Category: Wining and Dining

Open – Railroad Bridge Bar with Restaurant in Amsterdam (Dutch Design 53)

Railroad Bridge Restaurant

When you are used to pottering canals in The Netherlands as I am, you know what a Railroad Bridge means: A place you usually have to wait for an awful long time. If you pass Amsterdam with a sailboat from which you cannot or don’t want to get the mast down, there is only one window to pass the railroad bridge that is located next to Amsterdam Central Station: Between 02.30 AM and 03.30 AM. You can have a pint of beer in the nearby Jordaan part of Amsterdam to have a bit fun during the waiting. If you are lucky there will be a folksinger in the café.
Open Amsterdam
Recently a railroad bridge that lost its function was permanently put in “Open” position.  Now Dutch architects have built a sort of glass conservatory on the bridge which got the combined function of a bar (café in Dutch who loaned that word from the French) with restaurant. Very aptly it was named Open

Cafe Reataurant Open Amsterdam

Via Architecten Web

Happy Hotelier is now a WSet Level 2 Intermediate Wine Conoisseur

Wset Certificate

Hot from the block: This certificate proves that I know a little bit about wine and spirits. I found I had to study a bit more in order to be able to serve our guests at Haagsche Suites better.

It also goes together with my aim to cover the categories “Food”, “Wine” and “Wining and Dining” more seriously here, rather than setting up a separate blog.

I found that it the Wset course is a decent course. It was given by a very enthusiast couple, Henriëtte Bastiaans and Jeroen Bronkhorst of Wijn studio NL who used to run a restaurant around the corner and who gave the course in a wine shop, Haags Wijnhuis, also around another corner here. So it was very practical: after the courses and wine tasting I could easily crawl back home.

About Wset

Wset stands for Wine and Spirit Education Trust Limited.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) was founded in 1969 to provide high quality education and training in wines and spirits. Since then, WSET has grown into the foremost international body in the field of wines and spirits education, with a suite of sought-after qualifications. We now even have a membership body – the Institute of Wines & Spirits – for those who have passed the WSET Diploma, our top qualification.

About Level 2 Intermediate

This qualification offers broad coverage of all product categories in the field of alcoholic drinks together with basic wine tasting technique.

Overview
This qualification is accredited at Level 2 in the UK National Qualifications Framework. It is also approved as a Technical Certificate for the Advanced Level Hospitality Modern Apprenticeship.

Qualification objective:
Provide vocational training in the broad range of alcoholic beverages to underpin job skills and competencies in the customer service and sales functions of the hospitality, retail and wholesale industries.
Who it is aimed at:
• People employed in the drinks and hospitality industries with little previous knowledge of alcoholic beverages.
• Wine enthusiasts who wish to acquire in-depth knowledge of wines and spirits and want to obtain an internationally recognised wine qualification.

Entry Requirements:
Students and candidates who are under the legal minimum age for the retail purchase of alcoholic beverages in the country where the examination is being held will NOT be allowed to sample any alcoholic beverages as part of their course, but this is NOT a barrier for successfully completing the qualification. (Entry requirements may vary according to Approved Programme Provider)

How to gain the qualification:
You must successfully complete a multiple choice paper of 50 questions.

More at Qualifications

Heading for the Advanced Course by Frank Smulders (site is currently and I hope temporarily not working).

Like a Local

Like a Local is a sited developped by fellow Dutchman in order to accomodate the traveler who wants to enjoy the real couleure locale (French for local circumstances).

You can search for accomodation. You can find locals who are willing to take you on a city tour or who like to offer you a meal at their home. Off course they ask an amount to at least cover their costs for it.

Like A Local started solely devoted to Amsterdam, but is branching out over various European cities. When it started, it was a bit overhyped on the internet. Now it is slowly, but gradually building up momentum.

Amsterdam – Restaurant Freud: a Must Visit

Amsterdam - Restaurant Freud Dish
Amsterdam – Restaurant Freud: Mad Dish

If you don’t make a reservation, it may become a Madhouse!

Amsterdam - Restaurant Freud Front
Amsterdam – Restaurant Freud: Front

Their motto is aptly chosen, if you don’t make a reservation, chances are they are fully booked.

Amsterdam - Restaurant Freud Interior
Amsterdam – Restaurant Freud: Interior

Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me last week when I had an excellent lunch at Restaurant Freud. Now I have only the photo’s of their site on show here.

It was opened almost a year ago by Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen. Despite his promise to have dinner there soon, he hasn’t shown up until today, but he should take my advise and really pay it a visit.

The restaurant is set up as a reintegration project for patients with a psychiatric background. I have never seen waiters, waitresses, cooks and barman with more love and care for their work than here.

Until now it has no English language site. It should have!

Paris: Dinner of the 16 Chefs in Palais de Versailles or Black and White Ball?

Versailles
Palais de Versailles

Dinner?
On September 17 there will be another Epicurean happening: The US $ 30,000.- pp Dinner of the Chefs. A gastronomic experience, bringing together 38 Michelin stars (16 three stars donated chefs) in the Palais de Versaille.

On arrival at the airport in Paris, the sixty guests will be shuttled in their own limousine to their luxury hotel, where they will stay for the night of September 17.

Madame Giscard d’Estaing herself is to host the venue.

Philippe Model will decorate the venue.

A special Chopin recital will be performed in the Pavillon Français by the esteemed pianist Princess Caroline Murat- Haffner and by another young virtuoso Jack Liebeck, from the Purcell School of Music in London.

The dinner will take place in the banquet hall of Le Grand Trianon, Louis XIV’s private rooms, and will count fifteen courses, served by sixteen of the world’s most renowned Chefs. Each will be explaining their own creations, giving a unique insight into the gastronomic processes from source to table.

The net profit of this special event will be donated to the Fondation pour l’Enfance (child Foundation), which aims to combat child abuse.

Or the October 8, 2007 Black and White Ball?

Black and White Ball Fondation-Enfance.jpg

If the dinner is a bit to expensive for you, you can opt for a Euro 1,200.- invitation for the Black & White Ball in the Orangerie of Palais de Versailles, celebrating the 15th International Evening for Children and the 30th anniversary of the same Fondation pour l’Enfance (Child Foundation) and also hosted by madame Giscard d’Estaing.