Alkimia Restaurant, Barcelona, a guest blog post

This is a contribution from Christina.

Dinner in Barcelona

Once again, time to explore the world outside DK and challenge the taste buds. This time on a wonderful weekend trip to Barcelona. Thank you Zoce!

5 hours after side stepping snow drifts in Copenhagen, we stood on the train platform at Barcelona airport, looking down the tracks straight into the evening sun. What a great way to start the weekend, in that special, cool light of a Spring evening.

Alkimia
A table was waiting for us at Alkimia, and after picking up the keys for the flat (and that's a whole other story ...) we headed for the restaurant. One Michelin star equals high expectations from the two most dedicated foodies in Copenhagen, but unfortunately, we were not in for a memorable meal :-(

Something missing
We arrived as the first guests, and were seated at a nice table. My immediate impression was surprise; the ceiling was very low, and it felt like we were below ground. Slightly claustrophobic.

The waiter was kind, but not very focused, and his behavior was a little too much 'by the book'. Although two couples arrived immediately after us, I got a feeling that there was still a lot of preparation going on. There was a lot of walking back and forth, checking forks and wineopeners at sidetables, etc. The result was unrest and rush.

Deconstructed bruschetta
Anyway, being in a supposedly good restaurant, it's always exciting to choose the chef's menu, so that's what we both went for.

The first appetizer was basically bruschetta, but deconstructed: Served in glasses came tomatoe water (a really strong, fresh taste of tomatoe) with olive oil and breadcrumbs. On top of the glass, a slice of sausage. I'm sorry I didn't get the name of the sausage because it was really tasty - I asked, but didn't pick up the word. It was a very light appetizer but full of taste, and fun to have it served like this.


Chickpea disaster
Different with the second appetizer. This was like a temporary black-out. It was a helping of creamy chickpea soup/ sauce (?) with shavings of truffle and, in the middle, a cube of fat from the Iberian black foot pig (If I heard the waiter correctly). The presentation wasn't good, and the taste was non-distinct, leaning towards unpleasant. There was no sense of the chickpeas at all, which is a pity, because they can be delicious if done properly.

On the whole, I felt like I was slirping heated cream with left-over fat from a day-old cutlet. There was no taste of truffle whatsoever. And the dish was lacking pepper, big time! I usually love chickpeas, so this almost made me cry.

Saved by the wine
Thank goodness Zoran chose a wonderful white wine, local as far as I remember. See his blog post for details, as he is, without any doubt, the wine maestro :-) My thoughts on the wine: Very complex and fiesty. Like sparks dancing on your tongue, and with lots of fruit and nuttiness.


Highlight 1
Then the first dish came in. Anchovy and marinated amberjack with avocado. It was beautifully presented, reminding you of Miro's compositions (the blog picture does not really do it justice). The colours were great, and the taste extremely delicate. More of this Alkimia, please!

Iberian nightmares
The shock of the chickpea appetizer was still lurking at the back of my mind though. A premonition that the evening wasn't guaranteed to be a success. And rightly so, the following dishes were all, with a single (but bland) exception, completely wrong. So wrong that I caught myself continuously pushing the food around on the plate, and leaving 75% uneaten. This disturbed me even more than the food itself! Raised to always finish my food out of respect for the person who has cooked the meal (& the wonderful guy paying for it all), I almost never leave food on the plate. This time I did.


Why? Eg. the turnip marrow with Kalix caviar: Here, I was expecting a great combination of sweet, earthy turnip and the light saltiness of caviar. Instead it was a heavy, overcooked mound of something that tasted like it had been stewed 48 hours in fat (from Iberian pig???) - and the caviar... well it was completely suffocated. You couldn't taste it at all.


A pseudo-highlight
Egg bonbon. Apart from the slightly odd name, this dish was actually ok. An egg yolk surrounded by a potatoe puré of some sort to bring on the illusion of a fried egg. It was funny, but still nothing amazing, and the taste was bland to say the least. In hindsight I think that we both liked this dish mostly because it suddenly didn't taste of Iberian fat.

A freaky prawn
A big, fat prawn lying on a bed of salt. A freak show of naked flesh lying on a stone ready to be sacrificed. I wonder what the chef had in mind when he/she conjured up this one? Perhaps the intention was to add a smokey edge from the bayleaf (I think it was bay), but that hadn't reached the prawn at all. The result was instead chemical and sour. The prawn's natural taste had been exorcised, and all that was left was the irritation of having to rinse my fingers in too small a bowl.

Highlight 2
On a more positive note, both desserts were delicious and perfectly done. But nothing out of the ordinary, and honestly, by this time I was too disappointed with the rest of the meal to properly enjoy the dessert :-(

A fading star...
I am no expert, and do not know very much about the professional world of food, but I strongly believe that Alkimia is not a Michelin star worthy. The menu lacked balance and a main theme. Even if the theme was meant to be the damned Iberian pig, it still failed, because it was interrupted by crazy characters like the freaky prawn, an anonymous fish with leathery skin, and an undercooked pigeon with coconut and peanut sponge...?! (Yes, are you as confused as I am?).

The service was rushed and non-personal. I constantly had the impression that the waiters didn't know the menu very well (who can blame them). Whenever I asked them about something, they spoke hurriedly and with no passion. In comparison, a restaurant like Vau in Berlin is sooooo much better. The difference is huge. Sorry Alkimia, but 2 highlights out of 11 dishes.. that's just not good enough.

The rest of the menu...
Pickled oysters with glazed cheek and spinach sauté...


an anonymous fish with leathery skin...


an undercooked pigeon with coconut and peanut sponge...

Pelléas et Mélisande, Claude Debussy

Setting in the kingdom of Allemonde in some legendary times... and a tale of a love triangle...


prince Golaud (Johannes Mannov) brings mysterious Mélisande (Elisabeth Jansson) home to his castle to be his wife and everything goes wrong...


His brother Pelléas (Palle Knudsen) is blindly attracted by Mélisand, and she is also drown to him...

Golaud murders his brother Pelléas, Mélisand give birth to a child by Golaud and dies on a bed.


The forest, the castle, the well, the grotto, the tower... all this elements are important in the Debussy's drama on the same level as playing characters.

The Pelléas et Mélisande is written with his (Claude Debussy) own musical language. Everything which is only hinted and not seen on the stage is complemented by the power of his music and imagination.


Excellent performance especially the love duet in Act IV. There is a great melancholy in the music, symbolic, and above all, this is a romantic opera.

Copenhagen, Operaen, Store Scene
Period: 9 January - 7 February

Top Mountain Report 2010 part I

Winter... skiing... traditionally, week 1 is reserved for Ischgl, Austria with some old friends. Actually, I been lucky to meet my old friend Nina just by a chance. The world is definitely a small place...

So let me began...


View from my room... not so much snow in the village...


but on the mountain...


perfect weather and condition...


a small pat of the L'Equipe sport...


view on the famous Schatzi apres ski bar...


and it's interior ;-)


next day time for my off-piste skiing...


on ca. 2800 m...


there is no much new snowfall, so effort is necessary...


finally something fun...


not so short video made by my friend Horst. Go 2 minute in for an action...


alright, time for a break in in Alpenhaus...


some James Bond picture...


hmmm... not sure how to approach this terrain...


and the end game with not so good weather...

If you haven't been there, just pack your bags and go!

Next station, the Vallee Blanche, Chamonix :-D

Tannhäuser, Richard Wagner

Placed in medieval Germany, in magical place called Venusberg, residence of Venus...


The opening scene in the Venusberg is bohemian with an erotic charge but also somewhat repulsive.

This Tannhäuser is staged more contemporary, quite imaginative, dramatic, with excellent eye-catching sets; including "cupid" walking on the ceiling; a reference to the internal division and chaos.

The minstrel (a medieval European bard) Tannhäuser praises the goddess of beauty and enjoys living a bourgeois life; but... he began thinking for the simple pleasures and pains of earthly life and his beloved Elizabet...


Emi, accessing the difference between western style opera and Nogaku - a classical Japanese musical drama :-)


Tannhäuser has a brilliant cast. The title role of Tannhäuser (Stig Fogh Andersen), quite challenging for a tenor, was executed very good. Same goes for Elisabeth (Tina Kiberg) and Wolfram von Eschenbach (Tom Erik Lie). Venus (Hermine May) needs a voice with beauty and lyricism...

The Tannhäuser is performed very rare and this particular performance is a fine example a modern interpretation of Wagner opera performance.

The finale of the Tannhäuser is considered as most popular of the Wagner's early works. It has a clear trace of Italian operatic style, so if one haven't experienced Wagner before, this is probably the easiest start.

Copenhagen, Operaen, Store Scene
Period: 20 December - 1 Februar

My thoughts on sea food...

With end of the year coming (I'm talking for 2009), I've decided that it's right time for a proper seafood dinner, with a twist; lobsters, oysters, scallops and tartufi.

Aah... lobsters... oysters... scallops... tartufi... my favorite meals. There's just something deliciously enticing, subtle and sexy in it, especially the rich flavors and the hint of the sea. It's been a long time since my last tartufi dinner so nothing can be to much, plus, everyone is ready and crazy for decadent tartufi.


I'm shaving some wonderful tartufo for my dearest guests...


Starter: oysters... washed down with 2005 David Leclapart Champagne Cuvée l'Amateur...


First Course: scallops... washed down with 2004 Jean-Claude Bessin Chablis Grand Cru Valmur...


Entree: lobsters... washed down with 1995 Karl Erbes Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese...


Dessert: cranberry.... washed down with 1996 Roberto Anselmi I Capitelli Veneto IGT.

Yum-yum-yum in every way.

Winter lunch at Aamanns Etablissement, a guest blog post

I try to go beyond my abilities to make the world a better place and a few exceptional contributors and their stories are an inspiration to me, so please guys and girls; we are looking forward for more!

This is a contribution from Christina, welcome ;-)


On what must have been the coldest day yet this winter, I decided to pay hommage to the Nordic spirit and enjoy smørrebrød for lunch at Aamanns (Østerbro, CPH).

Mind you, this was neither the everyday liver paste and pickled beetroot squashed into your lunchbox. Nor the grotesque pile of smelly shrimps on bone dry and sour bread that tourists usually stumble across.
No, this was smørrebrød in a contemporary and truly Nordic sense: simple but with decent ingredients and presented in a minimalistic, elegant way.

Unfortunately I didn't think of bringing my mobile :-( (sorry guys!).
I still believe I should share the experience, though. So hopefully, you will still find this post inspiring.

Professional restraint
The menu immediately reveals that you're in for 'simple and restrained'; Aamann is a pro and knows his stuff. He has no need to boast about it by presenting more than he can cope with.

I chose 'Aamanns lunch', which is the chef's selection of fish (herring), meat, patés, veg and cheese.

First..
The herring was served first. Two kinds, pickled and fried. Strutting their stuff on a small, wooden board, looking gorgeous and delicate and very comfortable on small slices of perfectly moist and smokey rye bread. A single layer of snow white shallot was lying on the edge of the board, longing to be picked up by the herring. A cheeky detail that I loved.

Second..
Next, a platter of three small dishes
- Salad of cod in a light, yet still smooth/ creamy dressing (yogurt?)
- Home made paté (postej) with hazelnuts and pork, decorated with watercress
- Fried goose with dried cranberries

Third..
A soft, danish cheese (Christian something...) full of taste, garnished with a relish made from pears and mustard seeds

All of the dishes were accompanied by plenty of rye bread as well as delicious bread made from a mix of rye and spelt (hmmm don't know the English word for this, and cannot be bothered to look it up right now)

Drink
I chose a light beer to go with the food, which suited the food nicely.
For those of you who are into snaps, Aamanns has quite a few homemade ones to try out.

Impressions
The goose was a little too dry for my taste, but no fault of the kitchen. Everything had been prepared perfectly and true to the traditions of smørrebrød, but with a modern touch.
Towards the end of the meal, I found myself lingering, not really wanting to finish and be forced to leave. Somehow Aamann succeeds in giving you the rich, full taste of Danish winter cuisine without leaving you constipated for days and swearing to give up meat and fat forever :-D

A perfect Danish winter lunch.

Check out the full menu (and a cool image gallery) on Aamanns homepage.

Psst
Remember to book a table in advance! The place was packed.
Kugger

My picks for January...

I guess you're bored with suggestions for Christmas wines for every occasion and every budget... So, I've waited for January to come ;-)


2006 Chateau Kamnik, Ten Barrels, Cabernet, Macedonia
Deep ruby, ripe black fruits, game, mocha... very complex. Full boded, perfectly balanced, with ripe and silky tannins. Gorgeous long finish... Drinks very well now but will develop even more complexity, so keep. (93 pts)


2004 Umathum, Blaufränkisch, Austria
Smooth with some chocolate. Odd in taste but elegant and very pure. (89-90 pts)



2005 Antinori Tignanello, Tuscany
Ruby with some serious aromas of spices and tobacco. Excellent balance, well structured but somewhat too jammy on the palate. Big vine with a pleasant and long finish. Probably to young so I'll check it once more in about couple of years. (89 pts)