robyn
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Posts posted by robyn
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...And on a note likely to draw fire from some, how wonderful is it that I'll never go to Alinea and spend $500 because after seeing all the photos of the food, I just can't see myself getting excited over a slice of bacon handing from a mini wire clothes line. It's just not me. And therefore, the photos saved me a lot of money. Snap away people. Keep it coming.
You'll draw fire from me for that. Because when my husband looked at those pictures of bacon on a clothes line - he refused even to consider going to Alinea. So I will never know whether or not either of us would have liked/disliked the restaurant (I suspect it wouldn't have been our cup of tea - but I'll never know). I am just glad that there have always been fewer pictures of food from some restaurants where we've dined (like Tom Aikens in the UK at the beginning - when he was in his "Jackson Pollock" phase). On my part - some restaurants have so many photos/blog posts on the internet that I am bored by the place even before I consider making a reservation. It's like I've dined there 10 times before - even though I've never dined there. Surprise is an important element of a great meal in my opinion. Someone once asked me how I could go to Per Se and not have Oysters and Pearls. And my answer was that I had seen so many photos - and read so many descriptions of the dish - that actually eating the dish would have been anticlimactic.
There are many things I like about the internet. But - to me - cooking and dining are processes of discovery. Cooking - no matter what you see/read - will always be a discovery. Because the raw ingredients and technical expertise we have are very variable. With dining - if there are 500 sets of pictures - and 500 reviews on the internet - there is very little left to be discovered. That is one reason I really liked Japan. Even though there are more than 100 million people in Japan - there is so little written in English about dining in Japan that everything was a discovery. A constant series of surprises - to us - and that is all that matters - even though our experiences probably wouldn't have surprised an average person who lives in Japan.
P.S. to Dave - Squash blossoms can be really good if they're stuffed with good things and fried. If they're not fried - I agree that they are usually kind of "blah". Robyn
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Of those of you who have witnessed picture taking in restaurants - can you make any generalizations about the restaurant(s) where you've encountered the behavior? Particular cities - kinds of restaurants - etc.? I don't often get to "hot" new restaurants - but even when I was at GE in Chicago (which I guess qualifies as a hot new restaurant) a couple of weeks ago - I didn't see anyone taking pictures. Note that it would have been impossible to take decent pictures there after dark without flash because of the way the restaurant is decorated and lighted.
For those of you who say it's all about remembering meals - I find that if I want to remember the specifics of a meal without taking notes - I simply ask for a copy of the menu.
As for FG's comments about it all being "psychological" - well sure it's psychological. Just like being disturbed by a screaming baby in a restaurant is psychological. You're not going to go deaf or blind or have a heart attack. I frequently pick restaurants not only for the food - but for the ambience. And there really aren't many restaurants whose ambience is enhanced by photography - cell phones - screaming babies - or similar.
Concerning the smoking is taboo comment. There are still countries where smoking is allowed in most restaurants/bars. Germany (went there last year) - Japan (went there the year before). And I doubt countries like China and Russia are non-smoking. Overall - I suspect that the population of places in the world where smoking is still ok is greater than the population of places where it is banned. OK by me. I smoke. Next year may feature a RTW trip which covers China - India and Russia.
OTOH - I'm not sure I'd want to start taking lots of pictures in places like Beijing or Moscow. You might run into problems more significant than the table next to you objecting to your flash photography
. FWIW - when taking pictures of street food in Japan - not only did I always buy something first - but I always asked permission. Heard that some places are run by Yakuza - and they don't want their pictures taken. It's bad enough getting your camera smashed if you're a paparazzo. It's not worth it to take a picture of the Japanese equivalent of a corn dog 
.But this raises another issue. I have on more than one occasion been in restaurants where there were celebrities or important politicians or similar dining in the restaurant - in Berlin during the G-8 meeting last year - in New York on a trip a few years - in Los Angeles during the Democratic national convention - etc. Never saw anyone use a camera in these places (although there were sometimes plenty of photographers on the sidewalk) - but I suspect anyone using a camera in any of these restaurants would have been asked to leave - even if he or she insisted the camera was only being used to take pictures of food. Which brings me back to my initial question. What types of restaurants attract people who simply must take photographs? And if you insist on taking pictures - perhaps you are limiting yourself in terms of your dining. Because - in many places where I've dined - the rules against photography are more implicit than explicit. Robyn
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Just for precision's sake, the exact quote from David Chang is "It's just food. Eat it."
And thanks for changing the name of the thread to reflect that. Robyn
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Your budget rules out most of the 3 star places - and some of the 2 stars - and - in many of those places - you'd bring down the average age by about 10-20 years. And I know what you mean by reverential. I don't mind it - but it isn't everyone's cup of tea (especially younger people).
I am still thinking Senderens. Julot is - I think - kind of busy this week - but I know he has dined at Senderens - and I would like to hear what he thinks about my idea (he is closer to your age than I am). Perhaps other people here have dined there too. I'd like to hear what they have to say. Take a look at the website and see what you think. Gaya is another possibility (again - only from what I've read). Adrian is also much closer to you in age than I am - so perhaps he can also give you his "two cents".
If you read French - take a look at Le Fooding - which is a very fashionable food site these days.
By the way - the first week of October - when I will be there - is Fashion Week. And Saturday 10/4 is Nuit Blanche. And I'm sure that there will be some fun bar scenes then (then again - at my age - I am not threatened by six foot tall women who weigh 112 pounds
). We were in Milan once during Fashion Week - and my husband thought the women in the bars were "women of the night". I had to break the news that his "women of the night" were high fashion models. Don't think I've weighed that little since I was about 12. Robyn -
What is glam and chic for a 60 year old like me (if anything
) might be a total bore for a 30 something.Many restaurants are closed on Saturday - so Friday is usually a better bet (depending on the restaurant).
What weekend are you talking about? I will be in Paris the first week in October and can let you know what is going on then if that is the week you will be there.
How much money do you want to spend? Higher end restaurants in Paris (particularly at the 2-3 star Michelin level) run from expensive to very expensive to "good grief" expensive. Since you are 5 people - it's good to ask your friends about this one - and get an idea what they are thinking about spending. If their budgets are at the lower end of expensive - one possibility is having a drink or two at a chic bar - and then picking a restaurant which won't break the bank (having a cocktail or two before dinner will probably also reduce your wine bill). Don't tell them that there is a new Christian Louboutin boutique in Paris. Otherwise - they may want to eat dinner at McDonald's and save their money for shoes
. Sorry if some of these questions are indelicate - but one size doesn't fit all when it comes to restaurants.
One restaurant that comes to mind when I think of a scene for younger people is Senderens (note that I haven't eaten there since the place changed from Lucas Carton - so I am just basing my opinion on what I've read). Robyn
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I find often that a photograph captures something ineffable about a dish. Take this example of yours, robyn: lots of description about variations in texture and hue. As you wrote,Now take a look at this picture. It's the exact same thing - just shot from a different angle. Has more of a sense of motion - and it draws you into the subject more. It's a more interesting picture.
You dug into the archives to find those
. I never said I didn't own a camera - or never took pictures of food (and other things). It is interesting where those pictures came from though. I went to a new local restaurant - loved it - and asked the chef if I could come back on a slow night and take some pictures of food as they were coming out of the kitchen. Instead - he invited me and my husband to a press party at the restaurant - where everyone was writing in notebooks and clicking away. And I had to take I don't know how many pictures to get about 20 pretty good shots (I was pretty new at shooting food then - I am getting better - but it still usually takes a lot of shots from a lot of different angles with different lighting to get "keepers" ).I've done similar at other restaurants (asking the chef for access to the food while not eating). With pretty good luck. E.g., at one restaurant - the chef invited me to the staff meeting before dinner - cooked 2 of his dishes that I especially liked - and allowed me to photograph them to my heart's content.
One thing I did find out pretty early on is that in a typical restaurant setting - even in my house during the day - it is difficult to get adequate light levels to take good pictures without using a flash - or a tripod for a prolonged exposure. Photoshop or the like can help to rescue some marginal pictures - but many taken without flash or prolonged exposure are totally hopeless. Also - as small cameras get better and better resolution - you need a very steady hand - or a tripod - to get good closeups (I take lots of pictures of butterflies on flowers - where the subject area is about as large as that of an average food shot).
In short - what I am saying is that in all probability - 90% of the pictures being taken at restaurants wind up being junk. Which perhaps is neither here nor there in terms of photography rules - because a lot of people probably don't mind taking junky pictures.
BTW - I do agree with the point Prasantrin made - that when my husband and I are dining with other people (many of whom we have met here) - we are usually too busy talking with them even to think about taking pictures. Robyn
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...I'd like to be able to show you all some photos of my recent meals there, but I can't. Sorry. Those of you who won't be able to make it to Momofuku Ko will just have to settle for the older photos from before cameras were banned...
The last time I was at Momofuku Ko, a guy down the counter from me (the restaurant has just 12 seats, all at a long counter) took out a small camera and was about to photograph his food. I didn't notice it. I did notice, however, when one of the restaurant's employees told him he couldn't use the camera. It was an uncomfortable moment and an utterly inhospitable act. This guy just wanted to take some photos of his food. Who cares why? He should have been allowed to...
Perhaps I am unusual - but I don't care about seeing your pictures. Since I have found out over the years that our taste in restaurants is similar - I do like to read whether you liked a restaurant (good chance if you liked it - I'll like it). Note that with other people - I have found out that our taste in restaurants is very different - so I tend to avoid the restaurants they like
.It's curious that as much as I've dined out - I have never seen anyone taking pictures of food in a restaurant - and I am a pretty observant person - am always looking around to see what is going on (I have seen people taking pictures of themselves - probably for things like birthdays - but that doesn't happen often). Of course - a lot of the places where I've dined are pretty formal in terms of attitude (doesn't have to be fancy to be formal - a small high end sushi bar in Tokyo can be very formal - you'd no more think of taking out a camera than asking the chef if you could borrow his knife).
So this particular issue hasn't affected me - yet. I can only imagine that in this very small very "hot" restaurant in New York - that things got out of control at some point. I'll also note that I think a chef or restaurant is free to set whatever policies it wants to set with regard to cameras - cellphones - dress codes - smoking in places where it is still legal - etc. And I as a diner am also free to decide whether or not to dine in a particular place based on whether I think I'll like it - taking everything I know about it into account.
To answer a question that might be asked - if I have never been affected by photography in restaurants - why did I start this thread? Simple. I thought that the Chef's phrase was really catchy. Made me smile. Robyn
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I just think it's funny that participants in a food discussion board would be rolling their eyes at people who are a little bit more obsessive than they are.
If it's only food, and we should just eat it, what are any of us doing here on eG?
I don't know about anyone else - but there are people here from all over - and people who travel to a lot of places - and they frequently give me some good ideas about places to dine when I'm traveling. I try to return the favor by giving my impressions of places where I've dined (including those on my own home turf). I used to write a lot more about meals than I do now. For a few reasons - one of which is that I had to take notes during less than memorable meals to do detailed write-ups - which I disliked (no problem with the memorable meals - I remembered them
). So my writeups these days are pretty short. Robyn -
For those of you who are substituting looking at pictures with living life - my main words of advice would be "get out and do it". Perhaps you will never get to a 3 star Michelin restaurant ever - anywhere - but I had some pretty good eats in the greater Detroit area (an unlikely venue) a couple of weeks ago. And - at home - I am a pretty good cook. Which means time in the kitchen - not looking at pictures on a computer. It isn't in the cards for me to ski again - but I don't sit home looking at Warren Miller movies - I go out and do stuff I can do.
And just FWIW - after years of experience - if you can't remember a meal/dish without looking at a picture - it wasn't a memorable meal/dish. I can still remember some great stuff I had almost 40 years ago.
Also - for many people (althougn not all people) - if you want to eat certain meals in certain places - if there's a will - there's a way. Robyn
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Hate to do a Paris Hilton impression - but that Asian dude with the famous New York restaurants - can't remember his name or the name of his restaurants - sorry - I only get to New York about once every 5 or 10 years and don't feel like doing a Google search now - has a point. When did taking pictures of food - or writing about food - become more important than eating food? How many food blogs are there these days - thousands - tens of thousands? Written or photographed mostly by people who wouldn't know the difference between a bistro and a 3 star Michelin place. And it isn't only a generational thing. We just returned from Chicago - where we dined at a really good restaurant with my nephew (and his fiancee) - our nephew is a 20 something who does web design and is a really excellent photographer. It was more important for him to dine with us and enjoy the dinner than to take excellent pictures of the meal (and I'm sure his pictures would have been better than about 99% of the food pictures out there).
Anyway - New York Asian restaurant dude - I think you're right. Eat and enjoy. Robyn
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Most beans not just soy are on the no no list also..so you basically cant have anything but iceberg lettuce...sorry...
My B-I-Ls both get this really bad - one of them swears by Organic Cherry Juice
He even gave everyone a bottle at Christmas
The other one just drinks more beer to feel better
Like mentioned above Water Water and more Water...and it seems to run in families too
tracey
feel better
Fortunately, we are in the midst of cherry season right now, so I'm able to bypass the juice and go straight to the source. Otherwise, I was pleased to determine that pizza is approved, as well as cheese and broccoli, so I'm able to buckle down to a weird but tasty diet.
Thanks everyone for all the tips, I'm hoping to get through this without having to hit the doctor for drugs or abandon sweet breads for life and will report back, in case I learn anything of use.
Hit the doctor - preferably a rheumatologist (although they are hard to come by). An excellent internal medicine doc will do in a pinch. For flare-ups - a pred pack is usually the best way to go. But then you will have to work on a long term plan. Drugs (colchicine - allopurinol) - diet modification - or a combination of both. I am not a doctor and cannot advise you what is best for you. All I know is gout is not a benign condition if left untreated properly - and the internet is a lousy place to get medical advice. Robyn (I have gout too)
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Zagat's lists these places. I don't think it's the most accurate guide in terms of rating restaurants - but it does do things like "places open on Sunday" pretty well. Robyn
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...Will we need to rent tableware, or just go with disposable? Wine glasses?
I know it's not PC environmentally - but it is hard to beat Costco (and - I suppose - similar discount clubs - I'm just a member at Costco) for disposable everythings - including chafing dishes - for a relatively large gathering. Robyn
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Couldn't agree more about safety awareness. Not only in Chicago - but in many other large cities.
It is also a miserable state of affairs in terms of flying these days. Last year - when we flew EWR to Berlin - I found that someone handling my luggage had decided to steal my TSA lock by removing both the lock and the zipper pulls from the piece. So on our most recent trip - I used a cheaper piece of luggage - skipped the TSA lock - and found an expensive purse stolen from my checked bag somewhere between DTW and JAX (via ATL).
That said - we have never had any problems in Chicago (although we do stay along the reasonably well beaten tourist path during hours when normal people are mostly awake). Robyn
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Forgot - from those of you who are Chicago tourists like I am - this is a great book of maps that fits easily into a small purse (although the most current edition is somewhat out of date):
http://www.amazon.com/Fodors-Flashmaps-Chi...d/dp/1400011264
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Omg, I'm drowning in all these transporation details. Apparently, I've been stuck in my small town for way too long. Hopefully, someone else staying at the Hyatt( hint, hint) will take the lead and I'll be more than happy to just follow.
Damn, I was just reading this and thinking - I hope Randi is paying attention to all this - so I can just follow!
And I was thinking..... I'm sure Kerry is good with directions. Maybe we can just follow Alex and Rona.....
I, too, am freaking out about these directions. Maybe we can all shell out a couple extra bucks and squeeze into a taxi? I am really bad about directions and especially bad with trains. I also have an irrational fear of buses but if I am with others it may be OK.
Is there anything to do around Union Station for a couple hours Friday morning? I am arriving at 5am and since the bread class isn't starting until noon I have quite a bit of time to kill.Anyone else going from this area to the bread class?
When I am in Chicago like I was a couple of weeks ago - I am a tourist too. Unfortunately - there is no Chicago Fish Market to help you kill time at 5 am
. The Field Museum (museum of natural history and the like) opens at 9 am. It's a world class museum. Apart from Sue the dinosaur - a perennial favorite - and many other displays - there is an interesting special exhibit there now called Nature Unleashed. Deals with things like tropical storms (typhoons) - earthquakes and the like. Museum admission isn't cheap - but you can print a $5 off coupon from the Field Museum website (or have your hotel concierge do it for you). You might have to make a specific time reservation to see Nature Unleashed (check the Field Museum website - shows the status in terms of available tickets).You might have an early breakfast - take a walk in Millenium Park before it gets hot - and then grab a taxi and go to the Field Museum (it's about 5-10 minutes from the park in a cab - but a very long walk). Check out the Mark di Suvero sculptures in the park. There are also quite a few fabulous "art in public places" sculptures in the area of the park (large scale sculptures). Get a map and plan a walk to see them.
If you feel like walking a bit less - I very much recommend the architecture boat tour - I've taken it before - earliest leaves at 9 am I think. Here is the website. Reservations are essential.
I don't mean to diss anyone else's city - but public transportation in Chicago isn't like public transportation in Japan. As an older woman - I never hesitated taking a train/subway in Japan (although I did avoid the buses due to language problems) - but I will not take the El in Chicago. The taxis aren't cheap - but they aren't particularly expensive either. I would suggest "taxi-pooling" whenever possible - especially in the downtown area. When you are going out of the city - there are certain fixed rates - something like double the meter cost (because you have taken the taxi out of its normal operating zone). Check what the costs are - for example - to a place like Evanston. Inside the city - you are running on the meter.
Every taxi we had took credit cards - but we always asked before we took one (because some don't). The quality of the taxis we took varied - from the old broken down kind you almost always find in cities like Miami - where the driver never turns on the air conditioning - to a brand new Prius (the first Prius cab I had ever been in). If you don't like the looks of a cab - wait for the next one. We were told that there is a "cab rider's" bill of rights in Chicago. Like you have a right to have the driver turn on the air conditioning.
Regardless of a cab's condition - or its driver's willingness to turn on the air conditioning - we found the drivers were always courteous. They always explained why a 2 mile trip wound up being 3 or more miles (100% of seemingingly roundabout trips were due to construction detours - many roads all around the city are closed for repair during the short road repair season).
Also - the weather is *very* variable. The week we were there - the highs were in the 90's every day. Hotter than home here in Florida! On the other hand - it could be in the 70's or 80's - or maybe even the 60's. Check the weather report before you leave and pack accordingly.
Anyway - if you have any other questions about being a tourist in Chicago - let me know. Because when I am there - I am also a tourist (with considerably less jet lag than you will have coming from Japan). Robyn
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Sorry we missed you all by a couple of weeks (we didn't set the wedding date!). When we went to Blackbird for lunch - this is the dessert we had:
sour cherry soup with guanaja chocolate ice cream, creme fraiche and espelette
It was fabulous and I recommend it highly if it is available.
And for those of you from out of town - don't miss the Koons exhibit at MOCA (even if you don't have time to dine at the Cafe). Robyn
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Yes - I was talking about Seasons - the "fancy" restaurant. I've found over the years that many hotel restaurants (especially those in luxury hotels) - once scorned - can now frequently compete with the best independent restaurants. I suspect a lot are run as loss leaders - or merely to break even - which gives them an advantage over the independents. Of course - they're not all equal. This restaurant was better than those at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale and Miami (OTOH - the food in general in Chicago is better than the food in general in Scottsdale and Miami) - and I suspect the restaurant at the Four Seasons in Paris is better than this one
. So these days - if I am staying at a luxury hotel - I always try the hotel restaurant at least once.BTW - it is beyond the scope of this discussion (food) - but if anyone is interested -here is my discussion of the hotel in general - along with links to pictures (hotel pictures - not food pictures). Robyn
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As I mentioned in my writeup on GE - I have been totally slammed since I got home - and the next couple of weeks don't look any better. But I did want to give you a little feedback concerning our dining in the midwest.
While in Chicago - we had dinner first night at Cafe Spiaggia (we were really tired and it was a block away from the hotel). The pasta course and the wine were great - the rest wasn't. If I went again - I'd simply order the pasta as a main and leave it at that.
We had lunch at the Wolfgang Puck place at MOCA. Sleeper meal of the trip. Who expects much at a museum cafe? Anyway - there were several new delightful light summer dishes on the menu - including a cold soup - a couscous salad - and a pasta in a light pea sauce (which is what we had). The dessert was a witty take-off on a Koons sculpture - and delicious too. Highly recommended. Note that this is a popular lunch place. We couldn't dine inside (didn't have a reservation). Didn't mind dining on the patio (even though it was about 92 degrees) because we were 2 Floridians wearing Florida summer clothes and we were under an umbrella. But if you mind sweating - make a reservation if you want to dine inside.
We had another lunch at Blackbird. The lunch menu suggested what the restaurant does at dinner (it was good - but it was a lunch menu). But the dessert - off the regular menu - was fabulous and convinced me that we should try the place for dinner next time we're in Chicago. Only big downer was the enormous order of fries was soggy.
We went out to dinner with a friend at Coco Pazzo (she picked the restaurant). Very pleasant and very solid - better than Cafe Spiaggia.
I think our best meal of the trip was dinner at the Four Seasons. But it was a combination of circumstances. Very elegant surroundings. Very good food. Excellent service. And it was the first time my nephew and his now new bride had ever had a fine dining experience. It was fun to watch my nephew eating his first foie gras (he loved it - thank you Chicago for removing your ban!). Sometimes a meal is more than the sum of its parts - and this was one of those meals.
Then we went to Brighton Michigan for the wedding. Saturday we had lunch during the Ann Arbor Arts festival at the Real Seafood Company downtown. Good timing - we walked in right before a huge storm - and walked out after it had passed. And it was exactly what we were looking for - fresh local fish prepared simply. Very good for a random chain restaurant experience.
Next night we went to Zingerman's. Have to say - it was disappointing food-wise - at least to me. But maybe I ordered stupid - southern food (I live in the deep south so I am a harsh judge of that kind of food) - and I wound up with things like mac and cheese that was dried out (we have better at Golden Corral). OTOH - all of our family loved the meal - and the service - for a party of 14 - was great. Plus a couple at the bar bought a split of sparkling wine for the wedding couple - which I thought was a very nice gesture. It was a very very successful family dinner - everyone left with big smiles on their faces - and that was the most important thing for me and my husband (especially since we were picking up the bill).
Note that we went to the Howell farmer's market on Sunday (it's the same market that's in Brighton on Saturday). Not a big market - but some nice looking stuff. If my husband hadn't restrained me - I probably would have wound up with 5 pounds of pickling cucumbers and 2 pounds of beans! However I couldn't resist buying an amazing dark dense rye bread (even though we didn't have the slightest idea what we'd do with it) - and that led us to the restaurant the bread maker owns - the Copper Pickle - in Howell - where we had a sinful (and tasty) sandwich/panini - Usinger's liver sausage with a little cream cheese and tomatoes on homemade bread. Bought a pound of the liver sausage and brought it back to my BIL and SIL (parents of the groom) - along with the rye bread - because we thought they were so tired they'd be making sandwiches the next couple of days. I only wish I had been there to eat some of those sandwiches! For anyone interested in bread - stop by and talk with the owner. He will talk your ear off - but - judging from his results - I think he knows what he's talking about
. Robyn -
I have been totally slammed since we got home from Chicago - and my schedule the next couple of weeks doesn't look any better. No time for long reviews. We dined at GE one evening in Chicago - and I think my opinion is pretty much in between UE's and Lenski's. Good dinner - not outstanding. (Note that I am a harsh grader - "outstanding" is usually reserved for meals at the 2 and 3 star Michelin levels.) I'd probably go again next time I'm in Chicago.
One thing that did stand out was the service. I had read some negative reviews about it - but our server - and the service - were terrific. We also had a nice chat with the chef after. The restaurant was pleasantly full on a weekday night (we had a 7:30 reservation and pretty much closed up the place) - but not so crowded that it detracted from the dining experience. As for the loud music that I'd read about - or any other loud noise - I simply didn't notice any (perhaps they were playing mellow "classic rock" that night
). The dining atmosphere was fine even for an old person like me .Guess you have to be a friend of the restaurant to get the Foielipop as an amuse. We didn't. I'm not complaining. Just make sure that if you want it - that you ask for it.
As for price - considering the money we spent taking out family members on this trip (we were in the midwest for a wedding) - and what we spent on my father's catered 90th birthday for 35 last weekend - this will be a mere blip on our AMEX bill this month. Wasn't a cheap meal - but it wasn't that expensive either. OK price-wise for the quality of the meal. Robyn
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La Nuit blanche is one of those incomprehensible Parisian events when everybody seems to be out in the street and nobody can seem to get in anywhere. It is an artistic event and not food-related at all. This year (4-5 oct. from 7 PM to 7 AM) the focus is on the train stations and churches. Not on restaurants. Maybe next year?
I forgot to put in the link to the event description - which is here.
In other words - there is no reason to skip a dinner reservation to see if anything turns up food-wise. Just go to dinner - and then hit the streets
. See what is going on. I assume that most of the people who attend and the performers are 1-2 generations younger than we are - and that things like comedy will be hard to understand (my husband's French is coming along nicely - but comedy is perhaps the hardest thing to understand in a non-native language unless you are extremely fluent).BTW - I think every place in the world has events like you describe. The most important word that applies to all of them is "free". When "big deal" events are free - there is usually too much demand - and not enough supply - especially when it comes to parking in smaller towns/cities where one might be driving a car (which I assume is probably not the case in Paris). Robyn
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P.S. Most of the description is beyond my very limited capabilities in French - otherwise I would look things up myself!
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I just found out that Nuit Blanche in Paris will be the night of October 4, 2008 - when we will be in town. I understand that the event is primarily artistic - but are there any food-related activities that take place (in restaurants or food stores - is there street food - whatever)? Robyn
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Well, this is not because I want to try a variety of places. It is just that the places I mentioned do interest me more than the current buzz. I like "innovative" cuisine but it is not my favorite (and by the way it is not really a style, it's a feeling).
Actually if you want great French food in the exact sense of the term, hot young chefs in Paris are not what you are looking for. They do not represent "great French food" but a certain style of increasingly internationalized, stylized cuisine — exciting as it may be.
Apart from the use of local produce there is very little that differentiates a hot young chef in Copenhagen, in Paris or in Singapore. They all make espumas and dashi, they all include foie gras here and there, they have all discovered the finger lime. As France goes, this is particularly true in Paris. "Great French" is represented by the bistrot, néobistrot, brasserie, traditional restaurant trend and by some starred chefs but it is rare that the "promising young chefs" do offer anything specifically French. Which explains why I tend to prefer those who work in the regions, because they are somewhat still attached to the land by a few strings.
I like "innovative" cuisine as long as it doesn't involve eating as if one's meal is a chemistry experiment
.I understand what you mean about "increasingly internationalized stylized cuisine" - and it really isn't my cup of tea. It is one thing to have gone to Nobu when it first opened in New York - which I did (lucked out with reservations - the chef's kids were my cousin's dental patients
) - but I don't have to go to Nobus all over the world. Philippe Starck has remarked that even though he has to travel a lot - for business - he really doesn't like to these days - because everything everywhere is starting to look the same. So he might as well stay home.And I thank you for your observation that the promising young chefs in France who do still offer a sense of "terroir" tend to be outside Paris. I am not a total "locavore" when I travel - but I like places with a distinct sense of "terroir". Perhaps that is one reason I enjoy trips to California for "California cuisine" so much - or trips to places like Texas to eat real Texas BBQ. If you were to visit where I live - I'm sure you'd prefer to try a good local chef's take on our local shrimp and grits than have a steak at a national chain restaurant.
I am rethinking our trip as we speak - and will definitely plan to spend time outside Paris. Probably in Lyon - because it is a quick easy train trip from Paris (my husband's days of driving in Europe are over) - and a distinctive culinary area of France. In past trips to France - we have been to many places near Lyon - but have never been in Lyon proper. So it will be a new experience for us. Which is always fun. I am not sure what we will find - but we will explore.
As an aside to anyone who is planning a trip - I was surprised that the roundtrip first class TGV from Paris to Lyon for 2 "seniors" (60+) was only about $190. It is certainly a heck of a lot cheaper than renting a car and driving. Robyn
Graham Elliot
in The Heartland: Dining
Posted
It's odd. I am neither young nor "hip" - but I liked the restaurant decor and the ambience. And I saw the place twice - once at dinner when it was dark outside and once earlier in the middle of the day when we were gallery hopping in the neighborhood. I thought the place even looked ok in broad daylight (which is rarely the case in a "darker wood" kind of environment - as opposed to a "white box" like Blackbird). Also - although I appreciate fine crystal - china - etc. (I am not above turning over plates to see the brand if they appeal to me) - I like Ikea too - because it has great style for the price. So I really don't understand where this critic is coming from. When I compare GE to Michael's Genuine in Miami - about the closest comparison I can make in terms of recent dining experiences - well everyone raves about Michael's Genuine but I thought both the food and the atmosphere at GE were about 10 times better. Robyn