MOSCOW RESTAURANTS

To finish off my long-delayed posts on Moscow is a list of a few restaurants I went to that I really enjoyed. Most are located either in the center or just off the garden ring road.  Here they are in no particular order:

Moloko Cafe

Ulitsa Bolshaya Dimitrovka 7/5

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 692 0309

*Open 24 hours daily

Moloko Cafe used to be a state milk store hence the name (moloko means milk in Russian).  Interiors are modern - great velvet chairs line each side of the room with a large bar in the middle.  There's a good crowd of expats and locals and not everyone is dressed to the nines.  We came for lunch on a Sunday and the place was half-full with mostly young Russian couples and their kids.  We shared a starter of smoked mackerel on baby potatoes followed by the sea bass in red curry for me and the beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes for A.  Food was fine and service was friendly, the only downside was the dessert which seemed store-bought.  As it's open 24 hours, I'm sure that there is a pre-club crowd that hangs out for cocktails and a post-clubbing crowd who come for breakfast before heading back home at dawn.

Vogue Cafe

Kuznetsky Most 79

Moscow

Telephone: +7495 623 1701

*Open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. till late, Weekends from noon to midnight

Another concept from the Novikov group, Vogue Cafe is a modern, bright space with a black and white interior with some color brought in with the large framed model shots on the walls and shelves of Vogue magazines.  Food is modern European Russian-style which means Italian or Mediterranean with some sushi and sashimi thrown in.  The combination works though as the place is crowded on most days with fashion-conscious Muscovites enjoying the Euro-inspired menu.  Its' location alongside trendy department store Tsum also helps.  We had a decent mixed salad, a penne arrabbiata and a pappardelle with cepes.

Il Forno

Ulitsa Neglinnaya 8/10

Moscow

Telephone: +8495 621 90 80

*Open weekdays from 8:00 till midnight and weekends from 11:00 a.m. till midnight

Other branches on Ulitsa Ostrozhenka 3/14 and Kutuzovsky Avenue 2/1

We stumbled into Il Forno on a cold windy evening on our first night in Moscow since it was on the same street as our hotel not expecting anything special and we were pleasantly surprised with the pizza and the service.  We had a salad to share and some pizzas on one evening and pasta on another night.  The menu has classic Italian pastas, risottos and pizzas and a few meat and fish main courses.  It's a casual restaurant with a proper brick-oven which makes the pizzas perfect.

Brownie Cafe

Maly Kozinsky Pereulok, 10

Moscow

Telephone: +7916 336 26 33

*Open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

In hip and happening Patriarch's Pond, Brownie Cafe is a tiny. welcoming place owned by the Friends Forever group, which has a dozen hip cafes specializing in cakes and coffee.  This newest addition which opened in February of this year,  has a retro vibe with it's multi-colored chairs, communal wood tables and large display case filled with all sorts of cakes and sweets.  We shared two - a chocolate raspberry cake and a strawberry shortcake with excellent coffee.  I dare you to enter and not have a slice of cake.

NY EATS

DEAN & DELUCA

On our first morning, we headed off to Fifth Avenue for some much-needed retail therapy and to take advantage of the end-of-summer sales.  We headed straight for a quick breakfast at the centrally-located Dean and De Luca in Rockefeller Center.  This is a classic NY deli/cafe where one can be assured of good coffee and lots of amazing stuff to eat.  We shared a cheddar cheese scone and a sticky breakfast bun with some strong coffee and got ready to pound the pavement.  First stop was the new Canadian brand Joe Fresh and their flagship US store where there were loads of great bargains to be had.  Next was the 8th floor of Saks Fifth Avenue which is their special shoe department (with their own dedicated zip code) where we ended up spending a few hours trying endless pairs of pumps and sandals until finally making our selections. 

SERAFINA PIZZA on Madison and 79th

We still had Madison Avenue to get to so before lunch, we ended up at the J Crew Collection boutique on Madison and 79th where we bought a few more things which they offered to send to our hotel free-of-charge. Next was a quick lunch at Serafina across the street.

It was an overcast day so we didn't get a chance to eat on their roof terrace but stayed on the mid-level overlooking the street.  The place was packed with groups of ladies and families having a lively lunch.  The menu is extensive with antipasti, salads, pastas, main courses and pizzas.  We were tempted to have one of their famous pizzas but instead opted to share an arugula and Parmesan salad to start which came served with a basket of fresh ciabatta then pasta as our main course.   T had her favorite, linguine alle vongole veraci (clams in a tomato, garlic and white wine sauce) while I had the classic spaghettini pomodoro e basilico (plum tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and basil).  Both were delicious and perfect for a quick light lunch.  We skipped dessert and had espressos to end our meal the hopped in a cab to go back to our hotel with all our purchases.

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Dean & DeLuca
Rockefeller Center CaféOne Rockefeller Plaza (between 5th and 6th Ave.)
New York NY 
Telephone: + 1 212 664 1372
*Open Monday-Friday 7am-7pm • Saturday & Sunday 8am-6pm

*Many locations in New York and other States

Serafina Pizza
1022 Madison Avenue (at 79th St.)
New York, NY 10021
Telephone: +1212 734 2676
*Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to midnight.  No reservations taken except for large groups.
Several locations in the city

D.O.C.G. ENOTECA

D.O.C.G. comes from Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, a label for the highest level of Italian wine origin and the name of Scott Conant's casual Las Vegas restaurant.  The restaurant is casual yet modern with exposed brick walls and a long bar on one side of the room.  The menu is classic trattoria fare with antipasti, salads, pizza, fresh pasta, share plates and mostly meat on the grill and an assortment of side dishes.  We were four for dinner on a weeknight and arrived early before the place filled up.

For starters, we ordered two to share: grilled octopus with chickpeas, tomatoes and basil plus the pork croquette, pig's feet stuffed in mashed potatoes and deep-fried.  The pork croquette was crispy and gooey but a bit bland and could have done with a spicy sauce but the octopus was delicious - grilled firm but not chewy octopus over warm seasoned chickpeas.  Our next course was their signature D.O.C.G. pizza of Fonduta, egg and truffles which was a disappointment.  What could have been a fantastic pizza with the classic combination of egg and truffle was a letdown because it was served lukewarm. so when they cracked the raw egg over the pizza, it didn't really cook and just made the pizza less warm.

Things got way better though with the fresh pastas.  We had the maccheroni with polpettine and home-style sugo and the cavatelli with sausage and Porcini mushrooms.  The maccheroni was al dente.  The sugo, a fantastic simple tomato sauce with meaty meatballs.  The cavatelli was also al dente and the rich and chunky sausage mushroom mix was rustic and delicious.  We also shared a salad of arugula with thinly sliced pears, Gorgonzola and pine nuts in a classic Balsamic vinaigrette along with a grilled rib-eye which was also a hit - perfectly seared and seasoned, charred on the outside, yet rare in the center that came with a towering side dish of hot crispy Tuscan fries tossed in Parmigiano and garlic.  Pastas and meat on the grill is what you should go for at D.O.C.G.

To end the meal, we shared one dessert - three scoops of gelato with four spoons so we could each have a bite. There was chocolate, hazelnut and pistachio and all three were a real letdown - creamy but with not enough flavor to differentiate one from the other.  Good thing that the espresso was a perfect shot of bitter coffee to finish the dinner. All in all a good experience and I would definitely go back for a bowl of fresh pasta and a glass of wine any day.

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D.O.C.G. Enoteca

at the Cosmopolitan Resort

3078 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, Nevada

Tel: +1 702 698 7920

*Open daily for dinner from 5:30 to 10:30p.m.

LAS VEGAS EATS

Here are several restaurants in Las Vegas which give you bang for your buck.  Some are great for breakfast or brunch, while others are best for lunch and most are good for a simple dinner.  Keep in mind that these restaurants are off-the-strip and won't be flashy, over-designed or expensive.  What they will have is friendly service, a local following and good food.  I've arranged them below in alphabetical order and not in order of preference.

Food Express

I had already written about Food Express in 2007 in a blog post on Restaurants off-the-strip but I thought I'd include it once again on my list as the place has undergone a slight renovation, not fancier but cleaner, and reopened recently after shutting down in early 2009 for several months.  It used to be our go-to Chinese takeaway as it was so close to my sister's house that we could order food, pick it up and get it home and it would still be piping hot.  The food hasn't changed and the menu is still varied with soups, starters, seafood and fresh from the tank fish, poultry, pork and beef, noodles and rice and even clay pot and sizzling plate dishes.

We always order the same things but this time we had a Peking duck, served two ways: first with the skin rolled in pancakes (they usually serve them in steamed buns but we asked for it Beijing/Hong Kong style with pancakes that they also use for the moo-shu pork) and the second way with the duck meat shredded into fried rice.  We also had a fresh whole flounder steamed with ginger and spring onion, two vegetables: spicy green beans with ground pork and the stir-fried ong choy (water spinach) with garlic, the spicy kung-pao chicken with dried chilies and peanuts, and creamy chicken and corn soup.  Service was friendly, food came quickly and was very good and best of all, we spent about $15 per person (we were five adults and four kids under 11) and still had leftovers to take home.

Grimaldi's

Founded in Brooklyn over a hundred years ago and well-known for its' traditional NY-style thin-crust pizza makes Grimaldi's good reputation.  From the water they use for the dough, to the standard coal-brick ovens they use, Grimaldi's has standardized and perfected pizza making to a fine art.  It had been a while since I had a really good pizza so I was looking forward to our pizza lunch.   The pizzas come in three sizes: personal, small and large and in three versions: classic tomato sauce and mozzarella, white (meaning no tomato sauce) with garlic, and a pesto version.

We ordered three personal pizzas (as it's the crispiest of the three crusts since it's the smallest size) - a pizza margherita with just mozzarella and tomato sauce, another topped with pepperoni  and a third white pizza and garlic topped with ham.  Unfortunately, it wasn't our day as the trainee waiter had bungled up our orders and given us three small-sized pizzas and also got our white pizza order wrong since he gave us a regular tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza with ham.  The kids were hungry so we accepted the plain margherita and the pepperoni pizzas but we asked them to exchange the ham pizza to the original white pizza with ham we had ordered.  The manager was kind enough to do all the changes and bring us a new white pizza while allowing us to take home the wrong pizza along with all the leftovers we had because of the wrong sizes.  We chalked it up to a Friday the 13th lunch fiasco.  Despite it all, the pizza was as promised - thin crust crispy and not overloaded and soggy with ingredients.  Several days later, we ordered from the Grimaldi's Summerlin branch which got our takeaway order right.

Honey Pig

We usually sneak in a Korean barbecue dinner when we're in Vegas and we usually end up at our favorite, Korean Garden.  This time around, we went to Honey Pig which was listed in Saveur magazine's March issue as being the favorite of chef Rick Moonen. We were skeptical about a restaurant suggestion from a chef known for his fish but decided to give it a try anyway and good thing we did.  Honey Pig is a no-frills Korean barbecue joint with a round grill in the middle of the table where several types of thinly-sliced meat - beef and pork - are slammed on the grill surrounded by a mound of spicy bean sprouts and kimchi.  We had beef short-ribs, beef bulgogi and paper-thin slices of pork belly sizzling on the super-hot grill one at a time along with several small dishes of traditional Korean banchan -pickled vegetables to accompany the different grilled meats.  A great new discovery and fun for a family-style meal.  Just be ready to smell smoked from head-to-toe afterwards.

Jamms

On every trip to Las Vegas over the years, I make my sisters take me to a "new" breakfast place - sometimes they're actually brand-spanking new but usually, they're just new because none of us have been there.  This time around, that place was Jamms.  We walked in on a not-so-busy Saturday morning just after the early breakfast rush and went straight to the counter for a quick meal.  We each had a classic breakfast - sunny-side up eggs, hash browns and sausages for my sister and the waffle with a side of crispy bacon for me. Amazingly, their coffee is fresh-brewed illy (a first for this type of diner restaurant) or French-press illy which already puts this in my good books.  Service is quick and efficient and tables turn quickly so get ready to eat and go, even if they don't rush you, as you will see the line snaking out the door.  On another morning, we went back and I had the bacon and eggs with crispy hash browns while my sister had the buttermilk pancakes.  Breakfast is as you expect and the portions are good but not over-the-top.  Their specialty is fresh-baked pot of bread which comes either plain (sort of like a brioche) or in the daily fruit flavor like cinnamon raisin or peach. They also have sandwiches, salads, paninis and burgers for the lunch crowd but breakfast is served all-day long so it's perfect for brunch as well.

Lotus of Siam

Lotus of Siam isn't a new addition but an old favorite as it was listed as the best Thai restaurant in the U.S.  I've been several times but thought I'd include it anyway since it's a great place for lunch.  They have a daily lunch buffet which is a bargain and a good way to sample Thai food if it;s your first time.  I prefer the a la carte lunch as I get to have my favorites all in one meal: mee krob (sweet and spicy crispy fried noodles with prawns), something in red curry - duck or beef, Thai fried rice and the crispy deep-fried garlic prawns.   They also have fantastic Northern-Thai specialty dishes and Thai-style barbecued meats.  There's something for everyone at Lotus of Siam and the good thing is if you want to veer away from the typical Pad Thai then you'll be spoilt for choice plus I love to go there for lunch when it's less crowded, service is not rushed and the lunch specials are a bargain.

smashburger

Last but not least in my off-the-strip list is smashburger with its' compact menu of fun burgers in two sizes - smash and big smash.  You can create your own burger and choose everything from the bread (classic egg, multi-grain or spicy chipotle) or just a lettuce for those Atkins dieters to the cheese (American, aged Swiss, blue, goat, pepper jack and sharp Cheddar) and to a whole load of sauces and toppings.  Alternatively, you can order one of their specialty burgers (they even have veggie black-bean burgers).  In Las Vegas, they have the Sin City burger with a fried egg, applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, grilled onions, haystack onions and their signature smash sauce on an egg bun. They also have all-white meat grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, salad and an assortment of sides: french fries (classic shoestrings), smash fries (shoestrings tossed in rosemary, olive oil and garlic), sweet potato fries, sweet potato smash fries and chili cheese fries.  Shakes are made using Haagen-Dazs ice cream and there are also bottled soda floats and malts made to order.

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Food Express

2003 South Decatur Blvd.

Las Vegas NV 89102

Tel: +1 702 870 1595

*Open daily from 11:00 a.m. to midnight

Grimaldi's (several locations in Las Vegas)

7155 S Rainbow Blvd, Suite #125
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Tel: +1 702 207 6757

*Open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eat-in and takeaway

Honey Pig

4725 Spring Mountain Road

Site K (beside Big Lots)

Las Vegas, NV 89102

Tel: +1 702 876 8308

*Open 24 hours daily.

Jamms

1029 South Rainbow Boulevard

Las Vegas, NV 89145

Tel: +1 702 877 0749

*Open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. serving breakfast all-day, lunch and brunch

Lotus of Siam

953 E. Sahara Ave., Suite A5

Las Vegas NV 89104

Tel: +1 702 735 3033

*Open for buffet and a la carte lunch Mondays to Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

*Open for a la carte dinner on Mondays to Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and on Fridays to Sundays from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

smashburger (several locations in Las Vegas)

9101 W Sahara Ave., Ste 109

Las Vegas, NV 89117

Tel: +1 702 462 5500

*Open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eat-in and takeaway

PIZZERIA MOZZA

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a beautiful southern California fall day - bright blue skies and lots of sun so we took advantage of the nice weather to drive up the coast to Newport beach for lunch at the newish Pizzeria Mozza.  We had made a reservation for 1:30 p.m. thinking that by that time, the restaurant would be emptying out but we were wrong.  We arrived at 1:00 and the place was packed and still had to wait the half hour before an outdoor table was found for our group of six.

Pizzeria Mozza is the creation of the foodie trio of Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton and Joseph Bastianich.  The restaurant is casual with wooden tables covered in brown paper place mats and set with a simple paper napkin and cutlery.  The restaurant is not that big with a wine bar and counter near the entrance and another counter at the far end overlooking the wood-burning pizza oven.  There is also a small covered outdoor terrace with a few tables set up near an iron-gate overlooking the busy Pacific Coast highway.  As we had waited awhile, we had the chance to study the menu and were ready to order as soon as we were seated.

For starters, we shared several appetizers.  From the Antipasti section of the limited lunch menu, we chose two hot appetizers: the bone marrow al forno (oven roasted split bone marrow served with garlic flavored olive oil, sea salt and crust bread) and the crispy goat cheese with Umbrian lentils (a slab of breaded and fried goat cheese on top of warm lentils.  The bone marrow was delicious - hot bone marrow on toast with just a sprinkling of sea salt was fantastic.  The lentils were tomatoey and soft and perfect with the crispy gooey mild goat's cheese. 

From the Insalate section, we had the namesake Mozza caprese: mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes with crusty toasted olive-oil rubbed ciabatta.  This salad has been overdone at all sorts of restaurants but it was the only time that I tasted what the big deal was with the classic Italian caprese salad. The mozzarella was incredibly fresh, creamy and delicious just smeared on top of the crunchy ciabatta - a true example of when fresh quality ingredients are all one needs for an amazing dish and probably why the restaurant is named after this deceptively salad.

The appetizers were followed by five pizzas to share amongst six (five adults and 1 child): the simple no-cheese tomato, olive oil and Sicilian oregano pizza; a Napolitana which is just a Margherita (tomato mozzarella and and basil pizza) with the added salty zing of olives, anchovies, chiles and fried capers; the all-meat pizza topped with bacon, salame, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato and mozzarella; the simpler Salume Salame pizza (fancy version of pepperoni) with tomato and mozzarella and finally the Bianca, an all cheese pizza of Fontina, mozzarella, sottocenere topped with crispy sage. The pizza crust was crisp and bubbled up on the edges and somehow the toppings didn't make the pizza all gooey and soggy.  All the pizzas were very good but it was the Napolitana I loved, again a classic with just a few more simple ingredients to make it different yet delicious.

P.D.  I was in Singapore last week and tried to take my husband and children to dinner at Pizzeria Mozza at the Marina Bay Sands mall.  We hadn't reserved a table and the only seats they had for walk-ins were at the bar which was going to be difficult with the kids so we had dinner elsewhere.

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Pizzeria Mozza

800 West Coast Highway

(a.k.a. Pacific Coast Highway)

Newport beach CA 92663

Telephone: +1 949 945 1126

*Open for lunch and dinner daily.  Reservations recommended if you don't want to wait.

*Pizzeria Mozza is also in Los Angeles and in Singapore

PEPeNERO

It was one of those lazy Sundays.  We woke up all set to go to the beach after a big breakfast and as soon as the last cup of coffee was finished, we all piled into the car.  We drove down the hill then the sun suddenly hid behind a cloud and the sunny day turned cloudy and overcast.  As we were headed towards Nusa Dua beach, hoping for the sky to clear, we decided to change plans and veered off the road towards Jimbaran instead stopping at this little Italian restaurant that we'd been to once before.

PEPeNERO is hidden away alongside the Temple Hill Estate on the winding road that ends up at the Four Seasons Hotel.  The three-story restaurant has a little deli/takeaway counter at street level, a small eating area on the 1st floor and the actual restaurant on the 2nd floor with a fantastic view of Jimbaran bay.  The open-air dining area has several wooden tables on two levels and lots of ceiling fans that help on hot and humid days.  The menu is extensive and has antipasto & carpaccio, pastas (Primi Piatti), meat and fish main courses (Secondi Piatti), pizzas and paninis.

The first time we went for dinner and I had the spaghetti alle vongole - deceptively simple yet not that easy to make and theirs had just the right mix of garlic and clams.   This time, I chose the rigatoni salsiccia e funghi with Italian sausage and a chunky tomato and mushroom sauce.  The pastas are generally good but on the small side, portioned the Italian way as "first plates" to be followed by a "second plate" or main course so if you're hungry, order the pasta as a starter.   We also had a couple of pizzas to share - the margherita which is a classic (perfect for kids) and the bianco al crudo, a non-tomato sauce pizza topped just with mozzarella, speck, cherry tomatoes and arugula.  For main courses, we had the Cotoletta a la Milanese (breaded beef) with homemade french fries and the bocconcini di maiale alle erbette - pork tenderloin in a herb and cream sauce.  Both were simply prepared and delicious.  PEPeNERO serves unfussy Italian food in a casual setting and the surprise is that the bill is always reasonable (about 100,000 Rupiah per or US$11 per person for two courses).
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PEPeNERO
Temple Hill Studios
Jalan Wanagiri 18
Jimbaran, Bali
Telephone: +62 361 704 677
Open daily for lunch and dinner
Takeaway available

ZANZIBAR

Bright and early on our first Saturday in Bali, we headed over to hip and happening Seminyak to spend the day with a friend visiting from Dubai.  We decided to go to the beach in Legian so the kids could have a bit of fun on the sand.

Blue Ocean Beach is the beginner surfer's beach and lots of surfer schools are set up there.  After lugging our stuff to some sunbeds ($2.50 each) and getting the umbrellas set up,  we settled in to watch the surfer show - lots of people riding the waves but also lots of  beginners crashing in the water (as you can see in the photo above).  The tide was high and there wasn't much beach (sand) left but we were told that the it would be low tide in a few hours.  The boys went straight in and tried their luck with a boogie board while we girls, sat around and chatted away.

When we all got hot and hungry, we walked across the street to Zanzibar, a long-time favorite of Bali residents and well-known by surfers for it's convenient location right on the beach.  The place was packed with expats and tourists enjoying the meal and the free WiFi.  The large outdoor terrace was full but they also had an upstairs lounge/terrace with a pool table.  The menu at Zanzibar is varied with lots of salads, sandwiches, pizzas and a few Indonesian specialties. The kids had smoothies and pizza (around US$5) and we all had the Nicoise salads plus lots of iced lemon tea.   I hadn't updated any of my iPhone apps in a while so I took advantage of the WiFi as well while waiting for the food to be served.  We ate quickly and then went back to the beach where the tide had gone out and much more of the beach was exposed.  It was nice to have the tide out but it also left a lot of trash, mostly plastic, on the sand and although someone was rapidly sweeping away the bits of plastic, the beach didn't really look that good so we packed up and went back to Sentosa Villas where R has her holiday home.  Good thing that we did, because it started to pour soon after.  But as we're in the tropics, we all went for a rainy swim anyway the rest of the afternoon.

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Zanzibar

Jalan Double Six, Legian

Kuta, Bali

Telephone: +62 361 733 529

Open daily from 7:30 a.m. till midnight.

PIZZERIA PIOLA

Aside from the ubiquitous parrilla restaurant the other Buenos Aires staple is Italian cuisine with favorites being pizza and gnocchi. Each one has their preferred local pizza and pasta place and with so many recommendations, it's hard to choose just one. We like Pizzeria Piola because it's not fancy, the food comes quickly and the pizzas are very good. After several meals at sit-down restaurants, we just wanted a simple dinner and we weren't disappointed.

The menu is large with pizzas in two sizes (large with 8 slices or small with 4 slices) and two types: extra thin crust or Napoli-style thicker crust. There are also calzones and even pizze bianche (white pizzas without the tomato sauce). There are also salads, antipasti, pastas and a few meat main courses. We ordered several pizzas to share - margherita (the classic mozzarella and tomato sauce), diavola (mozarella and cantimpalo, an Italian-style pepperoni) and pescara (buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil) plus a green salad. The boys had pasta - a gnocchi ragu with tomato sauce and the ravioli cortina (mushroom cream sauce). We could hardly finish the three large pizzas and ended up taking half a pizza home. It was a cool evening so we decided to walk the six blocks home and go to bed early.
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Pizzeria Piola

Libertad 1078 - Capital Federal
Tel: +54 11 4812 0690

Open daily

Mondays to Wednesdays 12 noon to 2 AM

Thursdays and Fridays 12 noon to 3 AM

Saturdays (Dinner only) 7 PM to 3 AM

Sundays (Dinner only) 7 PM to 2 AM

OLIVETO

Oliveto is an old-favorite of mine. Opened in 1995, it was the second location owned by the restaurant group that started out with Olivo in 1990. In May 2007, they also added a fish restaurant Olivomare along with Olivino, a specialty shop selling wines and Sardinian specialties.

Each time I'm in London, I visit Oliveto for a simple lunch in the informal light-filled dining room. Modern interiors with wooden tables and a large stenciled blond wood wall make the place welcoming and bright. The menu is limited to a few salads/appetizers, pastas and pizzas. It's a perfect "ladies lunch" spot and fine as well for taking the kids for a quick bite after some shopping.

We arrived before noon, before the restaurant opens, and took a short walk on Elizabeth street to have a look at the wonderful shops on this little strip in Belgravia. At noon on the dot, an hour earlier than our original booking at 1:00 p.m., we were seated in a table near the wide windows overlooking the collection of chic boutiques (milliner Philip Treacy, accessories from Erickson Beamon among others), food and wine shops (all sorts of chocolate from The Chocolate Society, sourdough bread from Poilane, Jeroboams for fine wines and Baker and Spice for fantastic baked goods) plus gastropub The Thomas Cubitt.

We ordered quickly, pasta with homemade sausages in tomato sauce for me, the aubergine-filled raviolis for my husband and a pizza Margherita for our son. We also asked for the green salad with Pecorino cheese dressing to share. The place started to fill up right after we ordered and soon there were no more free tables available and a few diners had to be turned away for not having reserved.

Our food arrived soon enough - the salad was tossed lettuce hearts with slices of Pecorino and a creamy cheesy dressing, my pasta were tiny pasta shells tossed in a tangy tomato sauce with chunks of fennel-flavoured Italian sausages. A's raviolis were filled with a creamy mixture of aubergine, walnuts and ricotta while J's pizza was extra-thin and crispy and came smothered with sweet tomato sauce and fresh Mozzarella. We shared everything amongst us and each had a bit of pizza and pasta plus a few mouthfuls of salad. The portions are not large and are perfect for those who are not too hungry or want to have a light meal. If you're very hungry, I would suggest to order a starter and a main per person. We cleared our plates and decided to share two desserts - the classic Tiramisu and a frozen strawberry yogurt with blueberries. A ristretto (short espresso) ended our delicious lunch and with our energy regained, we headed off to Harvey Nichols and Harrods for some retail therapy.

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Oliveto

49 Elizabeth Street (Belgravia)

London SW1W 9PP

Telephone: +44 20 7730 0074

Open daily for lunch and dinner

*** Food - Sardinian-influenced pastas and extra-thin crust pizzas for a simple meal

*** Atmosphere - Bright and modern but more casual cafe than a typical restaurant

*** Service - Friendly but a bit slow at times and they could smile more

DA BRUNO

Had an impromptu lunch at the San Pedro branch of Da Bruno yesterday and was surprised at the consistency and quality of the food. I had been to Da Bruno several times before but never got around to writing about it. I have to say that I understand now why so many people are regulars at this family-run chain of restaurants - the food is simple and delicious, the ingredients fresh and the waitstaff are extremely friendly.

We started with a no-cheese pizza, just a thin crispy crust with fresh tomato sauce and garlic, followed by an arugula and Parmesan salad. Then I had the pumpkin ravioli with butter and sage and A had the potato gnocchi with a tomato cream sauce. Both were very good and the portions were perfect. It's a nice place to have a quick al fresco lunch during the week.

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Da Bruno

Avda. Del Mar
Urb. San Pedro del Mar 1E
29670 San Pedro de Alcántara, Malaga
Tel.: +34 952 78 68 60

Open from noon to midnight, Closed on Mondays

Pizza Night

One of my son's favorites is pizza so we try and have a pizza night once a month and he helps out with rolling the dough and making his own dinner. I use a recipe from Patricia Wells Trattoria which is easy and foolproof. We each make our own using tomato sauce (usually bottled passata), mozzarella di bufala and basil. If there are some anchovies and capers then we add those too.

Basic Pizza Dough (from Patricia Wells Trattoria)

• 1 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/3 cups (330 ml) lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt
• 3 3/4 cups (1 pound or 500 gr.) bread flour

• In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water and stir to blend. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oil and salt.
• Add the flour, a little at a time, stirring until most of the flour has been absorbed and the dough forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until soft and satiny but still firm, 4 to 5 minutes, adding additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
• Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator. Let the dough rise in the refrigerator until doubled or tripled in bulk, 8 to 12 hours. (The dough can be kept for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. Simply punch down the dough as it doubles and triples.)
• At least 40 minutes before placing the assembled pizzas in the oven, preheat the oven to 500⁰F (260⁰C, gas mark 9). If using a baking stone, preheat it.
• Punch down the prepared dough and divide it evenly into 4 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface roll each ball of dough into am 8-inch (20 cm) round.
• Sprinkle a wooden pizza peel (or baking sheet) with coarse cornmeal and place the rounds of dough on the peel or sheet. Working quickly to keep the dough from sticking, assemble pizzas.
• We brush on tomato sauce, top with sliced mozzarella di bufala and a few basil leaves for a Pizza Margherita. For a Pizza Marinara, we add capers, halved and pitted black olives and minced anchovies. Sometimes, we just brush olive oil and sprinkle coarse sea salt and rosemary for a Pizza Bianca.
• Slide the pizzas off the peel and onto the baking stone (or place the baking sheet on a rack in the oven). Bake until the dough is crisp and golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into wedges. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 8-inch (20 cm) pizzas

Weekend in Madrid

Since we moved to Spain a year ago, we've been to Madrid on several occasions but were able to see only a a bit of the city each time.

Last June, my husband was on a business trip so we flew to Madrid all together. While he was at work, I explored the city with our 5-year old son.

All he wanted to do was stop at each playground we saw and ride the red double-decker bus of the Madrid Vision tour (two routes: classical or modern Madrid). It's cheesy but the most convenient way to see all of Madrid's sights within an hour and especially entertaining for children. We got off at the Palacio real and where he really enjoyed seeing the Apothecary (which he could relate to as the potion room from "Shrek 2") and the armory that showcased all the knights armour and weapons. The royal palace is right beside lovely gardens with a large playground and several maze hedges where he ran around for hours. We had lunch one day at the terrace of Cafe Gijon, Madrid's famous artist's hangout since it opened in 1888 and another day at the garden of the Ritz Hotel where we were staying.

In February, we took the train and my good friend Therese took me around the up and coming Chueca neighborhood that is Madrid's hip area for new restaurants and young designer's boutiques. We wandered around the small streets, went window shopping and had a coffee in a scruffy bar filled with young artsy types. We continued on to Calle Serrano in the barrio Salamanca where the scene changes completely. This is where the city's best shops are - from Loewe to Carolina Herrera to Purificacion Garcia. We had lunch at Thai Gardens on Calle Jorge Juan where recently many new restaurants and shops have also cropped up.

This time, we decided to drive to Madrid (around 600 kilometers) and spend 3 days exploring the city a bit more. We left home at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and arrived at around 11:00 p.m. We stayed with Therese in La Moraleja, a very nice neighborhood a few kilometers outside Madrid.

On Friday morning, we took the car into town. We walked to the Gran Via and stumbled on the modern restaurant, Mercado de la Reina we sat at the marble-topped bar for some breakfast. The place was packed and the prices were very reasonable. We all had Lavazza cafes con leche with Pan con tomate (toasted bread with tomato puree and olive oil) and an excellent slice of tortilla. Afterwards, Therese and I walked to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum while my husband, our son and the nanny took the Madrid vision tour.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza museum is in a lovely building on the Paseo del Prado very close to the Spain's equivalent to the Louvre, the Prado museum. The museum has an excellent permanent collection but since we didn't have enough time, we only went to the temporary exhibition "The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso" (running until the 20th of May). There were ten rooms of portraits exhibited from Picasso, Van Gogh and Gauguin to Schiele, Modigliani, Freud and Dali. We put off the museum's permanent collection for another visit. The museum also has a nice store and a a lovely restaurant with a large terrace.

From there, we met up with everyone else in Barrio Salamanca. We had planned to have lunch at a newish restaurant called Pan de Lujo but when we tried to make a reservation for Friday, we were told that there was nothing available. While walking along Jorge Juan to find a restaurant open for lunch before 2:00 p.m., we saw the modern, white facade of Pan de Lujo and decided to walk in and try our luck with a table. We were the first customers in and were told that we could choose whichever table we wanted near the front as the back area near the garden was already fully-booked.

We settled in a large table right beside the window and admired the modern interiors for at least twenty minutes before someone actually came up to the table to bring menus and take our drink order. In the meantime, clients started to arrive and the place began to fill up.

Drinks were brought along with side plates which remained empty. We didn't see the waiter again till he came with our orders half an hour later. Bread, which we imagined was their specialty because of the name Pan de Lujo (Luxury Bread) was never served until the main courses arrived. The bread basket was composed of an uninteresting selection of rolls and bagel-like bread that was bland and hard. We were never served the accompanying flavored olive oil that all the other tables had as well.

The menu at Pan de Lujo is supposedly modern Spanish fusion. Since we were not that hungry, we opted to have only main courses. The waitress warned us that since we didn't order any starters, we would have to wait for a long time (since when are clients punished for not being that hungry?). Therese chose grilled Chipirones (baby squid) with vegetables. Alex chose the goulash with caramelized onions. Jerome and Yoly were sharing the truffled Albondigas (meatballs) with tempura fries and I chose the Iberico burger with french fries which was highly recommended by the waitress.

The whole experience was such a disaster that I don't know where to start. Therese's main course had six baby squid on vegetables that were neither grilled nor caramelized. Alex's goulash was three pieces of brown meat on a black plate with raw onions scattered on the top. Jerome and Yoly's meatballs never arrived and instead they were also given a burger. The Iberian hamburger was dry and came with one large piece of wilted lettuce, a thin slice of tomato and raw potato sticks. There was also dollop of grain mustard and watery ketchup spread out on the plate as a garnish.

The restaurant interiors were amazing - great lighting, good use of space, modern furniture but everything else didn't make sense. Service was spotty or non-existent, the food was bland, presentation was uninteresting and the portions were pitiful. Prices were high (e.g. my hamburger was 18 euros - about 25 US$) and bread was charged at 1.80 euros or 2.50 US$ per person. It's standard practice in Spain to have a cover charge in restaurants for bread and butter (which I still don't understand) but in places like Pan de Lujo, I find it petty and unnecessary to levy a bread basket charge when the restaurant is a fine dining establishment and no main course is under the price of 16 euros.

It is also so disappointing to have read favorable reviews about a restaurant that doesn't understand what it's concept is and tries to pass off mediocre food as stylish. The place has a lot of potential if only they concentrated on getting the service and food up to standards instead of just banking on their wonderful interiors and chic crowd.

Dinner that evening was at Wagaboo in Diversia, La Moraleja's small commercial center of restaurants, a bowling alley and cinemas. We were meeting up with my brother-in-law, Juan and his family - a total of 6 adults and 5 children.

Wagaboo is a place that understands what a good restaurant should be - cool interiors, attentive service, excellent food quality and reasonable prices. Their specialty is fresh pasta and noodles and have several Oriental selections as well as Italian options. The glassed-in kitchen shows the chef making the noodles by hand and brings some of the action and noise of the kitchen into the dining area. The place was packed and the food was very good.

I've been to Wagaboo several times before and the food and service are consistently good. After our lunch fiasco, dinner in Wagaboo was a delicious relief. We finished off the evening with ice cream cones at Giangrossi - an Argentine ice cream bar where we had espressos and dulce de leche cones.

The next morning, we took it easy and did a bit of shopping and hanging out. We walked around the Moraleja town center and had a coffee at the terrace of Cafe Pino near the fountain while the children played all day at home.

Dinner Saturday evening at Hakkasan (Calle de la Estafeta 2, Plaza de la Fuente in La Moraleja +34 91 650 84 80) was my brother-in-law's treat. Named after the famous Michelin-starred London restaurant of Alan Yau, this Hakkasan recreates the modern interiors of it's namesake but deviates from it's Chinese menu.

This restaurant serves Oriental/Peruvian cuisine which explains the diverse menu selections from ceviche to sushi to stir-fries. The place was empty when we arrived at 9:15 and packed by the time we started to order at around 10:00 p.m. A few celebrities were in attendance along with many chic locals so the place is also excellent for people watching (apparently Posh and Becks who are La Moraleja residents are regulars here).

We started off with Pisco sour cocktails and were served an amuse bouche of crispy shrimp balls. Several appetizers were chosen and placed in the center for everyone to share. We had the dim sum selection, vegetable spring rolls, ceviche and an assorted sushi plate. Each one chose a different main course to follow - Therese had the sauteed scallops, Mirta the stir-fried chicken with Chinese mushrooms, Juan the crispy beef, Alex the shredded duck with vegetables and I chose a seared tuna tataki (cooked on the outside and raw inside) with spicy sweet sauce.

The food was good although not authentic Oriental and the service was very efficient. I thought the appetizers were much better than the main courses and a good option might be to make a meal of many different kinds of appetizers.

For a neighborhood restaurant, Hakkasan offers a modern hip atmosphere excellent for a get together with friends wanting a bit of city sophistication in La Moraleja. It will be interesting to return in the warmer months when their large terrace will be open as well. Espressos and desserts were at the nearby Giangrossi again.

Sunday morning was spent packing and getting ready to go. After lunch at Wagaboo, we set off at 3:00 p.m. and made it back in 5 hours. Dinner was takeaway from Terrazza Dual located on the Golden Mile. This restaurant is a casual Italian that also offers pizza to go. The superb toppings, mozarella di bufala and rucula among others and the extra thin crispy crust make this Marbella's best pizza. The perfect end to another gastronomic weekend spent with family and friends.

*photos from this post were taken from the restaurants websites and on the internet.