Vienna - a tale of two dinners

The idea of being a Michelin inspector...now that, surely, is the dream job? I don't think that I'd be good at it though - I hate criticising people or bashing them and I am cripplingly polite. Seriously - it is a family trait and not a good one. I was musing about this because we went to two one-star restaurants on our recent trip to Vienna and one I adored and one I didn't but it all came down to a completely subjective view of the food being served and that's the thing - how do you divorce subjectivity from, presumably, a set of criteria that deigns something worthy of a star or not? I'm not sure I could do it.

I mean, there were plenty of reasons to like Apron. The service was fabulous - the most engaging, friendly, fabulous staff. The setting was gorgeous - dark, brooding, romantic...but with a table big enough that you didn't feel in constant danger of knocking your water glass over. A create your own tasting menu - yes, really! They have a menu of six starters, two mains and two desserts and you can pick your own five or seven courses for a set price which is extraordinary - I've never seen another restaurant do this. Everyone at the table can please themselves as well - you don't have to order the same thing. Which meant that D and I could cover all ten dishes between us by opting for a five course tasting menu. 

I say five courses, but Apron are out to break you as an eater. Before we even got to these there was a fabulous amuse of minestrone soup and Parmesan cream, some decadent snacks and a bread course that was just bonkers. It came with multiple accompaniments, the best of which was a candle MADE OF BUTTER that melted into a pork gravy. 

Once we got into the menu proper though, I started falling a bit out of love. I just didn't feel that the dishes were quite coherent enough, or sufficiently balanced. Of the starters - for me, the stand out was a glorious mushroom dish which tasted as bosky as you could possibly wish. But any textural contrasts were completely obliterated by the broth that was poured over at the table. Mains were good - I had chicken which is just not done often enough in high end restaurants - but not great. My chocolate dessert really needed some contrast from somewhere - the mango element on the plate was too sweet to balance out the delicious cremeux. Very pretty though.

The next night, we went to Pramerl and the Wolf. I thought that I was done with food at this point; it being the third night in a row we'd been for high end grub. I was wrong though - it turns out, when anything is this good, the stomach will find a way. Not a duff mouthful from start to finish; and I'd walk on coals to have the celeriac and scallop tartlet again, or the dinner rolls basted in bone marrow, or the squid and smoked eel in Parmesan cream. Service again was great, if a little more perfunctory than the night before, atmosphere good. Fabulous wine pairing - lots of interesting, natural wines which seems to be a really big deal in Austria, far more so than here.

One place, then, to which we will definitely return and one to which we will not, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either. I think, when it comes to food, what makes one's heart sing is subjective, and I wouldn't criticise anywhere for doing its thang when its thang just isn't my thang too.

Vienna - cake for breakfast

We have just had the briefest of sojourns in Vienna - three nights, two and a half days, and it wasn't nearly long enough. Usually after a holiday, I am ready to come home but this time...I would quite happily have stayed, even if just for another day or so. What a city! The architecture in the first district is, I think, the most beautiful and spectacular that I have seen anywhere in the world with a new delight around every single corner. 

Of course, being us, greedy as sin, our top priorities nearly all involved consumption of some sort or another. And yes, we did indeed have cake for breakfast. Twice.

The first - at Cafe Demel. This is one of two places that claims to have invented the famous Sachertorte and there is a permanent queue outside for both the cafe and the shop. It's just like you imagine a Viennese coffee shop to be though; ornate and twee at the same time. We breakfasted like kings (or emperors) on the aforementioned Sachertorte, apple strudel and a speciality of the house: Kaiserschmarrn. This last dish was our favourite - fluffy pancakes, torn up into scraps and dusted with sugar, served with apples, raisins and a side of stewed plums. So delicious! I'm going to try and make this at home (there are recipes online although I've not seen one yet that tucks spiced apple in amongst the pancake pieces).

The Sachertorte was...ok. The flavour combination of chocolate and apricot jam is lovely. The rich, chocolate icing was...well, rich and chocolatey although not as shiny as we were expecting (D clearly has absorbed some Bake Off lingo as he wondered out loud where the "mirror glaze" was to be found). And the cake was ever so slightly on the dry side - perhaps deliberately so, as it is served with cream and the moisture was provided by this, the jam and the coating. But, still, onwards.

The Hotel Sacher was just as gloriously Disney-esque inside as Demel, with be-suited waiters and a sweep of red carpeted stairs up to the dining room. Here we breakfasted slightly more sensibly - in that we had actual Viennese breakfast food rather than just cake. But, even so, along with a delicious bread, cheese and meat platter, the Viennese breakfast comes with a Sacher cube (Sachertorte in miniature form). D rather confused the waiter by asking for a slice of torte as well. He didn't feel that the cube would offer true like for like comparison.

Do you know - again it was only ok, and for the exact same reasons. In fact, there seemed to be practically no difference between the two although obviously impossible to fully tell without a side by side taste test. 

Regard that glorious meat and cheese plate, though! The truffled ham, in particular, was fantastic. 

So - Sachertorte ticked off the list - underwhelming, but only slightly so. Kaiserschmarrn introduced to the repertoire - happy days. Ridiculous practice of eating cake for breakfast - not to be encouraged in the normal run of things. 

Where The Light Gets In, Stockport

With so many amazing restaurants out there, and limited time and funds, a place has to be very special indeed for it to warrant a revisit. Last night was our third trip to WTLGI. That’s how much we love it.

It’s a combination of factors that make it so special. The food is wonderful - lots of different influences being effortlessly blended into a coherent whole which is absolutely a style in itself. The wine pairings are always thought provoking, with an emphasis on natural wines being an interesting point of difference. And the staff are SO lovely. Friendly, engaged, full of enthusiasm but not over the top. We always try and sit up at the kitchen counter, and watching the plating up and chatting with some of the chefs is a real treat. 

Last night we ate the fattest of oysters with locally grown ginger and shiso, a celeriac ragu which had so much flavour it would convert the most ardent root veg sceptic, and game seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and served with a silky baba ganoush. Fabulous dishes all. But nothing could beat a dense, dark chocolate and stout cake with chocolate creameux, marmalade glaze and pieces of crispy buckwheat which was utterly luscious without being in the least bit sweet. 

This morning sees us at Manchester Airport about to head off to Vienna where, no doubt, many more culinary treats await. But, wow, the trip is off to a good start.

Recipe corner: slow cooked sausage sauce (ideal for penne)

I hope that I'm not the only person out there that has an absolutely ridiculous amount of recipe bookmarks. I mean, more dishes than I could ever make in a lifetime if you count them up across all the different platforms. And still, they continue to accumulate.

There are some, though, that just lodge themselves in your head. And the fact that I recently cooked a recipe from a blog post that was originally written in 2010 just goes to show that...er, it may take 14 odd years but you might get there eventually. And, when you do, it will be splendifiourous! For this was a truly fantastic dish that I'm glad I finally roused myself to make, and will appear on our food plan again.

I believe that this is originally a River Cafe recipe, via Essex Eating, to ensure that the full credit is here in the post. It is rich and meaty and creamy and the absolute perfect pasta sauce to carry you through the autumn months. 

Ingredients

4 decent pork sausages

tbsp olive oil

Red onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed or grated

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Bay leaf

150ml red wine

400g tin tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

1/4 nutmeg

60g Parmesan, finely grated (plus the rind if you have it)

75ml double cream

Serves 2-3 with 75g pasta pp (depending on level of greed)

Over a medium heat, warm the oil and then crumble in the sausage meat, removed from its skins. Cook gently, until more fat starts to render from the sausages.

Now add the onion, garlic and dried spices and, keeping the heat relatively low, cook for 30 mins or so until the onion is golden and soft.

Add the wine, whack the heat up a notch or two, and cook briskly until all the liquid has evaporated. Then add the tomatoes, seasoning with a pinch of sugar to take off the acidity, and add the Parmesan rind as well if you happen to have it. Turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Season with the nutmeg, plus salt and pepper as required (you won't need much of either), and then stir through the grated cheese and the cream.

Serve with pasta (although I actually also think this would be lovely with a cloud of mash).

Kiln, London

There are very few times in life when I'm sorry to live in the North of England, despite having grown up on the London / Essex border. But there is no doubt that those people who live in London, or its environs, have access to a wondrous selection of eateries, far more varied than we have even in a decent sized city like Leeds. To Soho then, yesterday, and to Kiln, which is a D discovery. He has been a proper fanboy over it since eating there twice in two days earlier this year. 

Did I like Kiln? Yes, absolutely, and I’m only sorry that my friend J and I were relatively restrained with our menu choices (we needed to save room for an afternoon of cocktail consumption).

Speaking of cocktails, it would have been rude not to try Kiln’s offering. J went for dark rum with strawberry and cacao while I had gin with lime and something else which currently escapes me (probably because of all the brain cells I killed off in the proceeding hours). Gorgeous though, really bright and sherberty.

Food - we went for two of the smaller plates, the Northern Laap sausage and the slow cooked chicken and soy. I was expecting to love the sausage - and indeed it was rich and meaty and funky with dried shrimp. But I think the chicken was my favourite. Incredibly tender, the marriage of the sweet, melting meat with the umami hit of soy and the lick of flame from the grill, was utterly irresistible.

Stir fried greens in soy (we felt veg were required) were fresh and crunchy and a welcome foil to the meat. Dirty napkin included in the shot for, er, effect.

We weren’t going to try the glass noodles with belly pork and brown crab meat, but the server insisted that it was a Kiln classic. Enjoyable - there was a lovely kick of heat from the noodle dressing - but the crab meat was not readily discernible which was a little bit of a shame. Next time I’d definitely opt for rice and a curry instead.

This is Thai food the likes of which I haven’t seen before and really illustrates that it is a cuisine that is far more than fish cakes and green curry. Spicy and rich and exciting, it’s only a shame it’s not closer at hand. 

Happy Meals - the tastiest sausage

 

The second HM post and this one also contains a homemade sausage. But I make no apologies because sausages are wonderful things and homemade sausages are particularly wonderful (although Ginger Pig’s offerings come a close second).

D’s Merguez sausages are extra-particularly wonderful. Lamb, rather than pork, and heavily spiced with a hint of chilli heat. We ate them with red pepper hummus (also homemade, using my basic template as a starting point and then throwing in roasted red peppers, paprika, chilli, oregano and extra garlic), flatbreads, stuffed vine leaves and herby falafels (not homemade - the shame!)

Excellent stuff.

Six by Nico, Leeds

August was supposed to be a quiet, relatively frugal month as September and October look set to be quite busy (and spendy). But it doesn't seem to have quite worked out that way. Last Saturday found us visiting somewhere that has been on the radar for a while - Six by Nico. 

There are quite a few of these now (I count fourteen on the website) but it's not your usual chain restaurant in that it offers a tasting menu. All the branches do the same six course menu designed by the head chef Nico Simeone. These menus, which change every six weeks, are all themed - "inspired by a different memory, place or idea". They also offer a matching wine pairing, and both food and wine are priced pretty reasonably, although apparently the prices do vary depending upon which city you are in. We, for example, paid £42 for the food and £33 for the wine pairing. 

Our theme was "Guilty Pleasures" and we had such high hopes for the menu. Included were takes on some of our favourite things - a breakfast muffin! Macaroni cheese! A fish finger sandwich! Fried chicken! The dishes read extremely well.

Not quite sure, then, what went wrong. Well, I say wrong and that is probably unfair. There was nothing wrong wrong with the food. It was just...underwhelming. The wine was...OK. We left feeling vaguely disappointed without quite being able to express why. Perhaps we had pitched our hopes slightly too high.

Every single dish was well presented, elegant and modern looking, with the requisite splodges and smears that denote fayne dayning. But also, in every single dish, the balance of flavours was just slightly off. Maybe there were just too many elements vying for attention. Maybe the seasoning wasn't quite on point. I'm just not sure.

Highlights - well, I enjoyed the macaroni cheese which came with cauliflower couscous, jalapeno gherkin ketchup and pickled golden raisins. Strip away the gubbins and the macaroni cheese itself was exactly what you want from a macaroni cheese - cheesy, a little stodgy and with some crispness on top for contrasting texture. 

We both also agreed that the crispy chicken thigh with NFC crumb was very tasty - here, the seasoning was just right and the crumb delivered a good punch of flavour. The accompaniments were fine, but really, just a bucket of the chicken would have probably perfectly acceptable!

The other thing we found was that the service felt...well, needy. All the staff were lovely and friendly and obviously wanted us to have a nice time, but we constantly felt required to reassure them that yes, we were enjoying the food and yes, the wine was lovely and no, we definitely didn't want any water. We were brought an iPad along with the bill to provide feedback (OK...) and then D was emailed a day or so later to provide more feedback. At which stage he pointed out that the constant need for validation came across as needy and then they emailed back to apologise! 

I can't say I'd rush back to SBN much as I actually like the concept a lot. The food is not quite as good as it thinks it is, and there are better places to eat in Leeds.  However, it would possibly be a good place to go with a larger group - it was bright and loud and buzzy and fun and seemed more set up for that kind of audience than a slightly grumpy middle aged couple who like to be left alone to eat their meal in peace. 

Happy Meals - a Thai inspired Saturday supper

Welcome to a new, probably infrequent, possibly one episode only series of quick posts talking about meals have cooked at home that we particularly enjoyed.

A little background to this one: D is currently a little obsessed with the London based Thai restaurant Kiln. He went there twice in two days when he was last down. They don’t have a recipe book but they do have a few recipes available on the Great British Chefs website and, yesterday evening we cooked two of them. 

Behold, with my usual appalling food photography skills on display (in fairness, I was hungry) - two Sai oua which is a type of Northern Thai sausage served with a mushroom salad with bitter herbs. On the side, Thai sticky rice, lightly fried then dressed with a sauce consisting of a tablespoon each of Sriracha chilli sauce, honey, fish sauce and sesame oil and finished with some shredded omelette (which had been seasoned with more fish sauce and white pepper). The whole dish was garnished with Thai basil and birds eye chillies. 

Better than any Thai takeaway I have EVER had, I enjoyed every mouthful. And if the food in Kiln is even half as good then D is really on to something and I need to get my arse there as soon as possible. 

Millie

Just over a fortnight ago, we welcomed a new friend into our home. 

Since Minx died the house has felt weirdly empty. Although we will never be able to replace her, we just didn’t feel like a proper family without a cat. 

And so, Millie.

She is probably 14 - some of her paperwork suggests slightly younger. Either way, she is a venerable lady in cat years and we did think long and hard before we went to see her as, from the outset, we have to accept that we probably won't have her for very long. But the idea of this beauty having to finish out her days in a tiny pen hurt us both. And when we met her, the friendliest, sweetest girl, we knew that we had to make sure that she had a good retirement with us,

So there we go. The WWF blog has another feline in residence! Welcome, Millie!

Recent eats (Leeds edition)

I couldn’t bear to have that last post sitting there at the top of the blog for ever. Even though Minx’s absence is still felt every day. 

Back to food! And we’ve been to a couple of new Leeds venues recently that are well worth a mention.

First up, I think this ricotta and tomato on toast from Eat Your Greens is one of the prettiest lunches that I have had in a while.

I’m not sure that I quite understand the concept of the place - if, indeed, it has such a thing (and perhaps the question is, why does it need one?) There is a light lunch menu which was predominantly veggie when we were there; dinner is more substantial and with a few more options for the carnivores, although still definitely somewhere you could quite comfortably go with a vegetarian friend. There is also a small grocery area, selling some fresh produce and some interesting looking pantry items. Service was friendly, but leisurely. 

Then the other week we got to Empire Cafe which attracted quite a lot of local attention when it got a glowing write up from renowned food critic (and Masterchef stalwart) Jay Rayner. Reader, we loved it so much we are already booked to go back. If you like rotisserie chicken then you must make a pilgrimage - these birds, lathered and crumbed and cooked on a wall of flame, produced some of the most delicious, tender chicken that either of us have ever eaten. 

NB: in addition, an intriguing array of starters or small plates listed, so be sure and go hungry enough that you can squeeze in a few nibbles. D was most taken with his duck parfait éclair (although it was rich - one between two would have been fine). 

Leeds has popped up on the tellybox as well. Rick Stein paid a visit to the very wonderful Bundobust while recently doing a food tour of Britain - so far, so predictable (with the number of travelogues Stein has done over the years he must surely have been to pretty much everywhere by now?) But somewhat more intriguingly, Adam Richman of Man vs Food fame, visited Leeds as part of a show in which he drives around eating traditional British dishes in the places from whence they take their name. So, in Leeds, he was in YORKSHIRE so he ate a YORKSHIRE pudding, he had a SCONE in SCONE. You get the drift. He seemed genuinely interested in the food culture of the city and genuinely appreciative of the dishes he got to try in venues that varied from the market food hall to the somewhat-posher-than-a-market The Owl.* Which was nice as sometimes it is easy to take the place that you live for granted, especially Leeds which can be a bit grey and appears to have been entirely subsumed under scaffolding for the last ten thousand years.

(*Although it should be noted that The Owl's very first iteration was actually based in Kirkgate Market.)

On grief

We lost our beloved Minx Cat last week. 

When I say lost, obviously I don't mean misplaced. She wasn't the kind of cat to blend into the surroundings. Nor was she very good at hiding (always a tail or a paw poking out to give her away).

And I suppose the phrase is, we had her put to sleep. Or Put to Sleep, with respectful capitalisation. But I'm not sure I like that either because, however hard I keep wishing, she isn't going to wake up and come wandering down the stairs for a cuddle and some treats.

She featured a lot in this blog over the years, so I felt it only right that she got one final post. I wish I could come up with something more profound to say. I miss her so much and I will always have a Minx shaped hole in my heart.