Il Forno

Tallinn, take 2: cafes and cheap lunch options

I'm not a huge cafe fan, though I have a few favourites, and even less of a bar fly, yet doing the tourist thing makes me feel the urge to find the next cafe for a drink or a quick snack like nothing else. A little pause between attractions is just what I need when visiting somewhere new: you rest a moment, relax, and after a little you're ready to absorb the atmosphere around you. In the same way, when lunch time comes I usually don't want the full lengthy five course affair, which I'd rather leave to the evening (and one or two upcoming posts); rather I prefer something simple that leaves me time to continue enjoying the visit. Fortunately Tallinn has plenty of nice cafes and bars which offer refuge from the chilling weather in winter (and a chance to cool down in summer, I would imagine), and can also be a pretty good option for lunch.

Among the few cafe's we tried – with -10°C outside you stop quite often for a warm drink – there are two which I particularly liked. Ironically, we ended up in both almost by mistake. Kehrwieder is a local cafes chain that runs a few different places in the city centre of Tallinn. We were actually looking for their Tristan & Isolde Cafe, but, since I mixed up the addresses, we ended up in the Cafe and Chocolaterie. (Both places are on the main City Hall square so not such a huge mistake after all.) As soon as we got into the vaulted cellar that holds this cafe Daniela and me fell in love with the place, its mismatched chairs and tables, and simply the cosy atmosphere. And yes, they also make some pretty good cakes – we picked a berry pie and a gooseberry crumble tart – that there's a good selection of teas and chocolates, the latter both as pralines and as drink, and that even the coffee was not too bad to my espresso accustomed palate. To get an even better idea of the place you could go to Pille's blog, nami-nami: she has a nice post on this cafe and a couple of pictures which give a nice feel of the place.

Pikk 16 is an address that has made the gastronomic history of Tallinn. It is here that the roots of what is now Kalev, the Estonian chocolate and candy maker, were established: now it hosts the city's oldest cafe, open since 1864, and an inviting Estonian restaurant, both named Maiasmokk. Following Pille's advice, we had originally planned to dine in the restaurant, but, do to a misunderstanding with our reservation date, we missed our chance. Instead, on our last day and again by chance, we ended up in the ground floor cafe, seeking refuge from a sudden storm of icy wind. The interiors here are exactly what you would expect from such a traditional place, with lots of mirrors and dark wood creating a very fin-de-siecle atmosphere. While the drinks here are just OK, what really deserves a mention are the many cakes, and pastries, sweet and savory. The sweets are great for an afternoon cup of coffee and the pastries are ideal for a light snack or lunch, so you could come here again and again: we picked a few pastires (left), and I regret I only found out about this place on the last day, because I would have gone back for more.

Zotter: 3 x 3

I have talked about Sepp Zotter and his chocolate a couple of times before. His artistically packaged chocolate bars and wide range of bold flavour combinations make him a unique name in the world of fine chocolate.

Although my first taste did not really win me over, I remained curious about the creative streak of this Austrian chocolatier. The fact is, Zotter manages to make you approach chocolate with a collectors mind. Whenever I see his chocolates on sale a part of me turns back to the eight year old who loved to trade football(soccer) cards: I wonder if there are people out there who actually trade Zotter's wraps. It wouldn't surprise me. For those, like me, who are more interested in the actual taste, the almost sixty flavours give plenty of reasons to go back for another pick over and over. And even if you have tried them all you can be sure some new creation will enrich the collection of the coming year.

In the past year and a half, the number of shops selling these chocolate bars around Jena has increased dramatically and so it has become easier to find a wider range of Zotter's collection. About a week ago, I somehow ended up with two chocolate bars I had not really intended to buy while shopping for a wine bottle to go with our dinner. A third one joined the others just the next day, equally mysteriously. I am starting to believe there must be some chocolate pixies around here.

I am a strong believer in second chances, but sometimes a third go (with three tries) is even better. Doesn't luck come in threes after all? If I had stopped at two, I would have never tasted the chocolate which is definitely my favourite among Zotter's and also one of the best flavoured bars I ever put between my teeth: dark chocolate with a filling of celeriac white chocolate, port ganache and truffle oil. The bar is dedicated to Zotter's master, Werner Matt, and I imagine extra care went into this creation. The result certainly suggests so: the celeriac aroma is just an undertone giving the white chocolate a more complex dimension and the luscious Port ganache offers the fruity freshness needed to round the taste perfectly. My only minor grudge is that the truffle, so strongly publicised on the package front, is not noticeable at all. After all its absence did not decreased the quality of this chocolate bar in any way.

Tallinn, take 1: the Old Town

Funny how quickly time ticks away without you hardly noticing and then realising months have passed in a blink of an eye.  Just over two month's ago me and Daniela were in Tallinn, -10°C and snow, and now it is June. OK, the weather has not sensibly improved, at least not here – rain and cold winds making late May seem like Autumn – but Winter seems ages ago. Writing about Tallinn on this blog was one of the things I kept postponing because of my busy schedule: finally things have started to slow down a bit and so I find the time for this long overdue write-up.

This first post is uncommonly, for my blog, bare of food. Just thought I'd mention that first, in case you're on of those people whose only interest is in the edible branch of blogs. While I'm sure the follow-ups will make up for that, this fascinating city deserves an account of its own.

Having travelled quite a lot throughout Europe, I have somewhat gotten used to the general landscape and I very often end up seeing more similarities than differences between my new destinations and those I have experienced in the past. Tallinn definitely changed that perception. Everything seemed different and new – language, people (and the peculiar look people give tourists), atmosphere – tickling my curiosity enough to want to just go out, absorb the atmosphere of the place and forget about the freezing temperature. Not too hard actually: Tallinn has a fair share of cosy cafes, ideal spots to thaw your frozen feet.

The novelty of the place passed somewhat in the background once I entered the city centre's gates (above). I could blame the global chains or the tourists for that. Or even the large numbers of the prime British export to Europe, the always annoying stag parties, with their groups of apish "mates" trying to woo the local beauties – and yes, the women are beautiful here – yet managing little more than beer fuelled mumbling and a couple of steps before turning back to their real interest, the pint glass. If it hadn't been for the snow I would have been wondering if I had stepped on the wrong plane and landed in Ibiza. But that's not it, and really, it is not a question of blame.

Fabulous Favourites Festival Roundup, part 1

Hosting a blogging event is always been fun for me. Co-Hosting two events at once, together with Lenn, even more so. Yet the creation of a theme, makeing adjustments and putting the announcement up are all foreplay. The real action comes, in this case, on the event's day in an explosion of cooking and wine drinking. Going through the blogsphere searching for the single entries can be a bit of a pain though and so here is the first part of the event's entries round-up: our highlights of the match, if you wish.

I hope you will have fun reading the round-up below. I sure enjoyed going through all the entries, reading about the appetizing dishes and mouthwatering wines. Now though, I feel the terrible urge to pour myself a glass of wine ;-).

Visit Lenn's blog for the other half of this roundup.

27 + 20 = 47 soybeans

Blog events come in pairs.

While you wait, just one more day, for the round up of the Fabulous Favourites Festival, I'd like to tickle your cooking and baking passion with the annoucement of the next joint blogging event. IMBB27 + SHF 20= The Joy of Soy will be hosted by Reid, over at 'Ono Kine Grindz, on June 25th, and he would like us to:

Prepare a dish using a soy.  Use soy milk, soy beans, tofu, tempeh or any other soy preparation in your dish.  Since this is a combination IMBB?/SHF event, be creative!

Let's get the soy beans rolling!

P.S. I had no idea that Reid had started his blog to take part to IMBB3. Not my merit at all, rather of the now defunct (and much missed) blog Shiokadelicious, but I am nonetheless happy the little blog event idea behind IMBB pushed Reid to start his great blog.

What the heck is Konnyaku?

Japanese cuisine hardly ever appears on this blog, which does not mean I am not facinated by it. I don't know half as much about it as I would like, so I was intrigued when Jason of Pursuing my passions dropped me a line to tell me about tomorrow's Konnayaku-day blogging event.

If you, unlike me, know perfectly well what konnayaku is, then you might like to use this chance and join Jason with your favourite recipe.

For me and all those who are not afraid to declare their ignorance, it is a great chance to head back to Jason's blog and learn something new.

Itadakimasu!

Ape Wine

I doubt dear ol' Chaucer had this in mind when he wrote about wyn ape:

Zoo apes have taste for red wine� From Reuters.com

... I just wonder if the apes would have submitted an entry for our Fabulous Favourites Festival if they had a blog. Personally I don't think Hungarian reds pair that well with bananas, but maybe our simian friend would disagree.

Fabulous Favourites Festival (IMBB? 26 and WBW 21): Pizza and Wine?

For ages I had been reading and hearing about how it is impossible to find a real wine-food pairing that works with pizza. Not every expert agrees with that, some even coming up with extensive pizza-wine pairing lists,but could it really be true? Does my favourite food taste better without wine than with, an heresy for any food-loving Italian?  The joint WBW/IMBB Fabulous Favourites Festival was just screaming for me to pick up the chance and do some food-wine pairing experimenting.

Want to know what came out? Continue below!

Don't forget!

Tomorrow is the date to post your food and wine pairing adventures for the joint WBW/IMBB? Fabulous Favourites Festival . Once you do please send Lenn and me a note with the title of your post and the link to it at [email protected] .

Cant' wait!

Wine Tasting Notes: Sassoalloro 2000

Given the upcoming Fabulous Favourites Festival Lenn and me are hosting, I though I better exercise my somewhat rusty wine writing skills. No better occasion than that of opening a good bottle, in this case one of 2000 Sassoalloro from Jacopo Biondi Santi.

To anyone even remotely interested in Tuscan wine the name Biondi Santi evokes immediately Brunello di Montalcino. It was Ferruccio Biondi Santi, grandson of the founder of the original winery, who isolated and produced wines from a particular clone of Sangiovese grapes in 1880: the famous Brunello, also called Sangiovese Grosso. This clone is now used throughout the Montalcino area to produce the famous local red wine and the less expensive, simpler and younger Rosso di Montalcino. The Brunello di Montalcino wines produced by Biondi Santi in the estate called il Greppo have always been known for their impressive structure and rich tannins which give them an exceptional longevity. A couple of 1891 vintage Riserva bottles are still out there and the a few lucky people who have had a chance to taste this wine describe it not only as still drinkable but as fascinating and still vigourous. Biondi Santi's wine also stand out among its fellow Brunelli for its very conservative in style (long maceration times, big barrels, etc.) that can disappoint some, especially when the wines are still young and the tannins too exuberant. I have always had the curiosity to taste one of Biondi Santi's Riservas, but, given the price of the bottles and my limited knowledge of Montalcino wines, I always end up waiting a bit more, at least till I know Brunello better.