LMB eats/Europe

You may remember that when we moved to Vienna I set the ambitious goal of eating a meal in every country in Europe (there are 45 of those, by the way). It was originally on the Bossy List, but when we came back to the States I moved it to my Life List instead, because I knew for certain that I wouldn't be getting it all done by 2018.

Since I started the project, I've eaten meals in France, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. This summer, I made some more headway.

United Kingdom

We ate many a meal in the UK this summer, including countless Glyndebourne canteen breakfasts, the best Indian food I've ever had, and one sneaky trip to Vapiano. And every Friday (just about), we ate fish and chips. I recommend it with mushy peas, which are exactly what they sound like.

Germany

During our week in Munich, we made sure to have one traditional Bavarian brunch, consisting of Weisswurst, pretzels, mustard, and (obvs) beer. In my experience, best eaten in a courtyard tucked away off the street, preferably under a sturdy umbrella to protect you when the summer rain starts falling.

Belgium

I was too embarrassed to photograph the waffles I ate EVERY DAY for breakfast at our hotel, so you will have to settle for moules frites instead. Also served with beer (sensing a summer theme here?). Note the ketchup and mayonnaise in the corner—we're basically locals.

All photos by CameraMan

Paris: The Food

A few days ago I realized that the time for me to get in shape for the wedding has come and gone without me changing my diet or exercise routine in any way (at least not in the right direction—perhaps I have increased my pastry consumption). At this point, since I have only two weeks(!) left, there seem to be only two options: 1) go on a drastic deprivation starvation diet and begin working out like a fiend, or 2) accept that on my wedding day I will probably look exactly like I do today and start looking for the Austrian version of Spanx.

Guess which I'm choosing?

I take some comfort in the firm knowledge that when I'm looking back at the wedding pictures, while I may be wishing I had thrown in a few push-ups in the months leading up to the big day, I will certainly not be regretting a single morsel of food that passed my lips in Paris. People, I guess everyone knows this already, but damn the Parisians know how to eat. Forthwith, my faves from the trip:

Breakfast
Breakfast in Paris means pastries, obvs, and the best pastries we had were at Boulangerie des Deux Ponts on the Île Saint-Louis. There was a bakery right across from our hotel, so we started there, but they're closed on Tuesdays, which is why I turned to Google Maps for a nearby alternative. In Europe, Google Maps can be highly frustrating in its huge gaps of information, particularly regarding individual businesses, but in this particular instance it served us very well, serving up the best croissant amande I've ever had.

Lunch
If you go to Les Cocottes de Christian Constant for lunch (and you should, immediately), I recommend replicating the experience of the posh Frenchwoman sitting next to us with a gentleman friend. Sit at the bar, start with a glass of champagne, and don't even glance at the menu. Instead, order the appetizer (entrée, confusingly, in French) du jour, the cocotte du jour (a single-serving casserole—this is when you switch to red wine) and hell, why not, the dessert du jour. I don't think you can go wrong. Then, don't be shy, finish every course with gusto—none of this "leave one bite on your plate" nonsense. After dessert, continue your conversation over an espresso (what you'll get in Paris if you order a café). Ignore the admiring stares from the Americans next to you.

Snacks
I'm not ashamed to tell you that we visited Ladurée two days in a row on our trip. From the look of every single pastry at the counter, I don't think you could go wrong ordering anything there, but we stuck with the macarons, which are famous for a reason. Oh, they're heavenly. And armed only with the phrase "Je veux prendre..." and the ability to count up to eight, you can even impress your date by ordering in French.

Pistache, chocolat, cassis, citron

Dinner
Based on Jordan's recommendation, we made a reservation for dinner at Refuge les Fondus in Montmartre. The food was great (although were we to go back we would order the meat fondue instead of the cheese—we were very envious of our neighbors' meal), but to be honest, I don't think it's our place. It's very crowded, which is part of its charm, I guess, but the night we went it was crowded almost exclusively with Americans, except for the Québécois couple sitting next to us who clearly were no more interested in getting to know us than we were in them. They serve their wine in baby bottles, which is undoubtedly quite entertaining. Still, hands down the best dinner we had in Paris was a bed picnic of fresh bread, oozy Brie, and red wine in plastic cups. You could do a lot worse.

Dessert
Whenever I told anyone we were going to stay on the Île Saint-Louis, they invariably mentioned Berthillon, which is arguably the best ice cream in the world. What with the rain and the cold, we didn't make it there until the last day, but oh, we were glad we did. I had wild strawberry and rhubarb flavors. It tasted exactly like summer.


Boulangerie des Deux Ponts • 35 Rue des Deux Ponts, 75004 Paris • Métro: Pont Marie

Les Cocottes de Constant • 135 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris • Métro: Alma-Marceau

Ladurées • 16 Rue Royal, 75008 Paris • Métro: Concorde

Refuge des Fondus • 17 Rue des Trois-Freres, 75018 Paris • Métro: Abbesses

Berthillon • 29-31 Rue Saint Louis en L'ile, 75004 Paris • Métro: Pont Marie

39 Hours in Florence: What We Ate

I know, it was practically a lifetime ago that we were in Florence, but I can't let that stop me from telling you all the particulars of what we ate, drank, and swooned over while we were there.

First of all, there was the coffee. Last time I was in Italy (2002, that would be) I was not yet a coffee drinker, and I cannot stress enough how much better my experience was this time, for that reason alone. How could an Italian morning possibly be complete without a gorgeous, foamy cappuccino, along with some kind of fluffy, cream-filled pastry? It couldn't, and that's the truth. Where to go? You couldn't do much better than Coronas Cafe, on the Via del Corso between the Duomo and the Piazza della Signoria. We found it by accident, and ended up going back the next day. If you're feeling schmancy and in the mood for animal prints, you could also try the Caffè Giacosa next to the Roberto Cavalli. Just make sure to take your coffee standing up at the bar instead of sitting, to avoid being charged double just for the privilege of a seat.

And then there were the Negronis, mixed to perfection at Sei Divino, conveniently located a block from Arno, on the way home to The New Oregonian's apartment from the middle of town. It's never a good idea to drink on an empty stomach, so you might as well order a platter of cheese and meats that you'll devour greedily because it's all so very good. Is it any surprise that, in our two day there, we became regulars?

Obviously, there was gelato too, perfect (even in February) from Grom. And maybe the best sandwich in recent memory, at 'ino, where every sandwich comes with a glass of wine (just as it should be).

But if I had to pick one meal, the one to remember, it would be dinner at La Giostra, picked by TNO well before we arrived. It's rare that I have felt quite so taken care of at a restaurant. We were greeted with champagne, brought an antipasti plate full of amazing delicacies I would have never known to order, and patiently talked through the finer points of the menu, with translation help from multiple waiters. There was also this amazing ritual with the wine, where it was decanted and swirled within an inch of its life, complete with flourishes only an Italian could pull off successfully.

We started with asparagus soup, velvety and flavorful, with the perfect contrast of crunch croutons.

As ambitious as I am, I can never handle both a primo piatto (first course—usually pasta) AND a secondo piatto (second course—meat), so CM and I decided to share one of each.

First, penne with pears and a gorgonzola cream sauce. Those are pistachios crumbled on top.

Then, osso bucco, so tender we barely needed a knife.

 I'm pretty sure I can go ahead and cross Italy off my LMB eats/Europe list, no?


All pictures by CM, obvs.

19 hours in Bratislava

Ever since I learned that there's a hydrofoil that traverses the Danube between Vienna and Bratislava, I've been talking about going, mostly because it's intriguing that a little more than an hour's boat ride away is the capital of an entirely different country. You'd be hard-pressed to travel an hour from anywhere in the States and wind up somewhere that truly felt foreign. We kept planning to go, but hadn't found the right moment.

This weekend CM was lucky enough to have an entire 2-day weekend like normal people, so we decided to head to Bratislava for dinner Saturday night. It wasn't until 20 minutes before we left that we had the idea to stay overnight, so we quickly packed a bag. When we arrived in the city, we walked into the first hotel we saw (the Radisson, not too shabby) and got a very reasonably priced room.

And herein lies the biggest thing Bratislava has going for it, besides proximity to Vienna: it's CHEAP. And they use the Euro, which is quite convenient. Sadly, word's getting out, apparently primarily to the British stag night industry. By the time we arrived around 7pm Saturday, there were already plenty of oddly-costumed British men roaming in packs, leering at the Slovakian women and shouting in the streets. These same men could be found Sunday afternoon sitting in pubs nursing their hangovers and drinking pint after pint of beer. We decided that Bratislava is the New Orleans of Eastern Europe (although a friend of ours pointed that maybe Eastern Europe is the New Orleans of Europe…food for thought).

Bachelor parties aside, though, it's a charming city, full of all those old-world details we love: winding cobble-stoned streets, airy outdoor cafés, a town square, and (of course) a hilltop castle. It also has some delicious food. I did a little internet research before we went, and decided to have dinner at the Pressburg Restaurant, which specializes in traditional Bratislavan cuisine. Fast fact—Pressburg is the German name for the city; it wasn't actually called Bratislava until 1919.

On my quest to eat a meal in every country in Europe, I'm planning to try typical dishes from each place. Sure, pizza in Prague doesn't really count, but I made up for it in Bratislava. I had Bryndzové halušky, described as "the national dish of Slovakia." It's gnocchi in a sheep cheese sauce with bacon sprinkled on the top. Ummm...YES, PLEASE. Doesn't it look delicious?



CameraMan, of course, ordered "Skewer from 3 meats on gallows." You're going to have to use your imagination on that one, at least until he posts his pictures from the trip. We also consumed a platter of Slovak cheeses (no surprise there), a bottle of Slovakian red wine, and a couple glasses of Borovička, which I highly recommend if you like the taste of burning.

It was such a short trip that we didn't get to see all that the city has to offer, but we managed to walk all through the old town, hike up to the castle, watch most of the Federer-Djokovic match, and eat 2 other meals while we were there (neither of which were nearly as good as Saturday's dinner—it pays to do a bit of research before you go). We had a lovely time, although I don't know that we'll need to go back any time soon.

Not until BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE EXTRAVAGANZA 2011, that is.

In the meantime, you can see my Bratislava photos here.

Lofty goals

I don't know if you've noticed, but I added a few new items to the Bossy List this summer, so that it's now 103 items long. And actually, now that I'm over here in Europe, the list might need to expand more. I want to cruise through the Norwegian fjords! And stay in an Ice Hotel! And climb around on Greek ruins! And gawk at celebrities in Cannes! And sing "The Hills are Alive" on the top of an Alp! And drink vodka in Moscow while wearing a furry hat! And that doesn't even include all the things I want to do right here in Vienna. Who knows, maybe I'll throw the 10-year deadline out the window and turn this thing into a Life List instead.

But for the meantime, let's continue on as if we're still aiming for April 22, 2018, shall we? I'm currently beginning to tackle #103: Eat a meal in every country in Europe. People, I don't know if you knew this, but there are 45 countries in Europe (50 by some counts, but the list I like has 45, so there.)? I've got a lot of eating to do. But I get incredibly excited just thinking about planning trips to exotic locations like Cyprus, and Portugal, and Moldova.

I've arbitrarily decided that airport meals don't count, which is too bad, since I'll be visiting 2 Swiss airports in the next 2 weeks. Oh, well. The fondue will have to wait. So far, I've eaten in 2 countries (because I'm starting now, rather than counting meals I've eaten in the past 28 years since I started traveling internationally).

Austria (obvs). Many meals have already been consumed here, but I'm choosing the one at the Wurst stand behind the Staatsoper. So delicious. In other news, since we arrived I have become mildly obsessed with mustard. You would, too.




Czech Republic. I was going to order a roast suckling pig on a spit, just so I could take an awesome picture of it and post it here, but instead our best meal in Prague ended up being Italian food. Go figure. This restaurant opened exactly 12 days before we went there. I saw it sitting majestically right on the river as we trammed it over a bridge, and I fell in love with it even before reading the brilliant reviews (and the very affordable prices). So we forewent the meat and potatoes for a night and instead sat on the deck of the restaurant, eating Italian food and watching the sun go down over Prague Castle. Not a bad way to spend an evening.



Pictures, as ever, by CameraMan