december-2009

DIVINE DINING | SACRED TASTES
1
LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION
LONDON
Most churches are into avoiding temptation,
but St Paul’s Cathedral is bucking the trend
– at least where its food is concerned. “How
can we tempt you?” is the playfully devilish
way the new restaurant in the vaulted crypt
presents itself.
A masterpiece by Sir Christopher Wren,
St Paul’s dominates the busy fi nancial district
from its perch near the Millennium Bridge.
Its famous Whispering Gallery can transmit
secret messages 32m across the base of the
dome. But it’s no secret why news quickly
spread when the cathedral’s restaurant
opened in June. The ingredients are so fresh,
it even has its own beehives at Regent’s Park.
For the holiday season, The Restaurant
at St Paul’s is sporting Victorian fi nery and
serving a £20 (€22), two-course Divine
Christmas Lunch. Main courses include
traditional roast goose or gourmet offerings
such as west Sussex pork belly with red
cabbage and apple. There are signature
Christmas cocktails and plum pudding.
The Restaurant at St Paul’s, St Paul’s
Churchyard, tel: +44 (0)20 7248 2469,
restaurantatstpauls.co.uk
2
HEAVENLY FOOD,
DOWN-TO-EARTH PRICES
VENICE
Give us this day our daily bread… oh, and
serve it with a divine lunch in the heart of
Venice for only €13. Don’t have a prayer?
Think again. Your table’s waiting, courtesy
of the priests who maintain La Serenissima’s
dazzling St Mark’s Basilica.
With a €400,000 investment, the
Procuratoria Council’s priests converted an
old aquarium into Alla Basilica restaurant.
Its classic, low-priced Italian cuisine is aimed
at religious visitors, St Mark’s priests and
church lay workers. But anyone is welcome.
The ideal location near St Mark’s Square
is just past the famous Bridge of Sighs,
tucked into an atmospheric passageway that
Venetians consider a city street. The church’s
presence is muted, aside from a small crucifi x.
The old beamed ceiling at the entrance gives
way to a bustling bar and dining area with
pale yellow linens.
The lunchtime chatter is almost all Italian.
Mink coats and Gucci sunglasses mingle with
plaid fl annel shirts and sturdy shoes.
Of course, there are priests’ collars, too.
Alla Basilica, Calle Albanesi, tel: +39 041 522
0524. Lunch only
74 | TRAVELLER | DECEMBER 09
3
FROM THE ABBEY’S OWN FOREST
COME GAME DISHES SUCH AS DEER
GOULASH WITH NOODLES
FATHER JOHANNES’ FEASTS
INNSBRUCK
A Benedictine monk runs the Hotel Ludwig
der Bayer restaurant on the grounds of the
Abbey of Ettal. Father Johannes Bauer
serves stick-to-your-ribs regional specialities
such as roast pork in dark beer sauce with
potato dumplings and cabbage. This month’s
Christmas Market menu features goose and
a dessert favourite combines cream pudding
with the abbey’s own hay-and-herb liqueur.
A variety of beers are brewed at the abbey.
Fifty-two monks spanning four
generations live at the abbey nestled in a
narrow valley between forests and meadows.
Considered a fi ne specimen of German
baroque architecture, the abbey dates from
1330 and became one of the 18th century’s
most important Alpine monasteries. The Age
of Chivalry is dead, so no need for the former
Knights’ Academy. But the monks still run a
school for about 420 students.
The restaurant’s welcoming interior is
trimmed in Bavarian dark wood. The monks’
hotel also offers an indoor pool and sauna.
In winter, scenic cross-country trails help
skiers build up an appetite.
Ettal Abbey Hotel Ludwig der Bayer, 10–12
Kaiser Ludwig Platz, Ettal/Oberbayern,
tel: +49 (0)88 22 9150, kloster-ettal.de