sumac

The last time we went to the new location for Royal Orchid, they didn't have a chef. The guy (also a relative) who used to run the front of the house was cooking and told us his sister who was the primary chef could no longer cook due to an illness or some thing. He was hoping to get a chef from Bangkok; that never happened and if he is still doing the cooking, it is not good. True Thai is doing some excellent things, but we still have not found anything here to top the original Royal Orchid. We are pretty fussy about any of our Asian restaurants as we lived in Singapore for 3 years and know what is authentic.

My current favorite is True Thai, but I will always miss the original Royal Orchid. That was the best for me. Some of my friends think The King and I has some good offerings. I haven't been lately.

We spent 2 and a half wonderful days in New Orleans right after Christmas. We can hardly wait to go back, mostly to dine again at Upperline and have the wonderful JoAnn take such good care of us. We were pampered and fed beyond belief. The food is truly amazing, such richness, freshness, and depth of flavors. JoAnn was so helpful to us regarding our whole trip from the first time we called to make a reservation, that we surprised her with a gift of a special bottle of Oregon Pinot. She took care of us, big time. Wow, what a fabulous experience. We adored every morsel, every painting, every nick-knack, and mostly the special JoAnn. Congratulations to JoAnn on her unique and creative recipes and on her fabulous restaurant and on making every one feel so welcome. The only change we'd make in our trip is to have eaten at Upperline twice!

We went in March and were so impressed that I intended to post, but was lazy.....sorry. I agree with all Scott said and then some. It was a wonderful experience and if the chef is still there when we are in Paris next time, we will be there again. La Belle France wrote a wonderful review in February of 2003 which is why we went there. Truly special!! sumac

Did any of you see CJ's today? Sad. I am going to make sure some one does a tribute to Kevin Cullen. He has personally raised the bar here for fine dining and will be missed big time.

We had a great, whirlwind trip last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and wow was the weather wonderful too, specially Saturday. We started with the amazing Muffeletas at Central Grocery for breakfast, then Mr. B's for a great lunch of gumbo and BBQ shrimp, and a mid afternoon snack of the best ever Jambalaya at Coops, but, OHOH.....we took a taxi to Jacques Imo and arrived at 5:00 to be sure not to miss it. A sign in the window let us know they were closed for the Holidays. We ended up at the bar at NOLA with some pretty decent apps and then later, The Blues Club, Dr. John. All in all it was an amazing day in spite of our disappointment in missing Jacques Imo. Oh, well, as my husband always says, it is good to miss something as it gives us a reason to come back. We also enjoyed Brigtsens, but the real highlight was Upperline and JoAnn, that wonderful JoAnn. Thanks "yall" for making this a fabulous trip for a couple of Northerners.

Cheese cloth on the turkey breast, lots of butter, baste frequently and voila...perfection.

Thank you for Amma and for your wonderful food and for your lovely hospitality. We had an amazing Sunday lunch there a couple of weeks ago and were pampered beyond belief even though Suvir and Hemet were not there. My husband left his business card and Suvir so graciously wrote him and made us feel how welcome we'd be if we returned. I have tremendous respect for what you are doing. Instead of trying to get trendy and do that fusion deal, you are raising the bar and really, I think, are on the cutting edge of creating Indian Haute Cuisine. Cudos, and I only regret I cannot eat there once a week. We rarely drink beer so we had a wonderful Zinfindel that paired beautifully with our food. Good choice of wine list for your food. Maybe this is the reason I need to move back to NYC.

Thanks to all who have taken such time to post great information and photos. You have made our upcoming trip. We have taken advice from you and also Joanne at UpperLine has been so helpful. We can hardly wait and will be there the last weekend in December. We plan to stand in line at Jacques-Imo's at 5:30. Hopefully that will get us in there, and fortunately, Upper Line takes reservations.

We ate there after it lost its third star just because we wanted to experience verge's cuisine. Everything was beautiful and when the chef came by our table, we told him it was wonderful and he said, "it has to be." different era.

We stayed and ate there last Saturday (October 18th), both lunch and dinner, even knowing Boyer was not there. Thiery did a wonderful job, we had our all time favorite lunch: Salad Meurice for the appetizer, which is haricot vertes, foie gras, lobster, artichokes and truffes tossed with a light vinagrette and then for our main course the whole truffe en croute with sauce perigourd, champagne throughout, and what is better? It was my husband's birthday and our favorite romantic place to stay. So far I would say they are doing really well and this is about our 8th time there. Thiery made a point of meeting us after dinner, which we really enjoyed. We wish them well and will return, definitely.

America, the great melting pot, with pride for all our diversities and the same for our diversity of food. Even in Minneapolis we have excellent examples of restaurants from all ethnic backgrounds and all nations. I too love being able to eat at such a rich variety of restaurants. However, when I am dining at the finest haute cuisine places, Ive had lots of mixed reactions. In Europe (mainly France, but Spain a bit), the service of a meal is both better and worse than in America. In America I never worry if I might offend a waiter or somelier and have a rude remark or glance shot my way or be seated at a bad table because I am English speaking or be refused wine on the wine list as some someliers protect their best wines for their best customers. However, in France, the way my dinner is served is usually perfect. The silverware on the table is for that course only, so no need to wonder which of the 14 forks you should use. Each course is presented and cleared for all diners at the same time, unlike that over zealous American-working-through-grad-school waiter who can hardly wait to clear as one by one each finishes. The French Laundry is fabulous, but for me they cannot serve a meal as well as any 3 star and most of the 2 stars in France. But, hey, I am just lucky to be able to experience both and not worry about those details. I love our American way of eating and I love the French way and both for very different reasons. We go to France 3 times a year and have taken the time to get to know the chefs where we eat. We bring them gifts, write thank-you notes and when we return, they remember us and we are usually very well taken care of by them. On our last trip a 2 star chef and his wife invited to join them for lunch at their home on the ocean in Brittany on May 1st as everything was closed. That was our best experience of the trip. Was it better than Pierre Gagnaire 3 nights before? Is the caviar too cold?

Juan Mari Arzak has written a recipe book on tapas and it features the best tapas bars in San Sebastian. I loaned my copy to a chef here, but will get it back in a couple of weeks and can then let you know what the best ones are for you to visit. It is available only at Arzak so you could get it when you dine there.

There are some recommendations in "Where to eat in Bilboa" in Spain & Portugal. I also found a 1999 article in the NY Times recommending classic Basque food at Restaurante Gorrotxa, Restaurante Andra Mari, and Guria, as well as the 1 star Zorziko (which some found disappointing) and the Guggenheim restaurant. However, a lot may have changed in the last 4 years.

We have eaten at all but Mugaritz, however, I would recommend skipping Zuberoa, and I would also recommend having lunch rather than dinner at Akelare because the view is awesome. We also felt Akelare deserved to be a 3 star. It was an incredible meal. Zuberoa was very good food, but not the exciting, creative things going on at the other restaurants. We have heard great things about Mugaritz and look forward to trying it. Lucky you; we adore San Sebastian and try to get there once a year. We did a day trip to Bilboa and had a marvellous lunch at Berasategui's restaurant in the Guggenheim. Other than that, I don't know Bilboa, but I recall reading about some restaurants on another thread. If I find it, I will let you know.

Less than 2 weeks ago we had lunch at L'Astrance, our third time dining there, and it was better than ever. We adore it. Sorry, I do not remember the price. We also had dinner at Hiramatsu and were very disappointed. The food didn't quite work, but we were told the chef was cooking at L'Ambroisie that night. (I have no idea why.) There were 18 diners (it can accommodate 20), and 16 of us were Americans. That is usually the kiss of death for a Paris restaurant. It may have been just one off night, but based on our experience, I would not recommend it.

To answer your question about other chefs in the avant garde cooking movement, I do not think there is another chef doing the amazing things with food that Adria is doing. However, there are many who are doing very creative and nontraditional things that are also very exciting. I would list the group as: Arzak, Berasategui, Subijana, Santamaria, Veyrat, Gagnaire, Bras, Loubet, and I am sure I've left out many. In the States I barely know where to begin, but for sure Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter and a whole host of others. Thank you for the great report. It was so comprehensive.

thank you. I will definitely report back. We leave Thursday for France and will be home after the 5th of May, so look on the France threads for me as I will write. One mission of the trip is to get a source for fleur de sel for some chef friends. We will be in the salt flats and who knows. Yes, I am proud to be an Old Timer and will be happy to tell any one what it was like eating at Lutece or Bocuse in 1968.

i am going to stick my neck out if you are looking for seafood. we also had a mediocre experience at cal l'isdre. here goes: o retiro do marineiro (classical seafood) paris 200 08008 barcelona tel: 93 237 78 43

Thank you........I have some amazing sources for information plus my husband and I have been serious food people since the late '60s and would love to share. We manage to get to Europe 3 times a year (not nearly enough) and have been to all the food churches and the holes in the wall with authentic whatevers. I am so new here that I am not sure how to share what I have, but am trying and will be more forthright in the future. What is happening in Spain is incredible. We used to only go to France, but now are tuned into the whole scene in Spain. We leave this Thursday for 10 days in France and I will report back on that in the appropriate thread. Yes, we are into Astrance (for our 3rd time) and thanks to you and some other advice, we'll be trying Magnolia for the first time. For any of you going to Barcelona.......do not miss Alkimia and Comerc 24 and Santa Maria (chef Paco Guzman) and Shunka for Japonese. We have been lucky to have eaten at el buli and be sure to get a kitchen tour if you can! also can fabes on our third time in march just keeps getting better. we brought the chef a special wine from the states as a gift; our best friends are the vintners. wow, he was so touched and he went the extra mile for us and seated us at the kitchen table. to die for.

just realised it is better not to interrupt the regulars here. sorry......i will just peruse this site and not add to it as it always just gets ignored anyway.

Probably among the most exciting things happening in Barcelona is Alkimia. Chef Jordi Vilas is amazing and doing some Adria with his own take. I am surprised you are not even mentioning it on egullet. A very special chef clued me in and we went there in March. I know I am new here, trust this. I think you would like to read: www.departures.com/ep/ep_0103-barcelona.html

We were in Barcelona in March for only two nights and the first night we'd already eaten for the day, lunch at Can Fabes (Wow, our third time there and better than ever). So, we only had one dinner and chose Alkimia. It is definilely cutting edge and very exciting. Chef Jordi Vila's cooking is inspired by Adria, but it is truly his own take. Check out this website for more information on cutting edge places in Barcelona. All the restaurants listed there have also been recommended to me by other very reliable sources. www.departures.com/ep/ep_0103_barcelona.html

Yes, it is a lot of eating, but we only have ten days and want to experience as much as we can. We come to France two or three times a year and pack in as much as we can. We have eaten at Astrance three times and adore it. You are right, though, about the one month rule, but they know we are coming and I don't think we'll have a problem getting in. We'll call them directly. The hard part is getting into a restaurant for the first time.

L'Ambroisie is open for Saturday lunch and Aux Lyonnaise (ducasse's newest venture) is open for Saturday dinner, or maybe it is Hiramatsu. We'll be in Paris the end of April and have reservations at Grand Vefour, Hiramatsu, Ledoyen, L'Ambroisie, Astrance, Pierre Gagnaire, Aux Lyonnaise, and Pre Catalan. We are so excited about our selection this time. We have previously dined at all except Hiramatsu and Aux Lyonnaise. We also hope to be able to get into Robuchon's new restaurant. It hasn't opened yet, but our hotel promised they would be on top of it. We will also venture out to Brittany and visit with our favorites ---Auberge Bretonne, Roche Bernard and Les Maison de Bricourt -- Cancale. I will report back if you would like, or just remain silent and wait for you to ask me. So happy to share. Most of our friends are buying homes in FL or AZ and think we are nuts that all we want to do is travel and eat and experience. duh???