Category Archives: Restaurants

Food Cult: Avocado Couscous at the Three Chimneys Freehouse, Biddenden, Kent

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Whilst staying at the sublime Sissinghurst Castle Farmhouse, we dined three nights at a local pub just a mile down the road (or a good hike across the fields) from the bed and breakfast. I’ve talked about our Sissinghurst experience here and here and here, but I couldn’t resist showcasing this beautiful piece of food art again.

The bottom layer is a vegetable melange with eggplant, zucchini, and onions in a tomato sauce. Next is the couscous mixed with avocado. Then there’s a slice of potato that’s not overdone, so it can hold up the next layer. It’s topped with goat cheese and it looks like it was torched because the cheese would likely melt in the broiler.

The Three Chimneys Freehouse is a very special place, hidden away in the heart of Kent, and is frequented by locals and the guests at the Sissinghurst Castle B&B. Although we ate there three nights, enough to be recognized and seated at “our table” by the hosts, we barely scratched the surface of the delectable menu. We highly recommend The Three Chimneys if you are near Sissinghurst Castle.

You’ll need reservations — a fine restaurant in the country fills up — so call ahead if you find yourself in the neighborhood of The Three Chimneys at suppertime. It’s worth the trip.

Another hint — I keep Pinterest boards for all the areas I want to visit on vacation. You might want to start one for Kent in southeast England!

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Food Cult: Thai Food in Vienna!

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It was a nasty rainy night in March, and the restaurant was close to our hotel and close to the Opera house. Unfortunately, I can’t remember its name, but this is probably the restaurant. Whether it’s the right one or not, there’s nothing like a spicy satay and some Thai egg rolls to warm the cockles of my heart.

I’ve never actually been to Thailand, but in my somewhat limited experience, Thai food is pretty much Thai food, no matter where you go. If you’d like to try to make these luscious little morsels, here’s a recipe from Temple of Thai where you can also buy the makings if you can’t get the Thai ingredients where you live. Actually, I imagine you could probably live without the dried tree ear mushrooms and sub them out with some other kind of fungi. 🙂

I could barely type up this post without ordering out — we have a favorite Thai restaurant nearby and thankfully I don’t have to go to Vienna or Thailand to satisfy my egg rolls and satay cravings. Do you have a favorite Thai restaurant to share?

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Food Cult: Zum Huth – Im Haus der Musik, Vienna

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For this week’s photo story, we’ll travel around Europe to visit some fabulous restaurants and revisit some extraordinary food.

Our first stop is in Vienna, where we spent a romantic dinner overlooking the rooftops from the restaurant-cafe Huth in the Haus der Musik. The Sound Museum is an often overlooked but wonderful museum that is centrally located near St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Vienna Opera.

If you are traveling with me, don’t be surprised if I order the cheese plate at every meal. This one was extraordinary.

These photos were taken in 2003 with our brand new Olympus digital camera. It has since gone to digital camera heaven.

HAUS DER MUSIK is an interactive discovery museum located in the heart of Vienna’s first district nestled between St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Vienna State Opera. A host of interactive installations playfully communicate openness to new things, understanding and enthusiasm in approaching music HAUS DER MUSIK was awarded the Austrian Museum Prize for its innovative design and is located in the formerPalais of Archduke Charles. You will find all 67 of its new inventions here. A total of 5,000 square meters has been set aside exclusively for areas dedicated to a wide array of approaches to music, and most of all, to the experience of music.

At one time the former Palais of Archduke Charles, today’s HAUS DER MUSIK was also the residence ofOtto Nicolai (1810 – 1849), who composed the opera “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and founded the Vienna Philharmonic concerts here. This connection provided the impetus for the Vienna Philharmonic, with itsHistorical Archive, to make HAUS DER MUSIK its new home. Here, the scientific documentation of this world-famous orchestra continues and is made available to the public. On the “Beletage” first floor, the only historically preserved rooms in the house, the Vienna Philharmonic present original documents from their history.  Source

InstaFriday

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Last week I stumbled on a blogger with a fun way to link up photos on Fridays that fits right in with one of my RENEW goals for 2012 — using my cameras more thoughtfully and intentionally. The challenge is to photograph the week using only the camera on my phone. And yes, I know it’s Saturday.

Normally I’m not a late starter, but with spring break and all, it took me a while to get into the groove, so I didn’t actually take my first photo until Monday. The re-entry back into my real life as a teacher and the inevitable early morning wake up was hard, very hard.

On my arrival at school, I discovered that my promised laptop had not been delivered over spring break. I have mixed feelings about it anyway, so I wasn’t heartbroken.

On Tuesday, one of my students was playing with this mirrored Rubik’s Cube. He said he needed a greater challenge… and then showed us that he marked up one side with dots to help him solve it. 🙂

Since it was grades week and I was feverishly trying to get everything done before the Friday holiday from school, I didn’t do much photography. On Friday, we met out-of-town family members for museum-ing. I took this photo from the window of the Chicago Cultural Center because I have never seen the Bean (Cloud Gate) from this vantage point. The yellow tint comes from the protective film in the windows.

I also took this photo of the stained glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center. I know it’s not perfect — I took it with my iPhone, for goodness sake — but it gives an idea of the beauty of this often overlooked building among Chicago’s museums. The web site says it’s the tenth most popular museum, but in a city of museums, how many people actually get to the tenth one?

I didn’t take this photo, but I thought you might want to see a well-photographed picture of the Tiffany glass dome that is also in the Cultural Center.

Lest you think I’m trying to cheat on the InstaFriday challenge, here’s my photo of the Tiffany Dome.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this quote in the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.  When I looked up the attribution, I found that it was actually supposed to be a work of art. Silly me, I thought it was just an interesting quote on the wall.

It turned out to be one of those beautiful Chicago spring days — crisp and sunny. On such a day, it’s impossible to take a bad picture of the skyline, even on a smart phone.

If it’s Friday, it’s pizza day. We also had the double whammy of entertaining out-of-town guests, so it had to be a Chicago pizza day. We found a pizza place by the Art Institute that we’ve never been to and were happily surprised by both the food and the service.

A week that started pretty slowly ended up with a warm gush of family togetherness and yummy wine and pizza. It was another hot time in Chi-town after all!

Please stop by Life Rearranged and meet some new blogging friends. Everyone appreciates a little comment love.

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Writers’ Workshop: My Favorite Restaurant

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I know it’s hard to believe, but my favorite restaurant while growing up was Burger Chef.

Image via fortunecity.com

My dad was a teacher (one of those corrupt union-card-waving, pension-grabbing, non-Social Security-receiving evil citizens who has ruined the American economy with their greed). Twice a month my dad got paid, and we went grocery shopping and had a romantic family dinner. At Burger Chef.

Despite my current frustration with the anti-teacher rhetoric — really, do you want me to take another job and let YOU take care of your fourteen-year-old monster for eight hours a day?– I respected my dad’s job. In fact, I wanted to be just like him, and most days, I try to be as good of a teacher as he was.

There was something special about not having to cook on payday Fridays. I know my mom enjoyed it and so did we. The succulent grease of the hamburger in the buttery bun was intoxicating, and the crispy French fries hot from the deep-fryer practically made my knees give way. It was a far cry from the frozen or canned peas and green beans out of our stash from the luxurious garden-fresh summer months. Every chicken we ate in the winter I had known personally. Burger Chef was a release from the drudgery of trying to feed five hungry mouths on a salary that wasn’t enough to comfortably maintain our household. I didn’t really understand how poor we were in monetary terms until I become an adult.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Yet, we didn’t feel poor. My brothers and I shared a warm and rich family structure that allows us now as adults to remain good friends. I don’t even know if they remember Burger Chef Fridays, but for me, the foray into the world of fast food on occasion is a cherished memory of family fun.

This post is linked up to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Take a little trip over there to read a few more stories, and don’t forget to give some comment love while you’re there!

31 Days in Europe: Chapel Down Winery

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“Grape Britain.” Gold medals for British rosés at the International Wine Challenge. An English white wine costing about $12 served at a Royal Wedding reception. Can any of this be true?

Image via telegraph.co.uk

Image via English Wines Group

Frazer Thompson, our host at Sissinghurst Castle Farmhouse, is also the award-winning English Wines Group managing director at Chapel Down Winery in Kent. I was eager to try their wine so we made a visit to the winery. As I soon found out, Chapel Down is the largest premium wine producer in England, and I was not expecting the sophistication and quality that we found at Chapel Down just outside of tiny Tenterden.

Image via English Wines Group

The winery itself is unpretentious but beautiful. Its multi-use property sports a wine tasting room that is more like a gourmet store, a lovely English garden where you can have your wedding, and of course, row upon row of grapevines on the 25 acre property. Although I’m not an expert on winery equipment, its stainless steel tanks looked pretty modern and impressive.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image via beer-pages.com

I tasted several of their current wines and brought some back to the bed and breakfast to share with friends — or not. The award-winning sparkling Vintage Rosé Brut lived up to its hype and was well-priced at £24.99. Husband rummaged through all of the bins to find his favorite, Chapel Down’s own Curious Brew, Admiral Porter. He loved it.

Meanwhile, back at the farmhouse, we talked to one of the couples who were staying in the B&B for an anniversary getaway. They had made reservations at the restaurant at the winery for their celebration and were quite excited about experiencing this little gem. The restaurant is named after its Michelin-starred chef, Richard Phillips. We decided that we would take our friends from Cirencester to the restaurant and hoped for the best.

Apparently having Frazer’s name attached to our reservation worked magic, because were seated at the best table in the room and were served with skill and sensitivity. We ordered the chef’s tasting menu and the wines chosen to go with each course. It was pricey, but worth every pound.

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Image credit: Got My Reservations

Our meal was extraordinary and presented creatively. All in all, it was a magical evening. One could even say it was a meal fit for a prince and princess.

Image via blogs.babble.com

This post  linked up with hundreds of other 31 Day-ers. Join the fun and visit other bloggers as they share a piece of themselves. I’m still number 568, by the way.

Food Cult: Anthony Bourdain Experiences elBulli

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Anthony Bourdain is said to be an arrogant, snarky, self-promoting, witty New York restauranteur and chef with a sexy voice. He eats bugs and guts and is politically incorrect. He seems to enjoy that his continual swearing has to be bleeped out on his television travelogue/food show. Sometimes I love his show and sometimes I am grossed out and even offended by it, but mostly I think this guy is the most interesting host on television.

Image via travelchannel.com

If you are already an Anthony Bourdain fan, you probably watched Tony’s visit to the legendary elBulli. If you are not already a disciple and you love food and travel, set your DVR  to let Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations into your life. The complete El Bulli episode airs again on the Travel Channel on Monday, September 5 (Labor Day in the U.S.), at 3:00pm Eastern, as part of a No Reservations marathon that starts at 11 E/P. Even if you are able to watch it live, I still recommend that you record it so that you can watch it again. It is truly a special show and one that blew away all (well, most) of my Bourdain prejudices.

Bourdain’s visit to the amazing elBulli was one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, probably because even though he’s got some cooking chops of his own, Bourdain was clearly in awe of founder and head chef, Ferran Adria. Tony blogged about his visit to what foodies considered to be the most innovative restaurant in the world, and his childlike wonderment about being in the presence of a personal idol practically jumps off the screen when you watch the episode.

Image via apothecaryfox.blogspot.com

Ferran Adria closed the doors of El Bulli to restaurant-goers on July 30, but will continue to run a renovated state of the art compound as a think-tank for chefs who are ready to push the boundaries of food preparation. After having seen this episode, I’m heartbroken that I never got a chance to eat at elBulli. I will have to settle for reading the book my son got me for Christmas and maybe even trying a recipe or two.

Bourdain’s No Reservations has finished its season of first-runs, but he continues in reruns at several times on the Travel Channel. There will be more Tony to love starting on November 21, when his new series, The Layover, begins.

P.S. If Anthony Bourdain’s rough-rider style isn’t your cup of tea, Travel Channel also features Samantha Brown, who’s kind of a cross between Rachael Ray and Bourdain. She visits lots of interesting locations, but I doubt if you will find her drinking tequila with the guys in the desert or eating fried bugs in Asia.

I Love David Lebovitz (as a cyberfan, of course)

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I started linking up some favorite posts from David Lebovitz on my Facebook page, but then realized he needed to be shared with a broader audience. I love everything about David’s blog, Living the Sweet Life in Paris — his erudite yet informal style and most of all, his luscious photographs. Here’s a recap of some recent posts to whet your appetite (pun intended)!

To start with, let’s talk about Food Blogger Camp. Can you imagine going to Mexico with some famous food bloggers and photographers to learn how to write about and take photos of food? I’m ready to sign up right now!

And then there’s David’s Paris and Lausanne Chocolate and Gastronomy Tour in May. It’s a good thing it’s sold out, because it’s mighty tempting to take some personal days to participate in this incredible adventure. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to share this experience with my French-at-heart sister-in-law and other friends.

 

Since I recently went to Paris and experienced the lack-o-sandwich and street food, I thought David’s recent post on the growth of  Subway sandwich shops and other take-out sandwich places was very interesting. We got take-out croissant sandwiches from a little shop in the Jardin des Tuileries and enjoyed people watching.

Of course, if you love chocolate and can’t get to Paris, there’s always Hershey, Pennsylvania. You can sample the gastronomic delights of numerous restaurants and cap off your meal with something sinfully chocolicious. Maybe I’ll see you there.


Losing It: Week 7

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I’m going out on a limb here and say that I don’t think most of us lost much weight this week. I’m not ashamed of my week, however. It was one of the best food weeks of my life. And, to prove my point about how difficult it is for me to lose weight, I didn’t lose or gain any weight. I’m exactly the same today as I was last Friday, even after a week of celebrating. Perhaps I celebrated more carefully because I’m more aware of what I put in my mouth because I know I’m going to be held publicly accountable.

Let’s get real. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I didn’t think much about the consequences.

First of all, we went to a friend’s 60th birthday party on Saturday night. She is from England originally,  so her daughter ordered her favorite Indian food from a local restaurant, Himalayan. It’s hard to find a pretty photo of lamb curry because it just kind of looks like red stew, but here’s a recipe for it if you want to try it at home. For those not quite as adventurous in your cooking, go to Trader Joe’s, buy a bottle of curry sauce and put it in with the lamb.

We had a lot of fun at the party, what with the sixties costumes and the love beads and the dancing — it was really hard to imagine that we would be getting up at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning to go to church. But we did; we had inspirational music,  my husband’s brass ensemble played well, and then it was time for another restaurant.

You would never know from the outside that the food at Retro Bistro is so amazing. It’s in a strip mall in a Chicago suburb.

We had the special prix fixe Easter menu which included lamb chops. I have had other items on their regular menu; the crab and shrimp cakes are to die for. This time, instead of dessert, I topped my Easter meal off with escargot in a puff pastry hat. This photo isn’t exactly what I had at the restaurant; Retro Bistro had dishes with little depressions in them for the escargot to lay in the lovely butter and garlic. I got this picture from a blogger that I ran across and will follow from now on. Great recipes! Thanks, Thibeault’s Table.

After two days of eating and having too much fun, I came back to the house, camped out in my chair, and watched three movies on cable! It was a luxury knowing that I did not have to go to work on Easter Monday.

On Monday night, we had Book Club where were served Italian beef and a chopped salad from Buono (the restaurant formerly known as Buono Beef). It was also very good and hit the spot after all the rich food of the last two days. I found this photo of a classic Chicago Italian beef sandwich at Amazing Ribs.com, another blogger who reviewed various Chicago purveyors of Italian beef. Buono didn’t win his taste testing, but it sure was good when we ate it Monday night!

We discussed Winterdance, by Gary Paulsen, which I will review on another post. Good food, good conversation, good friends. What else do you need in life?

And then, unbelievably, we went out AGAIN (and on a school night) on Wednesday night. I drove into Chicago at rush hour in the rain (90 minutes) and met up with my sister-in-law who is in for a convention. We had a family dinner with our daughter and other friends from Washington state and Washington, D.C. at Carnavale.

I have been wanting to go to this restaurant, which specializes in Nuevo Latino cuisine, for quite a while, but was afraid we would be clearly suburbanites coming into the big, bad city for a thrill and treated poorly.  That was not the case at all; we had fabulous service and the atmosphere was very welcoming for a mixed group of ages.

We had a cheese flight, with five good size cheese servings, and a ceviche flight of five seafood offerings. They were both outstanding and unique.

Then we shared a lamb chop on polenta special, Mama Mendez’ Arroz Con Mariscos with Sofrito rice, shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, chorizo, peas, chicken, lobster broth, and the daily fish special. All were fabulous! Yelp’s reviews of this restaurant are not all positive, but our experience was excellent.

I didn’t title this  “Things I Love” originally, but after reading this hymn to restaurants, the post probably doesn’t belong in the “Losing It” category either. If you’re in Chicago, try these places out. You won’t be disappointed.

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