lxt

Cathy, Tocqueville deserved them. Thank you for your kind words. Wilf, single-breasted, you say? The sheer radiance of your visage must’ve given me double vision! It is always a joy to see you.

Tana, thank you very much for your warm welcome. Lippy, you’re too kind. My husband, David, will be flattered. Seth, it was very nice meeting you and your wife.

More pictures. Coconut panna cotta with mango I seemed to have enjoyed desserts less this time. Chocolate mini cupcakes Mango mousse in caramel/sesame seeds tuile The truffle in the kitchen The kitchen

Tocqueville is in the process of transformation from a lovely neighborhood restaurant to a more ambitious enterprise. I always enjoyed the economy of design of the old location, which has been preserved and gently transported to the new dining room. The high-ceilinged room continues to convey a comparable play of delicate esthetic contrasts of gray/blue and gently yellow colors. The large wall-mirrors, mimicking windows, establish weightlessness and should serve as perfect reflectors of incoming light dispersed by the small central window at lunchtime. There is no explicit confrontation bet

Macrosan and Miss J, thank you for your reports. The gougère was indeed an excellent amuse, which made a quality statement from the start, preparing us for a serious meal. What other choices were on the menu at this time of the year? Orik, we had dinner at L’Ambroisie last May, which I never had a chance to report. My husband and I had slightly different impressions, which I tried to combine and analyze below. ------------------------------------------ Perhaps it is just an old habit of mine to attempt to characterize all establishments through a prism of current and historical s

Merlin, Thank you very much. Arzak indeed deserved a special effort.

The Divine Mrs F., I hope you'll enjoy it.

Apparently a current version of Invision software or our package allows only certain number of pictures to be displayed in one post. Below are the rest of the pictures, which I wasn’t able to fit in the previous post. Foie Gras Pegeon Lamb (agar agar sheet) Lamb presentation before the jus was poured Lamb “Ugly omelet” dessert “Grilled Fruit” dessert

ARZAK Opening the window, I nearly drowned in the majesty of the serene and monotonous night sea, merged with the outline of the dark, hollow sky, so enchanting in its conciseness and simplicity until it broke in impatient outbursts, as the waves approached the shore, turning swelling and muscular, while striking careless strokes on the “silk,” leaving behind a sparse adornment of white, angry foam, only to retreat in shame, as if calmed by the power of the statue of Christ atop the Monte Urgull hill, encircled by the softness of the artificial light, and almost floating in suspension abov

This thread will document my recent trip to San Sebastian (retracing Robert Brown’s steps as he described in eG article, San Sebastian Dining: Akelare to Zuberoa) and Madrid. Since I realized that I may not have the opportunity to register my experience at every deserving restaurant in the same detail as I managed for Arzak (see my next post), I decided to “cheat” and reuse a personal letter (with some additional thoughts at the end) I put together for a friend, to provide a general perspective. My intention is, however, to describe in subsequent posts as many places as the time will permit.

Thank you for posting, which is quite timely for us, as we are leaving for San Sebastian and Madrid tomorrow. Is reservation required to Arce and, if yes, how long in advance?

“Neo-Gothic or Neo-Baroque,” was my first impression as we entered the compact lobby of Lucas Carton, until curly heads of cheeky cherubs, emerging from the wood-carved leaves supporting elaborate wall lamps in the main room, caught my eye with their distinctive Art Nouveau motifs of the vitreous interior incarcerated in an elaborate scenography of wood. Somehow the “sweet” vulgarity of Art Nouveau, expressed in a perennial preference for forms with sinuous floral ornamentation, and which more often than not represented equally lugubrious examples of petrified Classicism with heavy Symboli

Your baroque interpretation of your travel annoyances just became a “reason to be cheerful” for me.

Orik, thank you very much. The book is hardly a conventional cook book, containing no recipes but rather capturing reflections on Gagnaire’s philosophy with 170 pictures of the dishes and their poetic prefaces. It is written by Gagnaire with captions by François Simon of Figaro and essays by Bénédict Beaugé. Interestingly, I always considered food photography as nothing more than the image of truth, the reference of knowledge with limited possibilities until I read this book. The photographs by Jean-Louis Bloch-Lainé are simply breathtaking, emotional, living, surreal and transcen

''Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.'' -Jeanne Moreau