When: April 24, 2006
What: irish rib-eye and assorted stuff (way too salty)
Wine: 2002, shiraz, d'arenberg the dead arm mclaren vale, Australia
Where: Restaurant The Collection, London
With whom: Angela
Whatelse: apparently co-owned by Paris Hilton, and spotted by me many, many years ago as a place too hip to dare to enter, I landed there this night, just around the corner from the hotel where I am staying (MyHotel, Chelsea, recommendable). The dinner, as in company and conversation, was great, but the food and the setting (very loud music, whilst continiously being exposed to (hour by hour more raunchy) Fashoin TV) was not. The foie gras, preceding the main, was over cooked and its remaining taste suffocated by the accompanying asian sauce. The rib-eye was way too salty. But all was made good by my first visit to Rutger, Ingrid and their beautiful daughter. Bless them and their lovely home. Sadly I missed K/Arthur tonite.

When: April 23, 2006
What: swordfish with "zeekraal", French fries, andive, spinach and salad
Wine: 2002, chardonnay, Jean Leon, Penedes, Spain (wonderful and full of taste)
Where: cafe restaurant Amsterdam, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the plan was to have dinner with Frans, Mechteld, Annetje and Maria, whom we have not seen for a long time, but sadly, while driving around a beautiful part of the country, just north of Amsterdam, where we were out on 1 of our househunting trips, Frans called to cancel as he had to provide urgent assistance to a friend of his. Hopefully we will be able to reschedule really soon. But, as usual, it was a wonderful dinner at Cradam, a place Olivier enjoys more than anyone, though he did not really play much with other children this time round.

When: April 22, 2006
What: lamb chops with French fries and paksoi
Wine: 2004, sauvignon, Lindemans, Australia (alway pleasant)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: after a lovely day at the hairdresser with Olivier, cleaning the roof terrace with a high-pressure jet for the first time (and I wonder why, because it was truely enjoyable and rewarding) and baking coco-cookies, we had a lovely dinner together

When: April 21, 2006
What: meatballs and baked potatoes with a wonderful andive/ham-dish
Wine: 2005, chardonnay, Undurraga, Chile (nice)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse:

When: April 20, 2006
What: noodles with a home-brewed, fantasy spiced shoarma
Wine: 2005, chardonnay, Undurraga, Chile (nice)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Olivier was teh sweetest of the sweetest today and he insisted to wait with dinner until I got home, which was fairly late due to long running negotiations in The Hague.

When: April 19, 2006
What: tortellini with crab and lots of other amazingly delicious fish-veggie stuff, fried octopus and gambas
Wine: 2005, sauvignon blanc, Seresin, New Zealand
Where: restaurant vis aan de schelde, Amsterdam
With whom: Jeroen
Whatelse: a grand and pleasant dinner, with plenty of wine. The main course was preceded by delicious tuna rolls with foie gras and a lobster bisque. On my walk home (approx 1.5 hrs) I found six beautiful books on, amongst others, Kienholz, Architecture and The Styles of Ornaments. All in all a wonderful evening.

When: April 18, 2006
What: vegetable soup and mais
Wine: none
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: Olivier loved the soup and the mais. Lynda was out to see a dance performance, which she enjoyed tremendously.

When: April 17, 2006
What: pasta with salmon, surimi, courgette and tomatoes, accompanied by paksoi w lavas
Wine: 2005, chardonnay, finca La Linda, Mendoza
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Lynda's pasta by far exceeds the paste at Schathoes and Olivier loved it, until he was informed of the fact that it did not only consist of fish and pasta, but courgette and dille ("wat is dat? dat lust ik niet!") as well

When: April 16, 2006
What: beef-steak, rice, spinach, tomatoes
Wine: none
Where: at my parents, Groningen
With whom: Hilda, Daniel, Olivier, Lynda
Whatelse: the previous night was the first time ever (bar our marriage trip to Gent) that Olivier spent without at least one of us in the same building. He stayed over at his grand parents, while Lynda and I were feasting away at Schathoes and Piloersema, and he loved it! He did not only sleep well and behave well, he asked when he could go and stay over again. All good stuff!

When: April 15, 2006
What: zeeduivel with redwine sauce, bacon, fresh potatoes, spinach and a poached egg
Wine: a Barbaresco (I need to send the restaurant an email to get the full details, as I forgot to take these down; it was an excellent wine)
Where: restaurant Schathoes, Verhildersum, Leens, Netherlands
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: definitely one of the best restaurants we have eaten at, where we had in total 10 wonderful dishes and some excellent wines: shrimp cocktail, onionsoup with apple and calvados, oysters prepared three ways (raw with grapefruit, gartin with bacon and spumante and deep-fried with "aardperen-mousse"), pasta with lobstersauce, the main course, five lovely cheeses, a cinnamon parfait with a fruit sorbet, lemon cake with a colonel and, with the coffee, a madeleine w vanilla sauce, a truffle filled with ginger and a coffee mousse. We had a wonderful evening, excellent service and we enjoyed ourselves as well. As we stayed at Piloersema borg, some 15 km from the restaurant, we travelled back and forth in a regio taxi, which was a nice rock-music filled experience in it self. And on top of all this, the borg we stayed at was wonderful as well. We will definitely take Frans and Mechteld there!!

When: April 14, 2006
What: pasta bolognaise with minced lamb
Wine: a Pouilly Fume (don't remember which one, but really nice)
Where: at parents home, Groningen
With whom: Daniel, Hilda, Olivier
Whatelse: the photo was actually taken two days later on the dike between the Noth of Groningen and de Waddenzee. Olivier and I had a lovely traintrip up north and enjoyed the dinner with and company of my parents.

When: April 13, 2006
What: various snacks
Wine: none
Where: cafe Suite, Amsterdam
With whom: Ivo, Karen, Elisabeth, marktplaats.nl, Miguel, Bert,
Whatelse: Ivo's farewell to corp, welcome to nl do, with sufficient drinks, but, due to mismatched expectations, insufficient food. Overall a very pleasant and inspiring evening with the announcement of Elisabeth's pregnancy thrown in as an added bonus,

When: April 12, 2006
What: lamb, ribs and neck, various veg
Wine: a lovely pinot noir from the Bourgogne region
Where: cafe Schiller, Amsterdam
With whom: Yoram
Whatelse: the food was delicious, the company even more so. We were served by the owneress, who told us she was not too happy with the 9+ rating by Johannes van Dam (she actually asked him not to publish his positive review), as she believed this would have a negative impact on the type of crowd. And she confirmed to us that that is exactely what happened. Sure, it was (and still is) good for business, with a 4-fould increase of diners, but it was/is in her opinion not the kind of crowd she would like to see. And on top of that, she would never allow the place to be so crowded or overbooked as to have to refuse the regulars. After dinner, at the bar, we did enjoy a wonderful a capalla goodbye song for Tim, by four beautiful women. I should not forget to mention that Yoram and I had a wonderful dinner-conversation together.

When: April 11, 2006
What: home-made meatball, cauliflower, beans&bacon, potatoes and an egg
Wine:2004, merlot, Matahiwi Estate, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (gorgeous)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the planned legal course was cancelled so I could enjoy an evening at home!

When: April 10, 2006
What: green tagliatelle with sauce bolognaise
Wine: 2005, chardonnay, Douglas Green, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa (mwah)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: very good to be back home again

When: April 9, 2006
What: ra sandwich with old dutch cheese
Wine: 2004, cabernet sauvignon - merlot, Dona Dominga, Chile (acceptable in the air)
Where: KLM 17.20 flight from Marseille to Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Marseille airport has no lounge, but a lovely playyard!

When: April 8, 2006
What: rabbit with various beans, courgette and salad
Wine: 2003, chardonnay, vin de pays de Vaucluse, chateau Blanc, France (lovely)
Where: restaurant Intramouros, Apt, France
With whom: my family
Whatelse: took the picture halfway through the main course as Olivier was a real pita, but apart form that the restaurant was lovely (even thought the service was a bit "strict") and the decor reminded me very much of Raga

When: April 7, 2006
What: chicken, baked potatoes and
Wine: 2001, Saint-Joseph, E. Guignal, France (very nice)
Where: at Karen and Jean-Noel, France
With whom: Lynda, Olivier, Karen, Jean-Noel, Lisa, Thibaut
Whatelse: we resisted the bird-flu angst and ate a wonderful overn-baked chicken for the first time in months. Lynda ofcourse, could not stop and we had to remove the chicken from the table or she would have devoured at least one whole chicken herself. It was again a lovely family dinner.

When: April 6, 2006
What: lotte with baked beans
Wine: a wonderful Chablis and an even more delicious Pouilly Fuisse
Where: at Karen and Jean-Noel, France
With whom: Lynda, Olivier, Karen, Jean-Noel
Whatelse: wonderful fish prepared by Karen and preceded by a very lovely home-made savoury pie of goats-cheese, courgette and mint (adorable) at their fantastic home in the south of France, just north of Apt

When: April 5, 2006
What: pan fried St. Pierre
Wine: 2001, Meursault, Maison Chanson, Pere et fils, Bourgogne, France (excellent)
Where: restaurant "32", Cannes, France
With whom: Donagh, Stephane
Whatelse: a lovely meal in a somewhat unimpressive atmosphere, recommended by the concierge at the Carlton

When: April 4, 2006
What: filet de boeuf rosini, with mashed potatoes and some leaves of salad
Wine: 2000, Moulin de la Lagune, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France (very full-bodied, enjoyable)
Where: restaurant Comme Chez Soi, Cannes, France
With whom: Nathalie, Greg, Oliver, Stephane
Whatelse: a typical MIP restaurant experience as we were surrounded by colleagues, suppliers, clients and competitors

When: April 3, 2006
What: scallops with black truffles and mashed potatoes
Wine: something French (quite ok)
Where: restaurant Gaston & Gastonette, Cannes, France
With whom: about 40 of the Family, including, at my table, Jereon, Peter, Bob, Matt, Phil, Niall, Susan
Whatelse: preceded by a lovely ensemble of foie-gras, tuna salad, cous-cous w shrimp and pata negra and accompanied with grand conversations of what the future holds for our business

When: April 2, 2006
What: red mullet
Wine: 1999, chablis grand cru, Loius Latour, Bougros, France
Where: restaurant, Cannes, France
With whom: Kay
Whatelse: preceded by a lovely fish soup and a corcked bottle of wine

When: April 1, 2006
What: pizza
Wine: 2005, sauvignon-blanc, Lawson's Dry Hills, Marlborough, New Zealand (excellent, still one of my favourites)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: myself
Whatelse: scanning photo's, doning the taxreturn, paying bills and after all that, a movie. Lynda and Olivier travelled to France today and arrived safely, listening to frogs in Karen's garden

When: March 31, 2006
What: Lynda's pumpkin-carrot soup
Wine: 2005, sauvignon-blanc, Lawson's Dry Hills, Marlborough, New Zealand (excellent, one of my favourites)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Olivier had broccoli-leek soup and he loved it; all of us enjoyed some nachos

When: March 30, 2006
What: lamb
Wine: a Barolo (wonderful, sadly, don't remember the name)
Where: restaurant Panta Rei Enoteca, Amsterdam
With whom: Angela, Jeroen, Stephane
Whatelse: excellent preparation for MIP, accompanied by very good wine and food (though Stephane's tuna steak was too raw for his liking), lovely service (and a very good place to have pre-dinner drinks) and, as it was on the menu, the lamb was preceded by Foie Gras

When: March 29, 2006
What: Karen's veggie-extravaganze: carrot's and redbeets with koriander, leek in vinegar, baked andive, mixed courgette, cauliflower and tomatoes, all topped of with some delicious meatballs
Wine: primitovo, canaletto, winemakers collection (nice)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier, Lynda, Karen, Roland, Maud, Lex
Whatelse: the selection of the proper photo was different, as the dinner prepared by Karen (with a lot of help from Lynda), was not only an enjoyment for the taste-buds, bud the eyes got plenty of attention as well, and all that on the eve of Lex's first ever trip to the USA, where he will meet up with Jos.