John Talbott

Tram Tram, via dei Reti 44/46, Rome, 06.49.0416, closed Mondays, is in the St Lorenzo district (e.g., lots of university students, faculty and in-betweens). This was our first foray into the land of the Slow Food Editions aka 2007 Osterie d’Italia Guide; and this place was hardly new, being 15 years old and hardly undiscovered, featuring two reviews in English on the wall. We adopted the “When in Rome” strategy and ordered what looked good around us. I started with fresh fried sardines that were simply, there’s no way around it – divine! Then Colette had pasta with tiny diced swordfish bits, eggplant and tomato and I had pasta with clams, lotsa pepper and pureed broccoli – both sooo totally different from what we’d ever had in Rome or elsewhere. We shared a main of giant shrimp and squid (roasted toasty crisp and crunchy) with potatoes (and rosemary) moist and sweet – delicious and unusual. The bill = 56 €. As far as I was concerned, whoever reviewed this place for the Slow Food folks was spot on. It embodied all the principles of the movement; good seasonal product, honestly cooked, pleasantly presented and justly priced. The staff were most welcoming – they even had and handed us English menus without our asking. The Osteria Il Bocconcino, via Ostilia, 23 in Rome, 77079175, closed Wednesdays. What’s the saying: “Life is uncertain; eat dessert first?” Well, the cheese here (parmesan, asiago, pecorino and grana) with an onion/orange/chili pepper relish was incredible and definitely to be eaten before rigor mortis sets in. But the rest was equally good, although the resto, being brand new, it’s a bit unpolished and needs some more practice. We were late, very late, caught on the road from Subiaco on a Sunday night but this new Slow Food Guide aka Osterie d’Italia place, open on Sunday nights (NB) welcomed us with open arms and served good grub. I was a bit wary about the location, right smack near the Coliseum, but recalled a fabulous resto around there from 1961, so I figured that the district held good karma. And indeed it did. Having had a big lunch, we ordered rather conservatively (but well): I had perfectly cooked (e.g., not overcooked) rabbit with a properly sour caper and olive sauce; while Colette had veal and cinnamon meatballs with onions and celery; we both then had huuuuuge salads of lettuces, etc., and then there was that little truc (hole) left, and so we indulged in a bit of cheese. Wow, what a good move! The bread, wine, both bottled Chianti and carafe, were all first rate. The price, I’m ashamed to say – 60.50 €. The Gallo d’Oro, via del Duomo, 53, 0774.335363, closed Tuesdays, in Tivoli was a place we literally stumbled onto. We had been out in the country on a Sunday around Tivoli (RM) and went into a church in the city to see a twelfth century triptych and reliquary a friend has written about (as only medieval art historians do). That day, all of us were more interested in art history than contemporary cuisine and thus did not do any food research, falling back on the stupidest and most fallible strategy for foodies, we asked “ordinary citizens” where to eat. More astonishingly, we asked religious folk. The church custodian, the woman who seemed to run the church operation and the African-Italian guy who seemed to help out at services all said – right up the hill at the Gallo d’Oro. The place looked totally unimpressive; the interior was boring; but the arty metallic sign outside was lively and creative and one if not two of us said, hell, we buy wines because of cool labels; why not a resto. Good instincts. The art master and I shared the pasta a la matricina (e.g., with lamb and pancetta) and thought it was fabulous. Colette and the Editor had pasta putinesca and pasta with funghi, respectively, that were less successful. Then we all had great arugula and baby tomato salads. The bill for four = 61.70 €; that’s correct – for four 61.70 €, including one bottle of Chianti Classico.

Muro, San Polo, 222 Rialto, 041/523-7495; closed Sundays and Mondays. Right near the Rialto, Venice (VE); its website makes it out to be a really hip, young person’s bar, etc, and it is on the ground floor, weekdays at lunch. But the second floor was touted to me by member Paga and it might have been the best single meal we had in the Venice/Veneto area. We started out sharing six big slipper lobsters (Scyllarus arctus, which seemed to us to be just like French langoustines) that were (this is getting trite) terrific (with added lemon juice); followed by a shared portion of black ink pasta with minced scallops (with their coral), tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms and a touch of cream that was equally great. The meal with a bottle of Chianti Classico and coffee was filling and reasonable (50 €) and the waiter was very helpful and friendly. The view of the square below, from our second floor table, was delightful – dozens of folks (many locals) meeting and greeting, kids and dogs cavorting, many buying a glass of wine and a portion of pasta (for 8 €) from the take out section on the first floor of “our” restaurant, and then sitting at tables in the square. We even saw a bride and her groom (both of a certain age) parade into the square, with their friends/attendants following. One sour note: the Visa machine in the restaurant was not working so we had to pay cash. This seems to be a new scam: “Sorry, our machine is not working, just dash up the street and use the ATM machine” – which happened to us twice on this trip. Trattoria Antiche Carampane, Filli Bortoluzzi, San Polo 1911, Venice (VE), 5240165, closed Sundays (all day now) and Mondays, that’s an impossible to find, but wonderful to find, place, (Schneier gives directions above); we found it quite a bit more expensive than two and four years ago, but well worth it. It’s still advertising itself outside as “No pizza, no tourist lunch, no English spoken.” But they are so warm inside: giving you updated info on Venetian specialties fresh from the market; we had their tiny soft-shelled crabs which were divine (and we’re originally from Baltimore), the raw seafood (including a langoustine and salmon laid atop slices of orange) that we’ve had every two years and is just sushi-perfect, scallops three ways (Colette says next time skip), pasta with zotoi (tiny calamari-type things – the Venetian slang word for bad adolescent boys with their shirts out), orata with basil and baby tomatoes and very fine bread. All of which, with wine etc., turned out to be the priciest meal of the month at 136.50 €. Trattoria alla Madonna, Calle della Madonna 594, San Polo, Venice (VE) (also right near the Rialto) in Venice (VE), 04 15 22 38 24, closed Wednesdays, was the ideal place to go after our favorite Sunday lunch place, Anice Stellato, announced it was fully booked. It has a smiley Bib face and one fork and knife in the Michelin and was packed with locals by 12:45. It’s a bit like a Paris brasserie on a Sunday; full of multi-generational families, hustling-bustling waiters and tons of good grub. I started with the pasta with black ink and squid which was great and Colette had an equally tasty Venetian fish soup. Then I had a wonderful lukewarm whole artichoke with a long stem and a slice of big artichoke heart (both had been immersed in olive oil). We topped it off with a piece of almond cake. With the house red that was eminently drinkable, our bill came to 56.50 €. The Osteria a Mariano, via Spalti 49, Mestre (VE), 041.615765 is a trifecta in the Osteria d’Italia Guide, i.e., a snail, wine bottle and cheese slice. And indeed, it was a “slow food” delight; not a lotta English but lotsa local and good food. We started with the Cabernet Franc, then had a starter of swordfish made, without garlic, like a raw codfish ball along with raddichio marinated with/in balsamic. Then on to a platter of fresh veggies (tiny baby artichokes, spinach, ground cream of wheat type corn and more raddichio) with a stewed codfish delight that was more like haddock to me and a final dish of sardines cooked in white wine with a covering of onions and currents. Then we had a bit of grappa along with a pastiera with flecks of orange. This place is way out of the way, but worth the detour for 80 €. The host was especially friendly and although he spoke no English, we conferred a bit in French. His son speaks a little English so we were able to communicate pretty well and the host even engaged several other guests while we were ordering (before we knew he spoke French) to help us understand the menu. Moro, via Piave, 192, 0419.26456 in Mestre (VE) was one of the three places in Mestre we tried from among the five listed in what I now call the “Slow Food Guide to Paradise” (Venice has three – so there!). We started with reasonably sized & well prepared green salads of raddichio, endive and arugula; then I had fegato, Venetian style (with onions, not over-cooked, as requested), while Colette had an assortment of 10 cheeses (good, but overpriced at 12 €); for dessert we shared the apple/pear cake that was very good, accompanied as it was by a crème anglaise. The bill = 55 €. Dall’Amelia, via Miranese 113, 041 91 39 55 in Mestre (VE) was our last (Sunday) night’s meal in Italy. We finally learned how to parse our courses. First we shared grilled veggies; raddichio, tomatoes, eggplant; then grilled fish and crustaceans; swordfish, sole, monkfish, eel, daurade, shrimp, squid; we ended with a selection of cheeses; very “so-so” by Colette; quite OK by me - parmesan, asiago and gorgonzola. The wine was superb: a great Cabernet Franc. The bill was 59.80 €.

Since Pierre has brought us back to the second part of Hugh's thread, what's open on Sundays, I'd remind members of our compendium of existing threads on Sunday dining. I edited Hugh's title to capture this query as well as that about Le Reminet.

Le Reminet’s new team has finally taken over and it’s been reviewed in this week’s Figaroscope where Emmanuel Rubin gave it only one heart, stating that it’s gone from “bistronomique” to touristy, saying it is not ”totally bad” and giving the price as 50-60 € with a 50 € menu at dinner (that’s a sizeable increase).

The taste of a steak is indistinguishable from beef steak (at least in one"blind-tasting" I conducted), the ragu I had was pretty much the same as that made from a "gamey" meat such as boar.

Two updates: First I had an absolutely great horsemeat ragu on tagliatelle today at Al Cancelletto, via Corsica, 4, 049.8702805 in Camin/Padova - Italy of course. Second, courtesy of Felice, who hasn't yet posted it, I'll report that the NYT and its baby-version, the IHT, had an Op-Ed piece on the product March 5th and 6th respectively.

I didn't want to duplicate what I've posted already but I've eaten with kids, grandkids, neighbor's kids etc from 3 months old to 46 yo in Paris for 40+ years. My rules are to: go where you want to, eat what you want to, expect adult behavior of adults, waitstaff and kids, bring lots of crayons, stickers, jump-ropes, game boys, text messagers, depending on ages and levels of ADD/ADHD, and have fun. French waitfolk are much maligned for many reasons; to the contrary, I've found them to be terrific with kids, bringing over lots of salami (not on any menu), ice cream (ditto) and charm.

I assume you've checked our compendium that contains lots of wisdom and suggestions. Edited by John Talbott for spelling.

Robert, as usual, is quite correct. I chose to buy the Italian version not comparing the two word for word because it is already 6 months out of date and I figured that with translation time, the English one could be even less timely.Also I'd like to put a plug in for that oft-maligned Michelin; we've eaten at two Bibs that were simply terrific. It was available at Feltrinelli in Rome. Edited by John Talbott to correct spelling of Feltrinelli.

And there 's even more here which I'll merge this into for the fullrange of great stuff to bring back.

The nicest revelation of the season has been the opening of the Dogwood Cafe in Hampden. Even before they opened, they were serving sample mini-sandwiches at the Wine Source during wine tastings; then the Sampsons, Bridget & Galen (he ex-Harbor Court CIA-trained, etc.) opened a deli; and now a full-fledged resto at 911 W. 36th Street. It's a fine place, local, not a destination yet, but the wrinkle is that they train folks, with support from the Open Society, for restaurant work, who were most recently on the other side of the law. For folks who know the Paris Scene, it's reminiscent of "Oui Chef," Cyril Lignac's hilarious TV6 show that turned sullen teenagers into crisp wait and kitchen staff. Oh and the product is all local, and the producers are identified; we had two nice and very different salads and a veggie pasta and scallops with sesame crust, accompanied by a wine from the nearby Wine Source. A good start.

Baltimore just joined the rest of the universe or at least New York City, Ireland, Israel and France (soon coming to your local bar/cafe) yesterday.

The Week of February 19th, 2007 Monday, in Le Fooding, they published an article by Elvira Masson on the food and lodging at the Château de Mondésir in Villefranche-de-Lonchat, Monday night, FR2 broadcast a piece on the 20h00 News about the business of food, giving the amount of money involved in various chefs’ enterprises world wide; e.g., the Pourcels 37.5 million, Robuchon 60 million, Ducasse 93 million € and the product lines for: Bocuse, Loiseau, Martin & Robuchon. Tuesday in A Nous Paris, courtesy of Felice, I read that Jerome Berger had given 3/5 blocks to La Cremerie, coordinates given in the guidebooks, open for lunch and dinner but closed Sundays and Mondays, a la carte about 30 €, that has been taken over by a couple of young architects and it sounds like quite successfully, adding {to my memory anyway} more dishes and desserts to the charcuterie, but fewer glasses of wine. Meanwhile his co-equipier Philippe Toinard gave 3/5 blocks to Rich, 14, rue Cadet in the 9th, 01.48.01.87.87, menus at 25 and 30 €, located in the SIAPPPP building where precious stones are polished/prepared/sold/who knows?, open to the public, serving chicken nems, shrimp, steak, veal, cheese and chocolate tart. In the side bar, they announced a new food-oriented art show at Fraich’attitude; the opening of a new cave-resto serving bourgeois food, La Cave Des Cordeliers, 9, Rue de l'Ecole de Médecine in the 6th, 01 43 29 39 00; a free recipe book from the promoters of meat at the CIV; and 230 producers etc of Languedoc who will meet the 11th of March in the Carrousel du Louvre. Tuesday as well, in Figaro, Lucile Escourrou wrote of creative snacks like Tyrell’s veggie chips. Wednesday, in Paris Update Richard Hesse found Spring and wrote a nice review. In addition, Heidi Ellison wrote up the Italian Innamorati Caffè in the 3rd. Monday, l’Express did its three reviews: in Paris, François-Régis Gaudry covered Le Saut du Loup, coordinates given above, which serves a ham club sandwich, a cone of fries, caviar on ratte potatoes, Ladurée pâtisseries, cream of carrot soup, steak crisp on the outside, melting on the inside, all for 50 € a person; in the category under 30 €, Pierrick Jégu reviewed Youpala Bistrot in Saint-Brieuc; and Marie-Amal Bizalion reviewed Le 6 Quai des Epices in Marseille. Wednesday in Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin awarded two hearts to two old Chez favorites, revived by a new teams – Chez René, costing about 30 €, serving Swiss chard gratinee, Lyon sausage with potatoes and crème caramel and Chez Georges, costing about 40 € for herring, veal blanquette and a baba. One heart each went to the Villa Monceau, 15, rue des Acacias in the 17th, 01.44.09.85.59, closed Saturdays and Sundays, costing about 35 €, but with menus at 19 et 26 €, serving jambon persillé, veal and clafoutis with apples and pears; the anonymous café Chai Lui, 36, rue Bayen in the 17th , 01.42.67.60.95, open everyday running one about 35-40 € for foie gras, beef and crumble and a new Thai place - Au Petit Thai in the 4th. Figaroscope’s “Dossier” covered and ranked pizzas: 9/10 La Pizzetta + Amici Mei 8.5 Maria Luisa 8 Cantina Clandestina, Pizza Positano + Enzo 7.5 Il Tre, Paparazzi + San 7 Da Pieto 6 l’Etape Also rans: Pizzería Da Carmine, Bartola, Da Mimmo + Le Mercure. And of course Francois Simon in his Haché menu went to another place – the Bistrot Napolitain, 18, avenue Franklin-Roosevelt in the 8th, 01 45 62 08 37, closed weekends where for 100 € he had good pizza, sodas, an “execrable” liqueur of coffee, miserable tiramisu and a ½ bottle of Chianti, saying you should go. On Wednesday-Thursday, in Le Monde, Jean Claude Ribault published a straight news article on the Michelin rankings and another opinionated article that questions by what common standards the Michelin measures two different places - Le Bec in Lyon and Briffard in Paris. A companion piece on Gilles Pudlowski’s book on female chefs, already mentioned above in the Digest, is apparently pegged to Anne Sophie Pic’s elevation. It is called Elles sont chefs, Flammarion, and those mentioned are both historical and current figures: Mere Brazier, Lea Linster (in Luxembourg), Anne Sophie Pic, Fernande Allard, Adrienne Biasin, Reine Sammut (Lourmarin), Fatema Hal (La Mansouria, Paris), Judith Baumann (Switzerland), Nadia Santini (Italy), Flora Mikula, Johanna Maier (Austria), Lydia Egloff (Lorraine), Nicole Fagegaltier (Belcastel, Aveyron), and Hélène Darroze. Thursday, Francois Simon in Le Figaro reported on the release of the Michelin Rouge in an article subtitled a “cru de transition.” Most of the elevations and demotions have already been noted, but he does add that Jean Claude Vrinat (in an accompanying interview, see below) is puzzled at the demotion of Taillevent as is Jacques Lameloise in Chagny, who cannot figure out why he went down and up, both stating or implying that nothing has changed in their cuisine; equally questioning is Simon about Laurent whose food he terms “impeccably identical.” In addition, he notes that the Four Seasons management had pumped a fortune into Le Cinq before its knock. Next, he (Simon) is puzzled by the omission of the “Camdeborde generation’s” places which are the hottest in town. Lastly, he takes a swipe at the Michelin for acting like French food is all there is in the world ignoring the vogue and pertinence of foreign cuisine although he does applaud them for listing 484 “Bib’s.” Thursday as well, in Le Figaro there was an interview with Jean Claude Vrinat of Taillevent in which he makes several points, some of which repeat what he said on his website. First, that he knew this was coming a month ago when he had his interview with the second-in-command (M. Mespledes) rather than the Director at the Michelin who had been only once and that a year ago; second, that Mespledes said his meal was totally different from that of 8 years ago but he couldn’t recall the food consumed (ergo, he thinks Michelin is cavalier, kicked him in the rear and has lost its ethics); third, that as opposed to prior regimes, this one handed him no letter with their findings/suggestions; fourth, that while the products he uses are still of the same high quality, the cuisine has “evolved” – fewer heavy sauces, more veggies, etc; fifth, that he’s not clear how he regains his third star and cannot see how some restos merit them while others shouldn’t be so blessed; sixth, that he’ll listen to his clients (before a guidebook) and will change nothing now; seventh, that the charge of running too many covers a night through is ridiculous; next (and most interestingly), that guidebooks are less important than they used to be and blogs, the Internet and word-of-mouth are more influential although dangerous if uncontrolled and finally that the Michelin, through this act, is sending the message that no one is untouchable and is stepping over his body to make its point. “But you’re an institution!” “Like Bocuse.” Answer “Yes, then why don’t they go after him?” Thursday, an unsigned article in Gayot was an almost word for word translation into English of the brasserie article “digested” the week of February 5th, originally written by Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde. Friday, in Le Figaro, Lucile Escourrou reviewed Elise et ses 28 délices, written and delightfully illustrated by Elise Collet-Soravito, a former fashionista/cook (Les Éditions culinaires, 64 pps, 14,90 €). She gives recipes for 28 desserts, each with its own caricature of an appropriate woman (for example, a vertiginously décolletaged Italian widow accompanying a Sicilian cannoli). Also Friday in an article in Les Echos, Jean Louis Galesne reviews three sparkling, unpretentious, invigorating, inventive new places he likes in Paris: Le Café qui Parle, 24, rue Caulaincourt in the 18th, 01.46.06.06.88, closed Wednesdays, lunch formula = 12,50 €, menu 17, a la carte 25-30, a no limit on the food Sunday brunch for 15 €, run by a young couple Catherine (ex-George V) and Damien (ex-Daniel Boulud, Goumard + Flora Danica, serving poached egg with vegetables, squid fricassee with chorizo risotto, lamb chops with pine polenta, and chocolate cream – no smoking allowed; Le Bistot de l’Olivier, 13, rue Quentin-Bauchart in the 8th, 01.47.20.78.63, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, lunch formula at 27, menu-carte 33,50€ run by the Mediterranean influenced chef Raphaël Bembaron, trained at Joia in Milan (the only starred vegetarian restaurant in Europe) who also directs Il Baccelo in the 17th, serving emblematic bouillabaisse, fresh pasta, such as spaghetti with seafood and grilled bass with fresh spinach as well as lots of other pastas and fish; and L'Ordonnance, 51, rue Hallé in the 14th, 01.43.27.55.85, closed Saturday lunch and Sundays, formula at 22 and menu 28 €, serving less light food such as a copper casserole of blanquette, sweetbreads in vermouth with rice apart and rum to your pleasure (eg no limit) with the baba. He says he’s awaiting the opening of several others, including Kinugawa, 26, rue Bayard in the 8th and Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower. Adrian Moore in GoGoParis this week reviewed the deli-snack room Castro Maison, 15bis rue Alexandre Parodi in the 10th, 01.46.07.11.60, a soup and sandwich shop where he says the Serrano ham is excellent. In the weekend Figaro, Francois Simon’s “Croque Notes” {explanation: no url is or will be given because they’ve removed “CN” from the website and it’s only available on the free pdf version for about 3 weeks} discussed a survey TNS-Sofres did for the March edition of the French pub Le Chef that showed that only 17% of French folk used a food guide in the past year, that to choose a resto 60% of folks use friends’ opinions and only 4% a guide. He posits that there are two societies out there: that of the guides, mentors, chefs and chocolate medals and that of the real folk, nose in the air, elbows on the table who like places such as Le Soleil, coordinates given before, that delivers good solid chow which one would only need to use a guide for to find its address. The week before, he discussed three places, in Shanghaï, le Whampoa Club serving nouvelle cuisine (of Shanghai that the chef invented), in Lyon, Nicolas le Bec for green asparagus, St Pierre and pineapple Victoria for 209 € a couple with two glasses of wine and a simple bistro/brasserie in Paris – le Griffonnier, costing 45 € for three good dishes. Alexandra Michot, meanwhile, wrote the lead article on the fusion cuisine of Beijing, there was another on the fact that the Chinese like Chinese wine and French cognac and there was yet a third one on where to go to get Peking duck in Paris: at Tsé Yang, Chen + Vong. Saturday/Sunday, BP published two articles by Margaret Kemp, one on the release of the Michelin, the other on Bocuse’s 81st fete; and John Talbott on “Hyping Paris restaurants.” Sunday in JDD’s Version Femina there were articles on Anne Sophie Pic and Marc Veyrat. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Since we're getting into a broader discussion of shopping and customs, I've merged the macaroon thread into this pre-existing one for simplicity and easier searching.

Of course I ate them en route; that's why I said "towards Dulles." And let's avoid repeating the cheese discussion we've already had, eh?

Both Figaro + Les Echos of January 16 and 18 respectively had articles on the battle between “Eau de Paris” and the Groupe Castel’s Neptune Cristaline bottled water. But the topper were 1400 billboard ads which neither showed but the WSJ of February 1st had that said “Je ne bois pas l’eau que j’utilise,” or as they translated it “I don't drink the water I use to flush.” The Journal went on to say that the billboard featured a “photo of a white toilet bowl marked with a big red "X." Next to the discredited commode was a large picture of Neptune's Cristaline brand of still bottled water. "I drink Cristaline."” Unforunately the articles are all visible by subscription only at the WSJ, Figaro and Les Echos.

February 11th I carried 2 clementines and some cheese from Charles de Gaulle towards Dulles. No problem.

For convenience, I think I'd go to Bofinger too since Les Grandes Marches has not been reopened yet by the Bernard Group (which runs the Brasserie Lipp, Mood, Toastissimo, Quick etc.) and who knows which of those it'll be anyway; but only 1 km away is Le Repaire de Cartouche, open Saturdays and for the record for future searchers if you're going to the Opera on weekdays an equal distance walk takes you to Entre les Vignes that we really enjoyed last year. Again for the record, there was a neat Irish bar on the Place de la B. for a Guinness between acts.

Sorry, I have been only once since Ducasse took over but it was in November 2005 and I was not blown away.

Thursday in Le Figaro there was an interview with Jean Claude Vrinat of Taillevent in which he makes several points, some of which repeat what he said on his website. First, that he knew this was coming a month ago when he had his interview with the second-in-command (M. Mespledes) rather than the Director at the Michelin who had been only once and that a year ago; second, that Mespledes said his meal was totally different from that of 8 years ago but he couldn’t recall the food consumed (ergo, he thinks Michelin is cavalier, kicked him in the rear and has lost its ethics); third, that as opposed to prior regimes, this one handed him no letter with their findings/suggestions; fourth, that while the products he uses are still of the same high quality, the cuisine has “evolved” – fewer heavy sauces, more veggies, etc; fifth, that he’s not clear how he regains his third star and cannot see how some restos merit them while others shouldn’t be so blessed; sixth, that he’ll listen to his clients (before a guidebook) and will change nothing now; seventh, that the charge of running too many covers a night through is ridiculous; next (and most interestingly), that guidebooks are less important than they used to be and blogs, the Internet and word-of-mouth are more influential although dangerous if uncontrolled and finally that the Michelin, through this act, is sending the message that no one is untouchable and is stepping over his body to make its point. “But you’re an institution!” “Like Bocuse.” Answer “Yes, then why don’t they go after him ?”

There's a whole thread running now on the Michelin rankings and Pic etc.

Just so poor Pudlo doesn't get blamed for an incomplete list; this was what Ribault summarized from Pudlo's book. Indeed, the week of April 10th, Alexandra Michot's article's list of females in the food business, based on Michele Duby’s Les Femmes Chefs and Gilles Pudlowski’s Elles sont chefs was summarized in the Digest as follows:

Coinciding with Anne Sophie Pic’s elevation to three stars in the Michelin, Jean Claude Ribaut in Le Monde summarizes Gilles Pudlowski’s book on female chefs called Elles sont chefs, Flammarion, already mentioned but not on this thread. Those mentioned are both historical and current figures: Mere Brazier Lea Linster (in Luxembourg) Anne Sophie Pic Fernande Allard Adrienne Biasin Reine Sammut (Lourmarin) Fatema Hal (La Mansouria, Paris) Judith Baumann (Switzerland) Nadia Santini (Italy) Flora Mikula Johanna Maier (Austria) Lydia Egloff (Lorraine) Nicole Fagegaltier (Belcastel, Aveyron) Hélène Darroze

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...755C0A96E958260 ← Regarding Frost, I think he only recently moved to town and while involved in soirees isn't going beyond catering for the present.My recollection is that the Waters' deal with the Louvre resto never got very far and that Le Saut du Loup resto has indeed opened next door in the Decorative Arts Museum but without her input as well.

Also of interest in the Michelin Press release are the New smiley face Bibendums in Paris that include several places eGullet members have commented on favorably, including: Fish, Spring, Les Anges, Chez Cecile Ferme des Mathurins, Auberge Pyrenees Cevennes, Le Temps Au Temps + Thierry Burlot.