we didn’t only come to drink :-)!We also had some delicious food. Do you remember my blogpost from Piemonte when I talked about restaurant Gemma? Well this was the same kind of restaurant, everything homemade, with love, very friendly people and more food than you can eat. As an antipasto, we started light with some San Daniele ham and some local cheese. We then took a Trio from pasta (as we couldn’t choose) Orzotto with the first broccoli from the season (like risotto, but with orzo instaid of rice), a kind of lasagna with pork sausage sauce and tagliatelle with porcini. To accompany this we had a local red wine “Schioppettino“, an interesting taste, a more herbal kind of wine… I don’t think it would match with everything, but the bottle was empty at the end, so it couldn’t have been bad. (btw if you don’t finish your bottle, they give it to you to take home) We didn’t finish eating yet 🙂 as ‘secondo’ or main course we took the ‘involtini di’anatra’ (duck roll), roast and rabbit. They all came with a slice of white polenta and for the whole table we took some “zucchini”, “potatoes baked in the oven with rosemary” and some spinach. There was NO more room for dessert, only for a coffee.

As we were at the vineyard and I had wanted to take a few bottles of “Ribolla” for my brother I also took the liberty of buying an extra box of wine for me and my brother with an assortiment of the regional wines… And may I just say that the wines from Stanig have a nice tase. One of my preferred red wines from this region would be “Merlot’ (more than Cabernet’, for the white wines my preference would go to the Tokai Friulano (previously known as Tokai), but the Malvasia and Sauvignon are also very nice.

And may I also add that I like the look of the bottles (I know what is in it is more important, but they really look nice)

After our diner and wine purchase we did a little walk across the vineyard and set sail to go back home (to eat some more in the evening) after having a wonderful and tasty lunch.

FYI, as this is an agriturismo they also have rooms available…. Just a suggestion

My Zia Livia

October 5, 2011October 5, 2011 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

So finally we arrived in ‘Monfalcone’ (where my aunt lives) and the first question she asks me ‘Hai fame?’ (are you hungry)hahaha, really unbelievable. But I think even if I would say NO, she would still start preparing something, just in case. Anyhow, in this case I was indeed hungry 🙂

So lucky for me she had brought all lot of ingredients from Torino and started cooking immediately.

Zia had brought the biggest paprika’s I had ever seen! Apparently the ones from Piemonte are much better than the ones you buy elsewhere. When you peel them, there is still a lot of flesh left on them …

So with those ones she made peperonata. To accompany this, she made a ‘arrosto’, that nooooobody else can make like her. It is so soft and tender, no fat and the best gravy with it …. As primo she made some fresh pasta (she had made it before leaving for Torino, as she knew we would be joining her home) with a fresh ‘salsa pomodoro’. She didn’t make dessert 🙂 we just had some fresh peaches … Why does everything taste so much better in Southern Europe???

When I stay at Zia Livia’s house the n°1 concern every day is what will we eat 🙂. As I’m her favorite nephew, she always makes ALL my preferred dishes 🙂lasagna with asparagus (she had put some fresh ones in the freezer to be able to make the lasagna when I would come), cannelloni, faraona , and the list goes on and on 🙂ok ok, I’m spoiled, especially knowing she goes to farmers to get me the best ingredients and makes all the pasta herself. You might not think this, but she is 78 years old!! (and she is more active than me 🙂 )

I so love my Zia Livia!! So my first day at her house ended in a way I like very very much 🙂 (tooo bad you guys can’t taste all this food, but trust me it was good!)