Basel food diary: Zum Schmale Wurf

We went up to Basel for the weekend to see the Basel Tattoo (see earlier post here).

We came upon Zum Schmale Wurf (“ZSW”) by chance and were pleased with our meal.

ZSW is an Italian restaurant in a row of restaurants located on the Klein Basel side of the Rhine.

It is at a rather touristy location that is also popular with the locals. People come here to get into the river here for a swim. The current is strong here enough for one to rent an inner tire and float downstream along the river.

The restaurant has a street entrance on Rhinegasse but we entered from the side that faces the river where they had outdoor seating (but it was full at the time).

Our server was extremely attentive. When I ordered the Spaghetti alle vongole, she went to check with the kitchen before she would accept my order as she suspected that they had used up all the clams.

Giant and tasty bruschette.

I was lucky as I had the last portion of clams for that evening, and it was a huge portion. Notice that the dish is not shallow, rather it has a sunken “basin”, the edge of which was completely obscured by the overflowing pasta. There was a lot of food.

Look at the amount of empty shells in the bowl !  – while it is not uncommon to have so much mussel shells but …  not clams from a single portion ? Not even in the US. I enjoyed it very much and Sue liked her pasta dish too.

The restaurant apparently hosts artwork by local artists. One can buy the pictures on the wall.

This artist is very fond of naked ladies and skeletons.

Like many houses in Basel, to impress tourists or to outdo a neighbor, the year in which a house was built (we assume) is written on the front of the house. The restaurant is situated in a site or a house that dates back to 1450.

Recommendable for pasta. Good value for money in an expensive city.

Schaulager, Basel

While we were in Basel for a weekend to see the military band performances, the Basel Tattoo, we spent Sunday morning checking out this museum.

Schaulager is one of the more enigmatic art museums which we have visited.

The word “Schaulager” means “show-warehouse” which is consistent with the museum’s philosophy of storing and at the same time showing as much of the collection as possible. The building finished in 2003 is the work of local (also internationally known) architects – Herzog & de Meuron – see their comments on this building here.

The works stored here are unpacked and arranged in accessible spaces, installed according to the artists’ intentions. The conditions under which the works are kept visible correspond to international conservation standards; they are maintained at levels of light, temperature and humidity determined as ideal for storing artworks. The works are thus in an ‘optimal condition’ for viewing.

One enters the museum through this small stone structure. The off-centered entrance is aligned compositionally with a sign with the name of the museum placed towards the top left.

The stone structure is empty inside except a trio of openings for ventilation.

One exits the stone structure at the side behind the railings into a small concrete courtyard.

The courtyard leads to the real entrance of the massive white-faced building behind the stone structure.

When viewed from afar, the facade of the white building consists of three panels that are aligned to give the impression of a blank projection screen in the center and LED video displays on either side.

The real entrance is set into a sliver of glass at the base of the building, the top line of the glass slants at an angle upwards from the horizon from each side, mirroring a sloped roof above it which forms a shallow canopy above the courtyard.

This is how the architects described the front of the building:

The external shape of the warehouse is pragmatically derived from the geometry of the internal storage arrangements and the setback requirements of the building code. This led to a polygonal building made out of materials extracted on site and looking as if it had been extruded from the ground. The façade of the polygon facing Emil-Frey-Strasse is indented to create a kind of forecourt, which identifies the entrance area visibly from a distance. This entrance seems to be guarded by a little building with a gable roof, constructed from the same earthy material as the warehouse. Together the little gatehouse and the indentation form a courtyard-like space with a metropolitan ambiance.

Schaulager houses the collection of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation which was founded in 1933. After more than seventy years of collecting, the Foundation possesses paintings, groups of drawings, sculptures, installations, video projects and films by approximately 150 artists.

Because the museum applies the “No Photography” rule very strictly, we barely took any pictures. So many of the images shown in this post are actually borrowed from Schaulager’s web site.

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According to Schaulager’s web site:

The works that entered the collection early on – such as Delaunay, Klee, Max Ernst, and the Belgian Expressionists – have long since become classics of modernism. Likewise, the works from the 1960s and 1970s – with striking groups of works by Joseph Beuys and Bruce Nauman – have long since become established in the history of art. The more recent purchases – groups of works by Jeff Wall and Katharina Fritsch or Fiona Tan and Andrea Zittel – explore new territory and challenge the viewer’s receptivity.

Katharina Fritsch, Rattenkönig, (Rat-King) occupies a huge white room, a permanent home for this oversized work.

… just to put the size of the rats into perspective …

We only managed to see the exhibition’s lower floors, the upper floors were closed by the time we wanted to go.

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Leo di Caprio in Bjork’s swan dress ?

The current exhibition is ‘Future Present” which will run till the end of January 2016.

Basel is truly a place for art.

Basel Tattoo 2015

We went up to Basel for a weekend in July to see this annual musical festival. Sue has always been interested in marching band and drum line. So this event is perfect.

We found a bunch of Youtube videos of the performances uploaded by others. Some are now embedded below, don’t miss them.

Music, choreography, fireworks and light show in a breezy summer evening.

This year is the eleventh performance and it involved 30 formations from five continents giving 15 performances over nine days.

We have no idea why the event is called a tattoo. According to Wikipedia,

A tattoo is a military performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe (“turn off the tap”), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks.

According to Wikipedia,

The Basel Tattoo was started in 2006 by the local Top Secret Drum Corps. It has grown to be the world’s second largest military tattoo in terms of performers and budget after the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Apart from military marching band music, there were choirs, local pop singers and dancers (Celtic-like Riverdance). The Korean Air Force band performed and brought with them traditional folk dancers.

This Italian band – Fanfara 8th Reggimento Bersaglieri – came running into the arena several times in between other acts. It was really funny the first time since the audience expected them to remain and perform but they ran out of the arena almost immediately. Amazing that they were running and playing at the same time.

Someone posted their “running-in” on Youtube.

Popular singer Chloë Agnew from Ireland

The Blue Devils are 16-time world champion in the marching band division – about 100 musicians performed.

See a part of their performance at the Basel Tattoo here.

Imps motorcycle display team from the UK –  6- to 16-year-old youth motorcycle acrobatics – the team started in the 60’s as a leisure activity for poor schoolchildren from London’s East End. They added some stunts and humor to the otherwise formal, high-precision marching band performances.

A short clip of a stunt by Imps.

The Top Secret Drum Corps – the founder of the Basel Tattoo – apparently all amateurs – had a face-off with the Blue Devils’ drum line – it was great but a bit too short. We wanted more time and more drama like in the 2002 hit movie – Drumline.

We found a video of the two team’s first practice session.

This looks like World War I uniform.

There were several bands with bagpipes and one performed Mull of Kintyre which was great.

Mull of Kintyre was a 1977 song by Wings (Paul McCartney’s group) about Scotland which included bagpipes.

The whole show started and finished more or less on time and lasted for 2 hours without intermission.

At the venue, all the CDs and DVDs of past performances were available for sale. They even had a shop in downtown Basel. Go to their website here on the event and descriptions of the bands.

Here is a highlight of the show we found on Youtube. Enjoy.

Illums Bolighus, Copenhagen (København)

Continuing with Denmark (København, Danemark)…

We really liked Illum Bolighus- a specialist department store here – full of furniture, lights, design objects, papers, textiles, and even some clothes. It reminded us very much of Vinçon in Barcelona (see earlier post here) and The Conran shop in NYC (now closed) and the UK. This store is located on busy Amagertorv in the heart of Copenhagen’s Strøget district.

The store shares the same side of Amagertorv and is situated next to the flagship stores of Royal Copenhagen and Georg Jensen. Can’t get any more convenient for the tourists to load up on Danish made souvenirs. Btw, just learnt that Georg Jensen has been taken over by David Chu ? (who founded Nautica in the US in the 90’s).

Illums Bolighus was originally founded in 1925 in Copenhagen under the name of BO (not to be confused with BoConcepts which is also a Danish company).

With a store strategy that had never been seen before, BO was a store with arranged and furnished interiors, where textiles, appointments, and furniture all interacted as art.

In 1941, the store was purchased by the Illum, Berg, and Trock-Jansen families, who also owned the A.C. Illum A/S department store. It was then renamed Illums Bolighus.

Illums Bolighus is now independent and has no connection with the Illum department stores – the biggest one located just a block away.

The store operates an online store with a beautiful catalog – here.

“By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark” – may be she shops online too.

Not as avant garde as driade in Milano (see earlier post here), Illums Bolighus has the widest collection we’d seen of Scandinavian’s modern and mid-century designer furniture.

According to Wikipedia:

“The term Scandinavian design emerged in the 1950s to describe design from the Scandinavian countries. It is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality. …”

“Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity and functionalism to design buildings, furniture and household objects, many of which have become iconic and are still in use and production.”

A little discreet corner for Vitra (see Vitra at the Milano Furniture Fair here).

IT and MW bought a few pieces each of Arne J’s classic designs. Despite having to add shipping costs, they are still a bargain over the prices back home.

They have a huge collection of lights on the top floor.

We came back a second time to buy small gifts on the ground floor. Great shop.

Kiin Kiin, Copenhagen, part 2

Continuing with our multi-multi-course dinner at this one-star Michelin restaurant – Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen (København, Danemark).

In our previous post (here), we showed pictures of 8 amuse bouches which were served to us. Then we went to the dining room upstairs .. the service here was more reliable.

There was no menu for the evening – it was all omakese – the only written materials were a deck of cards which explained the concept of the restaurant, its history, and some of its famous dishes, including what inspired the chef, his musings and even poetry.

Obviously, much thoughts have been expended on the construction and presentation of each dish. It was very much appreciated.

The chef is quite fond of the idea of modern cuisine and so we were offered syringes filled with a white substance …

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The menu was theatrical and fun …

We cannot remember what the white foam was …

but the server poured a sauce on it and the white foam collapsed into the bowl … resulting in a refreshing salad, sprinkled on top were some peanuts and dried shrimp.

There must be tanks of liquid nitrogen in the kitchen, because several dishes were served with a frozen sauce.

Lobster was served with a frozen red curry sauce which melted slowly … notice the utensil they used to serve the salad (above) and the curry here … if our guesses are correct, the giant bowl was insulating and keeping the foam cold while it was brought into the dining room …

But the shallow metal dish was meant to conduct heat efficiently so that the curry sauce would melt quickly. Below is another example of the use of frozen soup …

Mushroom in coconut soup. The frozen soup was dished out from a thermos at the table.

We wondered whether the kitchen can prepare a large batch of soups and sauces and stored them as frozen solids under liquid nitrogen and use them directly in the dining room over several days. This approach would allow the kitchen time and space to create more dishes, as we had enjoyed throughout the evening.

Perhaps, being worried that we had not eaten enough, we were served meat in a more traditional format. I (Chris) have not seen bone which had been stripped so cleanly of any flesh or marrow – there is trade secret behind it.

Even our dessert came in multiples …

there were two … one on each half of the bowl

Taste and Scent of Koh Samui (an island in Thailand, we went in 2014) … the bowl of sand, shells and rock were not edible.

Finally, they served the last course on a piece of drift wood.

We must have eaten another 10 or 11 courses at this table. Counting the amuse bouches, the grand total of the number of different dishes we tasted here is at least 18 !

The chef really pushed the boundary of thai food and created a very crowd-pleasing dining experience. Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kiin Kiin, Copenhagen, part 1

Kiin Kiin is a modern thai restaurant in København, Danemark, and apparently the only Thai restaurant outside of Thailand that has been awarded one Michelin star.

Upon arrival, we were not taken to our table but were shown to a seating area, very dim with a low table. Downtempo music was piped in from somewhere.

We were informed that before the dinner, a multi-course amuse bouches (“street food” in their parlance) will be served !

Pickled and fried lotus root.

Soya cashew meringue – really good.

The Asian server was a bit awkward at first because he was trying too hard to act as if we are “old friends”. We did not understand half of the descriptions of the courses when he mixed it with his jokes.

Can’t remember what these bunches of wheat grass was about – we didn’t eat the grass – that we can recall.

The seating area was so dim that we could hardly see the food we ate, which is a shame.

We, in fact, really needed the explanations as the dishes were so clever and surprising while tasting quite delicious.

This dish has something to do with the smell of Bangkok and the smoke was we believed created by a BBQ.

The smoke was trapped and used to cook and present the grilled sausages.

We were quite impressed by the inventiveness of each of the amuse bouches … we thought we ate about 8 different items.

Then we were led upstairs to our table … see next post.

Strandgade, Copenhagen – part 3

Continuing with a tour of our rental’s neighborhood in Copenhagen (København, Danemark) … if you didn’t earlier, see the interiors here and here.

The apartment overlooks Strandgade – the same street where Noma is located – the best restaurant in the world in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Of course, IT made a reservation months ago but we were placed on the waiting list … and in the end no luck.

Our host noted that the apartment once had a very famous neighbor – Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916).

His painting was sold in 2012 at Sotheby’s for a record setting 1.7 million pounds – it was not that large compared to some Monets but it was the highest record for any Danish work of art at that time. He was a painter known for his poetic, low-key portraits and interiors (literally next door).

Beautifully-kept garden just under our kitchen window. Note that this rustic town house and garden is in the middle of the city.

Apart from Noma, the street Strandgade is also the home of the Danish Architecture Center (below) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We hear that Noma will close at the end of 2016 and emerge in this same neighborhood but closer to Christinania with its dining room situated in the middle of a greenhouse where the vegetables and herbs are grown.

The neighborhood is rather quiet near the harbor but a lot livelier near the canal.

This is Christianshavn in Copenhagen (and not Amsterdam).

We ate locally at these eateries several times.
Very cosy and convenient.

Great neighborhood.

Loved it.