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Wine and Food

Alexander van Dülmen

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Restaurant

La Brocherie, Restaurant, Port La Napoule

La Brocherie, Restaurant, Port de Mandelieu la Napoule, France

5,5 points

Shall I disclose that my profession brings me to Cannes occasionally every year even three times? Everyone who knows me because of my job is aware of current Cannes Film Festival as many of those are right now in Southern France. There are many reasons to hate Cannes: for example the most arrogant and also expensive taxi drivers in the world – almost never available, unfriendly but certainly the opposite of modest, this is one of the only places in the world where you would consider a brand new Passat as lousy car. Many waiters are slow and rude; only those ones who are from other countries – in particular Eastern Europe – are often really nice. I always say that becoming a waiter in Cannes doesn’t require much French as the owner teaches them to behave as follows: “as soon as a guest enters the café don’t hurry, remain staying at the bar as each afternoon. After ca. five minutes – and only if the guest tries to lead some attention to itself – tell him: “J’arrive”. In the case this (maudit) guest is still counting on you after twenty minutes of waiting, just pass him and say “deux minutes”. And then, just some more minutes later, deliver the bill”. Being in Cannes since years you wouldn’t be shocked if someone in real would bill you for nothing. Since a single cappuccino at the Croisette is considerable affordable if it costs “only” € 8 (!) we all shouldn’t be astonished to pay just for foam.

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Bánh tôm Hồ Tây, Seafood Restaurant, Inn and Biergarten, Hanoi

Bánh tôm Hồ Tây, Restaurant and Biergarten, Hanoi, Vietnam

4 points

photo14This is not only a very popular place for all people of Hanoi. It has a historical meaning as this inn is over 50 years old and has been always in private ownership which is quite remarkable considering ruthless disappropriation in the second half of seventies. If you ever have been in Hanoi it is very hard to imagine how quiet and even slow it was in this town just 20 years ago. Although socialism may have some positive sides – in particular in regard to social wealth in Vietnam – it also has had terrible consequences to a country of small but proud farmers and people of traders, dealers and retailers. The most famous meal of Bánh tôm Hồ Tây is the Hồ Tây shrimp cake. During Vietnam War, when young men got called to move to the south to war, families went to this place for a last big dinner. Always when Hanoi people had to celebrate something this restaurant has been first place of celebration.

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Brasserie Warszawska, Warsaw

Brasserie Warszawska, Restaurant, Warsaw, Poland

4 points

Just a quick dinner at Brasserie Warszwaska tonight in Warsaw. This little restaurant in the style of a French Bistro – quite often awarded and multiple recommended by different professional associations as Michelin – seems to be a place rather for lunch than dinner. It is Monday and similar to many other places this is not the busiest evening in general.

As much as it may look like a French bistro – rather in Los Angeles than in Paris – it is a beautiful, smaller but comfortable and selected place.

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Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (Kobarid)

Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (Kobarid), Slovenia

8 points

In reference to my previous report about Hisa Franko – https://avdwineandfood.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/hisa-franko-restaurant-hotel-staro-selo/ – I like to highlight the amazing, impressive and memorable cuisine. Ana Roš is a remarkable chef and it is completely not understandable that she hasn’t got more awards respectively she does not belongs to the circle of cooks which shall have at least one Michelin star considering uninspired food experiences in some French Michelin star restaurants.

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Hisa Franko, Restaurant & Hotel, Staro Selo

Hisa Franko, Restaurant & Hotel, Staro Selo (close to Kobarid), Slovenia

7 points 

It was on the recommendation of my friend Gasper Gabrijelcic that I visited Hisa Franko, the restaurant of one of the top, top chefs in Slovenia, Ana Roš, and her husband Valter Kramar, a unique sommelier. Since this restaurant isn’t just around the corner but located in a very beautiful valley in the South-eastern Slovenian alps, it is very reasonable that they offer ca 10 rooms for staying overnight – or for several nights.

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Jelice, Restaurant & Serbian Inn, Prague

Jelice, Restaurant & Serbian Inn, Prague, Czech Republic

3,5 points

6 points for location

Most of us would connect Prague with Czech beer and heavy food. During nighties and noughties Prague was rather a desert in light of any variety of restaurants. Some selected places, mostly connected to hotels, were worth to visit. However during the last five, six years there is a promising and exciting development. Without some good friends I would not have discovered more and more really interesting, good and remarkable restaurants or even inns of which I will report in future.

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Weinbar Rutz, Berlin (2. report) & “Hans”, Pinot Noir, Marlborough

Weinbar Rutz, Berlin, Germany

“Hans”, Pinot Noir, Hans Herzog, Marlborough, Red-wine from New Zealand

Just a steak! This I love so much about a place like Weinbar Rutz (http://www.rutz-weinbar.de/): on the first floor a Michelin Star restaurant, at the grand level a bar. Coming later the night at 10 pm – after a long day of work – and you get the best food still you can get in town. Without any special arrangements, without the effort of reservation, even not knowing of what you will get since there are always some new or just daily offers. Although season of asparagus started and I could have some first whole I took Prime US Beef as the current piece is in “best age” now – over 50 days dry aged in a smaller drying glassy box in the bar carefully watched by Marco Müller and his team. Super soft, rich of flavors, manly and just rich: a firework of meat flavors. ! Nice of the guys to serve it with something aside: it is not necessary!

7 points for the steak

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Four Season, Restaurant, Hanoi

Four Season, Restaurant, Hanoi, Vietnam

6,5 points

Hanoi! What a wonderful, lively but still classical Asian metropolis! A city which – still – let you feel South East Asian traditions but of course experiences a brutal modernism.

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Hinoki & The Bird, Restaurant, Century City, Los Angeles, USA

Hinoki & The Bird, Restaurant, Century City, Los Angeles, USA

4 points

Yes, there are good, nice and interesting restaurants in Los Angeles. Most of the better places which I know are conceptually offering rather fusions of different cuisines, pretty modern and experimental combinations. It is somehow funny that you can experience much more radicalism testing restaurants than discussing philosophical or political themes with people from Los Angeles. Either restaurants are just real American – most of them then are better steak houses and very much meat driven – or they are young, inspired and of course trend following: if a steak could be green, those places would be the first ones offering it.

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Chef’s Club by Wine & Food, Manhattan, New York

Chef’s Club by Wine & Food, Manhattan, New York, Restaurant, USA

6 points

Open and visible kitchens as the center of restaurants have become more and more popular. As long as the cooking doesn’t become just a show but you experience still very good food, it is a very enjoyable concept. Wherever, either in Warsaw (https://avdwineandfood.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/restaurant-u-kucharzy-w-arsenale-warsaw-poland/), in Berlin (Nobel & Schmutzig) or in Moscow (Vostok) there are still individual ideas giving those places a special character.

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Speicherhotel Barth

Speicherhotel Barth, Barth, Germany

5 points for the hotel

3 points for the restaurant

It is more than 15 years (!) ago that I discovered this hotel. Perhaps only my second or third time at the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) we stood at a peninsula called Darß (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C3%9F) one the most beautiful areas of Germany (Two to three hours driving from Berlin). It a place of peace, relaxation and refreshment! The fresh breeze from the sea, amazing play of colors of sky and light and surprising changes of weather make for a unique and marvelous getaway.


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Crossing a bridge from Zingst, a village on Darß, toward the mainland brings you to Barth. 15 years ago – ten years after “DDR” (German Democratic Republic) – Barth is somehow a perfect case study of the transformation process within Germany.

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Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, Scotland

Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, Scotland

5 points

While on a short journey through Scotland, we spent only one night at a hotel called Pierhouse at Port Appin. Unless you were a fisherman, you would likely not end up in Port Appin if you weren’t looking for a unique and rather peaceful place on the Western coast of Scotland.

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