Time is one of today's greatest luxuries, Joachim Boudens, co-owner of Hertog Jan, the three-Michelin stared restaurant in Zedelgem (Bruges) tells me as he gives me a tour of the restaurant. He takes me for a walk in the garden of Hertog Jan and although it is winter and therefore bare, you realise that this is really an integral part, if not essential, to the restaurant. "When people have finished lunch we tell our guests to take a walk in the garden. For dinner, some people come to the restaurant and you can see that they are a bit stressed because they have arrived a bit late or were stuck in traffic. You can feel this as soon as they walk into the restaurant. We normally tell them that it is a good idea to go for a walk in the garden. Sometimes they start to worry because they have arrived 30 minutes late. We tell them its fine, just go for a walk. After 10 minutes, they walk back in and look like completely different people. They are ready to relax and enjoy their dinner. One … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2015
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #23
This is a milestone post as it is the 200th one on Food and Wine Gazette. It's been an incredible journey so far. In a way it's great that this coincides with our weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine. It is a post we look forward to writing each week. It is also one which keeps us in contact with our readers who send us interesting posts from time to time. And it is a great way to share great content which we come across during the week in one post. Fellow blogger Fine Food Dude, an Englishman who is based in Hong Kong has a great post on Bagatelle, Oslo. It is a great review of a restaurant in Norway which closed its doors last year. By sheer coincidence, the blogger was the last diner to eat in this restaurant. It's a very interesting read, not only for the food, but it also shows the professionalism of the staff till the very end. Great resources are always useful to come across. Wine Turtle has compiled a list of 103 best wine blogs that you can't miss. We must … [Read more...]