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| American Dream Cuisine™ |
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| Restaurant, Riga, Latvia |
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Extraordinary - Merit
December - 2005 |
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5 Stars
& 4 Stripes
Cuisine & Service |
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The Ultimate
Award:
Seven Stars and Stripes™ |
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| At eleven stories above Riga, it is the closest that
you can get to Latvian heaven if there were such a thing. Its interior design
evokes a feeling of free falling from incredible heights as everywhere you look
you are surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows with 180-degree views of the
capitol city. Our gut feeling was one of excitement and anticipation that was
heightened even more by the presence of several tables filled with happy
convivial Latvians enjoying each other's company and obviously the
food. |
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| Before being seated, we met
with Chef Inars Kalnins in his spotless, organized domain surrounded by the
tools of his trade and his dedicated team. It seems that the word is out about
Restaurant Bellevue's talented Chef Kalnins. His soft-spoken demeanor clearly
hides a simmering, focused creativity developed after years of experience in
the stylized kitchens of the Ritz Carlton in Wolfsburg, Germany and the Austria
Center in Vienna. His arrival at Maritim Park Hotel four years ago carried with
it a feeling of renaissance to the culinary greatness that is possible to
achieve with talented leadership. Chef Kalnins has introduced his personalized
expression of 'Fusion Kitchen' to the Bellevue with an emphasis on boundless
experimentation in the European style and by the look of things success is
evident. |
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| Inars
Kalnins & Thorsten Buehrmann |
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| “Chef Kalnins has introduced his personalized expression of
'Fusion Kitchen' to the Bellevue ... ” ~ TB |
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| Our table's location was intense, as it was nestled
between two very tall windows giving us the impression of being wedged safely
on the precipice of an overhanging cliff. Arno immediately took out the camera
and was sufficiently preoccupied not to notice the delicacies that were being
placed on the table. Six types of home baked crusty breads including earthy
dark rye and a French style baguette. Butter was offered in three flavors
reminding me of the farm fresh allusions of my childhood. Nicely done for a
start I remember thinking, as there is nothing more important than first
impressions to set the stage for the rest of a dining experience. Menus were
not an issue as while we were visiting with Chef Kalnins earlier he promised to
surprise us with his specialties of the house. |
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To start off with Chef
Kalnins wowed us with his Fusion from Foie Gras and Stewed Chicken
served with avocado-pineapple salad and chili ice cream. OK, what could
possibly follow that opening salvo, I thought but Chef Kalnins continued to
'turn it up a notch' as he continued his regimen. Other highlights of our
culinary experience included such delicacies as Cream Soup Fusion with
Lobster Medallions and Scallops, which I must say impressed me the most
with its outstanding exotic spice flavors layered within a lightly creamed and
curried fish stock that supported tender morsels of ocean fresh lobster meat
and slightly opaque scallops. |
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| To top it off it was nicely decorated with red beet
wafers and lemongrass and served with colored papardelle pasta. Red being the
color of the day we moved on to sculptured intermezzo of Dark Red
Raspberry
Sorbet nestled in Ice Glove with Red Roses, and this was topped with a
refined touch of J. Oppmann Privat Champagne nicely supplementing the
tart raspberry with multilayered aromas of peach and apricot. Also worth
mentioning was the Marzipan Roll with Almond Cookies and Berries
Variations as this was not only a well designed arrangement of shapes and
textures but it offered a fitting end to an imaginative and satisfying dinner.
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| “Much continued success and well being to you and your crew Chef
Inars Kalnins, our hats are off to you!.” ~ TB |
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by
Thorsten Buehrmann & Arno Goudschaal
Editor: Ingrid
Lemme
Editor-in-Chief: John Lomitola |
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| © 2006 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes, Inc. |
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