Highly recommended: 'Your Table Is Ready'

Drugs, sex, rock ‘n’ roll… And would you like some food with that? 

That pretty well sums up the first half of Your Table Is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina.

If you can get past the initial soft porn (if that turns you off or on), this is one fascinating, fun book to read, especially if you are a New Yorker and you eat. 

Even if you're not a New Yorker, it's still a good read.

It's behind-the-scenes descriptions of what goes on at New York's fanciest restaurants, many managed and run by the author who had first-hand experience how they serve 'em up and save the best seats for the most money and cave to the reviewers.  

Everyone knows what the reviewers look like, right?  You'd better.  Stand guard, everyone, and turn on your earbuds for the first alert..err, warning:  They are here!

Who knew there was so much sex in restaurants? Only in New York City? I kept plugging away and gave it a few more pages before my appetite was whet. 

Surprise! Advance money makes a difference! Slip the maître d' an easy $100 bill (in the 80s and 90s; better up the ante now) and sit at whatever grand table they seat you. 

Who cares about reservations when it comes to money?  

The most famous arrived, like the hucksters Cecchi-Azzolina knew: Ivanka Trump, Trump, the mob, the FBI and more.

Many times I laughed out loud at this fast-paced, detailed description of what's happening behind the bar. 

Cecchi-Azzolina writes that 98 percent of the guests are fine, but it's the other two percent that "we in the business hate."  

Where do you stand?

Sex drugs and maybe some food, too, at New York's finest are what it's all about. Read it and eat!

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Eating at a 5-diamond restaurant in Canada

This was served first and I am not sure what to call it since it was not listed on the menu, but it was delicious/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

Eden at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff National Park  in the Canadian Rockies is one of only three AMA Five-Diamond restaurants (and the Eden, more than once) in all of Canada, and the only one in western Canada to achieve this status.

It has recently been named one of the top 1000 restaurants in the world for 2024 by the French-based guide, La Liste, making it one of only 19 restaurants in Canada to be included on that list.  

The first course was canapes of "artisanal breads" and three kinds of "cultured butters" and every bit as delicious as one might expect/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

In 2022 it was named the Best Fine Dining Hotel Restaurant in North America by the World Culinary Awards.  

So, naturally while staying at the Rimrock as a member of Road Scholar's Christmas tour in Banff, my new friend Sara and I took advantage of the proximity to Eden to partake of its fare.  

We could have ordered the seven course meal ($185, Canadian) or the vegetarian seven courses ($175), but being cost-conscious consumers, we opted for the four course meal ($135 Canadian dollars = about $100 American dollars).

What looks like a boat growing trees (the latest in yacht designs) was actually beetroot with pomegranate, quinoa and pecan which I ordered for my second course and although this presentation may look unappetizing, let me assure you it was anything but.  (You don't  have a landscape gardener for your yacht?  Let me assure you, they are coming.)

For her second course, Sara chose Brussel sprouts in maple glaze with chestnut and gruyere. (Please read below.)/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

As I recall, Sara ordered Brussel sprouts, a vegetable I escape whenever possible and I cannot recall how she described it which was probably as dull as the taste. (If you grow up in the South as I did, Brussel sprouts is a Yankee dish that does not grace Southern tables.)

 

For our next course, we both chose the lamb tartare in carrot curd with mint gel and herb crostini/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

I erred and joined Sara in choosing "lamb tartare" (raw lamb) for our next course.  If you do not know (I did not), it is raw lamb which I was unable to eat. (What was I thinking? I was not thinking!) Indeed, it was so rare that, to quote my dad when describing rabbit my mother cooked for him one time and one time only, the baby animal jumped off the plate, crying baa...baa all the way home. I did not know that rabbits cried outloud.

Sara raved about the lamb tartare.

For my entree, I selected sablefish in chorizo with clams in lobster bisque/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

The sablefish for my next course had been heartily recommended by our tour guide, Jake, and it lived up to its reputation, floating in a clam and lobster bisque which was as scrumptious as this description implies and not too heavy.

Sara had the celeriac pithivier with mustard, sauerkraut and umami jus for her entree/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

My dessert was, of course! Chocolate, manjari with citrus and red currant and cashew/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

My dessert, the Manjari chocolate kind did not disappoint! 

A dessert of sea buckthorn in creme fraiche with hazelnut and brown butter was Sara's choice. Since I cannot recall accurately about her receipt of some of her choices, I shall not include Sara's opinions/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

For a parting gift, Eden gave us this loaf of bread packaged in a handsome cardboard box/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

For "take home," Eden gave us each a loaf of bread beautifully wrapped for the season.  Although a bit dry, we agreed the next day, which was Christmas Eve, that it was an ample substitute for breakfast on Christmas Day when we skipped breakfast for champagne and the delicate but mountainous tea spread (no one could eat everything) at the historic (1888) Fairmont Hotel. (Check out the pictures.  Our tea [pictured below] was on that first floor above the tree tops with all the glass windows overlooking the mountains. Sigh) 

Tea at the Fairmont Hotel where we could not finish all the delicacies, but I do recall that was some sort of Egyptian tea and quite delicious, almost exceeded in taste by the champagne. If there's anything which beats champagne, prithee, sayeth thee!/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 25, 2023

A bar at the Fairmont/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 25, 2023

After our meal at Eden, we independently agreed later that the experience, ambiance, and restaurant service exceeded the food quality, and perhaps it was because we only ordered wine by the glass and perceived that the sommelier was a bit haughty and unhappy with us whenever he wheeled the wine bar up to our table. 

Overall:  All I want for Christmas is more Rimrock! Where service exceeds any that I have found in Europe, Africa, North and South America, and if you're lucky, Pierre, the 7-foot-tall bellman, will be "on duty."

But, please leave the Brussel sprouts and baa baa baby lamb at home.  Thank you.

A view from my hotel room at the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff, Canada/By Patricia Leslie, Dec., 2023

Another view from my hotel room at the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff, Canada/By Patricia Leslie, Dec., 2023

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Eating my way through southeastern Europe

The table is set for us at a winery/olive oil farm, Restaurant Kameni mlin, in the Konavle region near Dubrovnik, Croatia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Our first course at Kameni mlin. Also on on our menu were veal cooked "under the bell," potatoes, vegetables, and kontonjata ("quince cheese")/By Patricia Leslie

Watching the entertainment (below) at Kameni mlin/By Patricia Leslie

 

The entertainment at Kameni mlin! Later, we danced the "Lindo," a Dubrovnik celebratory dance/By Patricia Leslie

Our hotel veranda in Dubrovnik where we ate many fine meals/By Patricia Leslie

A lunch stop at the Sedrvan restaurant next to the old bridge (read below) in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a UNESCO World Heritage site. I found Mostar to have the lowest prices for souvenirs/By Patricia Leslie

Turkish coffee in Mostar.  It was pretty powerful stuff, requiring instructions the first time or two we had any.  If I remember correctly, first you skim off the top with a spoon, add sugar, and drink. I was never able to drink more than a couple of sips. Isn't the table covering gorgeous?/By Patricia Leslie

Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the conversion from wood to stone of the Stari Most Bridge in Mostar in 1566. It lasted about 427 years until it was destroyed in the Bosnia War, 1992-1995. International donors and UNESCO funded the $13 million cost to rebuild the bridge which opened again in 2004. Rick Steves says it's the "longest single-span arch" in the world. 

Your visit is more complete when you see divers in their Speedos leap from the bridge (after receiving adequate compensation from tourists, of course) 75 feet into the Neretva River below/By Patricia Leslie

Ahem... a roasting goat? Lamb?  At a rest stop somewhere in Bosnia- Herzegovina/By Patricia Leslie 

At the same rest stop/By Patricia Leslie

Dinner entertainment at the Restaurant Dulagin dvorin in Sarajevo, the capital  of Bosnia-Herzegovina, rich with history/By Patricia Leslie

 

The delicious dinner in Sarajevo of cevapi, a grilled dish of minced meat and considered the national dish of Bosnia-Herzogovina/By Patricia Leslie

In Sarajevo, more Turkish coffee at our hotel, the Hotel President Sarajevo, adjacent to the Miljacka River. A bit of the hotel is pictured in the background in the photo below/By Patricia Leslie

In Sarajevo, we debated what to order in the magnificent, huge marketplace/By Patricia Leslie  

 

In Sarajevo, we debated how to pay for dinner...with Bosnia marks, euros or dollars which don't have the cachet of yesteryear! Nobody wants dollars much anymore/By Patricia Leslie

 

In Sarajevo, more Turkish coffee, complete with instructions on how to drink it. I left what you see...a bit too strong for me/By Patricia Leslie 

Midday prayers in Sarajevo, but where are the women?/By Patricia Leslie

On our way to have dinner with a Muslim family who live three generations in about 1,000 square feet in this Soviet-style apartment building/By Patricia Leslie

The family lives on the eighth floor and stayed throughout the Bosnia War (1992-1995) when they had no electricity for four years.  To escape the snipers' fire from nearby "Sniper Alley," they gardened at night. An excellent book about the times is Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War by Peter Maass which I took on my trip and never read a word until I returned to the U.S. when it all came realistically to life, sadly. It's the first book on war I have read and I highly recommend this Los Angeles Times book prize winner/By Patricia Leslie

July 11 commemorates the 8,000 males who were slaughtered in the war in Srebrenica in 1995. This year and every year, thousands in Sarajevo and Srebrenica honored three teen boys and 27 men whose remains were identified during the past year by DNA. Remains of many more remain under analysis, as forensic scientists seek to identify them.  

The United Nations took a long time during the war to act. (See Maass.) Our Croatian guide called the UN:  "the United Nothing." Ukraine, anyone?

If you're wondering what happens to the boxes of food and dry goods to which you may sometimes contribute, the mother told us how much they appreciated and welcomed them during the war when they had little to eat! Peanut butter was one of the most popular and sought-after food items.  

The view of Sarajevo from their apartment/By Patricia Leslie

The lovely table set for our dinner/By Patricia Leslie

Lemonade, salad, grape leaves or dolme, cevapi (minced lamb, beef, or pork hand rolled and grilled), begova corba, a soup with chicken and okra, and more were on the menu. Wherever we went, our hosts (and restaurants) served us delicious salads with special dressing which our guide told us they knew Americans liked/By Patricia Leslie

The dinner/By Patricia Leslie

The dessert with the fork outlined in chocolate shavings/By Patricia Leslie 

Three generations who live happily in Sarajevo/By Patricia Leslie

When the husband/dad came home from work, he immediately sat down with his daughter and began coloring with her in her coloring book, a first for me to witness! Never did I see my children's dad nor my own father color anywhere.  Family ties seems much stronger in Europe than in the U.S./By Patricia Leslie

A Serbian restaurant where we stopped for lunch on our way to the village of Karanac in the Baranja region of Croatia/By Patricia Leslie

Our lunch at the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie

Our dessert at the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie

At the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie 

We spent a night at a farm in Karanac, Croatia where we made cheese and meals (below), everything raised and grown on the farm! Talk about fresh!/By Patricia Leslie

Making the next day's meal with all fresh ingredients from the farm/By Patricia Leslie

"You see," the farmer said, "here is the cheese you made!" With a little help from our friends, we were fabulous cooks/By Patricia Leslie

My room at the farm/By Patricia Leslie

I'm not sure where this delicious salad was/By Patricia Leslie

This is a recreation of a wedding feast on display in Tito's childhood village, Kumrovec, Croatia. Everything was life-sized/By Patricia Leslie

Approaching Livade in Istria, Croatia, "world truffle center"/By Patricia Leslie

Truffle hunters helped us hunt for the delicacy near Livade/By Patricia Leslie

Off we go with the dogs and mosquitoes to truffle hunt/By Patricia Leslie 

The forest in the left center is where we truffle hunted, seen from Motovun, Istria, a medieval town on top of a hill. It was our next stop to taste truffles and see the town surrounded by four walls built several centuries ago/By Patricia Leslie 

The walls surrounding Motovun, Istria, Croatia with the steeple of the Church of St. Stephen, peeking out in the center.  The church was built between 1580 and 1614, based on a design by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) whose neoclassical influence can be seen in the design of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Motovun's cobblestoned streets for walkers, cyclists, and cars! (Stand back and hug the walls.)/By Patricia Leslie

Enter here to taste truffles/By Patricia Leslie

Truffle samples in Motovun/By Patricia Leslie

A view from a wine shop in Motovun/By Patricia Leslie

Lunch at Hum, Croatia, the smallest city in the world/By Patricia Leslie

The coastline of Opatija, playground for Europe's rich/By Patricia Leslie

Tasty Croatian beer at Molo Opatija at Croatia's Riviera on the Adriatic coast/By Patricia Leslie 

 A veggie salad at Molo Opatija/By Patricia Leslie

A delicious salad at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana, Slovenia/By Patricia Leslie

A bread bowl for the wonderful mushroom soup at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  The menu says "Slovenian dishes by recipes from our grandmothers."/By Patricia Leslie

The soup at Gostilna Sokol which was as good as it looks/By Patricia Leslie

Our cute waiter, "Marko," at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana made us laugh when we asked him how he liked wearing his uniform and listening to "tourist music" all day long.  His expression says it all/By Patricia Leslie

How about this pizza which three of us split and still had leftovers! We ordered it at at one of the many outdoor cafes along the Ljubljanica River in Ljubljana/By Patricia Leslie

 This was the dessert at Gostilna Avgustin Z Vrtom in Radovljica, a town around since 1296!/By Patricia Leslie

A street scene in Radovljica/By Patricia Leslie

A street scene in Radovljica/By Patricia Leslie

Back in Ljubljana, I saved the best edibles (drinks, at least) for last to show you!  These are two margueritas (one frozen, one on the rocks) with an "orgasm" at the top, the drinks we ordered at the Skyscraper in Ljubljana. The building was the first skyscraper in Slovenia and one of the tallest in Central Europe when it was built in 1933. Norma, who ordered the "orgasm," said it was!  To order again, and again, and ..../By Patricia Leslie

I did not intend to make this a food trip/photo essay and did not take pictures of most meals on my trip, but these are some of the ones I did take. 

A terrible omission was my failure to shoot any of the outstanding breakfasts at the hotels where we stayed. Everything you can possibly imagine was served by cooks standing by to prepare potatoes, eggs, pancakes, anything you wanted "custom cooked" while guests helped themselves buffet style to all kinds of fruits, cheeses, meats, cereals, juices, coffees, breads and more from tables covered in linen tablecloths and fresh flowers.

Plus (!!!!) champagne!!! Mimosas every day to start the day right.  It was a grand trip, all right!*

Our tour guide said these breakfasts were "standard fare." 

I felt sorry for European citizens who come to the U.S. and stay in hotels/motels which may offer stale cereal in a styrofoam bowl to eat with a plastic spoon, and a thin piece of tissue paper for a napkin, if they get anything to eat at all. Europe is a much better place to visit than the U.S.!

*Overseas Adventure Travel

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