First Snow: Zürich

View from my office window.

Hayyyyyyy....so depressing. I am not yet ready for winter, it came too early this year. In a few weeks I will be back home to the Philippines where the sun always shines....

Cross posted at www.catswalks.com

Wine Education in Wallis, Switzerland

When I tell friends sometimes how nice the Philippines is , one of the first things they would inquire about is wine. A lot of them would sound so disappointed when I say that we don't have wine in the Philippines. We have no grape, how can we produce wine? It doesn't mean we are uncultured, all it means is that we don't cultivate grapes (maybe in Baguio a little bit).
Arriving in Switzerland 4 years ago from my grapeless country, I had no idea about wine. I improved considerably since then but in general I have only 1 rule, if I like it, I like it (and if I don't like it, I don't). Anyway, I am not a wine expert (and I will never be) but I can taste the difference between a 4 sfr and a 30 sfr bottle. Although, not really between a 30 sfr and 100 sfr bottle. I can taste the difference between a Bourgogne, a Bordeaux, and a Swiss wine from Wallis most of the time. I understand that I need to twirl red wine in my glass so the wine gets aerated so I can smell it's aroma. I refuse to gargle it in my mouth like a mouthwash in public. I get it that there is a high culture behind wine and wine making but honestly for the life of me, I still don't get why people need to be so snooty about it. I have a strange feeling that most of the time people just pretend to get it so as not to be labeled as uncultured. I asked a friend once who knows about wine why is it that people don't just drink coca cola when most of the time anyway a good wine taste like coca cola? Okay, I guess no one will really agree with me about my coca cola theory because in Europe in general no one will admit to liking coke.
Anyway, a year ago as part of my wine education, we went to Maurice Gay, a winery in Chamoson, Wallis, Switzerland. The Romans brought grapes to Wallis a long long time ago and from then on the locals have been making wine. We learned that the Wallis is a special place for wine because of its micro climate. Nowhere else can multiple varieties (60 varieties) of grape be planted together in the same area as in Wallis. One can also find very old varieties such as Amigne, Cornalin, Heida, Humagne Blanche, and Petite Arvine. We saw how they produce wine from when they crush the grapes to when they age it inside oak barrels. The best part of course is at the end of the tour when we tasted all their wines with our host generously opening bottle after bottle for us.

reposted from www.catswalks.com

Wallis Switzerland wine chamoson

Ah hua-The best Thai Restaurant in Zürich

I proclaim my love for the food at Ah hua! There are probably thousands of Thai restaurants in Zürich and all of them serve the same dishes--red and green curry, pork or chicken with oyster sauce, and pad thai. It has started to get boring really. I know Thai food from deep inside my heart (or belly as you prefer) because my parents used to rent rooms to Thai people. I was introduced to Thai cuisine very early in life (I have a very very good tolerance to chili). In the 80s, the Thais came in droves to my hometown to study Agriculture at the University of the Philippines Los Banos (now of course they are exporting rice and Philippines is importing from them but that is another story) and somehow my parents became part of this vibrant community. So, I know that red and green curry doesn't define Thai cuisine. I don't even remember to have eaten it at the many (eating) parties we attended. I was really so delighted to find Ah hua since they have about 70 dishes in their menu at really affordable prices! I tried five already (you have to give me time) and all are good.
There are two Ah hua restaurants around Helvetiaplatz. The original place is at Brauerstrasse 9. It is a small place with 4 tables and it is always full. I actually found it charming that we needed to share our table with people we didn't know. Since there are lot of people waiting to be seated, one needs to eat and go. It is really mean to stay and chat when there is a line outside (we went on a Thursday). The food was excellent and in generous portions and the service was fast and attentive. The new place is just around the corner at Ankerstrasse 110. This one looks more like a proper restaurant and the tables need not be shared. The quality of the food remains but strangely the service is less attentive. Anyway, I left satisfied and happy so there is really nothing to complain about.

Summary:

Food: very good
Price: very good, cheap
Ambiance: very good
Service: very good
Cleanliness: very good
Parking: No

Restaurant Ah-Hua I - Brauerstrasse 9 - 8004 Zürich
Telefon +41 (0)44 241 39 37 - Fax + 41 (0)44 240 08 82

Restaurant Ah-Hua II - Ankerstrasse 110 - 8004 Zürich
Telefon +41 (0)44 240 38 88 - Fax +41 (0)44 240 38 86

http://ah-hua.ch/

Thai+restaurant+Zürich good+thai+restaurant thai+food ah+hua