mexican lunch at "La Fonda"

if you like something quick and good for lunch, I recommend to eat at  La Fonda -  I had today  for istance fajita de pollo which was deliciuos.

The only negative point unfortunately is the personnel, I find them rude and not paying attention to the customer. But I would still go again!

"En guete";-)

a nightcap at the Baragraph ...

after a movie or a dinner you still feel like having your last nightcap, this is where you go - Baragraph in Basel on Kohlenberg, right before the Bird's Eye Jazz Club!

This bar has two floors, the one downstairs is more 70's style and the one upstairs is a wonderful white lounge bar. 

Dave recommends - cointreau & sprite;-)

Vitello Tonnato...perfect summer dish!

Vitello tonnato is nothing else than veal with tuna sauce, it is served as an antipasto or buffet dish for a party!

Its origins come from Piemonte and is a dish that takes several hours. In fact, the meat needs to be boiled first for about 2 hours, after that needs to cool off and cut in thin slices and put in the fridge where it has to stay for another hour or so before serving, in order that the taste develops fully!

This dish can be served with a nice white wine such as Greco di Tufo!

Enjoy your summer;-)

Tinguely Museum

I would give everything to back in the 60's and watch how Jean and his second wife Niki Tinguely revolutionized the structures with their uncoditional love and respect for each other and their art pieces.

It is very inspiring to see Jean's artworks in the tinguely museums, one of the most impressive ones of course is the Luminator which has been exposed at the entrance hall of SBB Basel for many years and only recently it is placed in the tinguely museum.

Jean's job was to decorate whatever was possible and to put everything in motion, he was not a constructor but a very avantgarde artist that defined himself as painter and sculptor of kinetic art in the Dada tradition, know officially as metamechanism.

What most impresses me is l'art et l'amour between Jean and Niki,  defined as the most explosive love between two independent individuals...

parmigiana alle melanzane!

...is a light meal compared to the heavy lasagne or the greek mussaka! The parmigiana is only made out of eggplants, parmesan cheese, mozarella and tomato sauce.

Why it is called parmigiana?

In fact, there are two stories as to how the dish got its name. One story is that both the dish and the cheese are (separately) named for the Parma region of Italy.

The other story is that though parmigiana means literally "from Parma" (a city in Italy), the name derives from parmiggiana, a Sicilian recipe made with fried eggplant, tomato sauce and mozzarella.

In La Cucina tradizionale siciliana, by Anna Pomar she writes.

"This is an ancient Sicilian dish which, in all cookbooks it is erroneously stated that the dish obtains its name from parmesan cheese which is one of the ingredients. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The name "parmigiana" does not derive from that of the cheese but is the Italianization of the Sicilian dialectic word "parmiciana" which are the slats of wood which compose the central part of a shutter and overlap in the same manner as the slices of eggplant in the dish." (Translated from the Italian)

It is served across the world, most often in Italy and in countries like the U.S., where large numbers of Italian immigrants have settled.

The parmigiana has become very popular in Australia as a pub dish, (often referred to as a parma or a parmi), and can also contain sliced ham, depending on region. A variation on the dish, popular in home cooking but rare in public eateries, includes sliced tomato instead of the sauce.

sunbathing at the rhein

eventhough it was not warm enough for a rhein swim today, but warm enough for laying at the sun for a while....the RHEINSCHWIMMEN season is definetely open soon!

The official Rhein Swim will only be on August 12th this year, but I recommend to all Rhein Swimmers to get aquainted with the cold water already now and swim all the way long from the Tinguely Museum up to Novartis...it is a great experience!

cargo bar in the summer...

...is the most trendy and best-loved alternative bar in Basel!

Cargo bar is the meeting spot for young artists and no-artists. Its position underneath the johanniter-bridge makes it in summer very crowded with people standing outside and having a beer at the shor of the rhine. 

The live music and dj's are really good and makes you want to get a little bit alternative too;-)