Food and other observations

2:17:52 AM EDT
Hearing Fixkes & Gorki To the Saint Louis crew:


And Gorki were damn good as well :-)


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1:51:31 AM EDT

Tucked away on the the less trendy side of Avenue Louise is a very pleasant (if slightly pricey) restaurant de quartier, serving french food together with a long wine list (take advice from waiter, Sommelier of year 1995, as the quality varies).

The dishes were all very attractively and carefully prepared.  The mouselline on the asparagus and scampi was light and flavoursome, and the quenelles of grey prawns and mushrooms served with coulis of parsely made for a particularly interesting combination of tastes.

The main courses - veal cutlets, cooked pink, served with a light jus aux morilles - salmon with foie gras soup! (unexpected but delicious) -  saint pierre...  All the dishes were generously decked with a fine selection of baby vegetables.

de la Vigne à l'assiette, Rue de la Longue Haie 51

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10:54:43 AM EDT

This former curry house has been transformed into a trendy eatery just 200 meters from the Berlaymont Euro HQ.  The restaurant describes itself as French/Italian but it seemed rather more international than that.  In any event, the cuisine is perfectly placed alongside the modern ambience and the casually dressed staff.  Naturally for this area, the clientele is a broad range of Eurocrats and their lobbyists, but the prices were not astronomical.

I had the absolutely devine Plancha de boeuf mille feuille, which turned out to me thinkly sliced beef layered with tomato and cheese and then baked in the oven.  It seemed to be served with a lightly curried sauce.  My lunch mate had a plate of amply filled ravioli.

Multi Culti,  Avenue des Nerviens 1

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10:12:52 AM EDT

I found Quartier Libre on the second working day of the new year, when lots of others were shut.  But I’m so glad I did!  The establishment consists of a very simple set of wooden tables and chairs … and pencils and some little slips of paper.  You have to write your own order!  The menu consists of 16 items divided into 4 rather arbitrary categories, and there is no compulsion to order from each and every one.  A normal sized lunch consists of 4 dishes.

If it sounds like tapas, then you’ve got the idea.  But the cuisine is largely inspired by northern European traditions.  I had a carrot soup, a half of avocado, a sort of scampi cocktail and some pomme dauphinoise.  It all tasted great and my dining partner reported the same for theirs.

Quartier Libre, Rue des Trèves 44

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2:29:05 AM EDT I came here to talk about the post, but got to see the lovely Orthodox church perched on the top of the Estonian "mountain" (apparently their is no Estonian word for "hill", and yet there are no mountains in Estonia!).  The old "upper" town was beautiful, and afforded lovely views over the Baltic harbour.

Both the hotel I stayed in and the one of the conference and the airport had free WiFi.  A paradise that the rest of Europe should follow?  Perhaps not as connections were frequently very slow.

Another first was my mobile phone that told me my location everywhere I went - indeed it even told me the name of my hotel when I was in it.  Bizarre!


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1:36:49 PM EST The stylish design of the Hotel Rival in Stockholm makes it a great place to stay under any circumstances.  But whereas several hotels relay the TV signal into the bathroom from the bedroom, I hadn't previously stayed in a place where the TV could be watched while in the shower.

Although with the shower I could close the blinds for privacy, the camera in my taxi took my photo without asking any permission!  It felt rather too personal to have 1 camera 1 passenger, even though I guess my photos has been taken many times on London buses and even more so by close circuit TVs in so many countries.


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3:34:26 PM EST Norway was the second country (after Ireland) in the EU to ban smoking in restaurants and cafes.  In Dublin you can find little tents erected outside the entrances to pubs to protect people from the rain when they have a puff.  In Norway, the cold is rather more the problem (it was a warm 0° today, but will be -6 tomorrow).  I saw several cafes with people sitting outside with heaters above them, but this sheepskin and blanket luxury took the prize for elegance ... and comfort.


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