Allegro at The Westin

Overlooking Swanston and Collins St on the first floor of the Westin Hotel this comfortable room is the venue for a Jazz Lunch on Sundays.
The square wood tables with a serviette in place of a cloth or place mat and good quality heavy silver plated cutlery and comfortable seating is a good start. The black garbed waiters go about their work quietly and professionally.
The meal begins with hors-d'oeuvres. We were presented with a tortilla style slice of omelette covered with a layer of spinach and topped with roast cheddar which looked good but was overcooked and rather dry, This was followed with another dry offering - a mini pizza. This was followed by an even drier spinach pakora and next came a mushroom pate on bread which was pleasant enough with a bit of extra seasoning.
The entree was another attractive looking trio, a slice of Chorizo with a tomato salsa, a pea wonton and a roll of smoked salmon on a blini. The tastes failed to excite
The main courses are shared. Of the five on offer we chose honey glazed salmon on rice, prawns on rissotto and lamb chops on polenta. The other two choices were an Indian samosa vegetarian dish and a chilli spiced spatchcock. Once again presentation was appealing but now the food was as good as it looked. The salmon lightly cooked, went well with the honey glaze, the rissotto with a tart lemony taste was pleasing and the chops prepared with a gentle hand.
There is a large cheese and bread table and a reasonable smorgasbord of desserts freely available and the meal ended with coffee or a large beaker of tea.
There is a background of a bass played quietly with a young lady singing from Porgy and Bess
Price $75/person includes a glass of Snow Road nv pink bubbly or a beer. Wine by the glass is around $10 or $50 up for a small range of bottles
Comments This is a sort of value added lunch designed for a relaxing afternoon, but somehow it fails to excite
Score:13.25 /20

Bad Poetry, Wine, Food and Theatre at Vue

"Fresh, crystalline and sharp, the first nose unvails an unusual dimension, an aquatic vegetal world with secret touches of white pepper and gardenia. The wine then reveals airy, gentle richness before exhaling peaty scents.
On the palate: The attack bursts forth and matures into a gentle fullness that winds around itself like a tendril of foliage. Notes of aniseed and dried ginger linger on the skin of fruit (pear and mango), more textured than ripe. The finish gradually unfurls and then settles smooth, mellow and all-encompassing. An indefinable je ne sais quoi, never upsetting the integrity of the wine, has worked its charm."
These are the words of Richard Geoffroy, Chef de Cave Dom Perignon, and as I read them I don't know if I should laugh or cry.
For what it's worth he is talking about the just released Vintage 2000 Dom. Perhaps it helps to appreciate the meaning of all this if it is presented at an extravagant price and at a top quality restaurant but I think this man might have a future at Mills and Boon if he gives up the wine business.
Shannon Bennet launched the 2000 vintage at Vue de Monde last Wednesday with a dinner for about 30 well heeled patrons of whom, I guess, perhaps 15 were paying for themselves (including me).
On arrival we were offered the 2000 vintage and refills were freely available. It took about 40 minutes after the scheduled start of the evening before we were seated and the first course arrived.
A cube of watermelon with a small hole filled with Oscietta caviar on a base of frozen Vintage 2000 Dom was, I thought, better without the base which added a little bitterness to the dish
This was followed by a great creative dish - a yabbie, broccoli jelly and duck consomme, spiced with ginger, cooked at the table. It lay under a glass dome while the soup bubbled through an ancient apparatus and seeped thru vegetables, crustaceans and spices before being poured over the waiting dish pictured here before being cooked in the consomme This was accompanied by the 2000 vintage now served in a wine glass ( not quite Marie Antoinettes size) which was supposed to so radically change tha nature of the wine that it underwent a sex change from tightly held feminine to broad, expressive masculine and so on
The next course was another great dish - roast White Rocks pork belly with pork rillettes pancake and panada and stuffed baby apple. This came with another great champagne - the 1992 oenotheque vintage also served in red wine glasses. Once again I have to say the pork belly was totally fantastic and my only wish was that there was more of it. The accompaniments added some balance and sweetness to make the whole thing a delight.
One of Shannons regular specials, a clear cold consomme of tomato with gaspacho jelly and a little dry ice causing it to smoke, taken through a straw came next as a palate cleanser then followed a deconstructed quail burger Neither my partner nor I liked the famed 1998 Rose Vintage Dom that came with this dish.
To me it had a powerful earthy nose, a great example of terroir, not to my liking and the powerful flavour of the wine was not improved by the long astringent finish. We also felt that, attractive as it was to look at, a 'hamburger' is not the best accompaniment for what is regarded as a great champagne
The dessert provided more theatre The tartare of figs covered by a sheet of white chocolate looked interesting. A beaker of hot olive oil and honey was the poured over the chocolate which then partially melted and collapsed into the dessert. This was accompanied by a Hennessy Paradis
We were then offered a couple of lovely hand made chocolates to savour before the tea/coffee and petit fours Price: $590/person
Comments: This is, by some considerable margin, the most I have ever paid for a meal in Australia and I would not recommend it it it was to be put on again. The food was, as always, quite excellent though I could have done with quite a bit more. I found the wine interesting but would have liked much more variety and the discussion about the wine left me cold.

Max's Hotel

This old world style hotel at Commercial Rd Prahran, is a few hundred yards from the Alfred Hospital. The main dining area has been opened up many years ago by removing a couple of walls and it can now comfortably accommodate about 40 diners. Décor consists of odd memorabilia including stuff like a mounted head and neck of a large deer and a Danish poster advertising a live sex show.
In all it is a pleasant, carpeted area populated by a variety of old tables and comfortable chairs.
What is particularly good is the food
There are a number of dishes served at the bar as well as a regular menu available.
Normally a main course they were very good
I had crumbed pig’s trotters as entrée which came with a leaf salad and a baby beetroot. I expected a whole trotter but the meat had been shredded off the trotter and it came as a cutlet. Good taste. We shared a duck pie as an entrée. It was somewhat dry with excellent pastry. Paparadelles also served as an entrée were also very good. For mains the pigeon was replaced by an excellent pheasant. An offal dish – lamb brains, sweatbreads and pigs trotters served with a variety of mushrooms. It was disappointing, again the trotters had been shredded and crumbed and lay on a bed of thin sliced potato It was hard to find the brains despite the waiters assurance that they were there!! The standout dish is the pigeon. It's prepared in the same as the pheasant and looks much the same in this photograph but I have not had a tastier better prepared pigeon ever. Cooked to perfection it was tender and juicy. It’s a regular on the menu and it’s worth going just for that. The passionfruit dessert was also unexpectedly excellent but if you have it be prepared for the very tart sorbet They have a modest wine list, modestly priced. We had very quaffable Imiprint Shiraz by the glass ($6.50)
The menu is quite adventurous but doesn’t always reach expectations. Wednesday night is Steak night - $15 I think and extremely busy
Price: I paid about $50/ person
Parking can be difficult but it’s worth a visit
I’ve now been twice to Hotel Max and it was quite revealing to see the influence of two different waiters. James was extremely well informed about the hotel and the dishes and shared his knowledge with some enthusiasm. On the next occasion our waiter did his job, and he was a lot busier, but failed to stimulate any interest. Indeed I was a little surprised when his response to my question “Do you know what the house red is?” was “Yes” What is the appropriate follow up to that?
Comments: Aspiring pub food - worth a visit
Price: We paid $50/head with a couple of glasses of wine
Score 13.75/20

Moti Mahal

The name Moti Mahal refers to the Pearl Palace, built outside Lucknow several centuries ago. Any suggestion of grandeur that may be connected to the palace has nothing at all to do with the restaurant of that name at 230 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern.
It does have a pleasing ambience. The carpeted room with paper covered linen table cloths has Indian themed wall decorations which go towards the anticipation of a pleasant evening
The Age Cheapeats gives the place 2 stars and it’s in the current Entertainment Book offering one free main course when another is ordered. The menu looks interesting and our waiter was happy to meet our requests with regard to the food.
Unfortunately he did not pass any of these requests through to the kitchen.
An entrée of boneless morsels of chicken marinated in yoghurt and lime juice, murgi ka tikka,

was a pleasant start to a disastrous meal.
We returned the first course, a Tandoori Platter,

because it came with the specific spice we wished to avoid and the waiter assured us that it would be free of it. Following this I was both astonished and appalled when my quail stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms arrived with not a grain of any sort of rice and nor any kind of stuffing. When questioned our waiter said “It’s underneath”. Of course it wasn’t. I personally returned the dish to the kitchen where the chef informed me that they had no wild rice and the waiter was supposed to have told me that!!!
Other dishes were very ordinary. A veal korma, a shank braised in rosewater, yoghurt and Indian herbs ($18) was a well cooked but a very small serve.A chicken makani was OK but oh so ordinary

I couldn’t wait to leave.

Price: Mains $15 to $20 They also have a take away menu with free delivery for 2 Km for orders over $35
Comments They're fully licenced or BYO wine for $3.75 corkage - the wine I brought was the best part of the meal.

Score: 12/20

Speaking with Chefs - Greenfield

No Chef is more approachable than Charles Greenfield who works with a passion at his tiny shop front restaurant Jamon Sushi. His aim is to bring dishes to you at the perfect moment for them to be enjoyed at their very best in terms of taste, texture and temperature in an eye pleasing presentation. He works behind a small bar and speaks freely about his work.
After working for 10 years in Japan and imbibing the philosophy that has made Tokyo the most three Michelin starred city in the world, he wanted to establish a small, intimate, personal restaurant of the highest possible quality.
To preserve his food he has three different refrigerators set at appropriate temperatures, all his sauces are made by him and nothing is actually prepared until the moment it is to be served.
Ordinarily Charles restricts his menu to vegetables, mushrooms and seafood sushi but, for a couple of weeks, once or twice a year he demonstrates his virtuosity with wagyu beef rather than seafood. I reviewed a sushi night 18 months ago and recently had the wagyu experience!
Wagyu meat is graded into 12 grades but as there is little agreement on the differences of the top three grades they are usually referred to as 9+. I’ve seen that quality for sale at David Jones at $250/Kgm. Restaurants often serve Grade 3 which your butcher may be able to get you for about $60/Kgm

Definitely 9+

Here are some pictures of what we ate. It all started with an appetizer

followed by a series of 'creations' some simple

and some complicatedOf course not everything was meatA 'world first'!

Squid stuffed with wagyu and not everything was raw

At the end of it all I can say we had an experience but I much prefer raw fish than raw fatty meat

Bamboo House

Introduction: An old favourite at the top end of Little Bourke St.
Ambience: Unchanged for decades
Service: Efficient and friendly under the watchful eye of Alex and Robert who, I think have been there for over 25 years
Food: Uniformly high standard. We started with several entrees the best of which was a crumbed quail with spiced crispy skin I'd recommend it as an excellent start This was followed by deep fried whitebait which is an undistinguished dish but a pleasure to eatand a crab omellete which is superb, presented like sushi rolls. The succulent crab meat was a joy to my palateDumplings had fine pastry and were well filled with prawn and scallop but not special For mains the Tea smoked duck was outstanding, It's always on the menu and high on my list of excellent dishes Two more dishes

and a toffee banana with icecream completed a very good mealComments: B.H. continues its long tradition of serving very high quality cuisine in a somewhat tired environment
Price: This excellent meal came to $60/person + wine
Score: 15.75/20

Attica

What a meal, what an absolutely fabulous meal we had at Attica last night. The first time I ate here the Thai influence was very strong and I was not particularly impressed. At a subsequent visit, perhaps two and a half years ago there was a move towards contemporary Australian with attribution to Alain Passard and an impressive menu but I was still not very impressed. Now Chef Ben Skewry has moved to a degustation menu of his own making that includes a measure of tastes, texture and theatre that I found profoundly satisfying. After an unusual offering from the chef of kingfish, cheese and herbs on thin potato which had been manipulated to come out crisp without being fried

we came to the tasting menu which follows. Each dish was quite complicated and no way could a meal like this be reproduced at home without collossal effort. The menu descriptions don't include all the ingredients which are detailed as the dishes are served so I'll simply post the menu and photo's with an occassional comment
Mushrooms, chestnut, casa mandaio canestrato
Smoked trout broth, crackling, basil seed, fresh smokeThe pic did not capture the smoke that rose from the dish as the dome under which it was served was liftedRed and white radish, yellowfin tuna, hand picked mud crab, grapefruit tarragon
John Dory, celery heart, seaweed broth, toasted leekThe 'simplest' offering of the night. A delicate preparation
Twice cooked Glenloth pigeon breast, Jerusalem artichoke, fresh peanuts, coffee, crispy saltbush No photo, Despite being twice cooked it was still very rare. Then came an addition, not on the menu, of a brick of shredded legmeat and breast surrounded by baby vegetables - another hit Slow cooked free range pork, confit turnips, house made black pudding, apple- cooked at 62 degrees for about 20 minutes Terrior This is a word we are going to hear a lot more of in the next few years. "Terroir" is a French term that literally translates as terrain but has come to mean the way foods and wine express the soil, climate, culture and tradition of a region.
Full of surprises. Smoky and crunchy, great texturesSauterne custard with apple bits and pieces Whilst there is an a la carte menu I would strongly recommend the full degustation menu ($110 or $185 with matched wines)
Wines are reasonaby priced with an adequate list
Score 17.5/20

Forty One - Sydney

Forty One, oddly, is on the 42nd floor of Chifley Tower, 2 Chifley Square on the edge of Sydneys’ CBD. At least it is in the Yellow Pages, unlike several other leading restaurants e.g. Buon Ricardo, Marque and Claudes.
One of the early genuinely fine dining houses, still under the hand of Dietmar Sawyere, it has a brilliant position with every table having an incredible view of virtually all the southern bays, the opera house and all the North shore from Kiribilli House, the home of our Prime Minister, to the heads. At night the suburbs are lit up like a X’mas tree – a wonderful scene.
The restaurant itself is tastefully arranged around a long bay window. Double linen clothed tables are reasonably separated and guests demonstrated an unusual respect speaking quietly. Material covered wooden arm chairs added to the comfort. Waiters move quickly and deliver explanations, advice and food with quiet efficiency.
The menu is set out in five sections of three four or five dishes and a selection of cheeses with the suggestion that a dish from each section will help balance the meal.
After a lovely offering from the chef of an fulsome oyster with cucumber and a gnocchi – what is the singular for that?, on a fresh tomato sauce warm sour dough bread and extra virgin olive oil were delivered.
My first course, lightly smoked ocean trout, hand picked crab meat, a touch of Wasabi topped by a just hard boiled quail egg was a superb mix of taste and texture – a great start Grilled sea scallops (are there others), cauliflower puree, olive tapenade, green apple reduction had a superb sweet salt taste which lingered for some time after the plate had been removed. Steamed yabby tails were replaced by bug tails, served with a spaghettini pasta came with the best crustacean veloute I have ever tasted, with just a little dill. Yamba prawn tortellini, celeriac, a touch of Indian spices topped with some mini coriander was made with a gentle hand so that each of the flavours could be recognized and enjoyed.
A small cup of creamed asparagus soup separated the fish from the meat course.
The wagyu onglet, from the belly of the cow was braised with shallots and wood mushrooms on a bed of creamed potatoes with a rich jus. I don’t think this really does anything for the wagyu as any slow cooked meat would have worked for this dish but it was certainly tender.I skipped the cheese
A palate cleanser of panna cotta on a grapefruit granita worked extremely well in preparation for the quince mille feuilles, sheep’s milk yoghurt and almond parfait a dessert that tasted as good as it looked without being nauseatingly rich. Coffee and petit fours, included, completed a thoroughly excellent meal.I drank a 2005 Ruffino Chianti, by the glass ($15) which was light enough to enjoy with all the dishes selected. There is an extensive wine list priced reasonably for this quality of restaurant
They provide three degustation menus
Four courses $130 with matched wines $180
Five courses $140 plus wines $200
Six courses $150 plus wines $220
Score:16.25 /20

Speaking with Chefs - Who am I?

Born in Baden, Switzerland, in 1936
10 Marks
AWARDS
1954 Berne, Switzerland - Gold Medal for Hospitality at the International Swiss Tourism and Culinary Expo
1954 Munich, Germany - Gold Medal for "Hervorragende Leistungen" at the International Gastronomy and "Fremdewerkehr mit Konditoren Fachhausstellung"
1956 Frankfurt, Germany - Gold Medal at the International Culinary Competition in Germany 1956 Konstanz, Switzerland - Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution at the International Gastronomy Competition for Restaurants and Hotel
1977 French Festival Prix d'honneur
1982 Guide Bon Voyage for Consistence and Excellence in Cuisine
8 Marks
1980 - 1992 awarded Three Hats by the Age Good Food Guide for his restaurant
6 Marks
Owner and chef at his restaurant Two Faces
1981 - 1986 awarded Quelltaller Award Best Cellar National
1986 Club Prosper Montagne International Award and recognized as a Legend - Melbourne Wine and Food Festival
2000 Pioneer of Les Toques Blanches - Victorian Chapter
4 Marks
Retired in 2003
2 Marks
I am Herman Schneider
I had the opportunity to reminisce with Hermann Schneider, a legend on the Melbourne culinary scene, as chef and owner of Two Faces for 28 years. The Two Faces was the first restaurant in Australia to be invited to join the prestigious European and North American Chain – Relais Gourmande and Relais et Chateaux.
In the autumn of 1956, Hermann was selected by the Australian Government to travel to Melbourne and work as Chef for the European team at the 1956 Olympic Games. At the end of the Games, Hermann decided to stay in Melbourne and took on a position as Chef de Partie at the Chevron Hotel, Melbourne
When he arrived in Australia fine dining was almost non existent. The only common restaurants were very indifferent quality Chinese restaurants which were scattered through Melbourne and often offered Australian dishes like fish and chips or steak and eggs opposite their Cantonese menus. Gradually Italian restaurants were becoming popular and then everyone began to take an interest in French cooking. This was the era of rise to prominence of Madam de Stoop, Diane Holuigue and Beverley Sutherland-Smith who all had outstanding schools teaching Cordon Bleu style methods.
There was only a small range of spices available and relatively little in the way of hi-tech equipment.
The classical French sauces Bernaise, Hollandaise, Veloute and Espagnole were made daily by chefs. Could today's young chefs make them?
There was loyalty to restaurants and chef’s were missed if they took a day off.
The dining public did not seek theatre or extraordinary food combinations but consistent good food well prepared. There was no need to be constantly searching for new and unusual textures and tastes.
Despite retiring several years ago Herman continues to cook from time to time for special functions. The most recent was a meal for 32 for the Chaine des Rotisseurs at the home of Beverley Sutherland-Smith
How many of Melbournes celebrity chef's have a record to match Hermann Schneider?

Jacques Reymond - Again

According to the somewhat biased AGF the only 3 star restaurant in Melbourne Jacques Reymond continues to produce exceptional menus that are a joy to the palate.
His approach to fine dining is to offer entree size dishes of a wide variety which can be a la carte - 3,4 or 5 courses or a degustation menu of 7 courses plus coffee and petit fours also available in vegetarian products
We had the Autumn Degustation with matched wines.
Beginning with his signature gougere, a classical French amuse bouche, before the soup of crunchy lettuce like a minestrone which sat on very tender pork belly and had a Parmesan foam and truffle salsify served with a 2006 Freycinet Chardonnay. This unusual combination was interesting but didn't stimulate any desire for more, or to have it again.
The black lasagna of blue swimmer crab and wasabi, Thai salad was wonderful. It sat on a slice of watermelon and the textures and tastes blended beautifully or you could deconstruct part of the dish to experience the individual flavours. All this served with moorish bread straight from the oven.Laquered salmon petuna trout, fennel and vanilla puree, oriental mushrooms served with a 2006 Farr Rising Pinot Noir was cooked through and replaced without hesitation with a perfectly prepared piece of salmon. A very good dish but not outstanding
Prime eye fillet of beef and kohlrabi, a carrot and daikon salad also fell into that class of very good but not outstanding.

I also had a good report on the 'Rigatoni' vanilla and crustacean sauce. Moloolaba prawns, not on this menu The Western Plains suckling pig, slow cooked and fresh lemon pasta, broken juices is another dish to die for. You can't describe it you just have to try it for yourself. Served with a 2001 Dalwinnie 'Jacques Reymond blend' shiraz which our waiter told me JR himself was involved in the blending. Maybe - who knows it was far to acidic for this dish. Perhaps it would have been better with the alternative to this course which was venison
Raclette cheese, spunta potato, organic prosciutto with a 2005 Louis Sipp Gewurtztraminer from Alsace was so good I'd happily have had three serves The cheese super and the combination great and that goes for the wine to.
Spiced pineapple and ginger cream, chocolate lemon myrtle and bush pepper berry ice cream with a Terte du Lys d'Or Sauterne a rich and pleasing dessert. The botrytis was rather prominent in the wine
Petit four and coffee completed an excellent meal
Price: $150 or $220 with wine
Vegetarian $98 Three courses $98, four $125 five $150
Score: 17.5/20

Noise, NOISE, N_O_I_S_E and Other Irritations

After you read this you might wonder why I continue to go to restaurants.
I have often railed about the discomfort of eating in excessively noisy restaurants and the lack of consideration displayed, so frequently as the night passes, by gradually less and less inhibited patrons. Indeed I have walked out of several of them including Gingerboy and changed tables at quite a few others.
The article in this weeks Epicure (22/04/2008), 'It's Your Shout' by Michael Harden is worth reading and caused me to consider a few of the other things which turn me off the restaurant scene.
There are the failings of the venues.
Crowded tables one can barely squeeze past and to small to accommodate the crockery, uncomfortable seating, and cheap tinny cutlery. Even expensive stuff that slides into the plate as soon as you put it down is no joy. I also dislike finding myself sitting, cheek by jowl, next to shoddily dressed patrons e.g. in old jeans and sneakers at 'good' restaurants. Dim lighting is fine but menus should be able to be read without having to adjourn to the toilet where the lighting is so much more user friendly! And I certainly appreciate a bit of plain English.
There are the waiters.
Many are very professional but others so often exhibit patronising and/or excessively familiar behaviour, make vacuous comments such as excellent choice sir, see my article Homo Sapiens Patronisata, and not infrequently serve the wrong table with the food I ordered or vice versa and all to often bring a wine of a different year to the one I ordered. Wine by the glass not poured at the table is another occasional failing
On top of this some restaurants , where the food may be only moderately expensive, have terribly bloated prices for their wines.
Service can be appallingly slow, probably a function of the organization, or lack of organization, of the kitchen
I also detest very small serves and the absence of any salad or vegetable without it having to be ordered separately at 'top end' restaurants.
Finally I find the no reservation policy a pain. I deeply resent having to wait 30 or 40 minutes for a table. In my book restaurants are there for me and my convenience not vice versa.
Now if the dead tree media, which have no room for a letter from the public, get a look at this they might have fuel for some more articles of interest!

Speaking with chefs - Malouf

I revisited Stones of the Yarra Valley today and spoke with Greg Malouf. He's pretty pleased. His book Turquoise (written with Lucy) has just been awarded The Le Cordon Bleu Award, International Category, by the International Association of Culinary Professionals as the best cookbook focusing on a geographical region outside America - recognition of a terrific book! The new MoMo is scheduled to open in the Hyatt in August, he's off to Hong Kong soon to create the menus for a big event and then to America to promote his books, and Stones of the Yarra Valley is flying.
The problem for Greg, now, is to make his new restaurant an excellent venue that will not cost more to run than it brings in. Greatly increased costs of everything make this a problem for restaurateurs everywhere. The only clue I can give you is that the new MoMo will have a large bar with a mezza menu and the food will be along the similar lines to his former restaurant.
We enjoyed another great Arabesque Lunch, quite different from the last one there.
The Mezze began with
Hot yoghurt soup with silver beet and lamb dumpling - super. This I'm going to make at home
Quickly followed by
Little Turkish pide pies with haloumi, Melting salmon, beautifully prepared, with Turkish spoon salad Salt-cod preserved lemon fritters with green harissa mayonnaise.Something quite special.
Spicy Moroccan beef sausages with smoky Baba Ganoush and lovely little chicken bistayeea pies under a cover of pastry that retained all the flavour of the chicken and delicate spices Mains were
Rock flathead tails with dukkah crumbs on a bed of Pistachio pilau with spinach and herbs White cabbage salad with cumin and black pepper
Absolutely fabulous spiced roasted spatchcock with oregano and cardamonPotato, shallots and fennel with feta
Red oak and cos lettuce salad
Then dessert
Chocolate and Turkish delight tart with orange blossom cream and
Watermelon and berry salad with pistachio halva Followed by a sweet mint tea
We also enjoyed a couple of very palatable bottles of 2003 Hillcrest Cab.Sav ($70) but there are many less expensive wines on their list
Price: The Lunch is $75 and I still find it really good 14 months after my last visit
Comments: Xiao Xuan Liu, a young classical pianist gave a short recital at the chapel, the oldest building in the area, a few steps from the restaurant, to which we adjourned before the desserts. This was a welcome break from the one major problem here. The noise of conversation from other tables is so loud it's impossible to hear anything except from the person immediately next to you!
Score: still 16 /20