Category Archives: France

Dining at La Grenouillére

After getting a taste of Chef Alex Gauthier’s cooking at last year’s StarChefs ICC (read about it here), I was looking forward to our reservation at his nouveau-French restaurant more than any other on our pilgrimage. Happily, it did not [...]

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Culinary Pilgrimages: Part 8 – Parting in Paris

Paris. Need I say more? Perhaps not, but I will. We took a 10AM high speed train to the Gare Lyon and made our way to our final apartment of this trip. The apartment was located in the Marais, a [...]

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Culinary Pilgrimages: Part 7 – Lovely Lyon

Our timing for the drive to the train station was good. With a 12 noon train, we missed the rush hour traffic and made it to Brussels with plenty of time to find the Car Rental return and get our [...]

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Musings – Where Are The Destination Restaurants of North America?

Three stars reward exceptional cuisine where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey. – the Michelin Guide
Restaurants don’t need to be difficult to get to to be “worth a [...]

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Culinary Pilgrimages: Part 5 – A Foray Into Northern France

The drive started out easily enough. The night was cold, but it was dry. Fortified with coffee, I was wide awake. As we made our way into the French countryside, there was hardly another vehicle on the road. With powder [...]

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Bocuse d’Or 2013 – French Impressions

I spent three days and three nights with my father in Lyon, France, to experience the Bocuse d’Or. In case you’re not familiar, here’s a brief history: The legendary Paul Bocuse started the Bocuse d’Or in 1987 as a sort [...]

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Sunday Photo – Cecina

This Spanish air-dried beef ham called “cecina” is one of the world’s great culinary secrets. Much less widely known than its Spanish porcine cousin, jamon Iberico de bellota, it is every bit as complex and delicious. This example from the [...]

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Lucy’s Tartiflette – A Plum Recipe – Rustic French at its Finest

When my son, L.J. and I were recently in Lyon for the Bocuse d’Or we had the distinct honor, luck and pleasure to have been invited for dinners not once, but twice at the home of my friends Lucy and [...]

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Bocuse d’Or 2013 – The Winner is…. France!

Chef Thibaut Ruggeri of France produced sensationally beautiful Fish plates and an incredible meat platter to win the 2013 Bocuse d’Or and propel France back to the Gold Medal. Jeppe Foldager of Denmark took the Silver and Noriyuki Hamada of [...]

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Bocuse d’Or 2013 – Go USA!

Today is the second and final day of the 2013 Bocuse d’Or. Yesterday saw half the teams in the field compete. Today, the United States is amongst the competitors with the winners announced at the end of the day. With [...]

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