In case I fall in love with a restaurant, it is difficult for me to find words and even harder to write a post about it – because either the food is super delicious or the chef a genius or both – and then I am worried that my words or posting cannot nearly describe the fascination and admiration that I felt in the moment that I ate the food. This applies also to my following posting about Criterion, because it is definitely one of the best restaurants I have been to and it does not only have one genius creating the unbelievable good dishes, but two: Hermanos Rausch (Rausch brothers).

The perfect dinner started with a delicious fresh and warm bread variation. For me good bread is more than a teaser, it is the point of no return: You will immediately know if the upcoming dinner will be heaven or hell. In this case the bread rolls were the stairs to heaven and already promising for Criterion’s Tasting Menu for 2015 which followed.

The Tasting Menu gave me an overview of what the restaurant offers with 10 different courses and I was happy that the waiter explained everything in English, so that I not only was eating delicious composed food, but was also well informed about the ingredients used in each dish. Further I highly appreciate that each dish had a relation to local ingredients but was at same time cooking on level of international haut cuisine.

The dinner started with a tasty soup: Vichyssoise, grouper and whiskey cappucino served in a romantic cup (see first picture). Beautiful for the eyes and good in taste.

Not less interesting were the dishes that followed. Some dishes were leveled to a show: They were actively presented at the table…

Essences added (like the perfectly done tomato essence below)

sauces added

or covers removed

Further local ingredients such as Guabana, Lulo, Zapote, Corozo and Coconut were either transformed into foams, gelatines, sauces or a tiramisu.Yuka was complemented with sepia ink. If you have already tried all the local ingredients before your visit to Criterion, you will notice how perfect the Rausch brothers compose these together with e.g. meat, fish or iberico ham.

Each course also had their own plate design, which I also valued. But one minor comment: The Zapote Tiramisu with Chocolate Crumble was served in a flower pot – of plastic. I had a similar dessert version in Barcelona, but it was served in a ceramic flower pot, which is definitely more appealing.

Unfortunately I couldn’t try the wine pairing, because I took some pain reliefers, but I saw that the wines were perfectly selected and I still regret not having had the chance trying it with the food.

So all in all I enjoyed every bite, sip and lick. It was an uber-delicious experience, an innovative kitchen and food prepared with love for Colombia. This will be one of my reasons to come back to Colombia and definitely my first stop in Bogota!

Where? Calle 69 A # 5 – 75, Zona G. Bogotá, Colombia   http://www.hermanosrausch.com/criterion.html