Tag: restaurants
MOB Scene By the Seine
In a remote yet happening Seine-side quarter of Left Bank Paris, Corinne LaBalme checks out the chick-pea hot-dogs and cheese-less cheesecake at MOB—the Brooklyn-inspired HQ for a new wave of vegan fare—with “recovering carnivore” Cyril Aouizerate.
NoLita, Champs-Elysées: Calamari and Convertibles, Maseratis and Mozzarella
Corinne LaBalme discovers NoLita, a ritzy ristorante parked next to the vintage Lancias in the Fiat Group’s “Motor Village” on the Champs-Elysées. If a Maserati goes a lot faster than a mere car, the menu at NoLita goes a lot farther than simple carbonara.
IKRA: Russian Cuisine (and a Red Piano) in the 6th Arrondissement
What is it about Paris cabarets and Russian émigrés that brings out everyone’s inner gypsy? It’s got to be more than borscht, no? Is it Garbo in Ninotchka? Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia? Corinne LaBalme says “привет” (we hope that means “hello”) to IKRA, the newest Cossack café in town.
Great Encounters: Blois
Even without knowing much of the historical bla-bla about Blois, this Loire Valley town is a place of fascinating, magical, entertaining and tasty encounters. So before describing why Blois is considered the linchpin of understanding the history and architecture of the Loire Valley I’d like to introduce you to some of the people and characters that I encountered during a day of research throughout the town.
Chambery Revisited: Reflections on a Pre-Alpine Valley Town
In which the author visits and revisits Chambery, the capital of Savoy in the Rhone-Alpes region, remembers old stones and water slides, tries to see the mountains through the mist, contemplates reading Rousseau, going cycling and visiting a museum, takes a cruise on Lake Bourget from Aix-les-Bains, goes skiing with Italians on Grand Revard, and reports on hotels and restaurants in and around Chambery.
Nasti Business in Kaysersberg, Alsace
Olivier Nasti may sound like the name of a villainous cartoon character, mean, bony, bitter and solitary, but the Olivier Nasti I met in the town of Kaysersberg in Alsace is a charming, round-cheeked chef and businessman with a strong sense family. Seven miles northwest of Colmar, in one of the small, colorful tourist-friendly towns along the Alsace wine route,...
Le Petit Verdot, Deliciously Understated on Rue du Cherche-Midi, 6th Arrondissement
There are no secrets in the Paris restaurant scene. There are, however, understated addresses that are too earnest in their devotion to good food,...
Creative Sophistication in Menton: Cocteau by the Port, Colagreco in the Hills
Menton, last stop on the French Riviera, has two major markers of creativity and sophistication, one gastronomic, one artistic: Mirazur, the outstanding restaurant of chef Mauro Colagreco, and the Jean Cocteau Museum, dedicated to a poet and artist who represents the artful high life along the coast.
Two Sisters in Aquitaine Recreate Historical Wines
Isabelle and Catherine Orliac, two sisters in Aquitaine, are heirs to a property in southwest France that supplied wine to Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the Court of France in the 1780s.