Pineapple Black Pepper Tarte Tatin with Vanilla Bean Creme Fraiche and Pina Colada Cream Sauce

After four days spent primarily in our hotel room preparing for the magistrate training, we decided to treat ourselves to a swanky dinner on Saturday night. We've had some very good food in Kampala, but dinner at the Fez Brassierie, in the Emin Pasha hotel, was nothing short of divine.

The hotel is located in the Nakasero neighborhood of Kampala, an upscale area high on the hill about a mile out of the city center, formerly home to British colonials, and now home to embassy staff, NGO directors, and other Westerners living in Kampala. The hotel is relatively new and is described as Kampala's first boutique hotel. The main building has been converted from an old British home, complete with hardwood floors and antique furnishings, and the rooms (or at least the one we peaked at after dinner) are decked out with four poster canopy beds, down-stuffed chaise lounges, and claw foot tubs.

But back to dinner: Sorry to gloat, but we were able to sit outside, on the patio overlooking the city, with just enough of a breeze to warrant a light jacket. To start, we had a butternut squash salad on a bed of dandelion greens with roasted beets, green beans, goat cheese, and toasted hazelnuts in a balsamic reduction. For the main course, we split two dishes: a broiled nile perch
with wilted greens and banana fritters in a red pepper sauce, and spring chicken served on mini-corn cakes with a sweet black bean sauce. (And by the way, the fruits and vegatables here bear little resemblance to their counterparts back home: here, they are fresh, sweet, ripe, and juicy.)

But the crowning touch was dessert: a tarte tatin of pineapple and black pepper topped with vanilla bean creme fraiche and served in a pool of pina colada cream sauce. We gushed about it so much to the waiter that he offered to have a second one made for us to take back to the hotel but we resisted, only to give us an excuse to go back for another dinner.