Tom Aikens
On the second day of my trip to London a while back we had dinner at Tom Aikens. The whole experience was quite enjoyable. I snagged the menu we had from their website at the time (I put the whole thing in a convenient definition list).
Jealous of Lizzie E
In my search for a hotel room in Illhaeusern I came across this blog. Man, she really likes her food it seems. And she’s been to restaurants that are still on my wish list, too!
Anyway, I added her to my feed reader as she’s already given me loads of ideas for places to visit while going to the West Coast in October. Keep those reviews coming, Lizzie!
My b’day this year
Being a foodie, my birthday present the last couple of years has been dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Last year we went to Oud Sluis, the year before to Beluga and this year we’re going to l’Auberge de l’Ill. I can hardly wait! 
Restaurant Week
Restaurant Week is on the horizon again and I just finished booking two restaurants – one for lunch and one for dinner. Since I’ve got an American Express card I’m allowed to book them a week earlier than most other people, but judging from the amount of restaurants already full (most of them being Michelin star ones) I’m not the only foodie with one of those in their wallet.
I wasn’t interested in Michelin star restaurants per se, as I’ve got two lined up later in the year (not for €25/€35 per person though!). So I booked ‘t Tolhuysch in Oegstgeest (while I’ve heard good stories about it and it’s nearby) and Maxime in the Hague (for it being Calla’s more laid back and hip sister). Should be a fun week.
The Truth About Food
I still had some stuff on my hard disk recorder waiting for me to watch, so, since I arrived home relatively early from work today, I decided to watch two episodes of the The Truth About Food. I’d already watched a few a while back and thought they were quite interesting (BBC quality). As were these – it gave me some new insights into my diet.
New year’s resolution
My new year’s resolution for 2009 is to make a (different) hamburger for every week of the year. I love hamburgers and it should be quite interesting to see if I can invent or find a new recipe for every week (save holidays) in 2009.
What about any of you, have any new year’s resolutions?
Wine flavours visualized
This reminds me of those paper wheels designed to help you put words to the scent of a wine.
B’day
Today’s my b’day and one of my presents is dinner at Oud Sluis tomorrow apparently. How’s that for a b’day present?
Nicolas le Bec
Me and the missus had a lovely meal on our last holiday to France at Nicholas le Bec’s restaurant in Lyon (nice city by the way). The following was what the menu consisted of and everything was a bliss (the first course being something I still vividly remember).
A Savoury « Café Crème » - a Soft-boiled Egg with an Explosion of Morel Mushrooms in Tio Pépé Sherry • • • Fresh Green Asparagus, Lightly cooked and served with A Parmesan Cream with Truffles and Cooked Ham • • • Brittany Lobster, poached Whole and served in a Lemongrass and Pink Coral Sauce • • • Royal Sea Bream with Baby Tomatoes flavoured with Oregano And a Rabbit and Mustard Sauce • • • Chump End of Limousin Lamb, Marinated and then cooked over a Barbeque Served with Courgette Spaghetti and their Flowers • • • A selection of Cheeses chosen for you by François, Renée Richard and the Mons Brothers • • • Strawberry Soup and Hot Chocolate Mousse
Le Auberge de Chavannes, update
This morning I was flicking through a feed I’d set up on Google’s Blogsearch with news on le Auberge de Chavannes and apparently it had lost its star at the beginning of this year. I then emailed the tourist board of a nearby town and they promptly replied to me that le Auberga has ceased to exist as of the first of July. What a shame.