History, culture, atmosphere, the home of the Renaissance… Florence has it all in abundance…
Who’d have thought it was the place to devour a whole cow as well? From the stomach as a burger from a hole in the wall…
To a high-end experience of a slow cooked cheek…
Then there is the quintessential Florentine Steak. Brought to your table prior to cooking. All that’s missing was a name… let’s call her Daisy for polite dining…
Until we speak again, go to Florence and be drawn into an atmosphericexperience and a feast of consumption…
Eating out is always a treat to be savoured. But just occasionally, it’s raised to another level when you get to ponder the question… they did what?
Restaurante Lebeche in Santa Cruz (Tenerife) is definitely one of those moments.
Arriving there a few minutes before opening already provided me with that rare few moments of being in my own private restaurant. I was greeted by name, from the reservation made earlier, and briefly enjoyed being outnumbered by the attentive staff.
My appetite dictated that I was going to eat light this evening. The Prawn Carpaccio may resemble a contemporary art installation, but it also provided the ideal starter of a delicate mix of flavours.
I was thinking salad as a main course. However, a combination of tomato, watermelon, icecream, and a topping of pistachio certainly wasn’t what I was thinking. Ensalada Lebeche is quite something to behold… a dish that asks you to double-check that you’re still on planetEarth. Other worldly definitely describes this dish… in a very good way.
Now, I’m not one who usually indulges in the desert end of the menu. That local white wine needs my full attention. But I’d seen from previous reviews that this place does something original in its presentation of Tiramisu. Eating light has the advantage of leaving space for the unexpected. And was this Tiramisu unexpected…
Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you… the gorgeously balanced dish arrived in a cafetiere!
Until we speak again, it’s nice to identify a wonderful restaurant while gazing down on the street below from your private sun terrace…
For those of you looking for a feelgood Christmas tale, look away now. This is a tale of architectural wonder… of reality, not make belive fairytale. This is where SantiagoCalatrava stamps his signature on various places around the planet… and we gaze in awe (well, some of us do anyway).
He was born in Valencia and first came to my attention when visiting the Freedom Tower in New York City in 2017. Santiago Calatrava was responsible for the futuristic design of the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub.
So, where does Santa come into this picture, you ask. Well, seeing as you asked so politely… here I am in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, and would you believe it, Santiago Calatrava got here before me. He designed the Auditorium de Tenerife Adan Martin… a stunning performance venue on the harbour…
And what of Syd, you ask. Well, it’s just my random thinking that if you take a look at the Sydney Opera House when you’re next passing by that way, have a think of what those architectural curves remind you of.
Until we speak again, as Juno often remarked… I might have been her erstwhile servant, but get a proper hobby fella, and pack in these random trains of thought 🤔
What’s the difference between Russia and the USA? The leader of one of them going forward hasn’t been convicted of any charges… yet? Only one openly boasts his misogyny, while the other enacts it more secretly.
Beyond that, they seem to broadly share psychopathic, narcissistic, lying tendencies on an industrial scale.
On the morning of 6th November 2024, a deeply troubled world took a devastatingly darker turn, as one of the few bastions of freedom and openness embraced it’s full on Dumbfuckistan character.
That this wasn’t the will of the minority is perhaps the most shocking outcome of the last 24 hours. Even the popular vote has underpinned this world tragedy. For once, it seems the anachronistic ElectoralCollege, famed for trulystealingelections from the people, has provided the Americanpeople what they want.
Until we speak again, I will uphold my personal principles of so-called, leftyliberalelitewokery by enacting my own boycott of the USA. I don’t intend to spend…
… on an economy of a country that can shut down its collective mind to the behaviour of a narcissisticracistmisogynist and promote him to Liar-in-Chief.
The years ahead will be interesting… for all the wrong reasons. Goodbye, America… from someone who visited quite often and loved many things about your former country!
It’s not often I go to a fabulous restaurant on holiday and risk it a second night running. You know all about those wonderful memories that you could be putting in jeopardy!
Well, Alegoria was that good, I just had to roll the dice. The atmosphere is somewhat like a Greektaverna… but this definitely isn’t Greece.
The welcome was warm from the moment I arrived and throughout the meal from a small group of staff who really seemed to be enjoying their work. So this is clearly not one of those chain restaurants churning out mediocrity with a fake smile.
The menu is relatively short, so the quality of what is presented on the plate is a top priority. So this isn’t one of those places that aims to offer something for everyone.
For the record, the accompanying photos include padrongreenpeppers and melt in the mouth ibericporkcheek on the first visit. The second visit matched the whole experience with melon & ibericham followed by a gorgeous ribeyesteak seasoned with just the right level of salty tears!
Unlike a few other places I visited nearby, a selection of wine by the glass was offered, and I found something I had never heard of but was one of those wines where one glass could never be enough… just like one visit to this restaurant is never enough.
Until we speak again, you don’t think I’m going to tell you where it is, do you? You’d all be going there and I’d have to book my table!
The previous ‘iberic‘ references might also help. It’s not France, Italy or Portugal… but it might be close to them on a big map. The city has a successful football team in the mould of Pep Guardiola, and also miles of beachfront and marina with Olympic references. It’s also located within 100 metres of a very busy tourist street where people Rambla along… but unless you’re searching for it, you’ll never see it.
What, you thought I’d do all the tourist stuff about Antoni Gaudi, La Rambla, and all that BarcaFC shtick? Think again, it’s in the archives back in March 2019! This was a completely unscheduled visit planned in the airport arrivals, having missed a connection onto Florence!
After a tiring day of travelling and improvising, a marina side evening stroll culminated in a visit to the upmarket Barceloneta restaurant.
The food and wine were of the expected high quality. What was unexpected was the presentation and quality of the maciatto. This was a ‘performancecoffee‘ with the waiter providing the milk/foam finish with a flourish at the table!
This got me thinking, as my following morning experience confirmed my previous recollections… Barcelona is not a place that will trouble competitors in the world cappuccino stakes!
Needless to say, I had now found my pointless mission for this very relaxing visit to a stunning city. Ocana in the Gothic Quarter may not have provided the best post Flamenco gig meal, but they unexpectedly raised their game with the maciatto!
Alegoria, located neatly down a narrow side street and then an even narrower alley, so that the tourist hordes along La Rambla don’t even know it’s there… is undoubtedly an absolute gem of a restaurant. More about this one in a separate post!
They didn’t need a sugar gimmick to remind me where I was languishing, but the maciatto not surprisingly maintained the high standard I had come to expect. That wine was delicious to.
Until we speak again, if you want pictures of the photogenic place that Barcelona is… go there!
Corsica is widely referred to as the islandofbeauty… so, let’s check out this bold claim. Bearing in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say. I guess it depends on what you expect when you decide to visit a place. Stunning landscapes, maybe historical legacy, culinary delights, and a place to simply relax and unwind.
Corsica certainly has an abundance of stunning beaches for the dedicated sun worshiper…
There are very few areas of flatland, with mountains rising almost immediately behind the beaches, making for dramatic visual backdrops in all directions…
And don’t expect any speedy train journeys across the island. The few trains spend most of their journeys slowly navigating the inclines and meandering through the mountainous interior. If train journeys bore you, I challenge you to try and stay scrolling your social media without becoming more entranced by the views outside…
Its history is a complicated succession of Italian (Genoese) and French control, though their widely represented proud flag is one of the head of a Moorish man representing a strong sense of freedom…
Look closely, and you’ll even witness a rare graffiti message for their more recent French overlords…
The historical architecture is dominated by seven citadels located in key places around the coast (six in coastal fortresses and one being inland at Corte)…
As for culinary delights, there is no shortage of places to sample genuine Corsican cuisine… Veal & Olives, RisottoalaCreme, Sanglier (WildBoar) pate, a local stew, and Poulpe(Octopus) on a base of citrus confit and humus to name a few! They have a wealth of their own wine to sample as well. And, yes, that French bread comes with everything and really does taste fabulously fresh…
As for those moments of pure relaxation, just sit and listen to the boats bobbing in Marina’s in Ajaccio or Calvi with the sound of ropes knocking against masts. Alternatively, there’s the sound of waves lapping the shores of those stunning beaches. Simply empty your mind…
Until we speak again, Corsica definitely seems to have cornered beauty. Even that blue sky instilled a feeling of awe…
You have the whole of the Algarve to be soaking up rays in… so why bother taking the other direction out of the airport into the city?
For a start…the rays are here as well! No, not just on the other side of the track…
It’s got a genuine OldTown… not just something that’s about 30 years old, which the sun worshippers already consider to be uncool and out of date…
There’s a restaurant with a well in the middle of it that’s over a 1000 years old…
Your safety isn’t just guaranteed from falling down unexpected holes in your eating joint… it’s also a matter of 24-hour vigilant surveillance. With a nest like this, do you really think the occupant has any other intentions…
The food elsewhere may claim to come from the sea, but here, the smell of the sea leaps off your plate (believe it or not, there’s a salmonfilet residing beneath this roof of shells and veg!)…
The local residents are so chilled they can’t even raise the effort to flutter a few feathers…
And did I mention the much sort after rays can be found here as well. Why not take a boat out across the nature reserve to find beaches in the shadow of a 170 year old lighthouse…
Then, there’s the matter of the SmokeTiki. After a couple of these, your trusty correspondent struggled to remember what an Algarve was supposed to be used for… an implement for sun worshipping… possibly? Who needs the sun when your drink comes with a blow torch accompaniment, anyway?
Until we speak again, you’re welcome to go to everywhere else on the Algarve in search of your rays. Me, I’m not venturing far from Faro! Just maybe, those SmokeTiki misdemeanours are rendering movement a bit more restrictive!
If you’ve heard the saying… I diedandwenttoheaven… well, dying is no longer obligatory! The good news is that you just need to go to Portugal!
If proof of heaven were needed, then MensagemRooftopRestaurant in Lisbon puts forward an application based on a starter of VealCarpaccio with a Syrah red wine from the nearby Beira region…
Not yet convinced? Faro quickly steps up with a main of ArrozNegro (blackricewithcuttlefishink, andcrispysquid) accompanied by a robust Tomato & Roast Pepper Salad. The local Algarve wines provide an extremely dry white, aptly named ‘SoBlanc‘…
What do you mean, where’s the dessert? This is Portugal, where the best dessert is widely available throughout the day. PasteisdaNata are what Portugal was invented for, didn’t you know? Best taken with a proper cappuccino side…
Until we speak again, whatever your version of heaven is… I’m sticking with this one!
JUNO's VIEW 