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Restaurant Verjus, Paris, France

June 17, 2013
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We picked Verjus pretty much at random via a listing in Le Fooding, and boy did we ever win.

At dinner, Verjus only offers a tasting menu, which in June made brilliant use of early-summer French veg, cooking in a modern American style – it’s a killer combination.  I can’t remember a meal that was so infused with the essence of fresh green veg. Meat & fish were there, and were very good, but it seemed always somehow ensconced in a halo of fresh and green.

The meal was a really interesting counterpoint to dinner at Le Chateaubriand a couple of nights earlier.  Both were brilliant, but in very different ways. Whereas Le Chateaubriand takes you to places you didn’t know existed, Verjus makes you happy to be alive and eating.

We heard a few suspiciously American accents floating around and upon asking learned that the proprietors were in fact Americans.  The story, we learned, is that they had started out doing at-home cooking, but when the waiting list for their dinners started reaching into the hundreds, they decided it was time to open shop in a proper restaurant.  Presumably, Paris is pleased that they did.

The photo, sadly, does absolutely no justice to the beauty of the food.  Go check out their website for some proper images.

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Van de Markt Restaurant, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

August 9, 2012
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In July 2012, Van de Markt moved up the block to a prime location directly on the Amstel River, and has built a large wine cellar to go with its elegant new dining room. The atmosphere is a bit more formal than we remember at the old address, but certainly not stuffy, and the service is very attentive. In fact it manages to be the kind of place you could go for either a romantic or business dinner, and nobody would feel awkward.

The food is broadly based on French and Italian concepts with subtle tweaks borrowed from other places: fresh ravioli made with peas; or a Terrance Major cut of beef with a smear of charred eggplant, which adds the smokiness you find in a good baba ghanoush to the dish. We felt bad for the dessert team though, because they have to compete with the most impressive cheese trolley we’ve ever seen in Amsterdam.

You can order off the menu, but we suggest you just go with the tasting menu and see what shows up.

Sale Pepe Rosmarino Restaurant, Brussels, Belgium

August 6, 2012
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Just around the corner from the Pantone Hotel, near the Louizalaan, Sale Pepe Rosmarino is an excellent small Italian restaurant. We’ve been there a few times, and have being knocked out by plates like hand-made mezze lune with lemon and sage or scallops with fresh shaved truffle.

They have a standard menu, but seemingly everyone orders off the daily specials board, which features starters, pastas, and meat/fish dishes. Wines have been excellent.  Two courses and wine will run around €60 per person.

It’s not big, and reservations are definitely recommended. They don’t even have a website. Just a phone: 02-538.90.63.

Hai.Bo, Durban, South Africa

January 22, 2012
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This gallery contains 3 photos.

Hai.Bo made us break the ‘don’t go back to the same place’ rule during our recent trip to Durban three times. Some very smart people are making some excellent food and cocktails here.  Some are twists on local standards, like the mini bunny chows. Others, like the ‘Indian Nachos’ – which at first glance seem …

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The Winding Stair, Dublin, Ireland

January 20, 2012
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Our two visits were almost three years apart, but there seems to have been no dip in the (very high) quality of food and service at the Winding Stair.

Right on the river, and attached to a bookstore, a meal there was the first thing we booked when we knew we’d be heading back to Dublin.  And we were not disappointed. The ingredients are local and artisanal and beautifully prepared.  

What also struck on our last visit was the smart service – to the point that our waiter politely but firmly told one of us the glass of dessert wine we ordered was a bad idea for the dessert we’d requested, and set us on the right path. Of course choosing the wrong dessert wine is a tiny thing, a ridiculous luxury ‘problem’ – but that interaction also demonstrated the level of respect the staff have for what the restaurant does.  If you’re going to invest in a good meal out, it’s great to invest in people who clearly care enough about what they’re doing to know the customer isn’t always right.

Peak Restaurant, Llanberis, Wales

November 16, 2011
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After a day of hiking in Snowdonia National Park, it was an absolute delight to come back to town and find the Peak Restaurant waiting for us.  There is nothing pretentious about the restaurant, but it serves food of a quality and creativity that you would have to work to find, even in a much larger city. Some locals thought the place was ‘expensive’ but ignore any such comments because: 1.  It’s very affordable; 2. You’d pay three times as much in any major city for this kind of quality; and 3. It would still be worth it at three times the price.

They take a great deal of care in sourcing products locally, from the best producers who specialize, for example, in different cuts of meat.  Sausages and pates are glorious, and you can find some great local beers to wash them down.

Plenty of hikes end with a freeze-dried dinner out of a packet, or worse.  While in Llanberis, take advantage of the opportunity to go visit a very talented chef, and have a top-quality dinner instead.

Piccolo Restaurant, Minneapolis, MN, USA

November 4, 2011
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So right off, I need to confess that I’ve known Piccolo’s Chef Doug Flicker for a long time.  Nonetheless, I think it’s safe to say that Piccolo is something remarkable.  A small restaurant, with small, intricately designed plates of food, which often leave you with no clear idea of what’s going to happen on your table.  But in the hands of people as capable as Doug and his team, the experience will be something unexpected and delightful.  They’re very good at what they do.  Just trust them.

The menu changes regularly, in accordance with what’s interesting and available, but the one dish that has remained since the start is “Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pig’s feet, truffle butter and Parmigiano.”  Sounds a bit weird, tastes excellent.  I had this for dessert because I just had to try it and needed to squeeze the extra course in somewhere.

And, finally, if you think my personal connections may be swaying the coverage, check out what this guy has to say at about 6 minutes 50 seconds.

Coppa Restaurant, Boston, USA

November 3, 2011
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While we love traditional Boston-style Italian food (read: heavy and red-sauced), it’s great to find some places like Coppa that are moving things along. We only wish we had a chance to try more than pizza and some antipasti, though both were brilliant. Carote (Marinated baby carrots with ginger and dahlia) and Cavolfiore (Marinated cauliflower with shallots, thyme, Ricotta Salata and sea salt) were both unexpected and clever.  The pizzas prompted a discussion of our short list of five-best-ever – they’ve in that territory.  We went for the Buratta Bianco (White pizza with buratta, heirloom squash and Calabrian chili oil) and Salsiccia (Tomato, spicy pork sausage, ricotta, and red onion).  Great food is complemented by an Italian wine list with some unusual varieties (e.g. our Carignano Surrau “Rosso Juannisolu”) arranged geographically, from north to south.

Another thing we love is that half the seats are held for walk-ins, so you always have a shot at getting in, although you might have to wait for a little bit.  But it’s worth the wait.