Eating Around Bucharest In The Fall

Lucky me, I got to go back to this dynamic capital in the fall and was suitably impressed: this time by different food and wine trends and chefs. Bucharest is turning out to be an energized stomping ground for great food and beverage professionals who either want to come home or strike out new ground on affordable, and still malleable, turf.

So do I start with the new, over-the-top brunch at the Marmoroch, the molecular cuisine or a great little restaurant pop up in a hotel. The bottom line is this is an exciting city to visit in terms of food and wine and incredibly affordable, compared to other European capitals both in terms of both food and drink and hotels. It is also, as of yet, still off the beaten path: but it may not be for too long!

Touchdown

Traditional (ish) Romanian food is what I first had on arrival in an upscale local chain called La Mamma. Cute nice, OK wine list, mediocre service but it’s not what you really came for. You came to see how this country is reinventing the food and wine wheel.

So, some of the standouts included the mind-bending takes on traditional and molecular food at both Noua and Kaiamo. Both are run by stunningly young Romanians, our 26-year-old sommelier at Noua joked that the sous chef was the oldest one in the kitchen at 32. At Kaiamo the young owners came back from hospitality jobs in London to do something cutting edge in their hometown.

Count one for the home team. I hope the rents are lower in Bucharest allowing these young passionate operators to get, and keep, a foot in the door. Both Noua and Kaiamo are quite large restaurants—with large kitchen staffs—but they feel intimate. Both serve prix-fixe menus, however at Kaiamo you can also order à la carte.

I was also impressed by the number of Israeli chefs in town from simple little joints in the center with modest wine lists to the delicious Chakira in the Raddison Hotel. We all appreciate some spreads and salads when we have been eating too much.

Wine Country Finds

The delicious, and progressive, Dealu Mare-based Gramafone Wine is building out its footprint. It is in the process of setting up a stage for live music and building a larger hotel to host its guests, and those of neighboring wineries. It is not slated to be finished for quite a few years.

However, the winery, which also has a wine bar in Bucharest called Great Hill, serving only wines from the Dealu Mare, is distinctly getting its Sonoma/Napa vibe on with patio lights and a firepit. They currently only have six mini houses, all of which are darling, intimate with vineyard views.

The other fun find was the Ferma Dacilor, up an unpaved road fairly close to a number of wineries. The mangalitsa pork sausages were astounding: no doubt as they are made from a local species of pig. They also serve a number of great, simple and local soups including those with beans and another with assorted rooster bits.

Back in Town

Hats off to the Marmorosch for putting together an over-the-top brunch that you could find in Miami, or San Francisco, but for four times more than the price we paid in Bucharest: about $80 with endless wine.

Oysters, seafood salads, salmon and all the meats were on hand, along with numerous salads and desserts. The space is so serene that it is an amazing place to pass a few hours in a historic building downtown. Hotel executives are still playing with the food, and wine lineup, and I begged them—as they have two Indian execs on staff—to potentially integrate some Indian flavors: when Bucharest is ready for it.

Hidden Gems

For a really unexpected treat head to Casa Mica in a residential neighborhood. It is both a small hotel and a restaurant by reservation. Wow can Chef Nadaban cook! Some of my favorites were a cauliflower dish with a quail egg, parmigiano and sour cream. He followed that up—several dishes later—with a dish of sirloin with pumpkin and chiles.

Back to Noua and Kaiamo. Wow these chefs, and somms, are knocking it out of the ballpark. Noua serves seven amuse bouchées all served on puzzle pieces shaped like regions of Romania. The plate I actually a map of the country! According to chef Alex Petricean, it is, “Romania in a platter: a culinary journey through Romania in seven acts.”

After you eat your Banat, which is a fermented potato cylinder, filled with zacusca, a grilled red pepper and eggplant stew; and dusted with smoked paprika—just one of seven appetizers—you need to sort out the puzzle pieces. The somm Vlad pairs all of them with almost entirely Romanian wines. The atmosphere is cozy and welcoming in a residential neighborhood.

Kaiamo also was extraordinary. While I don’t generally love extensive prix-fixe menus the offerings here are also à la carte. The young chefs at times seem to have more staff in the kitchen than customers the dining room and they are turning it out. Cotton candy, reminiscent of what was served at the Four Seasons restaurant in NYC before in changed hands is served an intermezzo before dessert. Two of the most exciting courses were mushroom croquettes that looked like stones and an edible Lego dessert (see below).

Leaving this restaurant on my last night I was surprised to encounter a chef I had met in Rome some days before, who had flown out for the weekend with his Romanian girlfriend. That speaks to the curiosity level and affordability of this town: for now.