hoodfood.ch, Muehle Tiefenbrunnen, Zurich

So I got some interesting mail this week. Essentially it boils down to this fine piece of literature art being rated as obscure, irrelevant and petty. Not every chef seems to take criticism in style. But I guess the gentlemen has a point, with publications such as Annabelle, NZZ, Tagesanzeiger and others writing about hoodfood.ch the real picky gourmet has been relegated to the niche of avantgarde. Then again, it’s always been lonely at the top 😉

Hoodfood.ch is the first popup following woodfood.ch and it’s centered around pork, essentially a Frühlingsmetzgete. Lighter and fresher, but still remaining in the Metzgete spirit. In true Vale Fritz fashion the quality of the butter is exceptional, slathering the creamy goodness finger-thick on the bread makes everyone happy at the table and longing for more. Eggs filled with a slightly sweet carrot juice and bright spring herbs was a delicious little bite. The terrine and ham was excellent, the head cheese (schwartenmagen) was nice in taste but could have done with some more textural elements to create more suspense in eating, also the salad sauce could have been seasoned a little bolder. To honor spring, a very fresh carrot was served with canola and camomille. Here the texture was great with the crunch from the canola, but the camomille was rather special.

Anyway the key was the meat dishes. A group of hungry co-diners were slowly getting excited to getting down to the important things, the real Metzgete. A steaming plate of delicacies paired with a bowl of Buckwheat Chnöpfli was served family style. The blood sausage was the least interesting of all the morcels but still nice. The absolute terrific elements where the liver sausage and the bratwurst. The former with morels and sage, the latter with spring herbs were truly good sausages. Of course the group of hungry men were disappointed by the small size, but everyone was happy after a second serving made it our way. The texture of the sausages was right, the taste superb and slightly surprising, this is what I like about food. And to top it off, some pork belly was offered as well… everyone was a happy camper especially with the pickeld vegetables giving a nice acid and crisp element to the course.

Our moods continued to be elated as the small selection of cheese (especially the Heublumenkäse) was served. To round it off rhubarb, easter cake (Osterchüechli) and Vanilla ice cream were served as dessert. The easter cake was so-so, but the rhubarb and very light & creamy ice cream were delicious. Overall hoodfood.ch is a great event – the food is good, the important things are great and the vibe is great. Long tables, many different people – perfect for either meeting people or having a nice night with friends. My guess is that it will be sold out quickly…

Pricing is fair, don’t let yourself be fooled by the bill we had a bottle of wine or two…

And on a side note – Our gazes met, we stared at each other indifferently and huffed at the other’s trivial online publication. Harry of Zurich’s food blog world happened to be here as well Harry’s report – and surprisingly he has a loving and beautiful wife. I didn’t think one could do so well with being the second best blog 😉