Where it all began or returning back to Chef’s, Sofia
Chef’s Live score by the 5D Sensograph of placescases.com: 5 out of 5.
December 2018
Seen 
Felt
Heard
Smelled
Tasted
So it all started- at the Chef’s. I liked it so much there, I was so impressed by the way Chef Victor Angelov cooked, organized his restaurant, talked with customers that I was inspired to start writing about restaurants, hotels, interesting places in Bulgaria, so that all visitors to our country can orient themselves easily and quickly where to go. In the same way an American blogger helped me to find interesting places on the French Riviera.
First were the reviews on TripAdvisor. Then I decided to create my own blog space in the infinite Internet space. Then I created pages in social networks to be followed by similar to me foodies and travellers, obsessive about the interesting details and so to this day when I have a 100 000 readers base, 1500 followers on Facebook, 150 on Instagram. It must sound too little, however you’re all not random people, but rather of those who really choose carefully how they can spend their limited leisure time.
In addition to describing and evaluating the interesting places I visit and refract my experience there through the prism of the senses and my 5D Sensograph, I present them in the light of the Experience Economy theory.
What this theory is about, you can read in my article What is Experience Economy and where can you find best examples in Bulgaria?
Each place, which is an example of its application in practice, deserves to be described, shared, recommended and I am trying very hard to do it as best I can.
I started creating short video movies for all those who don’t have time to read my reviews. In the fastest, visually-musical way, I try to recreate the experience of a place. To never miss new information and have a quick look at the content of the blog, subscribe to the YouTube channel Places Cases.
From this year we started working together with a young and talented composer Martin Alexandrov, who gives me a piece of his talents in the form of wonderful music, for the sounding of these films, to be unique and special, like the places I describe and to match your exquisite cherry picking of places to visit.
Our first joint project was announced in my post COULD A VIENNESE WALTZ BE COMBINED WITH ASIAN MOTIFS AND WHO SOUGHT THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION BY PLACESCASES.COM?
As a very natural finish for my posts in 2018 comes this long-planned review of Chef’s-my first gourmet- passion restaurant.
It was 10 km away from Sofia, but each time it was worth overcoming them, to have this amazing experience to eat very tasty food, amidst nature, against the backdrop of great Caribbean music, to chat with Chef Victor, and not only us the adults, but our children too. Thanks to him they know what a gourmet- quality cooked food is and they also think that all chefs are super cool guys who have a sense of humor and like children.
Think of this, dear chefs- you must be super cool, like children and have a sense of humour! Plus, you have to cook unearthly delicious food! Or at least this is the humble opinion of my two super skinny girls-admirers of gourmet cuisine and Chef Victor Angelov.
Chef’s Live is a very distant version of the first Chef’s on the way from Sofia to Samokov. Quite a large, huge open kitchen, not just a hot plate and two countertops, as was it once. A bunch of chefs cook your dishes Live in front of you. In the past, the person who welcomed us at the door and presented the masterpieces of Victor Angelov was the famous, now owner-chef of Lazy restaurant, in Sofia, Chef Ivo Petkov.
The quality of the food has not changed, and remains still high, even though Victor is no longer visible in the kitchen. We now watch him on the small screen, first in MasterChef, then in Hell’s Kitchen, in live demonstrations, awarding prizes and unfortunately, we can’t chat with him like before.
We visited Chef’s Live within 2 weeks 2 times. The second time was dedicated to their great, unique and best tripe soup in Sofia. Don’t think it’s some kind of gourmet version of the favourite to all Bulgarian soup. It is served in the authentic way, with garlic and cayenne pepper on the side, genuine, unique.
See ….
…. A large main hall and a smaller, quieter one, close to the reception of the hotel where the restaurant is located;
…. Festive and beautiful decorations, stylized graphic on the bar, modern, urban.
Feel ….
…. Very good service, diligence by the young waiters to satisfy the curiosity about all the food issues, only I wish they presented more details of the food, since the combinations and techniques were great;
…. Tranquillity in the smaller hall;
…. Crispy falafels in salad falafels on fennel, chickpeas, yoghurt-curry and cherry tomatoes
Hear ….
…. Diverse international speech;
…. It’s always full, so it’s loud, I couldn’t even hear the music, but it’s not unpleasant, because the noise was joyful invigorating speech.
Smell ….
…. Exotic Asian flavors in the octopus, shrimp and squid in chili sauce with caramel.
Taste ….
…. Obligatory if you are a fan of tripe soup- traditional Bulgarian soup of veal tripe and milk, dense, tender, delicious, unique. (I think I wrote already unique somewhere)
…. Ribs– really tender and delicious, smeared with that slightly sweet sauce that suits them so much;
…. Only if you are a very extreme and radical opponent of the French fries you have an excuse not to order them as a side dish. If you don’t, you’re spoiling the burger, ribs, fish and chips… the last one has real chips- crispy, fabulous;
…. The most unusual biscuit cake in the form of a ball with chocolate glaze;
…. Choose something from the wine list- they have good wine by glass too.
If you are not from Sofia but you are planning a trip and looking for a hotel in the center, the one in which Chef’s Live is located is ideal. You can enjoy Victor Angelov’s cuisine directly on the ground floor. Just book here. For your convenience, I added booking.com box. I guarantee you will use all your genius discounts and privileges. Just enter the dates, then click the Search button and voila.
А: Sofia, Bul. 16 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, Hotel Sense – ground floor
T: + 359 895 020 020
Open hours: Mon-Sunday, 12-23 h.
Don’t worry how to get to Chef’s Live, in Sofia. Just use the placescases.com google maps guide by clicking on the red pin on the map and then choosing directions:
For more reviews about restaurants, hotels, and other places in Sofia, Bulgaria and the world, check out all categories of placescases.com
If you are interested in the theory of Experience Economy, read my sequel of articles about places proving it in practice, in category Experience Economy.
