Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Relais&Chateaux Castel Fragsburg *


Im Rahmen des weltbekannten „Merano Wine Festival“ wurden mein Kollege Daniel Egger von Travelexecutive und ich in das kleinste Luxushotel der Alpen eingeladen. Es war keine gewöhnliche Einladung, sondern eine, von der jeder Blogger der Welt nur träumen kann:

Samstagabend
5 Gänge Degustationsmenü aus der Sterneküche gekocht von Luis Haller

Sonntagmorgen
Das Fragsburger Frühstück Deluxe,welches in 5 Gängen am Tisch serviert wurde. Dieses hat bislang alles übertroffen, was ich Frühstück genannt habe.

Sonntagnachmittag
Ging es  dann hinter die Kulissen zum Kochkurs mit Luis Haller.

Sonntagabend
Wartete der Tanzboden am Open Day mit Soft Jazz und fantastischen Highlights

Nach dem Besuch der Weinmesse (hoher Eintrittspreis, aber sehr informativ) im Zentrum Merans wurden wir wieder in unser Hotel, das hoch oben am Berg liegt, gebracht. Dann genossen wir den kleinen, aber feinen gut besuchten SPA Bereich.

Das Dinner im Castel Fragsburg *

Gut erholt betraten wir das ausgebuchte Restaurant. Das Ambiente des verhältnismäßigen großen Speiseraum traf genau unseren Geschmack. Um es mit den Worten von Travelexecutive zu sagen: „Trotz der Größe des Raumes fühlt man sich als wäre man alleine in einer privaten Sterneküche“.

Wir waren Samstag Mittag schon überrascht von der atemberaubendem Aussicht - aber unser Tisch abends in der ersten Reihe direkt am Fenster übertraf wieder mal unsere Erwartungen! Die Meraner Skyline lag uns zu Füßen. Nach der persönlichen Begrüßung von PR Manager Thomas Steiner wurde uns der Aperitif serviert.

Der Vorteil wenn man in solch einem Hotel wohnen darf ist, dass man das Auto nicht mehr bewegen muss. Das heißt man darf gut und gerne einen Cocktail als Einstand in ein Abendessen bestellen ;).

Das Menü begann mit einigen Amuse Bouches: fünf Stück an der Zahl, eine britannische Felsenauster, ein Toast mit rohem Thunfisch und Gurkenbrunoise, einem Kartoffelespuma mit Jakobsmuschel und Trüffelpulver, eine Consommé, die mit einem Bierschaum vollendet wurde. Das letzte der fünf Komponenten war eine frittierte Teigtasche mit einer Füllung aus einer sehr gut abgeschmeckten Fischfarce. 


Als Vorspeise wählten wir eine Variation mit Büffelmozarella, Kalbstatar im Schüttelteig und Wintertrüffel. Die Anrichteweise genau wie der Geschmack brachte mich ins Schwärmen und machte Lust auf mehr.

Bei dem Zwischengang aus Kürbis, Risotto, Burrata und geriebenen Trüffel wurden unsere Geschmacksnerven zum wiederholten  Male komplett stimuliert. Das Risotto hätte meines Erachtens vielleicht eine Minute länger im Topf verweilen können. Dies ist jedoch kein Kritikpunkt sondern Geschmackssache.  Aber alles in einem ein sehr gut gelungenes Gericht.



Ehrlich gesagt bin ich froh, dass ich kein Vegetarier bin, sonst wäre mir das PERFEKT gegarte Rinderfilet entgangen.
Lobenswert war auch, dass der Wunsch meines Kollegen, der das Rinderfilet Medium-Welldone bestellt hat, ohne Probleme in Erfüllung ging. Serviert wurde das Weiderind mit Minimais und Kastanienpüree. Verfeinert wurde es mit einigen gut sautierten Steinpilzen.



Den Übergang zum Dessert formte ein Sorbet aus Trauben verfeinert mit einem Olivenpulver.

Nach einer kurzen Wartepause  wurde das Dessert serviert. Eine sehr mutige Kombination aus Dill und Weißer Schokolade. Hört sich im ersten Moment sehr speziell an, jedoch wenn man in den Genuss dieser Süßspeise kommt, will man nicht mehr aufhören zu essen.


Durch den gesamten Abend begleiteten uns sehr gut geschulte Servicemitarbeiter.

Als Abschluss von einem nahezu Perfekten Abendessen gab es noch einige Petit Fours.


Vielen Dank an das Hotel Castel Frageburg für die Einladung. 
Alle veröffentlichte Berichte repräsentieren ausschließlich unsere eigene Meinung.

Thank you very much to the Hotel Castel Fragsburg for the generous invitation. All above written is our personal opinion without any influences.


written by:

Felix Bantel - Food Executive

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

24 Hours at the Hotel La Mirande, Avignon


First of all, YES, La Mirande in Avignon is extremely expensive. And YES for 490,00€ per night in a simple Double Room, you could stay at the Corinthia London or the Plaza in New York. That's a part I do not understand either, but it is not something I can decide.


On the other side, if you think honestly, you are staying in front of, or better, inside the world famous and spectacular Pope's Palace of Avignon. And that's something you can't get in New York or London or even in Rome. By the way, this is also what I would describe as a Unique Hotel.


First of all, you should know that arriving by car is NOT a good idea. The street becomes extremely narrow and if you are travelling alone it gets even more stressful. Finally when we arrived in front of the Pope's Palace we also recognized the La Mirande, and were already awaited by the bellmen, the front desk staff and the Sales Manager what I found quite welcoming. Check-in was smooth although I found it incorrect not to inform you that breakfast is extra at 28.00€ per person (I will come on this issue later)!


The room, a Grand Deluxe Room, was overlooking the Pope's Palace, and was situated on the second floor in the main building. The beds were quite comfortable as the whole room furnitures. I found the carpet a bit uncomfortable but this is just a small issue. The bathroom was very well maintained with a huge seperated toilet, double basins and a tub with a shower head - something I do not like in fact. BUT the luxurious toiletries by Guerlain came up to it all!



We wanted to make a dinner reservation, but our favourite restaurant was closed on Monday, so we asked the receptionist for an alternative. Unfortunately the choice did not meet our expectations and the standards of the hotel in general. For all those who do not want to leave the hotel for dinner, they have an amazing michelin-starred restaurant in the old cardinals room dating back to the Renaissance century - just in case you do not know on where to spend your money (the menu costs 111 Euros per person)!




After a glamorous sleep in the old guest house of the Popes, we were ready to have breakfast. Unfortunately, the breakfast made not the impression to be ready for us: This was the worst breakfast I HAD to experience during my whole three week summer holidays, where I only stayed at worldclass properties. It is a real shame to charge 28.00 euros for such a lousy buffet like at the La Mirande Avignon. The Baguette was not replaced after I finished it at 9.00 am, when the orange juice was finished it was also not replaced, no eggs were offered nor were we asked if we want to have some egg dishes, and the staff never smiled, although our server was called "Angel" by the other staff members. Always when I remember on this situation I get a bit angry, this was one of the worst ivestments I have ever made!



All in all I fell in love with the design, the atmosphere and the location of the hotel, but definitely NOT with the breakfast! Next time I will look for an excellent French Café where I will pay at least 10€ for a full breakfast.


Our stay at the La Mirande Avignon was sponsored by the hotel, but we had to come up for all extra expenses by ourselfs. Our above written review is our personal opinion and hasn't been influenced.







Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Restaurant Check - The Restaurant (Taubenkobel) in Schützen am Gebirge

Sunset in Vienna - Lovely, isn't is?

The last weeks have been very stressful for me and my team but after all these stress you are even more looking forward to some relaxing days. We decided to visit Vienna and the world-class "Taubenkobel" restaurant, voted as Austria's 2nd best restaurant after the famous "Steirereck" in Vienna.
Welcome to "Burgenland" - a very tranquil region!

The town itself is everything else then revived. Maybe one of the most silent towns even I have seen. As mentioned above the main reason for our trip is the restaurant and not the village, so after finding parked Ferarris and other luxury cars, we finally arrived at "The Restaurant formely known as Taubenkobel", as it is called since March 2014.

The gate to food heaven in Austria.

Upon entering the small gate you are transformed into another world. A world that doesn't really fit inside this town. We were greeted in a very friendly way and got a tour through the restaurant via the open-kitchen, the fish corner and the fire place.

Welcome at the Taubenkobel!

As we were placed on our table, refreshing towels arrived together with a plate of freshly sliced salamis and ham. Although the design is very (very) unusual for an Austrian restaurant, we finally began to love all this details about the restaurant. Instead of cutlery you only find a wooden plate and a small pot with a special milk cream - in fact the first course of the long menu.

Excellent Rosé Champagne with refreshing towels.

The most impressive thing on this evening was not the wine glass (which is similar to a whiskey tumbler), no, it was the way how the bread is served. Put in a wooden bowl and broken on your table into different and dissimilar pieces. Is it really impressive or just not adequate?

The first course - Part 1

We from our side, we were impressed of all the courses and all the presentations of the food. We found out that the focus of this restaurant is placed on the food and its origin and not on details, decoration and  light interiors.

The first course - Part 2

Last but not least I can guarantee you, that this restaurant is really worth a trip to probably Austria's most calm region. They also have wonderful rooms and suites and they are belonging to the world-class Relais&Chateaux Hotels and Resorts, so what else do you need as a reason to go there?

Creamy butter, sea salt and lard.

A very unusual bread

The second course (the white cream is made into the plate)

A very unusual wine glass with an outrageous wine inside.

Third course - Part 1 - a cream soup of pea

Third course - Part 2 - Profiteroles with gorgonzola cream

 Fourth course - Jelly of pumpkin seed

Even I had a premiere, too: A georgian wine!

The main course before preparing

The prepared main course - a knuckle of pork

Finally our dessert - Panna Cotta with different herbs

The wonderful courtyard in the middle of the small village.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Restaurant Check - Paznaunerstube, Ischgl

Yesterday, Friday evening, I went to Ischgl to test one of Tyrols best restaurants - the Paznaunerstube in the luxurious Trofana Royal Hotel. As this was not the first time for me to dine at this traditional-styled restaurant, I knew what to expect. 

Honestly, after this visit, Mr. Sieberer made sure again that he is the best cook in Austria's most charming region - Tyrol! Not only was the taste of the food excellent, also the way it was served, was more then impressive! One course was served in a wooden box where smoke came out while serving, and the Foie Gras (an amuse-bouche) was simply put on a stone!

Although it is nearly impossible to cristallize the highlight of the evening, I would say it was the trolley with approximately 30 different kinds of Pralines. Heaven for all sweeties!

It was an unforgettable evening and I can highly recommend this excellent restaurant to all travelers going to Ischgl or West-Tyrol!


Wonderfully decorated table

First Amuse Bouche - fresh cream cheese 

Second Amuse Bouche - Foie Gras on the rocks

Third Amuse Bouche - Bacon dumpling with lobster

Fouth Amuse Bouche - Salad of mushrooms

Fifth Amuse Bouche - Foam of mushrooms and truffle

First course - lobster meets tuna

Second course - warm carpaccio of veal and 24 hours cooked spare-rib

Third course - Passionfruit Sorbet

Fourth course - fillet of veal with asparagus and mashed potatoes

Fifth course - chocolate vulcano and vanilla ice with strawberries two-ways

Last but not least - An excellent coffee with housemade pralines!