Alain Senderens June 2011

 Restaurant Alain Senderens
9 Place de la Madeleine 
75008 Paris 

As lucky as one can be I happened to have a friend working in Disney Land, just located outside the wonderful city Paris!
I saw the chance to take of a couple of days in June and join her in the city of lights and homemade croissants!
Of course I cannot visit a city without checking their top gourmet restaurants! It actually took me just a little while to find Alain Senderens because apparently Michelin will not tell about this restaurant.

The reason as I have been told is that this restaurant was once named Lucas Carton and was an unhappy owner of 3 Michelin stars. Mr. Senderens changed the name in 2005 and gave back the stars to michelin claiming that he could not stand charging an unaffordable price for the menus. So today - the same food as before the loss of the stars, affordable prices and a very great experience!
I had booked a table online for 19:30, and we were lead into the amazing rooms of Alain Senderens.

The menu we choosed was as follows.
We both had the Foie gras, Lea had the peas soup and I the open lobster ravioli.
For a main course I had the cold tatare veal with langoustine and she the pig. Because my hunger is large I had a goat cheese plate and finally be both had the delicious chocolate dessert.

Menu

Foie gras pur (origine France), jus de betterave au wasabi

Aléatico Passito 2008 Feudi San Marzano, Pouilles, Italie

Velouté tiède de petits pois, œuf de caille mollet, caviar des champs et marjolaine

Raviole ouverte de homard à la vanille, quelques pousses d’épinard

Saumur « Clos de Guichaux » 2009- Domaine R.

Tartare de veau français « de tradition » et langoustine, vermicelle de riz, parmigiano reggiano

Pouilly-Fuissé « Les Crays » 2008 – A.C. Forest

Cochon de lait de Burgos rôti, carottes fanes aux baies roses et avocat

Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes «Marsanne » 2010 – Yves Cuilleron

Chèvre de Mr Fabre, citron confit, gingembre rose et poivre de Séchouan

Vouvray « Le Haut Lieu », Demi-sec 2007 – Domaine Huet

Coulant de "SAMANA" millésimé 2010,

pur cacao de Saint-Dominque, noix de pécan caramélisées 

Don P.X. Toro Albala 1982, Montilla Morilles, Espagne

We were offered champagen for a start, but another young and handsome waiter interrupted and asked if we would consider his new Japanese inspired cocktail. With no doubt we accepted his recommendation and waited with joy. It was the most exiting apperitif I have to date tried. It was fresh juice with delicious gin and vodka decorated so very fine with kumquat. Due to the wine for the foie gras, the waiter recommened us to take the soup and ravioli first. The Open ravioli of lobster with vanilla and some baby spinach was absolutely delicate.  It was warm and the combination of lobster and vanilla was very pure and fine indeed. Spinach gave the course some "acid" so the fats in the sauce and the lobster was balanced. The wine paring - saumur 2009 was great. The 100% chenin blanc from Loire Valley had a fresh taste and note of pear and apple tart.  Next we had the Foie Gras with wasabi and never before have I tasted such an interesting combination.  Many chefs have used different fruits, berries etc with foie gras and all of them have been good as well,  but this was indeed rewarding. And sorry as I am - I did not take a picture of it and have not been able to  find one. The deep garnet color, a beautiful velvety structure, a very mediterranean sensuality dominated by dark berries and sweet spices. Almost a hair rising experience! The handsome young waiter always tried his very best to describe the food in his very poor English, but luckily for him my friend Lea speak fluently french.  (I cannot emphasize enough how much I hate that I do not speak french) We were almost the first to dine in the restaurant but around this time the place was almost full. And it was a wide combination of french people. As far as I remember we were the only foreigners. My main course was cold, and my company Lea had the pig - which she very much enjoyed.  I had the veal tartare with langoustine , rice-vermicelli and parmigiano - and there was a lot of it. The waiter gave us a long story of why they had choosen a Pouilly-Fuissé for the course.  At that time I did not understand, but when I look back it is clear why. The dish was fine tasting and the veal was rough chopped. I had a hard time identifying the langoustine, because the veal was maybe a little bit too strong for it.  But I guess it is maybe because the norway lobster (langoustine)  is one of the best in the world and thereby one of the most tasteful ones -  and that is what I have been used to as a child.But an overall raiting of the main course is good.  I was still very hungry and eager to try their goat cheese. It was very simple - tree identical goat cheeses came on a platter with lemon, ginger and Szechuan pepper. The fantastic wine paring was a Le Haut Lieu 2007 from Vouvray in Loire. For the powerful chocolate dessert we had an almost port-like wine, but from Spain a 1982 Don P.X It litterally extracted and increased the powerfull SAMANA chocolate. The dessert was tasteful, but very thick and heavy with only chocolate and caramelized pecans. My taste in desserts might linger more to desserts which have some few fresh notes of fruit or sherbet. We had a cup of coffee and some petit fours a great talk with the waiters and some guys from another table. And all this for around 400 Euros, it is surely still expensive but very much worth trying! There were not mistakes in the serving, not delays in meals,  great tasteful wine with a small international perspective.  Classic french food with touch of Asia and Scandinavia. Inspiring surroundings and a passion for  the interior in general a great evening!  A shame the personnel did not speak more English but I think my I just have to accept that.  For a great night I mark Alain Senderens with 4 out of 6 Bloc De Foie Gras.

Die Meierei 2009

Die Meierei  
Uferstraße 1,
 24960 Glücksburg
Webpage 
Best hotel restaurant 2010
What does the Michelinguide say?








In spring 2009 I visited Alter Meierhof with my boyfriend and his parents. We were staying for an extended weekend including a fantastic dinner at Die Meierei by Dirk Luther.
This was one of my most interesting and quite funny experiences to date. Below you can read the menu

Coquilles Saint Jacques, Gooseliver - Panna - Cotta 

Filet of dover sole with crayfish, papaya 

Braised eel, beetroot and spinach 

Sherbet 

Müritz-lamb with tomato beans 

Dessert of yoghurt, rhubarb and rasberry 

We started the evening with an aperitif and starter in the cozy entrance hall. Here we  had 4 small appetizers on one plate, there was small maki roles, a little gazpacho, fish sticks and sticks with fried vegetable etc. (as I remember) 

Afterwards we were accompanied into the diningroom, which was a very nice room. It was light and we had a beautiful view to the Flensburg Fjord. 

We were placed at a big round table. 

And so the evening really started!  The gentlemens decided the wine and then came the first dish.

I will not deep to much into the dinner, well of course I will - but it sure is a lot of years ago to remember all the dishes in detail. 

In general the whole meal was great! There was a unprecendented attention to the details of the food, and I especially remember  the appetizer before the  "Müritz-lamb with tomato beans" which was a lambstew in a small glass, and in the bottom was a wonderful potatomash. It was a very great dish, but unfortunately (not very 2-star Michelin-like) I had a small piece of plastic in my glass of stew. 

When I look back at the evening I should definitively have said it to the waiter, but as kind as I am I did not..... "BIG REGRETS" 

Well as I said at the beginning it was a funny night, my "table gentleman" (I dunno the exact English word for "bordherre")   almost through his whole glas of wine on the floor when we made a cheers, well all the wine in the glass was thrown to the floor, but luckily his glass stayed in his hand. 

At a 2 star michelin with a lot of "old rich men" it was quite a funny act. 

If I also should mention the service and waiters - they were great! Unfortunately they spoke very little English Everytime a single person rose from his or her chair a waiter was there in a split second pulling out the chair for one, and when you came back your napkin was always folded in a pretty way and lay at the table. 

One other thing I remember was the petit four when I think back - it is still the most amazing petit fours I have ever seen. 

They waiter came with a huge basket or chocolate box - I think the dimensions was approximately 1 x 1 meter. Every single little piece of chocolate had its own box or room, and there were maybe 30 different homemade chocolates to choose. 

It was definitely a great stay and a great evening - I think the whole experience to stay at the 5-star Vital Hotel, have massage and other wellness treatments, swim around in their outside heated pool, eat a great dinner and breakfast at their Brasserie and the last evening have this great 6 course meals.

Die Meierei is absolutely a visit worth taking! 

Kick words

professionel atmosphere - distinct but kind waiters -  beautiful sea view - interesting and beautiful dishes  - 

unlucky accident with the piece of plastic - tasteful dishes - 

I hereby give Die Meierei 4 out of 6 Bloc de Foie Gras, because it was a great evening, but unfortunately the little plastic should make it a little bit disappointing. The staff could have done better - be more personal, friendly and  speak more English. 

Divan 2, 2008

Divan 2
placeret i Tivoli i København
Eksisterer formentlig ikke længere, se link nederst på siden. 

I sommeren 2008 var Caspar og jeg på en lille forlænget weekend i København. Jeg havde hørt fra en god ven af familien, at Divan 2 havde særdeles gode fjordrejer, og var en af de klassiske restauranter i Tivoli.

I sin tid anede jeg ikke rigtig noget om fjordrejer, men det lød da særdeles godt. Så vi besluttede os for at afprøve Divan 2 til en romantisk aften i København. Jeg havde bestilt bord over internettet, men da vi ankom så det ikke ud som om, at det var synderligt nødvendigt. Faktisk var vi de eneste i restauranten.

Vi ankom omkring 19:30 og var rigtig spændt. Egentlig kan jeg ikke huske om vi fik en aperitif, men det ville næsten undre mig hvis vi ikke gjorde.

 De havde annonceret en ny ”tastingmenu”, noget som efter min mening er noget københavnerfis, men det var sikkert godt nok. Vi havde endnu engang ikke så mange penge, så jeg fik fjordrejer, en hovedret og ost med tilhørende vine, og Caspar fik ligeså 3 retter.

 Jeg husker ikke super meget om maden, well – mine fjordrejer var da ganske glimrende, men jeg er nok også en person som ikke kan sidde og klappe i mine små hænder for 50 g. fjordrejer til 150 kr. 

Caspar fik et stykke glimrende limousine kød, som dog nærmest var umuligt at komme igennem pga. størrelsen. Efterfølgende fik jeg nogle glimrende oste, og min partner fik desserten.

Noget jeg bed mærke i, var deres fantastiske maltbrød, som jeg nær havde spist mig mæt i. Men ellers husker jeg faktisk hele oplevelsen som enormt tam, kedelig, upersonlig og så havde man hele tiden fornemmelsen af, at de ville have os hurtigt ind og hurtigt ud. Vi havde jo kun vores dejlige aften på Miro, at sammenligne med. At sammenligne de to steder er praktisktalt umuligt.

Betjeningen var upersonlig, kedelig og ikke mindst fissefornem. Maden var fin, gode smage, men dyrt i forhold til kvaliteten.

Som sagt ankom vi 19:30, og var ude igen 20:30, så det var ikke en ”helaftensoplevelse” vi kom ud med, men 3 retter lægger vel heller ikke op til en helaftensoplevelse, det mener de hvert fald ikke på Divan 2.

Vi hyggede os dog alligevel, det gør man jo som oftest når man er ude at spise. (-:

Her kommet et par kickwords:  

Klassisk mad  med twist – veltilberedt – dyr

Kedelig betjening – upersonlig – uinteresseret i deres gæster

Gammeldagsstemning  -  lyst indrettet – stort


Divan 2 får i denne omgang kun 2 ud af 6 Bloc De Foie Gras, pga. den kedelige betjening og fordi de gav os følelsen af at vi ikke var velkomne. Maden var fantastisk og lige i skabet dog en smule dyr.



Til de mere sultne er der lige lidt gossip herfra:
Divan 2 er lukket

Tid til at komme i gang

*ENGLISH *

I finally decided to create a blog about my visit to different restaurants in the world. Why? Well as I wrote in the small text about myself, I LOVE food, dining, cooking, eating so why not (:

I’m a student myself so what I’m trying to do here is to show the world that students can go dining too! You don’t have to be a multimillionaire to dine in one of the greatest restaurants in the world (here we are talking a good old classic Paul Bocuse).  You may now think I’m a young girl whose parents is rich, well maybe, but I can most certainly state that every single restaurant I have been in has either been an invitation from for an instance earlier boyfriends parents or I have paid myself. The last couple of years I have paid from my own pocket and I enjoy that I have the possibility to do so. I’m a hard working young woman -  I haven’t got any money on my bank account, cause why store all the money and lack all the fantastic experiences it gives you when you enjoy a whole evening of: good company, delicious meals, welcoming and sweet service, good atmosphere and a lot of good wine.

Below you see my list of restaurants worth talking about which I have visited

Restaurant Miro, Aarhus  2008 

Divan 2, Copenhagen 2008 

Meierei, Alter Meierhof, Flensburg 2009 

Dauphine, Aarhus 2009 

WD~50, New York, 2009 

Restaurant Miro, Aarhus 2010 

Die Bank, Hamburg, 2010

Restaurant Mellemrum, Aarhus 2010 

Dauphine, Aarhus 2011

Alain Senderens, Paris 2011 

Paul Bocuse, Lyon 2011 
Gastronomisk Undergrund, Aarhus 2012 
Nordisk Spisehus, Aarhus 2012
Dauphine, Aarhus 2012
NOMA, Copenhagen, 2013 

I will update it when there is new or revisited restaurants to add.

As you see some of my visits is some years  ago, so the reviews will typically be the major parts I remember.

But I will do as much as I can to write the reviews as soon as I can after the restaurant visit, but since I have just started this blog I have a lot of old restaurants to review first.

I hope you will enjoy your visit at my blogspot!

* DANISH *
Så fik jeg endelig besluttet mig for, at lave en blog om mine restaurantsbesøg.

Grundlæggende set kommer jeg til at "poste" anmeldelser af restauranter fra hele verden. 

Jeg er i øjeblikket i gang med at samle informationer, billeder, menu'er fra tidligere restaurantsbesøg.

De første anmeldelser vil løbende blive opdateret. Jeg vil forsøge at lægge dem ind i dato rækkefølge. Nedenfor ses mine restaurantsbesøg til dags dato. 

Restaurant Miro, Aarhus  2008 

Divan 2, Copenhagen 2008 

Meierei, Alter Meierhof, Flensburg 2009 

Dauphine, Aarhus 2009 

WD~50, New York, 2009 

Restaurant Miro, Aarhus 2010 

Die Bank, Hamburg, 2010
Restaurant Mellemrum, Aarhus 2010 

Dauphine, Aarhus 2011

Alain Senderens, Paris 2011 

Paul Bocuse, Lyon 2011 

Jeg vil tilgengæld understrege, at nogle af mine oplevelser ligger så lang tilbage, at det er mere helhedsoplevelsen som ligger i min hukommelse, men ved nyere restaurantsbesøg vil jeg indlægge menuen, vinmenu, adresser, links m.m.

Jeg har i flere år læst madanmeldelser af professionelle anmeldere og ingen af dem har sat et præg på mig, eller vist mig at det er netop den person der har anmeldt en restaurant. Mange anmeldelser er annonyme, objektive og bliver hurtigt en opridsning af den serverede mad og ikke så meget om selve oplevelsen.
Jeg vil sætte et præg på mine anmeldelser, så man ikke er i tvivl om hvem der har skrevet den. Mine anmeldelser vil være personlige og min mening vil komme til udtryk under hele anmeldelsen.

Jeg håber I vil følge mine anmeldelser og min blog generelt. Jeg vil gøre mit bedste for at give detaljerede og brugbare anmelder, og forhåbentlig også anmeldelser som får mundvandet til at løbe :-)
Af hensyn til at verden kun består af 5 millioner danskere og ca. 375 millioner mennesker snakker engelsk, vil jeg løbende  begynde at lave mine anmeldelser på engelsk. 

Restaurant Miro 2008

Restaurant Miro

Marstrandsgade 2

8000 Aarhus C 

86 13 87 00 

Besøgt ca. slut marts/ start april. 

Jeg har sendt en mail til Miro, for at høre om de skulle ligge inde menuen fra 2008 og 2010, da jeg desværre ikke selv har fået arkiveret den. 

Som skrevet om mig selv har jeg altid gået meget op i finere madlavning og gourmet-mad, og det grundlæggende kendskab starter fra hjemmefronten især fra min far. 

Men en stor del af min interesse starter også fra Miro, som var den første finere restaurant jeg besøgte. 

Første gang var februar 2008 med familien og omkring marts/april samme år med min den gang relativt nye kæreste. 

Denne beretning kommer i første omgang til at handle om oplevelsen, jeg havde med min daværende kæreste Caspar. Det hele startede allerede, da jeg skulle foretage bestillingen. Jeg havde skrevet en fin mail til Toni med et ønske om et bord til to. 

Uheldigt nok ville jeg bestille bord på en helligdag hvor restauranten havde lukket, tilgengæld foreslog Martin (kok), at vi kunne få et bord på en anden dato og så ville vi få en aperitif med lidt snacks som kompensation.

Vi ankom ved 19-tiden og var begge meget spændt. Min partner især da han aldrig før havde spist på en lignende restaurant.

Vi blev mødt med meget åbne arme og smil af ejer Toni Leichtle, hvorefter vi blev ført hen til et lille bord i en hyggelig krog. Kokken Martin E. Vesterdorf serverede den lovede aperitif og fortalte nøjsomt om deres koncept med menu & tilhørende vinmenu. 

Det blev til 4 retter & 4 vine, for os studerende må  jo passe på pengene. Men så blev tryllerierne ellers sat i gang. 

Og her kan jeg indtil videre ikke berette så forfærdeligt meget om maden, da jeg kun husker meget overordnet hvordan maden og vinen var. En opdatering venter lige så snart jeg har hørt fra restauranten om de ligger inde med menuen. 

Min partner og jeg trak helt sikkert gennemsnitsalderen ned den aften, men alligevel var der plads til alle. 

Ved siden af os sad en børnefamilie og længere henne var et bord med "de dyre drenge i 30'erne" som var iført deres slips & jakkesæt. 

Stemningen på Miro er en yderst sjælden oplevelse. 

Hele lokalet er varmt anlagt, dæmpet belysning, vin på hylderne og behagelig jazz i baggrunden. 

Der er virkelig kælet for detaljerne, og man føler sig yderst velkommen i dette lokale, samt ikke mindst af den vidunderlige betjening, og Toni som ikke er bleg for at give "refill" på samtlige glas lækre vine. 

Når behovet kommer til sig, kan man bevæge sig ud på de mindst lige så fine toiletter. Efter min mening er der ikke noget værre end sterile, kolde og intet sigende toiletter på en ellers lækker restaurant, men sådan forholder det sig ikke på Restaurant Miro! 

Igen er der en behagelig jazz i baggrunden, pænt foldede håndklæder, vatrondeller, vatpinde, utallige parfumer  og cremer. Alt det en kvinde i bund og grund har på sit eget badeværelse, kan man også finde på toiletterne på Restaurant Miro. 

Ved personalet bliver der kørt en gennemgående afslappende stil, også selvom hele huset er fyldt med gæster. 

Martin render selv rundt i militærbukser, Toni er lidt pænere klædt på, men stadig afslappet. 

Når jeg husker tilbage på denne oplevelse, var det yderst perfekt og til tårnhøje karakter.

Her kommer lige et par kickwords. 

Altid lækker mad af gode råvarer - veltilberedt - et syn for øjet.
 Altid fantastisk stemning -  rare omgivelser - læg mærke til de hyggeligt indrettede toiletter.
Skøn betjening -  dejlig personlighed - menneskekarakter. 

Miro får i denne omgang 4 ud af 6 bloc de Foie Gras. Betjeningen er dejlig afslappet, maden er tip top, stemingen og toiletterne er tip top! Selvom Miro har givet mig en af de bedste oplevelser, så giver jeg alligevel ikke flere Foie Gras, da de ikke har nogen Michelin stjerner.