Patrice

I was in Paris in mid november last year and a lots of 3 stars were offering white truffles dishes: Ducasse had a complete menu around them. At the beginning of the meal, a server stopped at our table to open a small wood chest he was olding. Inside, the 2 biggest and most beautiful white truffles I had ever saw... Alain Passard also served us these white diamonds at his restaurant, L'Arpège.

You can sell anything if it contains CHOCOLATE!!!

Café 15 and Le Relais seems very intreresting...I'll have to visit DC It's always welcome to see that some restaurants really care for overall quality and hire a talented pastry chef. Steve-do you know where Cafe 15 pastry chef was working before?

Thank you for your recommendations but, on a previous visit to Chicago last year, I had lunch at NoMI and dinner at Blackbird...both of them were really great! I didn't had choice for tuesday, Spring isn't open for lunch...

I will come to Chicago Saturday ( august 17 ). I already have reservation for all my meals: -saturday for dinner: Tru -sunday for brunch: North Pond -sunday dinner: Trio -monday lunch: Blackbird -monday dinner: NoMI -tuesday lunch: Topolobampo -tuesday dinner: Spring Is there anythnig new in Chicago I should check: pastry shop, fine food store, wine bar...?

I worked with Steve at Chez L'Épicier and also when I did a stage at La Chronique. He's a very good chef with a lot of interesting ideas. I will have to see what he's doing at S.

This is becoming exciting...

I had quite a bad meal at Bardet last year. I will find my notes... But I clearly remeber a very poor desseert: blue potatos confit with blueberries...

In all my french pastry book it's : un cannelé or des cannelés.

Arômes Fleurs et Fruits are doing some interesting products. In my fridge, I have 2 bottles: one of Herbes de Provence jelyy ( still not open) and another of apple and hémérocales jelly that is quite good!!!

For Québec: Poutine!!!

At Ducasse in Paris, I received both, the current menu but also a printed menu of what I had chosen and the wines I had!!!

Who's in charge of the desserts? Do you have a pastry chef? If not, is pastry something that you like to do? A lot of chefs I know HATE doing desserts, is it your case?

Even if it's written '' Au menu '' , I really don't think these recipes were part of any degustation menu. They are just a collection of recipes from Relais et Château.

Near Dijon, at Premois, there's a very good 1 star restaurant: L'Auberge de la Charme The chef, David Zuddas does some very creative food:-foie gras with smoked tuna -Sandre with yellow carrots cream and bleck carvi -Dates jelly with pineapple, fremented milk and argan oil sorbet, pollen infusion and pain de gênes.

I ordered Frédéric Robert's book last week I will give you a report when I'll receive it...

Savoy has no parternship in Ledeuil new restaurant.

Thank you Malawry, reading your diary reminds me a lot of great and,not so great, memories of my own years at the cooking school.

I completly agree with Lesley. I had dinner at March in september The service was very good but the food... Some of it was good ( lobster poached with beaumes de venise sauce) but, most of what we received this evening didn't impressed me. And yes, the desserts were very weak, both in conception and in execution. I would personnaly go to Bluehill were Micheal Anthony ( formerly March sous-chef), now chef, is doing some very interesting food.

Olives are the only thing I can't eat Just their smell make me sick

In Frédéric Bau's Au Coeur Des Saveurs, there's a very good recipe for a Chocolate and rhum cannelé!!! Nightscotsman- you should really take a look a this book, it's one of the best pastry book ever written.

Atelier also have a very good pastry chef: Jean-François Bonnet formerly of Cello.

Oscar Palacios is the pastry chef of Le Bernardin

There's no indications on the opening date. He say that he see this new adventure as a great opportunity for french food to stay at the top.

In the new Saveur Magazine, there's a full page on Bon. They say that this trendy restaurant that served mediocre food has now greetly improve with J-M Amat. The new style of cuisine is describe as very surprising. The menu now consist of Amat creations. There's a picture of his tuna with coffee and peanut, a plate that I had the chance to taste last year at the ST-James.