Konaba Ma:Toni is one of the finest restaurants I have ever eaten at. Each course left me flabbergasted, and I am not readily flabbergastible. I won’t wax lyrical for the next paragraph, I’ll just get on with it and let you come to your own conclusions.
ŠUNKA OD JELENA | GF |
Smoked and dried deer ham. Fresh cheese with spring onion.
The deer ham was my first course. The quality of this dish is so high that it is difficult for me to put into words. Everything was sublime, from the fat to meat ratio to the flavour and assorted dressings. This is a winning dish which stole my breath. The unusual flavour of deer was brought to the fore in a spectacular way.
St Nick’s shirt went for the special of the day which was boar salami. I’ve had boar in many incarnations during my culinary life and this ranks most highly. The texture was a little tough, as most boar is, but the flavour was outstanding. If this is here when you visit please try it. All the meat is locally sourced which makes it even more impressive.
Now, normally I am not one for beef soup but Louise’s choice was the right one. Light and flavoursome in the best possible way. There was something delicate and lovely contained in this dish. When a dish feels like something your mother would have made during childhood, you know you’re onto a winner.
We went for the Zinfandel to accompany our mains. Given that Ma:Toni has its own dedicated wine store, I knew we were in for a treat and I was not wrong. the restaurant is renown for its wines, and this is no exception. A fine Croatian wine.
Louise went for the pork belly with the gorgeous mashed potato bed. For me this was the best dish of the day. The skin was crisp and the flavour ran so deep I almost teared up.
I went for the other pork dish, whose name I cannot recall! Nor does the menu offer any clue. It must have been a special. But let me tell you the flavour will never leave me. the homemade sweet chilli relish paired beautifully and the roast potatoes were pure heaven.
St Nick went for the beef steaks in their homemade gravy and sensational mashed potato. The potato was a work of art for me. Though this is not one of the prettiest dishes, the experience of eating it made up for any aesthetic drawbacks. There’s something to be said for when a dish is so beautifully balanced that the whole feels like an orchestrated work in your mouth.
AFFOGATO | V* |
Vanilla ice cream with topping made of caramel, coffee and Baileys. Cramelized hazelnuts with Amaretti biscuits.
I went for the vanilla ice cream and was not at all disappointed. Luscious ice cream, mixed with some fine caramel and bailey’s coffee liqueur. This was totally brilliant. But the iconic dish, which we re-ordered when we had finished, was yet to come.
NONINA TORTA | V* |
Cake made of almonds and orange with simple syrup and vanilla ice cream scoop.
The oozing chocolate, fine ice cream, some of which is melted, beautiful syrup…. Words failed me at the time and they fail me now. This is an iconic dessert which will remembered as one of the finest I have ever eaten.
Overall, Ma:Toni was one of the highlights of my recent trip through the Balkans. I cannot speak highly enough of the professionalism with which we were treated as well as the high quality and ingenuity of the food. I remain utterly astonished by this restaurant.
When I first read about this album in the Rolling Stones Best Albums of All Time, I was skeptical. Stevie Wonder for me, then, was just ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’. I didn’t know the depth with which Wonder crafts albums. Innervisions is a wonderful insight into the views of one of the original musical iconoclasts.
Wonder, who was previously more than content to allow his lyrics—both bitter and sweet—to apply to simple love scenarios, had discovered a desire to tap into a larger reserve of collective emotion: in this case, the disenfranchised rage of America’s Nixon era. Slant Magazine
The first half of the album has been described as ‘high stakes’ quite rightly. There is a perceptible rage and agony. One jumps between anger (Living in the City) to love, loss and resurrection of hope (Golden Lady). Wonder is starkly honest about his own remonstrances and conveys them with startling musical integrity.
The second half is more reassuring, staying with the theme of love but in a more hopeful tone. The embedded video below is an example of the spirited response to the first half of the album. Innervisions ends with the exceptional ‘Mr Know It All’ which is impossible not to dance to. It trails off at the end, allowing us to wallow in the enormity of what we have just heard.
“Living For The City” is the album’s centerpiece, and remains one of the only moments in Wonder’s career as a politically-minded pop star where he allows himself to come face to face with utter pessimism and caves in to it wholesale. Slant Magazine
Overall, this album has nothing but highlights for me. Not only is it vocally astounding, it is honest and boasts one of the best efforts at sequencing I’ve ever seen. Sequencing is the order in which songs are placed in an album and Stevie Wonder has done a phenomenal job here. One could dedicate many thousands of words to the magnitude of excellence contained in Innvervisions, but I’ll stop short at 300. Have a listen for yourself and enjoy it’s brilliance.
After a peculiar Mass, I went out for lunch with my dear friend Emily. She chose the locale this time. I’ll admit a deep skepticism of opinions which are not mine. However, Kitchen at 149 was a delightful and impactful lunch. Not least for the high quality of the food to be had there.
In front of Emily’s terrific jumper are pictured two excellent mugs of coffee. This isn’t particularly pertinent to the review, I just wanted to write that first sentence and pay homage to a fine vestment.
This was an excellent burger. The patty was not a uniform shape which tells me it was fresh. This may seem trivial but it is very important. The sauce was delightful and the vegetables fresh. Of course it goes without saying that the brioche bun was masterfully made. I’ve never managed to achieve such depth of colour in my buns. For me the fries were a particular highlight. Beautifully crisp and flavoursome, perfectly salted, mushy in the middle and plentiful. Take notes.
Emily’s omelette was fine and deceptively light. I like omelettes where the structure is thin, so as to be filling but not make you feel overburdened. Though it is tempting to put oneself in a food coma on Sunday afternoons, this is to be avoided. The mushrooms inside were particularly well done. And the cream was not too disturbing. Overall two winning dishes.
If you’re in Finsbury Park, do saunter over to Kitchen at 149, they provide an affordable meal, great prices and lovely locale.
Our final stop of the day had to be the legendary Art Kavana. This house of cake is renown throughout Croatia as one of the best places to eat cake in the whole country.
We each had one slice, the first one was mine. It is pictured below. The beautiful raspberry cheesecake. I cannot form full sentences worthy of the softness of the mascarpone. The delight of the raspberry coulis, the light biscuit base. All together astonishing.
St Nick, in his in(de)finite wisdom, decided to opt for the most chocolaty of all chocolate cakes. The pistachio cake is well known in Art Kavana. So well known in fact that it was recommended to me by two different waitresses. The chocolate was dark and deeply affecting. It married perfectly with the pistachio. I wish I’d have chosen it.
Finally, Louise opted for the pear cake. Louise tells me that it was sweet and tasty. I shall go one further and say that I was impressed by the crumbly biscuit base and the chunks of pear in the filling. The pine nuts worked beautifully with the fruity filling to create an amalgam of flavour which almost saw me fall off of my chair.
On top of all of this, the coffee was beautiful. Honestly I cannot fault this exquisite cake shop. Please go there if ever you are in Zadar.
Were you aware that I’m in Croatia? Well it came as a surprise to me too. A tip to travellers, if you book a car rental, make sure you have a credit card. My lowly debit card was not enough to save us from a minor setback and a major headache.
Now, onto Proto. The restaurant I picked was closed inexplicably, but this more than made up for it. The first good sign came when I saw one of the waiters carving from a leg of prosciutto in the middle of the foyer and cover it again before scuttling off. With fevered anticipation, I whispered of what I had witnessed to Louise and Nick. Now the air bristled with a palpable excitement. This was fully merited, for the cheese and ham board we ordered completely blew us out of the water.
Particular highlights were the smoked pancetta and stuffed peppers. Though every single item was astonishing. We ordered the stuffed peppers again mid chomp, conclude from that what you will. Combining the Dalmatian cheeses and the Karst plate was the best idea we had.
Above is pictured Louise’s dish, Plujukanci pasta with prawns and truffles, was magnificent. I had only a little taste, but when the great lady whispers ‘it’s beautiful’ for seven or more minutes, you know you’re onto a winner. I went for the same type of pasta but with chicken, mushroom and truffles. The portion was enormous and absolutely the height of great flavour. I was shaking too much to take a good photograph. My deepest and least profound apologies.
Nick went for the traditional black ink risotto. By his wide black smile, I could tell he had a great dish. For fear of petrifying the man in the mirror, I did not try this blackening tooth dish. However, Nick tells me it is highly delicious.
Overall, Proto was an astonishing experience. From the level of service to the quality of the food, all of which is homemade, it is understandable why they are called ‘…And more’. There is so much more than a restaurant here. It would be a criminal waste not to dine there when in Zadar.
