food tours Archives - Distracted Birder

A Budapest Highlight: Faust Wine Cellar

distractedbirder — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 01:40:57 +0000

If you enjoy wine, this atmospheric local shop provides a curated tasting of five wines from local Hungarian vineyards. The Wine Cellar Over on the other side of the river, in Buda, sits the Buda Castle. And also…. a Hilton hotel. But it’s an old building, with old traditional cellars. And in this Hilton, you’ll find the Faust Wine Cellar. It’s not a Hilton venture. It is a local business, operated by a local man who has operated this shop for many years. Although I accessed the store after entering a Hilton, the entrance (an old stairwell) was really atmospheric and felt completely authentic. (And by that, I don’t mean “non-touristy” but rather that it was an existing structure that wasn’t created to give an artificial, created atmosphere.) There is technically an entrance/exit on the back side of the Hilton property – I don’t think this it would be as easy to find this entrance for a newcomer, but the view from this side of the building is impressive! The Experience Our tasting included five local wines, along with information about each. There were only four tables, and the setting was dark and candlelit, which might seem a little moody for midday but I think we’re just embracing the cellar vibe here. The host moved to each table providing information about each bottle, rather than speaking to the entire group at any time. He moved table to table, allowing each table to enjoy their wine and conversation between his visits. We also had the option to add some quality chocolates to the tasting, which I couldn’t turn down. There were suggestions for a chocolate to complement each wine. Or just be like me and eat chocolates almost indiscriminately. I promise I tried to stick with the pairings, but I think they were supposed to be for two people, so… I had plenty of chocolates to enjoy with my wines. TL; DR: Is It Worth It? This is a quick recommendation rather than a thorough review of the selected wines. Why? Because I am not terribly educated about wine, nor do I have a discriminating palate. Well, not entirely. I hate super oaky or very dry wines. Luckily, this only seems to affect my appreciation of California wines. Sorry, California. So these wines were really nice. Not a lot of oak, none too dry. I even chose to buy bottles, one red and one white, to bring back home as gifts. The shop is genuinely a cellar, down a stone staircase with stone walls. You sample the wines by candlelight. Budapest is full of these repurposed old spaces, like the famous ruin bars, and it provides a fun atmosphere for the experience. It was memorable and felt unique, but it was in no way pretentious. I’m a big fan of that. Speaking of “not pretentious”, the cost was 7,900 Hungarian florint when I went in 2022. That’s less than $25 USD (before adding my chocolates and eventual wine bottles). Also, the host was very nice and knowledgeable. And he seemed to really love the products and take pride in their quality. If I were in Budapest again and actually with someone who likes wine, I’d drag them here. It’s in a great area worth seeing and the venue and products are worth the time/cost. If you are the type of traveler who enjoys their wine or just trying local products, this is something you should try. At the price I paid, it was a steal and a worthwhile use of only a couple hours. Planning Tips Seatings are very limited. They only have 4 tables for tastings, each with room for up to four people. If you’re a smaller party, you still get the table for your party. I was a party of one, but I wasn’t seated with strangers unless I agreed to it*. It’s a good idea to book ahead, especially if your visit will be during high season. I booked about a week ahead, but one time (of only two seatings that day) was already booked. Typical tastings are either at 2p or 5p, but they can cater to your tastes. I arranged my reservation via email (faustwinecellar@gmail.com) and found it to be easy enough. They responded promptly to my requests. I did this wine tasting during my tour of Central Europe with Intrepid Travel, because there was lots of free time to arrange my own activities away from the tour group. *Someone showed up without a reservation and no tables were free. I was able to allow the person to join me, but there was no pressure from the owner to do so. (Having wine with someone did result in better conversation than I’d have had alone, anyway.)

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2021 Vaccinated Vacation Adventures

distractedbirder — Sun, 21 Nov 2021 20:33:41 +0000

It turns out that 2021 was, indeed, better than 2020 in many ways. Granted, the endless working from home and refrigerator access probably hasn’t helped the fit of my wardrobe. Bummer. But in terms of travel, the outlook has become markedly more positive. For those of us lucky to have it, access to the vaccine has definitely opened up more vacation options! The year started with the certainty of… well, uncertainty. But a willingness to be adaptable led to a couple opportunities I wouldn’t have predicted in January. — Sadly, I’ve written exactly zero blog posts in recent months, which means I’ve written nothing about the international trips I was lucky to experience in 2021. I definitely should write about them, and I sure hope to do that (and spend more time on this blog in general). But the highlights: The Galapagos In August, I joined a 7-night cruise with Quasar Expeditions on their Evolution yacht. I don’t mean to toot my own horn here, but this was an awesome decision. This company, their boat, and the destination are just flippin’ awesome. This was a live-aboard experience, which definitely is not as affordable as the land-based options in the Galapagos. But 2021 was a time for amazing deals for those willing to pounce on them, so I took the opportunity to fulfill one of my bucket list dreams. And pay less, while the discount was available. Birdy Note: This was a birding tour for me in that I focused on seeing new birds, but it was also a standard tour offered by a non-birding company. There are TONS of wildlife encounters on any Quasar offering, but the focus is not birding or maximizing species. This is not the way to see all/most of the endemic birds of these fascinating islands – unless you do the full 14-night option. (That didn’t really fit into my budget OR leave balance, though!) For birders, I’d suggest that you must either accept fewer birds or go with an actual birding company. Colombia Ok, this is vacation cheating. This was actually just a little extension of my Galapagos vacation, an extra two days to do a little bit of birding around the capital city. I think I ended up seeing a few dozen new birds (although one ebird list seems to have been overlooked, unfortunately). Colombia is one of the birdiest of bird destinations, so two days in the capital city isn’t remotely scratching the surface. I’ll be happy to get back here for better birding someday. But I did see a fantastic rail and two amazing hummingbird gardens, which was great fun. Hummingbirds are also a wonderful test of high-speed photography skills. I learned that I have none. Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks Amazing trails, fall colors, and multiple covid tests. Plus grizzly bears! This was my first time in Montana AND the country of Canada, which had only allowed Americans for about a month when we arrived. This international peace park is worth a spot on anyone’s destination list, but I am grateful that we specifically scheduled our family vacation for the shoulder season. Our adventure here taught us that we do, in fact, love Canada and will certainly be returning to Alberta someday soon. Barcelona Birthday Hey there, Spain! It’s been a minute (or two decades). I only visited Madrid and Toledo during my first (high school) trip to Spain, and I remember little of that pre-planned big bus tour. I’d wanted to visit this particular destination city for a couple years. When notified of some heavily discounted fares to Barcelona, which generally experiences tolerable temperatures in November, I decided it must be a sign. I needed to celebrate my birthday in Barcelona! This was four days packed with Gaudí, food tours, and walking too dang much. I did kinda exhaust myself. But… I visited Girona, explored the Gothic Quarter, and ate the best croquettes Barcelona has to offer. Yum. More to Come… I’m excited to get back to my photographs and writing here, and I hope to publish more in the coming weeks. Every trip deserves some attention, and I do love how writing about adventures allows more time for reflection and enjoying the memories. Honestly, I wish it didn’t take me so very long to curate photographs. I am tortoise-like in many ways, including my neck-breaking speed. But I’ll plod along. Glad to have you along on the (very slow) journey!

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Say Fromage: Celebrate the Best of French Cheese

distractedbirder — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 20:05:41 +0000

In Paris, there are a variety of companies vying for your attention in what seems to be a competitive food tour market. There’s a bit of a difference between providers – some are more limited in neighborhoods, some are a bit more expensive than others. All claim to offer samples of the best French treats Paris has to offer. But it seems only Paris By Mouth offers a workshop focused exclusively on the marvel that is French cheese. Oui, les fromages! The Background Research I’ve done walking tours in Rome, Amsterdam, and London. These were all worthwhile and involved many (6+) food and drink samples. They give a broad overview of the best/most notable foods of the area while also replacing a meal during the 3+ hours of the tour. My favorite company so far – Eating Europe – does offer a food tour in Paris. However, they were fairly new to the city and only offered one tour option, in the 10th arrondissement. Many companies actually provide tours in many Paris neighborhoods. Really, a tourist could be spoiled for choice and/or confused about the best option. And some companies were a bit more affordable than others, which certainly can influence a decision for a splurge activity. But as I did research about my food tour options, it became apparent that Paris By Mouth is something of an establishment in all things foodie. And although they do offer the standard walking food tour, they also offered an a small group French cheese workshop. We were trying to be budget-conscious during our trip, otherwise I would have splurged on both a food tour and the workshop. Since that wasn’t quite in the cards this time, I made a decision. Since I am a sucker for the more unusual experience, the French cheese workshop won the day. Space and Time On the day of our workshop, we met in a small space on the second floor of a little wine shop in Saint-Germain des Prés. The details of the location come with your workshop confirmation email. It’s handy to keep the email accessible. But if you’re not familiar with the area, I highly recommend downloading local Paris data on Google Maps before your trip. Then you can save the location of the workshop (and any other spots you want to visit) on your map. Even if you don’t have data or wifi, you’ll still be able to pull up your location in Paris. Then you just navigate by following the blue dot. The workshop is early afternoon on Saturdays, giving plenty of time to fit in some sightseeing, shopping, or horribly humiliating mishaps before getting cheesy with it. Note: Before walking into the workshop, I had just done a face-plant in a Parisian street, scraping my knee and ruining my pants. It was nice to be met by our workshop instructor, Jennifer, with a small glass of wine after the minor physical trauma and, more importantly, the intense embarrassment. Has anyone else done this in a major metropolitan area? I literally did a tuck/roll tumble in an intersection, in front of stopped traffic. I am the definition of grace. How the Workshop Works Back to the cheese: the formula for the workshop is pretty simple. A small group, no more than 8 participants, sits around a single table. The workshop leader guides everyone through tasting different categories of cheeses, usually providing more than one variety of each type. The table was set with many fruits to complement the cheeses. Each guest begins the workshop with a baguette. This can be replenished as needed. I know this because I’m a glutton. During the workshop, participants learn about the different categories of French cheese, the rigorous requirements to achieve certain national standards, and some of the factors leading to production of new cheese varieties. One important aspect discussed is the standards of French wines and cheese is appellation d’origine contrôlée, or the controlled designation of origin. Some products require production in a specific geographic region. Champagne may be the most well-known example of this, but more than 40 cheeses are also identified as AOC in France. Labels on French products reflect this designation. It can help to maintain traditions (or even limit/punish creativity, as in one example presented to us during the workshop). An interesting aspect of the workshop is that there is no set menu or specific guaranteed company/product sampled at each event. The instructor chooses the workshop provisions based on what she finds at the fromagerie that morning – the best items available that day will be offered at the workshop. Then she chooses the wine selections to best pair with the cheeses. The offerings might greatly change based on season, as sometimes certain cheeses are simply not as good or are unavailable. The Goods Our selections were based upon trying local, fresh varieties from most of these cheese “families”: Fresh cheese (like ricotta) Brined cheeses (like feta) Goat cheese (edible proof there is a god? I dunno, I might be biased) Bloomy rind cheese (actual name, did not make it up – brie fits here) Pressed uncooked cheese (like Hercule, mentioned below) Pressed cooked cheese (like Comte, France’s best-selling cheese) Washed rind cheese (like Limburger) Blue or veined cheese (like Roquefort… or Rogue River Blue, yum) We actually skipped fresh cheese and brined cheeses, making the goat cheese our first samples. Although goat cheese can be available throughout the year, many varieties are seasonal. I’m happy to say that this workshop did occur in goat cheese season. Yes, there is apparently such a thing as goat cheese season! Goat cheese is my favorite, but these cheeses delightfully diverged from the standard chevre here in the United States. These were unpasteurized, locally produced cheeses. We tried three varieties, each very different – one more of a traditional flavor but subtle with a very dense texture, another with the consistency of whipped clouds of joy. Uh, I really liked the goat cheese. Beyond the goat cheeses, we tried one or two of each of the other cheese families. Between certain varieties of cheese, the workshop instructor also changed the wine pairing. Each cheese and wine were well-described. Our instructor explained each product’s production and development as we enjoyed samples. She welcomed questions and invited discussion throughout the workshop. Jennifer is knowledgeable, experienced, and personable. She kept our group remained engaged throughout the experience. In total, we tried 11 types of French cheese and 5 wines. The strict requirements to meet certain agricultural distinctions in France was interesting to learn about and provides a deeper appreciation for the dedication to craft and the efforts to protect traditions. Some of the products we tried are crafted by literally one single farm in the whole of France. Others, like Comte, various suppliers produce, in large quantities. There is, however, an elaborate grading process for Comte (the best gets a green band). French Cheese Recommendations: French cheese to pick up at a neighborhood fromagerie and add to your picnic in France: Le Saint-Domnin de Provence – A goat cheese made by one small farm in Provence. It’s decorated with sprigs of lavender, and the whipped fluffy texture is unforgettable. If you see it, try it! Brie de Melun AOC – There are a few types of brie in France, and apparently the flavor can vary wildly by the season. We were able to taste this with a direct comparison to an industrial version commonly available here at home. I could still enjoy the U.S. product, of course, but there was a distinctly preferable texture and flavor in the Brie de Melun, both in the creamy interior and the rind. Ossau-Iraty AOC – This sheep’s milk cheese is nutty and salty, and it was popular at the workshop. I’m primarily suggesting this for its availability! Trader Joe’s sells a variety of this one, so many in the U.S. could try it. Hércule – This artisan cheese is made in the Aquitaine region of France and combines the milk of sheep and goats. It is an uncooked, pressed cheese – buttery and nutty. Honestly, name a cheese after my favorite Belgian detective and you have a guaranteed fangirl. Oh, this one is also made by only one person, Dominique Bouchait, who literally has written the book on French cheese! In addition to these suggestions, I’ll add this article because I want to try all these, too! (And it’s written by the Paris By Mouth instructor.) Favorite Wine Pairs Of the five wines we tried, all were tasty and easy to drink. These were the most memorable because one was a surprise and the other is just my favorite: Champagne AOC (Bruno Roulot, “Brut Tradition”) – I was shocked to like this! I assumed anything “brut” would be too dry for my tastes, but actually “brut” is the least dry category for champagne. This wasn’t terribly sweet, but was just enjoyable and refreshing. Saint-Véran (Domaine du Château Pierreclos) – This is a white Burgundy (which I’d never heard of). It’s smooth, and it’s just pleasant and balanced, not too sweet, not dry. I do wish I were better at describing wines. This one is probably my favorite white wine ever. I purchased two bottles and now wish I had more. It is impossible to find in the U.S. without paying a pretty penny for a case. Just another reason to return to France, I guess? Accentuate the Positives A few more benefits of this workshop: The wines were procured at the wine shop directly below us, so buying souvenirs of preferred wines was easy. The instructor found the cheeses at a shop across the street. So you could easily hop over and buy more of your favorites! After the workshop, the instructor provided a helpful email detailing every cheese, with notes about each variety. The email also included the wine pairings, helpful recommendations for shops and restaurants in Paris, and even suggestions for further cheesy explorations through books and movies. Since I left my notes on the table at the workshop (in a rush to buy bottled souvenirs), I couldn’t provide any recommendations now without that helpful email. I forget something everywhere I go, so this is not shocking. Important Note: Unpasteurized, less-aged cheeses would not be allowed through US customs; sadly, this applies to all the goat cheeses. The most positive outlook for this depressing news is that it provides an excellent excuse to eat as much French cheese as possible when in Europe! Want Cheese on your Plate? If you are considering this dive into all things fromage, note these details to help ensure you get a seat: This workshop is available on a limited basis, currently only on Saturdays. No more than 8 participants participate in the small setting. Generally it should be booked well in advance, to ensure there is space available! Time of year might matter. Some AOC cheeses have specified months of production! The best cheeses of March might be different than mine in October, so you might experience totally different varieties. If not interested in a French Cheese Tasting Workshop, you’ll find many companies offer walking food tours in Paris. Paris By Mouth, Secret Food Tours, and Urban Adventures all have options, to name a few. Honestly, I doubt you will be going wrong, no matter which company you choose. You will still visit quality purveyors in a local setting, eat tasty foods, and learn more of the neighborhood than you would independently. Based on other locations, I can certainly recommend Eating Europe’s general quality of guides, as well as the quality and quantity of provisions. However, based on this workshop, I would not hesitate to sign up for a walking food tour from Paris By Mouth! The instructor, the content, and the provisions were all excellent. Lagniappe If you do sign up for this workshop, or just find yourself in Saint-Germain des Prés, stop by Deyrolle for a unique shopping experience. They...

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