I was having lunch with close friends in Genoa at the restaurant called I Tre Merli when I thought how much I wished I can blog again.

I have not have not stopped cooking nor discovering the joys of food, in fact I do cook daily for a crew of 4, myself, a Ukrainian stew, a Turkish deckhand and an Israel man (sorry he calls himself a Palestine he was born in the Palestine state before it became Israel).

Thing is I have no internet connection. We do at the boat which I use for work connecting to a UK GSM for 1 euro an hour. Oh goes the joy of blogging and surfing.

For how long I can cope with this? I wonder.

I am currently based in La Spezia, Italy just about 100 klms out of Genoa near to Pisa.
The yacht is dry docked out of the water and there is nothing much to do at the yard.
Either I will soon talk to the cranes or the walls…. but hey I do spend hours of travel on weekends to go back to Antibes to keep my sanity and smell the French shops which I miss so much.

Today of course lunch was with a chef and 3 other foodies whom I met few years ago on I just started boating. Over the years our taste buds have evolved to almost a level food snob oh oh….

Not really we are just lucky to have worked for rich people and understand their lifesytles, basically slaving serving food and wine to them.

I tre merli means 3 black birds, I have encountered this restaurant with the Swiss Cheese many years ago when we were constantly based in Genoa.
Simply elegant food using the fresh¡est ingredients and with a good selection of wine.

I will not dwell what we had but a memorable dessert that really stayed to my taste bud and memory.

PANACOTTA INFUSED WITH TEA WITH SAFFRON CREAM SAUCE.
I admit after all the years of eating at different Italian ports I really had given up on panacotta.

But the description of tea based… saffron just made me order it.
We all shared it tasted… admired the flavour and all of us drifted to our own foodie world while we savour the taste.

I hope chef Margo will soon send me a copy of the photo so I can post it here.
At the moment…. I do miss my blog.
I miss the writing, the creativity, the interaction.

I still cook daily and my ex captain wrote me a letter of referee hard for me to describe when he wrote about me cooking for the crew and for the owners guests.

Will be back really soon.