My trip to Europe: Le Rempart, Tournus, France

Our last Michelin Star restaurant we tried in our trip in Bourgogne was Le Rempart in Tournus. Nice small city of approximately 6,200 inhabitants, located along the Saône river; it was very quiet at the time we were there, if not for the activity surrounding a small cruise boat where one could dine while sailing on the river.

The restaurant Le Rempart is located in a hotel with the same name. There is in fact the restaurant, as well as a low key bistro, located at the opposite side. 

The impressive building was a 15th century guardhouse, built on the ramparts that were surrounding the city, hence the name Le Rempart (The Rempart), and their logo that is everywhere. 

The decor is pretty elegant and it is definitely one level up from Pierre the restaurant that we visited the day before. At the entrance is a very small lounge where you can enjoy a drink from their large selection of alcohol. 

Then, the tables, not too close to each other. 

The menu, crafted by Chef Sylvain Gohier is very elegant, with an outstanding presentation that would make you think that the Chef is a painter and the plate his canvas. Again here, the food is not only for the pleasure of the palate, but also for the pleasure of the eyes. Showcasing incredible creativity, the Chef interprets dishes from different regions of France, sourcing the high quality ingredients he is using from French producers. 

We decided to start our meal with the house cocktail, made with whiskey, sweet wine (it might have been martini) and Pacherinc. 

With it, they served us some amuse-bouche. 

It was composed of:

Goat cheese

Tomato with chorizo

Tuna

They then served us bread and butter. 

Jodi picked the cereal bread

And I picked the olive and tomato one. 

Then, we all got a petit consommé de petits pois avec son anchoïade or peas consommé with anchovy cream. 

It started well! I love these little amuse that you get in restaurant of this caliber, because it opens your appetite. 

For the appetizer, I got the boeuf Charolais servi en tartare, copeaux de Cécina, Jaune d'oeuf confit et pissaladière aux anchois de Sicile. That is: beef tartare with yolk confit and pissaladière made with anchovies from Sicily. 

I tried beef tartare in the past, but did not like it. I was thinking that in this restaurant it would be fantastic; and I was right! It was succulent, the meat (boeuf Charolais is top quality beef) being very good, cut in very small cubes, giving a bit of texture compared to the ground meat I got in the past, that gave a mushy feel. I definitely discovered, if not re-discovered beef tartare there. 

Jodi got the saumon bio marqué au Fer rouge, tartare au citron Cedras et oeuf de poisson volant, sablé Parmesan et vinaigrette de betterave, or: organic salmon marked with an iron, tartare of lemon from Cedras, flying fish eggs, Parmesan crisp and beets vinaigrette. 

The salmon was delicious: simply cooked, it was a great piece of fish, very fresh. I liked the flying fish eggs with it as they added a delightful bitterness and saltiness to it. 

For my first entree, I had fish. Yes, I wrote first entree, because they propose a menu with fish and then meat. It was a bar de chalut cuit lentement, avec gnocchi de broccoli et écume de langue d'oursin or slow cooked bar fish, served with broccoli gnocchi and a sauce made with sea urchin. 

It was a succulent dish, the fish being cooked perfectly and very moist. I truly appreciated the fact that the light gnocchi had a very slight broccoli taste. 

In fact, Jodi got the same dish, but, as it was from the menu and not prix-fixe, she got a bigger portion and a totally different presentation.

The meat dish was agneau de lait d'Aveyron, carré servi rosé, avec asperges vertes or lamb rack cooked pink with asparagus. 

This was definitely my favorite dish: the meat was so good, tender and tasty with a nice charred fat, that I wish they had more. If you like lamb, I really recommend it. However, I did not like what was under that was surely not polenta, and had a weird taste. 

After the entree, they served us the cheese course. 

Yes, they brought the cheese cart and as Jodi put it, you could hear angels singing when they opened it! I could pick three different ones from a large selection of French cheeses. I chose:

Brillat Savarin, a triple-cream cheese made from cow's milk:

Epoisse (soft cow's milk cheese from Bourgogne):

Tomme de Corse (from sheep's milk):

It was served with une pâte de coing or quince jelly. 

Then we got a pre-dessert that was a crémeux de fleur d'oranger, purée de fruits rouges et chantilly. Meaning: orange blossom cream with red fruits purée and whipped cream. 

And dessert: that time, I went for the Grand-Marnier soufflé that did not only looked spectacular, but was succulent (and big). 

It was served with a lemon sherbet and a muffin that I really did not care about. 

Jodi got a selection of sherbet and ice cream. 

At that point, I was so full that I did not even think about writing down the flavors. We were also trying to figure out if the decorations on the plates were handmade. The answer from the waiter was funny: "We hired an artist and taught him how to make desserts". 

And they stuffed us with some cookies as if we still had room after such a feast...

I could not eat anymore and regretted not wearing stretch pants...

To accompany our meal, we got a white wine: Chassagne-Montrachet premier cru 2008. 

And a red: Chambolle-Musigny 2011. 

Both were proposed by the sommelier who did a great job advising about the wine. When asked if he prefers red or white with cheese, he interestingly said that he prefers white, because cheese would reveal too much the tannins of the wine, making it bitter, and vice-versa. 

This was a fantastic evening and dinner, in a nice place, with an outstanding service. Considering this and the cuisine perfectly executed by the Chef and his crew, I would not be surprised that a second Michelin Star follows...

Le Rempart

2 Avenue Gambetta

71700 Tournus, France

www.lerempart.com

Enjoy (I sure did)!

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My trip to Europe: Le Cloître in Cluny, France

We were in Cluny, famous for its abbey founded in the 10th Century, one of the largest before being destroyed.

Since the end of the 19th century, it is one of the centers of the Ecole des Arts et Métiers, that was organizing a party for the end of the school year. Cluny is also known for its stables, that we did not get a chance to visit.

We arrived there in the morning, walking around this small town and enjoying the market that was setup in front of the abbey.

We looked for restaurants and first wanted to go to the Bar du Centre, but the staff did not seem to be eager to serve customers. That is when we saw Le Cloître, a restaurant serving traditional French dishes, as well as crêpes.

The waiter warned us that the service would be slow because they had a party of 16. I appreciated the heads up as, at least, if we stayed, we knew what to expect.

At Le Cloître, they propose different prix-fixe menus. Jodi went for the appetizer-dessert and I went for the appetizer-entrée as we would probably share the dessert. For her appetizer, Jodi ordered the fried Saint-Marcellin cheese salad.

The cheese was delicious with its crispy and not greasy shell, all melty inside.

On my side, I started of with the escargots façon Beaujolaise:

It was quite interesting: I adore escargots de Bourgogne prepared with butter and parsley, tried them in a Roquefort sauce, but never this way, that is like a ragout made with red wine, with a taste similar to a daube, a classic French stew. I liked it, but my preference still remained with butter and parsley.

For the entrée, I ordered the quenelle de brochet et morilles au coulis de champignons, that is pike quenelle with morel and its mushroom sauce.

When the dish came, it was definitely overcooked and the sauce burnt. Problem was that this dish took 20 minutes to be prepared and, as the service was slow, we had no time to send it back, the abbey closing early. So we ate it. The quenelle itself was decent. But no trace of morel despite what the waiter told us.

It was served with some haricots verts that were not good, and a nice (at least) gratin Dauphinois, that is a potato au gratin. Overall, this was a promising, but very disappointing dish.

For dessert, Jodi ordered the brioche perdue au chocolat chaud. 

I thought it would be French toast with a hot chocolate spread, but it seemed like a store bought slice of brioche toasted, with an imitation of Nutella on top. Perfect for a homemade breakfast, but not something I would serve in a restaurant.

We also tried the creme brûlée that was just ok.

This was a disappointing lunch and next time, I'll pass Le Cloître...

Enjoy (...)!

Le Cloître
16 Rue Municipale
71250 Cluny, France

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My trip to Europe: Pierre in Mâcon, France

My brother Hervé and sister in law Rosa proposed to spend the week end in Bourgogne (Burgundy) and to try some Michelin Star restaurants there. We had a wide choice of restaurants, as the region has many with one or more Michelin Stars, some of them offer reasonably priced menus. For instance, Pierre that is the subject if this post, has a menu at 29 Eur ($40) including taxes and service, with appetizer, entrée and dessert. 

I was also thrilled to have Jodi discover Bourgogne, a region known for its wine, where I did not set foot in years. 

So, our first Michelin Star restaurant was Pierre in Mâcon. To give us some appetite, we first visited this small city, on the riverside of La Saone. 

I thought that Pierre was the name of the Chef and owner of the restaurant. Well, no: it used to be the name of the owner, before Chef Christian Gaulin and is wife Isabelle purchased the place. It is not a big place, with probably 10 to 12 tables spread across the room, so you do not have the impression of eating with your neighbors... That day, they had a party of twenty setup in a private room, but this did not disrupt at all the impeccable service we got. 

The menu is what I would call New French, in the sense that it is not the traditional dishes you would find in some restaurants, like fromage de tête, coq au vin, canard à l'orange, etc...But elegant dishes made with traditional ingredients, from the terroir, such as foie gras or volaille de Bresse (poultry from Bresse, a fairly known origin). There, the pleasure of the eyes is as important as the taste. 

To start off, we decided to try their house cocktail, suggested by Isabelle Gauchin herself who, while her husband is the Chef d'Orchestre in the kitchen, plays the role of Maître D and sommelier. 

The cocktail was made with crémant de Bourgogne and griotte. 

Very fruity and with not too much alcohol, it was the perfect drink to start. 

Then, they brought us some bread. We had the choice between one made with Sel de Guérande (salt of Guérande):

Or olive oil and herbes de Provence (blend of herbs from Provence that you can find in fine groceries or Whole Foods). 

It was served with some smokey salted butter made with smoked Sel de Guérande. 

Then, they brought us some Mises en bouche or amuse bouche:

Fish rillettes:

Foie gras crème brûlée with a cherry jam (my fav):

Crème coco avec jus de viande truffé or coconut cream with truffled meat juice. 

Petit sablé de Parmesan avec crème de roquette or Parmesan cookie with cream of roquette salad:

Chips de jambon cru or cured ham chips:

This was a great start, the presentation being fantastic and a nice way to experience many different flavors. 

We then started our dinner, paired with some white Bourgogne wine from Mâcon, that I completely forgot to photograph, to remember the name...

My appetizer (did I mention that we say entrée in French because it is the first course, while what we call entree in the US is the plat or plat principal?), was the foie gras de canard du Sud-Ouest aux fruits secs en gelée de pomme et Mâcon moeilleux, petite feuilles et brioche tréssée. 

It was a foie gras from South-West with dried fruits in an apple gelée. It was served with some salad and a toasted brioche. 

I loved the foie gras, but admit that I did not like the texture of the gelée that was a mix between the gelatinous part and the crunch of the dried fruits. 

Jodi got the ravioles de champignons avec bouillon de foie gras or mushroom ravioles with a foie gras stock. 

Know that, unlike me, Jodi does not like foie gras, so she was not sure she would like it. But she did! These ravioles that are like small ravioli, were delicious, thin, with the mushroom taste coming through. The foie gras stock was very good also, the foie gras taste not overpowering. 

For the main dish, I got the volaille de Bresse ("Maison Miéral") en deux préparations: la poîtrine rôtie, jus au suc de cuisson tranché; la traditionnelle cuisse à la crème de morilles, risotto truffé. 

It was a poultry from Bresse ("Maison Miéral") prepared in two ways: the breast was roasted and drizzled what I believe can be translated by the juice reduction; then the thigh with a morel cream. It was served with a truffled risotto. 

This was a great dish, the poultry being perfectly cooked and moist. I just wished there was more of that morel sauce that was succulent. The truffled risotto was also perfect with it, the rice perfectly cooked and creamy. 

Jodi got the Goujonnette de turbot au basilic et mini-ratatouille (Turbot fish with mini-ratatouille):

Then, we got a pre-dessert. Isn't it a nice concept? A dessert before dessert: that's my kind of thing! It was a crémeux de fromage Blanc avec une confiture d'abricot or creamy fromage Blanc with its apricot jam. 

But it was not over! We got some mignardises ;

Orange sucettes (lollipop):

Gâteau Mâconnais or cookie from Mâcon:

Gâteau au caramel et noix or caramel and walnut cookie:

Idéal Mâconnais with nougatine, meringue, crème patissière:

Guimauve fraise or strawberry marshmallow:

Then came desserts! Jodi got the ice cream and sherbet selection. The flavors were: vanilla/coconut, strawberry, banana, exotic fruits and cassis. 

On my side, I chose the entremet croustillant chocolat blond "Dulcey" aux Pommes, served with a salted caramel ice cream. 

I picked it because we discovered the chocolat blond "Dulcey" few days before at Valrhona (check out the post here). It was good, but not at the level of their soufflé with limoncello. 

And when we thought it was over, they brought us some chocolates...

This was a sublime dinner, Chef Gauchin definitely deserving his Michelin Star for a cuisine served in a nice and relaxed atmosphere, not stuffy at all. The service was also perfect, as expected in such place. 

Restaurant Pierre

7 Rue Dufour

71000 Mâcon, France

www.restaurant-pierre.com

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Le Festival des Pizzas in Grenoble, France

Each time we go to Grenoble, we go to the Quartier Saint-Laurent aka Le Quartier des Italiens or Italian neighborhood, named because of the important Italian community there. 

It is a nice area, located on one side if the Isère river and in the bottom of the Bastille that used to be a fortress, built in 1592 on the South end part of the Chartreuse mountain. It is now a ruin, with just few restaurants on top of the hill, where people like to go to get some fresh air, either walking or taking the "bulles", a spherical cable car. 

We looked at all the pizzeria there to try to find one with Saint-Marcellin, a soft cheese made of cow's milk, named after a small town nearby where they produce this divine cheese. Unfortunately, we could not find it, so we opted for Le Festival des Pizzas, simply because they were the only one proposing a five cheese pizza!

That is what I ordered in fact. Cooked in a wood fire oven for a couple of minutes, it had emmental, goat, reblochon, blue and mozzarella cheese. 

I really liked the crust, the outside being all puffed up

And the bottom having a nice char. 

This is definitely the kind of pizza any cheese lover would like, as they were generous in the quantity of cheese. 

Jodi ordered the goat cheese salad, as two pizza are too much. 

Well, the salad was big...

My mom got the Atlantico pizza that had smoked salmon in it. 

It was ok: I do not really like when smoked salmon is cooked because it releases the salt. 

Overall it was pretty good. I would definitely go back, maybe to try their white pies.

Festival des Pizzas
74 Quai Perrière
38000 Grenoble, France
www.festival-des-pizzas-grenoble.fr

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Greg and Jerry's Burger and Fries in Grenoble, France

I am always curious to see how food is evolving in France, French cuisine being considered one of the best, and French people being very protective about it. Each time I go to France, I see a change: there are more and more fast food, whether it is kebab places (I saw one called "Batman Kebab"!), pizza with chains like Domino's or Pizza Hut, or fast food like MacDonald's, the latter being very popular with the younger crowd. I read recently that Burger King will make a comeback soon after more than a decade of absence, now that they see a profitable market, not anymore dominated by MacDonald's. KFC is also very popular there and plans to open many restaurants across the country. 

Another phenomenon I noticed in the past few years is the emergence of delivery: when I was living in Paris, it was only limited to pizza and paella. Now, more and more, I see delivery for sushi, pizza (I even saw a pizza ATM!) and burgers. 

In fact, I discovered Greg and Jerry's on a flyer at the hotel we were staying in. It is a burger place that serves ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, hence the name, that has been opened for more than six years, but relocated to that place two years ago. 

Very colorful with its red banquette and stools, they try to transport you to the heart of America; normal considering that they only serve burgers. Geared towards carnivores (no veggie burger there), they propose a nice selection of specialty burgers, some similar to the one we have here, like the classic cheese that we tried:

Others reinvented with a French twist, like the Best Mountain, made with reblochon cheese, bacon and potatoes, or the Parisian, made with emmental, chèvre (goat) and blue cheese, that we also tasted. 

The way it works is that you first order at the counter, and then, they will bring it to your table. 

When we opened the box, we were a bit disappointed by what we saw, the bread having a sad look. It is like a sourdough bread, that was a bit dry. In fact, the proportion bread / meat patty was unbalanced in favor of the bread. The meat was good and did not have this grey color that the burgers at MacDonald's had when I went there. But again, too much (dry) bread for the quantity of meat. 

The classic cheese had too much onions, salad and tomatoes, so I barely tasted the meat. However, we ordered the Parisian without lettuce and tomatoes and it was very good. They would use a better bread, this could be a killer sandwich. 

With our burgers, we ordered Idaho potato fries that were cooked skin on, cooked all the way through and deliciously crispy. 

They also had onion rings, that were good, but would have been even better if crispy. There, no special sauce besides mayo and ketchup. 

If you do not like burgers, you can try their chicken nuggets. 

I did try one: it was just ok. 

Full at the end, we did not try any ice cream, that anyway would not have been that original... I think Greg and Jerry's was a nice try and they could definitely beat MacDonald's that is few steps away if they were changing their bread, as well as the price: the menu for a burger, fries and a drink being priced at 12 Euros (more than $17), making it expensive for what it is. 

Greg & Jerry's

105, cours Jean Jaures

38000 Grenoble, France

www.gregandjerrys.fr

Enjoy (I did)!

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My Trip to Europe: La Crêperie de Gordes in Grenoble, France

As we were having lunch with my friend Chrystelle, we decided to try La Crêperie de Gordes, get some crêpes. When I say crêpes, I may want to say galettes as they say in Bretagne where this delicious dish is coming from. The difference? A galette is made with buckwheat (Farine de sarrazin in French) and a crêpe with bread flour (Farine de froment). 

La Crêperie de Gordes is a nice place: they have a big terrace, perfect when weather permits, as it did when we went, as well as a fantastic decor inside, the theme being the Alpes and ski rather than Bretagne region. They have for instance a replica of a ski slope full of playmobil, a popular children toy. 

As well as an authentic cable car where two people can eat. 

The menu is fairly big, with lots of choices for crêpes that can satisfy the carnivores, as well as the vegetarian. Asking them to remove an ingredient or alter the crêpe slightly does not seem to be a problem. 

Jodi decided to order the pear and blue cheese crêpe (the crêpe bleuet) .

On my side, I went for the three cheese one (the fromagère). 

It was made of emmental, reblochon and blue cheese. I preferred this one over the one Jodi got: hers could have been better with the pear sliced in small pieces instead of half, and mixed with the blue cheese cream. Mine had lots of cheese, that was delightful. I have to mention that the galette itself was delicious, very slightly crispy. 

Chrystelle ordered the Sicilienne, that had tuna in it and an egg on top. Pretty good. 

For dessert, Jodi and I shared the beurre-sucre crêpe (butter and sugar), that is simple, but so good. Just smelling the butter makes it appetizing. 

Chrystelle got the same but with lemon. 

I tried it, but prefer the one we ordered. 

With our meal, we ordered a bolée de cidre or some apple cider, a typical drink with such food. 

This was a wonderful meal, not only because of the company, but also because the food was very good and at reasonable prices. 

Crêperie de Gordes
3 Place de Gordes
38000 Grenoble, France

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Le Marrakech, Moroccan restaurant in Grenoble, France

We went to Le Marrakech, a Moroccan restaurant, two years ago and were still talking about it, wanting to go back to eat some of their couscous or tagines. And we did come back this time, with my Dad, brother Hervé, sister in law Rosa and nephew Valentin. 

This place is spectacular, not only because of the Moroccan cuisine, but also because of the fabulous decor that transports you to Morocco as soon as you enter the restaurant. 

I went to Morocco 15 years ago, in a trip through the desert, with stops in Marrakech, with its crowded soukh, and Ouarzazatte, sleeping and eating under a tent, in the middle of the dunes. There, I discovered the Moroccan mint tea that is more flavorful than the packets you can buy in stores, and deliciously sweet, perfect to help with digestion. We in fact started and finished our meal with it. 

If you are not into tea, they also have some local wine bottles. 

I got to try some appetizers that were delicious, such as the brick kefta, a phyllo like sheet rolled like a cigar, filled with ground meat:

Or the salad mechouiah, made with red peppers and tomatoes. 

For the entrées, we picked the tagine kefta et oeuf, a tagine made with beef meatballs, cooked in a tomato sauce, with an egg in the middle. 

As well as the couscous merguez, composed of semolina and vegetables (mainly carrots, with few chickpeas unfortunately):

And merguez, that are lamb sausages. 

With it, you can add golden raisins or Harissa.

Both dishes were delicious and very flavorful. Very different, I cannot even pick one or the other. 

To finish our meal, we decided to try an assortment of oriental pastries. 

There was:

Ariba (made with almonds):

Makroudh (made with semolina and stuffed with dates):

Baklava:

Loukhoum (with a coconut layer that Jodi loved):

This was a nice way to end a wonderful evening. Le Marrakech is definitely a place to know if you are in Grenoble and want to experience Moroccan cuisine. 

Le Marrakech
13 Avenue Général Champon
38000 Grenoble, France
www.lemarrakech-grenoble.com

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Le Tacos de Lyon in Grenoble, France - Mexican tacos made by the French?

Each time I was visiting my family in Grenoble, France, my nephew Valentin was mentioning this place called Le Tacos de Lyon. As at the same time he was talking about kebab, I was definitely intrigued, wondering how the French would make Mexican tacos and proposed to go there for lunch.

It is a small place located in a short street close to the center of the town. Very colorful, they serve food until 1am, the crowd being different depending on the time of the day. Mainly young as they offer very affordable prices making it very attractive to high schoolers and students, as well as people who want to eat something original.

First of all, do not say "a taco": it is "a tacos". Then, do not think you will be served Mexican tacos. There, not fish taco, no adobo chicken, no guacamole or pico de gallo. It is a tacos with flavors from Maghreb: the sour cream is replaced by a homemade cheese sauce to balance with the heat some of the sauces or ingredients can have; the sauces are, for the most part, made with Harissa, a hot chili pepper paste coming from Tunisia; and they offer choices of meat like merguez, a lamb sausage fairly common in North African cuisine. I met with the manager, Salah Dardouri, a very warm and welcoming guy, who explained to me that the idea comes from Lyon, considered by most as the capital of French gastronomy. Hence the name Le Tacos de Lyon. Then, they opened a first restaurant in Saint-Martin D'Hères in 2006 and since then have three restaurants in the area. Salah told me that, when they opened in Grenoble, lots of people told them that they were crazy, but he proved them that they were wrong. In fact, I saw plenty of restaurants serving this type of tacos, in Grenoble and elsewhere, and they seem to have a clientele.

You order at the counter and they will bring your order at the table. First, you pick your meat. You can choose one or two, depending on your appetite. In fact, if you are really hungry, you can order a mega tacos with a choice of four meats, but I am not sure that even Adam Richman (Man vs Food) would be able to finish it. They propose: merguez, ground beef, chicken nuggets or chicken cordon bleu. Then, you pick the sauce: white (similar to the one we have in the US, that they put on kebab), ketchup, mayo, aioli, algérienne, Marocaine, Samourai, etc. As mentioned above, the latter being prepared with Harissa. 

Jodi ordered a vegetarian one, made with eggs and veggies, and with white sauce.

On my side, I ordered the merguez with aioli. 

When the sandwiches came, we noticed that they use a tortilla, similar to a burrito or enchilada, that they first stuffed and then grilled. It was heavy for sure. 

The first bite, we realized that they were fries in it, bathed in a lot of sauce. Let me tell you: this first bite was divine. Very comforting, the fries were better in the sandwich than outside, although I got to try them separately and they were as I like them: skinny, not greasy, cooked all the way through and crispy. The merguez was also very good. Salah explained to me that usually, merguez are made with meat leftovers. Not there: they chose the meat before transforming it into a delicious, sometimes spicy sausage.

I admit that I could not finish, the sandwich being very filling. 

So, as I mentioned before, we also tried the fries as my nephew wanted us to taste some of the original sauces they serve. We tried:

Samourai:

Andalouse:

Biggy burger (the most popular):

Homemade cheese (the same they put in the sandwich):

Tunisienne and Marocaine:

My favorite was the Biggy burger, probably because it is made with mayonnaise. But I admit that I liked the Tunisienne and Marocaine, because of the kick they had. 

I really liked my meal at Le Tacos de Lyon: it was very good and comforting for an affordable price, even if it is far from a Mexican Taco. Know that if you do not like the tacos, they offer platters, as well as burgers.

Le Tacos de Lyon
4 Rue Brocherie
38000 Grenoble, France
www.letacosdelyon.fr

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Le Chaudron in Tournon, France

If you live in the New York and go to France, you might notice or I should say realize how spoiled we are there, places being opened daily and late at night if not 24/7. In France, it is not the case: supermarkets close at night; pharmacies are closed on the week end, except one per neighborhood for emergencies, and restaurants or boulangeries (bakeries) are closed once a week. If you are in Paris for instance, you will always find something opened, but in smaller cities, it might be a challenge. That is what we experienced when going to Tain L'Hermitage, a 6,000 souls city in the Drôme department, known for its wine and because Valrhona chocolatier has its Cité du Chocolat, a place where you can learn about chocolate and taste as many Valrhona chocolates as you want!

So, after walking around to try to find a place opened there for lunch, we went back to our car and drove to Tournon, the city close by. There, after desperately trying to find a place, we saw Le Chaudron, a French restaurant located located at the end of a cul-de-sac. 

Nice place, with a beautiful terrace that would have been perfect if we did not expect rain...that never came. 

The food there is elevated French or shall I say New French? Yes, they take classic ingredients such as foie gras or fish and create some interesting and mouth watering dishes. 

At the start of our meal, their brought us some caillette, a specialty from the area that is made with different parts of the porc. 

Then, I decided to go with the filets de rouget, a fish close to red snapper, but smaller and with a more pronounced taste. 

It was served with two tapenades, one made with black olives, the other with green, for some added saltiness.

The fish was perfectly cut and cooked.

Nice presentation and a great way to start a meal.

Then, I got the millefeuille of salmon with a curry sauce, served with ravioles (sort of small ravioli, a traditional dish there). 

The salmon was perfectly cooked, moist and deliciously flakey, with tuiles made with sesame seeds that gave a nice nuttiness to the dish.

The sauce was sublime, the curry being there for the color rather than the taste. 

Jodi ordered a cheese plate:

It had:

Fourme d'Ambert:

Picodon:

Coulomier:

Saint Felicien:

With it, she ordered a small salad that was a bit pricey (10 Euros). 

For dessert, we tried:

The pomme au four (oven baked apple) with salted caramel:

The crème brûlée:

The mi-cuit au chocolat:

The dessert were very disappointing: the crème brûlée had a weird taste and the mi-cuit cake was overcooked. Only the oven baked apple was good. 

With our coffee, they also gave us some small pieces of chocolate cake, a nice touch to finish a meal that would have been memorable if the dessert would have been at the same level as the rest of the food. Despite this, I really liked our meal at Le Chaudron: creative and delicious. 

Le Chaudron
7 Rue Saint-Antoine
07300 Tournon-sur-Rhône, France

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My trip to Europe: Le Lido Plage in Aix-Les-Bains, France

There are places where the location primes over the food and Le Lido Plage in Aix Les Bains (France) is surely one of them. Not that the food was not good, but we picked this place because it is located right next to the Lac du Bourget, a beautiful lake where fish, ducks, swans and swimmers coexist. 

When the weather permits, the restaurant will only serve at the terrace, overlooking the lake and the private beach. 

We went on a Sunday, to celebrate my Dad's birthday. They offer a menu à la carte, or prix fixe (know that in France, menu means prix-fixe, not to confuse anybody). We went for a prix-fixe that included appetizer, entrée and dessert. 

All of this accompanied with some delicious white and rosé wine to cool us down on that warm journey. I should add that if you need a hat, they will lend you one, and I was happy that I had one, because those that you can borrow, will for sure make you regret that you forgot yours. 

To start, Jodi got the burger of tomato and mozzarella with pesto and tapenade. 

The presentation was beautiful, the tomato replacing the bun and the mozzarella, that was delicious, the meat patty. It was a nice combination: I did not really care about the pesto, but the tapenade was fantastic with the tomato and mozzarella, elevating the dish that would have otherwise simply be a tomato and mozzarella salad. 

On my side, I had the beef carpaccio:

I definitely did not regret that choice: it was perfect, the thin slices of beef melting in my mouth and perfectly balanced, with not too much acidity. 

Then, for the entrée, Jodi ordered the fried filet of perch, served with French fries and tartare sauce. 

Imagine fish and chips, but French. I liked it, although the fish was a bit greasy and the fries just ok. 

On my side, I got the filet of lavaret, a European white fish, served with a butter sauce, rice and ratatouille. 

I liked it, the fish being perfectly cooked and flakey, but would have liked more sauce as the rice was a bit dry. However, the ratatouille was delicious, quite comforting with different flavors depending on which vegetable ended up on my fork. The addition of some small chickpeas was a good idea, as not only it added a nice flavor, but also some texture. 

Last was dessert. Jodi went for the creme brûlée. 

I went for the white chocolate panacotta with a red berry coulis. 

I admit that I preferred the creme brûlée that was sublime: it was a vanilla one and we could definitely see the vanilla beans. The panacotta was not set at all, being too liquid. Too bad. 

The meal at Le Lido Plage was good overall, dishes from the menu being better than the prix fixe according to my brother who went few times. It is a good place if you'd like to enjoy a decent meal in a restaurant with a stunning view. 

Lido Plage

Chemin du Lac

73100 Tresserve, France

lido.coraxis.pro

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My trip to Europe: Les Jardins de Sainte-Cécile in Grenoble, France

This post is the first of a series from our last vacation in France and Italy.

For a first celebration of my Dad's birthday, we went to Les Jardins de Sainte-Cécile in Grenoble, a restaurant located in an old convent. 

Interesting place for sure: it is the home office of the Edition Glénat, a popular French editor, and has been complemented recently with the restaurant, where the Chef and his crew refined classic dishes.

The decor is pretty amazing, the convent being modernized in a way, with the red and black theme used for the chairs, chandeliers as well as the walls covered with wine bottles, giving a feel of both trendy, but still classic restaurant. 

The wine cellar is located downstairs, where I could not miss the bottles of Coca Cola...

But, one of their main assets is definitely the garden, that is of a nice size, allowing for tables not to be too close to the others. 

The only negative was the service that was not to the level you would expect in such restaurant: very slow, a bit clumsy and missing manners that you would expect anyway in any places. Fortunately, the food was pretty good, original and the presentation was sublime. 

We started off with an apéritif. Jodi ordered an orangina, and I decided to try a Spritz, a Northeast Italian wine cocktail. It was made with Campari and some carbonated water. No prosecco. 

Then, Jodi ordered the Déclinaison de tomate, pétales de lomo, croquant au parmesan:

The lomo is veal and we asked not to have any, request that they accommodated without any problem, making this dish vegetarian. It was very refreshing, with a sort of tomato salad on one hand and a delicious and refreshing gazpacho on the other, without forgetting the tomato spread on top. Nice red matching the color of the restaurant!

On my side, I ordered the Dôme de foie gras, cœur de chutney de fruits, tressé de chocolat that is a foie gras with a fruit chutney in the center and a chocolate dome. 

Very creative: I never had foie gras with chocolate. It is fairly common to eat foie gras with a chutney like fig and to drink it with a sweet wine, but I have never seen it with chocolate. The difficulty there was to make sure we did not put too much chocolate as it would overpower the foie gras otherwise. 

For the entree, Jodi ordered the chaud-froid de saumon mi-cuit, sauce noisette et soja, oignons rouges, tomates cerises rôties, chemisée de courgettes:

Ok, I admit that a translation will be difficult...It was seared salmon with a hazelnut and soy sauce, roasted cherry tomatoes and zucchini. It was delicious: the fish was perfectly cooked, rare in the center and paired perfectly with the hazelnut and soy sauce for an added saltiness and nutiness.

On my side, I ordered the Filet de bœuf en croute roulade d’herbes et blettes, Poêlée d’asperges en deux façons. 

It is like a beef Wellington in a way, except that there is no foie gras and mushroom between the meat and the puff pastry, but spinach.

The meat, that was tenderloin, was as expected, rear, the temperature of such dish being driven by the color of the puff pastry. It was fantastic: juicy and tender, I loved the combination of the meat with the puff pastry, the latter adding a nice buttery flavor to the dish. 

For dessert, Jodi ordered the Chaud froid meringué dans sa nage de fruits rouges that was a meringue in a red fruit soup. 

On my side, I ordered the Croquant coco pistaché, crème acidulée, boule de neige givrée aux citrons verts. 

It was supposed to be a croquant of coconut and pistachio with a lime ice cream. I loved the latter, but not the croquant part that was not at all what I expected: not crunchy, I did not like the flavor that did not really taste like coconut. I for sure preferred Jodi's dessert that was phenomenal: not too sweet, it was very refreshing and a great combination. 

We of course finished our meal with an espresso. 

It was definitely a good meal, a bit pricey though. If they work out the kinks in the service, this will definitely be one of the gastronomic destinations in Grenoble. 

Les Jardins de Sainte Cécile
18 rue de l'Alma
38000 Grenoble
lesjardinsdesaintececile.com

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Chikalicious Dessert Bar in the East Village, NYC, NY

So, after a first tentative to go to ChikaLicious Dessert Bar and ending up in their Dessert Club, we finally made it. We showed up couple of minutes after they opened, allowing us to get a table, but also to take photos comfortably.

Minutes later, the place was packed! Know that his is small and that they only accept reservations for large groups.

This location is totally different from the other one: a more refined decor as well as a different menu. Here, no cupcake or dossant (a fusion of a croissant and a donut, competitor to the Cronut from Dominique Ansel). At ChikaLicious Dessert Bar, you get a prix-fixe for $16 that includes an amuse-Bouche, a dessert and some petits fours.

The desserts can be paired with a dessert wine for an additional $8 that we did not consider, Jodi preferring a tea:

And myself an espresso:

Both served in a nice china. 

That day, the amuse-bouche was Cara Cara orange (sort of navel orange) with a rosemary ice cream. 

This was a surpising start, the rosemary ice cream being very original, with only a slight taste of rosemary that worked perfectly with the orange.

Then we got our desserts of choice. Know that, as dessert choices change on a regular basis, you may not be able to order what we ate. Jodi ordered the mango-pineapple tartare on crispy kataifi with coconut sorbet and white rum purée.

On my side, I ordered the warm chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and red wine sauce, that looked like a smiley.

I admit that when the dishes came, I was a bit surprised by the small size of the desserts. Still, the presentation was beautiful and I really liked them, especially the warm chocolate tart whose center was completely liquid, similar to a chocolate soufflé. I admit however that I did not really like the red wine sauce that was served with it. 

We then got some petits fours:

Coconut marshmallow:

Bacardi rum chocolate cookies:

Earl grey tea cakes:

All were good, especially the chocolate cookies (probably because of the rum...). 

The desserts at ChikaLicious are quite good and elegant, with a fantastic presentation, the Chef showcasing a lot of creativity. However, for $16 without a coffee or tea, I find it slightly overpriced. 

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ChikaLicious Dessert Bar

Greek cuisine at Snack EOS in Hell's Kitchen

As we were walking on the low part of Hell's Kitchen, we noticed this restaurant with this heavy oak door and floor to ceiling windows that looked like a wine bar, modern and at the same time rustic. We looked at the menu and decided to try it for dinner. We just discovered Snack Eos, a Greek Taverna that opened in November 2013. 

It is not a big place, but it has sufficient space to accommodate large groups as it was the case when we went there. The menu is Greek, but refined and we were thrilled to try some of their small dishes to get a good feel of the place. 

First they brought us an amuse that was made with chickpea and olive oil, a nice way to start:

We then started with a dip sampler. 

It was composed of tzatziki (made of cucumber, goat and cow milk yogurt, garlic and dill):

Melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant, red peppers, garlic, tahini and parsley):

Muhammara (roasted red pepper, pomegranate, walnut, harissa):

These dips were served with grilled pita that I think was homemade. 

Overall, it was very good and a nice way to start our dinner. Besides the Muhammara, these are fairly classic, that one being interesting with its texture slightly dry and the kick given by the Harissa. 

Then, we got saganaki, but, instead of being flambé, it was served with a tomato jam, pistachio, sumac and some balsamic vinegar for some acid. 

It came very hot in a skillet, the dish still bubbling. We ate it on a pice of pita and altogether, it was similar to a pizza. I should add the they put lots of cheese and if you are a fan of it, this dish is for you. 

After that, we got pork and lamb meatballs. 

They were served with a tomato sauce, feta yogurt and pepperoncini. It was a miss for me, the texture of the meatball identical to what you get when ground meat is undercooked (we checked and it was not). 

The last dish we tried were the braised lamb sliders. 

They were served between a toasted brioche bread, tzatziki slaw and pickles. Although good, I was a bit disappointed as I was expecting more flavors from the lamb. They use the shank and, even if not dry, it did not have that bold flavor that one would expect from a lamb burger, making it different from a regular burger or even short ribs. 

Even if we did not like all the dishes, I liked our dinner at Snack Eos and would not mind going back to try their grilled whole branzino or their crispy chicken skin "under brick". 

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Red Farm in NYC, NY

It has been a while since we wanted to go to Red Farm, this place being highly recommended by our friends. We made it early on a Saturday as the time before, when we tried, there was a huge line waiting outside. 

We were seated right away at the bar, side by side, all the booths being used for four people, leaving us with this option or seating at the communal table, that can be nice sometimes, but too close to the persons seating next to us. 

I was curious to know why this restaurant was called Red Farm, but only got a vague answer that was more a guess: first, the owner, Ed Schoenfeld ({R}Ed?), is always wearing red, from his glasses to his jacket. Second, he wanted to create a restaurant with a farm feel. Hence Red Farm. 

For the farm feel, it is fairly on point, with the multitude of plants decorating the room. 

Menu wise, this is where it gets surprising: they serve dim sum! And they have a nice selection of it, clearly not your regular ones But if you are not into dim sum, they have plenty of other creative dishes, small or large, mainly made to share, prepared with meat or seafood. 

So we decided to share a bunch of dim sum. First were the pan fried pork buns. 

They are smaller than what you usually get in Chinese restaurants, and, although pan fried, they were very soft, with a wonderful sweet and savory taste.

The next dish was the mushroom and vegetable spring rolls:

This was another stunning presentation, the spring rolls being shaped like carrots and held by a cucumber. The shell was a bit greasy, but I did not mind, the stuffing being flavorful. 

Then came the pork and crab soup dumplings. 

I think the person who first created a soup dumpling was a genius. I am sure you wonder how they get the soup inside the dumpling. It is not with a syringe: they freeze it before wrapping it in the shell. The only time I tried this dish was at Joe Shanghai, so I was interested to see if it was as good; and it was. 

I put the dumpling in a spoon 

And ate it from the top

At first, you get mainly the dough, then dough and soup, then all the components, the pork being more present than the crab. 

Then we tried the four mushrooms dumplings. 

These fried dumplings were made with shiitake, oyster and black trumpet mushrooms. This was my least favorite dish: a bit greasy, the shell overpowered the taste of the mushrooms. We learnt later than they offer them steamed and that it is better. I wish they told us that before!

Last, was one of my favorite and very creative dish: Katz's pastrami egg rolls. 

It was served with a delicious Russian dressing. Imagine this combination of deli and Chinese cuisine! It works! You have the crunchiness of the egg roll and the sublime taste of the pastrami perfectly coming together. 

We did not get desserts as we had other plans, but we will for sure go back to Red Farm to try some sweets as well as other dishes. This is definitely an enjoyable experience!

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Red Farm

The original Brother Jimmy's BBQ on the Upper East Side

After burgers, the second specialty I always recommend friends and family coming from Europe to try is BBQ. as I mentioned in prior posts, what we call BBQ in France is grilling. Little I know that in Denmark, they are familiar with the BBQ as we know it here. I knew about smoked fish, but not meat, and Our friends Anne and Klaus even have a smoker at home. 

Anyway, our place of choice was Brother Jimmy's BBQ, but not the location near Madison Square Garden I reviewed, but the one on the Upper East Side, that is in fact the original restaurant. As we went on a weekday, the place was empty. Not that it helped with the noise level, considering that the music was literally blasting. 

It is a fairly big place with four distinct sections :

The main dining room:

The back dining room:

The second dining room with the kitchen in the back:

The bar with its games:

With its wood everywhere, it had a very rustic and country feel, with, on the wall, artifacts to remind you you should have worn your stretch pants. 

To start, we decided to order fried pickles (served with ranch dressing), a dish definitely unknown in Denmark. It was a good way to show that anything can be fried, and when it is fried, it is good!

We wanted to order fried green tomatoes, but unfortunately, they were out of it.

Then, we went for Jimmy's Pig Pick, a sampler dish where we got Northern ribs and BBQ chicken (you have a choice between this or pulled chicken, brisket, pulled pork or other types of ribs). 

I admit that I thought it would be bigger as we ordered the one for two people. I am not sure if this was the result of a confusion when we ordered. Anyway, it was enough food considering we were planning on having dessert later on. 

The chicken was very good: moist, I loved the sweetness if the BBQ sauce with it. The ribs were also delicious, tender, falling off the bone. I should mention that, with the Pig's Pick, came a salad. Needless to say that I did not care about it...

As sides, we got some cole slaw, as well as hush puppies:

Jodi decided to order a bunch of sides:

Fried Brussels sprouts:

Corn bread:

Mac & cheese:

Tater tots:

All of them were quite good, my preference going to the tater tots and corn bread. 

The lunch at Brother Jimmy's BBQ was succulent and comforting. It is definitely a great place to eat some authentic American BBQ. 

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Brother Jimmy's BBQ

Italian dinner Family style at Carmine's in NYC, New York

There are institutions in NYC and Carmine's is definitely one. It is not just experiencing some good Italian food, but also eating it family style, like you would do at home, sharing huge plates of delicious food, where taste matters more than presentation. So we decided to go there with the Kroners, our Danish friends. Good that we had a reservation, because it was packed, unexpected for a Wednesday night! 

We went to the restaurant on the Upper West Side that is in fact the original restaurant, opened in 1990. This place is huge: I am not sure how many people they seat in the dining room, but it was quite impressive, tables being for four people or more. Well, being two could be challenging considering the quantity of food served, although you can take it home. 

At the entrance is the large bar where you can either wait, drink or eat. 

Upstairs is the dining room. 

The menu is pretty traditional, so there is no surprise there. As we were six, they suggested to order one appetizer, one pasta and two entrees. We kind of followed their advice, although replacing one entree with a (large) side. 

As we were waiting for our food, they brought us some bread. 

The focaccia was just ok for me, tasting a bit stale.

Then came our appetizer: tomato and mozzarella. 

Nice plate: the star was definitely the mozzarella that they make there. It was soft and tasted fresh. 

Then came the spaghetti (store bought) and meatballs that were the size of my fist. 

Coincidently, there were six meatballs; I am not sure if they considered one by person or not. These meatballs were delicious: tasty, not dry with a delicious hint of herbs. 

The pasta sauce was succulent: thick, it is not just made with tomatoes, but also with beef, and you may end up with delicious pieces of meat in your plate. We all finished our plates, regretting that there was not more. 

Then came the chicken saltimbocca:

It is chicken breast cooked with ham and mozzarella, served on a bed of spinach and bathed in a wine sauce. I was not that thrilled by the spinach (I prefer them with cream to offset the bitterness), but really liked the chicken that was perfectly cooked. 

Last was our side: eggplant parmigiana. 

Ok, they call it a side there...It was definitely big, with an impressive presentation, a knife stuck on the thick block formed by the multiple layers. It was delicious, the eggplant really shining. I just regret that there was not more tomato sauce on it. 

Needless to say that we were full at that point (ok, I admit that the hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookie from City Bakery did not help...). So, no dessert. That was fine considering the fantastic dinner we had at Carmine's. I should mention the very good service and the noise level that requires you to scream to be heard. But hey, this is the price to pay and it is worth it. 

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5 Napkin burger in Union Square, NYC

Our friends from Denmark, Anne and Klaus came recently to visit New York with their kids Signe, Emile and Jonas. We spent some time with them and had to live up to our reputation of foodies (I hate that word). So we picked few places, some of them really representative of Americana. So, of course, we went for burgers. We had to take into account few things: first, there needed to be vegetarian options, Jonas being vegetarian. Second, there should be, a least, a classic cheeseburger. So we de facto eliminated Burger Joint and Umami Burger (although I still salivate like a Pavlov's dog when thinking about the truffle burger there). 

So, we picked 5 Napkin Burger. I went already to the original one in Hell's Kitchen, but never to the one in Union Square. No surprise there: the decor is similar, representing a slaughterhouse, the cleanliness indicating that it represents it after the slaughter. One cannot miss the hooks hanging

Or the multiple scales displayed all over the restaurant. 

If you have never been to 5 Napkin Burger, let me explain to you how it was born. It all started at Nice Matin, a French restaurant located on the Upper West Side. One of their most successful dish was a burger where the meat was so juicy that you needed five napkins for your hands. The owners of the restaurant Simon Oren and Andy D'Amico then got the idea to open a restaurant where their signature burger would be the star. Since then, it has been a success story, with few restaurants in the city, as well as in other cities. 

But do not imagine that the menu offers only burgers, as it's name could lead you to: they serve other dishes, including salads and...sushi! Interesting! Not sure I would think about ordering sushi there. 

The Kroners got their burgers, but, of course, we did too...Jodi ordered the classic cheese, an 8 oz. beef patty served with American cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, on a sesame brioche bread. 

It was very good, the meat being juicy and very tasty, topped by a nice amount of cheese. 

But it did not measure up with the 5 Napkin burger that I ordered. 

The beef patty was literally smothered with Gruyere, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. 

A bit messy for sure, but who cares? Certainly not me who needed more than 5 napkins to clean my hands, the juiciness of the meat adding to the delightful mess.

To go with the burger, I of course ordered a milk shake. Usually, I order a vanilla one, but I got tempted by a cookies and cream that had little pieces of oreo cookie in it.

Everything was fantastic there and it was the perfect introduction to the next few meals we planed for our friends! I certainly did not regret the choice of 5 Napkin Burger: this is definitely one of the best in the City!

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Eggs Benedict at Sel De Mer in Brooklyn, NY

As we had to be in Williamsbug on a Sunday afternoon, I looked on google map for restaurants nearby the location we were going to and noticed Sel de Mer. I rapidly glanced at the menu and proposed to Jodi to go there for brunch. 

The inside of the restaurant fits the name, decorated with sailors portraits as well as objects all related to the sea. I wonder if the owner comes from the Bretagne region (Brittany) in France as the theme is definitely from there.

As we were waiting for our food to come, they gave us some bread and butter, the latter being topped with crystals of salt (in France, salted butter is mainly eaten in the Bretagne region).

Then, came our dishes. For brunch, they have a small menu, with a majority of egg dishes. So we went for that. Jodi got the eggs and avocado.

The dish was composed of crushed avocado, cilantro, two poached eggs, on toasted baguette, mixed greens and home fries. As Jodi does not like poached eggs, she asked them to cook them longer, request that they executed without any problem. This was a very good dish, refreshing, the restaurant not being shy on the amount of avocado they put in it.

On my side, I got the Eggs De Mer:

It was two perfectly poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, sambuca cured salmon on an english muffin, with mixed greens and home fries. This was delicious: they put a nice amount of salmon that was both fatty and delicate. It was simple but well executed. We also both got the home fries and these also were perfect: crunchy, cooked all the way through, probably baked rather than fried.

This was a great brunch and the eggs were delicious and...cheap. This is definitely a place I want to go back to, for brunch, but most certainly for dinner as they seem to have some mouth watering seafood dishes.

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Sel de Mer

Khe-Yo in Tribeca, NYC, NY

I never had Laotian food before and admit that I was thrilled to try Khe-Yo when I heard that acclaimed Chef Marc Forgione was associated to the restaurant. Yes, Khe-Yo is the result of the association of a terrific triumvirate, the main character being Chef Soulayphet Schwader whose family escaped from Laos in 1975, after the communists came into power. Years later, not being able to find good Laotian food in the city, he and his partner Nick Bradley joined Chef Marc Forgione and opened few months ago a Laotian inspired restaurant in the thriving TriBeCa area. Of course, as I never tried Laotian food before, I cannot comment on the authenticity, but, anyway, they never presented their restaurant as authentic Laotian; more Laotian inspired, bringing to the table Southeast Asian cuisine, with for instance some flavors resembling Thai cuisine or some dishes Korean ones as you will see below. 

We went there on a Friday night, after an open studio night at the New York Academy of Art. Fortunately we had a reservation, because this place was packed from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. 

I am not sure if they had staff issues, but the service not what I would have expected and, honestly, we just wanted to leave at some point. Not that the food was not good (it was delicious), but the noise level was very, very high, making it difficult to hear each other. So my advice: no romantic dinner or date there, except if you want to make sure you do not hear what the other person says... 

There, no bread and butter, but rather sticky rice with a crushed eggplant sauce that was very smooth and a bit smokey, and with a Thai chili sauce fairly hot called "the bang bang" sauce, in a way reflecting the sound my foot made banging on the floor expressing how spicy this was. 

Although they say on the menu that "sticky rice tastes better when eaten with your hands", I ate it with the sole utensil present on tables: a spoon. Yes, because some of the dishes are made to be eaten with your hands; for others, they will bring you what you need, such as chopsticks. But, to make sure you have clean hands before dinner, like a good little boy or girl, they bring you a wet towel as soon as you order. 

Menu wise, this is of course not your usual dishes or ingredients: mainly meats, few seafood and, unfortunately only one vegetarian entree, it features animals like quail or poussin. 

We decided to try few appetizers. The first one was Ping-Sai-Ua-Moo or grilled Laos style sausage. 

It was a nice presentation and, in fact, all the dishes were well plated and looked appetizing. On one side of the sausage was a mango and peanut sauce (the peanut taste was predominant) and on the other side some lettuce. Although the way to eat it was not explained by the staff, I understood (hopefully) right away that I had to eat it like Korean BBQ, putting a slice of sausage on top of a leaf and add some sauce. 

It was delicious: the lettuce adding a bit of crunch to a sweet and savory combination that was delightful. The sausage had a nice char adding more flavor to the dish. 

The second appetizer was Nam-Khao or kaffir lime sausage with crunchy coconut rice. 

To simplify the description, it was like rice balls, but made with coconut rice, crunchy on the outside from being fried and very slightly softer on the inside. It was perfect with or without the sausage that was a bit spicy. 

For the entrees, Jodi ordered the Khoua-Lhon or wok-fried glass noodles. 

At that point, they brought her chopsticks. It had a nice amount snow peas and sugar snaps in it. Although delicious, I found this dish a bit disappointing, as not original or standing out. 

On my side, I ordered the Goong-Phet or chili prawns:

It was composed of ginger scallion toast and Thai basil sauce. This was a succulent dish, delightfully tasty. The prawns were quite big and perfectly cooked, bathed in a sauce that was slightly spicy, the heat slowly building up in the back of my throat. The toast was good, but I thought that there was too much of it and replaced it with sticky rice at some point.

To go with our meal, I ordered a Laotian beer that was perfect:

The food definitely met my expectations: creative and sublime, although I was surprised to see that they only offered ice cream (coconut or salted caramel) for dessert, making us feel the meal was incomplete. The only negative there was the noise level that made this experience less pleasant than it should. Next time I will bring my noise canceling headsets...

Enjoy (I did - what did you say?)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Churrasco at Fogo De Chao Brazilian steakhouse in NYC, New York

Fogo de Chao (means "fire on the ground" in Portuguese) is a Brazilian steakhouse located Midtown Manhattan that opened few months ago, in December 2013. It is a chain in fact with multiple locations in Brazil, where it originated, and in the US (Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Las Vegas...). 

Typically, when you know you are going to a Brazilian steakhouse, you know you need to wear stretch pants, because it is all you can eat. Now, that is what I call paradise for meat lovers! And it is not all you can eat passable food most of the time: it is all you can stuff in high quality meat. Here is how it works:

The staff goes around the restaurant with large skewers (coming from "churrasco", concept of grilling skewers of meat over a wood fire, the churrascaria being the restaurant serving them) and will check a chip that is given to you, at your table. The chip has two sides: green and red.

The red side that says "No, Thank You" means that you do not want any meat, and the green ("Yes, please), means you want them to serve you some meat from the skewer.

The pace can be fast; for instance, this is what I ended up with after just couple of minutes:

The portions may not seem big, but you can ask for more and do not forget that they are walking around anyway, ready to serve you again.

Before I go into detail more about the feast I had, let me tell you few things about the place itself.

I guess I could describe it as an elegant, dramatic, stunning 16,000 square feet restaurant. At the entrance, you can see a huge representation of O Lacador (a gaucho in traditional outfit), symbol of Porto Allegre where this place originated in 1979.

Upstairs is the bar and downstairs, the restaurant.

Similar to other churrascaria places, there is a gourmet salad bar.

I admit that I only went to see what was there, because I came for the meat, not the salads! Proposing a salad bar is a good way to make sure people will stuff themselves and eat less meat...

This salad bar was quite big and included mozzarella, beets, asparagus, shrimp,...As well as some salami, cheeses or smoked salmon.

But what was truly surprising was the applewood smoked bacon bowl:

and this whole parmiggiano reggiano cheese:

On our table was also a basket of cheese bread or pao de queijo:

The recipe apparently comes from Sao Paulo and interestingly it is gluten free. I liked it, but found it slightly dry.

Now, concerning the meat, they serve something like 16 different kinds, ranging from beef, pork, lamb or chicken. I tried:

The pork sausage or Linguiça.

These sausages are seasoned with garlic and paprika, and slow cooked.

Chicken legs:

I usually limit how much chicken I eat in these places, not because I do not like it, but rather because I prefer saving myself for prime meats!

The leg of lamb:

The Fraldinha or bottom sirloin:

This was my least favorite, the meat being a bit tough.

The Alcatra or top sirloin:

The beef ancho or prime part of the ribeye:

The filet mignon:

The flank steak:

The picanha or prime part of the sirloin:

The meats were really good and of high quality, tender and juicy. The outside had a nice char and, sometimes, you could taste a bit of salt that enhanced the flavor of the meat. My favorite was the filet mignon, the flank steak, the ribeye and the leg of lamb. My least favorite was the bottom sirloin and prime, but it might be because of the cuts they served me.

With the meat were three sides, also in unlimited servings:

Mash potatoes:

Crispy polenta:

Fried bananas:

These sides are pretty standard for this type of restaurant. My favorite was the fried banana. You may think these are plantains, but they are bananas that are simply fried with a bit of condensed milk, giving them this nice sugary coating.

You would think that I would stop there, but no: I could not resist trying their desserts. The first one was the flan.

I did not like it as it was way too dense. However, their tres leches cake was spectacular!

And trust me, after such a feast, it was difficult to resist.

I am glad that Fogo de Chao came to NYC. Not that there are no churrascaria in the city, the most known being Churrascaria Plataforma, with one location close by, but because they definitely serve some great pieces of meat that puts them on the top of NYC steakhouses. One thing I should add is that if you are vegetarian, you can just get the salad bar, or they propose a fish of the day. Sorry, I did not and will not try them, preferring to indulge in what this place is known for, but if they are as good as the meat, you may not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!