Tag: 2011

review: rule of thumb…. (château eza)

~ As I sped along the coast to Nice from Monte-Carlo for dinner one night, a page out of paradise popped up: Eze. This Medieval town, preserved almost to the stone, juts out on the Corniche Moyenne, a rocky rise with a breathtaking view of the Côte d’Azur, which sprawls at its feet. I pulled […]

Continue

review: rule of thumb…. (château eza)

~ As I sped along the coast to Nice from Monte-Carlo for dinner one night, a page out of paradise popped up: Eze. This Medieval town, preserved almost to the stone, juts out on the Corniche Moyenne, a rocky rise with a breathtaking view of the Côte d’Azur, which sprawls at its feet. I pulled […]

Continue

review: at the metropole… (joël robuchon monte-carlo)

– Is the moment of innovation more exciting than the period of enjoyment thereafter?  What happens when zeitgeist changes and context fades? Although I am old enough to have eaten at Jamin, Joël Robuchon’s first restaurant in Paris, I never did.  And, even if I had, as a toddler, I wouldn’t have appreciated the revolutionary […]

Continue

review: at the metropole… (joël robuchon monte-carlo)

– Is the moment of innovation more exciting than the period of enjoyment thereafter?  What happens when zeitgeist changes and context fades? Although I am old enough to have eaten at Jamin, Joël Robuchon’s first restaurant in Paris, I never did.  And, even if I had, as a toddler, I wouldn’t have appreciated the revolutionary […]

Continue

review: telescope… (pujol)

– It’s a revisionist’s world these days, especially in the kitchen. To he (or she) who can retell the past anew, all glory and honor. Spain, of course, has not only updated its own culinary culture, but inspired a refacing of cuisines around the world. In the Distrito Federal, Enrique Olvera is leading the way […]

Continue

review: telescope… (pujol)

– It’s a revisionist’s world these days, especially in the kitchen. To he (or she) who can retell the past anew, all glory and honor. Spain, of course, has not only updated its own culinary culture, but inspired a refacing of cuisines around the world. In the Distrito Federal, Enrique Olvera is leading the way […]

Continue

review: scattershot… (biko)

– And now to Biko in the Distrito Federal, where, as one opinionated observer described it, two Spaniards (Basque, to be specific) are trying, unsuccessfully, to cook Mexican food. I’m no expert on the cuisines of either of those cultures, but, based on the food we were served at Biko last October, that seems to […]

Continue

review: scattershot… (biko)

– And now to Biko in the Distrito Federal, where, as one opinionated observer described it, two Spaniards (Basque, to be specific) are trying, unsuccessfully, to cook Mexican food. I’m no expert on the cuisines of either of those cultures, but, based on the food we were served at Biko last October, that seems to […]

Continue

review: balance in the extremes… (il canto)

– We had been toying with the possibility of eating at Paolo Lopriore’s Il Canto all week. My friend Adam and I were vacationing in Tuscany with my friends last summer, and Siena was within striking distance. The only two people I knew who had eaten there (one of them was Adam, the other was […]

Continue

review: balance in the extremes… (il canto)

– We had been toying with the possibility of eating at Paolo Lopriore’s Il Canto all week. My friend Adam and I were vacationing in Tuscany with my friends last summer, and Siena was within striking distance. The only two people I knew who had eaten there (one of them was Adam, the other was […]

Continue

review: neue deutsch… (aqua)

– In September of last year, I was invited on an eating junket, along with a few others, to tour Germany’s top tables. The invitation came from my friend Ingo Scheuermann, author of of the blog High End Food and co-author of “bau.stil,” Christian Bau’s new cookbook, who organized this trip with the German Board […]

Continue

review: neue deutsch… (aqua)

– In September of last year, I was invited on an eating junket, along with a few others, to tour Germany’s top tables. The invitation came from my friend Ingo Scheuermann, author of of the blog High End Food and co-author of “bau.stil,” Christian Bau’s new cookbook, who organized this trip with the German Board […]

Continue

review: a series of pauses… (kajitsu)

– Situated somewhere in the middle of my three-week, million-calorie binge in New York last year was kajitsu, a meditative pause in an otherwise reckless episode of indulgence. Tucked below street level in the East Village, kajitsu is quiet and clean, not unlike the food it serves, a series of vignettes in kaiseki form. Here, […]

Continue

review: a series of pauses… (kajitsu)

– Situated somewhere in the middle of my three-week, million-calorie binge in New York last year was kajitsu, a meditative pause in an otherwise reckless episode of indulgence. Tucked below street level in the East Village, kajitsu is quiet and clean, not unlike the food it serves, a series of vignettes in kaiseki form. Here, […]

Continue

best of 2011: the restaurant edition…

Mood and mind, place and time: once recorded, they cannot be erased. Neither can company nor cast, nor the events that happened at table. To do so would be a pity anyway, for dining is theatre; every part a prop, everyone a role.  And, as with life, in its unscripted scenes are often its finest […]

Continue

best of 2011: the restaurant edition…

Mood and mind, place and time: once recorded, they cannot be erased. Neither can company nor cast, nor the events that happened at table. To do so would be a pity anyway, for dining is theatre; every part a prop, everyone a role.  And, as with life, in its unscripted scenes are often its finest […]

Continue

best desserts of 2011…

(Frozen Sake; elBulli) Is pastry having a “moment?” Judging by the desserts I’ve had this year, I’d say it is. In the past, I’ve tacked on a dozen or so desserts to my annual “best dishes” post in a section at the bottom called “just desserts.”  While their inclusion was far from an afterthought, even […]

Continue

best desserts of 2011…

(Frozen Sake; elBulli) Is pastry having a “moment?” Judging by the desserts I’ve had this year, I’d say it is. In the past, I’ve tacked on a dozen or so desserts to my annual “best dishes” post in a section at the bottom called “just desserts.”  While their inclusion was far from an afterthought, even […]

Continue

best dishes of 2011…

(Crispy Pig Ears; Husk) * * * Another December, another set of listicles. Every year for the the past six, I’ve rounded up the best edibles of each and posted them here for posterity. They’ve included a list of my twenty-five favorite dishes, the best dozen desserts, and the top ten restaurant meals of each […]

Continue

best dishes of 2011…

(Crispy Pig Ears; Husk) * * * Another December, another set of listicles. Every year for the the past six, I’ve rounded up the best edibles of each and posted them here for posterity. They’ve included a list of my twenty-five favorite dishes, the best dozen desserts, and the top ten restaurant meals of each […]

Continue