Topic Travel
Wokking: My Latest Food Obsession
My stir-fries suck. Some vegetables get mushy, while others aren’t done; and despite what I put in them, they all taste the same. How can that be?” my sister
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How to Make Galette Bretonne — Here’s a Photo Demo from Paris’ Street Market
Ever wonder how to make a Galette? The master galette-maker in one of Paris’ best street markets works four griddles at a time. It’s really quite the show! Traditionally from Brittany
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Galette Bretonne
A galette is not a crêpe. Crêpes are filled with sweet ingredients and made with white wheat flour; while galettes are made with buckwheat flour and have savory fillings.
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Paris Street Market: the Ultimate Food Lover’s Mini-Tour
The Marché du President Wilson (or Market on Pres. Wilson Ave) is a jovial group of passionate food artisans cooking and selling their goods beneath a very long row of adjoining
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Paris’ Best Chocolate Shops, and the Divine, Chocolate-Covered Existential Quest
Everything you can find in the world, you can find in Paris,” Someone once said. It’s a comprehensive city, to be sure, but more options don’t necessarily make an easier quest. Even for something
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A Box of Michel Chaudun’s Les Pavés Will Get You Laid
You heard me. Yeah, yeah, I know how presumptuous that sounds, but if you’ve ever had le Pavé, I’m fairly certain you’ll agree. Les Pavés, sinfully simple ganache squares dusted with cocoa, melt
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Patrice Chapon Chocolaterie: Old-World Charm and Childlike Wonder Around Every Corner
Walking into Patrice Chapon’s chocolaterie, I actually felt that giddiness I got as a kid when I knew I was in for the best treat of my life. But it’s even
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Jean-Charles Rochoux: Elegant, Classic Chocolaterie in Paris’ 6eme
Rochoux, an elegant, classic chocolaterie in Paris’ 6eme, is filled with wonderful chocolates, ganaches, liqueur-filled truffles (the Maker’s Mark ones are exceptional) and bars. Not just ordinary chocolate bars, however. Take,
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Christian Constant: Chocolatier, Pâtissier, Chef, Poet
As you savour these chocolates, prepared with the best Criollos of the islands of the Indian Ocean, dream with me of these exotic and far off places.” Christian Constant Christian Constant,
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Patrick Roger: Chocolate Artist and Sculptor of Flavour
Patrick Roger’s contemporary, exclusive, airy boutiques are decked out in refreshing mint green and warm brown. His chocolaterie on Paris’ Saint Germain has spun sugar-like chandeliers and truffles displayed
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Hungry for More Alexander Lobrano?
I love how he plays with phrases, uses unexpected references and concentrated details, injects bits of history, and pulls in memories of his picky-eating youth, providing a little good-humored
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Mon Vieil Ami on Paris’ I’Ile Saint Louis: Poshly Minimalistic & Stalker-free
Strolling around the 4th arrondissement on a beautiful, crisp autumn day, I inadvertently picked up my very first stalker. I know — big day! It began innocently enough — the sun
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How to Backpack Through Paris in a Little Black Skirt, Part Deux
My little black skirt theory still holds true. A little black skirt is light, comfortable, versatile, doesn’t take up much suitcase room, and with the appropriate accessories, it can take you
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Hedonism on Rue des Martyrs – It’s What’s for Dinner
There’s a charming little street in Paris’ 9th arrondissement that suddenly springs to life at dusk. Rue des Martyrs is surprisingly neighborly and a little more jam-packed with hedonism than
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Photos of Paris: An Embarrassment of Riches
I recently returned from a week long, gastronomically enhanced, roller coaster love affair with Paris. The City of Lights is unlike any other city in the world, containing such an excess
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Hosteria Giusti & Mario’s Pappy
Hopelessly lost in Modena, walking in circles and shivering in the rain, I was five minutes away from taking the train back to the comforts of my Bologna hotel
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North Beach Food Tour — the Italian Quarter
What happens when Italian caffè houses, a bohemian bookstore, funky wine bars, and a really big-grass park come together? – North Beach. Casually strolling down Columbus Avenue, I started to get
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The Slanted Door in San Francisco’s Ferry Building
If you eat at only one Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, make it The Slanted Door. Executive Chef, Charles Phan seamlessly meshes traditional Vietnam with modern San Francisco for the best of
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San Francisco’s Ferry Building – A Model Marketplace
Not many cities would restore a bleary, old building to surpass its former glory and then dedicate it to organic, sustainable food accessible to the public. It’s so west coast. So
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Chicago’s Best Pizza: Dishing Deeper on the Deep-Dish
I flew into Chicago a deep-dish virgin, and emerged a full-fledged, lip-smacking, Chiago-style pizza-lusting woman. I’m hooked. I honestly thought deep-dish would never stack up to Italian thin crust. I’m happy to
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Chicago: More Than Great Deep-Dish, And Yes, Pretty Windy
I knew about deep-dish, but I can’t say I’d ever had an authentic one. Deep-dish, the biting winds and Charlie Trotter’s were all I really knew about Chicago. I’m embarrassed to
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The American Tourist Stereotype – Still Going Strong
This isn’t my bitch blog. I don’t use it to take out my frustrations. But a quick trip to San Francisco this week was a blatant reminder of stereotypes and manners, or
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New York’s Fleur de Sel: Amazing Lunch for $25
I believe a restaurant truly excels when: being immutably full for three days of gastronomic pleasure, you not only eat more, but enticed by the menu, you opt for the five-course tasting lunch instead
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Cipriani Le Specialita
Do you think Giuseppe Cipriani knew that when he answered an ad in 1918 for a chef de rang position, it was the first step to creating an empire beloved by
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Rizzoli: Another Great Manhattan Bookstore
Known for publishing stunning coffee table books and their spectacular two-story window, Rizzoli Bookstore on 5th Avenue is a New York institution. In 1974 Rizzoli published books on art, architecture, haute couture,
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Kitchen Arts & Letters: New York’s Best Cookbook Shop
Really great cookbook shops are hard to come by – only a handful of cities have one. Of course, thank God Gore invented the internet and Bush hasn’t banned it
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Falai Cucina Italiana
“Destination Street,” “Restaurant Row,” “The Hot Block” – those are just a few labels stuck to Clinton Street on Manhattan’s lower east side. Restaurants began popping up in ‘99; up
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Dena DeRose Trio @Jazz Standard
Dena DeRose returned to the states to record one last cd, live at Jazz Standard with the rest of her trio, Martin Wind and Matt Wilson. And I was there. I clapped and “wooed” loudly. (I’m hoping to hear
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Going to New York? Some Great Maps to Print Out
I’ve been told by my travel-by-the-seat-of-their-hippie-pants friends that I over-plan trips. So? I fear returning home from a once in a lifetime visit to a great city saying, “THAT was there, and I didn’t
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Lassi: Manhattan’s Best Indian Take-Out
I dream of many things: a new vacuum with side suction, the entire country driving Smart Cars, and really good take-out joints in every neighborhood – no one should ever have to
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Jean-Georges — Just Go.
Here’s my take on Jean-Georges: intriguing flavor sensations, beautifully melding them together in a cohesive dish, yet allowing each to keep its identity. Some are coaxed to the forefront, enough to
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ChikaLicious: One of Manhattan’s First Dessert Bars
I was googling around one night looking for interesting things to eat during my upcoming trip to Manhattan and cyber-stumbled upon ChikaLicious, a dessert bar on the Lower East Side. A
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Cafe Grumpy
Walking down 20th Street near the 10th Precinct in Chelsea, I saw two men up ahead pushing babies in strollers; as I got a little closer, it seemed that
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New York’s Best Chocolate Shops: An In-depth Tour
Oh, the sinfully delicious things they are doing with chocolate on the other coast! Dark chocolate truffles rolled in smoky paprika; chocolate covered caramel with flowery honey & roasted pine
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The Best $10 Jazz Show in New York!
Whatever you are doing on Friday afternoon, ditch it and head over to Birdland for the “Best $10 Jazz Show in New York!” If you want a good spot, make a reservation or
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Gramercy Tavern- There’s Always Room For You @The Bar
After a very long flight, I arrived in Manhattan late last Wednesday (just after the snow storm) and was in great need of a warm, cozy environment and comfort food. I was
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How to Backpack Through Italy in a Little Black Skirt
Slang for Looking Good & Eating Well on a Budget I’m willing to concede that I may be a touch high-maintenance, and that backpacking through Italy wearing jeans every day would probably
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Last Wednesday we took a spur-of-the-moment drive up to Vancouver B.C. on business to have dinner with two other couples at Chambar, an eclectic, cozy Belgian restaurant in an up-and-coming
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