Beetroots and Amarone

To tell the truth, T is not too fond of Amarone. You may have have noticed its absence from the sidebar, but now it is time to have some.
Tuesday night we have a very good and old friend for a business dinner. Important matters are to be discussed. That calls for some wine. We start off with some Meursault, first a 2008 from Rotem Brakin and since this bottle clearly leaks (or vaporizes) we have to open another one, this time the 2009 version from Joseph Drouhin. They are both lovely, but we think we should have switched sequence as the acidity of the latter is lighter and it comes out more smooth, whereas the former likes to be accompanying food. Which in this case (of course) is a little crostini with chanterelles.

Next is a roasted leg of lamb. Our friend, who was taken into Irma to participate in the shopping, loves lamb (and so do we). We will try something a bit different and K covers the bottom of the pan with beetroots, red onions and lots of garlic. The Leg is prepared with (more) garlic, salt and pepper and lemon zest and juice. Finally some handfuls of all the good herbs from K’s garden and fennel seeds. A glassful of apple juice is added and the pan is put in the oven at 180-200° C for about an hour. Along the way a small glass of white wine is added and the the meat and vegetables is dripped with the liquid. To accompany the lamb and beetroots we serve some hot lima beans with chopped red onion and a little green salad.
With this we have a couple of bottles of Musella 2003 Amarone 8,3/10. And that is a very good idea. The richness of the wine is needed for the beetroots. The combination of beetroots and fennel seeds (and lamb) is very savoury. The food/wine combination is a huge success 9,3/10

Dinner with friends

It's time for having friends over for dinner. Not that this happens seldomly. It's just such a good occasion to try out more than a single bottle of wine (or two as it sometimes happens). Tonight we try out a whole lot.
T has decided that we shall have some white Hermitage and for this a lobster bisque seems like a good choice. Secondly we will have some Lamb, as this will allow us to select som wine together with our friends. Our friends brings delicious cheeses which also calls for some wine and in the end a little desert should also provide an opportunity for a glass of wine.
Since it is Friday we are a bit stressed, so our friends have to put up with us being a bit disorganized and very informal. They are placed the at the kitchen table (and are even doing dishes from our initial preparations) and are served some tapenade with toasted bread. With this we have a glass of champagne from Debas-Comin. (Un)fortunately, we are not even close to having the first course when the champagne runs dry, but this gives K an opportunity to serve a glass of Meursault that she tried on her own some time ago and which she is understandably quite fond of. The Meursault Les Charmes, Domaine Chavy-Chouet, 2010 is very good, full and buttery and the acidity is very well integrated in the young 2010 vintage. In the meantime...

For the bisque, which is a quick friday-version, we have started a vegetable fond by frying carrot, parsnip, garlic, onion, leeks, (one small) Jerusalem artichoke and a few fresh tomatoes, one chili, adding white wine, white pepper and letting it steam off the alcohol and then pouring water on top and let it simmer for an hour. The bisque tonight is made of Norway lobsters. The meat is taken out of the lobster tails. Then the claws, heads and empty tails are fried on a hot pan. Next a generous measure of what should have been cognac, but on this occasion was rum was added and ignited. This caused quite some panic as one of the guests is on the verge of fleeing the apartment. The pan is withdrawn from the stove, the fire subsided and the fleeing guest is calmed with another glass of Meursault. We’re sorry that we did not think of taking pictures of the scene.
Next the vegetable fond, which has been sieved and the vegetables discarded, is poured over the lobsters and is left to simmer for 10 minutes, then about 1 dl of cream is added and simmers until thickening. In the meantime large scallops are fried hard and short and are placed in the bowls along with the lobster meat and the bisque is poured on top.
We are very happy with the result and together with the 2001 Chave Hermitage Blanc we are mildly exuberant. 9,4/10.

The main course is a leg of lamb arranged on root vegetables – potatoes, carrots, beet roots and of course some fresh, crisp fennel. The lamb itself is prepared with a marinate of oil, anchovies, fennel seeds, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.
It goes in the oven at 180°C for a good hour and then it is simply ready to go and delicious.

Our friends may have a slight preference for Chateauneuf du Pape (but have on other occasions agreed to most of what we serve for them), so when given the choice the outcome seems inevitable, as T is also very much partial to such a selection on this evening. We try out the 2008 Vieux Telegraphe and also a 2008 La Roquète. This is not as good a year as most of the recent vintages in Chateauneuf du Pape, but it is still very much to our liking. 3 prefer the Vieux Telegraphe and 2 actually prefer the less well known La Roquete.
Our guests have brought cheese – Epoisse, of course, Langre, which is a bit similar and in the end a Roquefort. This calls for a little variety, we think so, we start out with a bottle of Tasman Bay Pinot Noir 2008 and then when getting to the blue cheese we turn to an Australian Port from Kalleske, which we tasted during our trip to London. Unfortunately it is corked and so we have to open a bottle of Ortiz Port.
Actually, one of our guests suggests that the Langre should be accompanied by some Calvados and so this has to be tried out also. Alas, T is feeling sleepiness approach and so it is just our guest and K who embarks on the Calva experiment.
This port  also goes well with our small dessert – apple crumble with whipped cream. The apple crumble is on this occasion made only with apples and made in portion sizes.

Lamb and eggplant

T coming back from Paris is definitely worth celebrating which we do again tonight. First a little crostini with tuna, tomatoes, garlic and herbs – actually an attempt to recreate something that T had seen in Paris, but somehow it turned out italian instead.

For secondo lamb (culotte – upper thigh), marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic and rosemary, roasted in the oven on top of eggplant, bell pepper, onion, fennel and more lemon. First the diced vegetables went in the oven at 190° for about 30 minutes, then the lamb was put on top and got another 30 minutes.

By now – if you have read through just a few of these pages – it should be obvious that K has a thing for lemon. And on this occasion she may have gone a bit overboard. Some mouthfuls were a bit on the bitter side (from the white part of the zest). But all'n'all it turned out good. 8/10
With it we had a bottle of Chateau La Gardine 2006 Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which was a good idea. Maybe not Chateayneuf at its best, but still good glass of wine 7,5/10 and together 8/10

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.

Ambition

Saturday is time for dinner party. If you think that we have been quiet as of late it was because we needed to rehearse a little for this event. Also we have to consider the limited space in the kitchen, which is challenging when planing to have more than two guests for dinner.
We start the day out thinking that we have plenty of time to rest and reflect on the dinner from last night's 75 year birthday party, which included traditional, honest Danish food in Toldbod Bodega. And so we stay in bed late and read the newspaper knowing full well that we are prepared and this will help us execute according to schedule. After a while we head towards torvehallerne to make our last purchases. On a Saturday afternoon this is a very busy place. Not like their southern models in the sense that many people come here just to sniff around as opposed to coming with a specific objective. When we are about finished we consider a cup of coffee only to realize that we have been away for two hours and so stress sets in.
We will skip telling about the afternoon, which included an event of rare occurrence, namely T not (or almost not) watching his beloved football team cruise to a comfortable win. (The rare thing was T not watching, even though the comfortable part is also becoming quite rare).

First course is a salad. We have purchased 4 different kinds of lettuce which we will refrain from translating (Rød syre, Rucola savoy, mustard, the last one evades us by now). The leaves were mixed in a vinaigrette made of raspberry vinegar, olive oil, s/p and a little water. On top of this some smoked duck's breast thinly sliced (well, as thin as T could manage), cubes of apple and walnuts. To this we drink Meursault 2008. We had decanted the bottle for several reasons. For one thing it was something T had wanted to do for some time and secondly our poor guests were to be left guessing as to what they were drinking.

Next it is time for our primo which is oxtail ravioli. For this we have prepared oxtails one day in advance.
(Put the tails in cold water, heat to boil, skim impurities, skim, skim. Discard water. Prepare the usual soffreto (with whatever you have): onion, garlic, carrot, celery, parsnip, s/p and herbs. When soft add the lightly boiled tails, a small squeeze of tomato paste and a glass of white wine. Let steam off for a couple of minutes. Add water to cover. Cover tight and let simmer for 3-4 hours. When very tender, separate meat, vegetables and soup. Discard vegetables and let meat and soup cool. When the soup is cool it is easy to remove the top layer of fat.)
During our hectic afternoon the meat was separated from the bones. Two shallots, a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic and 250 gr porcini is fried, chopped finely and mixed with the meat. A splash of good truffle oil. And finally a little grated parmesan to glue it all together (a fact that we cannot hide from our non-cheese-eating guest, but that does not prevent him from eating, thanks msm wb). In the meantime we have made a dough of durum flour, 3 eggs and a little salt. Now it is time for the pasta machine to roll out very thin layers of pasta and then cut out small round pieces and fill them with the stuffing. It should not be a big surprise, but this takes quite some time. Maybe it's because we do not have the help of MK and M as we did when rehearsing. The ravioli are served with broth from the preparation of the oxtails, pepped up with a little sherry and a splash of lemon juice, and a gremolata of parsley, chopped garlic and lemon zest is sprinkled on top. For this we have a 1996 Barolo from Manzone.
We now go into the kitchen to prepare the secondo and predictably the wait means that we can serve some wine in between and this we have prepared for. Nobody is able to identify the bottle of 2005 Utopia from the Danish winemaker Kelleris, but it holds up quite nicely and we will soon experiment a little with dishes to have with this wine.

The secondo is fillet of lamb served on top of puree of eggplants and baked root crop, namely pale root beets and turnips baked with oliveoil, white wine and pieces of organic lemon and some baked fennel.
The puree is made by cutting the eggplants open and filled with a little rosemary and garlic before reassembling, rolled in foil and baked for app 40 minutes until very soft. Then the insides are scraped out (removing the garlic and rosemary) and mixed with a little olive oil, vinegar and s/p. A small splash of sauce from the meat and a little red wine. For this dish we serve a Grant Burge's Filsell 2000 Barossa Shiraz from old vines.

Before dessert we serve three small pieces of Danish cheeses, all of the dry kind. First a sheep/goat milk cheese from Knuthenborg, Fyn which is the mildest then a Høost and finally a Fyrmesterost which is, we were told, actually a Vesterhavsost that has matured longer. To go with the cheese we have made chips of very thin slices of rugbrød (pumpernickel) covered with a little butter before baking for 6 minutes at a 160° C. Furthermore a small splash of homemade rhubarb marmelade. The rugbrød is a little too fresh and moist which means that we cannot slice whole big slices but they smaller, uneven slices are just as tasty, nevertheless. For this a glass of Rio Viejo Olorosso sherry from Lüstau.

For dessert it is time for Chocolate fondant with a sorbet made from elderflower and on top some fresh raspberries.
The fondant is made from (4 servings): 100 gr dark chocolate (70%), 100 gr unsalted butter, 1 dl sugar, 3/4 dl flour, 2 whole eggs, 2 yolks. Melt the butter, chocolate and sugar in a bain marie (as cool as possible). Add the eggs and flour. Stir. Pour in suitable tins. Preferably single ones. Not like the ones we used in this photo! Put in refrigerator. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 200°C.
The sorbet is made from 6 dl. frozen dark elderflower syrup/concentrate mixed with water to a suitable sweetness. The mix should still be half frozen. Zest and juice from a lime is added. 3 egg whites are whipped and mixed. Put in freezer. If you don't have an ice cream machine, stir every now and then to get the best texture. (One kitchen appliance, we don't have – yet).
This is our most difficult serving as getting the chocolate fondant out of their baking tins take some time and so when we get the last one out and come into sit with our guests, some have already eaten theirs and asks for seconds, but alas, we have no more! Makes us wonder if we made too little food....
This is served with a glass of 2005 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau, 1er Gand Cru Sauternes.

Our big-city-kitchen is very small and does not posses a dishwasher, so we are grateful for all our guests who might not have been prepared for this kind of dinner party where everyone was made to work for their food, either as kitchen help, serving or dish washers. Which they very willingly did. THANKS!

Chateauneuf-du-Pape

T's wine collection and knowledge of Chateauneuf du Pape is sadly lacking and this we now set out to address. We arrive at Hotel Le Sommellerie just outside the village. Because of the late hour we go to the hotel's restaurant, but this time with the help of the Michelin guide we feel assured that this may not be a bad choice and we are not disappointed.

Since our lunch in Collioure was rather overwhelming we settle for just one course. K has the truffled fillet de beouf and T has lamb in two different fashions - braised shoulder of lamb and lamb rack. The lamb rack is just slightly overdone, but the shoulder is very nice and overall with the salted eggplant base this was very delicious indeed.



K's dish had suggested white summer truffles. There were none, but still it were plenty of black truffles. It was very well prepared, but K could not help but feel disappointed. But the wine...

If K was to name her favorite wine, the Chateau Beaucastel might not reach the top spot . That is reserved for a very special wine that we hope soon to enter this blog. But it will op in the top 5, T gathers, so we order the 2001 Chateau Beaucastel. This is an exceptional wine that will mature for many years from now. Today it is a very complex wine with notes of fennel seeds, lilies and hints of cow shed and also some notes that were delightful, but that we can't really place. In the mouth were much of the same tastes as were suggested in its nose, but also significantly black pepper that we later learnt came from the combination of Grenache and Syrah. Remarkably the bouquet was the even more impressive than the taste.

Next day we set out for some serious wine tourism. The rain somehow stayed behind us and though it is windy and a full 10 degrees cooler it is nevertheless splendid weather in Chateauneuf du Pape. The weather apps on our smartphones speaks of rain in Chateauneuf du Pape, but as K remarks this is the best rainy day we ever had. We get to taste a lot of the wines of Chateauneuf du Pape and also do some research of what we would like to bring home. Unfortunately after all our hard work we are unable to buy what we had decided upon. One producer has decided that obscurity is the best protection against the likes of us and a second has sold all their 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape. Nevertheless we agree hat we have had great day and of course we also get something to eat.

Lunch is eaten in the center of the village. T has a grilled entrecote that thanks to our visit to Margaux is now correctly ordered as a point.

K has Le Plat du jour, which T thinks was chicken which it is, but this as part of seafood stew. Crevette bisque laced with curry. And the mix quite delightful.
Nevertheless, T has ordered a 2009 Domaine Conositère. This is served chilled and despite its young age it is still very drinkable adding to an excellent lunch.

In the evening we again visit the hotel restaurant and this time we ordered the menu traditionel, which means we can choose between two dishes for both entrees, main course and dessert.

K has a flan of eggplant and T has eggplant with chevre chaud and eggplant (yes, we did get a lot of eggplant on this visit but this was very much to our liking). T's dish was great, whereas K's was a bit too cold and properly also a little uninteresting.

With this we shared a half-bottle of white Chateau Mont-Redon 2010. Apart from the label of the bottle which was very flashy and colorful this was an excellent choice and unfortunately for us the half-bottle is a little too small.

The main course was guinea fowl on a base of green olives and zucchini. The meat was very well cooked, tender and juicy. With this we had a bottle of 2001 Clos Mont-Olivet. Compared to the Beaucastel of the previous evening this was a much more mature wine, but not with the same complexity. Nevertheless it was extremely enjoyable.

For dessert T had a chocolate fondant with red berries and K had dome of strawberries (strawberry mousse) with a thin sheet of chocolate. T who has not eaten that much dessert in his life even if it doesn't show expressed that from now on he would only have chocolate fondant for dessert. K assured him that even though it was good she had tasted better, This we will have to examine in the not-too-distant-future. For now it is a goodbye to a couple of enjoyable days in Chateauneuf du Pape that had us forget that we are now heading homewards, save for one last stop...

San Sebastian – Akelare

Today we relax in the city of San Sebastian. We take a walk to the old part of the city and around the enormous beach – La Concha pratically in the city center and surrounding the a bay with a narrow inlet. The weather is fair and T who has once again forgotten his bathing trousers buys yet another pair in dusty blue.



A walk around the harbor brings us to a small very busy restaurant where we take lunch in the form of a stuffed crab for K and grilled sole for T and to this a mixed green salad. we have a bottle of Albariño with it. It is a nice meal on a nice day, even though T observes (as usual) that the potatoes appear to be mashed potatoes formed as potatoes. It seems to us that potatoes are over cooked in most parts of southern Europe.

What we are really waiting for this day is our eagerly anticipated visit to the restaurant, Akelare.

We take a cab up into the mountainous area and arrive at a beautifully located and modern house on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. Unfortunately it is now dark but we suspect that panoramic view is lovely in daylight. As it is we settle for seeing the occasional lantern in the dark.

The interior of Akelara is held in warm earthy shades of beige, grey and dark wood. We are welcomed to a spacious table for two. We choose to have one of each of the two tasting menus, the ARANORI (T) and the BEKARKI (K). First a glass of great cava, that we did not get the name of.

The menus both start with a plate of what looks like a sponge, soap, hand cream, bath salt and mouth wash.
It is: sponge – onion, soap – tomato and basil gel
hand cream made of idiazabal cheese
bath salt... salty – prawn cracker like.
mouth wash ... well bitter mouth wash. Perhaps a bit campari-like

T has prawns and French Beans cooked in “Orujo” Fire. The waiter comes to the table with a small iron pot and lights the pot with a match. The dish is nice, but maybe the effect is bigger than the result.

K has Crab Essence, its Coral Blini and "Gurullos". Very well put together. The rice grains are actually pasta, and has a seaweed as an extra herb. And it all has this intense taste of sea that seems to be inherent not only to Akalelare but to most of the meals we eat in San Sebastian. It is like the smell of the concha.

We both have a glass Albariño do Ferreiro – a good companion. 

For the next dish T has Molluscs in Fisherman's net.This is wide collection of tastes from the sea and beautifully served with "a fisherman's net" of rice. As we conclude later, a very significant trait of the meals we have in San Sebastian is that the seafood dishes really taste of seafood, whereas we at other times only get the white fish meat.

K has Razor Shell with Veal Shank and cauliflower mushroom. A theme of textures, flavours and contrasts. The veal shank is the actual bone prepared to a texture of gel. The razor shell almost raw. Excellent.

We both have a glass of white wine from Priorat. This is a white Grenache from Trio Infernal. T likes it a lot, whereas K has some reservations which predictably relates to the barrel aging.

For the next dish T has a Pasta carpaccio with Piquillo and Iberico Carpaccio, Mushrooms and Parmesan and Arugola (Rucola). The effect is that of meat even if it is vegetable. (Which of course is much to T's taste).

T has a 100-year old sherry (well not all of it)

K has a Sautéed Fresh Foie Gras with "Salt Flakes and Grain Pepper". Again perceptions deceive and the pepper is in fact popped black rice and the salt flakes are sugar based. It is very simple and the foie is cooked to perfection. T's experience with sauteed foie gras has not been entirely positive, but after a mouthful of the dish he concedes that this is perfectly prepared – the inside is preserved, i.e. not warm.

Along with the foie gras K has a cider, Malus Mama from 2009. This was very special, and predictably well selected by our sommelier. He is an unobtrusive man who is also very professional. His quiet remark that local wines were not the same as Spanish wines was a reminder that San Sebastian is in fact Basque country. He livened much up when we could tell him that we had just arrived from Bordeaux and had seen harvesting commencing in some places.

The next dish for T came in a box apparently filled with sawdust that nevertheless were edible. T thinks it may have been lightly fried vegetables, some of it potatoes – "Desalted" Cod Box with Shavings

K – Squid Broth, mini squid and Fried Bread.
Again a play with textures and taste. The black squid made of paper like material and the squid cooked at low temperature.

To drink we have Ossian 2009 which is a Verdejo based wine from Rueda

Next, T has Whole-Grain Red Mullet with Sauce "Fusili".
The whole-grain part is because there are small "pralines" of the mullet's head, bones and liver. Along with this fusili with soy, parsley and "ajo blanco"

K – Turbot with its "Kokotxa".
Served with chips of the turbot skin and pil-pil sauce.

To these dishes we are both served a full-bodied red wine, called Demencia, which our Sommelier tells us is a word-play used as the grape used is Mencia.

Now, T has Grilled Lamb with Wine Lees. The

dish is accompanied with a Regina Vides 2004 from Ribera del Duero. It is excellent and because the kitchen is just a little behind when coming to this dish our sommelier has served this a couple of minutes early so they have to give us another glass. The next bottle is also a Ribera del Duero from 2004 this time from Bodegas Trus.

K – Roasted baby Pork with Tomato “Bolao” and Iberian emulsion. The pork is served with crispy skin, fillets of tomato and crisp sugar-tomato meringue. A bit on the sweet side to K's taste but beautifully prepared.

We now come to the desserts and K has Milk and Grape, Cheese and Wine in parallel evolution.
The plate went right to left from curded sheep milk – a very clean milk taste, through powdered fresh cream, quark cheese, idiazabal semi-matured, a torta of grape and raisins to very rich gorgonzola ice cream.

K has a glass of 30 year old Oloroso Dulce, Metusalem.

T gets Xaxu and foaming Coconut Ice Cream. He is told to eat it in a hurry as the coconut ice cream will otherwise collapse. Maybe that is the reason he forgets to take a picture of it, but if you are missing this picture go and have a look at it on the restaurants website: akelarre.net
T has a glass of Jorge Ordonez Old vines.

The last dessert for T is  "Another Apple Tart" which is wrapped in paper made from apple and printed with chocolate letters, Akelare of course.
We conclude that the restaurant's name is spelled with just one r with an accent aigue, but in writing this seems to translate into double-r.

K's meal is concluded with a beautiful Peach Flower. Peach prepared in three different ways and not least the spectacular rose also made of peach. 

To this we have a glass of dessert wine from Chivite

To drink

Finally a tiny brandy, coffee and petit fours. Not because we need it, but just because we would like to extend our stay for a little longer.

We have not rated the different dishes and the accompanying wine, because there was so much, but we arrive at an overall 9,8/10. You might think that the rate should be higher – and perhaps it should, but what if we need to use a higher rate in the future?