Eight Michelin stars in a small mountain resort and The Ablyazov Syndicate (film)
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With a population of around 15,000, the small Black Forest town of Baiersbronn has two three-Michelin-starred restaurants and one two-starred. I would like not to be unduly influenced by reviews and stars, but there is something hugely appealing about a small town in the midst of forest and mountains with so many supposedly exceptional places to eat and that it is in Germany, which is not a country I particularly associate with fantastic food. The thought of a week in a mountain resort, ideally staying at the Bareiss hotel, with a meal at one of each of these places every two days … yes, I would rather like that.
Restaurant Bareiss (3*)
https://www.bareiss.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-bareiss.html
Schwarzwaldstube (3*)
http://www.traube-tonbach.de/en/schwarzwaldstube-restaurant
Schlossberg (2*)
http://www.hotel-sackmann.de/en/gourmet-worlds/schlossberg/
For probably all my court reporting colleagues, the name Ablyazov will incite a groan at the very least. From our perspective, this is litigation that has gone on for years, it’s a challenging job to transcribe and it’s full of names not immediately obvious to us how to spell.
I had an interesting chat with a barrister who I recognised from that case. He asked whether I had seen “The Ablyazov Sydincate”, which he said made for an interesting viewing. Yes, a documentary film has been made about Ablyazov, billed as the “story of one of the biggest bank frauds in history and the man behind it”.
For anyone not familiar with Mukhtar Ablyazov, watch this or have a look on Wikipedia. I have not yet watched the film but I do have some insights from the many court hearings I’ve listened to and the Wikipedia information is the kind of read you’d expect only to suspend belief over in a James Bond film. Also of interest is the Blair brothers’ involvement in this seeming game of crime, violence, politics and staggering amounts of money.
greenbottletree 