Steensgaard Herregårdspension, a manor house dating to the 14th century, provided the perfect ambience for a romantic dinner.
Edward F. Nesta and I stayed at Steensgaard Herregårdspension in May 2006, and had a romantic evening in their restaurant. We began our evening in the Library, where Jonas Rasmussen brought us a passion fruit and sparkling wine aperitif to accompany a bowl of salted nuts. The library looks exactly as you would expect a library in a manor house to look, with dark paneled wood walls, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, beamed ceiling with a brass chandelier, and a brick fireplace with a painting hanging over the mantle. Three large windows with views of the grounds, a wooden desk faced another window, where a clock stood on the windowsill. Blue velvet chairs, a blue velvet sofa, a large blue oriental carpet, and a round table placed in the center of the room decorated with a brass candlestick holder with a tall white taper, and a fresh floral arrangement of a pink rose, Gerber daisy, hypericum berries, and lemon leaves presented in a footed milk glass dish, completed the ambience. As would be expected, we read that there is a resident ghost who often visits the library, but we had to converse only with ourselves, as if he visited, he did not make himself known.
After our aperitif, we went to the attractive Dining Room, which featured deep red walls with gold trim, antique plates hung in plate holders on the wall, and there was an ornate plaster floral design on the ceiling, and a chandelier. There were two walls of windows with topiaries lining the windowsills, a large ornate gold mirror over the fireplace. Leather upholstered wooden chairs stood by creamy damask linen draped tables, graced with napkins wrapped into tall tapers, with silver candlesticks or candelabra with tall white tapers on each of the tables. Low music played in the background, silver charger plates, a white rose with purple stattice, baby’s breath and lemon leaves in white two-handled bowls, and white embellished salt cellars on the tables added extra panache to the overall ambience.
The restaurant offers three, four, five or six course dinners, and has an extensive wine menu including vintage wines. We selected the 4-course dinner, which began with an Amuse Bouche of an oyster with diced apple and white balsamic vinaigrette. For our first course, Edward selected the Grilled foie gras de canard and confit of quail legs served with salad with sun-dried raspberries. The foie gras was fried and served warm with raspberry sauce and crispy quail legs. I selected the Fresh shrimp from Fyn served with salad and lump roe, presented as frisee delicately dressed with light vinaigrette with small local shrimp on one side of the plate, and a square of lump roe topped with a pastry crown on the other. We paired our first courses with 2003 Domaine Vincent Girandin, Santenay, Burgundy Clos de Conne-Dessus.
For our second course, Edward selected the Roasted medallion of tender loin of veal surrounded with veal bacon served on spinach and white local asparagus, with creamy pearl barley and fresh herbs. I selected the Poached filet of turbot with lobster topping served with lobster foam and Melba toast. The turbot was presented with a thick crown of lobster mousse on a bed of creamy barley mixed with local Funen cheese, with lobster foam, orange and grapefruit slices, and garnished with miniature fern leaves. We paired these selections with a 2003 Marangey 1er Cru, Vincent Girandin – la Fussiere.
Our third course was an enticing Selection of French farm cheese, which Jonas presented on a silver rectangular tray with an assortment of flatbreads and a delectable papaya, apricot and chili compote made at Steensgaard Herregårdspension to accompany the cheese.
We completed our dinner with White chocolate mousse flavored with eucalyptus served with rhubarb consommé and filled with fresh rhubarb and sorbet. During our stay at the hotel in May 2006, rhubarb was in season, and Pastry Chef Lars Petersen took advantage of that to create a most unusual and very tasty dessert. The white chocolate mousse with eucalyptus was an interesting combination of flavors, and combined with the mélange of rhubarb, it was heavenly with rhubarb sorbet, and a light refreshing rhubarb "soup."
Read Chefs’ Recipes where Chef Lars Petersen shares his recipe for White chocolate mousse flavored with eucalyptus served with rhubarb consommé and filled with fresh rhubarb and sorbet. Read about Steensgaard Herregårdspension in the Hotels and Resorts section.
Steensgaard Herregårdspension
DK-5642 Millinge
Denmark
Telephone: +45 62 61 94 90
Fax: +45 63 61 78 61
Email: steensgaard@herregaardspension.dk
www.herregaardspension.dk
Read our articles on Denmark in Destination: Copenhagen, Denmark, Destination: The Islands of Funen and Jutland, Denmark, Hotels and Resorts, Restaurants, Chefs’ Recipes, Liquor Cabinet: Olfestival, Music Scene: Mickey Lee – She’s The Girl Marie Marie and Music Scene: Saxopaths Saxofonkvartetten.
For additional information on Denmark please contact: VisitDenmark at www.visitdenmark.com, VisitAarhus at www.visitaarhus.com, VisitOdense at www.visitodense.com, Fyntour at www.visitfyn.com, and Wonderful Copenhagen ® at www.visitcopenhagen.com. For SAS Scandinavian Airlines information, please contact them at www.scandinavian.net. For information on DSB rail service, please contact them at www.dsb.dk.
© November 2006. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.
