Friday, February 7, 2014

Eat Like a Local in Europe

Travel & Leisure came out with a list of European restaurants where you can eat like a local. The original list has 32 restaurants but I have cut it down to 20. I did some research and on of the restaurants in Paris is close to our hotel so I'm thinking we have to give it a try if I'm not full of pastries, desserts and macaroons! 

Ottolenghi, London
Follow Islington’s beau monde to this high-end Middle Eastern bakery and café, where the tantalizing bread platter (toasted table side) is a full meal in itself. 

 

{Source}

Café Central, Vienna
Though it’s welcomed plenty of tourists over its 137 years the grand café inside the majestic Palais Ferstel is known among pastry-obsessed Wieners for serving the best, flakiest strudel in town. 

 

Mr. Minsch, Berlin
The vibe is Mad Hatter meets 1950’s hausfrau at this Kreuzberg takeout bakery, where master pastry chef Andreas Minsch turns out his extravagant confections. You won't want to choose between their enormous cinnamon rolls or a slice of the popular Black Forest cherry cake.

 

Cristalli di Zucchero, Rome
Adjacent to a farmers’ market just off the Circus Maximus is a pretty-in-pink pasticceria where Parisian-style tartlets are made with regional ingredients like apricots and pistachios.

 

Sora Margherita, Rome
The most delicious plate of pasta in Rome is served in a narrow space with 15 paper-topped tables: cacio e pepe with pecorino and handmade noodles, garnished upon request with a generous dollop of sheep’s-milk ricotta. 

 

Hive Beach Café, Burton Bradstock, England
A chalkboard menu behind the counter tells you what’s on the menu for the day. It can vary from fish pies, grilled herring, or a crab sandwich with chips.

 

Pantelis Marathi, Marathi, Greece
On a tiny, car-free isle between Patmos and Bodrum, Turkey, this harbor front restaurant is a popular stop for the sailing crowd. Everything is impossibly fresh, from the crawfish sautéed in lemon oil to the creamy local goat cheese. 

 

Els Pescadors, Llançà, Spain
Beside the harbor in a tiny Costa Brava town, Els Pescadors serves up the day’s catch brought in by the fishing boats just a stone’s throw from your table. 

 

Ardigna Ristorante Rustico, Salemi, Italy
The most charming restaurant in western Sicily sits an hour’s drive inland from Marsala, on a remote hilltop. Nearly everything is made in-house: tangy ricotta, fragrant wildflower honey, garlicky salumi, silky tagliatelle, even the bittersweet amaro digestif. 

 

Restaurant Ziegelhütte, Zurich, Switzerland
Take a tram from downtown and then walk up a trail to this traditional country restaurant and beer garden, where regulars gather over plates of schnitzel and Älplermagronen, a creamy macaroni with cheese and potatoes. 

 

Chez Aline, Paris
Choose your own fillings or defer to Chef Delphine Zampetti for a deceptively simple baguette sandwich at her petite, retro-flavored deli in the 11th Arrondissement. 

 

Frenchie Wine Bar, Paris
Across from impossible-to-book Frenchie in the Second Arrondissement is its edgy sibling whose shared tables, 80’s rock playlist, and small plates are all the rage. 

 

{Source}

Glass, Paris
It’s all about creative cocktails, grilled hot dogs, and Brooklyn Brewery beer at this South Pigalle nightspot. 

 

El Vaso de Oro, Barcelona
Among the old fishermen’s houses of Barceloneta, this sepia-toned cervecería is full of local sea dogs and other salty types who come for house-brewed lager and an array of tapas 

 

Ved Stranden 10 Vinhandel & Bar, Copenhagen
On Monday nights, the canal-side wine bar becomes the hangout for the city’s culinary scene. A guest cook prepares a simple, tasty one-pot dish that functions like a staff meal, except it’s open to all. 

 

Sa’ Pesta, Genoa, Italy
Liguria’s beloved equivalent of the French socca is a thin, pizza-like pancake made from chickpea flour, served hot from the oven and typically adorned with chunks of gorgonzola or Stracchino cheese. 

 

Paco Gandía, Pinoso, Spain
In a sleepy hamlet 35 miles west of Alicante, the chef at Paco Gandía layers rice in a pan the size of a bicycle tire, along with rabbit, tomatoes, saffron, and snails that feed on wild herbs. 

 

Xocolat, Vienna
Even the most jaded epicurean succumbs to the Willy Wonka-esque sense of wonder at this haven for the cocoa-obsessed. Lose yourself amid the shelves of chocolate bars, truffles, and pralines. You can also sign up for a class to create your own.

 

{Source}

Bar Strelka, Moscow
On warm nights, the roof deck atop the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture & Design is the stomping ground for the city’s freethinking intellectuals and cultural elite. An eclectic menu ranges from shareable snacks to hearty classics. 

 

Da Cesare, Rome
On the ground floor of a 1970’s building in the residential Monteverde neighborhood, this nondescript space is touted by food lovers as the best trattoria in town. The standouts on the menu are fried meatballs in a basil sauce, tiny cuttlefish, and gnocchi. 

 

Have you been to any of these restaurants? 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...