Italia! C'è la vitta bella! (& the food too!)

This post on my blog is about many of my passions, actually I don't know where to start and what to say. There are so many things I'd like to say about Italy and how much I love this country for so many reasons.

Let me start by saying why I went to Italy last weekend...
On January 26th this year, my boyfriend has asked me to marry him! In the last 6,5 years we've been talking about getting married abroad many times and Italy was our number one choice. Now that we are getting married (hope you weren't waiting for my answer... ofcourse I said yes!!!) the decision was made easily and in the end of September this year the big day will take place in Siena, Tuscany.

When looking at locations we fell in love with Siena and the Fattoria ('Farm'-- wine & olive oil) where we will stay with our guests. Naturally we couldn't book it without checking it out for ourselves so we booked a weekend (what a hard knock life we have..). The weekend of 23 to 25 March was the opening weekend of the Fattoria and therefore on Friday we were forced to visit Siena for food and drinks. This was everything but a dissapointment.

First of all, Siena is so impressive with it's beautiful little streets, little shops, the Duomo, Santa Maria della scala and Piazza il Campo. One word: Gorgeous!
We were hungry so one of the first (out of many) cute little espresso bars with a lunchmenu was our pick. Starving... so no time to take a good look at the menu... 'we'll see!'. The menu that showed some tacky pictures of some of their dishes looked like one in a too crowded touristy place. Well... it wasn't crowded at that time but thinking... we WERE in a touristy place. What do you think of the food and the service in such places usually? Well... I don't think I have to ask.
But, as you know, we were in a cute city in Italy, this is where there's one thing they do understand: FOOD! We had a plate of cured/dried meat and two small pasta's. Maybe it was the fact that we didn't expect a lot and we were hungry but really, delicious!
The meat is in no way comparable to the meat you get in Dutch 'simple' restaurants but more similar to the meat you get on an expensive plate in a fancy / chique restaurant. When you close your eyes, it will feel like you're really there. 'Il conto' wasn't mentionable and we left the espresso bar happy and satisfied.

Ofcourse, tourists that we are, we wanted to eat or drink something at Piazza il Campo. We, Dutch that we are(!), liked to grab a nice beer and 'Bar Birreria' looked like it could meet our wishes. With several beers on draft and many beers on bottle we had all the choice we needed. The Belgian brown beer I ordered unfortunately wasn't available anymore (looking at the ladies frowned face it seemed like I was the first in 10 years to ask for it LOL) so I got an English one. All fine, nessun problema!
Il conto surprised us a little more here since the beers were around 6/8 euro's. This shows again that beer isn't really Italian and you'd better go for a glass of amazing local wine (3 euro's!).

In the evening we wanted to enjoy some Italian foods in our villa at the Fattoria and therefore visited a small deli shop and went for the most delicious looking mortadella, salame, peccorino cheese, blue cheese and pane (bread), and we couldn't resist a piece of local specialty torta (sort of a cake). That evening we enjoyed all this with a bottle of complimentary wine of the hotel. Really amazing and so delicious that every bite surprises you.

You really taste the purity and authenticity. All the flavours are as they should be and I don't think there's anywhere in the world where you can get such pure food that tastes so amazing.

The next day we had coffee and later a lunch at Piazza il Campo, also a place where you don't expect too much quality and high prices since it's mainly tourists visiting. It surprised us in everyway possible. The prices were low and the food was again... delicious. Crispy bruschetta as it should be and a beautiful salad and a 4 cheese pizza. Really, I absolutely love the pizza from Pizzeria Il Mondo in Utrecht but it would never win from this one!

Later on at the Fattoria we had a wine tasting of all the delicious wines that the Fattoria has to offer and small bites weren't skipped here either. The Italians know their way to spoil us, and themselves!
A little tipsy after not only 'tasting' we went to the Fattoria's restaurant where we were pampered with a great 3 course dinner with local dishes such as boar. Also the amazing Italian man who served us (imagine; 70 years old, twinkling eyes, small, a pasta-belly and oh so charming) really wanted us to also have the grappa after this amazing dinner. We couldn't say no to these twinkling eyes and tried it. Really... that's the only thing I don't like about Italy! So sorry for the fans but grappa is not my favorite :) So strong and I totally lost the nice tastes of dinner in my mouth. Vino Santo (holy wine - a sweet dessert wine) was more soothing for my mouth  :-)

Soddisfatto e molto felice we left the restaurant and went up to our villa.

Before we left we made sure to bring some of the Chianti Classico riserva and olive oil home with us!

Italy, ti amo, a presto!

De Treeswijkhoeve... Ultimate Pampering on a Michelin star level

Last Friday I had the privelege to attend a meeting followed by a dinner in Michelin star restaurant de Treeswijkhoeve.
The meeting started at 3.30 pm and everyone (mainly men 45 to 70 years barring a few exclusions) had to come straight out of other meetings so unfortunately we didn't have the time to enjoy the spring sun on the terrace beforehand.
During the meeting we received water, coffee and tea accompanied by some caramel/nut biscuits. Without a doubt home made and delicious. When the meeting ended somewhat before 6 pm we took a sprint outside to the terrace to enjoy the last rays of sunlight. During the aperitif we were already surprised with some little bites. These consisted of special combinations with for example a crème of avocado with soy and citrus. Sardines, artichoke, tuna and a lemoncake and also a crème of Jeruzalem artichokes, hazel, ryebread with smoked beef of the MRIJ-ox. (fire red Dutch cows)

If these weren't enough surprises, at the table we also received several dishes and each dish was a surprise. Also each dish was accompanied by perfect glasses of wine. The wine-food combinations were perfectly chosen.

Unlike other times I've visited de Treeswijkhoeve the serving by one lady was poor.
I'm not sure if the lady enjoyed serving us as a group the entire time. The smile was sometimes hard to find and at some points she forgot to explain what was on our plate and which wine was served. Also some questions about beverages that were not agreed beforehand were 'something she'd had to look into', whereas I always enjoy a more enthusiastic response.
However.... I've worked in hotels and restaurants for many years and I understand the feeling of serving a group of guests who are there for a meeting in comparison to a table for two who are there for the food and the experience.... Still, not the way to work it but after one sip of wine or one small bite of our dishes it was all forgotten!

We received scallops, lobster, cod and lamb and all executed in such a way your sight finds it a delight, your mouth finds it comforting and you mind keeps exploring and tries to recognize all the tastes. I love this combination!

Everytime we thought, this probably is our main course another dish came out of the splendid kitchen of Dick Middelweerd. Even dessert was served in two courses. After that, our coffee was also accompanied by very special sweets such as a home made 'caramel bar' with sea salt on the side.
This is what I call ultimate pampering! Dish after dish and one even more surprising and tastefull than the other.

I've been here before and I surely will be back. Each time this kitchen surprises me!

Restaurantweek - Potential regular guests or a waste of money?

The national restaurantweek (RW) has become a major event for foodies in the Netherlands over the last years. Two weeks per year one can go to a restaurant for a reduced menu price.

There are a few motives to go....
(1)All foodies with a limited budget can finally go to that restaurant everyone speaks about or they have wanted to go to so many times, (2)budget or discount freaks can literally say "Eat your heart out richies! I'm eating at a fancy restaurant!", or (3) people explore new restaurants they had never heard of before but was the only restaurant available that had a michelin star. Motives to join restaurant week differ from person to person.

So .... what's in it for a restaurant? Will they gain new regular guests or is it really just a waste of money?

In my opinion, this really is up to the owner of the restaurant and how they play the RW-game.
Some restaurants give a menu in this week that is hardly worth more (maybe even less) than the price one pays for RW. Believe me, people notice!
Other restaurants make it so exclusive that it is easy to believe that the regular amount you pay is way overpriced.

Or... a restaurant can do it the way 'Het Arsenaal Paul Fagel' in Naarden vesting surprised me and my fiance last night. First of all the exterior was already welcoming and impressive. Inside we were warmly welcomed by the hostess and still were able to choose a corner seat. I always prefer a corner seat, where we have a good view over the restaurant. In this way besides being in good company, drinking great wines and tasting a delicious meal, in the meantime we can monitor everything that is happening in the restaurant. (Maybe these are Natural Hotelschool instincts?? ;-) )

'Het Arsenaal Paul Fagel' first offered us an aperitif and presented us the RW menu. In this menu they showed the menu which consisted out of three gorgeous sounding courses. Besides this, which I find very smart, they offered the option of an extra course between starter and main course and the option to change dessert into cheese. Naturally there's a surcharge for these extra dishes.
Also the suggested wines were presented and an option to have a look at the winelist.

In this way the restaurant offered us to go with the RW menu which is low in price and gave suggestions how we could make it more special or more to our taste. We decided to include the suggested wines and change dessert into cheese ( don't get me wrong, I need my sweets but we considered we'd get some chocolate once we ordered our coffee.... - which we did ! )
The menu was surprising, michelinstar quality and tasted delicious. With a starter of seabass which was only marinated and not cooked, panfried or anything we really had a new experience. The tame duckbreast was good in flavor and had a subtle rim of fat. The sauce of wild mushrooms and the garlic mousseline finished the dish perfectly.
The selection of cheeses went so well with the fig and nut bread and with our coffee and tea we got our expected selection of special sweets. I always love the way they still give you a piece of chocolate brownie since everyone just loves it, but make it look so chic.

So the big question in this story is if a great restaurant should join in with a popular/folksy offer. My answer to this is that if you do it right, it is NEVER a waste of money!
With doing it right I mean that you should offer a good menu and make sure you can upsell to guests that enjoy the extra value and care not to make a difference in approach to RW guests and other guests.

Remember the different motives for people to join RW I mentioned earlier? You can get a profit out of all of them!

1. The foodies that always wanted to eat at your restaurant first of all will share with all their friends that they finally are going to eat at your restaurant. Once they are there and experience the great atmosphere and taste your refined dishes and they can see that it is worth to come back at least a few times for special occasions. For all the other weeks and occasions you can point out that you also have a surprise menu or a simpler menu which is lower in costs than eating à la carte. Now for sure they will be back!
2. The budget or discount freaks, yes you're right. You are never going to see them again! However, if you make sure they enjoy their perfect night out they will tell everyone how fancy their dinner was and how fantastic it was to eat for such a reduced price. They will not forget to mention how expensive the restaurant usually is. This is what makes you remain to have a certain exclusivity! You don't want to lose this over a few discount freaks, it can only help you to make your restaurant sound even more special.
3. The guests that went to your restaurant by 'accident' since your restaurant was the only one with a michelin star or that one restaurant with some remaining seats and great reviews..... these guests are the guests with the lowest expectations and therefore the guests that you will be able to surprise the most! Once you've surprised these guests and pampered them they for sure can be your new regular guests. Welcome !


So, (and this goes for everything) if you do it, do it right! You won't regret it.

I will for sure return to 'Het Arsenaal Paul Fagel' and if you were wondering.... my motive probably was type 3 this RW and for my fiance type 1. However for some restaurants I also am a discount freak, and proud of it :)

Have you joined Restaurantweek? Please share!