The Greens, at the Copake Country Club, is one of our favorite restaurants in Columbia County. This is by no means “country club food”, but a serious restaurant with a serious chef using the best local ingredients, much of it organic. The atmosphere is sophisticated rustic, with beautiful views over the golf course to Copake Lake and the mountains beyond. A central glass-fronted fireplace provides warmth and a nice focal point to the room. Service here is polished and attentive.

We began our dinner last night with a special of French onion soup for Stanley and the shrimp and scallion tempura with Asian slaw and a soy reduction for me. The soup was as good as the best bistro would make it, while my tempura was an outstanding example, with 2 massive shrimp and 2 large scallions lightly battered and fried perfectly. For mains, he had the pork chop in a fig and port wine sauce, with mashed potatoes, red cabbage and brussels sprouts, while I had the roasted organic chicken with cumin and chili, served with chorizo, roasted peppers and spinach (and normally black beans, but I substituted coconut jasmine rice).  It was a huge portion of chicken, well-spiced and with a crisp skin. We chose a bottle of Malbec from the reasonable wine list. They also have a very good selection of beers on draught.

They have good desserts here, but we just didn’t have enough room.

Lunch is also very nice here, with simpler dishes but the same high-quality preparation and ingredients.

11/14

We awoke to a steady rain in Benalmadena, so we did not rush to depart, and lingered with Cathy over a breakfast of toast and coffee.  We arrived in Granada after a rainy drive from Benalmadena.  Our first thought had been to go directly to the hotel, drop our bags, and then find the train station to return the car. Our meanderings, however, led almost directly to the train station, so the plans were changed and we dropped the car and took a taxi to the hotel, letting the taxi driver find our way.  A much better plan.  We checked into the Hotel Plaza Nueva, and went across the street for a tapas lunch standing at the bar at Los Diamantes, which is known for seafood, mostly fried. With each round of wine we were given a free tapa, first shrimp and then mushrooms.  We also ordered 2 half-raciones, razor clams and chicken nuggets.  It’s good food, the place is very crowded, and service is fast.  I would not choose it for dinner, but for lunch it works out nicely.

Hotel website: http://www.hotel-plazanueva.com/

Los Diamantes website: http://www.barlosdiamantes.com/

We then took a walk along the river and up the steep hills of the Albaicin, the old Arab quarter, to take in the view of the Alhambra from the mirador of San Nicolas and to scout out a possible restaurant for tomorrow evening.  There is a bus that covers the same territory, and unless you are in training for Olympic mountain climbing, I would suggest the bus.  Gravity took us back down to the Plaza Nueva, where we took a break at the hotel before another stroll to check out some other dining options.

View of the Alhambra from Albaicin

Dinner was at Damasqueros, on the street of the same name, and not to be confused with the bar of the same name at the other end of the street. The food here was a modern take on traditional dishes, and only a tasting menu is served, for 39 euros.The dishes are too intricate to describe, but ingredients included anchovies, chicken, cod, pork cheeks, and a clafouti-like dessert with quince, vanilla ice cream, and quince cream. With a bottle of a red from the Granada region, the bill was just over 100 euros. We enjoyed it very much.  The rain had returned for our stroll back to the hotel, but it did not intimidate the late revelers who crowded under awnings and doorways.

Website: http://damasqueros.com/

11/15

Saturday began with a trip to the Alhambra. We had already been there in 2010, but unwisely had not invested in the audio guide, and suffered for it, as there are no signs with explanations anywhere. This time we used the audio guides to get a better understanding of the history and use of what we were seeing. It was a beautiful, sunny, cool day, which made it an even greater pleasure to walk about, and the gardens were still full of color.  It was, however, a Saturday, which drew out the local crowds on top of the usual obnoxious foreign tourists, all posing for animal crackers and taking “selfies”.

View of Albaicin from the Alhambra

After a brief stop at the hotel, we found our way to La Criolla Gastrobar for a tapas lunch.  This was another highly recommended venue on Tripadvisor, and it was both superb and dirt cheap.  We ordered a bottle of Rey Sagal 2011, a local red, for 15 euros. With that we received 6 tapas, served in 3 double portions. First was a house-made ravioli, second a fried fish with aioli and sauteed cabbage, and last a perfect paella. We could have stopped with that but wanted to try a couple more items, so we ordered a half racion of seared tuna, and then a tiramisu for dessert. The total bill was 28,50 euros.

After lunch, we strolled around the area and then over to the cathedral, which we did not go into as we had done that four years ago and did not feel a necessity to repeat.

We continued exploring the pedestrian area around the cathedral and the various plazas, which were filled with locals and tourists, and made a quick detour through the mercado, which was starting to close up, but was still teeming with families and lots of little children. Then it was back to the hotel to relax before dinner.

For dinner, we decided on Puerta del Carmen, another Tripadvisor favorite which also happened to be just a couple of blocks from the hotel.

The restaurant was busy and lively, with a charming atmosphere,  the food, though fairly traditional, was delicious, and the menu quite varied.  We had burrata with sardines and tomato salsa, grilled octopus, baby lamb chops and presa Iberica, all prepared with skill and care. For dessert we had a “special cake” that I can only describe as a Spanish version of Martha Washington cake.  With a bottle of Fontenei tinto 2010 and water, the total was 113 euros.

Website:  http://www.puertadelcarmenrestaurante.com/

11/13

Leaving Cadiz this morning, we drove to Benalmadena Costa, a 2 1/2 hour trip, where we visited our good friend Cathy, in her beautiful home on a hillside overlooking the sea, a short distance down the coast from Malaga, The trip down was along a road that eventually ran along the coast to Tarifa, and we were enveloped in fog which made the massive windmills in the huge wind farms look like something from a fantasy film.  We passed Gibraltar, which seemed less awesome when glimpsed from the perspective of the commercial strip malls of Algeciras.  Benalmadena occupies a small enclave of tastefulness in a sea of over-developed awfulness, and the view of the Mediterranean from Cathy’s house never fails to inspire. After we settled in, we took a ride into Malaga, and visited the cathedral before lunch.

After the cathedral, we looked for the tapas bar we had been to when we were in Malaga in 2010, which was then called La Moraga, and which had subsequently been Manzanilla, which Cathy thought it still was. As it turned out it had changed again and was now KGB.  It looked interesting though, so we gave it a try, and it turned out to be excellent. We had langoustine tempura with salad, a tripe stew Thai style, and another stew with artichokes, egg, and foie gras, Flamenquins, and a hamburger with gorgonzola. With a bottle of a local red, the total was 53 euros.

We then toured the Picasso museum, and strolled along the port, which has been spiffed up with new buildings, restaurants and bars.

Back in Benalmadena Costa, we relaxed for a while at Cathy’s, then the three of us headed into Benalmadena Pueblo (village), which is very charming, with whitewashed buildings and lots of greenery.

We had dinner at Sollo, a favorite of Cathy’s, which serves only a tasting menu, consisting of countless courses, all based on sturgeon and all incredibly imaginative and delightful.  The chef, Diego Gallegos, is well-grounded and knows how to find his way in the often tumultuous world of the restaurant business.  Make a note of his name.

Website: http://www.sollo.es/menu-temporada/matanza/

The food was very innovative, delicious, and plentiful. We had a nice bottle of red from the Malaga region, and the total was 185 euros, unbelievable for food of this quality.  Back to Cathy’s, a few glasses of sherry, and bedtime. Tomorrow, Granada.

11/11

This morning we got an early start for the 5 hour trip from Salamanca to Cadiz, which went rather quickly despite some rain along the way.  The scenery in the Extremadura was quite pretty, very green with lots of mountains, but then we were traveling along the far western edge of Extremadura.  After successfully navigating us into the old city of Cadiz, I found myself facing a one-way street and tried to turn around to try another approach.  I quickly found the local constabulary in hot pursuit, evidently because I had inadvertently made an illegal left turn.  With Michelin in hand, I explained to the officer that I was trying to find our hotel.  To my relief, he graciously undertook to lead us to the hotel with a police escort.  Unfortunately, they left us in a pedestrian zone and there was no place to stop and unload our luggage. I finally found a place to pull over and walked a few blocks to the hotel, where I found out the parking I had reserved was just around the corner, and we had actually passed it but were unaware that it was the hotel’s parking as it was not marked as such. So after a roundabout drive through many one-way streets, we finally parked and walked to the hotel, Las Cortes de Cadiz. This is a very gracious place where the rooms have names rather than numbers.  This comes with a price, as it is by far the most expensive hotel we are staying in on this trip, at 70 euros a day.  Cadiz is expensive (the parking is 20 euros a day!).

Website: http://www.hotellascortes.com/en/

Calle San Francisco with hotel Las Cortes de Cadiz on left

We settled in to our room and, after changing clothes for the warmer weather, we set out to have lunch at Balandro, a lively and popular restaurant and tapas bar facing the sea, which was highly recommended on Tripadvisor.  We opted to have  tapas at the large horseshoe bar, and had tripe stew with cumin and chickpeas, fried anchovies with fried piquillo peppers, fried mixed seafood with the same peppers, and braised pork cheeks with gnocchi in a delicious sauce.  With bread and a bottle of Rosado wine from the region, this great meal came to less than 40 euros.

Website: http://www.restaurantebalandro.com/index2.asp

After lunch, we did our usual stroll around the town, exploring the plazas, historic district and cathedral.

The Cathedral of Cadiz was started in the 1760s to replace an older one, which remains.  Unfortunately, Cadiz’s fortunes went into decline with the loss of the Spanish overseas possessions in the Americas and the unpleasantness of the Napoleonic wars.  Trafalgar is just to the south.  It was finished in the late 19th Century and lacks the lavish ornamentation encountered in so many Spanish cathedrals from earlier eras.  It is also currently hung with netting to catch the disintegrating stone and plaster work from its vaults.  The shallow dome in the crypt, pictured above, has a wonderful echo effect on one’s footsteps.  There were many small plazas with gardens and palm trees, and the city workers were already busy hanging the Christmas decorations along the main shopping streets. We priced the sherry in the local supermarket in anticipation of our trip to Jerez tomorrow.

Dinner was at El Faro, a long-established traditional restaurant. Unfortunately, it was not the best example of its type.  None of the food was bad, but nothing was exciting either. The seafood soup was excellent, but the albondigas of seafood were not albondigas (meatballs) but actually croquetas, potato with a hint of seafood in it. The very good sauce with tiny clams redeemed it somewhat, but it was not what I was expecting.  The presa Iberica was good but a bit overcooked, as was the duck breast. A pavlova with berries was a decent dessert. Bread was the typical Spanish kind, i.e. awful.  The better places we have dined at had good artisanal breads. We had a good bottle of a local wine that was a blend of many grapes and was quite good, for under 20 euros. With water the bill came to just under 100 euros, not bad for the price but I really would not recommend this place.

Website: http://www.elfarodecadiz.com/

11/12

Off to Jerez de la Frontera for a tour of the Lustau winery, with a sherry tasting.

We had some time before the winery tour, so paid a visit to the cathedral.

Jerez Cathedral interior

We are big fans of sherry, so this was fascinating for us, and Lustau is one of the top producers.  The tour was very thorough and interesting, with a wonderful guide explaining how each type of sherry is made. We then tasted six sherries, several Finos, an Amontillado, a cream and two Pedro Ximenes, and also a Moscatel.  We bought two bottles of Pedro Ximenes at a great discount.

Website: http://www.lustau.es/en/

After the winery, we headed to lunch at Reinodeleon, a gastronomic tapas bar and restaurant.  We had some wonderful tapas, which included a potato salad with thin sliced octopus, millefeuille of foie gras with Pedro Ximenes gelee and 2 fruit sauces, bruschetta with chicken, cheese, bacon and barbeque sauce, and oxtail stew in a pastry shell. We drank a local wine, Roble 2011, a blend of Tempranillo, Syrah and Merlot. It was excellent and cost less than 10 euros. A superb lunch for 40 euros including coffee.

Website: http://reinodeleongastrobar.com/

Before heading back to Cadiz, we strolled around some more and toured the Church of San Miguel.

Back in Cadiz, we had dinner at Sopranis, which is highly recommended by both Michelin and Tripadvisor.  It did not disappoint.  The food was superb and a tremendous bargain. We each had two appetizers, crab ravioli wrapped in lettuce, in a soy-based broth, duck ravioli, raw langoustines, and an egg with mushrooms and black truffles.  Main courses were pigeon and beef tenderloin. For dessert we shared a cheesecake.  With water and a bottle of a local red, the bill was 100 euros. A great dinner and a great bargain.

11/10

This morning we left Santiago and drove four hours to Salamanca.  Easily finding our hotel on a splendid plaza in the center of town, with a parking garage just across the street, we settled into our room on the top floor with a panoramic view of the city.

View from Hotel Condal

View from Hotel Condal at night

After that, we set off in search of tapas, first trying for Factory Gourmet, which I had read about on Tripadvisor, but unfortunately it was closed on Mondays.  Luckily, Michelin lists Tapas 2.0 as an excellent place for modern and traditional tapas, and it was just around the corner from Factory Gourmet.  We had 5 tapas, all delicious, particularly the pork “sashimi”, lightly seared pork with a soy-based sauce, and tempura of langoustines and asparagus. For dessert we had “cheesecake” with strawberries, which was not your usual cheesecake, but a liquid cheese over a bed of cake crumbs, topped with chopped strawberries.  Very good.  With a bottle of Ribeiro del Duero, this substantial meal came to 40 euros.

After lunch, we toured the town, including the Plaza Mayor, the Cathedrals (old and new, one adjoining the other) and the university.  Salamanca is a very handsome town with well-dressed stone buildings featuring distinctive wrought ironwork railings.  The university “es las muchas antigua d’Espana” but insures a youthful presence.  The wind began to pick up and it grew colder as we strolled, and a misty rain urged us back to the hotel.

The “new” cathedral

New cathedral – High Altar

Old cathedral – High Altar

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

Dinner was at El Alquimista, a modern restaurant a few blocks from the hotel, recommended in both Michelin and Tripadvisor.  This turned out to be spectacular.  The amuse-bouche of cauliflower creme was good but needed a kick, being a bit bland, but it was all uphill from there.  Tripe stew with chorizo and ham, seared tuna with pesto, beef filet with a press of potatoes, and roast suckling lamb with potato gnocchi, a deconstructed apple tart, and coffee mousse with rum and chocolate crumble were all stunning. The total came to 78 euros including water and a nice 15 euro bottle of 2009 Bierzo from Pitaccum.

11/8

A rare sunny day in a wet town.

Shrine of Saint James the Great

After a 3 hour drive through heavy rain and some misty mountain scenery, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela, the famous pilgrimage city in Galicia.  We found the Hotel Avenida easily, and managed to get a parking space on the street that is free until Monday morning.  A local parking attendant came to our aid in deciphering the parking ticket machine.  Professing to speak only “un poco inglese,” he then proceeded to explain everything with a very clear and striking British accent, attributable to the British language instructors at the local university.  Our room is large and plainly decorated in traditional style with tall French windows opening onto a tiny balcony overlooking the busy street, but absolutely soundproof. The location is perfect, just at the edge of the old town.  The first thing we did was to visit the cathedral, which is having some restoration done on the front towers which were covered by scaffolding, but whose interiors are in great shape.  We visited the shrine of St. James with its silver casket and marveled at the massive thurible (censer) hanging in the Crossing. Then we walked a short distance away from the tourist center to the tapas bar Casa Marcelo.  This used to be a Michelin-starred restaurant, but I’m assuming the economy made it more advantageous to convert it to a tapas bar (didn’t confirm the reason). The food, a combination of Spanish and Japanese, was delicious.  We had croquetas of mozzarella and bacalao, spicy tuna tartare over rice, carnitas, and veal shu mai.  For dessert we had a berry mixture with clotted cream. With a bottle of Ribeira Sacra, the bill came to 61 euros, higher than most tapas bars, but the food was superior and we were quite satisfied.  After lunch we strolled about the old town in intermittent showers.

Dinner was at Acio, a lovely place on the ring road not far from the Cathedral, but out of the tourist zone, and appears to be frequented by locals. The menu is more interesting than the typical traditional ones.  The amuse-bouche of mushroom creme was heavenly.  Then we started with Galician beef tartare, prepared tableside, and squid with cabbage and sweetbreads and a squid ink sauce.  These were just astounding, but the piece de resistance was the grouse. This is something one rarely sees on menus anywhere, and the chef knows how to do it perfectly.  It was suitably gamey and served with an intense sauce, and with roasted chestnuts, chestnut puree and quince.  For dessert we had the specialty, pumpkin souffle topped with vanilla ice cream. A wonderful, intense Ribeira del Duero 2012 was the perfect accompaniment.  The blll for all this?  113 euros. Also, I should mention that the service was exceptional.  A wonderful and memorable experience.

Website: http://www.acio.es/

11/9

This morning we visited the Pilgrims’ Museum, then took advantage of a spell of sunshine by strolling around the old town and through the Alameda, a beautiful lush park with grand views across the city.  Then back to the hotel so I could continue this post.

For lunch we tried Caney, a tapas bar that is one of the few places open on Sunday.  It looked promising as it was recommended in Michelin and Tripadvisor, but alas it was totally forgettable.

After lunch we headed to the Monasterio de San Martin Pinario. Below are some photos.

Monasterio de San Martin Pinario

The church is open to the public (2.5  euros per person), but the adjoining seminary is not accessible.  Although the architecture is more rustic than the Cathedral at Burgos, the altarpieces and decorative work are strictly over-the-top Spanish Catholic baroque, with all the prizes from the Cracker Jack box thrown in, and gilded to boot.

Dinner tonight was at Dos Reis in the Parador.  While not exceptional, the food was very good, and the setting in this historic building is very nice.  We had Jamon Iberico with pan con tomate, octopus pressed and sliced very thin, served with a fish pate and herring caviar, hake in green sauce with small clams, and turbot with asparagus and tomato. The fish dishes were perfectly cooked, i.e. not overcooked. For dessert we shared the Saint James cake (almond cake) that comes with a glass of sweet wine.  With a bottle of 2011 Ribeira del Duero and water, the bill was 135 euros, pretty good for this caliber of restaurant.

Website: http://www.parador.es/en/paradores/parador-de-santiago-de-compostela/gastronomy

Tomorrow we are off to Salamanca.

11/6

After a surprisingly pleasant flight, which arrived 45 minutes early, we picked up our rental car and set off for Leon. Google said 3 hours 25 minutes, but we made it in just under 3 hours, thanks to moi. Leon is a lovely small city, with a charming old center. Our hotel, the Posada Regia, is right in the heart of it, and has the old world charm combined with modern conveniences, that make it a 3-star. It is an incredible deal at 50 euros a night.

The hotel also houses a restaurant, Botega Regia, where we immediately settled down for a wonderful traditional lunch. Obviously popular with local businesspeople, it was busy this afternoon, though not filled to capacity. We had garlic soup and smoked tongue to start, then tripe stew and stewed pigeons (2) for mains. Both came with delicious fried potato cubes (even I, not normally a fan of potatoes, was impressed). A nice bottle of 2013 Bierzo red, the wine of this region, was only 13 euros. Total bill was 73 euros. Charming atmosphere and attentive service made this a great meal.

Website: http://www.regialeon.com/

After lunch we took a stroll around the old town, stopping at the magnificent cathedral, the much simpler basilica, and the various plazas. We wanted to get some Pedro Ximenez sherry, the very sweet cream sherry we love so much, and our hotel directed us to Casares, a small wine store that has a very nice selection. We picked up a bottle of 2008 from Albala, which we are drinking as I write this. At 14 euros, it is a great buy for vintage sherry. We also bought a bottle of Don Zoilo non-vintage for 9 euros, which we will try tomorrow.

Dinner was at Cocinandos, a Michelin starred restaurant on the edge of the city center. This was absolutely incredible. Ten tables, simple but elegant, the chef/owner and a couple of cooks, one server, and obviously a lot of passion for food and wine. The only choice is a tasting menu consisting of 6 courses, for 40 euros, and we chose to have the wine pairings, which were a mere 16 euros apiece. The cooking is innovative and beautifully plated. The wines were all from the region (Bierzo), and included a white, a rose, and a red, perfectly matched to the food, and a muscatel dessert wine. This was a truly memorable meal. It is incredible that all of this cost only 113 euros.

Website: http://www.cocinandos.com/

Below is the menu, and next to it the English translation, which comes from Google translate, and is rather comical.

11/7

On Friday, we took a day trip to Burgos.  We toured the old city and the magnificent cathedral, which was probably the grandest we have ever seen.  It’s not the biggest by any means, but the stone carving, plaster work, painting and gilding, and the stained glass are all over-the-top.

As we strolled around the town with our trusty Guide Michelin, we checked out various restaurants, and settled on Casa Ojeda, which has a bar and delicatessen on the ground floor and a formal restaurant one flight up.  The decor is charming and traditional, as is the food. We both started with the pickled partridge salad, a regional specialty seen on many menus.  Their version was top-notch.  I then had the roast suckling lamb and Stanley the confitado of suckling lamb cutlets.  Both were superb, as were the scalloped potatoes served alongside. A bottle of Ribeira del Duero 2010 was only 18 euros, and my coffee came with delicious mignardises.

Website: http://restauranteojeda.com/

After lunch, we headed to the Real Monasterio de las Huelgas, on the outskirts of the city.  With interiors that are much grander and less austere than the typical monastery, it was a very interesting tour.  Eleanor of Acquitaine brought her daughter, also Eleanor, to Burgos to marry the Castillian King, Alfonos VIII.  The monastery was Alfonso’s gift to his wife, and the two, who both died in 1214, are buried in double caskets that sit in the center of the Royal choir.  The guide was obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about her subject, eliciting chuckles from her Spanish visitors, though with our rudimentary Spanish we could only pick up snippets of the narrative.

Back in Leon, we had dinner reservations at Pablo, a very new restaurant that, like Cocinandos, offers an impressive looking tasting menu, in a similarly spare and modern setting. The food turned out to be comparable in quality with what we had the previous night. The plate pictured below is squid, just barely cooked, with pork belly. They do not offer wine pairings, but we were very happy with the one shown below, a local wine (note that it is a 2004 Prieto Picudo reserva) for less than 20 euros.  The entire bill, including water and one coffee, was 99 euros.

Website: http://www.restaurantepablo.es/

Next up: Santiago de Compostela

Perbacco is not a place that had been on my radar, but when I received an offer from Blackboard Eats, I looked for reports on Chowhound, my most trusted source for dining info. I found a few positive mentions, but with little detail. Yelp reviews, which I find less credible, were almost unanimously positive. It seemed worth taking a chance, and turned out to be a fine choice. There were 3 of us so we got to taste a number of dishes.  Our appetizers were swordfish carpaccio with oranges, grilled octopus salad, and creme brulee of parmigiano reggiano.  The creme brulee was an unusual and delicious dish, with a balsamic glaze.  The octopus was tender and flavorful, and the swordfish worked very well with the orange. Main courses were chicken scallopine with taleggio and truffle oil, trippa alla Romana, and ravioli.  All were interesting and tasty, and the tripe had a nice spicy kick to it.  We finished off with a wonderful prune armagnac gelato and orange hibiscus sorbetto.

Decor is warm and cozy, service was excellent, and they have a nice selection of Italian beers, which we appreciated.  The menu is quite extensive so there will be lots of dishes to try when we return, which I look forward to.

Website: http://perbaccony.com/