Bistronomie at Selecto

You know I love food right, so once in a while I like to have yummy food in a restaurant instead of at home.  Last week I tried Selecto with a few friends. It's actually the 2nd time I try it... I visited more than a year ago and was curious to know if it was still as good as then...   Selecto is a place that serves Bistronomie, i.e. high class food in a bistro atmosphere.  Cosiness, refined food and affordable, that's how we like it :-)

L'apero was sparkling rosé wine, called "Pièges à filles" (girl's trap hihi)

 Wine from the Campania region, aaah sigh, beautiful Amalfi coast...

Marinated scallops or coquilles St-Jacques from Brittany with an oriental touch

Roasted sea bass on the skin, butternut crumble and spring onions, mozzarella di buffalo, sooo tasty cider butter sauce

This dessert was DELICIOUS!!!  Iced soufflé with Piemonte hazelnuts and salted butter caramel

Also, the menu is no too long, so always fresh and seasonal and changes regularly. Count about 50€ per person for the 3-course menu and drinks.  If you want to try Selecto, book ahead! 

ByeBye Italy

What do you do when you're just back from holiday and you still would like to be there... although home is a good place too. But we missed the sea, the food, the Italians, the beautiful nature, the sun ripened tomatoes... When getting back from our lovely summer trip in Italy, we just started cooking even more Italian dishes as usual,  to make the coming home smooth and yummy. Here are a few ideas to feel a little Italy in your house.

Refreshing summer salad with fennel, red onions, cucumber, orange and a red wine vinegar dressing.

A fusilli pasta dish with green beens, zucchini, peas and lemony salsa verde mmm!

We even found some wine from the visited region :-) (South Italy, Paestum, Cilento)

Royal bream with oven baked potatoes and fresh spinach simply drizzled with olive oil and lemon, simplicity can be sooo good!

Talking of simplicity, Mozzarella di Bufala from the Campania region (bought in Delhaize) and a fresh tomato, just with a little fleur de sel on top and a dash of locally produced olive oil we took back from our trip.

This is one of the best things, delicious pasta from Napoli, difficult to find but look for it... We are lucky, 2 shops sell it in Brussels (kismad & gaudron).

I think Italian food is my absolute favorite! Besides Belgian and Swedish cuisine and other tasty world cuisine, of course ;-)

J'aime les sardines dans de jolies boites en conserve...

As it hasn't been very sunshiny these last days, I thought, let's write something about canned Sardines, because they always give me a sunny seaside holiday feeling.  Sardines, I discovered them last year, probably on my holidays in Marseille… or was it my man, who is eating them since a long time, who made me taste them…    Anyhow now I love them! Funny cuz I've always seen some sardine cans in the cupboards at home, but never knew what to do with them, nor how to eat them. Until one day I changed my mind :-)  They are so cute, packed in little colourful cans, besides they are cheap and super healthy because full of fatty acids and vitamins. And of course they taste nice, like a summer soirée.

Two kinds can be found in the cans : some with bones and some without. I don't eat the bones, but some people say you can… So if you are lazy, pick a can of boneless sardines, otherwise some patience will be required. You'll find plenty of preparations already made for you in a can, so you almost don't need to add anything (I always add a bit of fresh lemon).  A famous brand is the French La Belle-Iloise from Brittany.

Here's a little easy recipe : buy a can of sardines "au naturel" so it means not marinated in oil, less greasy, get rid of the bones, use a fork to mash them up just a little, add a dash of sauer cream, black pepper and some fresh herbs like chives for example. Put them on little toasts, made from baguette and add some fresh lemon zest for decoration. Have a good fresh white wine with that, perfection.

Sardines are also perfect for a pick nick, easy to take with you or even the little recipe above can easily be transported :-)

Good food can be very easy!

Playing tourists in Brussels

A thing we like to do on Sunday, is playing the tourist in our hometown Brussels.  We then just walk through the city, often with a goal or two.  This time we wanted to check out Stanley Kubrick's recently opened photo exhibition. Along the way we stopped at the place Poelaert  for some city views, did a little chocolate shopping stop at Laurent Gerbaud (you must try "gare aux noissettes" ) and went to say hello to little baby falcons.... It's a nice feeling to discover new things, to take the time to get lost on those streets we already know...even if our little walks always turn out to be a little longer than we planned.

Spring is in the air!

Blue sky & clouds...

City views at place Poelaert.

I love black & white photographs, so definitely didn't wanted to miss out on Kubrick's exhibition. Before being a memorable film director, the young Kubrick worked as a photographer for the New York magazine LOOK. A selection of 130 photographs is shown at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.

We bought some "Gare au noissettes" which is home-made praliné,  Piémonte nuts, grilled salted cashew nuts, milk chocolate and cane sugar. Delicious!!  Also bought a few chocolate coated coffee beans. Laurent Gerbaud himself is always in his shop, he's very accessible and friendly, so that's a good reason to have a coffee and a chat there while choosing your chocolates. Must do a blog post on him sometime.

Somewhere in the left tower of the St Michael/Goedele cathedral a couple of peregrine falcons is nesting for the 8th year on a row! So we went to say hello to the birdies (3 of them this year). You can see them live on a tv posted next to the cathedral or here.

 To end our journey, a well-deserved apero : cold white wine, sunshine and sardines on toast... I must do a blog post on sardines, later on!   Sometimes there is no place like home and the best restaurant is at home too. We are lucky to be lucky.

Rotterdam, part II : Villa Augustus

While planning our little getaway to Rotterdam I hesitated wether to sleep in Dordrecht or in Rotterdam. I finally opted to sleep in Rotterdam cuz I thought there would be more to explore there, but definitely wanted to check out the Villa Augustus on our way home. Villa Augustus is a restaurant/café and hotel in a huge garden that is very well maintained.  In the restaurant/café part there is also the bakery and a little shop with lots of yummy things and a few books about gardening & cooking. They serve a wide menu, we had scones and cheesecake with a nice cup of tea. For the hungry ones, they serve high tea like in England! I really like those kind of places, where they use everything to their best, the space, the nice architecture, including good decent food and a green setting... interesting kind of "concept store".

No sunshine, but here are a few pictures :

The restaurant/café/shop.

The rooms are located in the old water tower, we had a peek in a few, they looked pretty cosy.

Greenhouse with baby salads & rucola growing peacefully.

The grocery store inside the café, selling seasonal veggies & fruit.

The bakery with live cooking of various desserts.

That's it for now, don't know yet were our next getaway will be, but can't wait to make other travel plans :-)

Little getaway to Rotterdam

Last weekend we took a little getaway to Holland to celebrate Easter and to get some fresh air.  First stop was Rotterdam, about 150km from home, I'd always heard it was cool …and it was, even though the weather wasn't all sunshiny.  Rotterdam has this edgy, a little raw, big city feel with lots of skyscrapers with brownstones. I always like the vibe in a city with water, specially port cities, they feel airy & breathable or something...

We stayed at hotel New York that has got the most comfortable bedding and softest sheets ever. I read the architecture is Jugendstil and the interior felt a bit like on an old cruiseship sometimes. It used to be the main office of the "Holland-Amerika" line.

Happe Me at the hotel.

A must do there, is take a water taxi.

City views.

The Sonneveld House was recommended by a friend and was worth the trip. It is a modernist villa built from 1932-1933 by architects Brinkman and Van der Vlugt.  It is so very avant-garde for that time, with lots of elements that you'd also find in a fifties home.

Two streets worth the check out for shopping & food : Witte de Withstraat & Pannekoekstraat.

We had breakfast at Pierre's, a French bistro, but I would recommend it for an apero or maybe dinner.

And last but not least, we had a delicious Italian meal at Oliva, didn't hear of it, just saw it and booked a table.

MMMM I still remember the taste of the sweet red onions with the proscuito bruchetta, the freshness of the fish with the lobster risotto, the tasty gnocchi and the ooh so delicious home-made ice-cream (lemon cacti, pear pistachio, white chocolate). Oh and did I say that the bread, the olive oil, the glasses of white wine and red wine were also good. Ok i'm hungry now!  To be continued...