Destination: France

favorites of 2017: the restaurant edition…

– In 2017, my most exciting destinations had little to do with food. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any good food.  Rather, finding good food wasn’t my priority.  So, there are no dark horses for me to champion this year; no surprises to report.  You’ll find no exciting news here. On the bright […]

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favorites of 2017: the restaurant edition…

– In 2017, my most exciting destinations had little to do with food. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any good food.  Rather, finding good food wasn’t my priority.  So, there are no dark horses for me to champion this year; no surprises to report.  You’ll find no exciting news here. On the bright […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2017…

– Plums, ashen from the hearth, bleeding into gauzy muslin. Figs, syrupy and charred, nestled in a flakey frame. Saffron suspended in a milky cloud glinting with gold. And apricots, fleshy and warm, hugged in a doughy crust, with ice cream beside; a slice of the great American songbook. These are just a few of […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2017…

– Plums, ashen from the hearth, bleeding into gauzy muslin. Figs, syrupy and charred, nestled in a flakey frame. Saffron suspended in a milky cloud glinting with gold. And apricots, fleshy and warm, hugged in a doughy crust, with ice cream beside; a slice of the great American songbook. These are just a few of […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2017…

– I took the lessons I learned in 2016 and applied them to 2017. Staying close to familiar quarters, I continued to bet on sure winners.  They did not disappoint. And, although many of my travel destinations in 2017 were not chosen with great food in mind, I found some great food anyway. Let me […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2017…

– I took the lessons I learned in 2016 and applied them to 2017. Staying close to familiar quarters, I continued to bet on sure winners.  They did not disappoint. And, although many of my travel destinations in 2017 were not chosen with great food in mind, I found some great food anyway. Let me […]

Continue

travel: an education… (2017)

– It has been over a dozen years since I started recording and reporting here.  Yet, despite my dwindling updates, I have not lost enthusiasm or eagerness for it. What little time I manage to devote to writing my blog remains exciting and important to me, because above all, it represents an incredible education. Since […]

Continue

travel: an education… (2017)

– It has been over a dozen years since I started recording and reporting here.  Yet, despite my dwindling updates, I have not lost enthusiasm or eagerness for it. What little time I manage to devote to writing my blog remains exciting and important to me, because above all, it represents an incredible education. Since […]

Continue

12 days: on the eleventh day of christmas: couillon… (2017)

– Alexandre Couillon lives on a small island off the west coast of France called Noirmoutier.  For decades, there was only one road on and off the island called the Passage du Gois.  But it’s only passable at low tide, when the seawater recedes enough to expose the two-lane road to traffic.  I know this, […]

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12 days: on the eleventh day of christmas: couillon… (2017)

– Alexandre Couillon lives on a small island off the west coast of France called Noirmoutier.  For decades, there was only one road on and off the island called the Passage du Gois.  But it’s only passable at low tide, when the seawater recedes enough to expose the two-lane road to traffic.  I know this, […]

Continue

travel: superpowers and force fields… (paris, 2017)

_ My first few trips to Paris lap at the borders of my memory. In those nascent corners, images of pigeons and fountains flicker faintly, and the hollow shuffling and shushing in the gilded halls of kings echo, where the austere and grand stare down from the canopies above. Etched deeper are the emotions: the […]

Continue

travel: superpowers and force fields… (paris, 2017)

_ My first few trips to Paris lap at the borders of my memory. In those nascent corners, images of pigeons and fountains flicker faintly, and the hollow shuffling and shushing in the gilded halls of kings echo, where the austere and grand stare down from the canopies above. Etched deeper are the emotions: the […]

Continue

le cinq: tragic triptych… (2017)

~ The British restaurant critic may be one of the few species that deserved to board Noah’s ark. Equipped with endless wit and flare for hyperbole, they have gifted the world with some of the best food writing I have ever read.* However, their reports provide little evidence of discriminating taste, and rarely, if ever, a serious analysis of […]

Continue

le cinq: tragic triptych… (2017)

~ The British restaurant critic may be one of the few species that deserved to board Noah’s ark. Equipped with endless wit and flare for hyperbole, they have gifted the world with some of the best food writing I have ever read.* However, their reports provide little evidence of discriminating taste, and rarely, if ever, a serious analysis of […]

Continue

favorites of 2016: the restaurant edition…

~ In the past, I’ve used this final, year-end blog post to marvel at just how well I’ve eaten in the preceding 12 months. Over the years, that emphasis has grown dull and unnecessary.  By now, those who read this blog know that, when it comes to eating, I’m getting along all right. Explaining my process for evaluating meals and dissecting […]

Continue

favorites of 2016: the restaurant edition…

~ In the past, I’ve used this final, year-end blog post to marvel at just how well I’ve eaten in the preceding 12 months. Over the years, that emphasis has grown dull and unnecessary.  By now, those who read this blog know that, when it comes to eating, I’m getting along all right. Explaining my process for evaluating meals and dissecting […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2016…

~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before.  And, when […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2016…

~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before.  And, when […]

Continue