orangewasabi

the rice was white ( which is why the flavour was a surprise) so not saffron or paprika or anything that gave colouring the seasoning was green - as in, there were some green bits in there that looked a bit like Bay leaves. if it was just Bay leaves though, it was some mighty magic Bay strain. it was at the St Germain location

which cut? I love the filet mignon from Reithers. It's a teeny tiny touch better than Cumbrae's, I think, though my husband prefers the latter.

We had some terrific grilled Dublin Bay prawns on the English menu or Langoustines on the French menu at Le Bar à Huîtres last week. They were simply grilled with spices and accompanied by white rice. The white rice was cooked with spices also though, and it was really really really good. Is there a traditional rice spice that goes with this preparation? Anyone know what made the rice taste so good? I'm never going to get that quality of langostines at home but I might be able to recreate the rice.

< have made Anthony's mushroom soup many times and agree that it is great.< how dependent on the quality of the chicken stock is the greatness of this recipe? as in, should I obsess over making the perfect stock first? or can I fudge it with some deli stock and still get a decent result?

are you sticking them in the oven still frozen? or thawed first?

When you use barley in lieu of arborio for risotto, are you still doing hte same long stirring/adding stock process? or is the barley a little easier?

I made my Taillevent reservation 6 weeks in advance, by email. They were perfectly gracious during the reservation process as well as in person so if they were laughing at my neuroses (and they wouldn't be the first) they hid it well. On the other hand, we walked into Mon Viel Ami at 12:30 with no reservation (and very little hope) and were seated easily, it didn't fill up until about 1:15. a funny anecdote, at MVA, my dh & I worked thru the menu with my handy Scribo food translation dictionary. Then we shared the dictionary with the table next to us. The table next to them, 30 minutes later, asked the server for help . . . and was given an english menu. Who knew!

I had a Truffle Macaron at Pierre Hermes day before yesterday. It was sweet on the inhale, and truffly on the exhale -- really weird taste sensation.

hmm, if the argan flavour comes through then it *would* be good. next time,

would you please pop over to the ice cream place Damman's and try the Argan Ice Cream and report in -- David Leibovitz mentions the flavour in his new book/blog and they didn't have any when I was there. I'm so curious about the flavour Damman's Glacier 1, rue des Grands Degrés Tel: 01 43 29 15 10 It's literally, just across the bridge from the ND

we went to the location in the 5th last night. Most excellent! Had the Fin de Clair No 1 and the specials that week Les Perles No 2. Both, really really good. The shallot vinegar was good too. Then we had the langostines, grilled. What tasty sweet little morsels they were. Even the creme brulee was better than average. Service was a very pleasant young man. And, seating, for Paris, spacious. Definately Recommended.

that's amazing and delightful to hear! Today we ate at Le Cinq. And while the service was excellent there, Taillevent was superior.

Saturday breakfast at Laudree will be easy to get into, esp if you go early, right at opening. We went this morning to the location in the 5th and at 8:30am we were the only people there. If you do get the breakfast menu, be warned, it's a lot of sugar if you get the hot chocolate (which is fantastically rich). My recommendation, if you are going to Pierre Herme also is to buy un petit box of macarons at each place to try. They are massive sugar overload. Also, I highly recommend Taillevent for a lunch. Get the E140 tasting menu (because the other one is heavily seafood) and enjoy -- book well ahead.

Success! At Lavinia we found the Rivesalte Domain Vila 15 and splurged on the 1959 which was only E50! Also got a bottle of LaGrange 2001 for E35!!!! And the last bottle of Knockando (scotch whiskey). Life is good in Paris! Off to visit some more of Felice's recommended wine stores.

Based on your fine help, I shall hie me over to Lavina to look for the rivesalte 1974 Domaine Vila 15 Are there some landmark or just good-in-the-know winestores that we should visit. Now that we're settling in we're getting fussy, so stores in the 5th would be preferred but we're good at the bus system now so anywhere will do if it's worth the trip. I am always amazed at the pricing in Paris (taxes make alcohol 2-3x as costly in Toronto where I live).

I checked Lavina's website and found this, would this be it? perfect! Thank you for all your help! p.s. I had a citron presse today and got water -- it all worked out.

http://www.lavinia.fr/LaviniaFR/ficha.aspx?Id=2491 EU28.05 ←

The food was E190 each. The wine was E117 for two!! If it wasn't such a formal place I would have kissed the sommilier.

With your help, I have found it. It's Rivesaltes 1974, Domaine Vila 15 Any idea where in Paris I might find the ambrosia? the Taillevent caves do not have any for sale.

It was a red -- so dark we could hardly see through it. So the rivesaltes may be it. Thank you, that's a clue to start searching on.

I am now officially in love with the 3star tasting menu daytime dining experience. Our second day in Paris, we had a lunch reservation fo Taillevent. As we were still a bit jetlagged (I have trouble flying east) it turned out to be petit dejeuener. We selected the discovery tasting menu (E190) and asked for wine pairings. The artichoke soup with fluffy (?? how did they do that) pork croutony things was simply divine. The crab salad, langostines in basil reduction, scallops with watercress -- all sublime. THEN the canard -- OY! THIS is what duck should be. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I was also, falling over with the richness of the food. But wait, an incredible goat cheese (beyond rich) with a luxurious black cherry confi -- sounds okay, yes? But the very salty escarole on top, and the hot and black pepper base made it a taste sensation also. At this point, I am dying. But two more glasses are set up -- again, indicating a sweet wine to follow. TWO desserts are put in front of us. A pear thing with spiced cream that was lovely. AND a chocolate confection that included four scoops of chocolate mousse and dark chocolate layers with a sugar plume and gold leafing. I regret that I was unable to do more than taste the chocolate. Because . . . the wine that was served with the chocolate was a 1974 (Riv Sat) -- phonetic spelling - from the south of France near the spanish border. Anyone know what this is? My gosh, it was truly the best wine I have ever in my life had, better than 1988 DRC. We enjoyed ourselves and appreciated the theatre of service, especially the hierarchy of roles. It was perfect service, but not at all stuffy. We were, by an average of 25 years, the youngest people in the room. I was one of 3 women -- and literally more than half the age of the other women. Yet we were treated perfectly. It totally cracked me up when we went to leave and everyone said au revoir. But our waiter stood in front of the door and wouldn't let us leave until Mr Vrinat could make his way over to say goodbye and thank you. I must tell you the wine pairing we had were the best EVER! We had a lot of whites, given the menu, and they were whites of substance -- truly quality. Gauche though it may be, I must mention the price -- the total for the wine pairings, for two people was E117. Does it sound too snobby to say that Taillevent is good value? We sure feel that way. I'm seriously considering cancelling dinner at Alain Ducasse to book another lunch at Taillevent Oh, and why lovin' the daytime dining experience. We sat down at 12:15 and left at 3:40pm. I needed to walk so badly after that meal. It was great to leave in the light and be able to stroll.

wow, those are great pics and the pear salad in particular looks terrific. you did a good public service mentioning Pangaea, I think it does get overlooked because of it's location i.e. lumped in with the other so-so Yorkvilly places. who's the chef there now? any idea?

one more thought, in lieu of the lunch Indian Buffet, why not do a walk through Little India on Gerrard? Check out the fresh produce, spices and there's lots of eat & walk foods that are delish.

< I love the idea of the Ethiopian House for one of the stops and I'm looking at an oyster tasting at Starfish for a second stop. Other than that I'm thinking something like lunch at an Indian buffet and perhaps a korean table grill. > within walking distance of Ethiopian House is one of the better Korean table grill places in the city. Go south on Yonge towards College (west side of Yonge) to Korean Grill Time (about 3 doors north of College). On the way south, you'll pass Grosvenor Street, and just 3 doors east is a little tiny place called Sinai Sushi with terrific, low price, made to order sushis. Worth a stop, allocated $5 per kid and each will get a high quality roll.