Melchior: the new hotspot in town.

We were supposed to go on a romantic getaway to Budapest last weekend, but our little monster got sick on Thursday and we could not get ourselves to leave her - so we stayed home. Budapest and the thermal baths will have to wait. But we did want to take a few hours for ourselves close to home, so we reserved a table for lunch at the new restaurant Melchior in my hometown Tienen. Such a beautiful restaurant it is, lots of brick, metal and wood. Warm, sexy and stylish, just what Tienen needed. We went for the lunch menu - 3 courses with some appetizers beforehand. It was all very tasty - flavours, creativity and quality were great. I cannot wait to go back and taste the full evening menu! Great cocktails too! Welcome Melchior!

Dirty Thirty Dancing Brunch

This weekend we helped 2 young women of 30 celebrate the start of a new era with a special brunch for their friends and family. They are into dance movies - so we did a subtle Dirty Dancing / Grease theme.

For the food we focused mainly on what they liked to see on their special buffet and we came up with this menu:

 Mimosa

Fresh still lemonade with ginger, mint, lemon, lime, rhubarb bitters and pomegranate

Home made mini cheese burgers

Italian penne salad with rocket salad, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts and green pesto

New York Style bagel with a poached egg, herby cream cheese, smoked salmon and baby spinach

Morroccan bread with 3 different home made dips: red beet / hummus /sesame - red bell pepper / hummus & grilled vegetables tapenade.

Assorted cheese and cold cuts

Pecan Danish

Greek yoghurt with homemade granola

Winter fruit salad with kiwi, apple, pear, clementines and pomegranate

American super fluffy pancakes with maple syrup

(Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of our tasty burgers and bagel - grrrr)

 

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Photos by me and Fadil Altinisik

Location: 't Zwak Moment

London is always calling us.

This weekend we went back to our long-time love London. I think we have gone every year since we got together, except last year for some reason. My husband lived there for 5 years, so knows his way around the city. So it was time to return! We took the kid and her step and jumped on the Eurostar. Taking the step with us, was the best idea we had and it made our weekend so easy and pleasant. She 'stepped' her way through the crowds, in underground stations, on Trafalgar square, Hyde Park, as if she did that every day. (The kid only stepped in our living room before this day, imagine that). I'm so proud of her. We did our regular tour - West End, Covent Garden- she was intrigued by all the music and spectacles on the streets. We went for a beer and a Pimm's in the Punch & Judy's, before making our way to Shoreditch to go eat at Dinerama. Dinerama is a Street food market in an old truck depot, with great drinks and food. I had delicious steamed buns with pork belly, braised lamb with a great coleslaw, a Thai curry and a great duck burger with fries sprinkled with truffle salt.

The kid ate 6 doughnuts with chocolate sauce, just like that. It made her night. (Maybe the fact that we passed by the Nickelodeon store and bought her Sky from Paw Patrol also helped)

After a good night rest in our wonderful hotel, we went for Sunday brunch at Blixen in Spitalfields Market. They had some original variations on normal brunch items and great juices (I had a pear, ginger and pineapple juice, so good). After brunch we went to our photo booth in the vinyl shop. We have photos of when we first went to London, photos from when I was pregnant and now photos with our little lady. Then the rain started pouring down, so we hopped one of the red busses and got off at Trafalgar Square and paid a visit to the National Gallery - always a good idea when it is raining, since it is free and they have some great art in their collection. No London without the rain.

Already making plans for next year!

More blogs on London here, here, here, here