Food & Travel

Selected recipes

Paso & L.A. Read my recent blog post.

PARIS
I've sent so many emails to friends about where and what to eat in Paris, that I've decided to put it on this site. (I lived in Paris and Provence for ten years before moving back to the States.) Please note dates and if you have visited one of these places more recently, I'd love to hear an update.
One of my first stops (after I've dropped off the luggage and refreshed myself with a tiny espresso and a croissant) is the Rue Bonaparte location of Ladurée. (The grander teahouse is located on the Champs Elysées.) Just a few steps from my dear friend Dorie Greenspan's apartment, I go to Ladurée many times during a single visit in the City. I love their macarons, especially citron, fruits rouges, and salted caramel. There are also seasonal flavors like Chestnut and Cassis-Violette. I obsess over these delicate confections, trying to buy them at just the right moment so I won’t eat too many. I usually give up, or take a small bite out of each one—just to taste. I'm already breaking in Olivia's (my 2 year-old goddaughter) palate who can not be fooled. Her mother gave her macarons from another patisserie one day and Little O. took one bite, and asked where they were from.“On va a la durée?” she asked.
Le Comptoir du Relais: Make reservations for dinner or try your luck at lunch. Noon is early for a Parisian lunch, but it's the best time to get here for a coveted table. In May and October of 06, and most recently in March of 07, I went almost every day for lunch. Last great bites: Cream of Lentil Soup with perles du Japon (tapioca like pearls) and silky slivers of foie gras. I also loved the Boudin Blanc with mashed potatoes and for dessert, cheese or this lovely pot of fresh brocciu with warm chestnut honey.
Le Bistro Allard on rue St. André-des-Arts: I don't care how touristy this place gets, I still love it for a big white bowl of frisée salad—with lots of vinegar and meaty lardons, an entirely too big poulet de Bresse, roasted duck piled high with about a thousand green olives and lots of wine and great fun. It's still very French—one evening, Omar Sharif—looking very dapper and quite happy with wine—ran into me in the toilettes and insisted on posing for this photo.
If you're stuck by the Eiffel Tower at lunchtime, walk over to Café Constant on Rue St. Dominique. There's a jukebox and a few café tables downstairs, but make your way to the second floor and sit only where they tell you—the tables will all fill up soon enough—and order anything from the chalkboard menu. You can't go wrong.

Other places I love: Dominique Bouchet, L'Astor for a reasonably-priced Michelin-starred prix-fixe lunch, Chez L’Ami Louis--go hungry with a few flush friends—for platters of foie gras, a whole side of beef with frites and, in the late spring, I like to indulge in a dinner size plate of fresh wild strawberries and a canister of thick, heavy crème fraiche. In the marais, stop in at Chez Omar for couscous and exquisite tea jellies at Mariage Frères.
For cookbooks, go to La Librairie Gourmande on rue Dante. There are even some rare books by publisher Robert Morel I'm saving up to buy. Spend some time at La Grande Epicerie du Bon Marché. I always bring back my favorite jam. It is the perfect jam. And on Sundays I love to wander with a group of friends over to the 12th arrondissement to the Marché d'Aligre. In the winter, at Le Baron Rouge we start with a plate of charcuterie while waiting for freshly-shucked oysters—les plates and les creuses—cold butter and bread and glasses of chilled white straight from the barrel.

CHAPEL HILL: Bill Smith is the loveliest man in North Carolina and always full of good stories, especially of Mexico, Québec, and more recently, of a return trip from a Southern Foodways Alliance gathering (October 2006). He confessed to starting out in Tennessee with a passenger seat load of praline bacon and arriving back home to Chapel Hill with nothing but a few crumbs and a very happy palate. You'll find Bill at Crook's Corner inventing new recipes or cooking up old favorites like Tabasco Chicken, Black Pepper Cornbread or maybe riding his bike with a few beers in the back pockets seeking out fresh honeysuckle for his extraordinary Honeysuckle Sorbet--a sudden blast of summer. Check out his book, Seasoned in the South.
Last time I saw Bill, we had dinner at Lantern. I love to sit in the back bar area and eat anything that comes out of Andrea's kitchen. I always start with the do-it-yourself Sake and Tea-Cured Salmon Bento Box with House Pickled Red Cabbage and Ginger, served with wasabi, miso-mayonnaise, sticky rice and nori. When it came to the next course, I had chicken envy watching Bill eat the fragrant and moist Tea and Spice Smoked Chicken with yang chow pork & shrimp fried rice served with local greens and housemade XO sauce.
I also love: Bonne Soirée (run by Tina Vaughn and Chip Smith, formerly of the Inn at Little Washington), Jujubee, Nana's, a quick and fresh bite at Foster's Market, and next time I'm in the triangle, I hope to dine with my friend, Jean Anderson. Hopefully we'll make it back to Magnolia Grill for some of Ben and Karen Barker's comfort food.

SAN FRANCISO
If you, like a couple of wayward customers in BIG NIGHT, want risotto with a side of spaghetti and meatballs, then this is not the place for you. But if you like clean, pure flavors and crisp thin pizza crusts, try A16. I also love the meatballs in a vibrant red marinara or the wintry version in brodo with braised greens.
Bouletteslarder.com Boulette, French for meatball, is the Hungarian sheepdog you'll find living the wonder dog's life—settled in the warm, comforting presence of home cooked food all day long. Sit at the communal table for ultra-thick hot chocolate and eggs for breakfast while watching the ferry come in, or take home everything from rich, homemade stocks to a variety of sea salts, and my favorite—Roasted Marrow Bones.
A cocktail at the Slanted Door in the Ferry Building is worth it just to watch the mixologists shake up the perfect margarita, a Royal Pimm's Cup, or a Ginger Limeade. Yes, the food is sometimes delicious and sometimes disappointing, but the view and vibe are pure San Francisco.
Other favorites: Lunch at ZUNI Café (oysters on the half shell, Spicy Bloody Mary with balsamic drizzle, and the perfect roast chicken), a bar seat at Gary Danko's, and breakfast at Tartine Bakery.

AUSTIN
Everyone was up in arms about the closing of Las Manitas. As of this writing, they're still on Congress Avenue and serving up the best breakfast and lunch in the city. A serving (or 2) of their creamy refried beans, warm fresh tortillas and a bowl of green and a bowl of red, maybe a beer or an agua sandia and…life is rich.
Who would ever think to fly to Austin to eat sushi? I have and will continue to do so as long as Tyson Cole is running Uchi. Octopus lollipops, raw scallop flesh in a lychee shell, Alskan king crab with vanilla-infused oil, shitake bacon and scallops. I dream of UCHI.
Guerro's Taco Bar for tacos al pastor and several rounds of Silver Train margaritas (they're served in small glasses). Here's my friend Paula Disbrowe who took me here as well as to The Red Door for Hornitinis.I love to stay at Liz Lambert's Hotel San José, conveniently located a few steps from Guerro's and across the street from The Continental Club.

NEW ORLEANS
An update on some of my favorite New Orleans eats.
I always love going to Riomar for Big Daddy Adolfo's hot, hot Panamian ceviche, the signature tuna wrapped in thin slices of Serrano served over a chick pea puree, and Missy's potent cocktails. The tres leches cake—layered with thick sweet coconut—is truly one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.
Adolfo and his partner, Nick also opened, post-Katrina, the Argentine steakhouse, La Boca. Check out chef Jared Ralls' fresh made pasta—last time it was ricotta-filled ravioli with caramelized pattypan squash. I also love the Crabmeat ravioli, stuffed with béchamel and fresh, sweet jumbo lump crab or the gnocchi with peas and pancetta.
I prefer my steaks saignant, but if they are offering the Argentine-style skirt steak asado, a long-cooked country style method, which renders the beef juicy (because the membrane is left on), make sure to order a few for the table. Not unlike a confit, the crisp outside is like the most heavenly beef cracklin'.
I haven't been in some time, but I do love the kimchi po'boy at Stanley's, owned by Scott Boswell of Stella! fame. Last time at Stella!, Nolan Ventura, one of the most talented pastry chefs in the city sent out a round of sweets that had us all in awe: Chilled Celery Soup with Cream Cheese Ice Cream and Peanut Brittle to Peppered Champagne Gelée and Wild Huckleberry Blini with Sage Ice Cream and Brown Butter.
For po-boys in New Orleans I love Parkway Tavern and Bakery. My sister and her boyfriend picked me up from the airport one late morning and we drove straight to po-boy heaven. I like the half-oyster, half-shrimp with a cold Abita Amber beer.
At Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski's COCHON, I can't get enough of the fried chicken livers on toast with pepper jelly and fresh mint leaves. Everything is excellent—oyster pan roast, the signature cochon with crisp housemade cracklins, even a plate of fresh French radishes from Stephen's garden served with butter and salt.
Of course, Donald Link makes the most succulent Dirty Rice in the city. At Herbsaint, no matter what I've ordered—the carbonara or another carb-laden dish, I always get a side of the Dirty Rice. Here's Donald's recipe (cottageliving.com), along with recipes from other favorite NOLA chefs, including Bayona, Brigtsen's, K-Paul's.

CHICAGO
Avec is one of my all-time favorite stops in Chicago. In January 2007, 3 of us shared: housemade pappardelle with rabbit confit and pinenuts, skatewing on the bone with curry and tomato conserva, escarole salad with sherry vinaigrette, oregano, pickled shallots, black eyed peas and smoked pork, wood-fired pizza with blood sausage, apples, grilled onions (a perfect combination), sage, parmesan and chestnuts, chorizo-stuffed madjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce, glasses of Spanish Don Jacobo Reserva and Castillo Perelada Reserva. It was below zero outside, but we were warm and blissful inside. UPDATE: I went back twice in April 07 during the IACP conference and tried the whole roasted fish with sliced rhubarb and foccacia with truffle oil, and another few orders of those addictive chorizo-stuffed dates. Also try Hot Chocolate, Le Lan, Hot Doug's (great frites cooked in duck fat), and for brunch with a view, NOMI at the Park Hyatt. There’s always the caviar staircase at Rick Tramonto’s TRU.

ITALY (to come)
FLORENCE
POPPI
SAN VINCENZO
VENICE
MILAN

NEW YORK
Whenever I tell my friends to meet me at Fatty Crab, they're either really into it or twist up their noses (usually not my best friends). I know people who say they've had a mediocre meal here and frankly, I feel sorry for them. If you're open and ready to be transported, settle in for the signature dish of whole Dungeness Crab in an amazing spicy sauce served with lots of thick white toast to sop it up. I think now they're even serving the bread and sauce on the side for those who don't feel like messing with the crab. I also love the salad of fried pork belly and chunks of fresh sweet watermelon and watermelon pickle and the braised pork shanks in coconut milk with an order of toasted coconut rice. The housemade sambal is salty and spicy and everything nice.
David Chang's Momofuku: This is a pork lover's heaven. I always order the seasonal pickle plate to start (with lovely jewels of fresh cranberries or melon) and then the steamed pork buns. After that, I try whatever the cooks are firing that day: roasted Brussels sprouts with bright red and spicy pureed kimchi, steamed razor clams, rice cakes with pork…I love it all. Try the Chang owned Ssäm Bar around the block. To paraphrase New York magazine: If there's any justice in the world, Momofuku Ssäm Bars, would crop up all over the country like Starbucks or McDonald's.
A recent August night, at Batali's Babbo—I could eat here for my very last meal—a friend and I started with a glass of chilled Lambrusco and moved on to the most perfect vongole, and beef cheek ravioli with a rich sauce of crushed squab liver. This time, though, one of the highlights of the meal was the saffron panna cotta. Usually, I prefer to end with a bite of cheese, but this panna cotta had the most perfect jiggle (every pc should aspire to be so lovely) and, accompanied by fresh peach sorbet, was a very wholly satisfying way to end a meal.
Other Favorites: Esca, Balthazar, Gramercy Tavern, The Burger Joint, New Green Bo for soup dumplings, Sfoglia, Grom (there is also one in Florence), Prune (last bites: smoked salmon and sable plate, perfect spaghetti a la carbonara, Chicago-style Bloody Mary), The Spotted Pig, Blue Ribbon.

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE: from January/February 2006 issue of Cottage Living.