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Funk You @Bikini Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

Funk You @Bikini Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

Of cold brew & hipsters

On our way back from KaDeWe to the train station, we made one last stop at Bikini Berlin to check out a Japanese tea shop, that had a green tea road show going on.

Rolling in, we first made a quick pit stop at the Funk You stall right across the big monkey window, where the young crowd spent their afternoon and a single elderly man meditated in between all the buzz like it…

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KaDeWe @Tauentzienstraße (Berlin, Germany)

KaDeWe @Tauentzienstraße (Berlin, Germany)

Food heaven on the upper floor.

Crawfish tail.

After that currywurst kick-off at Bahnhof Zoo we ventured further for some window shopping, following the crowded streets all the way down to KaDeWe, which stands short for ‘Kauhaus des Westens’ (Department Store of the West). It’s quite a big store indeed with enough goods for a daylong shopping spree. We didn’t know yet what we were looking for…

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Curry 36 @Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten (Berlin, Germany)

Curry 36 @Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten (Berlin, Germany)

Curry at Bahnhof Zoo.

Currywurst.

So this was our first day in Berlin and I was overly excited about the days to come, the friends to meet, the things to see, foods to eat and drinks to drink. In this spirit, we ventured out from our base in Mitte to the surrounding area of Bahnhof Zoo and Kudamm (Kurfürstendamm). Not entirely hungry yet but feeling a slight craving crawling up on us, we were…

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Berlin Food Week @Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

Berlin Food Week @Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

Finally, after picking up a little bit of writing again, I’m getting around to review our trip to Berlin last October and even though we didn’t go to any of the official events, we made this our very personal Berlin Food Week(end). Come with me and…

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Gourmet butcher burgers.

Pulled beef burger with salad.

Just when I thought there’s nothing more to discover on this site of the train tracks my colleagues told me about that butcher a rough 10 minutes down the road, that apparently does some pretty good dry ageing and pork pulling. So without further ado, two colleagues and I went down to check out this magical ‘secret’ shop on Lehener Straße that was hidden from me for such a long time.

We were greeted warmly by the kind ladies behind the counter, who took our order of pulled pork burgers with a smile. Now those burgers weren’t huge but decently sufficient, and at the prices, they’re calling here, more than fair anyway. It was already a burger for lunch so I passed on the fried and starchy side options and went for some green beans from their salad counter, which seemed like a proper enough addition to the set.

    Pulled pork.

Dry aged treasure box.

The layered toppings on my sandwich were made up of tenderly pulled apart pork neck, crunchy leaves of butterhead, crunchy creamy coleslaw, and just the right amount of bbq sauce all squeezed in between a well holding up bun with mixed sesame seeds. Excellent.

Just about two weeks later I already held my second sitting here with the equally tasty pulled beef version of this, which was way saucier and to my surprise at least as succulent and juicy. Again, excellent stuff.

This is one of the best, if not the best butcher delis in town and I won’t be holding off my third visit for too much long either and return to throw back one of their dry-aged burgers and chat some more with the boss about his mighty fridge of treasures. Loving it.

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Metzgerei-Feinkost Pum (closed Sundays) Lehener Straße 40 79106 Freiburg im Breisgau Germany p: [phone] http://www.feinkost-metzgerei-pum.de/

        Metzgerei-Feinkost Pum @Lehener Straße (Freiburg, Germany) Gourmet butcher burgers. Pulled beef burger with salad. Just when I thought there's nothing more to discover on this site of the train tracks my colleagues told me about that butcher a rough 10 minutes down the road, that apparently does some pretty good dry ageing and pork pulling.

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Sabei, sabei.

Pad Thai

              On our never-ending quest to find good value Asian food we followed the pointer of one of my food-loving colleague-friends to Chang’s on Grünwälderstraße. They had exactly two tiny round tables out front and we were lucky enough to catch one of them.

For starters, I had their satay gha, two chicken tender skewers with a dry rub spice mix and a nutty jelat peanut dip. Slightly dry but very tasty and good starting.

Satay gai.

Duck w/ chili & thai basil.

Next up were pad thai and fried duck in a savoury spicy sauce with chili, thai basil and vegetables. The duck was lovely crispy but still had a thin and jiggly fat layer sitting underneath that scrumptious skin. Sauce and vegetables were delicious with a good, yet not too unique taste to them. That pad thai though, it was, I’m not sure how to say it any other way but AWESOME! This was probably the best version of pad thai I had around here and since this is one of M.’s favorite noodle dishes we had quite a few. It had the right balance of tamarind, prawns were great and there was that certain tang. Loved it.

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Chang Thaiküche Grünwälderstraße 21 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau Germany p: [phone] http://chang-thaikueche.de/

Chang Thaiküche @Grünwälderstraße (Freiburg, Germany) Sabei, sabei. On our never-ending quest to find good value Asian food we followed the pointer of one of my food-loving colleague-friends to Chang's on Grünwälderstraße.

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My vegan zen place.

Raw vegetables (Rohkost) with extra bread.

I’ve been quite a big fan of the comprehensive vegetarian and vegan options around Freiburg and especially the neighbourhood surrounding my office. They allowed me to conveniently live a bit healthier and be more considerate and balanced about how and with what I stuff my face. So certainly I was happy to hear that former Freundsaft got a new tenant to run another full-on vegan restaurant at their old location on Lehener Straße.

After their ramp-up phase during which they performed regular trial cookings, Deli Vegaani opened their doors with a small but fine selection of hot, warm and cold dishes, a few cakes and sweets as well as coffee, spreads and the like.

Big bowl.

Grilled vegetables with hummus.

My favourite and the most satisfying dish thus far has been their big bowl of steamed vegetables on a bed of country risotto rice which is covered by your ‘sauce’ of choice that could be hummus, baba ganoush, lemon-coriander and what not.

  Steamed veggies.

Vegan quiche.

This week I also got around to trying the raw vegetables (‘Rohkost’), a salad-like mix of crunchy beets and root vegetables, lightly dressed in vinaigrette and covered under a slightly bitter cushion of rocket leaves. This was brilliant, pure freshness, snappy and with some extra slices of that crazy good toasted seed bread just made for the kind of lunch that I needed.

Steamed veggies with lemon-coriander-sauce.

Steamed veggies with red lentils.

Rohkost with extra bread.

Additionally, to the great and wholesome foods, the people here are just extra nice and considerate, there are other vegan and organic goods to buy (e.g. sandwiches, tea) and the little pricy sweets at the counter are simply outstanding. Try those fudgy chocolate chip cookies, they will blow your mind.

Get Your Grub On!

Deli Vegaani (former Freundsaft) Lehener Straße 13 79106 Freiburg im Breisgau Germany p: [phone] https://www.vegaani.net/

Deli Vegaani @Lehener Straße (Freiburg, Germany) My vegan zen place. I've been quite a big fan of the comprehensive vegetarian and vegan options around Freiburg and especially the neighbourhood surrounding my office.

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Sawadee-khrup.

[1] Beef bowl with lean beef, meatball, veal tongue and liver.

This week’s most anticipated event for me was the opening of Chada Thai’s new noodle shop at Rempartstraße. Even after a few years in Asia, I couldn’t really make out what Thai noodle soups would be like but yesterday was the day I should find out.

We were planning to go with a bigger group but one colleague and I were held up by a spontaneous hall meeting and so the two of us followed the rest with a few minutes delay. Arriving at the shop we spotted our group with no free seats anywhere close to them or anywhere period. No choice but parking our behinds on the comfy waiting benches and hope for some fast noodle slurpers.

Seafood and beef bowl.

Not long though and we were sitting at our table, ordering food and making ourselves familiar with the multitude of condiments on the table – chilli in vinegar, chilli flakes, sugar (??) and nuts.

My colleague ordered the seafood bowl, which was a heaty tom yam broth, filled with all sorts of water goodies like mussels, prawns, squid, salmon and fishballs. One to remember for my next visit but I just had to go for the beef bowl with all available add-ons, which meant that it was stacked generously with soft pieces of lean meat, veal liver and tongue as well as a bouncy meatball, whose texture took me back to those yong tau foo stalls in Singapore. My favourite meaty ingredient was the liver but the tongue definitely won the contest for most intriguing consistency and bite. The soup itself was tasty strong with hints of that sweet and sourness, typical for beef broth, and the noodles were just right. All in all a delicious bowl, that I’m happy to have so close by.

Lifting noodles.

Beef bowl.

Ball of glory.

So the food was great, that I didn’t even mind the ten bucks I had to leave at the counter here, and I hope that Freiburg will appreciate having such an authentic (oh gosh, I hate using that word) shop around with the friendliest of people serving up some truly great stuff.

Get Your Grub On!

Chada Thai Nudelsuppe Rempartstraße 5 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau Germany p: http://www.chadathai.de/

  Chada Thai Nudelsuppe @Rempartstraße (Freiburg, Germany) Sawadee-khrup. This week's most anticipated event for me was the opening of Chada Thai's new noodle shop at Rempartstraße.

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Ketterers Rebstock @Dorfstraße (Heuweiler, Germany)

A drunken boar.

Drunken wild boar (in whiskey marinade)

I’ve been to Ketterer’s Rebstock once before for a truly amazing schnitzel feast, so when we decided to take M.’s uncle and aunt here during their visit I resisted that natural temptation of ordering the known and delicious and ventured for something new from their seasonal menu. As the interior suggests this family consists of passionate…

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A ‘Flotter Dreier’ in Elzach.

Duck breast with mash, broccoli and jus.

I had friends raving to me about this place forever now and so when last week two of them asked M. and me to join them for a double date we instantly were game. The day of choice was Thursday, which by chance is the day of their weekly ‘Flotter Dreier’ promotion. While in German this has a rather suggestive meaning, here it describes a triple course surprise dinner with a choice of meat, fish or a combination, paired with a selection of regional wines.

Deer tartar and carpaccio on field salad.

Deer tartar with a fried caper apple.

I chose meat for all my courses and my entrée turned out to be a brilliant trio of chunky deer tartar, carpaccio of the same and some field salad with candied walnuts and kracherle (badisch for croutons). The tartar wasn’t that gamey but had a distinct texture that wasn’t entirely pleasant but more of the intriguing kind. Paired with the more dominant fried caper fruit (not sure if that’s the actual word) and the crispy bread splinter this was just on spot. The carpaccio seemed more intense but still light and fresh as raw things should be and the playful combination of the sweetish coated nuts was simply lovely. Great kickoff to the evening. [Wine pairing: Grauburgunder (Salwey | Oberrottweil)]

Rose duck breast with mash, broccoli and jus.

Pikeperch (Zander) with creamy cabbage and potatoes.

My main was a beautiful duck breast, perfectly broiled to a deep rose, with crispy skin on the outside and all the important juices locked in. The mash and broccoli where solid supporting acts but the true star was definitely the duck. [Wine pairing: Cuvée (Landerer | Vogtsburg)]

I also got a little taste of the second option with pan-fried pikeperch, a glossy scallop and the best cream cabbage that I’ve ever had. The latter was warm and cooked but still kept that typical crunch alive and kicking, almost on the edge of raw. I don’t know how they did this but I was genuinely amazed.

Caramel mousse with drunken fruits and chocolate crumble.

Fruit sherbet with brittle.

Canoli with cream cheese filling.

The finishing moves were performed by this extremely capable trio of sweetness. My favourite must have been the lardy caramel mousse, closely followed by the mixed fruit sherbet which showed some strong apricot tendencies. [Wine pairing: Scheurebe (Weishaar | Kaiserstuhl)]

I have been swept off my feet by tonight’s food and service. The ambience is comfortably classy, not detached or posh and also not as rustic as I had initially expected, very easy and convenient to settle in. Big kudos on the wine pairing too. All being great wines, every glass suited the corresponding dish optimally and the only regret I have is forgetting to note down the Riesling pairing of the fish main.

I’d love to come here every Thursday from now on, and if the use of great regional produce, skillfully orchestrated and prepared wasn’t enough, it’s the absolute steal at Eur33,00 all in that just makes this a major no-brainer. I’m bowing respectfully with many thanks to all involved.

Get Your Grub On!

Gasthaus Rössle Hauptstraße 19 79215 Elzach Germany p: [phone] roessleelzach.de

Gasthaus Rössle @Hauptstraße (Elzach, Germany) A 'Flotter Dreier' in Elzach. I had friends raving to me about this place forever now and so when last week two of them asked M.

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Burgermeister Beef & Vegan @Klarastraße (Freiburg, Germany)

Most beginnings are bumpy. Cheeseburger with curly fries.

There’s a new burger place in town and thankfully it opened up just a short 3min walk away from the office. The place is run by the guys from Mr. Döner at Eschholzstraße and since apparently their small selection of burgers went quite well, they decided to open a dedicated shop in the old halls of the former Hanselmann.

Closeup cheeseburger

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A not so classic Classic.

Linsen mit Spätzle und Saitenwürschtle

If there’s a new place opening only remotely close to our office it doesn’t take too long and people at work start talking about it. So it was just a matter of a few days until I heard that the former ‘Auerhahn’ at Egonstraße has become ‘Das Quartier’ and that apparently they do their food the good way. Actually, they have daily changing lunch specials with a meaty and a vegetarian alternative as well as a standing weekly option and a few smaller dishes to choose from.

My good colleague accompanied me to try the place out and on the first impression, everything seemed promising. The large bright room was inviting, classy but not pretentious and if anything it seemed a bit empty maybe. However, we were greeted warmly by the waiter (possibly the owner), sat down and ordered a Swabian classic, ‘Linsen mit Spätzle und Saitenwürschtle’ or English: lentils, with German noodle dumplings (?) and Frankfurter sausages. Traditional for me and a vegetarian version for my friend.

Closeup

Vegetarian twist

Not so traditional

They put some real effort into the presentation of this otherwise down to earth and bowl-filling, rustic dish. As you can see this version was nothing ordinary, creatively assembled and simply gorgeous. When it comes to food though, good looks are great but I have an ugly and tasty dish over a pretty but boring one anytime. Thankfully this was the best of both worlds. The lentils had bite and the sausages were snappy, buttery spätzle and a (good) weird touch of alien presto did the rest to complete this culinary creation. Btw, this wasn’t the official vegetarian option of the day but the guys specially replaced the sausages with grilled spring onions for my mate.

Very nice stuff and I’m glad we have these guys in the neighbourhood to endorse our local food community and widen our lunch horizons. Definitely, see you soon.

Get Your Grub On!

Das Quartier (former Auerhahn) Egonstraße 48 79106 Freiburg im Breisgau Germany p: [phone] http://www.quartier-freiburg.de/

Das Quartier @Egonstraße (Freiburg, Germany) A not so classic Classic. If there's a new place opening only remotely close to our office it doesn't take too long and people at work start talking about it.

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Furhmannstube @St. Anton (Arlberg, Austria)

Furhmannstube @St. Anton (Arlberg, Austria)

Let’s make this a tradition, shall we?

Our time in South Tyrol was coming to an end and we had packed all our things, finished some last minute shopping for local delicacies, jumped into our car and were on our way back home just as the weather took a turn for the worse.

After a few hours driving, we took yet another break at St. Anton for another quick and early lunch exactly like during our…

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Day trip to bellisimo Merano.

Homemade tagliatelle w/ chanterelle

The weather forecast didn’t promise a day too exciting, so we decided to take an extra trip down south to Merano through something, that seemed like one single and endless apple plantation. I have never seen apples in such amounts ever in my life. Traffic was comparably tame and so it took us just a little over one hour to reach our destination.

Merano is an appealing little town with hidden alleyways, blemished shop fronts, beautiful old buildings and some pretty street art. Strolling through the road-web of the central old town scouting for food we stopped at one of the rather touristy spots for a sitdown lunch and people watching. While M. went for the lasagna, I had the handmade tagliatelle with chanterelle. The pasta was actually kind of a hybrid between Italian tagliatelle and western flat noodles, thick and the ideal vessel to carry as much of that glazy and buttery sauce as possible. The chanterelle were great too, even though I’d prefer the smaller ones compared to the massive mushrooms on my plate. It’s a texture thing.

Old shop front

Passer | Passirio

Merano

Streets

Street Art Merano

Even that my dish of choice turned out to be rather nice, I just felt like I had missed my chance on some truly Italian pasta as this was more noodlelike. Makes sense? Anywho, that is me always looking at the greener grass on the other side but honestly, it was a good place. Touristy? Sure, but with great and personal service, some people watching potential and tasty food to go with it.

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Ristorante Hasen Jos Via Portici 204 39012 Merano BZ Italy p: [phone] http://hasenjos.com

    Hasen Jos @Merano (Bolzano, Italy) Day trip to bellisimo Merano. The weather forecast didn't promise a day too exciting, so we decided to take an extra trip down south to Merano through something, that seemed like one single and endless apple plantation.

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Pizza halfsies.

Pizza Margherita

The second day in South Tyrol and we took the recreational activities down a nudge, from hiking 20k to simply driving around the area and lying at the lake’s shore enjoying the sun before the clouds started rolling into the valley. It was food o’clock and by chance, we found ourselves back at San Valentino exactly like the day before.

Applestrudel

Sharing is caring

We left Franco’s behind this time and moved a block up north to Hotel Lamm where there still were some free seats on the sunkissed terrace. Not having done much moving our appetite wasn’t as massive to we went splitcies on a Margherita. The pizza wasn’t spectacular but pretty good, light char marks on the outer crust and fruity soggy in the centre, just a tad too cheesy which slightly overshadowed the otherwise great sugo.

Reflections

Abbazia di Monte Maria

Abbazia di Monte Maria

Fountain at Abbazia di Monte Maria

Passo Resia

Lago di Rèsia

Reschensee

Forest

We also had some apple strudel with vanilla sauce for dessert which was okay but didn’t quite knock me off my socks, but hey that’s maybe a bit much to ask for.  All in all another nice place to grab a snack in the sun with very personal and friendly service as it seems to be common around these waters. I like it.

Get Your Grub On!

Hotel Lamm Hauptstrasse 67 39027 San Valentino Alla Muta BZ (Südtirol / South Tyrol) Italy p: + 39 0473 634641 http://www.hotel-lamm.it/

Hotel Lamm @San Valentino (Bolzano, Italy) Pizza halfsies. The second day in South Tyrol and we took the recreational activities down a nudge, from hiking 20k to simply driving around the area and lying at the lake's shore enjoying the sun before the clouds started rolling into the valley.

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How bad can it be?

Spending most of our first day here orbiting Lake Resia at an elevated level and visiting the local sights like the famous sunken church tower of the old town of Curon (Campanile di Curon Venosta Vecchia). About halfway, we passed the small village of San Valentino just as our bellies started growling for food. Everything seemed to be closed for the break between lunch and dinner service except one little unassuming café at the side of the main road. It didn’t look too appealing at first with its simple interior and the standup menus with semi-great photographs of their dishes.

Lake Resia

Elevated Walkway

Hiking Snack

Directions

Sammich

Lake Resia

Campanile di Curon Venosta Vecchia

But since we slowly were getting hangry and with limited options, we didn’t mess around any longer and just went for some pasta. I mean how bad could it be, we were in Italy after all, and actually, this was amazing. In just a little over 5 minutes, we were presented with a delicious portion of tagliatelle con ragù. It seemed such a simple dish, but in one of its best possible version, an honest plate of homemade pasta as if mama was standing in the back kitchen cooking it up herself. Thanks to Franco and his crew for a surprising and more than tasty lunch. Fantastico.

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Café Franco Vittorio Veneto 58 39027 Curon Venosta BZ (Südtirol / South Tyrol) Italy

    Café Franco @San Valentino (Bolzano, Italy) How bad can it be? Spending most of our first day here orbiting Lake Resia at an elevated level and visiting the local sights like the famous sunken church tower of the old town of Curon (Campanile di Curon Venosta Vecchia).

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A gourmet short trip to Italy

Salad & antipasti buffet

We stayed at this beautiful newish hotel at Lake Resia that promised a couple relaxing and tasty days because of the attached mini spa and a daily dinner service with a 4 course meal curated by the junior boss of the house and head chef Markus Strobl.

During the few days we stayed here, we had so many dishes that I will keep this brief and short and let the pictures do most of the talking. Just that, there was a salad and antipasti buffet each day to start off the menu and even though it was mostly the same, every day they had some changing highlight items like perfectly grilled and chilled veal. My favorite picks were the marinated artichoke hearts and that slightly blanched and lightly dressed coleslaw with cumin.

  Mediterranean swordfish

Barley soup

Topfenknödel

Rye bread dumplings

Menu

Fluffy dark Rye Bread dumplings in fond with oven vegetables and fried parsley

Barley soup with ham roll and chive-gel

Insane Meditteranean swordfish with pea flan, snow peas, and minestrone broth

Perfect Topfenknödel with nougat center, figs, and cinnamon ice cream

  Ravioli

Essence of peppers

Peach sherbet & champagne

Flank of Ocean beef

Amazing ravioli with carbonara filling, truffle aroma, and oven melanzane

Essence of peppers, chorizo-egg-dumplings and carrot pearls

On spot Ocean beef flank, tomato, dauphine-potatoes and oven carrots

Genius peach sherbet, water melon and arunda bubbles from east of Meran

  Beef tartar

Parsley soup

Guineafowl

Lave cake intact

Lave cake dismantled

Fresh and bio beef tartar, parmesan splinters and crostini, celery walnut salad and red onions

Parsley cream soup, bacon trameszzino and gel of smoke

Lardo stuffed breast of guineafowl, young leek, white bread pudding and chervil mousse

Lukewarm chocolate lava tart with wild berry sherbet and strawberries

  Celery tortelloni & truffle foam

Consommé double & mushroom crepe

Beef cheek

Yoghurt mousse & passion fruit

Celery filled tortelloni, truffle foam, and broccoli

Consommé double, fantastic mushroom crêpe and zucchini julienne

Beef cheek, smoked mash, black carrots and parsley

Farmer yoghurt mousse, ice cream, meringue and acidy passion fruit

Regional cheeses, chutneys, and nuts

As the salad buffet at the start, the dinner closing was also the same every day, an interesting selection of regional cheeses, chutneys, and nuts.

Bedroom

Bedroom

Eden Hotel (front)

The time we spend in this dining room was such a treat and I didn’t have a single dish I didn’t like and many that I loved. Atmosphere-wise it took us some getting used to as everybody was whispering quietly at their tables which made it all a bit library-like but after the first night we had some good wine, turned up the volume a notch and enjoyed ourselves. Thanks for a wonderful foodie stay at your hotel and keep being inventive.

Get Your Grub On!

Alpine Diner Restaurant & Bar (Hotel Eden Reschensee) – reservations mandatory Hauptstrasse 4 39027 Reschen BZ / Resia (Südtirol / South Tyrol) Italy p: + 39 473 633137 http://www.eden-reschensee.com/

The Alpine Diner @Hotel Eden (Lake Resia, Italy) A gourmet short trip to Italy We stayed at this beautiful newish hotel at Lake Resia that promised a couple relaxing and tasty days because of the attached mini spa and a daily dinner service with a 4 course meal curated by the junior boss of the house and head chef Markus Strobl.