On Spontaneous Fermentation, Roasted Bone Marrow and Chamamé

A June Newsletter

I’m sorry for the slightly longer-than-usual radio silence. Life has been busy with touring, cooking, eating, and parenting! Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Life on the Road

I was back on the road last month — and for the first time in a while, it was with a solo piano show. As some of you might already know, piano is my first instrument and perhaps the only one I’ve formally studied (six years of BA and MA at the conservatory). So it’s naturally the instrument I feel most comfortable with — the one I return to when I want to write new music.

In fact, I’ve been recording some new material and have pretty much finished a new album! This new set of music probably won’t see the light of day until 2026, but in the meantime, I want to share with you a short clip from a recording session I did a while back at St. Peter’s Church in Drogheda for this project.

When I tell people I’ve finished recording a new album, they’re often surprised to learn that it will take almost a year for it to be released. I’m not sure many of you are familiar with the full process of creating an album — especially what happens after the recording is done! I’m thinking of writing a post about that, so let me know if you’d be interested.

I spent a week on the road in May, touring a solo piano show that included some new material from the upcoming album I mentioned above, as well as older pieces from my record Northern Migrations. I played shows in Paris, Brussels, and Milan.

In Milan as part of Milano piano city (pic by @violehc)

In Brussels, I also played a trio show in the amazingly beautiful Grand Place/Grote Markt, as part of the Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend. The weather was unfortunately quite rough — rainy and humid — but a few brave souls stood in the rain and made us feel truly appreciated.

For this particular gig, I invited two old conservatory mates — now Brussels residents — to join me for a one-off trio concert. Sardinian bass virtuoso Manolo Cabras and Portuguese drum wizard João Lobo joined me on stage for an exhilarating set that brought me right back to my school days. It was such a joy to play with these two incredible musicians.

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The stage in Brussels grote markt

What I’ve Been Eating

I had some pretty good food during my short time on the road, so here’s a little playlist of places I enjoyed and would recommend.

1. Paris
   

   Honestly, one of the best pain suisse I’ve ever had came from Boulangerie Moderne (📷 1) in Paris. It needs to be said: when well executed, pain suisse is one of my favorite pastries. It has the chocolate vibes of a pain au chocolat — but better distributed in small chips — and the pastry cream (crème pâtissière) of my beloved Italian cornetto. Often it ends up a bit soggy, though. This one was very thin, and the pastry was super crunchy.

   There was a long line outside, and I assumed it was because of the quality of the pastries — but a friend told me it’s the bakery featured in Netflix’s Emily in Paris, which is why it’s so popular with tourists. I had no idea and have never seen the show; honestly, I probably wouldn’t have waited in line if I’d known. But in all fairness — it was incredibly good.

   While walking through Paris, I also stumbled upon a Japanese-style coffee shop called Background Coffee (📷 2). I stepped in to check it out and spotted Panama Gesha on the menu — supposedly one of the most prestigious and delicious coffees in the world — and I couldn’t resist. It was expensive, but very delicious.

   I also discovered a unique kind of cup there: the Figgjo Oslo Cup (Splitt model), designed by Tim Wendelboe. These are crafted to enhance the filter coffee experience — the wide opening lets you fully take in the aroma, and the narrower middle controls the flow of coffee into your mouth, giving you the perfect amount for tasting. I loved drinking from it and am currently trying to find one for my home setup — but it's not easy!

   That café happened to be en route to another Bib Gourmand restaurant called Capsule (pics 3-4), which offers a contemporary take on French cuisine. I had lunch there and tried two dishes:

   • A slow-poached egg served on a smoked cauliflower purée with crunchy croutons and seaweed.

   • Pork, slow-cooked for 36 hours, served with beurre noisette mashed potatoes and a maple syrup reduction.

   The food was rich, delicious, and very French in concept and execution — very tasty, though not exactly the kind of cooking that excites me most these days.

   Brussels
   At ANJU (📷 5-6), a Korean restaurant close to my hotel (and a Michelin Bib Gourmand), I had some truly delicious food:

   • Mandoo (dumplings filled with vegetables and tofu) served in a shiitake broth — rich, gently spiced, and deeply satisfying.

   • Duck breast bulgogi — perfectly cooked, tender duck served with shiso leaves for wrapping, a few banchan (small side dishes), and rice.

   I’d definitely recommend ANJU if you’re into Korean food.

2. While I’m generally staying off beer these days — I’ve found it doesn’t sit well with me, especially since dramatically changing my diet over the past year — I made an exception in Belgium.

   I was in a pub waiting to order drinks for some friends when I started chatting with an American woman who lives in Belgium to study and brew beer. She convinced me to try a Geuze Boon (📷 7), a blended lambic beer — spontaneously fermented and tasting like nothing I’d ever had before. This type of beer is exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne Valley, giving it a gentle effervescence (a bit like champagne) and a pleasantly sour, funky flavor. Its acidity almost reminded me of kombucha — and, importantly, it sat quite well in my stomach. (No artificial yeast, and it’s a fermented drink!) If you want to try lambic beers, do a bit of research — some of the commercial versions are incredibly sweet.

   One of my favorite coffee hangs in Brussels turned out to be Jackie (📷 8). I went there three times and was served excellent V60 filter coffee by the lovely staff. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in the area.

   By the way, if you're into specialty coffee and traveling in Europe, check out an app called Coffee Trip. It’s free and shows all the specialty coffee spots on a map, with useful details about each one. It’s super reliable — much better than searching on Google Maps.

   Milan
   I also indulged in Risotto alla Milanese con midollo at Osteria del Treno (📷 9) in Milan.

   This saffron risotto is a symbol of Milan and is sometimes served with roasted bone marrow. Osteria del Treno is a small, well-known traditional restaurant just a short walk from my hotel near Piazza della Repubblica. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try this classic dish while visiting the city. It was delicious — rich and quite cheesy, as risotto is usually finished with butter and Parmigiano or Grana cheese.

What I’ve been cooking

In the past month, I’ve been experimenting with tuna and eggs — a combination I really love. I order most of my fish from the Irish fishmonger Gannet, and once in a while they catch a whole bluefin tuna in the Irish seas. Whenever that happens, I buy a piece and prepare it in various ways.

The first dish you see below is a tuna tartare made with toasted pistachios and topped with a deep-fried egg yolk. I actually published this recipe, which you can find here.

The second dish is a pasta inspired by my Giappoliano fusion cuisine. It’s spaghetti cooked in dashi — risotto-style — topped with the same tuna tartare from the first dish and a raw egg yolk. This dish is so decadent and delicious; I’ll be publishing a recipe and step-by-step video soon. You might compare it to a seafood version of carbonara — though I’d avoid that word, since Roman people get very upset about it!

What I’ve Been Drinking

While on my tour and in Milan, I finally managed to meet up and hang out with Valentina Palange (also known as specialtypal on socials) — the woman almost entirely responsible for my coffee nerdiness. We had some amazing conversations, and she made me some delicious filter coffee.

Valentina recently published a great and controversial book titled Coffee in Italy Sucks. It’s currently only available in Italian, but I hear it will be translated soon. The book tells the story of Valentina’s journey into the specialty coffee world and exposes many myths and the unspoken, ugly realities surrounding Italian coffee. Definitely a must-read if you’re interested in this world. You can order the book here.

What I’ve Been Listening To

This month, I’ve been listening to a lot of music while on the move, so it’s hard to pick just one record — but this one has been on repeat on my CD player.

Next week, I’ll be joining friends and colleagues from the early music ensemble L’Arpeggiata for an exciting new recording and concert featuring music from various parts of South America. I’ll be playing historical keyboards and accordion.

In preparation, I dug out a record I hadn’t listened to in a while by the legendary Argentinian accordionist Raúl Barboza. Raúl is known for his virtuosity and expressiveness across many Argentinian musical genres, but above all, he’s an ambassador of chamamé — a traditional music and dance style from northeastern Argentina, particularly Corrientes province, with deep roots in Guaraní, Spanish, and Central European traditions.

Raúl has been living in Paris since the 1990s, and this album features him in a duo setting with the late guitarist Horacio Castillo, recorded just a few months before Horacio’s tragic death in a car accident at age 36. The album is an intimate collection of folk Argentinian traditional melodies and also serves as a homage to musette and tango.

Where can you hear me playing in June

In June I will be performing at these concerts.

June 13th Sailing to Byzantium with Cristine Tobin and Phil Robson
Seamus Heaney birthplace. Bellaghy, Northern Ireland.
More info here

June 23rd La Torre del Oro with L’Arpeggiata.
St. Michel en Tierache. France
More info here

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