Off the Beaten Path with Zoltan Szabo in Bucharest (Romania): Restaurant Casa Doina

We were all extremely pleased at the conclusion of the Romanian Wine Tasting at Wine With Me. The tasting had been insightful, impactful, entertaining, and educational and revealed the high-quality embodied in specific Romanian wines. 

But we were on an off-the-beaten-path quest so Zoltan, Daniel, and I took leave of our fellow tasters and headed off into the wild unknown. Zoltan was keeping the itinerary close to his vest so I generally found out where we were going when we got there. That schema was working so far so I was not concerned. We finally pulled up at Restaurant Casa Doina.

The structure housing the restaurant was originally the Romanian Pavilion at Paris' Universal Art Gallery of 1889. The design is a mashup of a Romanian aristocratic house of the period combined with Seville and Alhambran architectural elements. The architect, Ian Mincu, is considered to be one of the founders of the Romanian architectural style.

At the conclusion of the Paris show, the structure was recreated in Bucharest and named Bufetul de la Sosea (The Street Tavern) in 1892. The building is classified as an Architectural Monument. Restaurant Casa Doina has called it home since 2003.

Casa Doina combines traditional Romanian cuisine with robust international offerings in a beautiful garden setting in order to provide customers "the opportunity to enjoy exquisite meals" in a "picturesque outdoor environment." 

The setting was absolutely stunning as I wended my way through the gardens to our seat location. My head was on a swivel as my eyes feasted on the ambience.

After a quick perusal of the menu, we decided to go full Romanian. I folded up my menu and placed myself squarely in the hands of my tablemates. We began with a Starter Medley which, when it arrived, had me questioning my decision. It was huge. And it was only the starter. I was unsure as to whether I would be able to negotiate this dish and a main course as well. After a lot of bobbing and weaving, I was able to exit the starter phase with my dignity -- and a portion of my appetite -- intact. 

Zoltan described the main course thusly on his Facebook page:"My friend and I having tachiturǎ moldoveneascǎ with murǎturi and other tasty old school Romanian classics for lunch at the nicest and oldest, architecturally stunning Restaurant Casa Doina ..." If you know, you know. This dish was weighty.

According to Wikipedia, "Tochitura is a traditional Romanian and Moldovan dish made from pork cut into small cubes and cooked over a low fire in their own fat and juices, generally in a cast-iron pot. It is traditionally served with over-easy eggs and mǎmǎlugǎ (polenta) with or without tomato sauce and can also be made from beef, lamb or chicken. The traditional Romanian dish contains not only meat; it includes parts of the internal organs of the animal ... tied together. It is served with polenta and a salty sheep's cheese." Below is my example as served.

Tochiturǎ Moldoveneascǎ 

Murǎturi (Pickled vegetables)

During the course of the meal I was constantly regaled with stories of the history and geography of the foods that were in front of us, the wines that we were drinking, the country broadly speaking, the occupation period, etc. These guys were loads of fun.

Daniel, the Author, and Zoltan at Casa Doina

So Zoltan had promised me unique, off-the-beaten-track experiences. And he was delivering. But not only were these things/places off the beaten track, they were damn good. And we had just gotten started.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme