High Style in Shanghai

SHANGHAI – If I could hop on a plane tomorrow, it would be to Shanghai. A few months ago I made my third visit in 25 years, and oh has that place changed. Everything from the airport to high-rises boasts of the biggest and the best, and the glittery city has lots to go before it fizzles. And the food is among the most exciting in Asia today. From classic Chinese to trendy modern fare, the city offers something for everyone.

WHAMPOA CLUB

It’s been a long time since I got up from the table after dining in a restaurant and whispered to myself, “genius.” But there’s surely a touch of that talent in the young, sure-footed Hong Kong-born Jereme Leung, executive chef at Whampoa Club, the bright, expansive Art Deco-style restaurant in the popular Three on the Bund complex in Shanghai.

If there are revolutions in contemporary Chinese cooking today, then it is the gifted, ambitious chefs such as Jereme that will serve as the leaders. His food is not fusion, it is not confusion, it is not all about avocadoes and papayas with raw tuna. It’s good, honest, Chinese fare that’s been given a facelift, an update, a new look with no sacrifice in flavor. In fact, it’s more like a upgrade to first class.

On one weekday dinner, chef Leung prepared a multicourse tasting menu that highlighted some of his greatest hits, many of them classic Shanghai dishes to which he’s given a personal, well-studied touch. Most of his small treasures arrive in threes, set in bowls or dishes or cups on crisp white rectangular plates, each offering tiny tastes and massive pleasures.

It was hairy crab season, so we began with the classic drunken crab, a breathtaking preparation that tasted like nothing I’ve ever sampled before, sweet, creamy with the crab roe, raw, and utterly exotic. Alongside, he offered crunchy golf-ball sized glutinous rice rounds stuffed with fresh crab meat, all pretty, crunchy, delicate, delicious. Alongside, Jereme offered a moist preparation of drunken chicken, in which the chicken is poached in a rich broth that is traditionally used for other purposes. Here, the chef chose to turn the broth into a stunning, soothing, golden ice.

His food does not always walk the straight, narrow, and traditional. So he’ll slip in a giant, pillow-like deep-fried prawn that is bathed in a thankfully understated wasabi sauce, all gorgeous, crunchy, soft, and vibrant tasting. In another dish, soft hairy crab meat and sea urchin meet in a delicate egg shell, laced with a touch of black vinegar. Alongside, a warm, deep-fried hairy crab dumpling serves as a fine, firm, contrast in this parade of tempting seasonal treats.

Gorgeous is the word to describe his presentation of foie gras, dates and celery, cutting edge food that offers welcome bits of bliss. A finale of generous portions of fresh crab in the shell laced with tomatoes; followed by sparkling fresh black cod with spring onions made for a perfect close on a stunning meal. When you go, sample the fine South African Sauvignon Blanc, Shiny Blade, 368 Nederberg 2003.

Whampoa Club
No. 3 on the Bund, 4th floor
3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road
Shanghai
Telephone: 8621-6321 3737
Web: www.threeonthebund.com and www.jeremeleung.com.

CRYSTAL JADE

What is it about a stack of Chinese bamboo steaming baskets, rich with the golden-brown color of age, coming down the aisle towards me that makes me just smile with glee. Dim sum, one of Asia’s greatest treats of little moist tidbits stuffed with all manner of delicacies, is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest culinary creations.

Sunday lunch in Asia is the perfect moment for a dim sum dumpling feast so we reserved our table and stood in line at the bustling Crystal Jade, a modern, casual restaurant in the newly restored Xintiandi section of old Shanghai.

There are no frills here, but the place is lively and efficient in the way the Chinese manage to move great numbers of people in and out of a restaurant with break-neck speed. Quite simply, this was just some of the finest, most delicate versions of dim sum I’ve ever sampled. The ultra thin-skinned Shanghai pork dumplings arrived steaming and beautiful, oozing with rich stock. It took some fancy dancing with the chopsticks not to break them before they were dipped in black vinegar, ready to devour with careful, delicate bites. The thicker-skinned Beijing pork dumplings were sturdier but no less delicious; while the sublime crab-stuffed dumplings were sheer, feathery, light and elegant in their simplicity.

I couldn’t stop myself from ordering, as well, the vegetarian bean curd in spicy sauce, a truly ethereal dish, all pillow-like and laced with garlic, perfect tiny cubes of carrots, and just the right dose of hot sauce to send me on my blissful way.

Crystal Jade Restaurant
Unit 2F, 12-AB
House 6-7, South block Xintiandi
Lane 123 Xinye Road
Telephone: 86 21 6385 8572.

JEAN GEORGES

Restaurant Jean Georges is probably the most Must Visit restaurant in the most Must Visit cities in the world. Like the Whampoa Club, it is situated in a stately 1920’s-era restored bank building with sweeping views of the river, now called Huanpu. The restaurant has been open since last April and the buzz refuses to stop.

French-born chef Jean-George Vongerichten, is a brand-name chef, with outposts all over the world, including New York, Las Vegas, London, and Hong Kong. I can’t say we had a great experience on our Saturday evening visit. Requesting a table for 8 pm we were told we should come at 9 pm and there would be a wait at the bar. Sounds like New York city all over again.

Once inside the dark, noisy, glamorous spot, I felt as though I was in an eerie night club, not a bustling restaurant. We were ushered from handler to handler, then seated at the bar, handed a complimentary drink (the waitress was not sure what was in it, but thought maybe vodka and cranberry juice and something else), offered a bowl full of greasy popcorn, palate-numbing wasabi-seasoned nuts, and left on our own. A bit of hand waving got us yet another waitperson who said maybe our table was ready.

As we entered the dining room it was half empty and it was clear that an 8 pm table would have been no problem at all.. Clearly that sort of attitude does not pave the way for a fine and happy dining experience.

The brief menu is appealing. Jean Georges has one of the most international palates around, knows his food, and knows what appeals on the plate. I could have ordered a dozen different appealing dishes, such as the crackling sea scallops with cucumber mango salad; the steamed shrimp salad with avocado and tomato; or the lobster in a spiced broth with a 17th century chutney.

Instead, I chose the crispy crab cake in cucumber and lime, a moist, generous, delicious starter marred only by the fact that it was served in an oversized soup bowl that made me feel I was eating out of a dog bowl. What’s wrong with a normal plate?

Equally welcoming – and served off a normal plate, thank you – was the crispy fried squid salad, with papaya, cashews, and a spicy sour dressing. I loved this dish, a perfect counterpoint of breaded baby squid, perfectly fried, set off by the soothing and smooth cool papaya slices and the crunchy, salty cashews. Likewise, the king fish sashimi with a Muscat grape jelly offered true satisfaction. But the veal tenderloin with smoked chili glaze fell flat: It was badly conceived and tasted like something that had come off a steam table. Spicy and interesting? No, just flabby and dull slabs of meat.

All this said, I didn’t feel as though I had to go to Shanghai to sample this food. It could just as well have been New York, Las Vegas, London, Hong Kong. That’s the point. Jean Georges has become a branded chef, just like Armani is the branded designer of the moment, with a glitzy shop on the ground floor.

Jean Georges
No. 3 on the Bund, 4th floor
3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road
Shanghai
Telephone 86 21 6321 7733.

GUYI HUNAN RESTAURANT

If you like spice, then reserve a table (and expect to wait in line) at the modern, simple Hunan restaurant, a large family place that will nearly sizzle your nostrils just walking in the door. Not much English is spoken here, but sign language should get you what you want. And if you like hot, do order the fiery hot pot chicken with bamboo, arriving sizzling in a big black pot, ready to devour with bits of steaming rice and beer or the serviceable French vin de pays d’Oc Chardonnay or Merlot. Pork lovers will dig into the giant portions of pork ribs coated with chili and garlic. For starters, try the cold chicken with chili oil (a meal all on its own), or the soothing pickled cucumbers, there to put out a bit of the fire.

Guyi Hunan Restaurant
1F Jufu Building
No 87, Fumin Road
Shanghai
Telephone: 62 49 56 28.

Highs Notes and Low Notes in Hong Kong

HUTONG - Local critics denigrate the new, trendy restaurant Hutong, saying that it’s a place for the view but not the food. Since I don’t live in Hong Kong, I feel that I can disagree. The view is spectacular, even if you are not eating, but the food plus the view makes 2 plus 2 equal 10.

There’s a lot of attitude here, for sure, from the time you call. It’s the old New York City trick, offering either a table at 6 PM or 10 PM. Who wants to eat then? After a bit of insisting, you get your table at the hour you want it. And once you arrive, the attitude calms, and if you are five or six diners, as we were, you are ushered to a private room, with a spectacular view of the harbor and all the lights of the grand high rise buildings, and you feel, already, as though you’ve paid the price of admission, and are content.

Sitting there, drinking a very crisp and very chilled French Chardonnay from the south of France, we feasted on some spectacular and super spicy fare: The two best dishes of the evening were a first course dish of razor clams in a spicy sauce, the best razor clams I ever tasted, except at the hands of chef Joel Robuchon. They were moist, meaty, festive and fun to eat, whole morsels of protein and denseness, good.

We ate a lot of dishes that night, from lobster to chicken, crab to shredded pumpkin and potato, but the other best dish of the night – no contest here – was the crispy de-boned lamb ribs. Hold your breathe here, these are fatty ribs, but the kind of fat you want to wrap your mouth around, chew and digest, inhale, adore. A new dish, something we are not familiar with, something we can think about going home and making: lamb, spice, moist, fun.

Throughout the evening , we felt part of the restaurant but not too close, part of the city, but not too close. This is the magic of Hong Kong, for you are a member of the club, but also apart from it all.

Hutong
28/F One Peking Road
Tsimshatsui
Hong Kong
Telephone: 3428 8342
Email: huntong@aqua.com.hk
Web: www.aqua.com.hk

Open daily. All major credit cards.
Highs Notes and Low Notes in Hong Kong

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VICTORIA CITY SEAFOOD - Ten years ago, when I was assigned to judge the world’s best restaurants – 10 top tables and 10 casual dining spots – the welcoming Victoria City Seafood was near the top of my list of casual eateries. After a recent midday feast at this bustling Chinese banquet-style restaurant in an aging shopping mall, I’d still put it up there. The restaurant never disappoints, and makes us all fall in love once more with the delicate, sophisticated, easy to love flavors and textures of Chinese fare.

While you pursue the varied menus here – I always go for the extraordinary dim sum – take notice of the warm, crispy, deep golden miniature fried fish, with just the right amount of salt to stimulate your appetite.

As ever, I had to stop myself from ordering a second bamboo basket full of my favorite of all dishes here, the moist, Shanghai-style hairy crab dumplings, so fragile that the waiter escorts each tender morsel from steaming basket to white china bowl, allowing each diner to douse the feather-like dumplings with the rich, fragrant, gingered vinegar. The dumplings burst in your mouth, ooze with delicate but determined flavor of the seasonal crab, creating a sort of festive party in your mouth.

Colors, flavors, textures here are varied, from the tiny deep-fried vegetarian spring rolls, all crispy and golden, and minute enough to pop each morsel in your mouth in the daintiest of fashions. The warm, egg-shaped steamed vegetable dumplings were exquisite, an artful mix of perfectly diced bits of mushrooms and water chestnuts, made me happy that I was not in the kitchen laboring over these elegant morsels. I was perhaps most surprised by the mild, silken steamed rice rolls (more like rice powder crepes) rolled like a cigar --- here a blend of dried diced scallops and shredded ham -- and arriving layered topped with a rich and elegant XO sauce. The Shanghai-style Yellow Bridge Pastry arrived like tiny sesame-topped hamburger buns, only more elegant, a yeasty warm bun stuffed with tender bits of well-seasoned minced meat.

Victoria City Seafood never disappoints, and since the big round tables are always packed with families covering multiple generations, the energy of the room will carry you along all on its own.

Victoria City Seafood
2/F Hung Kai Centre
30 Harbour Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Telephone: 2828 9938

Open daily. All major credit cards.

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BO - It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve been in a restaurant that was preceded with such a hype and offered so little. Bo – also known as Bo Innoseki – is the unrivaled restaurant of the moment in Hong Kong, touted by international critics as the El Bulli of the Asia, in reference to the unparalled Spanish restaurant north of Barcelona. Such comparisons are a bit like saying that Kentucky Fried Chicken is on par with a restaurant run by Joel Robuchon.

Rather than the adjectives of “dazzling, innovative, and creative” I would say “unsophisticated, bland, just plain weird, and 100% self-delusionary.”

Bo fits the Hong Kong classification of a private club, meaning its health standards are less strict that a bonafide restaurant and hours are regulated and shorter. Some call them speakeasies, restaurants that are run out of a private home, often by well-known chefs. You enter Bo from a dreary alley, walking up the two damp flights of stairs, entering into a room that looks like it was put together five minutes before. The decorator sort of forgot to visit, as did the chef, the maitre d, etc. I don’t doubt owner Boris Yu’s intentions, but I do doubt his touch with reality. He truly believes the hype, and thinks he’s just on the coattails of an El Bulli. I am sorry, but the exhausting multicourse sampling of tiny dishes out of shot glasses and tiny Chinese cups, small plates and bowls were without class, style, meaning, or flavor. We moved from a clam topped with spicy tomato jelly and a fuyu (Chinese preserved bean curd) foam, that looked and tasted as though it was a five-year old child’s first effort in the kitchen; on to a pineapple foie gras ravioli with a bourbon sauce. Do you need to read further? Do you have indigestion yet? A lot of fuss with flavor, a lot of big talking with no foundation. The much-touted wine list offered few choices and no bargains, and the cold, modern, loft-like dining room with only three of a dozen tables taken on a weekend evening, made me sad indeed. What’s more, a white truffle menu that cost $100 US dollars included two paltry white truffle offerings, each with no more a few specks or slices of the fragrant mushroom. What’s that about the emperor’s new clothes?

Bo (also known as Bo Innoseki)
2/F T.M. Leung Building
16 Gilman’s Bazaar
Central, Hong Kong
Telephone: 2850 8371
email: dine@boinnoski.com
web: www.boinnoseki.com

Open daily. All major credit cards. 700 HK truffle menu.

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RESTAURANTE ESPACO LISBOA - It’s not often that one gets a chance to travel from Asia to Europe in a single hour’s shot, but if you catch the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau, you can pretty much find yourself moving from the land of dim sum to the land of salted cod cakes and flaming chorizo sausages, in the name of the appealing little Portuguese spot known as Restaurant Espaco Lisboa.

Here, down a small side street off the quiet Macau fishing village of Coloane, you’ll find a bustling little restaurant offering rustic, robust, authentic Portuguese fare in a cozy setting. The wine list here is extraordinary, and you can count on the outgoing director/executive chef Antonio Neves Coelho to guide you through the wine list as well as the appealing menu. At a recent lunch, we feasted on paper-thin slices of their pata negra mahogany-toned smoked ham, along with tender fried codfish cakes and can’t stop eating them slices of rich, smoky, salty Portuguese sausages – courico assado na canoa – that had been dramatically flamed in a ceramic gratin dish, all right for sopping up with the delicious Portuguese bread.

Our main course of traditional Portuguese duck rice --- arroz de pato `a portuguesa – was elegant in the heartiest of senses, chock full of rich flavor and chunks of extraordinarily sweet and tender duck.

Mr. Coelho and my dining friend collaborated on the wine choices, including two outstanding, little-known reds, a 2001 Quita de Vale Meao Douro, an exotic, full-on red wine made in the steep hills of the Douro, the home of the famed Port wine. Here, five of some 90 grape varieties were selected to make table wine in place of port, a success I’d like to see, hear, and taste more of. Likewise, the choice of a pure syrah Quinta do Monte d’Orio 2000 was ideal, beautifully complimenting the rustic duck with rice.

Restaurante Espaco Lisboa
Rua das Gaivotas nr 8 r/c
Coloane, Macau
Telephone (853) 88 22 26

Open daily. All major credit cards.

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SWATO FAT CHIU CHOW - If the Chinese love their dim sum by day, those with a bent towards the fish-based, earthy Chiu Chow fare – from the coastal region around the Shanton district of Guangdong Province – like their late-night snacks. For those in the mood for a simple, earthy, honest little meal with the locals of the Kowloon district near the old airport, then wend your way there and plan on a mini-feast.

Nothing here is in written English (though several workers speak and understand) so at Swato Fat you may need to resort to the old “point and eat” method of dining. As you enter the restaurant along a market street full of blazing colored neon lights, you’ll almost trip over the makeshift fish market set up outside, as several dozen Styrofoam boxes serve as fresh, bubbling, holding tanks for the fresh fish and shellfish.

Inside, the place is full of tables of locals as well as a growing number of Koreans and Japanese travelers who have discovered the popular eatery and here food literally flies from table to table. There is an open kitchen, miniscule but efficient, with numerous woks, deep fryers and stock pots going full blast, and a tiered buffet of the night’s offers, ranging from fish to meat, shellfish to vegetables, hot pots, to all manner of dumplings.

My all-time favorite Chieu Chow specialty remains their rich, moist, delicious goose preparation: the whole goose is braised in a vibrant broth of soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, scallions and lemon peel. The meat is then cut into generous, bite-sized pieces and each morsel is dipped into a pungent sauce of garlic and rice vinegar. In this simple, Formica-tabled setting, you could close your eyes and imagine this dish being served in the grandest of style. It has flavor, elegance, simplicity, and soul.

And the feast goes on: There’s a lively soup laden with chopped fresh celery, soothing preserved cabbage, soft and pungent bits of pork belly, and lots of black pepper for that added spice and tang. A marvelous clay pot filled with giant chunks of cabbage, dried mushrooms, and sweet carrots in a deliciously aromatic broth. Delicate dumplings, beggar’s purse style, arrive with a finely minced filling of water chestnuts and soft, pink baby shrimp. The only dish here that disappointed were the scallion dumplings, too big and too greasy to be pleasing.

Swato Fat Chiuchow Restaurant
60-62 South Wall Road
Kowloon City.

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TAI WOO - Should you find yourself suffering from jet lag, can’t sleep and are hungry in Hong Kong, then head over to the Cantonese seafood restaurant Tai Woo in Causeway Bay. Open until 3 am, this bustling, banquet style restaurant offers some truly wonderful fare. If I could return for just a single dish here, it would be their breaded and deep-fried oysters, giant specimens garnished with plenty of smoky bacon and eaten wrapped in a fresh lettuce leaf. The single dish – you’ll no doubt need to halve the oysters to manipulate them – offers every manner of gastronomic pleasures, hot and cold, crunchy, soft, and salty. I didn’t want them to end. But end they did, followed by a pleasantly sweet sesame chicken dipped in ginger oil, and deliciously textures deep fried bean curd served with a red and spicy dipping sauce. Starters of chilled baby cucumbers from Taiwan were so crunchy and delectable, we ordered second portions.

Tai Woo Restaurant
27 Percival Street
Causeway Bay
Telephone 2893 0822; 2893 9882
fax: 2891 9564.

Open Daily until 3 am. 10 am to 3 pm only.

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LAW FU KEE NOODLE SHOP - After a tour of Hong Kong’s outdoor street markets – despite the ever-dwindling size and ever- plasticized wrappings – tuck into a noodle shop for a breakfast of congee, the popular Asian soup rice mix that comes with a choice of condiments. A friend and I shared a warming bowl of the soothing, steaming mix of brothy rice that had been simmering in the compact open kitchen of this famed little no frills shop. We opted for the “do it yourself’ version, which means that a bowl of liquidy, alabaster rice and broth arrives, with a side dish of accompaniments of your choice. We ordered a mix of slivered raw fish, sliced before our eyes, garnished with ginger and pungent scallions, then drizzled with oil. We slowly added the fish and garnish, stirring them into the warm rice mixture, making for a super-fresh, just cooked breakfast that kept us going well into the afternoon. After 11 am, order their selection of noodles, barely cooked, with a touch of spring onions, the way the Cantonese like them.

Law Fu Kee Noodle Shop
50 Lyndhurst Terrace
G/F, Central, Hong Kong
Telephone 2850 6756

Dominique Bouchet: Simplicity and Restraint

PARIS – In this day and age, when ultra-fresh, ultra-beautiful food – from fruits and vegetables to meats, fish and poultry – is there for the asking, the hardest task for most cooks is to keep it simple. Dominique Bouchet, one of the capital’s star chefs of the moment, certainly understands restraint, and for this we thank him.

Dominique Bouchet, you say? He’s surely not a household word, yet a look at his track record belies his quiet public persona. Fresh from a stint as chef at the Hotel Crillon, he’s been on his own – again – for just a few months, settling into a quiet street in the 8th arrondissement. (For the record, he’s also been behind the stove at Jamin in the pre-Robuchon days, at La Tour d’Argent, then at his own restaurant in the Charentes. And he’s trained, among others, chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York) His latest spot – Dominique Bouchet – is what we want today, a subtle mix of homey bistro and neighborhood restaurant. The menu is brief, crisp, and welcoming, as is the small 40-seat dining room, with exposed stone walls, quiet tones of beige and brown, and a small, open kitchen that’s as discreet as the rest of the place.

Keeping it simple, the 52-year-old chef offers just half a dozen starters, a quartet of fish, five different meat dishes and six desserts, along with a single daily special. Some dishes will just make your heart sing, like his generous plate of mixed seasonal vegetables, seasoned with fresh coriander and a shower of olive oil. On one visit the combination included baby cauliflower, carrots, leeks, asparagus, artichokes, green beans and parsnips. The mix was a welcome breath of fresh spring air on a late winter’s eve. And at 14 euros, it’s a pure bargain.

Equally bright and appealing is Bouchet’s warm terrine of rich and elegant Beaufort cheese, artichokes and ham, a pretty, compact dish served with a small green salad alongside. His simple but sublime terrine of foie gras is served with a mix of dried fruits and nuts and freshly grilled bread.

I’d go back again and again for his classic rendition of aile de raie – or skate wing – set on a bed of baby ratte potatoes, seasoned with just capers and lemon. The dish sings with freshness, a winning combination of sweet skate wing, warming potatoes with a fine touch of acidity from the capers and lemon. Equally full of clean, intense flavors is the roasted duck paired with a confit of turnips set off with just a touch of vinegar. My only disappointment over a series of visits was the seven-hour leg of lamb, which tasted over-reduced, with juices that gave off a touch of bitterness.

As if I have not already given enough good reasons to pay Bouchet a visit take one look at the wine list and you’ll do a dance. Bouchet has no huge cellar and doesn’t intend to build a huge list, so instead he prefers a steady stream of limited wines, all at good prices. The 2002 red Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sinards, from the Perrin family at Château du Beaucastel is priced at 56 euros. The year 2002 was the only year they did not make a Châteauneuf under the Beaucastel label, due to intense rain during the September harvest. So Les Sinards actually includes the Beaucastel grapes, and anyone who does not love its rich, multi-layered quality should give up drinking wine altogether. Other fine buys include Bruno Claire’s intense, expressive 2000 pinot noir Marsannay Les Grasses Têtes, for 45 euros; and Olivier Leflaive’s classic, mineral-rich Chardonnay, Chablis Les Deux Rives, at 36 euros.

Dominique Bouchet
11 rue Treillard
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 45 61 09 46
Fax: 01 42 89 11 14
Web: www.dominique-bouchert.com

All major credit cards. Closed Saturday and Sunday. About 55 euros per person, including service but not wine.

Joel Thiébault Vegetable King

In 1873, Joel Thiébault great-grandparents were among the first to set up shop as maraichers, or market gardeners, along the newly created farmer’s market now situated on the chic Avenue President Wilson in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.

Joel Thiebault - Vegetable KingThe boyishly handsome Thiebault, a young-looking 51 years old, remembers riding to Paris from their farm on the outskirts of the city in a horse and buggy. Little would he have know then that he would one day create a veritable vegetable empire, with everyone from Michelin three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire to aspiring bistrotiers clamoring for the more than 1,700 different varieties of vegetables grown on his fertile 22 hectares of land in Carrières sur Seine, only 7 kilometers as the crow flies from the Eiffel Tower.

Passion, hard work, an instinctively outgoing manner, and a near fanatic drive to constantly search for new and more flavorful varieties of vegetables has put Thiebault at the top of his game. What’s best, is that any Parisian homemaker can vie for those same colorful treasures, since Thiebault and his staff can still be found at the same President Wilson market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and the Rue Gros market in the 16th on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

And what’s more, since June, those housewives don’t even have to leave the comfort of their cuisine, since two Thiebault pals have set up a thriving home delivery system, known as Le Haut du Panier.

The birth of the business goes like this: Longtime friends Antoine Meyssonnier, a professional photographer, and Raimundo Briones, an architect, were going on a ski vacation together, families in toe. They were renting a chalet and wanted to be sure to have the best possible ingredients throughout the week. They asked their friend Thiebault to create a survival box that would get them through the week. It worked so well, they figured Parisians might be delighted to be offered the same service.

So, since last June, Meyssonnier and Briones have become high class delivery men, anointing apartments in every arrondissement of Paris with delectable paniers, actually sturdy cardboard boxes that arrive at the appointed hour each Friday, filled with pristine and brightly colored vegetables arranged like precious jewels.

I confess that when the doorbell rang at precisely 7 am on the day of my first delivery, I was as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning. When I opened the box, I gasped. I could almost smell the earth. T glistening spinach, multiple varieties of tender variably-colored lettuce, tender lamb’s lettuce, carrots, parsnips, turnips and Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, leeks and parsley had all been picked just the night before, and everything screamed fresh with a capital F.

Meyssonnier and Briones – each 34 years of age -- are brilliant entrepreneurs, since they knew the first thing many cooks might ask is “What on earth do I do with all this?” A simple, uncomplicated and delicious recipe created by one of the duo arrives with each delivery, and supplementary recipes for the seasonal produce can be found on their web site www.lehautdupanier. Clients are offered a choice of several different weekly baskets, from the starter version I mentioned for 38 euros, on to a familial delivery for 58 euros. In the summer time, the large basket can weigh up to 18 kilos, and is meant to feed the family in vegetables for a week.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Thiébault and his vegetables are quietly transforming the scope and the focus of modern French cuisine, particularly in the nation’s capital. For some time chefs such as Pierre Gagnaire and Pascal Barbot of the new Michelin two star L’Astrance have been Thiébault addicts, urging him to grow certain new and different varieties of vegetables, showering their menus with all manner of rare and unusual vegetables. However, more recently, all over Paris, one seems menus where vegetables are king, not just something to shore up the protein portion of the meal or act as a pretty green bangle on the plate. No longer just a bridesmaid, vegetable are now the bride.

Today, chefs and restaurateurs such as Antony Clémot of Mon Vieil Ami, William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie, Michel Troisgros of La Table du Lancaster, William Bernet of Le Severo, Benoit Guichard of Jamin, and Louis-Jacques Vannucci of Le Soleil are armed with a new creative spirit towards vegetables, creating winter roasted root vegetable daubes; combining lily white cauliflower with sweet langoustines; caramelizing Belgian endive and pairing them with glistening fat scallops; marinating paper-thin slices of raw Jerusalem artichokes in orange flower water and fresh mint; or pairing penne pasta with fresh basil pistou, slices of chorizo sausage, aged Mimolette cheese and tender, baby garlic shoots. A far cry from the standard boeuf carottes, navarin d’agneau, leeks in béchamel sauce or a standard potato purée.

Thiébault, who works with a staff of 15 and clearly sleeps only two or three hours a night, took over from his mother a few years ago, and in recent years as he has grown in demand and respect, he sees that chefs are becoming more and more flexible, eager to adapt to the vegetable of the moment as it is plucked from the earth, rather than relying on a menu that will get them through an entire season.

“It’s strange to say, but the entire mad cow scare of a few years back truly gave a boost to our business,” explained Thiébault over lunch at one his client’s restaurants, the tiny wine bar Bistral, in the city’s 17th arrondissment. “People were scared to death. And they realized they really didn’t know a lot of about vegetables. And they had to learn, fast.”

For more information, check Thiébault’s web site, www.joel-thiebault.fr.st

Fou de France A Chance for Little-Known French Chefs to Shine

PARIS -- If you want a list of up and coming chefs from all regions of France, just ask Alain Ducasse, a top chef who seems to have his fingers in every pot. In any profession, there are few greater goodwill gestures than a master encouraging the beginners, and with his two-year-old program -- Fou de France -- Ducasse is clearly working to assure the new generation of French chefs will get a chance to shine.

The program goes like this: From January to April, six different young chefs from various regions of France come to Paris to offer a menu at the Relais Plaza, in the Hotel Plaza Athénée and adjacent to Ducasse’s Michelin three-star restaurant. Each chef sets off the two-week stint with a press lunch, to which he invites a local winemaker as well as a local supplier, be it an artisanal sheep grower, a man who smokes wild eel, a gardener, a market gardener, a truffle farmer, or a cheesemaker. For the next two weeks, the chefs at the Relais Plaza execute the young chef’s menu, which is offered at lunch only along with the restaurant’s regular menu. The menus are as varied as the regions spotlighted, each focusing deeply on local specialties, be they wild watercress, goat, home-smoked Picodon cheese, baby fava beans, first-of-season asparagus, or fresh Munster cheese.

None of the chefs – all male – are known outside their region, with most of them directing their own restaurant. All are under the age of 40. Chefs are selected by a group that, along with Ducasse, includes Michelin three-star chef Georges Blanc, guidebook author Marc de Champerand, editor of the Guide Champerand, and Jean-Claude Ribaut, food and wine critic for Le Monde.

These, then, are the chefs who may become the grands of the future:

Chefs who have already appeared this year:

January 17 to 30:

Aquitaine: Francis Gabarrus
Villa Stings
Rue du Port
40180 Saubusse
Telephone: 05 58 57 70 18.

January 31 to February 13:

Languedoc-Roussillon: Jean-Marc Boyer
Le Puits du Trésor
Route des Quatre Châteaux
11600 Lastours
Telephone: 04 68 77 5024. Email: contact@lepuitsdutresor. Internet: www.lepuitsdutresor.com.

Current and upcoming chefs:

February 21 to March 6:

Brittany: Jean-Marie Baudic
Au PeskedV59 rue Légué
22000 Saint-Brieuc
Telephone: 02 96 33 34 65
Internet: www.auxpesked.com

March 7 to 20:

Rhône-Alps: Cédric Denaux
L’Esplan
15 place de l’Esplan
26130 Saint-Paul Trois Châteaux
Telephone: 04 75 96 64 64
Email: saintpaul@esplan-provence.com
Internet: www.esplan-provence.com.

March 21 to April 3:

Poitou-Charentes: Christophe Cadieu
Restaurant Christophe
Cadieu
46 place de la Libération
86310 Saint Savin
Telephone 05 49 48 17 69.

April 4 to 17:

Alsace: Thierry Schwartz
Le Bistrot des Saveurs
35 rue Sélestat
67210 Obernai
Telephone: 03 88 49 90 41.

For reservations, contact:

Relais Plaza
25 Avenue Montaigne
Paris 8
Telephone: 01 53 67 64 00.

A Plate Full of New York Flavors

NEW YORK CITY -- One could never criticize New York for lack of style, and today, more than ever, the very healthy restaurant industry here is displaying a distinctive manner that exudes confidence, variety, and substance. Gone are the days of towering concoctions that seem to exist solely to edify the ego of the chef, and back again are menus that are smart, simple, and created with the wants of the diner in mind. And thank goodness portions are now much smaller, much healthier. Here, then are thoughts from a week-long eating tour in the city:

Bellavitae:

All my life I’ve wanted that perfect corner spot, the one with friendly faces that greet you at the door, just enough style to make you feel you are in the right place, and a simple menu that allows you a light snack or a major feast, depending upon your mood and hunger of the day. If a roaring fire is tossed into the equation, I’m a goner.

Rolando Beramendi’s two-week old Greenwich Village wine bar – Bellavitae – is just that sort of place, with a large wood-burning oven, an exposed brick wall, gigantic framed mirrors, gorgeous pine floors and a quiet ambience make this a place to visit again and again. Beramendi and his partner Jon Mudder create an enthusiastic greeting committee and serve as genial hosts. For more than 15 years Mr. Beramendi has been a top American purveyor of all things Italian, including the finest, oils, pastas, and rice. So of course all those extra-virgin olive oils, 20-year-old balsamic vinegar, organic penne, and golden egg garganelli appear on his short and sweet, single-page menu.

When you go, and you must, order the you-can’t-stop-eating-them fried meatballs –perfectly crusty (and not at all greasy) on the outside, nicely seasoned, firm and well-flavored on the inside, all deep-fried in olive oil. A favorite of the evening was his brilliant, grilled radicchio, rolled in the thinnest of pancetta, quickly pan-fried and drizzled with a touch of balsamic vinegar. Don’t miss the simple and sublime fettunta, slices of freshly toasted crusty country bread that are rubbed with garlic and anointed with the fragrant 2004 vintage new olive oil from the Capezzana estate outside of Florence. One can go on, and we did, sampling a salad of fresh greens tossed with a dressing of pomegranates and balsamic vinegar, as well as perfectly spicy portions of organic penne tossed in a tomato-rich sauce arrabbiata. Meat lovers will adore the sliced steak topped with a powerful green sauce, redolent with herbs.

The Bar Room at The Modern and The Modern:

Let’s all confess that the idea of dining in a museum restaurant is generally not one that stirs thoughts of culinary bliss. Let New York’s Danny Meyer change your mind about all that. As part of the re-do of the Museum of Modern Art, Meyer has shown he can do it again, with two main-floor dining rooms with their own entrance, the casual Bar Room at The Modern and the upscale The Modern.

Brand new and already full of buzz and energy, the two restaurants sport very modern, uncluttered fare that has a strong, singular personality. Alsatian-born chef Gabriel Kreuther knows his stuff and serves it up with flair. At the Bar, you’ll find a stunning tarte flambée, a very thin-crusted Alsatian “pizza,” topped with onions, cream and bacon. This is one of the finest versions I’ve ever tasted, the sort of can’t stop eating it fare perfect for a cold night in New York. I loved, too, the tuna carpaccio teamed up with crunchy curly cress and a citrus-ginger vinaigrette. The wild salmon with a gentle horseradish crust, served with cabbage steeped in Riesling wine was lovely, as was the earthy, braised pork cheeps, served with sauerkraut and a surprising ginger juice.

I found the room a bit cafeteria-like with uncomfortable chairs and tables a bit too close. And the wall of wines along one wall is lovely, but then why is one given only a measly choice of 14 wines and two champagnes?

There’s no doubt that my repertoire of fish recipes will include dishes from the other side of the room, the more elegant, upscale The Modern, overlooking the museum’s amazing sculpture garden. I devoured the duet of fresh, cloud-like langoustines wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon and served with a spicy organic yogurt anointed with an unusual and well-flavored cardamom oil. And there is no question that buttermilk-poached turbot served with a clove Mousseline will soon appear on my dining room table: It’s a “why didn’t I think of that” sort of dish, with buttermilk creating an even smoother, richer flavor for the already regal fish. If you are in the mood, you can also feast on roasted wild boar chops with a rutabaga “sauerkraut,” chorizo-crusted cod with a white cocoa bean purée, drizzled with a spicy oil made from the Moroccan-style harissa.

The decor in this small, welcoming room is subdued, with black marble floors, a grey ceiling, black chairs, shiny stainless cutlery, and clean white china, a modern statement for the modern life. I can’t wait until weather allows for dining in the garden, for that will be a treat all in itself.

Per Se:

There’s no question that chef Thomas Keller – of Napa Valley’s French Laundry fame – is one of America’s top and most respected chefs. I’ve followed him since the 1980’s when we was working at Rakel in New York City, and if his new Per Se is any signpost, he’s not ready to stop and rest on his laurels anytime soon. The gentle, outgoing Keller has created and made famous some of the modern table’s most delightful treasures, including his oysters and pearls (plump oysters set atop a bed of pear tapioca sabayon and topped with a generous dollop of glistening caviar -- think sea, sea, more sea); and of course his famed ice cream cone, buttery homemade cones stuffed generously with a salmon tartare touched with lemon oil, chives, shallots and crème fraiche.

We sampled these, and much, much more on a recent evening, including an amazing, foamy Jerusalem artichoke soup, studded with tiny pickled Jerusalem artichokes and cilantro leaf. The dish was all that today’s food should be: Light, creative, elegant, unfussy, and satisfying. Hand’s down, the star of the evening was his home-cured, home-smoked Washington State steelhead trout roe, topped with intensely flavored dried bonita an a touch of Persian lime salt. Again, purity and simplicity reigned, food that was smooth and mouth-filling, surprising, gratifying. Feed me langoustines any day of the week and it brings a smile to my face. Here, Keller poached the Scottish delicacy in sweet butter, so sparingly that they appeared to be almost raw, and served it atop a bed of wilted spinach teamed up with allspice-infused Anjou pears.

In his new and wildly popular (reservations are taken two months in advance) dining room overlooking Central Park, Keller seems to have it all together. The wait staff is abundant, well-groomed and well-trained, and outgoing in perfectly measured way.

But I found a bit of trouble in paradise. A chef of his stature should understand black truffles, one of the world’s greatest delicacies. Respectful use of truffles means knowing they are best flattered when sliced raw, into thin rounds, so one can best appreciate the texture, the aroma. On the evening we dined at Per Se, waiters arrived with the bane of my kitchen-gadget existence, the microplane, an idiotic tool designed for the woodworking shop as a rasp for fine finishing. I wish it had stayed in the workshop. Instead of thin, flavorful rounds of truffles, we were served truffle sawdust, mounds of precious black shavings, a method that totally destroys any pleasure of the magical wild mushroom. And, like many chefs today, Keller insists on serving many many dishes out of giant bowls (sorry, but they look like dog bowls to me), vessels that overwhelm the small portion sizes and, what’s more, are very awkward to eat out of. And, Mister Keller, the menus are just too long. Halfway through, even the best-trained appetites begin to fade.

Café Gray:

Just one floor below Per Se, you’ll find Café Gray, a large, bold, glittery dining spot run by Swiss-born Gray Kuntz. Though I can’t say I loved the décor or the fact that the open kitchen overlooked Central Park (what about us diners?), there was something about the food and wine list that caught my eye in the most positive way. I most loved his harvest ragout, a wholesome winter medley of seasonal vegetables, including salsify, chayote, and cardoons in a gentle turmeric-infused sauce. Equally lovely was the steamed turbotin, set in a watercress broth and served with a sunset-orange squash sauce. Also excellent (though the name throws one off) is the skate schnitzel, fresh ray fish cooked in hazelnut butter and showered with capers, walnuts, apples and jicama.

Le Bernardin:

But during a week’s worth of dining, a single dish stands out as the best: That was at what is perhaps the best fish restaurant in the world, Le Bernardin. Ever since 1972, when Maguy Le Coze and her late brother, Gilbert, opened their tiny fish restaurant on Paris’s Left Bank, the name Le Bernardin meant top quality, simplicity, dedication to the best. It is rare for a restaurant to maintain such stature, for a restaurateur to maintain such discipline over the years. Since moving their operation to New York in 1986, Le Bernardin has been, without question, a top table.

Today, I I love the thought of everything the amazing chef Eric Ripert puts in front of you, from the complex quartet of four different marinated fluke ceviche, to the flash-marinated scallops in lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil, and on to the Peruvian-inspired crab, avocado and potatoes served with yellow pepper sauce. But forever, forever, I will remember his remarkable raw tuna specialty: Imagine the thinnest slice of toasted baguette topped with a touch of olive oil, a showering of chives, the thinnest touch of foie gras, then more and more and more paper-thin slices of thinly pounded yellowfin tuna. I felt as though I was floating on a cloud, on my way to heaven.

Bellavitae
24 Minetta Lane (between Bleecker and West 3rd)
NY NY 10012.
Telephone: 212 473 5121
web: www.bellavitae.com
Email: reservations@bellavitae.com or through OpenTable.com.

Open for dinner only, Tuesday through Sunday. All major credit cards. From $30 to $50 per person, not including service or wine.

The Bar Room at The Modern and The Modern
Museum of Modern Art
9 West 53rd Street
NY NY
Telephone: 212 333 1220

Open daily. The Bar Room at the Modern: From $17 to $31, not including service or wine. The Modern: Three-course prix fixe at $74, with cheese course $88, not including service or wine.

Per Se
10 Columbus Circle (60th Street at Broadway, fourth floor)
NY NY 10019
Telephone: 212 823 9335
Web: www.perseny.com or through OpenTable.com.

Open from lunch Friday through Sunday; Dinner nightly. All menus, including five-course menu, nine-course vegetarian menu, and nine-course tasting menu, at $175, not including service or wine.

Cafe Gray
10 Columbus Circle (60th Street at Broadway, fourth floor)
NY NY 10019
Telephone 212 823 6338
Email: info@cafegray.com

Daily prix fixe lunch at $45. A la carte, $50 to $50, not including service or wine.

Le Bernardin
155 West 51st Street
NY NY 10019
Telephone: 212 554 1515
Web: www.le-bernardin.com or through OpenTable.com

Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday. All major credit cards. Prix Fixe lunch at $47, dinner at $84, not including service or wine.

Otto Koch Food with Flair from the Austrian Alps

Lech am Arlberg, Austria – I last encountered the dedicated, enthusiastic German chef Otto Koch in 1994, when his cooking at the Michelin-starred Munich restaurant, le Gourmet, convinced me that modern German chefs have much to offer the world of gastronomy. His food was distinctly contemporary, totally appealing and surprising, all the while grounded in strong classical French roots. Unfortunately, shortly after our first encounters he closed Le Gourmet as well as the 80-year-old Bavarian institution – Restaurant Schwarzwälder – that he oversaw.

But the ever smiling, gentle Otto Koch is back in my life again, and I am richer for it. For the past two years he has been cooking at the Austrian ski resort of Lech am Arlberg, and it was no surprise to see his restaurant KochArt awarded a fresh, new Michelin star in the 2005 guide.

As a young man, the 56-year-old Bavarian-born chef trained at some of France’s top institutions, including Paris’s Taillevent. Today his food is mature and ever modern, and bears his trademark for simplicity, honesty, and always a touch of surprise.

In Munich, his two most famous dishes included a picture-perfect mushroom cake, layer after layer of the thinnest of crepes filled with a dense, earthy, mushroom filling. It was a Koch classic and we find it again on the tables of this Austrian outpost, a dish that seems to know no era, no seasons.

But perhaps his most famous creation was a bone marrow extravaganza: He scooped out the bone marrow, sliced the bones horizontally, then filled the “boats” full of a nutmeg-infused potato purée, all topped with crispy rounds of marrow seasoned with chives and freshly ground black pepper. The wintry dish was warming, surprising, full of fine textures and aromas. How times have changed! Mad cow fears have taken such specialties off our diets for the moment. So the creative Koch re-tooled the dish, transforming it into a lusty Jerusalem artichoke puree topped with slices of seared goose liver, all served in “boats” of bamboo. Two sauces --- one of chocolate, another of balsamic vinegar – played a sweet and sour dance on our palates.

Koch and the German Robinson resort group have done considerable market research into how their customers want to eat today, with most people suggesting that people go to restaurants for entertainment first, food second. So at KochArt the chef and staff do their best to keep you alert as well as amused. Attractive young women appear out of nowhere, in kitschy costumes that flatter their lean figures and may make you laugh aloud. Food is always the subject, whether it’s a series of whisks hanging from a skin-tight robe, or a bright red strapless gown with a wine glass fashioned at the cleavage. You may be handed “a present” in a little box, only to find it contains a tiny, miniature “Big Mac,” only here a bite-sized sausage on a bun. Laughter, indeed, breaks the ice, cools one down, sets the stage for very good time.

The dining room at KochArt, located in a resort hotel in the tiny village of Zürs, is cozy and comforting. While guests gather in front of a roaring fire, Koch himself describes what diners might expect, as well as his concept of making food fun.

The dining room is warming, with pine-paneled walls, crisp white linens, clean white china, and oversized, comfortable arm chairs upholstered in a cherry red fabric.

On the serious side, Koch’s food is just what we want to eat today. A perfect filet of the freshest of turbot arrives accompanied by fresh wild cèpe mushrooms, ideal for pairing with an outstanding Austrian white wine. We opted for the 2001 Gelber Muskateller from the house of Tement. Rich and ripe, this dry white from the Muscat grape has the scent of orange blossoms, with plenty of exotic fruit on the tongue.

Next, perfect rounds of fresh scallops showered with fresh black truffles was paired with a 2001 chardonnay white, here known as morillon, from Winkler-Hermaden. The pairing was ideal, for the wine had a Burgundy-like seriousness, soft in texture and harmonious, and elegant enough to stand up to the truffle/scallop combination.

But Koch’s finest moment came in the name of juicy, rare Bresse pigeon set on a bed of rare black rice. The rice, originally reserved for Chinese emperors, is now being grown in Italy, and is certain to become one of the trendier ingredients of the decade.

Known as venere black rice from the Piedmont region of Italy, it is difficult and costly to grow, and is offered by on a few producers. When cooked, the rice retains its ebony black color, and has the yeasty aroma of freshly baked bread, retaining a crunch and texture unlike other risotto rices. With the rich squab meat we savored sips of a beautifully blended Austria red – a 2001 Cuvée Excelsior Weingut Ing from Stefan Lang – a mix no less than five grapes, including syrah and cabernet sauvignon.

KochArt
Robinson Club Alpenrose
Lech am Arlberg
Zürs, 6763 Austria
Telephone (05583) 227 1742
Fax: (05583) 227 179

Open until April. Closed Sunday and Monday. About 48 € per person, including service but not wine.

New Delhi: Food for Tingling Palates

NEW DELHI --Sometimes food can arrive as a revolution and a revelation. IS there is better way to experience and fall in love with a food than to be blown away by the experience, new flavors, textures, concepts?

I must admit that the earth shook over a recent lunch at the popular New Delhi restaurant Bukhara, a cave-like, restaurant dedicated to the cuisine of mughals, a nomadic people who were big, with huge appetites, and in love with meat. So meat we ate, in many versions, in many variations. Seated on low tables, we were surrounded by rock walls, wooden pillars, and copper cooking vessels.

The restaurant has been there since 1977, and the food arrives from an open kitchen, where almost everything is cooked in clay tandoori ovens. Quite simply, the cuisine as offered here is some of the most intense, dramatic, and pleasing food I have sampled in a long time. It is also, in its own way, very subtle.

Forget the mish-mash menus we are used to with much Indian food. Here, each creation is there for its own sake, not to be doused with sauce or yogurt, pickles or breads. It is pure and it is simple.

We were encouraged to eat with our hands (“there is something in the fingers that give to the flavor,” suggested our Indian host), devouring with passion kababs of lamb and chicken, mutton and prawns, river sole as well as tender mutton chops. We wore bib-like aprons around our necks, because as the locals like to say, this is a very messy cuisine. Each delicacy had its own character, its own history, offering a specific pleasure. Out of the medley my favorite for sure was the chicken, served in two delicate kebabs, one stuffed with a fiery green chili, another milder version stuffed with a gooey, soothing bit of cheese. Lamb appeared in all different manners, from a tender tiny mutton chop that was marinated and black pepper and figs, then pan grilled and finished in a covered pot sealed with dough, with a slow charcoal fire applied from the top, and a slow live fire from the bottom, making for a dish that is juicy, full-flavored, aromatic, satisfying. I laughed just a bit at the long cylinder of Kakori Kabab, a delicate blend of very very finely minced mutton, cloves, and cinnamon, carefully skewered, char grilled and drizzled with saffron. This was the specialty created for toothless emperors, who could no longer choose to chew their tender delicacies! Looking back, I also fell in love with the gorgeous, bright green discs of Pan Kabab, dainty patties of spiced, finely minced mutton, wrapped with beatle leaves and pan grilled. The result was as refined as it was rustic, mouth filling, amazing, satisfying. River fish arrived minced, in little paupiettes, stuffed with cheese and onions, flavored with garam Masala and pan-grilled.

I was intrigued by the digestive drink – jal jeera – made of tamarind water, roasted black pepper, cumin seeds, fresh mint, black salt, and lemon juice. The “neat” version is delicious, as is the same enlivened with a touch of vodka.

When you go, be sure to stand at the kitchen window for a bit, to gaze upon the dozens of soft, spicy kababs as they are drawn from the ovens. Ask Chef G. Sultan Mohideen to create a special menu. And do sample the amazing cool drink of mint and black pepper, one that will surely pacify any fiery palates. You won’t regret it.

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Chor Bizarre, the perfect spot for dining after a whirlwind rickshaw ride through the market streets of Old Delhi, lives up to its name, Bizarre. But that’s just the décor: Imagine a 1927 Fiat Roadster that serves as a buffet “table.” All the china is intentionally worn and mismatched, none of the chairs are the same, and walls are loaded with photos of Elvis and Marilyn, and there is a gorgeous spiral staircase that goes to nowhere. This is because the word “chor” is thief, and this is an attempt to be a thieves bazaar. Thank goodness the kitsch stops there, for the food was welcoming and fiery, and varied and sure to please any lover of Indian food. I most adored, and could not get enough of their spinach specialty, palak patta chat, or spinach leaves coated with flour and topped with tamarind chutney and blended yogurt. The dish was totally balanced, a blend of bitter and sweet, some crunch some smoothness, creating a very satisfying blend.

Equally distinctive was the Punjabi tandoor chaat, seasoned vegetables – here a mix of cubed potatoes and green peppers with pineapple for a touch of sweetness – here marinated in spiced and yogurt, grilled in the tandoori oven and sprinkled with spicy chaat Masala. The mirchi kerma, lamb cooked in hot gravy with kashmiri chilies, cardamom and cloves, was evenly spiced if a bit on the heavy side. The mouth-tingling flat, lentil papadam were crisp, delicate, delicious.

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If you’re in the mood for some sure-footed, totally traditional Indian foot with no fancy footwork, just solid, clear-flavored fare, try the warm, cozy, Haveli. Here – amid classic Indian dancers and live piano music in the evening – you’ll find some of plumpest, most succulent shrimp, marinated in a traditional tandoori Masala, then grilled over the glowing embers of he tandoori oven. Another worthy starter is chef Irshad Ahmed Qureshi’s chicken tikka, moist tandoori-roasted chunks of chicken breast, soft, gently spiced, and satisfying (and much preferable to the generally dried-out whole chicken breast.)

The restaurant is decorated like an old royal home, filled with elegant chandeliers, Indian artwork, wood carvings and lamps. The cuisine is that of the royal Mughals, yet here one can request the chef update and lighten some of the fare, so such as a fine, light yellow dal, prepared with yellow lentils and extra virgin olive oil, as well as a colorful vegetable medley – khara Masala – that combines button mushrooms, baby corn and bright green broccoli in a tomato gravy. Save room for the deliciously moist biryiani, a fine-flavored rice dish loaded with giant chunks of top-quality lamb carefully seasoned with saffron and mace.

Bukhara
Maurya Sheraton & Towers
Diplomatic Enclave
New Delhi 110 021, India
Telephone 6112233
Fax: 6113333

Open daily. All major credit cards. About 20 euros per person, not including service or beverage.

Chor Bizarre
Hotel Broadway
4/15 A Asif Ali Road
Old Delhi, India
Telephone 11/327 3821

Open daily. All major credit cards. About 9 euros per person, not including service or beverage.

Haveli
The Taj Mahal Hotel
Number One, Mansing Road
New Delhi 110-011
Telephone: 91 11 5551 3587
Fax: 91 11 2302 6070
web: tajhotels.com

Open daily. All major credit cards. About 20 euros per person, not including service or beverage.

The Mao Jackets are Gone: A Taste of New Beijing

BEIJING – I last set foot in Beijing in 1982, when travelers could only journey in groups, you needed a guide, and the roads were clogged with Mao-jacketed residents riding rickety bicycles. Restaurants were still tainted with all the negative trappings of capitalism. I remember having some great dishes during a three-week tour of China, but no real great meals. No news here that radical political changes have brought radical restaurant changes.

What better name than Made in China for a year-old, up market, smart, vibrant Chinese restaurant in the center of the nation’s capital? It’s hard not to fall in love here, with the bustling atmosphere, trim and chic wait staff, the open kitchens arranged throughout the long, narrow dining room. Try to get a table right in front of the two flaming ovens, so you can watch the careful ballet of chefs adroitly ushering the long, narrow, Beijing ducks in and out of the apricot wood-fired ovens. The roasting takes a full hour and 15 minutes, and the sleek, elongated poultry arrive at your table only seconds later. Like a trained surgeon, the chef adeptly carves the duck in front of you: first the glistening skin is carved into thin slivers with a giant cleaver. He continues the same movements without skipping a beat, and soon you’ve a platter of delicate crispy skin and meat, then again a platter of just the moist duck meat. The feast has begun before you can take a second breath. Hoisin sauce, vinegar, salt, and scallions arrive, along with a beautiful bamboo steamer basket full of warm pancakes. Season, roll, enjoy. The ducks are just 35 days old, and fattened for the last 10 days. We loved the meal with a few glasses of California’s Geyser Peak Sauvignon blanc, a grape I find pairs deliciously well with all Chinese food. This wine was luscious: it was vibrant, crisp, and aromatic and the notes of citrus and melon played well with the smoky duck.

If you are in Beijing and have already had your fill of duck, there are many other treasures here, in the hip, well-visited treasure of a restaurant . Try the pickled cucumber with shredded ginger and strips of hot red pepper, a palate opener and an excellent way to start the meal. The twice-cooked crispy pork ribs are to be eaten with the fingers, chewy, crispy, moist and touched with just the right dose of garlic. Starters of an unusual and original puree of tofu and chives, as well as a soothing portion of white beans, garlic, parsley and oil, were most welcome. Another starter of smoked duck, cut into bite-sized portions and topped with smooth chunks of white cabbage were clean-flavored, just lightly, slightly smoked, and delicious. Chef Jack Aw Yong insisted we try his double chicken consommé with cabbage and tofu. He was right to push: I have rarely tasted tofu as velvety or elegant in my life. Equally exciting were the gigantic shrimp, grilled and glistening, shrouded in long strips of scallions. Great ingredients, simple food, careful cooking, that’s what it’s all about. My only disappointment of the meal were the Shanghai-style pot stickers, made for seasoning with black vinegar. I found them too bready, not crispy enough, and lacking in flavor.

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As a single dish, Beijing Duck is probably one of the world’s most efficient preparations. From the skin and meat consumed ceremoniously in the classic pancake and garnish preparation to a steaming broth prepared with the roasted carcass, everything gets used. One of Beijing’s classic restaurants for this famed dish is Da Dong, a large, traditional restaurant on the outskirts of the city. On our visit, the place was packed with locals of all ages, downing the moist and crunchy poultry preparation with plenty of warm tea to wash it down.

The duck here is delicious, and half a duck can be ordered – preferably in advance, when you reserve – and the assortment of garnishes make for an even more adventurous meal. The encyclopedic menu includes pictures as well as English translations, so even novices can have a good time here. The wait staff will even prepare the first portion of duck for you, deftly dipping pieces of duck and duck skin in the hoi sin sauce, layering the duck with garnishes such as matchsticks of radish, scallion, cucumber, as well as white sugar (for dipping pieces of irresistible roasted duck skin) and a rather forgettable garlic paste.

We loved even more than the duck the two side dishes, a round platter of braised tofu with brilliant green and crunchy broccoli. The tofu stood in little round towers, soft and wobbly as Jell-O, filled with a spicy hot sauce. The mouth-sized towers were electric, with that soothing mouth feel offset by the spice and squish of the spicy red sauce, oozing from each end. Chinese food is often all about texture and the play of texture and here it was a single texture with contrasting colors and strengths. Equally appealing was the platter of fresh, firm, brilliant green fava beans laced with the tiniest of dried shrimp. Here the play of texture was one of dramatic contrast, with the smooth green fava beans adding a tiny bit of crunch and smooth elegance on the palate, with the shrimp supplying a pungent saltiness and dense and crispy crunch. We loved it.

At the end of the meal, after an offering of fresh fruit – excellent watermelon slices and truly delicious strawberries – we were offered a single slice of Wrigley’s Spearmint Chewing Gum. “Because of the garlic,” giggled our waitress.

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The trend all over Asia is to recapture the past by restoring or rebuilding spots of sentimental value. Tian Di Yi Jia, an elegant, upscale restaurant overlooking the Forbidden City is like that. The restaurant is a rebuilt mansion, decorated with giant comfortable Chinese arm chairs, oversized round tables, and careful lighting. There is a feeling of space, calm and quiet, with a very sophisticated style of modern, imperial, Chinese food. We most loved the thin rectangles of golden goose liver, smooth, rich and infused with a multitude of spices, making for a palate awakening starter. Equally good were the thick discs of cabbage doused in a powerful mustard sauce, the fresh and crunchy miniature cucumbers, and the tiny, moist dumplings for dipping in a fiery sauce. With the meal, we sampled a dense, tightly knit Australian red, Cap Mentelle, from the Margaret River Valley.

Made in China
The Grand Hyatt Beijing
Beijing Oriental Plaza
1 East Chang An Avenue
Beijing 100738
Telephone (86) (10) 6510 9221
Fax (86) (10) 8518 0000
web: hyatt.com

Open daily. All major credit cards. From $40 to $50 per person, including service but not beverages.

Beijing Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant
South Eastern Corner of Chang Hong Bridge
Third Ring Road
Beijing 100020
Telephone: 010 6582 2892

Open daily. All major credit cards. From $20 to $30 per person, including service but not beverages.

Tian Di Yi Jia
No 140 Nan Chi Zi Street
Eastern District
Beijing 100006, China
Telephone (8610) 85115556
Fax: (8610) 85115158-9
email: tiandicanyin@163.com.

Open daily. All major credit cards. From $50 to $50 person, including service but not beverages.

Quince Culinary High Notes in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO --- When there’s a high culinary note in San Francisco, one can usually trace some of the pleasant sounds back to Alice Waters, to whom America owes their reverence for all things fresh, seasonal, and simple.

Perhaps Quince – the city’s restaurant of the moment -- would exist without her well-guided influence, but I’m not here to argue that point. What’s true is that it’s been a long time since I sat down anywhere to eat food that was so thoroughly sincere, honest, simple, satisfying and totally without attitude.

Chef Michael Tusk got his start in the kitchens of Waters’ Chez Panisse, and then later at Olivetto, the restaurant owned by former Chez Panisse chef Paul Bartolli. So Tusk’s food is filled with that same rustic, earthy, well-crafted fare, with strong Italian influences of home-cured meats, elegant and unforgettable pastas, great seasonal vegetables all over the map, and a worthy selection of fish, shellfish, poultry and meats.

I’ll start with the dish I can’t get out of my mind, hours later, and it’s Tusk’s homemade garganelli pasta, laced with miniature meatballs punctuated with fennel seeds and showered with Pecorino cheese. When the dish was set down in front of me, I instantly remarked “I’ll take three more portions.” Few chefs in the world have the self-confidence to present such total simplicity: The loosely tubular, penne-sized pasta was cloud-like and sensual, and the marble-sized polpettini pork meatballs were like gentle punctuation marks meant to showcase the pasta. The dish was exciting, elegant, and yet subtle in the way only great homemade pasta can be.

When set side by side with the garganelli, the homemade tagliolini with fresh back chanterelles paled, while on its own it was more than a worthy rendition of a classic pasta with seasonal mushrooms.

A first course of the pungent Florentine farro and black cabbage soup was equally brilliant, laced with bits of prosciutto to escort the rustic grain – the poor man’s wheat we call spelt – and perk up the bits of cabbage.

A first course salad of escarole hearts with Georgia white shrimp and confetti-like strips of radishes was delicious, but seemed awkward. The greens just didn’t connect to the unforgettable shrimp, all soft, soothing and pink, almost as good as a French langoustine, but not quite.

I loved his mixed grill – wonderfully rare, red, and smoky skirt steak paired with meaty grilled quail and served with a welcoming chicory salad.

Michael’s wife, Lindsay, is the perfect hostess, having honed her skills at the well-known Boulevard in San Francisco. This former 19th-century apothecary shop turned restaurant has an almost religious, meeting hall atmosphere, punctuated with some haunting black and white photos taken by Italian photographer Marco Giacometti. Service here is polished and alert, and friendly without being overbearing. I do hope they will do something about the restaurant’s exhaust system, for a sour odor permeates the small, tightly packed dining room.

The wine list offers some well-priced, well-chosen selections and I loved their Austrian Pinot Blanc --- sold by the glass – and the powerful Hendry Block 28 Zinfandel, a 2001 Napa Valley red that’s a blockbuster 15% alcohol. The trick here is that the wine was so finely balanced with brilliant red fruit and good acidity that I didn’t even note the alcohol content until after I had genuflected and enjoyed.

Quince,
1701 Octavia,
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415 775 8500
Fax: 415 775 8501
Web: www.quincerestaurant.com.
Email: info@quincerestaurant.com.

Open daily, dinner only. $36 to $60 per person, not including service or wine

A Star Cooks for the Stars Michelin Three Star Lunch

PARIS -- So what do you do when you’re a Michelin-three star chef and the renowned travel guide decides that you should cook for a few of your colleagues? Well, not a few actually. How about 47 of the 49 Michelin three-star chefs in Europe. Yes, all the French men and women who share your stardom, along with those from England and Spain, Germany and Holland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Not to mention Italy and Switzerland.

If you are Alain Ducasse – as was the case at a lunch on Tuesday, October 26th at his three-star restaurant in Paris’s Hotel Plaza Athénée --- you don’t try to impress the chefs and the Michelin masters and a handful of journalists with sparkles and summersaults, fireworks and cartwheels. Nor do you play it safe. Much to chef Ducasse’s credit, he chose to create a seasonal menu that was at once classic and creative, ultra-modern and surprising, well-paced, and most of all satisfying.

That morning, as I strolled towards the restaurant along the Seine -- a brilliant, blue-skied day, autumn leaves crunching beneath my feet and happy-making music blaring from the Bateaux Mouches along the river -- I tried to divine what might be on the menu. For sure caviar, truffles, langoustines, sea bass, scallops, and some sort of game. As to not play favorites, the wines would have to include a selection from some of France’s best wine regions. There would for sure be Champagne, the obligatory Bordeaux, and for certain a Burgundy.

The purpose of the lunch was to say farewell to the guide’s director, the Britain Derek Brown, who retired at age 60 this summer, and to usher in his successor, the 42-year-old Frenchman, Jean-Luc Naret. It was also a very nice reason for a very nice party. And that it was.

You would have to be remarkably blasé not to be moved by the sight and energy of all this gastronomic talent gathered in one spot: There was the father of them all, Paul Bocuse of Lyon seated next to the day’s star, Alain Ducasse. The well-known where there – Paris’s Alain Senderens of Lucas Carton, and Jean-Claude Vrinat of Taillevent, as well as some of the newer, lesser known, such as Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in England, Raffaele and Massimiliano Alajmo of Le Calandre in Italy, and Martin Berasategui of his eponymous restaurant in Spain.

Bubbly nectar poured from clear-glass jeroboams of 1995 Champagne Deutz “Amour de Deutz” got the party going, sipped with elegant bits of smoked, deep-fried eel dipped in a tangy sauce tartare. At table, we began with a tiny turban of raw, glistening pink langoustines topped with an exquisite dollop of the finest caviar, all set in a pool of pungent langoustine jelly. I have gone on record as saying I am not a fan of raw langoustines – I prefer the pillowy fluff of the delicate shellfish lightly cooked – but I think that Ducasse may have made a convert. Here, the sea met the sea, chilled and full of personality, it was a dish that married absolutely perfectly with the 1976 Lanson Champagne, a choice that both surprised and pleased everyone at my table.

“We’ve forgotten the flavor of old champagne,” noted Senderens, bemoaning the fact that few have true cellars anymore, and if you are aging wine, Champagne is probably the last wine you think about.

The nearly 30-year-old champagne had a minor, nutty hint of maderization, but its positive, hugely acidic punch made us embrace all the more.

No one wanted to give it up until along came my favorite sip of the day, a white 2001 Château Pape Clement served “en aiguière,” or out of single- bottle, handled carafes. I rarely think about drinking a wine by itself, but one sip of this elegant, forward wine, made we want to forget food for a minute, or may two or three. A blend of 45% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Semillon, and 10% Muscadelle, it’s an elegant wine rich with aromas of citrus and orange marmalade and one that surely tastes grand in its youth, but can also age 20 to 30 years.

But eat we did, and the food and wine marriage here was equally perfect: Set upon a foundation of wild cèpe mushrooms, Ducasse planted a trio of the freshest and plumpest of sea scallops, flanked by three precise slices of fresh mushrooms and showered with ultra-fragrant, generous shavings of fresh white Italian truffles. Brilliant in its simplicity, simple in its brilliance, this very original creation harked back to what Michelin CEO Edouard Michelin noted earlier that day: “Creativity is when you don’t have to copy.”

With such perfect starters, this would sure be a hard act to follow, but follow he did with a refreshing rectangle of sea bass set upon a bed of citrus, paired with a 2002 Chablis from Domaine William Fèvre, served in magnum; and a modern rendition of the classic lievre a la royale, roborotive in its traditional versions, here light and surprising in the Ducasse version. Presented in two services – the first in rosy rare strips of “rable,” teamed up with colorful rectangles of pumpkin and rounds of whole baby beets, the second like a soft and succulent jelly of leg meat --- the dish brought gasps of pleasure from top stars at the table.

“He’s in a class apart,” declared Vrinat, while Senderens pronounced the dish “A beautifully modern version of true classic.”

The delicate richness of the dish matched well with the acidity of the 2000 Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets from Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils, served in magnums.

Dessert was as light and welcome as can be: A colorful pastel blend of mangoes and passion fruit bathed in a lemon-vanilla cream, and a touch of coconut meringues, paired with a sweet 2002 Muscat de Frontignan, Cuvée Belle Etoile from the house of Domaine Peyronnet.

Hugo Desnoyer Paris's Butcher to the Stars

PARIS -- You might call Hugo Desnoyer the butcher to the stars. With an amazing roster of Michelin-starred chefs and equally conscientious bistro owners, this tall, lean, modest 33-year-old has every reason to be proud of his devoted clientele.

Photo of Hugo Desnoyer at his butcher shopI first heard of Hugo from restaurateur Claude Colliot (sadly, now departed from his 7th arrondissment restaurant Bamboche) after commenting on the chef’s fine quality of his lamb and veal. Soon, Desnoyer’s name was being mentioned everywhere, from bistro owner William Bernet of Le Sévero in the 14th arrondissement and on to the very demanding Michelin three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire, with the restaurant that bears his name in the 8th arrondissement.

While growing up in the Mayenne in France’s rich Loire Valley , Hugo dreamed of being a chef but found the milieu not very welcoming. He needed a job, apprenticed to a local butcher, and moved up the ladder as far as his ambitions would take him. He opened his own butcher shop on the rue Mouton-Duvernet in the 14th arrondissment on April 1, 1998. Soon he was drawing the attention of Gagnaire, Bernard Pacaud of the three-star L’Ambroisie, Alain Passard of the three-star L’Arpège, Bernard Guichard of the two-star Jamin, Patrice Barbot of the one-star l’Astrance, as well as the chefs at L’Ami Louis, where lamb, beef, and chicken form the cornerstone of the menu.

When Desnoyer opened the shop he and his wife, Chris, were the only employees. They now number seven, supplying the French minister of education as well as many faithful Parisians who eagerly cross town to sample his tender three-month-old lamb from the Lozère in the center of France, where the animals graze on fragrant wild cumin, pimpernel, and sweet clover; as well as his well-marbled beef from an ancient breed of cow that closely resembles a bison – the Salers – a meat that cooks and diners love for its forward, beefy flavors and, some say, a mild perfume of hazelnuts.

In the small, modest-looking shop, clients also find dozens of ready-to-cook preparations, ranging from veal roast stuffed with ham and cheese; pork roast stuffed with prunes, figs, peaches, or apricots; chicken brochettes marinated with coriander; or chickens boned and stuffed with truffles, wild cèpe mushrooms, apples, or chestnuts.

Each morning at 3 am Desnoyer arrives at the Rungis wholesale market, where his meat and poultry is housed after being transported from his suppliers in the French countryside. He works directly with the farmers, whom he visits on vacation and who have become like members of his family.

Despite the excellent products he finds today, Desnoyer feels that the quality of French meats are not what they once were. “And the reason is quite simple,” notes the butcher. “No young Frenchman today is going to go out, buy land, and start raising a few animals. “

He feels that in France the role of the family farmer has been undervalued, and there is no incentive for farmers to raise quality meats. “Before 1980, almost ALL French meats were top quality. One can’t say that today.” notes Desnoyer.

Despite all that, he notes “It’s crazy. It’s so simple, really. The cow didn’t invent anything. He only eats grass. Everyone, including farmers, are too impatient today, too much in a hurry.”

Despite the long hours, Desnoyer’s reward is, of course, dining in all the fine restaurants he supplies, to see what the chefs are doing to his meats and poultry. His toughest customer is chef Bernard Pacaud of L’Ambroisie, who, according to the butcher, has the highest standards of any chef. The chef who gives him the most pleasure is Pascal Barbot of l’Astrance. “he is just so grateful. He calls all the time to just to say thank you, thank you, and thank you.”

But even the housewives on the street can give him a hard time. “The meat may look great, but be insipid, with absolutely no flavor. If that’s the case, they let me know, for sure.”

Boucherie Hugo Desnoye
25, rue Mouton-Duvernet
Paris 14
Tel: 01 45 40 76 67
Internet: regalez.vous.com

Open 7 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Le Rouge Vif A Classic Bistro in a Tiny Parisian Village

PARIS -- There are single blocks in Paris that are a village unto themselves. You could live there, be nourished, repaired, clothed, dry cleaned, enlightened, and even uplifted without ever walking more than a few steps. The single block of the Rue de Verneuil – between Rue du Bac and Rue de Poitiers – is a bit like that.

Within a few short steps you’ll find a butcher, a cheese shop, a convenience store, a tile shop, an electric store, several antique shops, a fireplace store, a boutique that specializes in trompe l’oeil porcelain, a Russian restaurant, a café, a Vietnamese restaurant, and a little 42-seat bistro called Le Rouge Vif.

Wander into this cozy, embraceable bistro any time of day or night and you’ll find owner Patrick Rousseau racing about like a speed demon, sporting a bright red tie, spectacles, and a level of energy that knows no bounds. A bit like a modern-day Fernandel, he is there to animate a dining room that needs little help of its own. With a model modern bistro décor – sporty wicker café chairs, tables of bright tiles and wood, exposed stone walls, wooden floors that seem to make just the right sound as Rousseau runs about, and a tiny oak bar at the entrance – Le Rouge Vif is clearly a home away from home for many on the street and surrounding blocks.

He’s been there since 1995, transforming an old stable into a viable restaurant. With his charming wife Nida aiding in service, and sometimes assisted by their 14-month-old daughter, Chara, Rousseau aims to create a simple, traditional French bistro, and does it with flair. The food is classic, with daily specials such as pork and lentils or boeuf bourguignon, with some modern fare as the famed tiny ravioli de Royans bathed in cream and herbs. On a recent evening, we feasted on perfectly marinated fresh anchovies and meaty whole roasted bar (sea bass), as well as a fine salad of thickly sliced, marinated salmon on a bed of potatoes.

Specials appear on the blackboard that’s carried from the street into this tiny establishment, and change about every two weeks. At lunch, the single 18-€ menu – everyone eats the same thing – allows for swift, efficient service. Wines change almost every day, and usually include about 7 or 8 specials -- priced from about 26 to 38 euros – from all over France, including Bordeaux, Côtes-du-Rhone, the southeast, as well as Burgundy. We enjoyed a Jean Luc Colombo pure syrah vin de pays Rhodaniens, an easy-drinking wine from clearly young vines, but satisfying and wholesome nonetheless.

Le Rouge Vif
48, rue de Verneuil
Paris 7
Telephone 01 42 86 81 87
Fax: 01 42 86 81 87

Closed Saturday and Sunday .Credit card: Visa. 18-€ lunch menu; Dinner a la carte, about 35 euros, including service but not wine.

Chiberta A New Life for a True Classic

PARIS – I have in my worn files a photo of Guy Savoy that I took in 1981, a year after he opened his first restaurant. Lean, black bearded, smiling as ever, he’s cooking with two young assistants in his then eponymous restaurant on Rue Duret in the 16th arrondissment. My notes say ” Savoy may have something here. He’s not just another fresh-faced kid making a splash.” In a subsequent interview he noted: I don’t pour over the kitchen, testing and re-testing. When dishes come, they come out right the first time. I think of things to make on my way back from the market in my truck.”

Then, I was wowed by his warm duck salad on a bed of wilted spinach and a touch of foie gras, and his always outstanding millefeuille, reflecting his formal training as a pastry chef. Savoy had no Michelin stars at the time, but certainly was on his way to one.

At the same time, one of the hottest tables in town was Chiberta, a streamlined Art Deco restaurant with lots of glamour and trendy nouvelle cuisine, as well as simple straightforward fare as a summer orange and strawberry soup with fresh mint.

Today, the Guy Savoy-Chiberta routes meet, as Savoy – with three Michelin stars at the restaurant that bears his name in the 17th -- adds restaurant Chiberta to his growing repertoire in Paris and soon, Las Vegas.

Many young French chefs complain that the days in which unknowns can open a small, family-owned restaurant and make a success of it – as did Savoy in 1980 -- are over. They also complain that unless you are or have worked with a Ducasse, a Robuchon, a Savoy or a Pourcel, your future is dim indeed. The truth of this is yet to be seen, but it’s clear that restaurant power is being condensed into a smaller and smaller group, with little room for the little guy to install, grow, and flourish.

If you go to Chiberta – totally redone and still glitzy in stark black, white, and red – you’ll no doubt meet Franck Savoy, Guy’s only son, and the spitting image of the little guy who began his climb back in 1980. Franck is in the dining room and will soon move to Las Vegas to direct the restaurant there.

But back at Chiberta, the place has regained the glamour and the popularity it had in years back, and since its opening in late August, its been playing to a packed house.

I am not sure that Savoy still drives his truck back from the market every day, but he’s dreaming up new ideas every day, as the new menu shows. There are, as always, his signature touches of green, brilliant use of unusual bowls and dishes, and an overall feeling of freshness. The staff is as accommodating as ever, and seems to actually love being in the restaurant.

We loved specials of the day that included a stunning wild mushroom soup, rich, creamy, elegant, just the sort of dish to escort you from the sunny summer days of tomato, eggplant and zucchini into autumnal wild mushrooms, leeks, and potatoes. Equally luscious was the platter of perfectly seared girolles mushrooms. I loved my rare-roasted pigeon, cut open down the back and seared “en crapaudine,” paired with an unusual but successful accompaniment of green beans tossed with a creamy mix of pigeon liver. We’re at the height of the French fig season, and warm figs with almond ice cream were better than an icing on a cake.

Wines here are reasonably priced with an excellent 28 € white Côtes-du-Rhone from Domaine de la Janasse, the 2003 a fine southern Rhone with plenty of verve, fruit and acidity.

But even more stunning was the Domaine d’Aupilhac “Les Cocalieres,” 2002, winemaker Sylvain Fadat’s remarkably open, fruity, and lush red from young grapes, honestly priced at 48 euros.

Chiberta
3, rue Arsène Houssaye
Paris 8
Telephone 01 53 53 42 00
Fax: 01 45 62 85 08
Email: Chiberta@guysavoy.com.

All major credit cards. Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday. A la carte, 55 to 70 euros, including service but not wine.

Le Severo and Casa Olympe - Bistros to build a dream on

PARIS: In 1987 William Bernet traded in his career as Parisian butcher for that of bistrotier, taking over as owner of, chef and server for, a tiny bistro on Rue des Plantes on Paris's right bank. He served well aged beef and had a selection of no more than five little regional wines.

He is in the same space today, but a decorative upgrade just three years ago and some help in the kitchen from Johnny Beguin has turned his Le Severo into a model bistro, with a selection of no less than 200 French wines and some of the finest, well-aged Limousin beef from France that one can find.

Vegetarians, read no farther, there's nothing for you here. Meat eaters, rejoice. Thick slabs of rare beef chosen and aged by Bernet himself are served fragrant and juicy, along with some of the finest French fries I've had, golden, crispy, with the true taste of potato.

A platter of assorted sausages consists of thoroughly top-notch charcuterie, including thin slices of andouilette, rosy rosettes, the finest pork rillettes I have ever tasted (I could not stop myself), and extra-thick slices of crusty country bread.

There is room here for no more than 24 diners, mostly at highly varnished wooden tables set on a colorful tile floor. Bernet uses good-sized glasses so you can really enjoy your wine, and crisp linen napkins so you don't feel you're roughing it.

An entire wall of this brick-red bistro is given over to a series of blackboards offering the day's wine selections and his specials. On one visit, I had an oldtime favorite Cuvee Meme, a Ceps Centenaires from the artisanal winemaker Michele Laurent in the Rhône Valley. The grapes come from 110-year-old grenache vines, are hand-harvested and aged a year in oak barrels. The wine tastes of grapes, not of the burning sun. On another visit, Bernet introduced me to a new Minervois (I never met a Minervois that did not inspire me), Jean-Baptise Senat's cuvee La Nine 2003, which was astonishingly full and rich, considering its young age.

A generous portion of expertly seared foie de veau was classically accompanied by a butter-rich potato purée, and a starter salade de chèvre was a quiet culinary masterpiece: a tangle of baby arugula and baby spinach leaves were dressed in a fine vinaigrette, while beside them rested a rich disc of ultra-fresh goat cheese showered with chopped chives and drizzled with olive oil.

Steak tartare arrived in simple glory, studded with rosy shallots and giant capers. I've rarely seen the dish so well presented: intuitively seasoned, chewy and fragrant, like eating a meat cocktail. And alongside, those gorgeous fries.

Throughout the meal, Bernet scurries about with an immense aura of calm, cooking in a kitchen in which he can barely turn around, opening bottles, clearing tables, taking orders, making it all seem so easy. So did Fred Astaire.

Like William Bernet, Dominique Versini has had a bit of a sea change over the years. When I first moved to Paris in 1980, her lively restaurant Olympe in the 15th arrondissement was all the rage, and she was known as Dominique Nahmias. The place was packed day and night with budding foodies and she was one of the most celebrated female cooks in France, offering up the most modern and audacious fare of the day.

Her moment in the sun ended, and she reappeared a few years ago, cooking the simple kinds of food she really wants to cook. As a native of Corsica, her favorite ingredients are naturally those of the Mediterranean: fresh smoky eggplant, tomatoes that sing of the sun, the creamy rich brousse, Corsica's version of sheep's milk ricotta cheese, joints of earthy roasted goat, plenty of pasta, wintry beef cheeks bathed in a chive vinaigrette..

Her Casa Olympe is also a dream sort of bistro, with sunny, brick-red walls, a pale-green frieze of olives and olive branches, and elbow-to-elbow tables set with pleasantly crisp white linen tablecloths and napkins. The two tiny rooms not far from the Place Saint Georges in the ninth arrondissement hold no more than 30 people.

The service here is efficient but faceless. On my last visit, the food was loaded with personality and verve, but the dining room felt more like a morgue. No sign of Olympe Versini making the rounds of the tables - her hair all shiny black and cut into a classic pageboy - no chatter from the waiters, no music, just an awkward silence.

That did not stop us from digging in to her generous platter of the freshest of golden girolles, chanterelle mushrooms, well-seared and seasoned, served in a well-worn black metal skillet. Sips of the ripe and ready red 2001 Vieille Julienne Vieille Vignes Cotes du Rhône went beautifully with the meal: It was a peppery, ruby-colored wine full of elegance and charm.

I adored Versini's version of thick, roasted slices of eggplant cooked to a soft confit, topped with a fine homemade tomato sauce, that soothing brousse cheese, a dab of pesto and a few leaves of basil.

Equally impressive was the ravioli of langoustine, encased in paper-thin leaves of Chinese pastry and bathed in a rich sauce that blended the smoky piment d'espelette from France's southwest, a touch of tomato, cream and cognac. The dish is rich and regal without being heavy, almost too elegant (but not quite) for a bistro.

Equally expert and satisfying was the duck ravioli, rich with cooking juices, perfumed with cream and chives, and dressed with a shower of freshly cooked spinach leaves.

Dessert brought back the most pleasant childhood memories: Smothered amidst chunks of meringue and whipped cream came an array of strawberries, raspberries and miniature wild strawberries airy, tangy, delicious.

Le Severo
8 Rue des Plantes
Paris 14
Telephone: 01-45-40-40-91.

Closed Saturday dinner and all day Sunday; à la carte, 35 € to 50 €, including service but not wine.

Casa Olympe
48 Rue Saint-Georges
Paris 9
Telephone: 01-42-85-26-01

Closed Saturday and Sunday; à la carte, 55 to 60 €, including service but not wine; menu,37 €, including service but not wine.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Robuchon: Playing by His Own Rules

PARIS – It’s now exactly eight years since Joel Robuchon left the restaurant world in all his top-of-the-heap, Michelin three-star glory.

We all know the story: he didn’t leave for good, just long enough for us to forget that he’s the only one who ever offered us such culinary perfection. And long enough for us to learn to miss him.

He’s back all right, in a very new kind of glory. In the old world, he had to play by the rules to get to the top. In the new world, he’s in charge and makes the rules, thank you. And I, for one, am grateful.

Not many people get to reinvent themselves to their own tailor-made desires, but Robuchon has done it. First, with the all-new restaurant concept at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, where we sit on stools in a cozy red and black dining room, sample just a few perfect langoustines and a glass wine, or go all the way with a knock down drag out meal. There, he combines updated old favorites from the 1980’s – like the langoustines, deep fried whiting, and the unforgettable cauliflower cream doused laced with soothing oysters.

Robuchon also shows us how modern he can be, with a totally memorable dish such as his “fine rôtie de legumes” a gorgeous layered stack of freshly toasted sourdough bread, the best Spanish ham, gutsy sun-dried tomato, smoky eggplant, a white surprise of mozzarella, all melted to a fragrant delight, doused with a thin pesto sauce and flanked by a thick slice of caramelized cèpe mushrooms. Not your 1980’s sort of thing!

Now, since late spring, he’s offered us another Parisian choice, in the name of La Table de Joel Robuchon, where we sit at tables, and admire once again his sense of simplicity, perfection, expressions of pure gustatory pleasure.

The 16th arrondissment restaurant was once the table of Ghislaine Arabian, and her chef, Frédéric Simonin, is ably taking over as a new Robuchon acolyte. The food here is just sensational. So simple you want to think maybe you missed something. But it’s real, it’s precise, it’s direct in flavor and full of the sort of self-assurance you find only at a Robuchon table.

The dining room is like a shimmery, golden, sparkling, gilt-edge package, with touches of deep brown wood and traces of Robuchon’s signature deep, blood red. Yet like the food, it is far from daunting, and a fine combination of elegant and casual, the way at least I want to live today.

Spectacular early summer tastes include a textbook gazpacho – gorgeous red ladled into shiny aqua bowls – topped with the best of the freshest almonds and a drizzle of spring green basil oil. His eggplant caviar was as smoky as they come, pleasantly chunky and set in a bowl surrounded by a lean, acidic tomato sauce. Anointed by the crunchiest of deep-fried eggplant curls, it was a feast in a single dish.

But swoon is the only adjective I can find to describe his starter of fresh crab meat in avocado cream, a Cinderella-like creation that appears in a thick white porcelain egg: Avocado cream hides at the bottom of the egg, topped with highly seasoned ultra-fresh crab meat laced with a fine acidic touch of tomato.

I did say a few weeks ago, if given the choice between a restaurant where the chef-owner is at the stove and one where he is not, I’d go for the former. Any place under Robuchon’s direction, of course, is an exception.

La Table de Joel Robuchon
16, avenue Bugeaud
Paris 16
Tel: 01 56 28 16 16

Open daily. About 100 euros per person, including service but not wine.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
5, rue de Montalembert
Paris 7
Tel: 01 42 22 56 56

A la carte, about 50 € per person, including service but not wine. Open daily from 11:30 am to 3:300 pm and 6:30 pm to midnight.

Christian Etienne: A Love Affair with the Tomato

Avignon --- Tomatoes are a problem. For ten months of the year we pine away for the juicy, acidic pleasures of garden- fresh fruit, bursting with sunshine, energy, and vitality and filling us with memories of tomatoes past. Then suddenly the moment comes, and our gardens and markets are laden with all manner of heirloom varieties, with names like Tigerella and Striped Germaine, Banana Legs, and Dix Doigts de Naples. We concoct salads and gratins, sorbets and thick-crusted pizzas, devour them right off the vine, and put up batches of ruby sauce for winter’s pleasures. They come green and yellow, red and orange, miniature and gigantic. And we never get enough.

If you love tomatoes as I do, do yourself a favor and reserve a table on the sun-kissed terrace of restaurant Christian Etienne, where his famed all-tomato menu is in the fittest of forms. Sitting there, with the Palais des Papes staring you in the face, the lively sounds of street musicians below, and sipping a fine white Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine, the tomato serves to tip the scales in the best of ways.

Christian Etienne is a native son with Provence in his veins, a man whose enthusiasm, energy, and love for native products are instantly transported from the kitchen to your plate. It’s true that so many chefs who profess to specialize in an ingredient – be it truffles, fish, vegetables or roasts – never manage to convince us or to convey their mastery of the subject. But the dark-haired, square-jawed Etienne does.

In no less than seven courses, in addition to a series of side tastes, he manages to give the tomato its due. Starting with a shot glass full of an icy gazpacho (served flirtatiously with a striped straw) and ending with a superb tomato sorbet, he put our favorite fruit through its paces, offering us immense pleasure along the way.

The finest dish of the day was his tender, amazing braised lamb, paired with the creamiest of eggplant and the tastiest of beefsteak tomatoes (Coeur de Boeuf), all stuffed inside the skin of the eggplant, with its haunting, almost smoky flavor and firm, chewy texture. The traditional Greek Moussaka comes to mind, but Etienne’s version is a culinary masterpiece. With each bite, he managed to capture the pure essence of eggplant, tomato, and lamb, ethereal tastes created by a culinary gymnast.

Not just tasty but beautiful was his duo of molded tomato tartares, one red, the other green, standing like little glistening columns flanking a superb green salad. The brandade of rouget was a fine play on the classic salt cod brandade, with the intensely flavored Mediterranean fish turned into a rich and chunky purée, enveloped between stacks of crisp, dried, paper-thin slices of vibrant red Roma tomatoes. As a garnish, a full-flavored garlic cream met its match, making for a dish that was a spectacular to look at as to savor.

Nor was there anything wrong with his giant, warm tomato, peeled and stuffed with tiny Provencal snails and a soothing mint butter. The textures here were smooth, smooth, smooth, a dish just oozing with flavor and character. At that moment, we asked ourselves, “Is there possibly a better way to eat a tomato?”

The only dish that I did not get was the tiny disc of goat’s milk cheese that was enrobed in a pale orange, glue-like paste made of tomato water.

Dessert was spectacular. A thick slice of zucchini had been infused with an orange essence, topped with that gorgeous sweet and salty tomato sorbet, all teamed up with a sweet baklava-like pastry.

Service here is efficient and friendly, and the wait staff expresses an authentic enthusiasm for Etienne’s food. The only sour note of the day came from the behavior and attitude of two different sommeliers. After ordering a favorite white Châteauneuf du Pape – the stunning 100% Roussanne Grand Veneur La Fontaine – I inquired as to the grape variety. The young female sommelier rattled off a list of potential suspects but insisted that it was illegal to make a Châteauneuf from a single grape, which is not true. A request for her to “look it up’ and get back to us met with no response. Later, another sommelier offered a glass of red with the lamb, played the silly “you guess what it is game,” and got the grape varieties wrong again. A minor error? Not when you are a few moments away from one of France’s most glorious vineyards. Study up, please.

Christian Etienne
10 rue des Mons
84000 Avignon
Telephone: 04 90 86 16 50
Fax: 04 90 86 67 09
Internet: christian-etienne.fr
email : contact@christian-etienne.fr

Closed Sunday and Monday, except in July. Menus at 30 (lunch only), 50, 60, 70, and 95 euro. A la carte, 65 to 95 euro, including service but not wine.

La Table d’Augusta, Le Grand Pre and Les Abeilles: Searching for Soul in Provence

SAINT PAUL TROIS CHATEAUX --- Let me go on the record. I believe chefs as businessmen and women should be allowed to earn as a good a living as possible. But – in almost all cases – if given a choice between visiting an offshoot of the chef’s top restaurant where he or she makes no pretense of being on the premises, or visiting a restaurant where I am 100% certain the chef is at the stove and will come to my table to say hello, I’ll choose the second any day.

So here are cases in point. Just a few weeks ago, Jacques and Laurent Pourcel – with a bundle of restaurants to their name, including their Michelin three-star Jardin des Sens in  Montpellier – opened La Table d’Augusta, a modern hotel-restaurant in northern Provence.

The place is lovely – with an elegant, spacious stone terrace decked out in comfortable grey wicker chairs, lavender tabletops laid with pale pink table runners, crisp white china, and a bubbling ornamental pool nearby. It’s the backdrop of a dream setting in Provence. (Only the dying row of hydrangeas seem totally out of place in this part of the world.)

The menu, too, is full of all the things we love about the Pourcel brothers food – very Mediterranean, with plenty of pesto and raviolis, goat cheese and gazpacho, zucchini blossoms and fresh seasonal melon.  Some of the dishes we sampled had personality and pep: I loved the zesty cold gazpacho, served with a trio of goat-cheese ravioli and a drizzle of olive oil, as well as the copious portions of Spanish ham served with a melon sorbet.

But the rest of the food, alas, disappointed. Here we are in a brand new restaurant, and the flavors just fell flat, seemed stale, as though the chefs were just sick of cooking the same thing over and over again. The lettuce was unwashed and full of grit, and much of the rest of food seemed just formulaic. My zucchini blossoms were stuffed with a flavorless soufflé-mixture, and the dish looked and tasted dated. Likewise, a fillet of veal, served with a fine artichoke purée and artichoke “chips:  lacked vivacity.

Desserts, too, seemed forced. The strawberries were tasteless, and the updated attempt at a “crumble” reminded me more of dog food pellets than anything I might have grown up with. Cherries – served as a soup teamed up with citrus and a red currant jelly – were totally denatured. Here we are, top of the season, in the middle of the region that grows the best cherries and strawberries. What’s wrong here?

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So for a look at chefs who are always behind the stove, one need search no further than the kitchens of  Raoul Reichrath of  Le Grand Pré  in Roaix and Johannes Sailer of Les Abeilles in  Sablet. I am a regular at both tables and love just about everything they do, since both are young, ambitious, experimental chefs in love with what they do.

It seems that Raoul almost never repeats a dish, for in recent months I’ve loved his sea bass set atop a bed of artichokes, offset by a creamy sauce of fresh peas, as well as his moist, tender rabbit served with lemon confit and seasoned with both rosemary and tarragon. His little starter of salt cod brandade flecked with lemon confit wakes up the palate and gets you ready for more to come. Along with his wife, Flora, a trained sommelier, Raoul’s little converted farmhouse by the side of the road is a fine place to spend a summer’s afternoon or evening. From Flora’s well-chosen cellar do try the white Vinsobres from Chaume-Arnoux, well priced at 20 euros, as well as the 2000 red Cotes du Rhône Villages, the Vieilles Vignes from Amphillanthes, at 34 euros.

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Johannes and his wife, Marlies, have relocated from their village restaurant, Oustalet, in the center of Gigondas to their very own restaurant in nearby Sablet. With a spacious terrace shaded by ancient plane trees, and a more sober interior dining room, they’ve created a fine spot for year-round dining. A few weeks ago Johannes wooed us with his all-tomato menu, a fantasy-like meal that include a mean gazpacho, an elegant terrine of grilled tomatoes and fresh goat cheese, and a quick-cooked shoulder of lamb with a fine tomato sauce. Even dessert – a tomato crème brulée – won hearts and minds and palates. The well-priced wines to sample here are their house specials, the 2002 white Sablet from Château du Trignon (22.5 euro) and the gusty 2001 Gigondas Reserve from the same house (23 euros). Note the restaurant is also open for snacks through the day and operates as a Chambres D’Hôtes, with two rooms, starting at 90 euros a night.

La Table d’Augusta
14, rue du Serre Blanc
26130 Saint Paul Trois Châteaux
Telephone 04 75 97 29 29
Fax: 04 75 97 29 28
email: info@villaaugusta-hotel.com
web: www.villaaugusta-hotel.com

Closed Sunday evening and Monday. Lunch menus, weekdays only, from 18 to 36 euros, including service and wine. Dinner menus at 41,51, and 80 euros, including service but not wine.

Le Grand Pre
route de Vaison
(D 975)
Telephone: 04 90 46 18 12
Fax: 04 90 46 17 84
email:legrandpre@waika9.com

Closed Tuesday, Wednesday lunch, and Saturday lunch. 46 euro menu. A la carte, 45 to 70 euros, including service but not wine.

Les Abeilles
4, route de Vaison
84110 Sablet
Telephone: 04 90 12 38 98
Fax: 04 90 12 12 70
email: js@abeilles-sablet.com
web: www.Abeilles-sablet.com

Closed Monday. Menus at 45, 55, and 65 euros. Children’s menu at 19 euros.  A la carte,   55 to 75 euros, including service but not wine.

La Table du Lancaster: Best of Modern French

PARIS – Walking into the newly remodeled dining room of the Lancaster Hotel on Paris’s right bank is like approaching a gorgeous woman, a natural beauty who knows just how to emphasize all of her finest qualities.

Consulting chef Michel Troisgros – son of the legendary three-star chef Pierre Troisgros of Roanne, and now master of the kitchen there – can cook for me anytime. Just when you think you can’t be blown away by one more meal, you are. And thank goodness.

If I was asked today to describe in detail Modern French Food I would have to do no more than open the menu at La Table du Lancaster and point my fingers all across the page. Tender, juicy, pigeon paired with almonds. A veritable “paysage” of vegetables served with a tangy, iced red tomato purée. A classic Sole meuniere revisited, teamed up with wild cèpe mushrooms and salty capers. Pig’s ears escorted by anchovies and a basil sauce. And then “burnt” rack of lamb paired with yogurt.

All this in a dining room you want to wrap your arms around and stay forever. Small, discreet, warm, luxurious. The tables are black onyx, with table runners of the palest of grays. Everywhere there are touches of bright orange, while elegant Chinese prints cover the walls. A bright gold or orange Gerber daisy floats in a clear glass bowl, and your day is instantly brightened. Service is swift and discreet.

Crayfish were aloft in a sea on fresh lemon verbena broth, soft as pillows, soothing as a cool breeze on a hot day. A dish that’s light, vibrant, fun, easy to understand, and yet thoroughly original.

The rosy pigeon was stuffed with almonds and deep fried, offering a welcome contrast of textures. Alongside, a “carpaccio” of paper-thin slices of zucchini were showered with almonds. The only disappointment of the meal came in the form of a bowl of aubergine laquée, small squares of lacquered eggplant set in a pool of a shimmery lime jelly. As my table mate noted, you almost have to beat up eggplant to make it taste good, and she was right. The flavors here were pale and undefined.

But I totally flipped over chef Troisgros’s cannelloni of warm goat cheese and artichokes. A trio of the most perfect rolls of paper-thin pasta encased a light and airy filling of tangy goat cheese. The thinnest slivers of raw, violet-tipped artichokes were scattered over all, a play of white on white with flavors that were, in contrast, bold, sharp and satisfying.

As I sampled the cannelloni I had two thoughts: Run to the front desk, reserve a room, take a nap, come back for dinner, and order the pasta again. Or, recreate the cannelloni at home, for dinner, the next evening. I opted for the second. My version was a bit more rustic, but I swooned nonetheless.

The wine choice – a Montlouis, a pure Chenin Blanc from the house of Domaine Chidaine – was a perfect match for Troisgros’s modern fare. Dry, yet tasting almost like a fresh bon bon, it handled everything from crayfish to pasta to pigeon with flair.

Dessert had a fine appeal, as well. Warm orange-blushed apricots arrived on a pure white plate, filled with a touch of apricot jelly and topped with sweet, gorgeous, candied leaves of fresh lemon verbena. The accompanying cake of souffled crepes, however, held little interest.

Thank you, Michel Troisgros, for introducing us to food that is a pleasure for the eyes as well as the palate, food with elegance and sophistication that makes sense. No airs, nothing faked, unaffected.

La Table du Lancaster
7, rue de Berri
75008 Paris
Telephone: 01 40 76 40 18
Fax: 01 40 96 40 40
email: restarant@hotel-lancaster.fr
Web: www.hotel-lancaster.fr

Open daily. All major credit cards. From 60 to 85 euros per person, including service but not wine.

The case for ingredients - The National Post

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