Eating and drinking, part I
As I was going through my food pictures from our trip this time, I couldn't believe how often we ate dumplings. Pierogi in Kraków, celozrnným knedlíkem in Prague, Semmelknödel in Günzburg, gnocchi in Gorizia....you get the point. I'm sure we did eat food other than dumplings.
But sometimes, you have to have the dumplings.
More after the jump
One benefit to traveling around Europe in the late fall, rather than in spring or summer, is how plentiful the hot wine is.
I can't say that I minded that one of the restaurants where we ate in Kraków had a little playroom.
It allowed me and Randy to enjoy our free after dinner shots of apricot Nawelka Babuni.
While we walked around Wawel during the day we could snack on obwarzanek krakowski, the pretzel-like bread circles sold from carts.
Brigid tried the salt, but later learned after tasting her brother's that she would have liked the cheese better.
There are a lot of restaurants in Kraków that begin with the word "Pod" in their names. My first assumptions was that this word meant something like "bar" or "inn" or something like that. I was surprised to learn it meant "under." Pod Baranem is "Under the Rams," and Pod Aniolami is "Under the Angels."
Last year and this we ate at Pod Słońcem, "Under the Sun," which featured this memorable decor in the downstairs dining room. I think it is supposed to be the sun.
I kept remembering the word Pod, even if it wasn't in the restaurant's name, when we would find out suppers after descending stairs. I don't know if they still do this in Kraków out of necessity, habit, or just to create ambiance, but it really feels as though it is essential to the Kraków experience.
Essential like pirogi, I'll bet.
Our last night in Kraków was Brigid's birthday. We weren't in a position to bake (or even buy) a birthday cake for her. She still found a candle to blow out.
In Prague we returned to what has become a new favorite, Maitrea. I even made the reservations online before we left China to be sure we could get a table.
Don't worry, Mom. He had removed his hat when we entered the restaurant but put it on for that picture.
I just love their version of Goulash. With dumplings.
I know it must be pretty good because even my committed meat-eater son loves it as much as I do. He even said it was the best Czech goulash he has had.
After Prague came Legoland, and the food was much like what we had last year. Of course, the difference this time was that we actually stayed at the resort, so we enjoyed some cocktails. Like I said to Melanie on facebook some months ago, for me, it is a vacation (rather than just a trip) when there is Aperol Spritz.
We also at breakfast both mornings. It was everything we love about German hotel breakfasts, and then some.
Theme park resorts require breakfast visits from park characters. I think my kids were more thrilled about a Ninjago guy than they would have been about Mickey or Minnie.
Sometimes (often) train travel sounds more luxurious and exotic than it actually is. Some days we had to manage with snack foods until we reached some place we could get a proper meal. I have to confess we had a few cans of these Pringles over the three weeks.
Pringles e Prosecco. This is a known Italian pairing, right?
Normally I do not like Pringles, or most potato chips in general. However, I am completely weak in the presence of Paprika Pringles. Years ago, when I worked for a German company, my coworkers would sometimes bring a can or two back for me when they would visit our headquarters.
When we got to Zürich, I was ready for fondue. Since it was November, I knew that it was the proper time of year for fondue, so we would not be out of order seeking it out. However, our first night we arrived so late (and tired and hungry) that we only ate in our hotel. The restaurant was running a special, unusual menu for November--several French chefs developed courses that could be served in lidded glass dishes. I didn't get a picture of the menu to get the proper German or French name for this style of cooking.
Everything from a soup course (mine was a cheese and vegetable soup)
to the main course (I had a variation of ratatouille and Myles had chicken)
to even the desert course (chocolate mousse).
The next night, it was time for fondue. We had been tempted to take the train out to Dielsdorf to the restaurant where I have had what I still describe the best thing I have ever tasted, but it has since our last visit closed. So we remained in Zürich, and hoped that by showing up at Le Dézaley the minute it opened we would be able to eat without a reservation.
I'm a sucker for sunken dining rooms.
And uneven plaster walls.
We had the standard cheese fondue, with bread and pickled vegetables, and kirsch for the adults.
The fondue was quite good, but it still wasn't quite Wii Hüsli. Maybe we really did have something special there.
The next night we were in Luzern, and it was time to have supper when Randy arrived, so we again wanted to have fondue. The kids and I found Pfistern, next to the river, with views of Kappelbrücke. It would be easy for Randy to find after he walked over from the train station. He could just cross a bridge and look for the Christmas lights.
Zunfthausrestaurant Pfistern is in a building that was constructed in the 1570s. It is one of the few surviving Guild Houses in Luzern. I'm also a sucker for restaurants in old, repurposed buildings.
Once Randy arrived, there was cheese fondue. We actually ordered two types, their standard house-recipe, and a smaller pot with Gorgonzola in the mix. As much as I like my blue-vein cheeses, I found myself sticking mostly with the regular fondue. They did offer dozens of variations on cheese fondue, and perhaps on a return visit I would like to sample the other flavors.
We dipped bread, pickles, and steamed potatoes. The potatoes were served in an adorable gingham bag.
And of course I had kirsch, which they brought out in these cute dippers.
As much as I feared that the rustic touches would add to the price of the meal, it was still much less expensive than what we had the night before in Zürich.
Pfistern also offered chocolate fondue. Seriously? Could we eat any more?
I did not get any pictures of our lunches in Switzerland, mostly because they were uninteresting. We ate at the lunch counters of Migros grocery stores in both Zürich and Luzern. It wasn't exotic--pizza slices and sandwiches--but it was so much cheaper than any other option, short of buying food and cooking it at home. At both places the customers of Migros take-out were not tourists. A lot of guide books and travel websites go into details about how to eat like a local, meaning less expensive and authentic than tourist hives. So here, kids: we ate authentically like locals.
After Switzerland we travelled to Northern Italy. Getting back on Italian trains meant we could enjoy bottles of Aperol Spritz.
An Italian woman--casually glamorous with her large dark sunglasses, red lipstick, voluminous black hair, and black sweater--flagged me down as I walked back to our seats with my Aperol Spritz. She pointed toward the dining car and asked in in Italian what I believed to mean, "Did you buy them on the train?"
"Sì," I enthusialically nodded deploying one of the few things I can say in Italian. She grabbed her pocketbook and dashed out of her seat. We clearly understood one another.
Being in Gorizia (for the third time!), we returned to our now-regular places. There was a pizzeria near our hotel. Finally, we could eat pizza without thinking it was a concession!
They also had gnocchi, so more dumplings! In the US we usually refer to the potato variety as gnocchi, but in Italy it can mean any type of dumpling. The bread gnocchi were much larger than I expected. The potato gnocchi were bite-sized; the bread gnocchi were definitely not.
The main thing, though, that brings us back to this restaurant every time we are in Gorizia is this giant, salty ball of fresh mozzarella. Seriously.
The next day the kids and I were in the downtown area of Gorizia, and once again, we went to Wine Cafe for lunch. The owner smiled as I stumbled over my order in Italian.
"The Americans! You are back!"
It is his restaurant, so I don't know why he was surprised. The food, drinks, and setting (especially on a sunny day) were wonderful. Again.
Brigid and Myles go crazy over his bruschetta.
His gnocchi were pillows of bliss. Bliss dumplings.
He surprised me this time by pairing it with a Friulian white wine. It was still so, so awesome.
As we left, he said he looked forward to seeing us next year. I told him I hoped so.
The breakfast buffet at our hotel included several local specialties, identified by their labels and a descritption of the unique product in Italian. There was a cheese, a sausage, and this little pastry, a Gubana Goriziana.
I remarked to one of the women staffing the breakfast room that it reminded me of the Slovenian potica (though I'm sure she heard it as the Italian potizza). She nodded and said they were all the same, listing out other sweet-nut breads from Italy and Eastern Europe.
The kids and I also made a side day-trip into Slovenia, to Most na Soča, where we arrived just in time for lunch. Maybe because the middle of November isn't a big tourist season, many of the "authentic Slovenian" restaurants appeared to be closed. We found one very busy restaurant, a pizzerija. Once again, eating like a local outside of Italy meant getting pizza. A song by Passenger was playing over their sound system, which I took as a good sign.
One of Randy's contacts in Slovenia insists that all the food is better on his side of the border, even the Italian food. Myles brought this up as we looked over the menu.
It was very good, of course.
In the train station that night, before we went back to Gorizia to meet up with Randy, I had one local Slovenian beer, Laško. This amused me in particular because on of my sister's friends is married to a Lasko.
The next travel posts will be about Gorizia and Most na Soča, and then Lyon, Bordeaux, San Sebastian and Köln. Another Eating and Drinking post (or two) will come among those as well.
But sometimes, you have to have the dumplings.
More after the jump
One benefit to traveling around Europe in the late fall, rather than in spring or summer, is how plentiful the hot wine is.
I can't say that I minded that one of the restaurants where we ate in Kraków had a little playroom.
It allowed me and Randy to enjoy our free after dinner shots of apricot Nawelka Babuni.
While we walked around Wawel during the day we could snack on obwarzanek krakowski, the pretzel-like bread circles sold from carts.
Brigid tried the salt, but later learned after tasting her brother's that she would have liked the cheese better.
There are a lot of restaurants in Kraków that begin with the word "Pod" in their names. My first assumptions was that this word meant something like "bar" or "inn" or something like that. I was surprised to learn it meant "under." Pod Baranem is "Under the Rams," and Pod Aniolami is "Under the Angels."
Last year and this we ate at Pod Słońcem, "Under the Sun," which featured this memorable decor in the downstairs dining room. I think it is supposed to be the sun.
I kept remembering the word Pod, even if it wasn't in the restaurant's name, when we would find out suppers after descending stairs. I don't know if they still do this in Kraków out of necessity, habit, or just to create ambiance, but it really feels as though it is essential to the Kraków experience.
Essential like pirogi, I'll bet.
Our last night in Kraków was Brigid's birthday. We weren't in a position to bake (or even buy) a birthday cake for her. She still found a candle to blow out.
In Prague we returned to what has become a new favorite, Maitrea. I even made the reservations online before we left China to be sure we could get a table.
Don't worry, Mom. He had removed his hat when we entered the restaurant but put it on for that picture.
I just love their version of Goulash. With dumplings.
I know it must be pretty good because even my committed meat-eater son loves it as much as I do. He even said it was the best Czech goulash he has had.
After Prague came Legoland, and the food was much like what we had last year. Of course, the difference this time was that we actually stayed at the resort, so we enjoyed some cocktails. Like I said to Melanie on facebook some months ago, for me, it is a vacation (rather than just a trip) when there is Aperol Spritz.
We also at breakfast both mornings. It was everything we love about German hotel breakfasts, and then some.
Theme park resorts require breakfast visits from park characters. I think my kids were more thrilled about a Ninjago guy than they would have been about Mickey or Minnie.
Sometimes (often) train travel sounds more luxurious and exotic than it actually is. Some days we had to manage with snack foods until we reached some place we could get a proper meal. I have to confess we had a few cans of these Pringles over the three weeks.
Pringles e Prosecco. This is a known Italian pairing, right?
Normally I do not like Pringles, or most potato chips in general. However, I am completely weak in the presence of Paprika Pringles. Years ago, when I worked for a German company, my coworkers would sometimes bring a can or two back for me when they would visit our headquarters.
When we got to Zürich, I was ready for fondue. Since it was November, I knew that it was the proper time of year for fondue, so we would not be out of order seeking it out. However, our first night we arrived so late (and tired and hungry) that we only ate in our hotel. The restaurant was running a special, unusual menu for November--several French chefs developed courses that could be served in lidded glass dishes. I didn't get a picture of the menu to get the proper German or French name for this style of cooking.
Everything from a soup course (mine was a cheese and vegetable soup)
to the main course (I had a variation of ratatouille and Myles had chicken)
to even the desert course (chocolate mousse).
The next night, it was time for fondue. We had been tempted to take the train out to Dielsdorf to the restaurant where I have had what I still describe the best thing I have ever tasted, but it has since our last visit closed. So we remained in Zürich, and hoped that by showing up at Le Dézaley the minute it opened we would be able to eat without a reservation.
I'm a sucker for sunken dining rooms.
And uneven plaster walls.
We had the standard cheese fondue, with bread and pickled vegetables, and kirsch for the adults.
The fondue was quite good, but it still wasn't quite Wii Hüsli. Maybe we really did have something special there.
The next night we were in Luzern, and it was time to have supper when Randy arrived, so we again wanted to have fondue. The kids and I found Pfistern, next to the river, with views of Kappelbrücke. It would be easy for Randy to find after he walked over from the train station. He could just cross a bridge and look for the Christmas lights.
Zunfthausrestaurant Pfistern is in a building that was constructed in the 1570s. It is one of the few surviving Guild Houses in Luzern. I'm also a sucker for restaurants in old, repurposed buildings.
Once Randy arrived, there was cheese fondue. We actually ordered two types, their standard house-recipe, and a smaller pot with Gorgonzola in the mix. As much as I like my blue-vein cheeses, I found myself sticking mostly with the regular fondue. They did offer dozens of variations on cheese fondue, and perhaps on a return visit I would like to sample the other flavors.
We dipped bread, pickles, and steamed potatoes. The potatoes were served in an adorable gingham bag.
And of course I had kirsch, which they brought out in these cute dippers.
As much as I feared that the rustic touches would add to the price of the meal, it was still much less expensive than what we had the night before in Zürich.
Pfistern also offered chocolate fondue. Seriously? Could we eat any more?
I did not get any pictures of our lunches in Switzerland, mostly because they were uninteresting. We ate at the lunch counters of Migros grocery stores in both Zürich and Luzern. It wasn't exotic--pizza slices and sandwiches--but it was so much cheaper than any other option, short of buying food and cooking it at home. At both places the customers of Migros take-out were not tourists. A lot of guide books and travel websites go into details about how to eat like a local, meaning less expensive and authentic than tourist hives. So here, kids: we ate authentically like locals.
After Switzerland we travelled to Northern Italy. Getting back on Italian trains meant we could enjoy bottles of Aperol Spritz.
An Italian woman--casually glamorous with her large dark sunglasses, red lipstick, voluminous black hair, and black sweater--flagged me down as I walked back to our seats with my Aperol Spritz. She pointed toward the dining car and asked in in Italian what I believed to mean, "Did you buy them on the train?"
"Sì," I enthusialically nodded deploying one of the few things I can say in Italian. She grabbed her pocketbook and dashed out of her seat. We clearly understood one another.
Being in Gorizia (for the third time!), we returned to our now-regular places. There was a pizzeria near our hotel. Finally, we could eat pizza without thinking it was a concession!
They also had gnocchi, so more dumplings! In the US we usually refer to the potato variety as gnocchi, but in Italy it can mean any type of dumpling. The bread gnocchi were much larger than I expected. The potato gnocchi were bite-sized; the bread gnocchi were definitely not.
The main thing, though, that brings us back to this restaurant every time we are in Gorizia is this giant, salty ball of fresh mozzarella. Seriously.
The next day the kids and I were in the downtown area of Gorizia, and once again, we went to Wine Cafe for lunch. The owner smiled as I stumbled over my order in Italian.
"The Americans! You are back!"
It is his restaurant, so I don't know why he was surprised. The food, drinks, and setting (especially on a sunny day) were wonderful. Again.
Brigid and Myles go crazy over his bruschetta.
His gnocchi were pillows of bliss. Bliss dumplings.
He surprised me this time by pairing it with a Friulian white wine. It was still so, so awesome.
As we left, he said he looked forward to seeing us next year. I told him I hoped so.
The breakfast buffet at our hotel included several local specialties, identified by their labels and a descritption of the unique product in Italian. There was a cheese, a sausage, and this little pastry, a Gubana Goriziana.
I remarked to one of the women staffing the breakfast room that it reminded me of the Slovenian potica (though I'm sure she heard it as the Italian potizza). She nodded and said they were all the same, listing out other sweet-nut breads from Italy and Eastern Europe.
The kids and I also made a side day-trip into Slovenia, to Most na Soča, where we arrived just in time for lunch. Maybe because the middle of November isn't a big tourist season, many of the "authentic Slovenian" restaurants appeared to be closed. We found one very busy restaurant, a pizzerija. Once again, eating like a local outside of Italy meant getting pizza. A song by Passenger was playing over their sound system, which I took as a good sign.
One of Randy's contacts in Slovenia insists that all the food is better on his side of the border, even the Italian food. Myles brought this up as we looked over the menu.
It was very good, of course.
In the train station that night, before we went back to Gorizia to meet up with Randy, I had one local Slovenian beer, Laško. This amused me in particular because on of my sister's friends is married to a Lasko.
The next travel posts will be about Gorizia and Most na Soča, and then Lyon, Bordeaux, San Sebastian and Köln. Another Eating and Drinking post (or two) will come among those as well.
Comments