Archive for May, 2009


Dining Out and About (Paris): Crêpes at Breizh Café

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

 
In principle, it seems so simple: A visit to Paris = eating great crêpes. But after one too many disappointing, pre-made, desultory, floppy and/or overly buttery pancakes, I began to despair of ever finding a good, nay great, nay excellent, crêpe in Paris. 
Good thing I read Chowhound. Posters there tipped me off to Breizh Café, a small and […]

French food news: Al fresco dining in Paris, Sriracha mania, my window box garden

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

I think everyone in Paris has summer fever. Le Figaroscope certainly does — they’ve devoted this week’s food news to al fresco dining — this coming hot on the heels of last week’s article enumerating the best spots for a pre-dinner cocktail (many of which featured outdoor terraces).
So, where do these garden restaurants hide? The Bois de […]

Recipe for happiness: Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

The more curmudgeonly among us would call an entire store devoted to cookbooks a recipe for bankruptcy, but to me it’s sheer happiness. As you might have guessed from reading this blog, I LOVE cookbooks. As an extension of this love, I ADORE cookbook stores. Too bad they’re so scarce. I’ve already filled you in […]

French food news: Cocktail hour in Paris

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Bonjour, mes amis and happy Friday! So, another week, another edition of French food news — what’s going on in the food media this week?
With the days growing longer, cocktail hour has been extended. Le Figaroscope has a very useful article on the best places for an apéro dînatoire, or pre-dinner drink. (Side note: Ah, apéro dînatoire… […]

A year in a French market: Grey Paree

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

May seems to beckon people to Paris, if my recent steady stream of house-guests is any evidence. Too bad the skies have been grey and greyer. As a steady rain drips down right now, I am rethinking the old adage: May showers bring June flowers. 
The humidity is not good for my plumbing problems (which, after […]

Dining Out and About (Brooklyn): Buttermilk brunch

Monday, May 11th, 2009

I usually don’t like writing about a restaurant unless I’ve eaten there a few times. But I had so much fun at Brooklyn’s Buttermilk Channel that I’m breaking my own rule. I first heard about this Carroll Gardens hot spot when Frank Bruni’s (generally positive) review appeared in the NYT, and I was thrilled to brunch there with friends […]

French food news: Secret Parisian addresses, exemplary lemon tarts

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Bonjour, mes amis! I’ll report soon on what I ate/saw/bought in New York, but first wanted to update you on the latest French food news. What’s going on? Before we dive into this week, let’s re-cap from two weeks ago, when Le Figaroscope had a truly thrilling article, “Best Secret Tables,” in which they revealed eight […]

Dining Out and About (New York City): At Home with the Mets at Citi Field

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Greetings, mes amis! I’m back! Apologies for the sudden absence. Perhaps you thought I was just being a lazy blogger, but I was actually away in New York and Washington DC. (I didn’t mention my trip to you because of paranoia that someone would somehow discover my address, break into my apartment, and steal my […]