What are you eating?

[Sergeant Rock]

Last night, we ate at the hotel restaurant, the Green Valley Grill...I had a couple of glasses of Pinot Gris from Alsace, just delicious (drink a lot of Pinot Gris or Grigio, but rarely sample the Alsatian offerings - that will change!).

Yes, you should try it more often. The grape excels in Alsation and German vineyards. (In Germany it's known as Grauburgunder.) My favorite Pinot gris story: Mrs. Rock and I spent a week in Alsation wine country in 2004. In Riquewihr one afternoon we ordered the Baeckeoffa for lunch. It's made to order; the menu warned that it would take 45-60 minutes to prepare. (It's a casserole made with lamb, pork, beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, leeks and garlic...with a bottle of Riesling or Pinot gris added to the pot  ) We ordered a bottle of Trimbach's Pinot gris (Trimbach in one of the top Alsation vintners). The waiter returned with the news that the Trimbach was sold out. He suggested an alternative. I was disappointed but the lunch turned out really well anyway. This is peasant food, but French peasants eat like kings.




Two weeks later I was in Columbus Ohio, visiting a mortally ill childhood friend. A mutual friend of ours was also visiting (we three grew up in the same neighborhood). She and I went out for lunch, to the Bon Vie in Easton, a newly restored--yuppiefied--area of Columbus.



The Bon Vie is a French bistro (management and staff are aware the name is incorrect grammatically). The Trimbach Pinot gris was on the wine list...the same vintage even that I'd ordered in Alsace! It was everything I'd hoped it would be: we drank three glasses each    I complimented our waitress, telling her I was pleasantly shocked to find an Alsation wine in Columbus that was unavailable in Alsace. She called the manager over to hear my story. We were treated like royalty from that point on. I'd parked on the street (not knowing there was a parking garage around the corner). The meter was only good for half an hour. As the deadline approached for another 50 cents, I asked our server for change. The manager appeared, told us about the convenient parking garage we should use on our next visit but also that we shouldn't worry about the meter now; she'd take care of it. She sent a busboy down the block to feed the meter for us. He did that two more times and wouldn't accept my money.

I found the Trimbach wine in Akron too during that visit...at the West Point Market. Bought a couple of bottles for my oldest friend.

Sarge

[uffeviking]

I'm having something traditionally Austrian -- Germ Knödel. It is sweet but is eaten as a main course.

I am surprised at how much I have come to enjoy it. I cast a suspicious eye on it the first time I sampled it.

And then there are Marillenknödel! I think the photo is a bit touched up because mine never came out looking that neat. A small apricot, pit removed and sugar cube inserted and all wrapped in dough made of boiled and mashed potatoes, then all rolled in lightly browned sugared bread crumbs.

Those lovely creations were Gustav Mahler's favorite dessert!

[The new erato]

And then there are Marillenknödel! I think the photo is a bit touched up because mine never came out looking that neat. A small apricot, pit removed and sugar cube inserted and all wrapped in dough made of boiled and mashed potatoes, then all rolled in lightly browned sugared bread crumbs.

Those lovely creations were Gustav Mahler's favorite dessert!

Just spent a week in Wachau, so I know all about Marillen and Marillenknodel (which I actually had in Salzburg).

Now I'm having some chili scampi with a bottle of Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Kabinett 2006, perfect match!

[mozartsneighbor]

And then there are Marillenknödel! I think the photo is a bit touched up because mine never came out looking that neat. A small apricot, pit removed and sugar cube inserted and all wrapped in dough made of boiled and mashed potatoes, then all rolled in lightly browned sugared bread crumbs.

Those lovely creations were Gustav Mahler's favorite dessert!

Marillenknödel are lovely as well. Interesting to know it was Mahler's favorite dessert.

[uffeviking]

(which I actually had in Salzburg).

You were in Salzburg and did not have Salzburger Nockerln? 

[Sarastro]

Probably not a very delicious variety *blushes*, but that's what I had last week - some kind of borsch and salads with fish and chicken, it had just been already cooked and distributed in containers to be stocked in the fridge when I decided to take a picture. When inspired, a young bachelor like me can cook something of more exquisite taste. 0:) Salads are easy to take-out-get-ready-and-eat-right-away though, especially when you have an exam the following day.

[The new erato]

You were in Salzburg and did not have Salzburger Nockerln? 

I saw somebody having it and felt full just by watching!

[uffeviking]

You let the size of the dish fool you! It's the lightest of all desserts, nothing but frothy eggs baked lightly. Something lighter than a simple egg soufflé.

Go back to the Salzburger Hof and have some! Maybe not, that's an expensive place, any simple Gasthof will make it for you and cost you fewer Schillings - or do they have Euros there now too? 

[MDL]

And then there are Marillenknödel! I think the photo is a bit touched up because mine never came out looking that neat. A small apricot, pit removed and sugar cube inserted and all wrapped in dough made of boiled and mashed potatoes, then all rolled in lightly browned sugared bread crumbs.

Those lovely creations were Gustav Mahler's favorite dessert!

So that's what killed him!

[uffeviking]

     

[Sergeant Rock]

Go back to the Salzburger Hof and have some! Maybe not, that's an expensive place, any simple Gasthof will make it for you and cost you fewer Schillings - or do they have Euros there now too? 

The Schilling is history.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Now I'm having some chili scampi with a bottle of Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Kabinett 2006, perfect match!

Yes, nice...

Sarge

[SonicMan46]

Yes, you should try it more often. The grape excels in Alsation and German vineyards.......

Sarge - just getting back online for the evening (been watching a lot of the Olympics!) - that Alsation dish looks great!  My wife would love that combo! 

We have just one wine store in my area that carries a decent selection of wines from Alsace - don't shop there that often, but have tried a number of Alsatian Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc & Riesling - will need to pick up some more often! 

My paternal grandfather's (who I never knew) origins - last name Ott - apparently where from the Alsatian area; on a visit to Nuremberg-Erlangen area in the early '90s (my flight on the Concorde in another thread), my collegue & I travelled from Liege in Belgium to Frankfurt, then Mannheim - I was amazed at how many 'Otts' were in the phone book - so believed then that my last name was ancestral to this area of Europe!

Dave - 

[mahler10th]

Hmmmmmmmm

Waffles with egg.  At 11.50pm.
Superb.

[M forever]

Good question. Once again, I find myself in the strange situation that I am in a big US city (this time Atlanta, GA), I just arrived at the hotel 1h or so ago, and everything around here is already pretty much closed down like in a small village...but I am hungry, and I don't want to end up at one of the ubiquitious Chili's or, even worse, Denny's, or, the worst of the worst, IHOP, again...Sure, there must be some places, somewhere, which are still open, but I don't want to drive around forever in search of them.

Wish me luck, I am now heading out into the darkness that surrounds me, on the hunt for at least decent, well, OK, let's not get too unrealistic here, at least not too yucky food!

[uffeviking]

Your hotel does not provide 24 hour room service?

[M forever]

Dunno. It actually didn't occur to me to check. Apparently not. I am stying in the Hampton Inn because I like the beds they use. But apparently, they don't have around-the-clock room service. I prefer to go out and "discover" anyway, provided there is anything to discover.

But I got very lucky because just as I was done typing, the phone rang and the Universal Pictures rep who is hosting the screening tomorrow (it is a press screening of "The Express", and we provide the technical services for most of Universal's screenings outside LA, meaning, we check the image and sound quality and make sure everything runs optimally) called me and told me he had just gotten into town and not eaten yet either. He is staying staying in style at the Hotel Intercontinental and their apparently rather high-end restaurant ( http://www.aupieddecochonatlanta.com ) is open all night, so he invited me to come over and join him for a late-night dinner. So I did (and he picked up the tab, of course), and I had a cream of mushroom soup and a steak with baked potato and sautéed spinach, and while that may not be a highly original choice, it was really very, very good  And quite expensive, too. But - they paid. 

[Wanderer]

Au pied de Cochon? Nice name! 

And quite expensive, too. But - they paid. 

That's the best kind of expensive.

[SonicMan46]

Dunno. It actually didn't occur to me to check. Apparently not. I am stying in the Hampton Inn because I like the beds they use. But apparently, they don't have around-the-clock room service. I prefer to go out and "discover" anyway, provided there is anything to discover.

M - wife & I have been to Atlanta several times in recent years - last visit just over a year ago - plenty of excellent restaurant choices, both downtown & up in Buckhead - posted a few restaurants we ate at earlier in THIS THREAD - the Atlanta Fish Market & Bluepointe Restaurant were both just excellent; on an earlier visit, we stayed 'downtown' and can't remember our eateries then - good luck!   

[orbital]

These delicacies, which are called (more or less) lentil balls:
It is, from what I understand, quite difficult to make and involves boiled red lentils, raw fine bulgur (pounded) wheat, hot pepper paste, scallions, celery leaves, parsley, olive oil, black and crushed red peppers along with a multitude of seasoning salts and herbs which may or may not include cumin.
The boiled lentils and the raw bulgur wheat are kneaded for a long time, cooking the bulgur in the process by sheer friction. the other ingredients are added later at some point  Better find yourself a family member who is willing to do it for you 

Even though they are delicious, one should be careful to never attempt to eat more than a few at a time. The lentil and the wheat swell up in your stomach in about thirty minutes, potentially causing excessive bloating.