Archive: 2012

The other day we had the great pleasure to welcome Jean Trimbach, of the wonderful winery of Trimbach wines. Jean and his brother are the 12th generation of his family to make these marvellous wines, several of which we’re proud to include in the Olive Tree list.

Talking with Jean, and tasting some of his wines again, reminded me just how wonderful and under-appreciated this region of Europe is. Helen and I spent a very happy honeymoon week based in Ribeauville, travelling the region and visiting many of the stunning fortified towns of Alsace. The area’s cuisine is typified by the “tarte Flambee”, an amazing onion tart that only goes to show that, in the hands of a passionate creator, the simplest dish can be magnificent.

I think in many ways the same can be said of the wines of Alsace. Unlike other regions, its wines  are all single varietal production. Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir make up the grape varieties and all wines are labelled by varietal. More interesting to me was the fact that, unlike elsewhere, the grapes are grown by individual families and sold to the wineries. This allows the wine-maker the chance to select only the finest grapes to make their wines.

I think many people are simply reluctant to delve into the region, perhaps as a hangover from pre-Australian Chardonnay days, when the UK was awash with Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun. This has tarnished the whole area for many wine-lovers, despite these beautiful wines having nothing to do with that era of German sweet flower-water. Higher prices and this confused relationship with German wine mean diners often skip past these great wines. If only they knew what they were missing. (But then again, if they did maybe there would be less to go round for those of us in the know!)

But for the benefit of those reading this, I can assure you that the Trimbaches are still doing a fine job 12 generations on, the half a dozen wines I tasted were excellent in every instance. Subtle noses, rich flavours, palate length and colour all scored well in my limited view! I was particularly taken with the Gewürztraminer 2008, which we currently list. I also thought the Reserve Pinot Gris was wonderful, and I have no doubt it will come on to the list very soon.

So next time you come in, be adventurous and explore Alsace, I am certain you will not be disappointed!

This early-Spring dish combines crunch and sizzle with spicy heat and fuller, smoky flavours, and it’s as healthy as it is delicious.

Ingredients:
250g home smoked tofu (firm), Rice flour for dusting, Oil for frying, Large knob of root ginger sliced into fine strips1x red chilli, finely shredded, 2x spring onions finely sliced, 2x shallots sliced into fine rings, 150g purple sprouting broccoli, 2x tbsp sesame oil, 2x tbsp mirin, 1x tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds, 5x morel fresh morel mushrooms and some spring greens

Ingredients for the dressing:
2 tablespoons Miso paste (3 teaspoons miso paste + 3 teaspoons hot water), 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil.

To make the dressing: Mix the miso, soy sauce, ginger, water, sesame oil and sugar. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking to finish the dressing.

To make the dish:
1. Dust the tofu in flour.
2. Heat 2 cm oil in a wok until very hot, fry the tofu until crisp and lift out.
3. Tip out all but 1/2 tbsp oil and add the ginger, mushrooms, chilli , shallots and spring onions, and stir-fry quickly, add the spring greens and broccoli with a splash of water to help steam.
2. Then add the rice vinegar, sesame oil and mirin and mix with the tofu.
3. Finish with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.

 
This week we attended the Bath Life Awards. These are an evening to celebrate much of what  Bath offers in the areas of retail, food and drink. It was a great evening, and everyone who was nominated, who won or who simply came to support these great businesses had a fantastic time.

The Olive Tree restaurant was nominated for Best Restaurant. We have been nominated in eight of the last nine years for this fantastic recognition, and have won on five separate occasions, including last year. And while we may not have won this year, we can not grumble and, indeed, we are very pleased for the winners, Richard Fenton and the team at Hudson. They, like ourselves, are an independent business; they offer their guests a genuinely unique and local restaurant experience and work very hard to maintain their restaurant in these challenging times, up against the low-cost models of the “chain” restaurant.

Recently, however, more independents have gone under as a result of economic challenges and lack of business. At the same time, almost as many chain restaurants have opened in the middle of the city, with several more planned this year. It seems obvious that you can not keep opening more restaurants for the same number of diners. Of course, a chain’s economies of scale mean they can support the kind of loss-making offers that they use to entice customers. By contrast, independents have to rely on quality of food and service, and the uniqueness of dining experience.

These are difficult times; the independents of Bath – whether retail, food or any other business – will have to work hard to maintain their share and stay the course. A little like the grumbles we hear about the dominance of the supermarket and the demise of the corner shop, the consumer will also have to remember to share their dining pound amongst all if we are to retain a vibrant and unique offer for visitors and residents to enjoy.

So it brings me back to The Bath Life Awards, and the fact that here was an evening celebrating independents and all that they offer, by a magazine that is owned and managed by a local family in Bath. Some people say awards are all hot air, I think that they are a great way for us to celebrate the hard work of all the great small businesses of Bath.

What do we have in common with Royal Ascot, Stonehenge and The International Antiques and Collectors Fair in Newark, Nottinghamshire?

It turns out we’re included, like them and quite a few others, in the UK section of  ’1,000 Places To See Before You Die’.

This book was first published in 2003 and was a ‘No.1  New York Times Bestseller’. Well, now the author, Patricia Schultz, has re-researched, retravelled and rewritten it, so now it’s apparently longer, bigger and better than ever.

And we’re in it!

We’re alongside not only the aforementioned International Antiques and Collectors Fair, but we’re also rubbing in-demand shoulders with Voodoo Nights at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and, er, cruising the Mekong in Laos.

Now that’s what we call a Bucket List …