robyn

I live in Florida - so I am kind of "cold sensitive" - but I really enjoy traveling in temperate climates in April. The chill of March is gone - and spring is in the air. And - in most places - you will start to get the first delicate delicious vegetables of spring (think spring peas) - spring lamb - etc. A fabulous time to eat. In addition - it is the season of spring flowers and flowering trees (beautiful). You will have to pack layers of clothing - but I think it's worth it. Also - in most places - it is not yet high tourist season (like it is in May or June). So if I were going to pick a single month - I'd pick April. What makes you think that Ducasse, Savoy and Robuchon are "tourist traps"? And if you want to avoid tourist traps - why on earth are you going to Venice (where there are about 50 tourists for every local)? Take a look at Milan instead (Florence and Rome are less touristy than Venice - but they are very much "tourist central" compared to Milan and other parts of Italy). If I were planning a month-long trip for you to Italy and France - I would recommend flying into Rome - and then picking up a car and driving from Rome to Paris - hitting places other than large cities on the way. I do enjoy travel by train (especially as I've gotten older) - but it is limiting in terms of getting to smaller out of the way places (where many great restaurants are located). I would start in Rome because Rome is warmer than Paris - so you will be "following spring" as you drive. If you take a look at a map - you will see that a driving trip from Milan to Paris will take you through some of the best eating areas of France (although - frankly - I have never run across an area of France that isn't a great eating area). Note that my husband and I have spent many many months driving through Europe - and those driving trips were always a lot of fun in terms of sightseeing and eating. Robyn

Thanks for the information. FWIW - there are some pretty good maps of the area (including the location of the art) on this website. I also suspect I can pick up some information at the hotel concierge desk. I hadn't realized how huge the area is until I looked at the maps (I figured it was maybe the size of Canary Wharf in London but it looks at least 3-4 times larger). I did find a comprehensive list of places to eat in the complex. There are probably a couple of hundred - including casual fast food places. So I doubt we will starve. Seems like the kind of day where we will sightsee and then try to find something simple when we get hungry and our feet start to hurt! One place that struck me when I looked at the restaurant list is a place called Paul (because it had a web site). Seems like a really big chain. Is it decent (in terms of sandwiches - salads - and the like)? Robyn

I know some people here think I'm nuts - but I actually travel to do things other than eat . I like contemporary art - especially large scale art in public places and contemporary gardens - so I think we will spend some time out at La Defense. It doesn't seem like a quaint kind of place where we can wander around and find a charming place to eat lunch - but I assume that all those office buildings have places where people eat lunch. Or perhaps there is a central place with restaurants? Anything worth trying? Certainly doesn't have to be a big deal - just a decent sit-down restaurant with "good eats" - perhaps a cut or two above office "take-out" food. Robyn

The age is right - but I recall that the gentleman we dealt with had darker hair. Of course - the photo you linked to is a "professional" photo - and therefore the person in it may not look at all like he does in real life . Robyn

This message won't help you except in terms of spirit. I was last in Beaune perhaps 20 years ago - and our favorite meal was at a one knife and fork restaurant a bit out of town (whose name I obviously can't recall - although I remember what the place looked like - including the parking lot). It sat about 60 people - was all locals except for us - and we had a great early afternoon Sunday supper - the kind of meal people have after church on Sunday. Great not because of the food - which was "good eats". But because it was fun and relaxed - and all the locals fought with one another about which things we definitely had to try (which wine was best - which cheese was best - etc.). This place may not exist anymore (maybe it does) - but - apart from fine dining - it's the kind of place I'd try to find - or stumble on - if I were in the smaller cities and towns of France. Robyn

There are markets - and markets. Many are good for people looking to buy things to take home and cook. Like the Union Square Market in New York. Others do that - but also cater to people - not only tourists - who might like to eat some of the things that the vendors sell at or near the market. Like the Granville Market in Vancouver - or the Viktualienmarkt Market in Munich. Since I doubt I will be buying a bunch of stuff at any market in Paris - and taking it home to my hotel room to cook - but am very interested in sampling what markets have to sell - which markets in Paris would be best for me - and people like me? Robyn

I haven't eaten there - but just today I read the write-up about Delicabar in Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris. Sounded pretty good and I bookmarked it as a possible lunch spot during a shopping day. Do you know when it will be closing? Robyn

Are you sure he's Spanish (the fellow I'm talking about is relatively young and good-looking)? Perhaps he was Spanish - my husband speaks a little Italian but we both speak pretty good Spanish and perhaps that's why he was able to charm us in 2 languages . Robyn

It was hard not to like it. The food was excellent - so was the service - and the Italian maitre d' tried his best to make us think we had the best table in the house (being Italian - he almost succeeded ). And I'll tell you - when we complained to the hotel staff before we checked out the next morning - well they were more than apologetic. They comp'd both our limo ride from the train station to the hotel - and our limo ride to the airport. And they put together a gift basket containing an excellent olive oil and vinegar - and a teddy bear. Due to airport restrictions - all I could take home was the teddy bear . Anyway - I would be an idiot if I didn't think this was a sufficient apology for a reservation mistake. Robyn

Robyn, my comment was not about the atmosphere but about that food is too demanding at Vendome to have any conversation other than about the meal (at least I couldn't)... So, if you would take somehow to a business dinner in Bergisch-Gladbach, take him/her to Lerbach - that's my advice. Or for lunch, even better... Maybe it is romantic - I never think about a high-end restaurant being romantic in the first place - I think about food, service, wine and whether I like the atmosphere;-) Personally, I find the Wintergarten a bit outdated and together with the rather formal service not romantic at all... But the food is great and that's all I'm interested in if I go to such a restaurant. For a romantic occasion I need to think... ← Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus ? (Famous book in the US) I cannot separate the food at a restaurant from the atmosphere. Sitting at a table by an open window overlooking a beautiful garden at Dieter Muller with the smell of roses in the air was really quite wonderful. Sitting next to the service bar at Vendome wasn't. The service at Dieter Muller was very formal - but that was better than the "friendly" service at Vendome trying to make up for the fact that it lost our reservation. I guess - bottom line - that losing a reservation you have made and confirmed and reconfirmed at a 3 star restaurant anywhere is really inexcusable (and tends to wreck your evening - even if they "comp" you a glass of champagne and some other much more expensive things to try to make up for the lapse in service). Robyn

Business dinner at Lerbach? I thought the room was really romantic - with the windows wide open to the garden (this was in June - and a perfect early summer evening). I doubt we will return to Germany - not because we didn't like it but because we are getting older - and have many places we want to see before we get too old to travel. Regarding the lunch at Gordon Ramsay RHR - perhaps it was just one of those meals that "clicked" - three courses of some of my favorite things - langoustines and pigeon and chocolate - from the a la carte menu - cooked perfectly - coupled with a few hours at the Chelsea flower show after. I know that other people haven't enjoyed the restaurant as much as my husband and I did (FWIW - a lot of them had the tasting menu - what little I saw of it during our lunch didn't look that impressive to me).

Thanks for the feedback. I have been to France perhaps 6 or 7 times - but last trip was about 20 years ago. I live in northeast Florida - get to New York about once every 4-5 years - and like Balthazar - a plate of fruits de mer - some frites - and a nice white wine. Usually for an early before theater dinner if the theater is near "downtown". We have a similar restaurant here in Jacksonville (Bistro Aix) - really good for Jacksonville - not as good as Balthazar. On the other hand - if you're paying about $50 for food for 2 for dinner - it is hard to complain. I get the definite impression after reading a lot about food in Paris these days that I will be disappointed with brasserie food. I have zero interest in hanger steaks when I can buy rib eyes on sale for $7/pound and grill them myself (Costco was selling prime rib eyes for about $10/pound this summer). Fruits de mer are expensive no matter where you buy them - so it is worth a few extra dollars to buy the best. I think I would rather have an interesting couscous than a mediocre hanger steak . Which leads to - Ptipois - thanks for the explanation of couscous in Paris. I make dishes like that at home - but they are not in general sold at restaurants where I live. Sounds like a good dish for takeout if we are really exhausted (which we certainly will be a couple of days) and want to crash in the hotel - sitting in bed and eating dinner. Are there takeout couscous restaurants (perhaps this is a silly question - but it sounds like the cuisine would lend itself to "take-out" diining - I don't have a clue and am just asking)? FWIW - this may well be our last trip to France - if only because my husband and I are over 60 - and have a lot of other places in the world we want to see before we have physical problems with travel (also travel in general has become a big PITA for everyone - but I am getting weary of having my husband's leg brace tested for 20 minutes for explosives every time we go through airport security) - so cost really isn't an issue (although I don't want to pay a lot of money to get mediocre or worse food). Robyn

I'm not Stephen either - but if you are coming from another country for a vacation - I would recommend staying in the area or one of the hotels which house the restaurants - and trying both places - they are "brother and sister" properties a short distance from one another - and they will limo you from either property to either restaurant. FWIW - I liked Dieter Muller better - and my husband liked Vendome better. Which is one reason I recommend trying both places. If you are a big eater - you can probably do the meals "back to back". If you aren't - you can - like we did - spend 3 nights with a "night off" in between dining at the 2. There is plenty to do in Cologne - a short train ride away - and the area around Cologne. Certainly 2 days worth of sightseeing (the Museum Ludwig is one of the best contemporary art museums in the world and the Cathedral is world class as well - there are river boat trips - etc.). You have to spend time in the Cologne area if only to drink Kolsch - the local beer (which my husband - the beer drinker in the family - really loved). This was our last stop on a 2 week trip to Germany last year - and we enjoyed it. In terms of comparing the restaurants to other world class restaurants - these were the only 3 stars we dined at in Germany. Year before last - we were in Japan - and it's hard to compare Japan with Germany. Last trip to Europe before this one was in 2004 to London - where our best meal was at Gordon Ramsay RHR. I thought that restaurant was somewhat better than these 2 - but they are all definitely excellent restaurants. Robyn

Sept 9 Pti responded Robyn, Hi Ptipois - I'm aware that couscous is both an ingredient - and sometimes a complete dish (sometimes a side dish). I was just wondering what type of couscous (ingredient) we were talking about.

Hi Stephen - We enjoyed our stay as well. It's just that the place didn't live up to world class 5 star standards. It did try though. Like when the internet in our room didn't work (wireless has a hard time going through the stone walls in the property) - they brought us up a huge modem so we could connect to the internet. One thing I really disliked about the room is it required extreme detexerity with a handheld shower (which I don't have) to avoid flooding out the bathroom during bathing. On the other hand - except for the restaurant snafu - the staff was really great. I am glad you told me about your parents - because I was thinking that our missing reservation was intentional. Now I realize it was probably unintentional (but nevertheless annoying). I am very surprised they did away with the cheese trolley at Dieter Muller. It was certainly the highlight of my meal - and probably the meals of many other people - the best cheese course I have had in years. I saw the cheese trolley when I entered the dining room - and ate very lightly during dinner just so I would have room to sample a lot of cheese. Robyn

Opus 39 in St. Augustine. Check out the website. Robyn (in Ponte Vedra Beach in St. Johns County)

Having dined at Vendome about a year ago - I will add: 1. The hotel is definitely not 5 star - or 5 little buildings (I assume you are using the Michelin standards). It is a 4 (out of date plumbing - internet - no refreshing of things like fruit during a 3 day stay - etc.). 2. Although we booked a restaurant reservation 6 months in advance - and reconfirmed it when we checked into the hotel - when we arrived at dinner 2 nights later - they said they had no record of our reservation - and set up a table for us next to the service bar. I guess they thought that since we were the only Americans dining that night - we would ok with that. I wasn't. Even though the food was good - and the hotel attempted to apologize in a variety of ways the next morning when we checked out. Note that we also dined at Dieter Muller (sister property) during that stay - and I found it up to 3 star standards in all respects. Robyn

Host’s note: This is split off from here because it concerns couscous not "Types of restaurants": Sept 4 Julot said Which kind of couscous - the small ones - or the big ones (which are usually called Israeli or pearl couscous in the United States)? Or both? Robyn

Having dealt with our higher end dining reservations - I would like to get a sense of the general types of other restaurants in Paris - so I can make good lunch/dinner decisions when we're there. Note that I am restricting my inquiry to restaurants that serve French food. I'm not interested in pizza - or Turkish - or Asian food (fusion or otherwise). Japan is a unique and interesting country. There are about 12 kinds of "Japanese" Japanese restaurants. Sushi - tempura - soba - udon - yakitori - etc. Each specializing in a different kind of food. You want great udon - you go to a udon restaurant. I have a good article about 12 types of Japanese restaurants - and it gave me an outline of different kinds of places to try. I have found similar articles about other countries (like the UK - where you can do modern British - gastropub - etc.). I haven't read anything similar about France (although - to be fair - I haven't looked very hard until now). Is there any similar classification system when it comes to French restaurants? Types of restaurants. If so - what are the classifications? The descriptions in Michelin are really meaningless. Contemporary - traditional - terroir. Doesn't really tell me much. And if there are classifications - which ones do you think are "have-to-tries". Types of places that are unique to Paris and/or France. Some descriptions I've read about places like brasseries seem very nebulous. And when I read about particular establishments - well a lot seem to have great architecture - and nothing to write home about in terms of food. Moreover - some can be quite expensive - especially since some ingredients I like - like certain kinds of seafood - are expensive whether the chef who prepares them is a genius or an idiot. Anyway - perhaps this is a stupid question - because I really don't know much about France and French dining today. But I have always thought that the most stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. If I need a different frame of reference - or a different way of looking at things - let me know. Robyn

Senderens gave up his 3 stars - but Michelin gave him back 2 . If it is an issue of expense - many restaurants - at all price and quality levels - have relatively inexpensive lunches (50% or less than dinner prices). E.g., Guy Savoy (3 star) is continuing its internet 100 euro lunch this fall. As far as attire goes - I am a "when in Rome" person. Many restaurants in large cities - including Paris - cater to business people - and the dress of their customers will depend in part on what types of business people dine there. Lawyers and bankers will dress more conservatively than people in more creative fields. But Paris is - above all - fashionable. A six foot tall model may be able to carry off a pair of $300 jeans - a cashmere sweater - and a leather jacket - even in a very fancy restaurant. But if I tried to do that - I would look like an idiot tourist. For a guy - I would recommend at least one suit and a tie. If you don't usually wear suits - there are some very reasonably priced "suit separates" for sale in the stores these days (quite a few in "travel fabrics"). If you do the pants and the jacket in navy - you can pretty much dress things up or down as necessary. I wouldn't let the lack of a jacket and tie get between me and a great meal. When it comes to getting by in restaurants in any country - in any language - a few basic phrases are all you need *as long as you can read the menus* (assuming you are not dealing with a country like Japan - which has lots of "plastic food" restaurants). Unless you can read the menus with some degree of comprehension (well I know this is "duck" - but how is it prepared?) - you'll be lost - or at least surprised by what you've ordered on more than a few occasions. FWIW - I have a few old menu readers - and although I have looked for newer zippier ones - I can't find any. The best one I have was written by Al Ellison in the 70's. It is out of print - and if you search around for a while - it is possible to pick up a copy for about $10. Spend some time on the internet reading French menus - and look up what you don't understand. Robyn

I have just finished our dining reservations for Paris. Since I wanted to pace our higher end meals - I was especially interested in restaurants that are open 7 days a week. Anyway - the ones that struck me were Le Cinq - Le Bristol - and - presumably - many other hotel restaurants of varying quality. Also Senderens and La Table de Joel Robuchon. All 2 star Michelin. I realize there are existing threads on this subject - but thought I'd add the results of my research. Robyn

FWIW - I wasn't talking about buying things in the US - but ordering things from France and having them shipped to the US. I realize that the goods of small producers of many things frequently don't travel very far from home - but I can (and do) buy some high quality products here from larger producers. Robyn

Add citrus greening to the list of agricultural disasters caused in part by smuggling. Robyn

In this instance, I ordered La Coupole's famous lamb curry. I should have known better than to order a curry recipe that had been served unaltered in a Paris restaurant for eighty years. In general, if I were visiting an unfamiliar brasserie whose architecture interested me, I'd stay with food that's difficult to spoil, such as seafood (if they have a big turnover) or choucroute garnie. ← The mental image of lamb curry and a brasserie is a somewhat jarring one to me. When I think of a brasserie - (because I don't eat a lot of meat) I think of a plateau de fruits de mer - some pommes frites - and a bottle of Muscadet. Unfortunately - in a lesser restaurant - you can wind up spending a lot of money for a meal like this and eating lousy seafood (the frites may be lousy too - but at least they're usually inexpensive). Also - I don't like the really teeny tiny sea shells where you need surgical tweezers to get the meat out (there are a lot of interesting seafood utensils - but surgical tweezers are hard to come by in a restaurant). I collect seashells - and when I used to collect live shells - those teeny tiny ones were hard to clean even at home with an assortment of medical instruments. So are there any (in general) reliable middle-of-the-road things to order? Like a plain grilled local fish? A roast chicken? Etc. Robyn

Can't help you with the names of places to buy things - but I strongly recommend against trying to bring food home to the US. If it is legal to bring it home - you can almost certainly order it on the internet for delivery at home - and not have to worry about taking proper food precautions when you're traveling. If it isn't legal - reasonably good chance you will be detained going through customs (those dogs really have good noses). I have forgotten how long your trip will be. If you have the time - and you like foie gras - I would take a trip down to the Dordogne (foie gras and trrufle and Armagnac region of France). I would take that trip instead of going to Antony's (I am sure he has great cheese - but the Dordogne is a very special food area of France IMO). FWIW - this is probably our 6th or 7th trip to France. Have probably spent 75% of our time in the country outside of Paris (when we were younger and more mobile - more willing to drive - etc.). Robyn