Good Eats: Best Meals in 2015

After travelling nearly nonstop for a month and having visitors here in Australia, I’m lagging a bit behind in writing my annual foodie blog post.

This past year, we enjoyed a few more European trips, with Belgrade, Serbia, being a surprisingly wonderful foodie destination, plus several good meals in Warsaw. In June, we left Poland after living there for 27 months and started a new expat journey in Melbourne. Although we’ve eaten out quite a bit Down Under, I can’t say that any meals have really wowed me yet. Aussies do breakfast fantastically well, and there are tons of ethnic options like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Malyasian. I’ve even been cooking a lot more Asian dishes at home since the ingredients are easy to find here.

The following destinations are where we had some of our Best Meals in 2015! Where did you have your favorite meal this year? I would love to know!

Bon appétit!

Joy

January: L’enfant Terrible in Warsaw

In January, I kicked off the year with a group of friends at one of Warsaw’s newer fine dining restaurants called L’enfant Terrible. Chef Michał Bryś, who had worked at European Michelin-starred restaurants, has since received accolades and his restaurant was recommended by the first Polish edition of the Gault & Millaut guide. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what the dishes are that we had and I didn’t take a copy of the menu. Some dishes were good like the tender beef for my main dish, but the foie gras macaron appetizer was a bit odd and so was the bacon-solar system course. 

At 350zl (about $100usd at the time), this was the most expensive meal I’ve had in the Polish capital.

February: Fancy French Food in Warsaw

We experienced a phenomenal dining experience thanks to a visiting 2-Michelin Star chef from France. Besides dining at Nolita again for my birthday, this special 7-course degustation menu by Chef Olivier Nasti, MOF, was THE best meal we’ve eaten here. The event was hosted by the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria and sponsored by AirFrance so we sampled some fantastic French wines (at a bargain) as well. The main entrée was roasted pigeon smothered in black truffles and served with a dollop of celeriac puree. I love truffles! I also love chocolate and dessert number 1 was a rich, dark chocolate mille feuille with coffee ice cream. You can read more about our fancy French meal in this post.

Wonderful Winebar in London

In February, we also travelled to London because my husband had some work meetings and I tagged along. Over the weekend, we ate at a cozy winebar called Brawn, located on Columbia Road (near the Sunday flower market) in Bethnal Green. We ordered several dishes to share, and my favorite was a ball of Buffalo Mozzarella with smoked aubergine puree and lemon. I could have licked the plate clean. I tried grilled duck hearts for the first time (kind of taste like liver) served on top a creamy polenta, perfect hearty food on a winter’s night. For a main dish, we shared the confit pork belly with Puy lentils and root vegetables. How could I resist some pork!

March: Classic Viennese Café

In March, we spent a short weekend in Vienna to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary together. Of course, we had to check out some of the historic cafés in Austria’s capital city. We had a late lunch at Café Central, open since1876; and in the late 19^th century, it became a key meeting place for the Viennese intellectual scene. Former customers include Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito (first president of Yugoslavia), Sigmund Freud, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.

Besides the beautiful architecture, what makes you ohh and ahh is the pastry display case, which is filled with all kinds of tempting sweet tooth pleasures. I had a difficult time choosing just one pastry to share with my husband after a simple lunch of beef tartare and soup. Which one would you pick?

April: Balkan Delights in Belgrade

In April, we spent the long Easter weekend in Belgrade with our Istanbul friends. I fell in love with this city’s architecture – a mix of Austrian, European and even some Ottoman influences – and the food scene. The food reminded me of trips to Greece, Turkey and Croatia as well as the modern touches which would be compatible in NYC. Our local Airbnb host recommended our last lunch destination called Manufaktura, which is owned by Dušan Ivković, considered the godfather of Serbian basketball and now the head coach of the Turkish Anadolu Efes team. 

Manufaktura is housed in an old building with lofty ceilings and an open floor plan filled with high bar tables and a charcuterie display case that will make you swoon! Seeing all the cured pig’s legs reminded me of Italy! This popular restaurant serves Serbian food with modern touches. Must-try dishes include ćevapi (small sausage-like grilled portions of minced meat), sopska salata (a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and cheese which is very similar to the Turkish Çoban Salatası), any of the locally-cured meats, and baklava for dessert.

May: Fine Dining in Warsaw

In May, I was spoiled with a birthday lunch and a multi-course dinner at Nolita where we had the dined the previous year for my birthday as I wrote about in this blog post. Nolita is hands-down my favorite fine-dining restaurant in Warsaw; and honestly, an international bargain for the food you receive – 6 courses for 235zl (then about $75 and now $57usd). My favorite course this time was a foie gras bon bon that I likened to a rich peanut butter and jelly combo. Again, I wanted to lick the plate clean!

June: Farewell Fiesta with Girlfriends

After throwing our own going-away, Mexican-themed party, I took some time to hang out with girlfriends. One of my farewell lunches was at one of my favorite Warsaw winebars, Alewino, tucked in behind an archway off fashion lane of ulica Mokotowska. The chalkboard menu always features seasonal items with a beet salad of some kind that’s delicious no matter how it’s prepared.

I love talking to the knowledgeable staff (in English) about the wines, particularly an incredible Hungarian selection! The truffled risotto and stuffed zucchini flowers are two of my favorite dishes when in season.

July: Tassie’s Simple Seafood

Once Down Under, we hit the road running to travel around our new home country. We spent a weekend exploring the southeast corner of Tasmania, a beautiful, lush, wild island. Perched on a hill beside a vineyard, Bangor Wine & Oyster Shed, about 45-minutes outside of Hobart, is the perfect place to enjoy a simple seafood lunch. We ordered freshly shucked oysters served three different ways with three tangy dressings and abalone sautéed in butter and garlic served with a brandied mayonnaise lettuce salad and of course, a chilled bottle of local Pinot Gris. All we had to do was sit back, sip some wine and enjoy the lovely views!

October: Paris is Always a Good Idea

In October, we ventured back to Europe for a few weeks and were able to celebrate a belated wedding anniversary with my brother and sister-in-laws in Paris. We treated ourselves to a new 1 Michelin-starred restaurant called Les Climats, located on the left bank. Considering its star status, the tasting menu priced at 5 courses for 98 euros was a decent bargain, at least in the City of Lights. This Art Deco restaurant features French cuisine with modern touches and is devoted to an immense collection of wines from the Burgundy region.

For the first course, Chef Julien Boscus served us crab seasoned with fresh herbs and pil pil sauce, octopus carpaccio, beef chorizo and multicolored cauliflower. The second course, one of my favorite, was a fillet of wild sea bream in a bread crust with mushrooms, fresh walnuts and red orach. The main course was a Scottish goose breast with Chasselas grapes, wild mushrooms, Swiss chard, chicory and straw potatoes. Unfortunately, we didn’t like the modern interpretation of the cheese course with fresh muscat grapes, red porto and Pinot Noir.

So our very generous server brought over the full cheese cart and let us choose several French cheeses to have instead.

Then, we ended up having two delectable dessert courses: pears poached in turmeric and caraway with pecans and pear sorbet; followed by a chocolate confection of guanaja biscuit with Tonka beans, caramelized hazelnuts, coffee Chantilly and chocolate sorbet. Oh my! And if those weren’t enough, we ended this amazing meal with a plate of petit fours and chocolates!

December: Shoreside Seafood in New Zealand

We ended 2015 with a 6-day holiday in New Zealand. After taking the ferry boat from Picton across the Cook Straight, we immediately settled in for lunch at Shed 5 in Wellington. This former woolshed that faces the harbor was recommended by fellow foodie and blogger friend, Meg of Notorious MEG, who lived in Welly for several months.

Along with a bottle of Marlborough Sav-Blanc, we ordered six oysters and three seafood appetizers to share. My favorite was a ceviche salad of flash cured tuna and Akaroa salmon with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, avocado mousse and olive oil caviar.

When visiting picturesque New Zealand, you can’t help but indulge in the local wines and fresh seafood!

Where did you enjoy your favorite meal in 2015?

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Magnificent Modern Dining in Warsaw: Nolita and Concept 13

If someone would have told me I’d find modern dining comparable to NYC here in Warsaw, I would never have believed him/her.

But Warsaw continues to surprise me! This spring, we dined on some fantastic raw oysters, foie gras, escargot and grilled sweetbreads at Brasserie Warszawka, which recently received a Bib Gourmand in the 2014 Michelin Guide Europe. We had three courses and a juicy bottle of French Gigondas red wine at a third of the price we would pay in NYC! We enjoyed our meal at the Brasserie so much that we returned just two weeks later and have recommended it to all our friends.

A fantastic dinner of French classics such as foie gras, raw oysters, escargot and sweetbreads.

During the past year, I’ve also dined at two spectacular, modern restaurants and wanted to share my experiences and photos with you. I feel like I’ve only hit the tip of what fine dining could be and WILL BE in Warsaw.

For my birthday dinner last May, I was looking for a nice place and stumbled upon this article: 5 Best for Fine Dining by Warsaw Foodie where Nolita was listed. I liked the menu online as well as the name (named after a neighborhood in NYC), so I made a reservation for us.

When the server at Nolita showed us to our table for two right in front of the open kitchen, I thought this was the best birthday present ever! I’d rather have a memorable meal than a physical present any day.

My husband decided to splurge since it was my birthday in our new city, so we started with raw French oysters with yuzu salsa and glasses of bubbly champagne. Next, the chef sent an amuse-bouche of creamy porcini mushroom soup in the most darling, tiny glass bottles.

For our appetizers, I selected the decadent foie gras with rhubarb sorbet served in a tiny canning jar and homemade brioche while Jason had the scallops. I was in heaven!

Appetizers and entrees at Nolita.

Throughout my birthday dinner, I watched chef and owner Jack Grochowina and his all-male team cook and plate the restaurant’s dishes. I love the “dance” that happens in a well-run kitchen! I dreamily reminisced about my long days in the professional kitchen.

Grochowina worked at the Ritz in London for several years and later returned to Warsaw to become the chef at Amber Room, another fine dining restaurant. (I had a girls’ lunch at the Amber Room not too long ago, and felt the restaurant seemed more “old boy’s network” than anything. Not impressed!)

Prices of appetizers range from 13 to 59 zł, and main courses cost from 70 to 129 zł. Nolita was the perfect choice for our date night and special occasion. But the price is a bit steep to make it a monthly occasion, unfortunately.

Even Nolita’s dessert impressed me! A sweet, but tangy rhubarb parfait with rhubarb ice cream for me, and hubby indulged in a glossy chocolate praline gateau.

We were even served a refreshing rhubarb sorbet as part of the dessert course. 

Another modern restaurant, Concept 13, in Warsaw offers an enticing 5-course set lunch menu for only 50 zł (about $15 USD). That’s an unbelievable steal!

This restaurant is hidden on the fifth floor of a luxury shopping center in Centrum called Vitkac, which is owned by the Polish Likus Hotel & Restaurant group. You have to pass by the gigantic Louis Vuitton store on the ground floor to access the elevators. I never would have guessed there was a restaurant and wine bar in this building. There are even outdoor tables with a view over the busy streets of Nowy Swiat and Aleje Jerozolimskie.

Our first course was a tiny crab salad with cucumber – a perfect, light course. The second course was a creamy mushroom soup with “roasted butter” and croutons. Third, tagliolini with vongole and shrimp – a little too fishy for me. The main course was deer loin with chanterelle mushrooms, fava beans and asaparagus – a very impressive showing of the season’s vegetables, but the meat was served a little too rare for my palate.

For dessert, the set menu included a white chocolate mousse with passion fruit sorbet, mint and “orange chocolate.” This is another type of dessert I would’ve made at my restaurants as I recognized the perfect quenelle of sorbet.

The restaurant’s website states Chef Arkadiusz Janczarek and his team of cooks prepare dishes from the highest-quality and seasonal ingredients. I couldn’t find much information about him online, but I did find some of his food photos on this site: Chefs-Talk. We’ve since dined at Concept 13 a couple of times, and while good, it just doesn’t WOW me especially for its expensive price tag.

Dinner options at Concept 13 include foie gras, steak tartare, fish and a steak fillet with too much foam.

Both Nolita and Concept 13 could be considered special occasion restaurants as well as a splurge for a fancy lunch. Hopefully, Warsaw’s dining scene will continue to develop more restaurants like these.

Locations:

Concept 13 (about 10-minute walk east of Centrum metro stop)

Address: ul. Bracka 9

Tel: (22) 310 73 73

Nolita

Address: ul. Wilcza 46 (about 10-minute walk south of Centrum metro stop)

Tel: (22) 292 04 24

Best places for anniversary, birthday, special occasion dinner or a splurge.

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