The Categories

Indulge

Text Guy Dimond,
Kamin Mohammadi

Maze CZECH REPUBLIC

7 V Celnici, Prague, tel. +420 221 822300, www.gordonramsay.com

The elegant Hilton is home to
the new Maze in Prague The expansion of the global Gordon Ramsay empire reached Prague last November with the conversion of the Hilton Prague Old Town’s dining room into a David Collins-designed Maze. Although prominently subtitled ‘by Gordon Ramsay’, Maze Prague has little to do with the man himself. The restaurant is none the worse for it, though. Chef Philip Carmichael is British, the dishes are truly international and produced to the highest standard, and the staff are exceptional.

Signature dishes include a frothy white onion velouté poured over cubes of braised rabbit leg, served with delicate onion-laced brioche; or roasted salmon with braised artichokes and pieces of chorizo topped with a dab of aioli and a decorative sheet of crisp salmon skin. Expect to pay about €80 per person without wine. GD

Trattoria Toscana ITALY

L’Andana, Tenuta La Badiola, Località Badiola, Castiglione della Pescaia, tel. +39 0564 944800, www.andana.it

Surrounded by the untamed Maremma countryside, just over an hour’s drive from Florence, L’Andana has long been Tuscany’s best-kept secret. But the recent opening of a world-class spa at this summer palace turned luxury hotel is sure to put paid to that. The restaurant is housed in an old stone barn where the rustic feel and relaxed atmosphere belie the excellence of the food – part of Alain Ducasse’s portfolio, it was awarded a Michelin star last year. Under the auspices of chef

Christophe Martin, the menu is based on local produce and features dishes like shoulder of rabbit (from the estate) with thyme and porcini, braciole of milk-fed regional veal and grilled fish from the Maremma coast just 8km away. The wine list also includes vintages made right on the estate.

Expect to pay about €110 for dinner for two with wine. KM

Don’t miss

udapest Wine Festival

10-14 September, aborfesztival.hu Hungarian cuisine is just starting to get the recognition it deserves, so it may come as a surprise that its biggest wine festival is into its 17th year. Here you can taste more than 1,000 wines, go on cellar tours and watch the Obuda Danubia Orchestra close the show. And if you don’t make it, all is not lost – you can still visit our pick of the best wine shops in Budapest:

Aureum Vinum (19 Belgrád Rakpart) Exclusively wines from the Tokaj region.

Bortár Borszaküzlet (34a Böszörményi ut) Excellent Tokaj as well as Italian wines and pálinka (apricot brandy).

In Vino Veritas (58 Dohány utca) Huge selection of reasonably priced local wines

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Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 12:00 amand is filed under incoming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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