Wednesday 6 November 2013

Paris - Le Quinze Vins

As we said in our last post, we have been busy. For T the past year has been spent traveling to Paris a lot. No need for sympathy, but it has sort of reduced the number of dinners with K and instead resulted in dining out in Paris. Oh, dear.
We have on occasion spent some time talking about restaurants abroad and we will continue to do so, but there is another important subject to be treated, namely wine bars. One such, Le Quinze Vins is located in Rue Dante in the 5th Arrondissement. Supposedly this is a wine shop during the day and a wine bar in the evening. Alas, T has never made it around Rue Dante before 19:00, so he has never bought any bottles. That’s a shame, since the bottles appear to be fairly priced. On the other hand, the household is currently suffering a ban. It is prohibited to buy more wine for an indefinite period of time and so he must settle for tasting by the glass. Anyway, it’s also impossible to carry home in the cabin bag that T normally use for his travels.
Le Quinze Vins has by now become a place to visit at least once during T’s visits to Paris, which means that he will come visit 2-3 times a month. It is nice way to finish the remaining topics from a day at work, which normally includes many observations to be mulled over with colleagues. And by doing so prepare for dinner.
Normally there are 4 different whites and 4 different reds to be tasted and they are poured generously. This is not really to T’s liking as he would like to taste more different wines and if he drinks the normal glass, well then he will be tipsy before getting to the restaurant. Restraint might be applied here, but... T has managed to have half-glasses served by now.
Of the four whites and four reds there is normally a “well-known” and then  the rest will be unavailable in Denmark, for instance an oxidized Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Chenin from Languedoc, which T tasted yesterday.
The owners seem to be a group of younger men who appear very nice and competent, even if a bit serious. They can tell you a lot about the wine, but they also seem to know just how much to say and leave it to you to make your own observations. An approach which is very congenial and welcoming in a wine bar. Mind you, we have tried something quite different.
After the first half-glass it becomes apparent that you are not leaving right away and you might as well order the suggested platter of charcuterie. This is somewhat different from what you get at other bistros as the ham is cooked and strongly truffle-flavored, rather than cured. There’s also a lot of cheese on this platter, so all in all this a very nice snack to go with your glass of wine. Normally they have two “plats du jour”, but this T has not tried by now, but it is just a matter of time.
All in all, this wine bar is highly recommended if you are in this part of Paris. (Also by K, who has been introduced to the bar recently).

Friday 1 November 2013

Comeback

Well, it has been a while and we have been feeling more and more guilty about it. So let’s get over the explanations and just say that we have been very busy and in the meantime managed to buy a house together, which of course is a great joy. One of the benefits is a a large greenhouse which we have used for planting a few vegetables of our own and thus the summer has presented us with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, chillies and not the least squash and eggplant. The last two, like the rest is nearing end of season and so we harvest the last few for this nights dinner, Pollo alla Diavola. 
For a long time we have been leaning towards the organic chickens from Irma, but recently a test published in our newspaper rated the Løgismose free-range chicken available at Netto better than our preferred one and so of course we need to try it.
The recipe is one that K has tried hundreds of times and it has probably evolved a little over time. Initially the chicken is prepared. The back bone is cut out and the chicken is spread out butterfly-style.
The back bone and wing ends end up in a pot for stock.

A marinade is poured over the chicken to marinade for two hours:
zest and juice of 1.5 lemon
handful of sage leaves
one whole chili – deseeded if you're (a) chicken
3 cloves of garlic
about 1/2 dl of olive oil
salt and peper

The chicken is placed in the oven at 180°C for 45-60 min. Drip when you remember.
Add some liquid (wine, stock, apple juice) if it dries out.

We eat it with italian-style bread to help sponge up some of the good chicken marinade

The conclusion: the Løgismose chicken is the best! Moist and tasteful. Just delicious!

In the meantime we have taken our vegetables and cut them in slices a little less than a centimeter thick. These are then grilled on a pan and then placed on a platter, sprinkled with a good olive oil a little salt and inevitably some lemon zest.

We pick one of our last bottles of Podere 414 2008 Morelino di Scansano and momentarily consider entering the wine import business. To the best of our knowledge this cannot be purchased in Denmark and we definitely think it should. Overall we rate it 8/10 and with the food we arrive at 9/10, but we are also a bit happy on this evening