a new home city and lunch pics @ Seoul, downtown Frankfurt am Main

Last year I moved from Berlin Prenzlauer Berg to Frankfurt Nordend. Ten years after I arrived at my first Berlin home, by myself and with a car full of luggages, I bought me a train ticket and left a cozy life behind with just two suitcases for the beginning. During my twenties Berlin certainly was the best place to be. However, in the last years there was much of general hype going on about that city that had become a little tiresome. Instead of sharing the exciting things that were going on, you felt you wanted to keep the treasure spots for yourself. Frankly speaking there would be no such things as secret / private / silent spots in my old neighbourhood. 

It turned out true that the two cities and their people a quite are different. 
Instead of the funky cafes with fleamarket furnitures you find yourself more likely in swanky hotel bars. When you listen to the conversations at any common space, say Starbucks, you will hear less about art / film / fashion or foodies' projects and more about promising deals and stock indexes. What the cities have in common is the cosmopolitan and international flair with a slight lead of Frankfurt (or FFM).

What I love most about FFM
- the number of Korean restaurants (corresponding to the biggest Korean expats' community in Europe)
- the river Main (a walk or jogging along the waterside has become a nice new weekend ritual)
- the food markets and sensational bakeries (a walk to Kleinmarkthalle or to the local bakeries has become the other weekend ritual that I wouldn't want to miss anymore)
- the beautiful neighbourhoods and parks
- the small distances and the walk to work (a lot of people do)
- the international business atmosphere. As sure as there is always "some exciting art thing" going on in Berlin, there is some exciting business event going on here ;)

What I miss most about Berlin
- the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra - the best symphony orchestra with the best concert hall on this planet imo
- that there is always some exciting art thing going on, see above
- the countless innovative shops
- friends and family.

Therefore FFM is my new big love but I will always miss B, too.

 Below are some snow pics from the city (during these endless grey winter days) and a pic from a recent lunch at Seoul - a solid charming restaurant in dowtown FFM that is a favorite of mine since 2009.

 

Winter Salad - 2013/I

I adore crunchy salads. 
Even more so in the winter. 
Each salad should be unique, gaudy and treated with the best, most luxurious dressing. 
The best dressing consists of the best olive oil and vinegar that you get hands on. 
It is simple as that.

Today's improvised salad consisted of chicory leaves, Romaine lettuce, orange filets, shaved fresh beetroots, pears, red onions, leeks, parsley and feta crumbles and the best mustard dressing.

There are more refined versions to come. So stay tuned!

  



   

Hello again and Maltese Sunshine

And here I am again. Sometimes in life, months pass by like weeks and weeks feel like hours and in retrospect, you wonder what the heck you have been keeping so busy with. 
Still, during the past months I kept reading a handful of my favorite blogs every now and then: my constant role models Bridget and Cate, my most loyal and cheerful blog-friend Sybille, the incredibly genius and esthete-maniac Miss Boulette and the sensationally dazzling Scarlett. They never fail to inspire with what to do to make a grey winter day prettier. Thank you guys.

I will try to catch up soon with blogging my own city and culinary finds.
  
Today I drop a few lines about my January's trip to Malta. In general, I have very mixed feelings about flying but this time, it just felt like a magical escape.

On the island we marvelled at the unknown city scape and the blue sea, took some boat and bus tours and enjoyed the first outdoor lunch this year (which reminded me well of this brunch two years ago).


The streets were silent with very few people on the run. Even on a weekday afternoon almost all shops in Valetta were closed. I still don't have a clue about the elegant Maltese people and how their life could be.

Judging from the tons of wonderful mediterranean eateries and tiny bakeries it shouldn't be too bad. 

Wigi's kitchen in St. Julians was an unforgetable treat. The picture doesn't do any justice to its sensational setting, the devoted hosts, the intimate atmosphere and the most perfectly marinated seafood. 

 

 
  

    





 

the calm before and after the storm

London before and after the olympic opening ceremony felt like London during Christmas - the airport and the streets were quiet. The Hyde Park at noon was peaceful and the Tube was exceptionally empty. Every now and then you would spot a crowd of olympic games visitors, a uniformed London 2012 volunteer, some related street artists or buses of athletes. 
Much more often, you could embrace the city almost by yourself!

Ps: Christoph Niemann at Abstract Sunday Blog is covering the olympic games.

a food club for esthetes - Madklubben Vesterbro, Copenhagen

Madklubben Vesterbro is an affordable restaurant among a series of innovative eateries in Kopenhagen (Madklubben means "eating club"). It is one of those flawless eateries where you feel that the people running the business as well as the serving staff love what they do.

Seasonal menus (including Danish dark bread to die for) is served in a cool Skandivanian interior, warm lights and with on gorgeous table setting. Every detail is so pretty that you can hardly take your eyes off. 

Madklubben Vesterbro, Vesterbrogade 62, Copenhagen.

Opens every day 5:30 pm - 0:00 am.

Price for a 3 courses vegetarian menu: 150 DKK.

Make a reservation in order to sit at the table. No reservation needed to be served at the bar.

If you have Danish speaking company, let him / her translate the restaurants manifest. Just for fun ;)

sunset bbq

A fast and simple bbq at the coast in Copenhagen during the endless summer sunset was the best invite that our hosts could make for us visitors. Now I have at least the faintest idea of what this "nordic light" is all about ;)

summer fruit salad

Cherries, strawberries, blackberries, blue berries, peaches, cantaloupe melon & a ripe mango macerated in lime juice, flavored with crushed mint leaves and lime zest. That made up the prettiest, most luscious dish during the heat of July. As much as I hate hot weather, I adore summer food. I am a July kid.

The dish is inspired from here.