Bonjour, Strasbourg!

October 2, 2011

Conveniently, Basel is situated in Switzerland but within easy striking distance of both France and Germany. For the weekend, my co-worker Anne and I decided to get out of Basel and head into France, specifically into the Alsace region to a beautiful city named Strasbourg.

We dropped off our bags at our hotel, Hotel Gutenberg, only a couple minutes away from all the good sites in the Old Town area.

First tourist stop, Strasbourg Cathedral (or Notre-Dame de Strasbourg):

Pillar of angels and the famous astronomical clock in the background:

From the Cathedral, we wandered the Old town and found ourselves in Le Petit France, a beautiful and old neighborhood that is transversed by canals in the River Ile.

Our tummies were excited to try some french food, so we stopped in at La Corde a Linge, with a huge patio of tables along a canal on the Ile. I decided to have the foie gras with bread and salad for lunch, as foie gras is said to have originated in Strasbourg:

From Le Petit France, we headed over to Place Kleber, which is the largest square in city center of Strasbourg.

Nothing beats window shopping like "French dessert" window shopping:

For dinner, Anne and headed to a Brasserie L'Ancienne Douane, referred to as the "largest and most colorful dining spot in Strasbourg, serving up famous Alsatian cuisine. Check out the view from our table:

I had the Cordon Bleu for dinner with spaetzle:

Anne had the signature Alsatian "tarte flambe originale":

 

SUNDAY

On Sunday morning, we had a nice sleep-in and had a croissant and coffee in front of the Cathedral (sooo touristing...).

After some more touristing in the old town, we headed over to Chez Yvonne, one of the oldest and traditional winstubs in Strasbourg.

For lunch, I had the "coq au vin" with the best spaetzle that I've ever eaten:

A day and a half of eating and drinking Alsatian food was wonderful and I would love to spend more time in France.  After lunch, we wandered back to the train station and caught an afternoon train back to Basel. 

Au revoir, Strasbourg!

Back to Basel

September 30, 2011

I'm back in Basel, Switzerland for a couple weeks of work. Believe it or not, I managed to pack everything in a carry-on. Oh yeah.

The timing has been perfect, beautiful weather in Basel (see pic below), and productive work meetings and wonderful morning runs along the Rhine.

I'm off to Strasbourg, France for a weekend of touristing and eating/drinking everything that tastes-so-good-when-it-hits-your-lips. Stay tuned for that indulgent and hedonistic post!

Can you believe that it's already October?

Brunch Drunk Love

September 25, 2011

On Sunday morning, I squeezed in a brunch before getting all my gear ready to head out for a two-week work trip in Switzerland. I met up with Key, Sandy and JoJo at Bruno's to check out Chef Ryan Scott's Brunch Drunk Love. It's like taking a "pop-up" concept, but different. It's a weekend-and-brunch only restaurant (Saturdays & Sundays from 10AM to 4 PM) and takes advantage of the space at Bruno's that is unused during the day. It's been running since mid-July, so it was time to give it a go.

Cool pic I nabbed from Key:

We shared the sticky icky brioche buns with salted caramel & mixed nuts to start. OMG. I really wanted to swallow the whole think, but thank god we shared it 4-ways, that thing was rich!

For brunch, I had the old school style confit pork hash, with poached eggs, roasted asparagus, grilled bread, black truffle hollandaise. That black truffle hollandaise was TDF (to die for!).

Sandy forced us to order some dessert, and we ordered a fave from Ryan Scott's food truck (3-sum Eats): the snak pak (red velvet whoopee pie + housemade twinkie)

Super fun brunch, wish I had all day to linger and drink mimosas or their wicked-spicy bloody mary.

I'll...be...back.

Beast & The Hare

September 24, 2011

On Saturday, I went for dinner with Key at the new-ish restaurant at Guerrero and 22nd called Beast & The Hare. You can envision what they serve there.

Surprisingly, the menu also offers non-beast and non-hare items, including oysters, which I happily had a few before dinner.

Key and I shared some house-made charcuterie: duck proscuitto, coppa and spicy tuscan salami:

For dinner, I had the pasta with braised beef brisket, lima beans and pecorino cheese:

Key had the featured chicken-fried quail:

Overall, the meal was tasty and the corner restaurant had a nice neighborhood feel to it. I was disappointed to miss their fried chicken (damn you, changing menus!), so hopefully I'll be able to come back to add Beast and the Hare to my SF fried chicken challenge. (P.S. The current winner of best fried chicken is still Front Porch).

Sebo for Wendy

September 23, 2011

On Friday night, I took Wendy out for an early birthday dinner (as I'm out of town for work when she has her big birthday) at Sebo in Hayes Valley.  We took a seat at the sushi bar and enthusiastically opted for the 6-course Omikase menu (chef's choice).

#1: Vinegared wakame (seaweed salad) with a sushi roll with cucumber outside and some sort of yummy fish on the inside (we weren't really paying attention, we were too psyched to eat!):

#2: marinated whelk with seaweed, paired with tempura cod

#3: Chef's selection of nigiri, all were amazing, but my favorite nigiri was the Iwashi (wild sardines), which is the top right corner one

#4: Cold soba noodle soup with uni, seaweed and layered with sake and roe (O...M...G...)

#5: Cured daikon radish with lightly seared...mackerel? Can't remember. So good.

#6: Clams in miso broth and assorted veg

Dinner was fabulous, though a little spendy. But, if you like amazing quality of fish and a unique and adventurous experience with the chef, Sebo's Omikase menu is for you.

Happy early Birthday, Wendy!!