An evening of indulgence @ home

Weekends should be made of these.. more indulgence at home.  Lucky us got invited to a friend’s do and boy, was the host generous!

We got treated to some really fine wines on top of the amazing food that he whipped up. 

And my contribution to this small dinner-do?  A spinach dip that I had just learned from another friend.

This Spinach dip is really pretty simple to do as well.  All I did was to get chopped frozen spinach, drain the excess water from the spinach and pop in 1.5 cups of low-fat sour cream.  Add about 1 teaspoon of chicken essence powder, mix well, add pepper to taste and viola – it’s done!  It really is that quick and easy.

 

The Man’s ideal weekend getaway..

often involves wine and food.  We had grand plans for another snowboarding trip to the mountains for our second last weekend in Geneva but I got really sick so the Man decided that it should be a weekend filled with good food and wine then.  He booked us a last minute stay at Chateau de Gilly.  Our BEST friends loaned us their car and some 2.5 hours later, we arrived at Burgundy.

I later learned that Château de Gilly is a former residence of 14th-century monks.  It’s location was ideal for it was situated between Dijon and Beaune. The hotel has preserved its authentic 14th and 16th-century character, reflected in its moats, French-style gardens and a dining room with a magnificent vaulted ceiling.

After checking in the hotel, we decided to drive to the nearby Gevrey Chambertin village to do a little wine tasting.  But we were disappointed with the wine offerings.  So off to Nuits-Saint Georges it was to try and buy up some bottles of wine.  The Man was pleased with his haul.  Among his buys, I guess one of the most unique bottles that we purchased was a 1977 bottle of Gevrey Chambertin.  Definitely took a risk with the buy but I’m hoping that it would be memorable when we do get to taste it. 

Took a rest in the hotel before heading off to dinner at the Le Clos Prieur, which was conveniently situated within the hotel premises.  Despite feeling extremely sick, I was still pretty excited about the dinner for the Le Clos Prieur restaurant has 3 stars in the Gault & Milau 2010 guide, furthermore, it is set in a former 14th-century wine cellar with an extraordinary architectural design.

We took the degustation (5-course meal) menu.  It was generally pretty good but the below dishes really left a striking impression on my taste-buds.

The foie gras terrain that’s coated with dark hazelnut chocolate.  It sounded a little queer but taste-wise, it was absolutely divine!

The restaurant’s signature dessert – Tirmaisu.  Although I thought it was more of a deconstructed tiramisu.  The Man didn’t really think too highly of the dessert but I loved the crunchy hazelnut biscuit part.  I’m hardly a chocolate or sweets kind of gal but the crunchy bits kinda sealed the deal for me.

I wished I was feeling a lot better to fully enjoy the dinner.  In between the courses, try as I might but I simply couldn’t stop the coughing spell.  It gotten so bad that I thought I was probably a nuisance to the other patrons for the evening. 

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend getaway in one of our favourite regions in France.

Jolly jolly

The celebration of the long weekend was made extra special in these ways:

Hanging out with pals and enjoying a simple meal of home-cooked barbecued meats over some really lovely bottles of vino

Attempting to teach Sparky some yoga poses in a game of play

Indulging in an awesome zi char where drunken cockles taste oh-so-delish

Hope your long weekend was as jolly-icious and merry as mine had been!

Brasserie Lipp

It’s been a tough week and the Man just wanted to unwind on Friday.  Fine by me, except that I didn’t do much research as the Man was in for a nice dinner.  So, he brought me to a place that he’s been before with the bosses- Brasserie Lipp.

Hailing from Paris, Brasserie Lipp has opened its doors since 1880.  Apparently at it’s flagship restaurant, reservations are not entertained via telephone, so everyone waits in line.  Thankfully, this rule isn’t imposed at the outlet in Geneva for we managed to secure a table outdoors despite it being a late reservation.  The cool weather and the late sunset was the perfect setting for the outdoors.

Tomato-based Monkfish Soup

The Man’s order of the Monkfish soup came out all wrong for he took a sip and then became upset for his choice.  So, me being all nice, decided to swop my Foie Gras starter with him.  Thankfully, I’m not a very fussy eater for Monkfish is definitely an acquired taste.  I thought the tomato-based soup helped musk the strong taste that the Monkfish had.

Pan-fried Foie Gras

If you ask me, my choice of the pan-fried Foie Gras definitely look better.  Taste-wise, it certainly tops the Monkfish soup.  Hehe.

Breaded Pork Cheeks with Tartar Sauce

Pan-fried duck breast with warm wedges

My main of pork cheeks were crunchy and chewy, kinda reminded me fondly of gizzards which I absolutely enjoyed. The Man’s duck was tasty but I thought the sauce was abit too salty.  Portions were thankfully manageable and we polished off that lovely bottle of Carrudes de Lafite (the second wine from the famed Chateau Lafite label).

While we gazed over at our neighbouring diners, we realised that we should have ordered Brasserie Lipp’s house-specials of mussels served with golden frites.  I couldn’t help but stare at the huge pot of mussels set atop our neighbour’s table as they dug into their food heartily.

Guess, we could always reserve this for our next visit then.

Brasserie Lip

Address: Confédération Centre, Rue de la Confédération 8, 1204 Genève

Telephone: +41 (022) 318 80 30

La Ciboulette

A little research done by yours truly prior to our road-trip to Annecy revealed some really good restauarants uncovered by the New York Times Travel.  We had wanted to keep La Ciboulette for dinner but it was fully booked so we grabbed the next seating which was available only for lunch.

NY Times Travel really nailed the description by saying that La Ciboulette was a sparkling little restaurant for it really was.  Famished for I hadn’t had breakfast, I went for the 3-course set lunch without hesitation.  As we peeked over our neighbouring diners’ meal, our eyes were set for a visual feast and our tastebuds were waiting in anticipation.

First up, the Man was thrilled with the wine list and decided to open up a bottle of our favourite white vin – Batard Montrachet.  I’ve always enjoyed the silky smooth and buttery finish of this wine.

2003 Batard Montrachet

Amuse Bouche of Chilled White Asparagus Soup with Truffle Essence

Baked terraine puff pastry

Langoustine with seafood salad

Oven-baked veal with tempura vegetables

Pan-fried white sole-fish fillet with seasonal vegetables

Desserts – Choco Trio & Strawberry Mascarpone Cheesecake

The meal was very enjoyable.  The Man’s starter of the baked pastry with meat stuffing was clearly a winner over my langoustine.  But like I said, I was famished, so I wolfed down the entree within seconds.  As for the mains, I would have gone for the pink cut of meat over my fish.  Having said that, the fish was still very good with enough sauce that was liberally sufficient to cover the fish with.  As for the dessert, I preferred the rich chocolate offerings and the chocolate wrapped with filo pastry was so-so good!

Worth a visit and with a great location just at the shopping street of the Old Town, what’s not to like?

La Ciboulette

Address: 10 Rue Vaughes, 74000 Annecy, France

Telephone: +33 450 457 457

Michelin-Star: ★

 

 

Gastronomy haven in Lyon.

We were delighted to learn that Lyon is the absolute epitome of gastronomical France famous for its outstanding cuisine and features many tasty local specialities and stylish bistros.  So, while doing research, we also wasted no time to check out the gastronomical offerings to make the most of our trip there.  Like Paris, there are no lack of Michelin-star restaurants here at Lyon.

Lunch on our last day was at Auberge de’Ile, a slight detour from the city but located at the heart of Ile Barbe. We were pleasantly surprised to be transported to the idyllic part of France while sitting outside the restaurant and enjoying our bubbly.

We skipped the set-menu course and decided to head straight for the ala-carte menu which we asked our server to help split the sharing portions for us.  

Ristorante Da Valentino

A lovely send-off dinner party with authentic Italian cuisine and amazing wine together with friends that made all the difference.

Sicilian red prawns with Aglio Olio pasta

Ristorante Da Valentino

Address: 11 Jalan Bingka, Singapore 588908

Telephone: +65 6462 0555