NOMA

We were fortunate enough to have friends in Copenhagen who worked to get a reservation at Noma. Noma serves reinterpreted Nordic/Scandinavian cuisine and has been rated as the world's best restaurant (now that El Bulli is closing). We had very high expectations. The restaurant is located in a former warehouse in the Christianshavn neighborhood across from the tourist center of Copenhagen. We were greeted by chef Rene Redzepi who has worked at El Bulli in Spain and French Laundry in California. The first course was preceded by a series of snacks. The first was a malt flatbread in the form of a twig and juniper creme. We were instructed to pick the flatbread out of the table's centerpiece. Clearly this was not going to be your typical fine dining experience. The flatbread was followed by fried moss as you see above.

The next snack was a seabuckthron leather (fruit rollup-esque) with pickled hip roses.

Then a cookie with lardo and currant. Ok, so it was weird and interesting, but was it going to be good?

The answer came in the form of this: rye bread, chicken skin, lump fish roe and smoked cheese. Remarkable.

Next came pickled and smoked quails egg and radish with edible soil and herbs. The eggs were gorgeous and silky and wonderful. The radish and "soil" seemed a bit gimmicky to me.

Then it was time to get Nordic. Aebleskier, a traditional Danish Christmas treat, this time with a little fish I forget the name of.

We ate 'em whole and they were great.

After the snacks, which were served with a delicious Danish white wine (yes, Danish wine) came the first course. Leek with sea weed jelly and bits of kelp reduction. Really unique.

Then razor clam and dill oil with buttermilk and horseradish powder. These were served with a 2009 'Corps de Garde' Goisot Cotes d'Auxerre.

Next was my personal favorite of the evening: thinly sliced and jerkyed scallops with beech nut, watercress, barley and squid ink. Absolutely otherworldly. Served with a 2009 Bourgogne Aligote Alice et Olivier de Moor from Chitry

A close second was the shaved chestnut and lojrom (Swedish caviar) with cress and walnut. Rich! Served with a 2008 Riesling Federspiel "Steinriegel" from Wachau.

Then things got challenging. The "Oyster and the Ocean." Oyster from north Jutland steamed with seaweed and rocks and topped with herbs picked from the beach the oysters were foraged from.

This dish was like being transported to the beach in summer time. The smell was incredible. The taste was good. The texture, a challenge. But it was beautiful.

Then a little respite. Onion and unripe grape juice with thyme and tapioca served with a 2009 Klaus Zimmerling Weissburgunder from Saxony.

Celeriac with truffle with a 2008 Riesling Auslese trocken

You will notice an extended focus on vegetables and white wine. It was light, Nordic, and very un-French. I loved it. The most beautiful dish was the pickled vegetables and bone marrow.

The single meat focused dish of the evening was the Reindeer tongue and apple with malt and browned butter and blackened apple seeds, which was totally spectacular and served with a 2003 Barolo 'Giachina' from Piedmonte. The sole red wine served.

Then dessert started subtlely, with the pear tree. Grilled pear with raw pear on top, seasoned with juniper and verbena. The green mass was a pine infused angel food cake-like accompaniment. Served with a 2009 Riesling Spatlese 'Von Horn' from Mosel.

Next was the little snowman of sheeps milk and elderflower ice cream.

Murder the little guy and you got an explosion of berry.

Finally a little walnut ice cream dust and berries with frozen cream, served with a 2009 'Le Cormier' from Coteaux du Layon. Pretty and sweet.

I have never had a meal like this in my life. Thanks to Nan Na Hvass for her beautiful pictures (my camera died halfway through plus I am beginning to think I need to take a class in indoor night food photography if this blog is going to ever look decent!) I will go back to Copenhagen and Noma, without a doubt. What a special experience.

SPT DAY 31 & 32: LAKE WANAKA

We left Hokitika in a fog, which soon cleared as we continued down the coast.  We drove through stunning countryside, into forest and beside crystal lakes into the village of Fox Glacier township.  After a little back and forth, we decided to splurge on a helicoptor tour of the Fox Glacier.  Adventure sports and the like, we discovered, are cheaper in New Zealand.

In the helicoptor tour waiting area was an art gallery.  Here are The Doors on some doors... think about it.

Anyway, up we went.  I can't say much, other than... well... it was intense.  Take a look.

We soared into and over the valley of the Fox Glacier, over toward Mt. Cook, Mt. Tasman, over serveral other glaciers, deep into the Southern Alps.  We landed on a snow field nearly 10,000 feet up, walked around a bit and then flew back down grazing snowcapped peaks, rainforested mountain tops and glacial riverbeds.  It was magical.  Total awe.

We recovered our senses, and continued on.  Here is a spot on the coast just north of the town of Haast, before the road turns inland.

I wish I had better pictures of the drive between Haast and Wanaka, because it was perhaps the most remarkable change of environment I have ever seen in such a short drive.  In the period of an hour and a half we drove along temperate rainforest coastline up into a river valley with even more magestic forest framed by snow capped mountains.  The road was trimmed with waterfalls and huge stone cliffs.  It was indescribable.  Just then, it all opened up, the trees vanished, and we were in a landscape of desolate scrub around a totally glass-clear lake.

We stopped in Wanaka, on the shores of Lake Wanaka, for a couple nights.  The town had a jocky, Colorado feeling, and some good food.

Lunch the following day was a great lamb burger.

After lunch, we went for a jet-boat ride up a nearby river toward Mt. Aspiring.  It almost blew the helicoptor ride out of the proverbial water.

We came around a bend and suddenly our view was filled with a huge glacier with half a dozen massive waterfalls spilling off of it.  Waterfalls spilling down hundreds of feet from a pristine glacier into wild temperate rainforest.  Did you even know this kind of thing could occur outside of blacklight posters?

A neon crystal blue stream ran from the waterfalls into the river we had ridden up.

There was a moment I wandered off from the guide and felt totally alone with nature.  Pure water, soil, air, grass, trees... this moment in time has become one of my favorite spots on earth.  Total isolation, the cleanest air breathable, and a view better than a dream.  New Zealand delivers natural grandeur beyond everything you have heard.  WOW.

SPT DAYS 9-11: ROYAL MAIL HOTEL

After flying back from Hobart, Tasmania we picked up a rental car and drove out through the misty hills surrounding Melbourne to the Southern Grampions National Park.  Nearby is the Royal Mail Hotel in the town of Dunkeld.  This was the centerpiece of our time in Victoria, and so far the highlight of our trip.

The sun came out after we arrived, and we enjoyed the native gardens and took a dip in the pool.

The view of Mt. Sturgeon from our room was like my "Crocodile Dundee" fantasy come true... on the edge of the bush!

Our little deck.

We went for a hike to the top of the mountain on our second day, taking advantage of the cool, cloudy weather.  This eucalyptus (gum) tree is over 400 years old, and is one of many of which are scattered around the plains surrounding the Grampion mountains.

In one of the most exciting moments in my life, we came across a herd of over 40 wild kangaroos.  They peered curiously at us before bounding away over a sheep fence.  I almost passed out.

As we climbed the mountain, the surrounding area began to look more and more like an African plain.

Here is the hotel from the top of the mountain.

The real reason for going to the Royal Mail, however, was the food.  This was yet another No Reservations find, and it did not disappoint.  Head chef Dan Hunter earned his stripes at one and two Michelin star restaurants in Spain before returning to Australia to transform the Royal Mail Hotel, which had been a pub and meeting place in Dunkeld for decades.  Mr. Hunter was on vacation while we were visiting, so the stellar tasting menu was not available.  His sous chefs and the rest of his staff treated us to the bistro menu instead, which was absolutely flawless each of the 6 times we ate at the restaurant.

Everything is sourced from either local producers or, as in the case of the tomato salad above, the hotel's own garden.  The olives were grown on a nearby farm by a man who brought several rare types with him from Lebanon in the 1970's.

 
Ham charcuterie with tomato bread.

One dish the first night was this olive oil poached kingfish with beans, capers, tomatoes and olives.  The broth you see was smokey and dreamlike.

The slow cooked lamb with vegetable stew, basil and pine nuts.  Lamb is a specialty in this area.

A light lunch on the second day: sardines on toast and a garden green (including a delicious bitter nasturtium green) salad.

On night two, after our hike, the roast chicken with herb gnocchi, ham hock, cabbage and fennel.

The seafood stew.

By the end of our trip we had made friends with the wonderfully professional and gracious staff, and our last night dinner was the pinnacle of three days of eating well.  Above is a local charcuterie plate with (top to bottom, left to right) curred ham, curred wagyu beef, curred salmon and curred duck.  I live for curred meats.

The entree (first course) was this delicate fried quail with beetroot, carrot and almond.

And the jewel in the crown: the roast for two.  Perfectly cooked grass fed beef,  garden fresh carrots and beets, a warm french potato salad and garden greens.  This was paired with a 1999 Seppelt St. Peter's Shiraz from the hotel's absolutely insane wine cellar.

Other (all white) wines enjoyed included:

Grosset Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio 2008

Gembrook Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Mount Mary Triolet Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Crawford River Reisling 2005

Every glass or bottle was great, and the excellent sommelier helped us find exactly what we were looking for.  It was exciting to see their breadth of Australian wines, most from the surrounding area or elsewhere in Victoria.

Read more on the Royal Mail's philosophy, location, menu and rates here.