After-work drink at Kennedy Brasserie – Restaurant, Luxembourg

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 3 Comments

Since my office moved out of the city centre, I tend more to hang out in places a bit decentred as I find too stressful go through all the road works and the traffic, not to mention the huge parking issues – ever tried finding a spot over week-ends?
Moreover, compared to years ago, some neighbourhoods, that used to be dark and quiet over the evening, have seen several new places openings and are pretty animated even after working hours. The most evident example is Kirchberg, where, thanks to new offices, more and more restaurants and bars have open in the last year.
So – it has been a long time since I wanted to try Kennedy Brasserie – Restaurant, located in the new premises of E&Y offices, on avenue J.F. Kennedy.
I see many pictures on Instagram and Facebook and I heard very different feedbacks, so yesterday finally it was the time to check this place.

First – please note there are works currently on the side of the street where all the restaurants and bars are, so the easiest solution is to park for free on the other side of the avenue.

I got at Kennedy around 7 pm with Patricia and we were immediately amazed by the ambience. The place is one of the best for design I have seen in Luxembourg recently. You can immediately spot a sophisticated attention to details – starting from the fresh flowers on all the tables and the immaculate cloths.

Unfortunately the place was totally empty – there was just a table occupied in the bar area where we were accompanied. We asked to stay on the couches but the waitress pointed out that if we were only two, we had to be on a smaller table. Fair enough, but maybe too much considering the place was completely empty at 7 pm?

We had couple of drinks and an aperitif platter, we spent really pleasant time and when we left couple of hours later, there were only few visitors more during our stay. I had Bloody Mary all over the night while Patricia had champagne, that we accompanied with a cheese board.

Find some pictures of our night followed by my usual impressions.

Things I loved about Kennedy:

I love the location, really. For atmosphere, it might easily become my favourite place in Luxembourg. Both the restaurant and the bar area are really refined and there is a perfect attention to details. During summer, the terrace would be really nice for a drink after-work.
The selection of drinks is wide and well priced – cocktails are around 12 euro and wine glasses start from 6 euro. Several offers also for digestifs and bottles. My cocktail was really well executed and the glass of champagne was as well correct.
Concerning the after-work platter selection, there is a nice choice. With the drinks, you are only offered some nuts, so it is clear you might want to have something on side. We went for the cheese board – 9,5 Euro – that was very well presented, with a good and particular options (nothing commercial) and was in a good quantity for two people, accompanied with some olives bread. You can even have only olives and bread for a small 5 euro or move to caviar and oysters for a pricey after-work.
Except for the issue of the table choice at the beginning, service was very fine.

Things I liked a bit less about Kennedy:

As said, we had a pleasant evening. We liked very much the place, the drinks and the food. We noted anyway only a very small issue on our side: service was terribly slow. Drinks and food – that was a cheese platter, so indeed not too complicated to prepare – took ages to come. While in the particular situation of yesterday this did not bother us very much, we wonder how this will be when the place will be fully booked.
Coming from the first point, it was very sad to sit down in a place totally empty. We wanted to have a relaxed chat so for us it was not a big deal, but I think I will be shy to bring there some other friends who might complain about the lack of social atmosphere.

In conclusion: I liked the after-work at Kennedy Brasserie – Restaurant very much. I loved the ambience and I would definitely come back to try the restaurant. Refined location, attention to details, good choice for food and drinks made it for me the best place for a girls night, a drink with a client or couples’ dinner. Really hope I will find more people there when I will come back.

What to do: Gare – Station

September 4, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 14 Comments

From this Friday on, another new monthly series is going to start on Barefoot in Luxembourg about best recommendations for each area of the city – and eventually also out of the city sooner or later. I based my suggestion on what I am doing normally and on my favorite places.

Feel free to comment with your own suggestions, I am always happy to know new places!

I am starting with the Gare – Station area, as my office is just overlooking one of the most busy street of the city and it is here that, normally, I spend most of my time when in town.

Where to go when you crave sweets or you are meeting your bestie after some shopping:
Kathy’s Deli & Cupcakery
I love this place for two reasons: first, you can go there whatever time of the day it is. For an overindulging breakfast, for a colorful lunch, for an afternoon meeting with tea and cookies or Saturday brunch . Secondly, it is the only place where I fancy having cupcakes. I tend to eat not too many sweets, because I don’t really like cakes, biscuits, macarons (sorry!) and I am more a burger and chips girl, but Kathy’s cupcakes are just perfect. They have lovely combinations (smors are my best!) and they are not soo sweet. Also: non-lactose milks – and soya, rice, etc – available for your drinks!
Casa Fabiana
Even if I am not very much into this restaurant for lunch, I love the tea room settings and above all on Saturdays it is perfect for a coffee break, a snack and some chats. Bonus point: very amiable service.

Where to go for your girls’ lunch
Ekxi
When my sister was working in my same building, this was our usual lunch place. I love the fact you can choose between several different type of foods: from focaccia and lasagna, to soups, to sandwiches to salads. And everything is “natural”, with ingredients well written so whatever allergy or food preference you have you shouldn’t ask twice the waiter. My favorite dish there is the Thai Spicy Soup with mushrooms , they also have pretty good deals for lunch (salad, sandwich and drink for 8,40 Euro) and if you are in a hurry, the fruit-shake with watermelon and mint is just delicious.
Sushi and More
I started to hate sushi chains when I was in London, as I normally find the food there extremely cheap and insipid, and the opening of Sushi Shop in Luxembourg couldn’t help me to change my feelings – even it worse them. Sushi and More is a quite different story, as they have some well presented sushi, tasty, and the combinations for lunch (sushi box plus salad plus soup) are all for 11.20 Euro. They have also several “out of menu” items while my beloved box is the chirashi one. The location is clean and waiters are smiling and kind. Not for a date, but definitely worth a good lunch.
Sushi Ogasang
Talking about good deals, Sushi Ogasang is a more refined place – I keep it normally for my “special” lunches. They have several lunch bento box formulas (around 14 Euros), including a vegetarian one, and, boys will be boys, an All-you-can-eat trail (15 euros for lunch, 22 euros in the evening).

Where to go when you want to have shopping but you don’t know what you want to buy
Hema
When I enter in Hema, normally I feel the same then when going to Ikea. I know I have to buy only a small thing (like the cleanser for my contacts) but I end up always with my bag full of stupid things. In fact I think Hema is helpful in two ways: for cheap home things (we bought there our curtains, but they have also dishes, small electro stuff, towels) or for totally silly compulsive items, like colored notepads, cake kits, gardener tools, candles. And… have you ever tried Hema cookies?

Where to go when you need to shop for a dinner date
La Pause du Gourmet
Here at La Pause du Gourmet not only you can have delicious lunches (not on budget), refined wine tastings or organize your evening events (business nights, birthdays, dinners), but also buying amazing wines, cheese and charcuterie. My favorite is the truffle cheese (prepared with truffle bits, not just aroma) and the pesto one. Hubby is a fan of all the Italian charcuterie, including the Colonnata lard.

Where to go when it is Sunday afternoon, your fridge is empty and you girlfriend is coming to your place
Monoprix
Monoprix is open until 7 pm on Sundays (all Sundays, not only those of city-shopping) They have great fruit and vegetables selection, wines and champagne, fresh bread and croissants, meat, cheese, cleaning stuff and many more other products – and your final bill will be lower than driving to the next petrol station to buy some last-minute beef filet , Cabernet and chips.

Where to go for a quiet drink with your colleagues
Hotel Park Inn
I know pretty well the station area is not popular among professional expats and Luxembourgers. It could happen anyway that you want to stop by the way for a drink, so, the Hotel Park Inn is definitely the best place to go for me. The ambience is swanky but not posh (forget Sofitel!), the service friendly and the prices reasonable. Above all, you are on the first floor over Avenue de La Gare, so you can enjoy the chaos without being in it middle. Recommended for an after-work drinks.

Where to go for a romantic dinner date
Taj Mahal (on budget)
Le Chatelet (elegant)

Where to go for a dinner/drink with a buddy
La Bella Napoli
They offer a very good Italian style tiny pizza at reasonable price – I am not a fan of their other dishes and I would recommend personally to go there only for the pizza, but feel free to try and let me know! The environment is a bit messy but pleasant, with efficient service. If you stick to the pizza and beer menu, it is very reasonable priced.
QG
For having a beer at QG, you definitely do not need to dress up. They have plenty of space for chatting, a terrace, a pool table and they are open until 3 am over week-ends. It is not a fashionable place, but it is kind of place where you can spend a funny evening with your friends without being bothered about the surroundings. I love their Bloody Mary.

I noted a couple of new places open their doors in the area recently but haven’t had a chance to try them yet.. so stay tuned for some further updated, gonna test them during next weeks 🙂

Late evening dining: Limbo RestoClub, Luxembourg

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 7 Comments

When I was told about the opening of Limbo, this new restaurant – club in the city center, I was a bit skeptic at the very beginning as I am not a fan of mixed environment concept, first because it is difficult to be good in too many things at the same time, second as the restaurants in da club were I have been in the past were all a big disappointment. In some of them the music was so loud you can barely hear your own voice.

Said that, I first had a dry run at Limbo last week: we had some friends arriving in town in the evening and we wanted to have a late light dinner. Unfortunately, as you are probably aware, there are very few places in Luxembourg where you could eat later than 9 pm in a decent way. I got in contact with Limbo FB page and they confirmed me their kitchen is open until 11 pm. It was quite refreshing and we had a short, pleasant time. We ordered some tapas to share and some great cocktails and the experience was so positive – even limited, as said – that I decided to come back this week end for a full dinner.

The location, the former Secret Garden, has been updated to the need of the new place, has a large wardrobe on view at the entrance and a great, cozy embowered terrace. The tables have a generous gap in-between, thing I always appreciate, and the service is informal but great.

The menu has a fair choice of fusion starters and main courses, meat, fish and vegetarian, plus some menu combinations. Prices are very very honest for being in such great central location.

I had salmon tartare as starter, scallops and patanegra as main, while my friend R. a veggie and tofu platter for starter and beef filet as main.

Here’s the pictures of our dinner, followed, as usual, by my impressions.

Things I loved about Limbo:

Outstanding choice of tropical cocktails: I had both Caipirinha and Daiquiri Frozen and they were both delicious. Finally a place where to have something different than a gin-tonic!
Food is great: in particular, high-quality raw materials (as the wagyu beef) and unusual combinations. My salmon tartare was to die for (even if it is strong in onions, so be aware if you are on a date) and the scallops platter was also yummy,
Amazing customer service. You get immediate reply from their FB page if you write them for any question/enquiry and the on-site service is also fine.
High quality/price ration and value for money – one of the best I have seen centrally.

Things I liked a bit less about Limbo:

While food is affordable, drinks price is in line with city center bars. That’s fine for a night out, but if you intend to have only cocktails during your dinner and you are quite like a booze lover like I am, it might start to be expensive. The great thing is that if you take the menu combination, you get cocktails for half price until midnight.
My friend’s starter – the veggie tofu platter – was nothing special.
It is not a restaurant for big appetite. I personally appreciate when you finish your dinner and you are satisfied but not overwhelmed, but we noted as it might not be the place for a lads only night.

In conclusion, I definitely like Limbo RestoClub very much: the ambience is pleasant and it is the perfect place I would recommend if you want to have a fancy late evening dinner before a night out or a date with friends with some tropical appeal.

MixinLux event: After-work at Jakob’s

July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 2 Comments

I had already a chance to introduce you to the MixinLux organization some posts ago. After having talked with Mariano and Zach, I decided to attend their last event at Jakob’s, in Clausen, as I was really curious to see how their after-works differ from others in Luxembourg…

As you can see from the pictures posted at the bottom of this post, I definitely had a blast and now I could not wait myself for them to organize next events.

I found several differences compared to other after-works I have attended so far, small details that could make interesting also for you like MixinLux FB page and save the date for next party.

– Even if the location was big enough and most of the people joined the event with their group of friends, there was really a informal, lovely spirit and atmosphere around. I arrived at the party alone but I was not really feeling scared or embarrassed. I got immediately the chance to talk with several different people, being themselves alone as well and I made some interesting chats and business connections. So, if you are new in town, you want to make some different friends and connections (without the Tinder approach 😛 ), MixinLux events are for you!

– There was this great matching idea behind this Jakob’s event: at the entrance, every person was given a small gift, ladies receiving a bolt and men a screw. If you were finding the bolt (or screw) matching yours, bingo! free shots at the counter.

– I love this after-work because not everything was about drinking. There was a “sponsor corner” by this two lovely girls from Insolit’PRO, a French company specialized in team-building events. They aim to open their business cross the border – so if you are interested, you should definitely visit their page. I was impressed by how two young ladies could be so passionate about their business and so motivated to expand abroad. Finally some girls power! 🙂

– Also, there was a Bobbi Brown corner by Paris 8 – if we were coming directly from work and had no time for refreshing your make up, you wouldn’t have had to be worried 🙂

A big mention also to Jakob’s – for me was the first time at this Clausen bar and I have to say I will definitely come back: friendly service and great cocktails. Their terrace is for sure one of the best in the area.

Enjoy some pictures now:

And some more:

Do you know MixinLux?

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 4 Comments

While organizing my agenda with the events to attend during next week in Luxembourg, I came across the MixinLux afterwork that will be held at Jakob’s next Thursday 23rd July.
If you follow my blog since the beginning, you know I am pretty much a fan of afterwork drinks: they give the opportunity to break your weekly routine, often an informal way for networking and discovering new places and make new friends out of your circle.
Since I arrived in Luxembourg, almost nine years ago, more and more organizations for “afterwork business” were created so I decided to have a chat with Zach and Mariano, who are the founders of MixinLux, before deciding to attend, in order to understand what differentiate their afterworks from the others in Luxembourg.

Zach and Mariano explained me that MixinLux aims to gather young professionals, expats and new comers around in a same place, after work, with nice music and few drinks. The main underlying idea is to meet friends, friends of friends, colleagues we heard about but never had a chance to talk with … in order to widen the network or just simply being introduced to other people working in different areas – fed up of discussing always the same working topics even after work anyone? 🙂

When I asked them why MixinLux should be different from the other after work groups, they gave me four specific reasons:

For them, good music is essential for a great party. For this reason, MixinLux has four resident DJs playing during their afterwork. Two of them are playing from 6.30pm until 10.30-11pm, the kind of music you need to chill-out and create a bit of atmosphere. The second two start playing around 11pm, only vinyl records, when people are ready to dance.

For every event, MixinLux tries to find a new idea to mix people, in order to prevent groups from staying all together during the entire night – and for the after work of the next Thursday, they have already some surprises ready.

MixinLux afterworks propose finger food and special cocktails.

There is a gopro hidden somewhere during their afterworks taking a picture every 10 seconds, and make a time-lapse with it.

MixinLux association has been created in April 2015 and has already held two events:

Aperiteca, in Apoteca, April 9: 250 people

Aperikki, IKKI Bar, June 4: 420 people

As said, next one will be held at Jakob’s in Clausen next Thursday. Joining MixinLux event is totally free.

Find more information on MixinLux association and next events on their FB page – some pictures of last IKKI event are following as well:

MixinLux Facebook Page