SENSES, AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam is so close and so easy to get to, but you probably don’t think of the Netherlands as a gourmet country. Think again, here’s a surprise for you, just as it was for us. Remember, Amsterdam is a mix of peoples and cultures, and of course this includes cooking.
At Senses restaurant these influences are given a lot of attention, but the tastes and the ingredients are combined and mixed into something you didn’t think was possible but gives you a quite extraordinary tasting experience .
There’s a perfectly selected range of wines to go with the menu. When we were there we were able to drink a glass of La Rioja Alta Gran reserva 904, 2007, a wine so complex it almost broke us totally!
You’ll find Senses’ website here.
ARCTIC GOURMET, SWEDEN
Arctic Gourmet Cabin is probably the smallest gourmet restaurant inte world. There’s only seating for four persons, at two tables. But if you managed to book yourself into it that’s no disadvantage. It’s like sitting in a friend’s kitchen, a friend that happens to be a formidable cook. You chat and have a good time while the food is prepared.
But when the food is served there’s no talk, just sighs of pleasure. The chef Johan Löfgren and his wife Malin who runs the place deliver some sensationally good stuff with locally produced ingredients. They should have had at least one Michelin star.
The Cabin lies very remote in a village called Kaalasjärvi, some 23 km from Kiruna. It’s just four huts in Johan and Malin’s garden. One is the restaurant and another a sauna (essential up here). The last two huts are lodges so you don’t have to say no to Malin’s wine selections. We enjoy a sauna bath and when we’re dry we get two glasses of champagne and sit by the open fire where Johan will be preparing the grilled reindeer sirloin.
Dinner starts with some m andel potato rösti with kalix roe, and for dessert there’s a wild berries sorbet. All made with perfection.
Link to Arctic Gourmet Cabin here.
