3 types of pkhali with Koen’s sour dough bread
One of the best things about traveling is bringing inspiration back home. Our first day in Moscow we visited a Georgian (the country!) restaurant and we fell in love with the cuisine. During the week we try to eat vegetarian, so why not try making pkhali ourselves?
It’s that time again…Year in Review! 2017 was such an amazing year!
Christina and Rafaël at the Christmas Market
I’m so happy my best friend is married to someone from the Netherlands. That means every once a while she’ll be closeby and we can see each other! Antwerp/New York City is a long distance, but when we’re together it’s like no time has passed!
Me with my surprise from Els
Sinterklaas is a Dutch/Belgian tradition normally celebrated at the beginning of December. Due to vacations, we made a change this year to celebrate both Sinterklaas and Christmas the same day.
Opening my gift at the table
Two years in a row now I’ve celebrated Christmas dinner at Lux Restaurant in ‘t Eilandje. Delicious food and a great atmosphere!
In snowy Stockholm!
I was in Stockholm for a few days – the city is so beautiful and the food is so delicious!! I stayed mostly in Östermalm and Gamla Stan (Old Town – which dates back to 1252!). Stockholm is very big, so I definitely need to go back for a longer period to explore!
Grayson and me with the hand of Antwerp
My brother was in Europe traveling through a few countries for work and was able to plan in one day to visit me in Antwerp! We visited De Koninck Brewery and finished the evening at one of my favorite pizza places – Otomat. From their site:
Otomat is the first completely Belgian pizza concept. Typically Belgian is the “beer'” character, with more than 20 Belgian beers and the pizza dough is made with Duvel beer yeast – heavenly pizza with the Duvel inside.
Dinner at Hof Van Cleve!
Koen and I decided we really wanted to try eating at the best restaurants in Belgium, so of course Hof Van Cleve was at the top of our list – Number 50 Best Restaurant in the World 2017 and it has 3 Michelin stars.
Raviolo all’uova is “a single raviolo with a ricotta and spinach nest and a raw egg yolk that when boiled and lightly fried in butter cooks gently but remains tender and gooey, adding a luscious creamy texture that balances the freshness of the cheesy next and earthiness of the brown butter sauce” (as excellently described here).
Koen and I saw this dish for the first time on an episode of Mind of a Chef featuring Gabrielle Hamilton. We knew immediately this was a dish we had to make! So, so, so delicious!
Mom and Dad in front of Orso Pizzeria
For my parents’ last night in Belgium we headed to one of our favorite places, Orso Pizzeria. Orso is located in Berchem, a small city in the province of Antwerp – but only 15 minutes away by tram, so not too far! It’s a small place where you definitely need to reserve ahead of time for a table. The pizza is super delicious and they serve their own naturally fermented wines!
An American in Antwerp 