Fun at the Eiffel Tower
Here is a bit of video I shot as the Eiffel Tower was putting on its show!
A Dining Adventure in Ireland and Scotland
We began the tour early one morning in Glasgow, Scotland. By the early afternoon, we had toured the Scottish lowlands, Stirling, the Trossach’s and the Roy Roy and William Wallace historical sites. In Oban, I discovered THE TEMPLE RESTAURANT, quietly located away from town in a small bayside park. Luckily, I arrived by about 5:00 and made a reservation for 8:30; otherwise, we would not have gotten a table. While dining, we learned that the present owners had just taken over the restaurant two weeks before. The meal featured platters of what was fresh on the day’s catch. We ordered two of the platters featured above. Pam, on the right, was not a fan of shellfish or seafood, but this platter convinced her otherwise. All the ingredients were fresh from the sea, with such an amazingly clean and sea-salty flavor. There was a lot of food, but yet none of us were uncomfortably stuffed upon leaving. As of this moment, THE TEMPLE RESTAURANT does not have a website. Eilidh (pronounced like Kaliegh) the proprietor, can be contacted by telephone at 01631 566000.
ENOTECA DIVINO is located three floors down in the wine cellar of a popular Italian restaurant in Edinburgh. I was lucky to find this place and even luckier to get a table. The “enoteca” (that’s Italian for wine merchant/bar) featured authentic food and wine in a high-tech environment, yet comfy cave atmosphere. We ordered a tasty “antipasti” mixture for our first course, that consisted of fresh mozzarella, crostini, pate, several kinds of cheese, prosciutto, cured ham, salami, and bread. Everything tasted first quality, just like eating it in Tuscany. We all chose something different for our “secondi” and it must have been good because, by the time I got around to taking a photo of the food, it was all gone!
A few days later, we flew from Edinburgh to Dublin. For dinner, I booked us into my favorite French Restaurant outside of France. LA MERE ZOU is nicely tucked into a basement just across from Stephen’s Green, the huge city park. I found La Mere Zou many years ago and have been coming back ever since. Our starter consisted of succulent Duck Confit on a bed of fresh greens and topped off with a tangy vinaigrette; even the folks who had never tried duck were impressed and gobbled it all down. We continued with a roasted lamb shank cooked in the style of “beef burgundy,” with plenty of juices. Finally, we finished off our dinner with a variety of desserts.
OLIVER ST. JOHN GOGERTY is a favorite pub on Fleet Street in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. We dined here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. On our last evening in Dublin, I slid down a dozen raw oysters drizzled with a little red wine vinegar and lemon. Gogerty’s serves food all day and has music on all day as well. Go here for good food, good music and good craic!
The Biggest Wine Glass ever!
Actually, this was the decanter for our “Vino Nobile de Montepulciano,” a masterly crafted Tuscan wine that is smooth as velvet on the taste buds. RISTORANTE RINUCCINI is without question, my best pick for Italian food outside of Italy! Like “La Mere Zou” in Dublin, I discovered Rinuccini some years ago and have been coming back ever since. I booked us a table for the “early-bird” menu offering three courses for about € 30. Again, I don’t have any pictures of the food because we all were too busy eating it! However, I do remember my menu: fresh Wexford mussels steamed in fresh tomatos, garlic and white wine, fillet of chicken in a cream sauce of mushrooms, and pancetta and white wine and creamy Tiramisu for dessert.
Fresh wild-caught salmon – Out of the Blue, Dingle, Ireland
Several years ago a friend recommended I dine at OUT OF THE BLUE the next time I was in Dingle. I did and have never had a better seafood experience! Consequently, I keep coming back! However, it is a small place so reservations are strongly advised. “Out of the Blue” is only open when and if there is fresh fish brought in that morning. If there is no fishing, there is no food! This particular evening, we all decided to pick one item off the blackboard menu (they have nothing in print because the menu varies with the fresh fish caught that morning). I ordered the Monkfish (pictured above) which was fresh, clean and flakey, but firm enough to stand up to the pepper sauce. The other five plates were met with yummies and silence as we ate.
I did not think to take a photo of the fresh fish menu, but we did get our waiter to pose with the dessert menu.
I don’t want you to think we ate gourmet food every night. We mixed it up with a variety of exceptional “pub grub,” featuring this Irish filet of beef and onion ring, hamburgers, beef and Guinness pie, mixed salads, fish and chips, and even some tasty black pudding with goat’s cheese!
Full-Irish Breakfast
Finally, we had the option to begin every morning with a full Irish or Scottish breakfast, as pictured above, or a more reserved menu featuring ceral, oatmeal, fruits, and cheeses. On the plate above (beginning clockwise from 12) Irish Bacon, Black Pudding, Fried Egg, Orange Wedge, Tomato, Sausage Link and White Pudding in the center.
Dining Choices – Good and Bad
I took my final “student educational tour” in 1999. This trip was a bit different from my previous “student educational tours” in that it was designed as a performance tour for my band students and me. Leading up to the tour, I did a lot of planning and selected all the destinations. In my now famous “McGuffin tour style,” we stayed in some out-of-the-way locations, as well as visited big cities. In fact, the company handling my tour arrangements had never taken student groups to a few of our destinations. Although this tour was well planned, we still had to put up with mostly poor hotels and the usual tasteless dinners.
There were some memorable dining experiences in the small villages I had chosen. I remember the little family-run hotel in Rot-an-der-Rot with a basement bowling alley. The mom and pop chef team were happy to feed us and keep the second helpings coming until the pot was empty. The same was true with the hotel restaurant in Interlaken. However, beyond that, dining was disappointing.
I don’t have many “dining” photos from those early student tours. I did find this one of my son and his friends at a “nice” restaurant in a village on the Rhine River. Notice the plate of fries and breaded meat. On another occasion, I recall being taken to a Moroccan restaurant in Paris where we were served undercooked chicken and couscous. How can that be? We were in Paris, the gourmet capital of the world, and we were served, not escargot and steak frites, but Moroccan cuisine from another continent!
In contrast, here is a photo I snapped on one of my student tours a few years ago in Rome. The dinner consisted of three courses, the second being filet of beef, roasted potatoes, veggies, and a strawberry and chocolate garnish. Not only was the meal a dining experience, the ambiance and location was amazing. This dinner is at the Café Bernini on the very popular Piazza Navona. ROME: Dinner on the Piazza Navona
Here are some food-related comments from a recent tour. The question posed is, “In general, what did you think of the dining experiences [on your tour]?
“The food and wine were fantastic every night. The last time we went to Europe we didn’t eat nearly as good. It made the trip much more memorable being able to enjoy good food and not having to worry about trying to figure out what to order.”
– Paris to Rome Tour, June 2011
“What kind of question is this??? Haha. Almost always delicious, and I am a VERY picky eater, by American standards. Often, I wish there was some sort of choice for dinner, but perhaps that’s not the way things work over there. Also, I found the food in Switzerland to be subpar.” –Paris to Rome Tour, June 2011
If you would like to read more comments from my tour alumni, take a look at my tour comment page. Or, you can leave your own comments about “dining with David” right here!
Cooking Is a Cultural Experience
I’ve grown to enjoy cooking over the years. I remember my first crack at it was when my wife traveled on a six-week business trip to Washington. My children were in college and out of the house, so I was left at home to “fend for myself.” So… I cooked.
It’s said that the best way to learning something is to study hard and practice the art. I’ve done a lot of both. Consequently, now that I’ve been at it for more than a decade, I’ve got a pretty good concept of what tastes good and more importantly, why it tastes good.
Years ago, I began taking my students on “educational” tours to Europe. These tours were organized by huge travel companies that packed a bus and ran them through Europe as cheaply as possible. There were many things I did not like about these early tour experiences, but for now, I’ll concentrate on eating and food choices.
In my experience, a typical meal on a student educational tour consisted of weak pasta or salad, a mystery meat cutlet, French fries, and a fruit or ice cream cup. Getting a variation of this day after day simply was not my idea of European cuisine. It certainly did not match the grand dining experiences of which I had so often read in books and magazines. On many occasions, I remember returning to the USA and rushing to the first “American” restaurant just to get a good meal. My students’ first stop was often McDonald’s! You can read my account of these early days of eating in Europe at my blog entry titled: “I always came home hungry.”
With this in mind, it is no wonder that quality dining experiences are an integral element in my “Exploring Europe” travel philosophy. For me, eating is a cultural experience no less important than seeing the sights, visiting a museum or chatting up a local. It brings the locale to life and presents an authentic and literal “taste” of the destination. I’ve developed an uncanny knack for finding good places to eat. Most often these are far off the “tourist” radar and feature fresh local cuisine, passionately prepared and served by a caring chef. However, I’m not opposed to breaking away from a traditional menu, of say, meat, and potatoes in Ireland, and supporting an eclectic chef’s fusion-style menu.
In my next few blog entries, I will share my passions of European travel, cooking, and dining. I hope it makes your taste buds tingle!
Lyon, just a TGV journey from Paris
Candice Brown, a former student, has family who live in France. Luckily, Candice and I were able to coordinate our travel schedules so that we could meet up in Lyon, France.
Preplanning is the key to getting a seat on one of Europe’s busiest trains. I booked my TGV ticket online, several days in advance (visit http://www.voyages-sncf.com, choose your route, and pay by credit card online). The journey was a breeze once at the Paris Lyon TGV station. I zipped through the French countryside at lightning speed and was in Lyon in just over two hours.
Candice, our friend Abby, and her grandfather Jean-Paul met me at the station in Lyon. We hurried back to Jean-Paul’s home where I met Chantelle, his wife. After a little visit, we were off to explore the town.
Starting at the Cathedral, on the highest summit, we made our way downhill through woody parks, medieval cobbled streets, the Renaissance city, and finally the 20th century “new” town. It was a delight to have Jean-Paul and Chantelle as my private guides. I felt so special that they would devote a day to showing me around their hometown. An added bonus was visiting with Candice and Abby, not in Orange Park, but in France.
One of the highlights was our dining experience. The Restaurant Les Adrets (here is the TripAdvisor link) was located in the heart of the old medieval town and seemed to draw attention from only the locals. Jean-Paul told me that reservations were essential, and luckily, he had booked us a table! There was no menu and very few choices, but that did not matter, because the food was divine!
For my starter, I had toasted bread loaded with greens, olive oil, and fresh anchovies. It was amazing! A funny thing: when I asked Jean-Paul how to say “anchovy” in French, he laughed and said, “It is a French word, so it is anchovy.”
I’ve had a lot of salmon in the past few weeks, but Restaurant Les Adrets’s salmon plat was the best so far. It came perfectly prepared and fresh from the sea. The local wine from “Cote du Rhone” was presented in a traditional “pot” or glass bottle, only available in the Lyon area. The bottle had several inches of glass at the bottom. I speculated the bottles were made that way so that they would not tip over after a bottle or two!
Later, we returned to Jean-Paul’s and Chantelle’s home where we sat, talked, and visited. This was the best! I picked up so much about French culture, protocol, and customs. Like any grandparents, they were proud of their grandchildren and their immersion into their (French) culture. I am truly thankful to have had an opportunity to experience Lyon with the perfect hosts in Jean-Paul and Chantelle.
Lyon- Candice, David, and Abby
Candice and Abby, thanks for showing me around!
The Windmills of La Mancha
Sixty kilometers southwest of Toledo stands a vast and wide-open plain on which is planted grains, olives and grapes. If, while visiting Toledo, you have a car, it is well worth a trip to visit the small town of Consuegra. It is here you’ll find the famous “Windmills of Consuegra.”
I’ve often seen images of these windmills dotting the pages of “La Mancha” travel articles, but until now, have never had an opportunity to visit. There is a swift new “AutoVia” super-highway leaving Toledo and traveling right by Consuegra. By car, it takes about 40 minutes.
Approaching Consuegra from the north, you can see the windmills from a distance, across the plains.
It was a bit of a challenge trying to locate the road up to the windmills. My GPS was useless, but we found signs pointing us to the Castello and the windmills to be helpful.
The windmills became famous in the 16th century when Don Quixote was first published (BTW – I read somewhere that Don Quixote is the second most read book of all time, after the Bible). These windmills were introduced by the “Caballeros Sanjuanistas,” who brought these machines to help mill grain. They were handed down from father to son. There are still three operating windmills, but only for tourism. All fell out of use in the 1980’s when less expensive forms of milling were introduced.
