Natural wine along the way

This summer I drove from Nice in France to the Adriatic coast in Croatia and had two stops along the way where I starved for Natural wines and got lucky !

If you are in Nice , in south of France for one evening , and like me cannot drink anything else than natural beverages especially during hot weather – then your best bet is La Part des Anges in Nice , La Part des Anges website, where you can consume and take any bottle of wine away ! They have an impressive selection of wine and sell natural wines produced according to the Jules Chauvet method . The place is also stunning in its simplicity ( here don’t except quick service, only one person is dealing with the few tables ) , very intimate ,as it literally feels like having a wine tasting in a cellar.

Long comme un jour sans Morgon – Famille Marcel Lapierre

I have tried the following :

An orange wine from 2013 , Barral by Didier Barral , 35 euros : 80% Terret Blanc and Gris, 10% Viognier, 10% Roussane. Produced using an ancient method of extended pressing and skin contact for a deeply colored wine with some tannins. Satisfactory but not the most interesting orange wine I had lately.

 

Together with a mix of Cheese and ham platter.

Delicious food pairing : excellent cheese selection with this orange yummy wine

Together with a mix of Cheese and ham platter.

Delicious food pairing : the wine goes perfectly with the cheese selection this wine bar has to offer .

We went home with this ” valeur sure” ( a sure value) of Jean Foillard ( 35 euros) – tried and tasted at perfect temperature while spending time by the sea in Croatia : Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvee Corcelette. From a food pairing perspective, this elegant red will go well with neutral dressed sea food , tuna tartar/sashimi , or a light meaty dinner. Served at 15 degrees celsius .

My next stop was Bologna in Italy in the so-called Emilia Romagna region , the best region for food and wine in Italy .

Again, one evening only in Bologna and no plans whatsoever , and spontaneity has worked again in my favour as I ended up in this tiny wine bar which also offer food and had the immense pleasure to have drink…some natural wines of course !

Vineria Favalli in via Stefano is really recommended

This wine bar has a great selection of natural wines by the glass which is wonderful to discover new taste and new producers . This bar has very affordable prices , really cheap compared to if you want to go for natural wines in London or worst in Stockholm, so pure paradise here ! He has very good food to offer, we went for some mortadella and parmesan cheese of course with a drop of balsamic from Modena 🙂

Our big catch of the night was this unique and delicious orange wine Pithos Bianco from Azienda Agricola Cos in Sicily, Italy ; that I cannot recommend this wine enough for a warm summer aperitivo:

 

This delicious wine is made from 100% Grecanico which is at 11.5% low in alcohol. It has a beautiful nose and a fascinating amber colour as it has been fermented with the skins.Producers of this wine use amphora grounded in the soil , to ferment this wine the roman old way 🙂

 

Back in Stockholm and here is where you should go in Sodermalm for good food,worthy natural wines and good soul!

Woodstockholm, the highlight of this post – everything about this relatively small place is perfect, the monty theme ( I reckon we are in the middle of the Aphrodisiac menu of May..you lucky foodies 😉 ) – people would say the food is rustic ..and I would say the food is typical the closest food you can get in restaurant that feels and tastes like homemade food with a touch of sophistication that you can’t achieve at home. Voila.

And as if the changing themes and the wonderful and authentic flavours were not enough..here you can drink proper natural wines…and of course the service is top-notch !

So for me, it is a win and I have tried it twice- spot-on.

@woodstockholmAnd I will be back in June with more details and photossssss, Yes !

woodstockholm.com

The other restaurant to highlight for today is Delikatessen Bistro bar ..a french bistro which is not your typical , classic boring French brasserie but just a French restaurant which serves tasty,well-balanced food , with a twist. Both starters and mains were outstanding, fish, meat and desert succulent- Bravo for this yummy food in an airy and bright setting .

I also heard that they are also now distributing natural wines – mais que demande le people ? Keep it up guys and see you soon in June !

The bar of the restaurant, Bar Hommage, is worth a visit, talented barmaid on the mix – really good cocktail list and a very good pisco sour ! @barhommage

delikatessenbistrobar.se

Let’s reconfirm the obvious : you can’t go wrong with Barrafina & Terroirs

My post today is about 2 restaurants/wine bars in London I re-discovered this month( November 2015) and thought they deserve a note from me.

Barrafina : http://www.barrafina.co.uk ( this is a review of the Charing Cross branch only )

Super smart concept of seating 32 people around a simple yet bistro-type bar , all eating tapas and drinking Spanish wines.

My experience was very positive for the following reasons:

Food is good and fresh; great variety of wines and excellent service.

Food to try :

-the Jamon Iberico – a classic to revisit here

-Special of the day Cuttlefish croquetas ( made of squid black ink ) : an alternative to the ham croquetas – oh-so-delicious

-Ortiguillas – very good alternative to oysters ( to taste the sea ..but i reality it has nothing to do with oyster)

-Pork ribs : not my favorite as the sweetness of the sauce was too pronounced I found and the vegetables that come with it overcooked

-Entrecote tapas was good –

Wines :

Start with this magnificent white Rioja : Hacienda del Ternero 2013 ( 8 pounds the glass and 42 pounds the bottle ) – this wine is worth it , it transforms in the palet being dry and gentle at the same time – it transforms with food too of course . It is a big win !

Then switch to red for your main dishes – I recommend the organic Granacha El Mago 2013 Terre Alta – very satisfactory and very good value for money ( 4.5 pounds the glass, and 24 the bottle ) . Exquisite.

Let’s move next door at the French Terroirs ( http://terroirswinebar.com)

This post is not to compare my two London picks of the month but let’s be clear : food at Barrafina is clearly better , taste better, better cooked and better mastered but wines at Terroirs – especially naturally wines – can’t be beaten here . And let’s put it this way : it is hard to find natural wines in London .

The Master of natural red wine is here : try the M La Pierre 2014 “Raisins Gaulois” – Beaujolais – 6.5 pounds the glass, 18 pounds the carafe and 26 pounds the bottle – A must have here .

Then in terms of white, I would recommend the 2013 Moscatel Viejas Tinajas from De Martino Single Vineyard in Chile – 7.25 pounds the glass, this is a great natural muscatel – fully bodied white full of texture and floral aromas while staying perfectly dry.

For food, I would advise you to try the Pork and Pistachio Terrine, it is to die for .

The rest is good but pretty standard ( shrimps. squids etc ) .

Enjoy 🙂

 

 

 

A weekend in Stockholm Summer 2015 : where to eat and drink well then smile !

With its 25000 archipelagos , let’s say it isn’t easy to know where to eat in Stockholm where you get there for the first time – so here are the best of the best if you are there for a weekend :

Stockholm has a strong Coffee culture so here are the best places to go for coffee that you are a big coffee lover or trying to stop coffee drinking substitute such as Matcha latte ( and most importantly if you would like to avoid Starbucks which sadly has just opened up in Stockholm ):

Drop Coffee Roasters : the ” incontournable ” ! they roast their own coffee and export to London too. Here you can have a delicious cafe with the typical Swedish pastry made of cinnamon and one of their sandwichs

Website:http://www.dropcoffee.se

Where: Sodermalm

inside Drop Coffee roasters

Johan & Nystrom : Best Matcha latte in town 

website: http://johanochnystrom.se/en/

very airy and high ceiling space to enjoy your coffee –

where: Sodermalm and Arlanda Airport

Take a boat to the peaceful island of Fjaderholmarnas and have lunch at Krog : tried and tasted !

inside the restaurant

website: http://www.fjaderholmarnaskrog.se/english/restaurant/index.html

My picks and tongue impression :

Herrings paradise ! 175 SEK – totally worth it !

Beautiful , healthy and tasty food

Toast Skagen 185 SEK – good but nothing astonishing for a fish lover like myself

Sole Meuniere 340 SEK as a main : sadly that was overcooked and submerged in too much oil

Excellent beers : Monkey Business APA – simply delicious

the view drinking this fantastic Ale eating yummy olives marinated in Anchovies tapenade

A yummy list of deserts available but I haven’t tried them.
The culinary highlight of my trip to Stockholm was my brunch at Oaxen 

beautiful interior design

Airy and sunny interior

chairs made of old cinema chairs

Great list of natural wines – the best to try is definitely the following Italian red wine :

2010 Sfursat ,Aldo Rainoldi, Valtellina 185 SEK the glass; 895 SEK the bottle

Fresh and delicious food

Fantastic food , the highlight being the following dishes:

Deep fried pork, herb dressing,rocket and apple 175 SEK

Oxen’s cold cuts, pickled vegetables and horseradish 165 SEK

Critics: the mozzarella dish was way too salty and the smoked prawns were not the best I had.

Delicious traditional Swedish waffles , to have with coffee !

Website : http://www.oaxen.com

Best pizza ( and beers !) in town :

Omnipollos hatt

where the best brewery meets the best pizza !

I had this pizza with chorizo and padron peppers as well as the “august” special pizza made of korean toppings ( kimchi , pulled pork )

Delicious pizza

great range of beers