ABC

On some occasions we have come across the saying, “Anything but Chardonnay”. Abbreviated that is ABC. A close examination (well, maybe not really very close) of our sidebar index reveals that this is not an idea that we subscribe to. We love chardonnay. But more than that, we believe that different dishes calls for different wines. If you are tired of chardonnay, it is probably because you either had it too much (and therefore to some wrong dishes) or it is because you have had some bad chardonnay. Any grape can be be treated poorly, we guess, and produce poor wines. By the way, ABC could also be used for Anything but Cabernet, but we remain firm against such a point of view.
In T's home, ABC has taken on another meaning. After MK's birthday we have a surplus of parsnips and carrots and so we think that a Lemon chicken could be a good idea. M disagrees. Actually, M has become quite adverse to chicken and so when we ask him, what we should prepare for dinner, he answers, “Anything but chicken” – ABC!
Equipped with this requirement we go to Irma to find something to go with our vegetables. Luckily we are in luck as we find some cheeks of veal, which satisfy us.
Back in the kitchen we set out to prepare braised veal cheeks.

4-500 gr veal cheeks
3 whole fennels
0,5 kg small turnips
2 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1 deseeded chili
150 gr pancetta
1 glass of white wine
1 big glass of stock
fresh thyme, oregano etc
salt and pepper

Trim fat and tough tendons from cheeks and cut in big bite-size chunks.
Heat a pan and brown the pancetta, remove and use the pancetta-fat to brown the meat and vegetables. Don’t do this in one go, as the meat may start to boil instead of caramelizing. When finished add salt and pepper and herbs and pour the wine over and steam off, then the stock, cover and let simmer for 1,5 to 2 hours.

On the side we had a green-bitter salad with garlic-anchovies dressing and mashed potatoes:

Boil peeled potatoes to a very tender state (20 minutes). No salt added.
Sieve and mash with a bit of butter and salt and pepper.

With the dish we had an old acquaintance, the 2005 Cote de Nuits Village, which was just right to accompany the dish and so we make it 9/10 for both the dish and the combination.

Paris

A business trip to Paris provides T with an excellent opportunity for culinary exploits. T, a long time fan of the Italian cuisine, is gradually warming to France – both the wine and food. It does not mean that he did not like it before, just that he had not paid enough attention. Not surprisingly there are many positive experiences waiting for T (and some not so positives ones, too).
The trip provided four occasions for French dining.
Day 1: Auberge Nicolas Flamel
This is a small place at Rue de Montmorency. T has the Menu Degustation which means
Foie Gras on fruited bread - one piece fried and one piece au naturel. Quite nice.
St Jacques (Fried Scallops)
Monkfish
7-hour Lamb
Creme Brulée
The Menu Degustation was good, but time has erased the memory somewhat.
The plan was to have a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red with the meal, so we ordered a bottle of Mont-Redon 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It was very nice and crisp, but somehow it dried up before the monkfish arrived and so we had to have a bottle of Meursault (T does not recall which one, but it was a favorite in the company). For the Lamb we had a bottle of Chateau Marquis d'Alesme 2005.
Day 2: Le Grand B
With a prominent location on Boulevard des Italiens this place might be what we have otherwise categorized as a tourist trap. The nature of the dinner did nothing to change that prejudice, but it has to be said that serving dinner for 42 people of course is challenging.

Day 3: Chez l'Ami Jean
This little gem is situated in a part of Paris that seemed a bit deserted on the evening. Most of buildings near Rue Malar seemed to be office buildings and it was therefore a bit of a surprise to enter a very crowded small room that buzzed with activity and atmosphere. The staff was extremely busy but still provided good service and in particular humour. They were quick to point out that they were basque, which of course was no surprise as it was announced at the front: "Basque Specialtees"
It was decided that we went for the big 8 course dinner (Le Carte Blanche) in which the chef selected what to serve. T was not really opposed to this. We asked the waiter for recommendations to go with the courses as we did not have a clue as to what we were going to have. They suggested white wine to start and later red wine! Good recommendation, thought T and looked into the wine list.
We started with a bottle of Champagne from Drappier made on Pinot Noir (blanc) and with this we had some slices of iberian ham.

The first course was a parmesan soup served with croutons and chives (and T also thinks there was a little ventreche in there). With  this we had started a bottle of 2004 Vire Clesse which was recommended and well so.

Next up was a terrine of beef (jellied beef, we were told). There were raisins in the terrine, which was surprising, but worked well. It was served with a basil coulis. We had somewhere along the way run out of Vire Clesse and turned to a 2009 Meursault La Barre.

The next course was fresh St Jacques clams served in their their shells and then baked lightly. It was sprinkled with chives and small croutons.
Then it was time for the meat courses and we shifted to a bottle of Coteaux de Languedoc. It was good, but T did not get to see the details properly.
We started with a braised hare on an emulsion of mushrooms and small pieces of turnip.
After this we had a piece of wood pigeon on a base of cresson. It was cooked perfectly in T's opinion and he had so far only had had bad experiences with pigeon. This one was red, but not raw inside.
Finally we had three desserts served together:

Ris au lait with roasted and candied almonds, sablér with pear and a lemon shot. With this we had glass of dessert wine from Jurancon.
Altogether this was an excellent evening.
Day 4: Hippopotamus
The Charles de Gaulle airport does not offer many options when it comes to dinner (maybe it does in some of the other terminals): Either McDonalds or Hippopotamus. Naturally we chose the latter. T did not want to end his foie gras streak early and so had a bloc de foie gras and an Entrecote.
For an airport restaurant this was actually OK and of course drinking a bottle of 2004 Cote Rotîe from Guigal helped a lot.
It is actually quite dangerous for T to go dining in France, because the bottles normally cost the same as he has to pay for them in Denmark... in the retail store.

K's red cabbage salad

Tonight we have been invited by Betty to a wine tasting of South African wine by the Danish importer, Protea wine. The event has many visitors and has a very informal atmosphere where everybody gets to taste what they like and in their own preferred order.
K is naturally sceptic towards everything that is not European, but concedes that she has been swayed on a number of occasions lately.
We are very pleasantly surprised and despite T's ban on buying more wine in 2011 we find ourselves ordering several cases. Here's what we liked:+
2009 Thelema Chardonnay (even though K found it a bit too sweet and almondy – T did not)
2008 Thelema Merlot – very drinkable right now
2009 Springfonteine Pinotage (T doesn't really know how that happened, but we just found it quite nice)
2004 Barcarato Barbera d'Asti Nizza (which of course is sort of Italian). Nicely mature right now.
There were also other nice wines (and some not quite so interesting ones) so all in all we were very happy to have attended.

After this we again need to have a quick and light dinner. As opposed to our latest wine tasting, where we were unprepared, this time we have bought two berberi duck breasts and some bread in advance. The rest K will prepare from what is in the fridge which she announces will be red cabbage salad. This fills T with apprehension as the traditional Danish Christmas dinner is duck and red cabbage. The latter prepared in a way that is very sweet and overwhelming and normally precludes any wine recommendations.
Not unexpectedly K easily overcomes T's worries and makes a salad that earn much praise from both Betty and T. Here's what went into K's red cabbage salad:

Thinly sliced red cabbage (the mandolin, of course)
Thinly sliced leeks
Thinly sliced apple
Zest of orange
Chopped walnuts
Pomegranate
The dressing is a little secret, but T spots at least one of its ingredients. They are
Juice from one orange
a bit of raspberry vinegar
a bit of sesame oil
Soy sauce
Just a tiny sprinkle of fish sauce
a little chili
S/P
We drink a bottle of Santenay 2000 which again is excellent.
For dessert we have 'brunsvigerkage' from Meyers' bakery and coffee. We are very impressed with the bread from the bakery – but the 'brunsviger' was a disappointment! There are some things that the New Nordic kitchen should not mess with. – We will try to make it ourselves soon.

Pinot Noirs and what to eat after a wine tasting

Tonight T gets inspired be the newsletter from aov.dk. It is a nice source of wine events in Denmark and maintains a calendar that is very helpful. Know your Pinot noir catches the eye and so we go to Kjær og Sommerfeldt for a wine tasting of various Pinot Noirs.
The first is a cava rosé from Cordoniu. Fine bubbles and well balanced and dry, but not that complex - a nice aperitif (7/10).
Next is a 2008 Burgundy Pinot Noir from Chateau Meursault, which is a little bland, but has a nice aftertaste (6,5/10).
The next wine is from California, where the mists flowing in over Monterrey bay give the colder climate required for Pinot Noir. The wine is a 2009 Fog head (something that most Danes have a little difficulty pronouncing). Still, it is much too jammy to our taste and furthermore the 14,5% removes most of Pinot's elegance, we think. 6/10.
After this comes a bottle from Oregon, a 2008 Erath. This is much more to our liking, but still not too complex, 6,7/10
The next one is a 2009 Tasman Bay from New Zealand. It takes a little time in the glass, but after a little while it displays itself very nicely, well balanced and with a long aftertaste. 7,5/10
Now, it is time for some real Pinot Noir - a 2006 Vougeot from Le Clos du Prieuré Rouge. We like it very much, but when you compare the price tag (45€) to the Tasman Bay's (14€) it is simply too expensive. Still it is well balanced with a long aftertaste 8/10.
The last wine of the tasting is also Californian from Russian River valley - a 2008 Sequana from Dutton ranch Vinyard. Like the Fog head, this is also quite jammy, but the fruit is more easily discernible and better balanced. The aftertaste is also long and smooth. However, K thinks that it is a bit over-designed, which almost kills the pinot noir's elegant hallmark notes. 7,5/10.

We are now in a difficult situation with regards to dinner. It's a bit late and this calls for something quick and we would like to continue drinking Pinot Noir for dinner. In the end we opt for speed and go home and prepare an Spaghetti al'arrabiata, but alas we cannot drink Pinot to this and settle for a Rendola Rosso di Montalcino 2007.

The sugo is made out of 200 gr diced pancetta, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 onion, parsley, a generous splash of white wine and 500 gr de-seeded fresh san marzano tomatoes... and of course chili.
The de-seeding of the tomatoes is done by squeezing hard over the sink until the seeds splash all over the walls and not where they are aimed.

We take one whole chili and decide to de-seed half of it. K, always the one most keen on spicyness decides that rather than de-seeding one side, we should de-seed the lower half as there is no seeds in that part. She gets away with it and that's good because it turns out that this is just right.

While the spaghettini are boiling, fry the pancetta, add the 'dryer' (onion, garlic, chili) ingredients to soften when the pancetta is tanned, then the tomatoes and herbs and a tiny squeeze of tomato paste. Add wine, s/p and perhaps a bit of sugar or honey if the tomatoes are not in super shape. When mixing with the pasta you might want to add a bit of the pasta water if it seems too dry. And a bit of your best olive oil – just for taste and texture. Serve with grated parmasan cheese. 8/10

The dish and wine serves its purpose and even though we try to watch a movie neither of us stays awake for more than a few minutes.

Eat your carrots

One of the most used sentences in the average Danish home at dinner: "Eat your carrots". Neither K, nor T are particularly fond of them, but the vegetable box from Aarstiderne very often contains bags of carrots and there was really no way out. But we are actually jumping into the evening when we need to start at the beginning. And the beginning is in the supermarket where we select some pork chops and then also decide for some beans. Before this it had been an eventful day during which T attempted to stall traffic in central Copenhagen when his car broke down almost in the middle of a traffic light.

Anyway, back to the food. The pork chops were fried on a grill pan with rosemary, garlic and lemon and the beans were cooked and one finely chopped red onion was mixed into the beans.

The very pretty carrots in different colors were cut into smaller pieces and cooked and K had the inspiration to serve them with salted capers, which led to T actually having a second helping of carrots – now there's a rare sight. A little green salad is almost always on the agenda and no deviation tonight.

All in all this was a simple but very successful dinner. 8/10. The wine selection was difficult though. We tended towards Sangiovese (again), but after some discussion we looked into the "wine storage" and there was a single bottle of 2000 Santenay looking at us. We decided to try it out and it turned out very, very well. Since Fine had joined us the evening had turned out extraordinarily nice (well, our dinners are normally nice, but we do enjoy the company of Fine and others). In the end one bottle was not enough and we had to find another. The next bottle was corked, so by the end of the evening the stash of the 2000 Santenay was reduced by three. Oh well, at least it frees up space for something else. Wine 8/10. Match 8.5/10

Bubbles

The title is not referring to Michael Jackson's monkey but to a night in the pleasant company of our good friends, tasting Spanish bubbles, Cava, and subsequent visits to winebars.
We were presented to six different cavas with accompanying tapas by the sommelier Sergi Castro from the Spanish Cava Institute.

First Anna de Codorniu Brut and with this a tapa of creamed spinach with pine nuts and raisin. 

The Cordorniu is 70% chardonnay, 15% Parellada, 15% Macabeo/Xarel.lo, aged for 12 months on lees. Very light, with fine bubbles. An ok match but think it better as an unaccompanied aperitif.

Second Colomer 1907 Brut Reserva made with Macabeo, Xarel.lo, Parallada (local grapes) served with breaded prawn and romesco sauce. K found that it went better with the sauce alone, without the prawn

Then two rosés; Juvé & Camps Brut Rosé - 100% pinot noir and Segura Viudas Lavit Rosado – 80% Trepat, 10% Monastrell, 10% Garnacha, served with a glaced salmon with grapes. The salmon was a bit too fishy and the sweet grapes didn't help. Without the grapes particularly the Segura Viudas was good.

The fifth cava was Cava Imperial Brut Gran Reserva de Gramona. This cava is made from 50% Xarel.lo, 40% Macabeo, 10% Chardonnay and finished with a dash of rum from old barrels. It was accompanied with a toast with roasted ham and paprika and garlic chips which it stood up to very well. A scent of peach stones/almonds both in the nose and mouth. This was the best glass of the night.

Last we had en extra seco de Vallformosa with a rice pudding laced with green tea and a center of jellyed peach. This too was a very good match.

The tasting had started quite early and here we were, still a bit hungry and certainly a bit bubbly.
First we went to the Tire Bouchon – a very nice wine bar in "pisserenden" but the kitchen was overbooked and we had to make do with a glass of Saint Damien 2009 Gigondas for T and a Ladoix 2009 for K. The Gigondas still had too hard tannins to be really enjoyable, but both were good glasses.

On we went to R, another good wine bar, and had two plates; one with cold cuts and one with cheese. To drink a very nice and beautifully aged Corton-Charlemagne 1999, Domaine Rapet Pere & Fils. Just what the doctor ordered.

The bartender complained that he was not charging enough, when we paid the bill, but that was certainly subject to a different opinion from our side. On one hand he was right - when compared to prices you pay in Denmark for wine when dining out, but when you compare to southern countries that we have just visited, it is not.

Not just for fond – Coq au vin

In our latest Beaune post K claimed that we could make a better coq au vin and today we put our claim to the test (or the rooster where the mouth is)... However it has been a while so after shopping we consulted the internet (in this case, as quite often, the brothers Price) for the basics and found that while getting all the extras – mushrooms, pearl onions, bacon – we had run out of the base; carrots, celery etc. So back to the store T went.

This is how it went down (for 4 people):
1 big rooster from Bornholm
2 carrots
2 onions
2 stalks of celery
4 cloves of garlic
1 bottle + a big glass wine (preferably red burgundy but we were cheap and used left over chianti)
Some chicken stock from the freezer
Parsley, thyme, bay leaf, 4 cloves

Cut the rooster in 10 pieces (use the leftovers for stock ("fond")). Brown in olive oil and butter – s/p. Take up.
Fry the vegetables until soft but not brown.
Put the poultry back with the herbs, add wine and stock until covered. Put a lid on and let simmer for about an hour.

Meanwhile 15 pearl onions are cooked in butter, a bit of sugar, a little salt and water until the water had vaporized and the onions are light brown. Remove onions and add a generous glass of wine and reduce to half.

In a frying pan brown 200 gr bacon cut in thick pieces, until almost crisp. Remove and fry 250 gr mushrooms in the bacon grease.

By now the coq looks like this. Remove the meat, blend the sauce until smooth, put the poultry, onions, the reduced wine, bacon and mushrooms in, heat and serve...

... with bread! (and if necessary, rice or mashed potatoes but NOT tagliatelle), and a green salad.
The tagliatelle, in K's opinion, adds nothing to the dish. A big misunderstanding that apparently even the natives (read French) have adopted.

With this we had a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin 2008 from Manuel Olivier. Properly decanted and served at around 16 degrees this was extremely nice 8,3/10 and together with the dish it was even 8,8/10. The dish itself was superb. Even though we scarcely dare contradict the brothers we agreed to keep the vegetables and blend them in the sauce rather than thicken it with flour.. We ended up liking it very much indeed and with a rating of 9/10 we declare ourselves stand-out winners.

A.O.C. Copenhagen

It is fully deserved that AOC got a Michelin star in 2010. AOC is one of the best restaurants in CPH and Christian Aarø's ability to select wine to go with the food made by Ronnie Emborg is exquisite. This makes it an choice to order the Wine menu of which there are two varieties. They are much alike and contain many wines that are in, both, but the wine menu 2 is just a bit more exclusive and thus more expensive. On this occasion we visited the restaurant in the company of 3 generations with each their preferences and taste buds and it seemed that all were impressed and satisfied.
We started with a glass of champagne and ...

Starter one: charcoaled bread with roe of lumpfish and a cheesed cream.
The bread was served on top of actual charcoal and in the dim light we were happy to choose right.

Starter two: foam with cauliflower and danish oyster served in egg shell. Light as clouds with the taste of the sea

The bread: fried brioche with butter

And on to the menu:
Grey mullet, salted and rolled mushroom powder. Raw mushrooms, mussel cream and double cream with oak oil.
Looked like pieces of wood but was soft and moist. Seved with stems of watercress and the leaves of indian cress. Juicy and crisp.

2009 Pouilly-Fumé, Les Duchesses, Domaine Laporte

Next came Summer celery and celery roots, with pure of hazelnuts, green hazelnuts and apple. The soft, bitter celery root with the sour-sweet apple, the richness of the pure and the crispness of pieces of green hazelnuts all went beautiful together.

2009 Meursault, 1. Cru Gouittes d`Or, Domaine Pierre Yves Colin-Morey

The Meursault was so good that we forgot to take a picture!

3rd dish was Cod, poached in butter. Served with summer cabbage and "irritated" egg whites flavoured with tarragon.
Perfectly treated cod. A salty marshmellow and a rich tarragon sauce.

This went down particularly well with the 3rd generation - M - asking T why he could not make dishes like this and of course T could only respond that if he could he wouldn't be working in the IT industry. But nevertheless, a challenge has been issued!

2008 Grüner Veltliner, Berg, Reserve DAC

Weingut Markus Huber, Traisental, Austria

Confit of veal sweetbreads and corn fed chicken
In sauce with lemon verbena, lingonberries and chiffon of fried jerusalem artichokes.
Yet again M voiced his pleasure and with good reason. The combination was delicious and also the sequence in the menu was perfect, i.e. the lighter fish-based dishes and then a more salty and rich dish before the beef.

2006 Pinot Noir Rho, Ampelos Vineyards, Santa Barbara, USA

Piece of beef covered in beetroot, served with parsley and smoked marrow sauce.
We asked for bread to soak up the rest of the sauce, which was delightfully concentrated. 1st generation was sure that it was wine based, but it wasn't...

2007 Fratelli Ravello, Barolo Vigna Giachini. Yet again served perfectly. Decanted and served at the right at (we think) 16 degrees ensured that this relatively young Barolo was superb.

Cheese, Danish cheese 'gnalling' shredded, served with syrup and fried pumpernickel (rugbrød). We came here last year also and had a cheese dish of the Danish Vesterhavsost with truffle oil and toasted pumpernickel and amontilado Sherry and it was so good that we had to order a second helping! This was also good, but not quite up there.

1975 Colheita Port, Burmester, Douro, Portugal

Chamomile tea pudding covered in whole milk gel and granité of sorrel juice


2006 Ürziger Würzgarten, Riesling Auslese
Weingut Jos. Christoffel jr. Mosel, Germany

Black currant in a frozen dome with elderflower and lemon juice.

1997 Château Y’quem, 1. Cru Superieur, 

Sauternes, Bordeaux, France

Coffee with petit four
Marshmallows and chocolate in a rubberlike state














Overall this was an excellent night and our choice to come back here for this years board meeting was proven successful. There are many good restaurants in Copenhagen and this is one of the best in our view. 9,5/10

Beaune - Encore fois

For the third time in a year we arrive at Beaune in Burgundy and as again we are treated with a sunny day. As usual we arrive a little late in the afternoon and have to try different places in order to get lunch.

We end up at the Grand Café Lyon and predictably we order Meursault et Escargot. This may not be the recommended combination, but we like the sound of it and since will surely be the last summer day for us for some time we have enjoy the feeling of sitting outside at a cafe table, drinking white wine. The snails (escargots) are disappointing and have a earthy taste. Maybe they were not tortured long enough on a salt tray or maybe they have gone bad. The latter may not be the case as we suffer no long term effects. The Meursault is ok.

We also have Le Plat du Jour, which today is Coq au Vin with Tagliatelle. This is ok, but K believes we can do better ourselves one day in the not too far future (so look out for that). Another problem is the Tagliatelle, which she don't think is the proper compagnon for this dish, just like it isn't for Beouf Bourgignon, despite the fact that the rest of Beaune thinks so. Well, almost. But more on that later.

Overall we have become spoilt and for lunch this is quite nice. Overall we rate the lunch as a 6,5/10 and the wine as 7,5/10.

The afternoon is spent researching which wines we should purchase and also to find some more clothes for T who has not packed sufficiently. The research has two steps. First we read up on the latest vintage and the producers who have done well. In Burgundy this means getting a list of wines of €100+ which actually doesn't help a lot, but is enough to make us envious. Secondly we visit the various wine shops and in Beaune there are many. We try to find a wine that can serve as a benchmark (in Chateauneuf it was the Beaucastel). In Beaune it is more difficult because the variuos producers are sold by various shops. Often we end up at Denis Perret who also has the best location on the town square. Another wine shopping/research activity is to go to one of the supermarkets. In France we have often made good purchases in a supermarket and it also gives us some more prices for our benchmark. On this occasion we find a bottle of 1997 Chateau Lynch Bages and the price given underneath is €11. Clearly this must be a mistake and we discuss what to do. In the end we opt for taking one and if it indeed only costs €11 we will re-enter and get the rest. As it is we conme to the counter and when scanned it costs €57. We point out that it should cost 11 and a clerk follows T down to the shelf and takes out the price tag and so we get the bottle for €11, but as she has removed the tag we cannot get the remaining 5 bottles. Incidentally a local man behind us in queue nodded approvingly despite the fact that we were purchasing bordeaux in burgundy.

In the evening we go to Caves Madeleine. This is a return visit as we were here in March and enjoyed it hugely. It is a small place with a good basic kitchen. 

Wine-wise the concept is a little special as you can select your wine from the shelves to bring home or have it with your dinner at an additional cost of €6. On the face of it this seems like a good deal, but our general research suggests that there already has been added €5-10. Nevertheless as we are Danish we are used to huge markups on wine bought at restaurants (300-400%). Still, we like the concept and we spend some time selecting a 2007 Meursault from Albert Bichot and a 2006 Pommard also from Albert Bichot. Both are very good, but of course you can get better. In Burgundy the cap on your credit card quickly becomes the limiting factor and by now we fear that the magnetic strip has worn off.

The menu is small, but this is in our view by no means a bad thing. There are 3 entrees and 3 main courses to select and then we can choose between cheese or dessert.

K is the most adventurous by far and she choses the Terrine Campagne de la Maison for entree, while T selects a Cassoulet Escargot. K's terrine is good and rustic. The combination of a piece of toast, sonme terrine and on top a conichon is a deligthful mouthful. But alas, there is much too much. It is a big piece of terrine and we have to leave some. 

T's cassoulet is good and much more the size of an entree. The garlic sauce is just perfect with sufficient garlic and not too fat. And then there is a potato in there, which has not been overcooked! We rate the terrine as 8/10 and the same for the same for the cassoulet. The Meursault is good and this time we actually manage to save some for our cheese, but it was a close call.

For the main course K waver, but in the end she gives in to her adventurousness and orders the tongue in a broth with vegetables and served with Sauce Bearnaise. K is positively surprised and enjoys her meal. The bearnaise is very well made, but somewhat surprising to get a sauce served to a soup, but the acidity and richness of it suits the dish well. 

T who is not as adventurous choses the Beouf Bourgignon and this time it is even served with poatatoes and a small piece of toast. It is a nice solid dish and the sauce is very nicely powerfully concentrated.

Finally le fromage. Not much to say - just eat.



Overall we rate our meals to 8,5/10 each. K later analyses the meal and concludes that she might have been carried away by the positive surprise of liking tongue and perhaps this is a dish that would be nice as a smaller part of a menu with more courses.

It is good that this is our last day on this vacation. But our reckoning we should be so inebriated that we might have problems finding our way to the Hotel la Cloche 200m away, but we are not. The hotel, by the way, is quite nice and affordable. Good size rooms, clean, right on Place Madeleine and both the coffee and the croissants served for breakfast were good.