a Spoiled Cochon

L'Abeille

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:03:04 +1000

Chef Philippe Labbe, formerly of La Chevre d’Or in Eze in the south of France, once had 2 Michelin stars and was a prospect to get 3. He now moved to Paris to open the high-end restaurant of the newly opened Shangri-La hotel. And he wants 3 stars. NOW. The food was great, but not 3 stars worthy. A solid 2 stars, yeah, but nothing more. No emotion, except for the pork dish maybe, like you’re meant to expect to come out from a 3 Michelin star kitchen. And with the competition around him, especially in all the palaces, it’s going to be tough. But he is definitely aiming to get them soon. We’ll see what the Michelin man gives him next March. 2 for sure. 3? Maybe…

Amuse bouche 1, 2, 3, 4

Amuse bouche 5

Amuse bouche 6

Foie gras from Vendee - part 1: Foie gras terrine marbled with black nougat and Maldon salt, Nogaret farm grown melon refreshed by citrus fruits (1/2)

Foie gras de Vendee - part 1: Melon seeds milk with meringue, melon and Beaumes-de-Venise Muscat granite (2/2)

Foie gras de Vendee - part 2: Pan fried duck foie gras with almond paste, almond emulsion, caramelized Eiffel tower melon with fresh almonds and sweet orange

Lamb from Aveyron: Lamb fillet simmered with coconut, melissa and curry spices, watermelon and gamberoni in grilled peanut cream and yoghurt (1/2)

Lamb from Aveyron: Toupie, white, yellow and purple carrots flavoured with coconut (2/2)

Pork from two origins: Roasted milk-fed Iberian pork rack, soy caramel and shiso spaghetti (1/2)

Pork belly from the Pays Basque “Cantonese style” with crab (2/2)

Pre-dessert of beetroot

Baiano chocolate Grand Cru - frozen vacherin like a napoleon cake, white chocolate sauce

Wild strawberries - Napoleon cake, avocado mousseline, avocado-wild strawberry sorbet. Marinated with strawberry juice, Tahiti vanilla ice cream

Rino

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:28:39 +1000

I was excited to try Rino, and had high expectations due to all the praise the chef, who used to work at La Gazzetta, has been getting in the past months. The food, because it was lunch and July, was very simple, great but not what I was looking for for my last lunch in Europe for a long time. When you work in the area, it’s amazing to have such a place close by. But when it’s a destination, like it was for me, it’s a bit disappointing. I will go back soon, this time for dinner, and I’m sure I’ll be amazed by this young chef’s superb Italian cuisine.

Squid, Paimpol beans, smoked mozzarella, tomato

Monkfish with potatoes, leeks, zucchini and pesto

Hanger steak with the same sides

Chocolate tart, dried fruits, apricots

L'Ami Jean (again)

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:14:14 +1000

Stephane Jego is a great chef. He cooks amazing basque food with a modern twist. But that night I wanted his classics. The simpler, bigger dishes that will never leave L’Ami Jean’s menu. It’s too much food, too heavy, too rich but it’s just so damn good. If you haven’t been, get there now for most decadent charcuterie plate, cote de boeuf and rice pudding in town, if not the world.

Sauteed girolles

The infamous cote de boeuf, provided by Hugo Desnoyer, the superstar butcher

The best riz au lait, if not dessert, in the world

Le Dauphin

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:01:18 +1000

This is the second restaurant of Le Chateaubriand’s duo, Inaki and Fred. It’s a more simple version, but the creativity of Inaki and Laurent Cabut, his sous-chef definitely shines. It was a mixed crowd of locals and pilgrims, and everybody was happy to eat a full meal for 27 euros per head, when you can’t even buy a dessert for that price in some Michelin star places. I will go back for dinner though, as the food is a bit more sophisticated I heard.

Slow cooked egg, green beans and salicornia

Chicken livers, cabbage and raspberry

Saint Jean de Luz’s bonito with new potatoes, leeks and purslane

Suckling lamb with the same sides

Cheese

Meringue lemon tart

Vivant

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:40:21 +1000

I couldn’t wait to go there. I was really looking forward to meeting Pierre Jancou, the godfather of natural wines. The wine was good, the food as well. He is famous to be very product-driven, which is true, but the duck dish showed more than just a good duck, it was cooked to perfection and overall just a great dish. I also had the best burrata I ever tried in France. This restaurant - it is not a cave a manger like his former Racines or La Cremerie - is definitely a must go if you like natural wine and food.

Burrata, capers, baby tomatoes

Pasta alla norma

Duck and seasonal vegetables

Parmesan and honey

Pierre Jancou with his famous hat chatting to a customer

Frenchie wine bar + Frenchie (part 2)

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:23:32 +1000

Just landed back in Paris, and what better place to go than straight to Frenchie. We had a booking at 9:30 but wanted to check out their new wine bar, which wasn’t open last time I went. We basically had 2 dinners, and a LOT of wine. Food is always good there, always different and interesting combinations, and the atmosphere is great. One of my favourite Paris places, where I go every time I’m in town.

Burrata and pea pesto (wine bar)

Pig’s head, beans, apple and mustard seeds (wine bar)

The usual foie gras (restaurant)

Mackerel, cauliflower, fresh almonds (restaurant)

Sweetbreads, beans (restaurant)

Dorade in a gaspacho (restaurant)

Chicken, mustard seeds, zucchini (restaurant)

Chocolate tart, salted caramel, raspberries (restaurant)

Elkano

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:30:00 +1000

A short drive from San Sebastian, in Getaria, this place is absolutely amazing. It’s easy, you order the kokotxas, which are some kind of fish offal, it’s hake “throat”, followed by a whole char-grilled turbot. This fish is the best I ever had. The difference of texture and taste between each part, with its salty and smoky bits, is just pure goodness. It feels like you’re eating roasted suckling pig, it’s the same balance between “fat” and crisp. And finish with the cheese ice-cream, a simple dessert but which might be the best I had in Spain. A good and cheap wine list on top of that makes it a must go if you’re ever in the region (the other one in town, Kaia-Kaipe is meant to be great as well, with an even better wine list).

Amuse bouche of squid tartare

Kokotxas in batter and char-grilled

Kokotxas with green sauce

The infamous rodaballo a la parrilla

Cheese ice cream with strawberry infusion

Rice pudding

The grilling of the turbot

Akelarre

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:48:14 +1000

This was a great lunch. Amazing food, great service. And what a view! Very modern food, but not too molecular, just the right amount of twists and technique. And very tasty, which is what matters most. It wasn’t as mind blowing as Mugaritz, which has really become a benchmark for me, but the whole package was great and it’s definitely a place to check out if you want superb food AND the rest to be close to perfect. Get ready for the longest dish descriptions ever!

Amenities: Tomato and Basil Gel / Sponge: take the Onion sponge and put Tomato Gel on it! / Sea Bath Salts: directly to the mouth! / Idiazabal cheese Moisturizer / Mouthwash Cocktail

Xangurro in Essence, its Coral Blini and “Gurullos” / The crustacean’s meat is reinforced by its juice. Accompany with the pasta that looks like rice grains.

Razor Shell with Veal Shank / Combine Razor shell with veal and cauliflower mushroom. Textures, flavors, contrasts…

Sauteed Fresh Foie Gras with “Salt Flakes and Grain Pepper” / Sauteed Foie Gras with a lot of “Salt’n Pepper”

Fresh White Beans Mosaic Salad / White Beans from Sanguesa, dressed over fine sheets of flavoured sponge cakes … with colour.

Turbot with its “Kokotxa” / The preparation is made entirely with Turbot, including its “kokotxa”. Pil-Pil sauce. A crispy chip of its own skin.

Roasted Suckling Pig, with Tomato “Bolao” and Iberian Emulsion / To get a crispy and juicy texture, the baby pig is cooked in Iberian broth and finished in the oven. Start with the baby pig with tomato “bolao”; continue with another bit of the Iberico emulsion. Finishing tasting all together. Tomato “Bolao”. Iberico emulsion.

Milk and Grape, Cheese and Wine in Parallel Evolution / Grapevine, curded sheep milk and walnut. Powdered fresh cream with chive and grapes. Quark cheese with nutmeg and pink pepper aroma, must of tapioca and tomato. -Idiazabal semi-matured with quince jelly and wine dust. -Torta of Casar’s grape with soaked raisins in Pedro Ximenez. -Brandy sirop with Gorgonzola cheese ice cream. Start from the left to the right to recognize each and every of the different flavours that the milk has, as well as the transformations that the grape and milk suffers from the origin up to the oldness.

Jerte Cherries and Apricot, in Kirsch, Vanilla Stones / We took the seed out and filled them with the cherries’ cream and Kirsch. The apricot is the other fruit that opens the season. It’s a puree in the bottom. And the stones… we made them with fantasy.

A Different Apple Tart / Puff pastry toasted-apple cream-puff pastry praline-and our house made eatable apple paper. The traditional apple tart is very good, but we have made a new one. Our apple tart does not have fresh apples but tastes much more than others.

More sweets

The amazing view

Asador Etxebarri

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:10:48 +1000

This was my most anticipated meal of the trip. And I was maybe expecting too much. I loved it, don’t get me wrong, but after being moved the night before at Mugaritz, I was looking forward to get the same feeling and I simply did not. It’s amazing, the produce is obviously as good as it gets, but this kind of simple just did not get to me. I had in mind for this lunch to be amazed by the purity of each produce, a bit like at the best sushi places in Tokyo. That prawn for example, which has become one of Victor’s signature dish, is beautiful but I can’t say it’s a great dish. Even if it’s the most amazing prawn cooked to perfection. I will definitely go back though, as I know the fabulous meal I had the night before clouded my judgement and made me way more demanding, when it truly was a superb lunch.

Beetroot amuse bouche

Extra course: house-made chorizo

Another extra course: anchovy on toast

Goat butter

Oyster

Goose barnacles

Palamos prawns

Baby octopus

Baby squid

Grouper

Beef chop

Reduced milk ice-cream

Cheese flan

Little “madeleines” to finish

Mugaritz

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:40:00 +1000

Perfection. It truly was. From the atmosphere to the service to the food, it was absolutely amazing. A life changing meal. It makes you rethink what a Michelin starred restaurant should be in 2011. It was my first dinner in one of the top 8 restaurants in the world, and there will really a before and an after Mugaritz for me. No stiffness, just the perfect amount of casual and at the same time not one single mistake, spotless from the wine service to the space between tables. And the food, well a lot of people say it’s sometimes too out there and complex, but we enjoyed every course, and there were a few that were out of this world. All I want to do now is go back, as soon as possible, and be mesmerized by Andoni’s cooking once again.

Refreshing “bulgur” link

Edible stones

Starch and sugar crystal spotted with pepper praline and corals

Grilled pueraria focaccia

A tour of the absolutely amazing kitchen

Pickled onion, tendon and tuna essence

Daily flowers stewed with codfish

Artichoke and bone marrow ragout, creamy kuzu bread

Hazelnut and beans stew

Pork noodles with “arraitxiki” extract and toasted rice

A Mugaritz moment

Silky bread stew, infused with pink geranium leaves covered with crabmeat

Filet of hake and milky reduction of stewed cabbage sprouts. Luscious citrus spread

Textures of coastal fish

Rich ossobuco with toasted lobster emulsion

Piece of beef, grilled steak emulsion and salt crystals

Iberian pork tails, crispy leaves and toasted sweet millet oil

An extra course: “quail and armagnac”

Cool vanilla brioche and toasted cream

Lemon cream with daikon radish and unsweetened sugar

A cup of chamomile dressed with a cocoa nectar. Candied fruits from the market

Another extra course

Mirazur

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:39:00 +1000

I’ve been wanting to go there for a couple of years and finally have. Mauro Colagreco, the Argentinean chef of this restaurant, cooks beautiful food in an amazing setting, meters away from the Italian border. It is number 76 in the world, as per the controversial San Pellegrino ranking, and was one of the eleven tables worth flying to in the New-York Times earlier this year. This guy definitely has a lot of talent, and he is on the path to become one of the most important chef in France within a few years. In Menton or somewhere else though? We’ll see…

Le Louis XV Alain Ducasse

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:59:00 +1000

The ultimate meal. I have been there before, it was actually my first ever full on gastronomic dinner. I was maybe 12 years old and already loved food, so my dad took me there, just us two. It had a huge impact on me, even though the main thing I remember from that meal was that… I fell asleep! I can’t tell you how happy I was to be back in that room, which is more grand than any of the other I’ve been to. Even the famous Paris ones like Crillon or Meurice can’t compare. And it was a truly unforgettable meal, what a 3 Michelin star restaurant should be, with amazing food, perfect service and in the end a whole experience that was what we were looking for.

Butter

Bread

Our table

Amuse bouche - raw vegetables and pesto cream

Gamberoni, vongole, squid and rock octopus cooked the last minute, almonds, romaine lettuce

Spelt papardelle with herb butter sauteed girolles, baby spinach

Mediterranean sea bass studded with Nice olives, minestrone consomme and vegetables, basil condiment

Breast of squab from the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region, duck foie gras and grilled potatoes, offal juice

A little tour of the kitchen

Cheese

We moved outside for dessert, pretty good view

Pre-dessert treats

Louis XV with a crispy praline

Milk ice cream and “fleur de sel”, croquant/caramel with curdled ewe milk

Teas and tisanes

Tea making

More treats!

Les Bacchanales

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:39:00 +1000

Christophe Dufau is a very talented young chef who is now the chef/owner of this tiny place in Vence, above Nice. He has worked in Denmark quite a lot, and cooks some of the most beautiful food I’ve seen. He uses the best produce this great region has to offer, and his restaurant is extremely good value for the region, where it’s easy to eat very badly for way more that what you pay for the degustation menu at Les Bacchanales.

Pesto and home made bread

Amuse bouche

Camargue crayfish, tomatoes and fresh almonds

Egg and mushroom consomme, Corsican coppa

Wild Mediterranean fish, apricot and Taggiasche olive

Corsican veal in a caper Gremolata

Smoked cheese!!

Pic des Courmettes smoked goat cheese, hazelnut jam

Medlars and raspberries with the garden’s pink berries

Roasted peach, rosemary and pink Champagne sorbet

Good night now

Yvan Roux

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:45:38 +1000

This is not a restaurant. More a “table d’hotes” where Yvan Roux, a former international rugby player, cooks to perfection fish and seafood he gets straight from selected fishermen that day. He welcomes you in his house, that he designed, which has the most amazing view on the islands of Porcros, Giens and Le Levant. It’s hidden in a small town near Hyeres and is a true gem. Also, Yvan lets you BYO which lead this summer to a wine extravaganza that only my friend Francois Audouze, who introduced me to this place, knows how to organize.

Yvan’s amazing kitchen and our table

The chapons ready to go

Francois and Yvan joking around

The line up for that night (we did not drink everything thank god)

The (only) table with the amazing view

Zucchini flower tempura with pesto and capsicum puree

Sage tempura

Monkfish tempura

Squid en papillote with Pata Negra chorizo and confit schallots

Yvan finishing up our next dish

Denti carpaccio with grapefruit

Chapon with confit garlic

The forest of glasses

The live lobster brought by Yvan to our table for the next dish, lobster and lard (no photo though)

The decadent dessert, Yvan’s home made chocolate fondant, vanilla ice cream and salted butter caramel

Casa del Mar

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:04:00 +1000

Davide Bisetto has talent. A lot of talent. He cooks an uncompromised Italian cuisine. It’s not meant to please the crowds, it just reflects his inspirations, it’s real Italian food. He uses the best the region has to offer, amazing seafood, charcuterie, cheeses… I think the best is for you to look at the pictures, they speak for themselves. And the setting, within the stunning (but insanely expensive) hotel Casa del Mar, was as stunning as the meal. Thank you to my friend Jean-Philippe (@ici_maintenant) to have introduced me to Davide’s cooking.

Frenchie (part 1)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:34:37 +1000

Frenchie is one of my favorite places in Paris. I like it so much I went twice this summer. I happen to have a friend who manages to book anytime he feels like it, at this place where people fight for a reservation. Lucky me! I also can’t emphasize enough on how a good deal this is, with starter, main, cheese and dessert for 45 euros. Hard to beat for such a level of cooking and high quality produce. Some would say it’s a bit too full of Americans at the moment, but I guess that’s the ransom of success.

Mozzarella, pork belly, granny smith apple

Smoked trout, pickled onions

Beef, cauliflower, cherry

Meagre fish, tomato, borlotti bean, watermelon

Napoleon cheese, honey, summer truffles

Brillat-Savarin cheesecake, rhubarb, hibiscus

Chocolate pot, raspberries, salted butter caramel

Passage 53

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:58:00 +1000

Passage 53’s chef is Japanese and has worked a few years under Pascal Barbot, just like the guy who opened Quintessence in Tokyo. Hence the very Astrance looking dishes and even an hommage to Pascal with the madeleines at the end of the meal. Extremely precise cooking with the best produce Paris has to offer (Joel Thiebault’s vegetables, Hugo Desnoyer the superstar butcher’s meats), it now has 2 Michelin Stars and is one of the most coveted tables in town. It’s a very small room so call ahead to secure a seat, it is well worth it.

Dinner by Heston

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:43:00 +1000

Is there anything more to say about this place? Not really. You’ve all read about the dishes and seen a million of pics of them. So my only contribution is that I though the tipsy cake was the best dessert I had in a while. I have said before (and will say again) how much I hate “pastry chef desserts” i.e. attempts to steal the show by making weird shaped desserts that don’t taste like much but look like modern art. That pisses me off really bad. But that tipsy cake, as super technical as it might be, simply feels like an amazing home cooked Sunday lunch kind of pudding, no bullshit, it’s super tasty and that’s it. And that’s what we want, don’t we?

Roast Marrowbone

Roast Veal Sweetbreads

Spiced Pigeon

Tipsy Cake

Chocolate Bar

Breakfast at St. John Hotel

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:32:00 +1000

I would have had the whole menu if I wasn’t going to have lunch less than 4 hours later. It’s for the St. John lovers and for the newbies, everything is spot on, tasty, in season, beautiful, and you will feel like eating it all as soon as it’s on the table. Fantastic breakfast, cool atmosphere, a total must go. And check out the hotel too, it looks awesome.

Apricots & Yoghurt

Cinnamon & Butter Buns

Ham, Eggs & Fried Bread

Stay tuned!

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:35:00 +1000

Hello all!

I have not stopped eating, I am not sick, I haven’t turned into a vegan or anything. I am off to Europe mid-June for a month of holidays, including meals already booked at Dinner by Heston, Pierre Gagnaire, Passage 53, Saturne, Frenchie, Casa del Mar, Le Louis XV, Mirazur, Mugaritz, Asador Etxebarri, Zuberoa, Elkano, L’Ami Jean… and also my secret fish restaurant close to Toulon in the south of France.

For those who follow this diary, as you can see, even if it was a bit slow recently, it will be all happening soon, so stay tuned, eat well and keep out of trouble.