I am a member of the Dutch association of Vinologists (Verenigde Vinologen Nederland) and for the first time I went on a wine trip organized by them. Although I’ve been to Piemonte myself on a number of occasions, those were … Continue reading Wine Trip to Piemonte: Nizza and Barbaresco
D’O is the restaurant of chef Davide Oldani in the town of San Pietro all’Olmo, just outside of Milano. The restaurant does not only hold two regular Michelin stars, but also one green star for sustainability. There are three degustation … Continue reading Dining in Italy: D’O**
The Pretzhof is a farm with a restaurant in Alto Adige/Südtirol, near the border with Austria. It is 1000 km from home and we can sleep in the camper on the parking lot of the restaurant, so it is the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Pretzhof (2021)
This was our 4th visit to Laite, a restaurant in the ski resort town of Sappada in the North-East of Italy, close to the Austrian border. Just the way the restaurant looks tells you that Austria is not far away. … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Laite* (2021)
When I was planning our trip to Italy, one of the first things I knew for sure was that our route had to include a meal at Ai Cacciatori in Cavasso Nuovo. We had eaten at this trattoria in 2015 … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Danêl Ai Cacciatori
Trattoria La Madia is located in the small town of Brione, near Lago d’Iseo in the North of Italy. It has been awarded tre gamberi by the Gambero Rosso guide for being one of the best trattorie in Italy. It … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Madia
Meeting other food bloggers in person is always a pleasure. Paola is originally from Genova and has a blog in Italian called “Primo Non Sprecare” (First: Don’t Waste), in which she shares recipes that often contain tips to prevent wasting … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Primo Non Sprecare
We like eating at simple but good restaurants, called trattoria or osteria in Italy, as much as eating at gourmet restaurants with degustation menus and Michelin stars. The Gambero Rosso guide awards there highest rating of “tre gamberi” (three shrimp) to only 32 trattorie in all of Italy, and we will be eating at three of them during this trip. The first is Locanda Mariella, located in the middle of nowhere in the mountains near Parma. It is called “locanda” instead of trattoria/osteria, because it also has rooms to stay the night. (We however stayed in our RV (camper) on … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda Mariella
Four years ago we had a fantastic experience at Enoteca Pinchiorri, click here for my review of that dinner. Back then I already decided we would be back for an even better experience at “grand cru” rather than “premier cru” … Continue reading Enoteca Pinchiorri*** (2021)
Pepe Nero had attracted my attention as one of 24 restaurants in all of Italy that had been awarded “best value for money” in the 2021 edition of the Gambero Rosso Ristoranti d’Italia guide. And as the only one of … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Pepe Nero
Trattoria La Coccinella was one of the first restaurants I wanted to return to when I was thinking about what we were going to do this trip. We had only eaten there once before, in 2010, but I can still … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Coccinella
Piazza Duomo is the restaurant with 3 Michelin stars of chef Enrico Crippa in the town of Alba in Piemonte. We haven’t visited this area for a while, and therefore our last visit was in 2014. This was our 4th … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Piazza Duomo*** (2021)
Le Casa della Saracacca is a winebar/restaurant (they also have rooms) in the old town of Monforte d’Alba in the Barolo area of Piemonte. It is housed in a medieval building with a modern construction of steel, cables, and glass … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Case della Saracca
Restaurant Le Due Lanterne in Nizza Monferrato is included in the Michelin guide with a “bib gourmand” and it is also listed by Osterie d’Italia. We opted for the 45 euro tasting menu, which includes 4 antipasti, 2 primi, 2 … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Due Lanterne
One of the joys of blogging is meeting up with other bloggers. Bea owns the wonderful blog in Italian Viaggiando con Bea, in which she shares her travels and her recipes. We have been following each other’s blogs for over … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Viaggiando con Bea
Valtellina is a valley in North-West Italy on the border with Switzerland. The valley is west-east oriented, so the northern slope has southern exposure and is ideal for wine growing. We came here to sample the wines that are made … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Trippi
In Italy you can go to almost any restaurant and the food will be good and you will find local typical dishes on the menu. Only in more touristy areas you have to pay attention, such as where we are … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Aquila d’Oro
Our annual dinner at the Librije in December of last year had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Now that most of us our vaccinated, restaurants are back in business and we could catch up our dinner. As usual … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2021)
Chef Roeland Klein of Avenida suggested we go eat at Florian in Quinta do Lago, which also has a Dutch chef and according to him serves top quality ingredients. When we arrived at Florian, the host and wife of the chef let us know that a tasting menu of different dishes on the menu with wine pairing had been arranged for us by the chef. Would that be okay with us? Yes of course. Usually the restaurant works à la carte with starters around 15 euros, mains around 30 euros and desserts around 10 euros. We started off with pata … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Florian
Casa Velha is located in the middle of the Quinta do Lago resort with manicured landscaping and golf courses. Not a place we’d usually go for our vacation, but we went there for the restaurant. Due to the pandemic the … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Casa Velha
The name of the restaurant A Ver Tavira literally means “to see Tavira”, which makes sense, because the restaurant offers a view on the town of Tavira in the eastern Algarve. There are three tasting menus starting at 50 euros. … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: A Ver Tavira I
It was an unexpected pleasure to dine at Avenida in Lagos, a beach town in the Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. Most restaurants in Lagos are aimed at tourists and we did not expect to find a restaurant here … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Avenida
Alma is the restaurant of chef Henrique Sá Pessoa in Lisbon with two Michelin stars. The restaurant offers two tasting menus with the same number of courses (6) and the same price (120 euros): Alma with chef’s classics, and Costa … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Alma**
With two Michelin stars and number 42 on the list of the World’s 50 best restaurants, Belcanto has the reputation to be one of the best, or even the best, restaurant in Portugal. Chef José Avillez started in 2012 and … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Belcanto**
The name of the restaurant Sommelier in Lisbon makes it easy to understand that this restaurant specializes in wine. Once inside, this message is reinforced by the arrangement of wine displayed on the back wall off the dining room. It … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Sommelier
We’ve been on a last-minute vacation to the Mediterranean island of Malta for a week, which we concluded with a dinner at Noni. This trip was so last-minute that I had not done any research and I wasn’t even aware … Continue reading Dining in Malta: Noni*
There are two restaurants holding three Michelin stars in the Netherlands: Librije and Inter Scaldes. Librije has held the 3 stars since 2004 and we have eaten there every year since (click here for the review of our latest visit). … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Inter Scaldes*** (2020)
Every year we celebrate our wedding anniversary with a dinner at a special restaurant. Due to the virus, the plans I had made well in advance for our 18th anniversary had to be cancelled. Luckily there are some good restaurants … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Tribeca**
We had 6 restaurants with a combined total of 15 Michelin stars lined up in Tokyo and Taipei, but due to the corona virus never made it to Taipei and had to leave Japan early. When the Dutch government strongly … Continue reading Dining in Kyoto: Wagokoro Izumi**
I’ve been following chef Richard van Oostenbrugge since he started as the chef of Bord’eau in Hotel de l’Europe in Amsterdam. After gaining two Michelin stars, he started his own restaurant 212 and this is our second visit. 212 has been open for 2 years and now has one Michelin star. The restaurant is different from most other Michelin-starred restaurants as the seating is at a bar around the kitchen where you can see the dishes being finished. (The actual kitchen is downstairs.) We opted for the six course tasting menu (138 euros) with premium wine pairing (118 euros). The … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: 212* (2020)
