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| Lev Restaurant |
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| Lviv, Ukraine |
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Extraordinary -
Merit |
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| October - 2010 |
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5
Stars & 4 Stripes
Overall - 'Cuisine & Service' |
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The
Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and
Stripes® |
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| A quick glance out the window while dining at Lev
Restaurant at the Leopolis Hotel in Lviv, Ukraine is enough to conjure up the
very essence of Austro-Hungarian power and prestige when this city was Lemberg,
the capital of the eastern province of Galicia. Remnants of its former glory
can be seen presently in the form of cobbled stone streets, horse drawn
carriages and multi-lingual character, not to mention its diverse gastronomical
influences. Working in such a distinctive setting and taking into consideration
the rich ethnicity that permeates throughout this region, it takes a
imaginative and resourceful talent to bring it all together with culinary
theatrics. Enter
Emanuel
Wernbacher, Corporate Chef for Hotel Leopolis since 2009. Under his capable
direction, Chef Wernbacher has developed his own style in the preparations of
European and Ukrainian cuisines. It certainly helps that he is an Austrian
national with extensive professional experience working in five star properties
in both his own homeland and the former Empire’s lands of Eastern
Europe. |
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| In an atmosphere of
regal elegance fit for a Kaiser, the Lev Restaurant offers itself as the canvas
on which Chef Wernbacher applies his colorfully creative strokes, in the form
of his food presentations. On a recent visit to this restaurant, Chef
Wernbacher’s unpretentious melding of ingredients using his own
interpretations of historical recipes charmed and impressed us. |
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| Cuisine - Lev Restaurant |
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Our dinner began with Yellowfin Tuna
Tartar with sesame oil, limejuice and wafer-thin sliced ginger. A timbale
shaped mound of lustrous, moist chopped red Ahi tuna, bright and firm with a
pleasant smell of ocean air arrived as a first course. When paired together
with the stimulating aromatics of a light bodied Sancerre, we found the 2007
Guy Saget Sancerre, Selection Premiere to be an appropriate suggestion.
Next came Crispy Potato Towers Stuffed with Foie Gras, Paprika Reduction
blending together the oddly familiar shape of potato in the form of the
ever-present ‘onion dome’ churches in the area, while featuring the
creamy richness of goose liver pate. We moved on to the main course of
Roasted Lamb Chop with Multicolored Arugula and Red wine Jus. The
hallmark of this dish was the deep, earthy flavor of the red wine jus in which
we eagerly dipped garnet red tender morsels of lamb, while relishing every
bite. |
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| Cuisine - Lev Restaurant |
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A carefully assembled
arugula puree cobbled together with strips of julienne carrot and topped with
blanched cherry tomato, acted as a support for the perfectly pink lamb chop.
Naturally, a rather complex red wine with layers of interesting flavors was
needed to stand up to the dominant taste of lamb. It was time for a
Tempranillo from Bodegas Muga, Rioja Spain 2004 that featured the color
of very deep ruby red and displayed aromas of dark red berries and loamy earth.
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| For dessert Chef Wernbacher reached into his bag of
tradition to present us with House made Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce and
Plum Compote, a typically Viennese specialty that goes particularly good
with a full-bodied demitasse of espresso. An Armenian Noy 10 Cognac,
presented in a deep snifter to underscore powerful fruit and almond bouquet,
immediately followed. We truly enjoyed our dining experience at Lev Restaurant
and with the onset of Lviv gaining prominence with tourism off the beaten path,
we feel that this restaurant will continue to excel. |
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| Lev
Restaurant - Award - Seven Stars And Stripes |
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by Edmund & Thorsten Buehrmann
Editor: John
Lomitola
Editor-in-Chief: Ingrid Lemme |
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| © 2010 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes,
Inc. |
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