Last week, we had the opportunity to try both of these in the same day. I had reserved for dinner at Oiji a few weeks in advance, then we were invited to get together with friends for lunch at Hanjan. I was excited about Hanjan after reading Pete Wells’ 2-star review in the Times. I thought it might make sense to postpone Oiji but then decided it would be fun and interesting to compare and contrast the two. Hanjan was pretty good, but Oiji wins by a mile.

To be fair, I should point out that the lunch menu at Hanjan is limited, and the dinner menu has a number of main courses not available at lunch, so I am basing my judgment on the two dishes I tried and the general appeal of the menu. My impression is that Hanjan is more traditional, the sort of food Koreans might eat every day. I started with chicken katsu, which was decent but of no great consequence, and then had the bulgogi with bibimbap, which should have been called bibimbap with bulgogi. The dish was mostly rice, with just a tiny bit of beef.

http://www.hanjan26.com/

Dinner at Oiji was a more exciting affair, as might be expected as the chefs come from Gramercy Tavern and Bouley. The food is a modern take on Korean. From the very appealing menu, available at both lunch and dinner, we chose four dishes and an order of sticky rice. First, fried chicken with spicy soy vinaigrette. This was far superior to the katsu at Hanjan, juicy pieces of chicken with a delicious sauce. Next up was pig’s trotter salad, with large meaty slices of pig foot. Loved it. Then we had pork belly with kimchi. Delicious. Last was oxtail with root vegetables, with tender meat falling off the bone. The sticky rice was excellent, and the amount of food was just right. It’s all small plates, so plan on 4 or 5 dishes for 2 people. There is a nice selection of beers.  Afterward, we were given a bowl of honey butter chips, which were very good, perfectly crisp if a bit overwhelmingly sweet. The service was great and the staff could not have been nicer. We are looking forward to coming here again.

http://www.oijinyc.com/

We had a wonderful time in Mexico City in 2013, when we spent 5 days over the Thanksgiving weekend, so much that we are planning another trip this Thanksgiving. As my postings about our European trips have received so much notice, I thought I would share our experiences here. Stanley had made a brief trip there some years ago, but I had never been to Mexico before. Our dear friend Vy is an American who has lived in Mexico for over 60 years and every year hosts an American Thanksgiving dinner in her Mexico City apartment, for local friends and others from the US and around the world. We thought it was a good time to finally accept her invitation as she was also celebrating her 90th birthday. Our original plan was to stay with Vy’s daughter Laurie, but due to visiting children and grandchildren, she did not have room for us, so we ended up choosing a lovely small hotel, the Residencia Polanco, just a 15 minute walk from Vy’s apartment. At less than $100 a night for a beautiful suite, it was more than reasonable.

November 27:

Arriving on time in the early afternoon we looked for the driver Vy had sent, who was supposed to have a sign with Stanley’s name on it. Frustrated after waiting for half an hour, I finally called Vy, who called the driver, who expected US to have the sign !!! We found him and were off. The hotel is on Isaac Newton Street. He found the street, but kept stopping to ask directions to the hotel, as we were at the wrong end of Newton. We had a hard time convincing him to go all the way to the other end of Newton, where we quickly found the hotel. Arriving, we were confronted with the news that they did not have a room for us, but would gladly send us to another one of their hotels, in Napoles, which happens to be many miles away. I was moaning and groaning, but wisely decided to get Vy on the line. She spoke to the receptionist, who was French, and, ascertaining her nationality, Vy quickly likened her proposal to sending us to a hotel in Versailles if we had booked in the center of Paris. Remarkably, the receptionist discovered they had another hotel that backed up onto this one, around the corner, and they had a suite available. Such a miracle. We were soon situated in a perfectly agreeable suite, looking out on the other hotel, where we would return the next day. Polanco is a great neighborhood, with many of the best restaurants in the city, and bordering Chapultepec Park. We went out for a late lunch, and not finding the restaurant recommended by Vy’s daughter-in-law, on Avenida President Masaryk, settled instead for Biko, a very nice Spanish, or more accurately Basque, restaurant I had read about, where we had a splendid meal. We had a light supper later in the evening at Villa Maria, complete with Mariachis who imprisoned us at our table.

Biko:

Wonderful Basque/Northern Spanish. Loved the division of the menu into modern and traditional dishes. We had some of each, and all were superb. Best non-Mexican meal we had.

http://www.biko.com.mx/

Villa Maria:

Touristy but not a tourist trap. Very good traditional food, nice decor, LOUD, lots of large groups, mariachis, huge frozen Margaritas with very little alcohol, dirt cheap for the quality and quantity.

November 28:

The great day, which, of course, was nothing special in Mexico. We went on a walking tour in the late morning, taking in the Tamayo Museum, before returning to freshen up. Vy suggested that we should be there by 1:30, and we were about the first to arrive. There was seating for 110 people in the apartment, all spread along the balcony that surrounds the apartment on Hegel. We sat with Vy as she held court and welcomed the arrivals for the next two hours, including Diana Kennedy, the doyenne of Mexican cuisine and cookbooks, who quickly disappeared into the kitchen and had to leave even before we all sat down to dinner at four o’clock, so we never got to meet her. The conceit here is that Vy has been giving this American-style Thanksgiving Dinner for her Mexican and other friends since her marriage in 1948. Needless to say, many of the congregants were in Vy’s age range, but Mariana and Lesley, her granddaughters, brought many younger friends and children, so it was a very pleasant atmosphere. We enjoyed meeting Vy’s friend Micheline, who had come from Ottawa, and as it turns out had lived in Teaneck in the 1940’s, which is before I was born, but she was just a few blocks from where I grew up. We also met a friend of Vy’s from the L.A. County Museum and her mother.  On the back balcony, we spoke with Holly, who grew up in Santa Monica, where I have cousins. She told us about the Castillo de Chapultepec, a must see, so we kept that in mind for the next day. As we spoke, a helicopter landed on the roof of the adjoining apartment building, evidently the residence of a former President of Mexico.

We left about eight thirty, with Laurie promising to pick us up at 1:30 for lunch at her apartment. We arrived to move our bags back to the Residencia, where the first apartment (in the back) was missing a hair dryer, and some lights were not working. so we ended up being upgraded to a beautiful front room with a planted balcony. Grand Marnier, and so to bed.

I’m hoping that we might not need a hotel for our upcoming trip, but if we do, this is the one we will choose:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150800-d248801-Reviews-Residencia_Polanco-Mexico_City_Central_Mexico_and_Gulf_Coast.html

November 29:

Based on Holly’s recommendation, we set out in the morning to cross Chapultepec Park to the Castillo. The pond in the park is a striking green, and so unlike the home life of our own dear Central Park, but obviously sorely loved by the denizens. We mounted the ramp to the Castle and were carried back to the great days of Maximilian and Carlotta, and the not so great days of Porfirio Diaz. Splendid views, lovely maintenance, and scores of young Mexicans. The castle is incredibly beautiful, and complete with all the original furnishings and art.

http://castillodechapultepec.inah.gob.mx/index_2.html

Back at the hotel, we were anxiously waiting for Laurie at 1:30, which soon became 2 o’clock and a call to Danny, who confirmed she was coming, and an arrival by 2:30 and there by three o’clock. Laurie’s small (as she describes it) apartment is actually a large and lovely duplex on the far end of the Park. We found Vy and Micheline already ensconced, and we joined them for cocktails. Lesley and her companion were off on a flight back to the Yucatan, so they caught a bite to eat in the kitchen. Mariana arrived after a field trip for one of her daughters to the Olmedo Museum. We sat down around four o’clock to a lunch of black bean soup, salad, and beef and potatoes, with chocolate and fudge for dessert. Vy was pointing out all of her old silver and china she had given Laurie. It was a lovely setting, and Mariana’s children were so well behaved. The maids are absolutely shadows of every act. Vy’s maid sat in the boot of the car as we drove back.

That evening, Stanley and I dined at a very nice Spanish place called DO, not far from Vy’s on Hegel and Masaryk. We had the salt encrusted fish, recommended by Laurie.

DO (Denominacion de Origen): Another Basque/Galician place, pretty traditional. Had a wonderful whole fish baked in salt crust. Pulpo Gallego was also very good. Reasonable price and nice atmosphere.

November 30:

The morning was taken up with a complete tour of the Anthropological Museum, one of the greatest in Mexico and the world. Using our English accousti-guides, we moved at a leisurely pace.

http://www.mna.inah.gob.mx/index.html

Back to the hotel, and this time Laurie promptly showed at 2:30 (or so) for our lunch at Fonda El Refugio down in the Zona Rosa, where Vy has been eating since it opened in 1954. It was very classic Mexican, and Vy had pickled pigs feet; We had an assortment platter, and we got a tour of the kitchen afterwards, where they make everything from scratch, including the corn tortillas. Mariana then took us on a tour of her neighborhood in Roma Norte, which is very charming, except for the utility wires everywhere. We stopped to inspect her new apartment, yet to be occupied, which is very unlike Vy’s apartment in Polanco, but very serviceable. In true Mexican style, it has no heat (although it can get quite cold in the Winter) and no venting for the sewage system (“the drains” in English). We went on a tour of the museum where Mariana works, the MUCA, and then she took us, in the dark, to an old neighborhood where there is a craft market in a venerable building with affluent young hipsters holding forth as Bohemia in excelsis. They called a cab for us to get home, and later we dined at Quintonil,

Fonda El Refugio:

Wonderful traditional Mexican in Zona Rosa. We got a tour of the kitchen and saw how they make the tortillas from scratch (beginning with the raw corn), best tortillas you will ever have. They make their own sausages, etc. This is not to be missed.

Quintonil:

Modern Mexican in a lovely setting. Very creative food, excellent service, a casual but classy place.

Inicio

December 1:

Our last day, and it started with news of the train derailment at Spuyten Duyvil. At Mariana’s suggestion, she arranged a driver to take us to the Dolores Olmedo Museum in the southern part of Mexico City. We left at 11 o’clock, but we should have left an hour sooner. Traffic approaching the museum was fierce, and there were lines for tickets and lines to get in. This was no doubt due to the special show from the Orangerie in Paris, for which they had sacrificed their best Riveras and Kahlos. We toured the house and stood in line, and admired the strange dogs (which were Rivera’s) and still had twenty minutes to run through the Museum. Then it was off to the San Angel Inn in Altavista, arriving with Vy and Laurie just steps ahead of us. That evening, we had planned to dine at a place featuring carnitas, but it was closed for a special party, so we made do with a chain restaurant of Argentinian extraction with huge portions of undistinguished food. I can’t even remember the name. Sunday night in Mexico City is not a time when many people dine out, and many restaurants are closed.

San Angel Inn:

This is a splendid old hacienda in Altavista (worth a taxi ride from Polanco), where Laurie had Sunday lunches when she lived in the neighborhood. We could not get a table in the courtyard, but just as well as it got cool as the sun set.The food was surprisingly delicious as Vy had told us it was good but not great. They mix Mexican with French. I was delighted to find brains on the menu, which Laurie, Vy and I all ordered. Wonderful with a spicy tomatillo sauce. Stanley had the tongue. There are plenty of more conventional choices for the less adventurous. The Margarita was the best I had on this trip. Huge family/birthday groups predominated, but it was still very charming.

Inicio

December 2:

Packed and off in the cab. To his great embarrassment, Stanley discovered that he had thrown away the return portion of his immigration form; I had only saved mine by accident. Who knew we would need this to get out of the country? He had to go to immigration, and then spend forty-five minutes at HSBC trying to pay the $22 fee. We still had time to have a simple lunch before boarding, and an uneventful and timely return.

Plans for Thanksgiving 2015:

Once again, we will be staying at Residencia Polanco.

We didn’t get to the old city on our previous trip due to a major protest march and demonstration occurring on the day we had set aside for it, so we are very much looking forward to it on the upcoming trip.

We are also planning a day trip to Teotihuacán. The ruins, located 30 miles outside of the city, are supposed to be quite spectacular. We will probably take the public bus that runs every 15 minutes, and plan on spending about half a day, rather than a bus tour that would be much more expensive and involve time-wasting stops and little time at the pyramids.

For restaurants, we are now definitely planning to go back to Quintonil. I have also reserved Pujol. We will go to El Bajio, which we missed last time due to it being closed for a private party. Returning to Fonda el Refugio is also a possibility.

Here is a quick update as of 11/27/15. We are having a great time, great food, and great sightseeing. I will be posting a full report when I return home next week.

We were delayed a day in arriving, so had a short day here yesterday, with lunch at Villa Maria and dinner at Pujol. Today we visited the old city, including the Cathedral, Gran Hotel Mexico City, Templo Mayor museum and excavations, Palacio Nacional (with its Diego Rivera murals), Museo Franz Mayer, and Museo Nacional de Arte, with lunch at El Cardenal across the street from the art museum. Tonight’s dinner will be at Astrid y Gaston, a Peruvian restaurant. Tomorrow will be Vy’s Thanksgiving dinner, which she had to reschedule from Thursday. Sunday will include a trip to the pyramids and lunch as yet to be determined, with dinner at El Bajio.

Please visit the web page to see photos and video:

http://www.wohlfarth.com/listing-details/coop-970042.html

I’d read good things on Chowhound and elsewhere about Via Carota, the fairly new Italian restaurant on Grove Street in the West Village, but given that they don’t take reservations and we are highly averse to long waits, I wrote it off. Last night we were thinking about where to have dinner, and being a Monday I found several of the places I had in mind were closed. We thought Lederhosen was open on Mondays and headed over there. Though they do not take reservations either, it is not difficult to get in. Unfortunaely, though the sign on the door indicates they are open on Monday, it was shut tight.

Walking back toward Seventh Avenue, we passed Via Carota and decided to ask how long the wait was. Told it would be about twenty minutes, we figured it was worth a try, and sat down in the bar area to look over the menu while waiting for a table. Almost exactly twenty minutes later we were seated and ready to order.

Though the concept is small plates, these are by no means tiny portions, they are actually quite generous. We ordered the chicken liver crostini (among the best we’ve had), gnocchi (perfect), fried rabbit (meaty and crisp), and lamb ribs (very rich and delicious). Nothing comes with vegetables, so we ordered a side of fava beans with lettuce and pecorino. I love favas and this was a great combination. We nibbled on it throughout the meal.

From the limited but well-chosen list of beers on tap, we chose the Black Duck porter, and it was excellent. The bill came to $100 before tip, and we were well filled, no room for dessert.

http://www.viacarota.com/

Based on favorable reports on Chowhound, we gave Rebelle a try last week. It’s no suprise that the chef worked at Spring in Paris for a long time. The style here is typical of what’s known in France as “bistronomique”, updated bistro food, simple setting, reasonable prices, but very skillful cooking. They are definitely on to something. Though I’m not a big fan of the decor (the lighting somehow manages to be dim and harsh at the same time) and the noise level, the food goes a long way to assuage these minor complaints. Service was pretty good, too, attentive and just friendly enough without being over-familiar.

They will attempt to sell you on ordering four courses, but we felt that three were quite sufficient. We did not order bread, which they charge extra for, and as we are trying to limit carbs, did not feel was necessary. We started with sweetbreads and the scallops with sea urchin. Scallops are not a favorite of mine because I find them too sweet, but these were perfectly offset by the brininess of the sea urchin. Next we had the chicken and the monkfish, both delicious, and for dessert the excellent grape clafoutis.

The very impressive wine list contains many well-chosen bottles under $50, and the markup is lower than the standard. We had a very good cotes du rhone for $40.

I’m looking forward to returning.

http://rebellenyc.com/

Our friend Dean lives in Inwood, and likes to invite us to get together for dinner there occasionally. Unfortunately, the restaurant selections leave a lot to be desired. We’ve tried several, and each time we felt we could have eaten much better downtown, for the same or lower price.

Happily, such was not the case with Mama Sushi. Looking at the online menu, I saw much that looked appealing. Yelp reviews, which I am often skeptical of, were consistently positive for the food, the complaints centering on inefficient service. I have to say, the service we experienced was excellent, well-timed and pleasant. The decor is modern casual wiith lots of windows, and the noise level was quite tolerable.

We ordered a bottle of Verdejo for $35, which turned out to be pretty good, Dean started with steamed chicken gyoza, while Stanley and I shared pan-fried duck gyoza and baby back ribs. The gyoza were very good and the ribs plump and delicious.

For our main courses, we all chose rolls from the huge selection. I wasn’t sure an order of rolls would be sufficient as a main course, but it was a huge portion, more than enough. I had the “5 Tigre” (yellowtail, tuna, salmon, etc.). Stanley had “El Original”, which contained meats, cheese, and onion. Dean had avocado rolls. I didn’t get to try those, but the 5 Tigre and Original were scrumptious. The 3 dipping sauces were excellent. I loved the intricate combinations of flavors.

This is creative and interesting food. We will definitely return, and maybe try some of the main dishes other than rolls. Just a block from the A train at Dyckman St., it’s very easy to get to, and well worth the trip, I think.

http://www.mamasushi.com/

Click on the image below to view, and enlarge as needed:

November 16:

We headed off by car with Ana and Bertrand for our day trip to Troyes. No rain, but the usual seasonal gloom of northern France. We parked on the edge of the old city, but across the river/canal from the Cathedral. We got to the Cathedral before it closed for lunch, and Stanley related the history of the marriage of Henry V to Catherine of Valois, the merger of the French and English crowns which that marriage effected, and the resulting long wars, Joan of Arc, and all that. Also noted, based on Prof. Stephen Murray’s studies of Troyes Cathedral, that its finances were marred by conflict between the town and church authorities, exemplified by the fact that the Cathedral stands apart from most of the commercial center.

http://en.tourisme-troyes.com/discover/the-city-of-10-churches/saint-pierre-saint-paul-cathedral-13th-17th-c

Work resumed after the King gave a license on the local salt tax, but even so, only one west tower was built. We wandered into the old town, which still has many 16th C. timbered buildings leaning at challenging angles, and scouted out restaurants, since the one we had planned on was complet. Before lunch, however, we stepped into a chocolate shop, only to discover that the proprietor was the champion dessert maker of 2013, and the chocolates were quite incredible. It was Pascal Caffet, which has a number of locations but originated and is based in Troyes, and we resolved to return after lunch to buy a dessert for Sunday lunch en famille. We settled on La Mignardise for lunch, in a suitably ancient and leaning structure.

La Mignardise, Troyes

Our originally planned restaurant, Valentino, having been booked by a large group, we tried the second most interesting looking place. Note that though Valentino had a Michelin star at the time, it no longer does. La Mignardise turned out to be very good indeed.

Grilled mushrooms with bacon, pumpkin soup, rabbit terrine, guinea fowl with apple and cider sauce, sandre (with more grilled mushrooms and bacon, wish they had told me so I could have chosen a different appetizer), andouillette, pear in filo with caramel sauce. Refined service and an atmosphere of rustic elegance. With one bottle of wine, and coffees, the bill for 4 was 184 euros.

http://www.lamignardise.eu/

After lunch we did indeed return to Pacal Caffet and bought a cake for Sunday.

http://www.franchise-pascal-caffet.com/les-boutiques-liste

Also noted in passing was a rather upscale burger joint intriguingly named “Rosaparks.” It seems to be located only in Troyes, and is an organic/Halal/superhip-in-a-French-way restaurant. We then found our way to the Museum of Tools. Every hammer, wrench, trowel, level, and thingamabob you can imagine has been collected, and it might have made more sense to acquire an English audioguide, but we wandered about dumbly. Nonetheless, an interesting display. We retrieved the car and drove back to La Varenne, and Stanley and I then made our way back into Paris for dinner at:

Ober Sale

Another small and unassuming place, with one waiter doing a great job of handling the entire room. It was Saturday night and the room was filled. A number of walk-ins were turned away.

We each had a kir to start, one with Cassis, the other peche, then a bottle of Syrah d’Ardeche 2010, which was quite good. We don’t often see Ardeche wines, so it was a nice surprise (29 euros).

The menu is traditional with a twist, updated comfort food. Seared scallops (4) with fennel salad, roasted red peppers, and chorizo, pumpkin soup with goat cheese cream. Blanquette de veau, veal kidneys with mustard cream sauce, carrots. Dark chocolate mousse with coffee cream sauce, roasted figs. Total 109 euros.

http://ober-sale.e-monsite.com/

November 17:

Sunday morning market in La Varenne, and as Ana was committed to do substantial marketing at the hypermarche, we hoofed it by ourselves down to the square.

We bought two good sized pintades (Guinea hens), along with some shallots, haricot verts and parsley. Alex had indicated a preference for a large lunch rather than coming for supper later, so we set to work almost at once to prepare the pintades, garlicked mashed potatoes and haricots. I made the English-style parsley sauce, which led to confusion on the distinction between heavy cream and creme fraiche, which Ana had bought at the hypermarche. In fact, what we call heavy cream, the French call light cream! We had enough in any event. Alex and Marie showed up a bit late, but all passed in good order. Bertrand had made an early retreat to the local auction house, since they were bidding on a 19th C. vitrine. After the champion dessert from Troyes, Ana, Stanley and I joined Bertrand. It was a small turnout, and mostly dealers, we were told. Things were going at or slightly below estimates, and they got the vitrine for somewhat less than they were estimating. We returned to the house and supped later on leftovers, allowing Bertrand extra slices of the champion dessert.

November 18:

The cab arrived promptly at ten o’clock, and after saying our farewells, we got in and experienced a blissful passage to the airport and an untroubled flight back, arriving a bit early in Newark and training back to Penn Station, ending another memorable vacation.

Once again, as my travel posts have proven extremely popular, I am going back a bit to include some of our experiences that predate the beginning of this blog

After our trip to Puglia, we headed to Paris for a few days, staying with our friends Ana and Bertrand in La Varenne, an elegant suburb a few miles East of Paris, where they have a beautiful old house overlooking the Marne.

November 13:

We packed up and headed out of Puglia by seven o’clock to give us enough time to get back to Naples for a 12:45 flight to Paris via Munich. There was rain along the way, but it was sunny in Naples by the time we arrived, dropped off the car and made it to the airport. There was chaos at the automated Lufthansa check-in with a group of American tourists nesting in front of the four consoles like turkeys, but incapable of getting anything to work. We finally got to the front of the line and had a small delay until we realized we each had separate ID numbers for our tickets. Life was simple after that, and we arrived in Paris ahead of schedule and were out of the airport and into a cab in about fifteen minutes. We got to Ana and Bertrand’s by six thirty, half an hour ahead of our planned arrival. As their son Alex is now living with his girlfriend Marie, we had his room, the top floor suite, to ourselves. We had some kirs and then we were off to Paris for our dinner at Pirouette, after Ana had regaled us with the story about the children’s song of the same name:

Pirouette

Our first meal of this trip was in many ways the best. Beautiful atmosphere, excellent service, and very creative food. A real bargain at 40 euros for a 3-course dinner (with supplements on a few dishes), and a good selection.

Tranche de boeuf with vegetables and horseradish sauce. Marinated bass. Lievre, pigeon. Wonderful whipped potatoes. Outstanding riz au lait, tarte de fromage blanc with chocolate sauce. Vinsobre 2010 altitude 420 Domaine Jaume, Rhone. Total for 2 was 121 euros.

http://www.oenolis.com/pirouette/

November 14:

Gazing out the window, it seemed to me they had put a new roof on the house and had all the trim painted, which truth was soon confirmed. They waited until after Alex had decamped to properly insulate the top floor and put in all new windows. Such wise parents. From the new windows we could see that, due to the unrelenting rain, the Marne was at first level flood stage and was coursing past us at a rapid pace. Now that Ana and Bertrand are both retired, they tend to wander around the house like Ozzie and Harriet. Ana decided to join us for our morning jaunt into Paris, where we visited the Musee Carnavalet in the Marais.

Courtyard of Musee Carnavalet

We were expecting it to be small, but it turned out to be quite extensive, and filled with all sorts of furniture, art and everyday objects relating to the history of Paris. There are a number of reconstructions of Paris interiors, such as Marcel Proust’s bedroom, the Fouquet jewelry store, and the original furnishings from the Cafe de Paris. It’s very impressive, and you could spend a lot of time here. We had to rush through the French Revolution, missing much of it, as Marie Antoinette might have preferred.

http://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/

Marcel Proust’s bedroom

Fouquet’s

We then left Ana and found our way over to rue George V and our lunch at Le Cinq. Rain showers came and went, and we watched from our perch in the restaurant looking into the courtyard at the George V, now a Four Seasons.

Le Cinq

The food was superb, service flawless, the room gorgeous.

Mushrooms with foie gras and pistachio mousse. Tagliatelle with seafood. Pigeon with foie gras wrapped in spinach and bread crust. Root vegetables. This has to be the best pigeon dish I have ever had. Eel and octopus. Banana cake. “Mont blanc” (apple covered with apple sauce in a meringue shell).

I was surprised that they were being rather stingy with the mignardises.

At 110 euros, plus 70 for a bottle of 2002 Cahors, 12(!) for a bottle of water, 23 (yikes) for 2 coffees (total 325 euros for 2) this was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m glad we did it, but I doubt we will repeat it.

http://www.fourseasons.com/paris/dining/restaurants/le_cinq/

After lunch we went to the Musee Jacquesmart Andre, where it seemed the last time we were there the private apartments had been undergoing renovation, so now we took them in. The special exhibition was on Victorian English paintings of women (not by women), most of whom had that wide-eyed look of people suffering from migraine.

http://musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/home

A message came from Marcello that, due to an accident, his flight to Paris was cancelled, and he was going on directly to London, so could not join us for lunch the next day. Back to La Varenne, where we stopped on our way at the new shop of Spanish/Catalan specialty items where we managed to buy two bottles of Pedro Jimenez sherry, and where the kind proprietress gave us sample tastes of her Iberico jamon. We changed clothes and had a quick aperitif before heading back into town for dinner at:

Semilla

This was disappointing. Certainly the food was tasty, but…

Felt very touristy. It’s obviously been discovered by loud Americans and Brits. Stanley felt like he was on a trampoline due to the idiot at the next table who couldn’t sit still on the banquette, chattering away with his 3 female pals, with every other word out of their mouths being “like”. This is what we go to Europe to get away from.

Mushrooms with cauliflower (boring), rabbit terrine (delicious). Roast pork, tete de cochon croustillant. Both main dishes were just thrown on top of some lettuce. Creativity is definitely lacking.

Service was friendly and the server did speak French with us, but the kitchen seemed overwhelmed and the wait for the main course was interminable. We skipped dessert. Total for 2 with one bottle of wine, 109 euros.

November 15:

In the morning we traveled into the city and wandered about looking for passages couverts (corridors in or between buildings, with glass roofs, lined with shops and restaurants).

An elegant one near rue des Petit Champs had a shop window with a pop-up style rendering of typical New York streetscapes which featured a Kennedy Fried Chicken. How nostalgic! A less elegant passage off rue St. Denis had a glatt kosher luncheonette. How neuralgic! In time we found ourselves back on rue George V and walking up on the other side of the street to L’Instant d’Or, where Ana and Bertrand arrived at exactly the same moment to join us for lunch.

L’Instant d’Or

This is a great lunch deal at 36 euros. Wine prices are very steep, as much as at Le Cinq. A Cotes du Rhone Villages was 75, though I must say it was a very good Cotes du Rhone.

Veloute of mushrooms with chopped scallop, roasted pork loin, monkfish. Baba with pineapple.

The food was excellent. Service was attentive except, oddly, they neglected to refill our wine glasses twice. That would be excusable if they had put the wine on the table, but they did not.

This is an opportunity to have a luxurious meal at a very reasonable cost. The Michelin star is well deserved. Total for 4 with one bottle of wine, water and coffee was 240 euros.

http://www.hotel-elyseesmermoz.com/en/portfolio-item/linstant-dor/

After lunch we ducked into another passage couvert on the Champs Elysee, which, though elegant, had somewhat downscale shops reminiscent of Fifth Avenue below 42nd St., with souvenirs and such. We then hopped over to the Musee D’Orsay to see the special exhibition on male nudes. The curator here was suspiciously partial to recent works by Pierre et Giles, so much so that it all seemed a bit of a front for their latest show. The typical French logic asserted itself in the last niche, where a sign warned about appropriateness for young people. This after an unrelenting barrage of St. Sebastians and nude men in various states of decapitation, disembowelment and general sanguine horror. All because there was a video of young men cavorting in a pool. In the gathering gloom, we returned to La Varenne and again prepared for our evening meal at:
Youpi et Voila

We loved this. PhilD’s description on Chowhound was 100% accurate. Very plain atmosphere, very informal service, but attentive and cordial. The evening’s menu was all seafood.

Scallop with cauliflower puree, squid with multicolored beets, maigre (giant sea bass) with braised fennel and broccoli. Roasted pineapple strips with avocado cream and avocado ice cream. We prefer red wine, even with seafood, so the waiter suggested Pinot noir d’Alsace 2010 domaine Sylvie Spielmann, which really worked well with the delicate seafood. Total for 2 was 109 euros.

http://www.youpietvoila.com/

Last night Stanley and I attended the Carnegie Hall debut of the 25 year-old Russian pianist, Pavel Kolesnikov. He is the 2012 Laureate of the Honens International Piano Competition, which is based in Calgary, Alberta. We were there along with some other members and friends of the Council for Canadian American Relations [ See, May 2014 listing: https://robertrems.com/2014/05/01/ccar-gala/ ]. Stanley is the Secretary of CCAR, which has established an endowment with Calgary Foundation to support the Honens Competition. You can read more about the Honens here: http://www.honens.com

We were seated with an excellent center view of the stage in Zankel Hall and surrounded by a rather youthful and enthusiastic audience. The program included works by Mozart, Schumann, Scriabin and Beethoven, all of which were superbly played, but his renderings of the two Scriabin pieces were truly astounding.

A reception followed at The Russian Tea Room, where we have not been in ages, and which brought back memories of the old radio ads by Faith Stewart Gordon. There was champagne and wine and passed hors d’oeuvres and desserts. We got to chat with Pavel, who is living in Hammersmith, London, and enjoying a busy travel schedule of performances and recordings, all of which are part of the three-year career development program that comes with the Honens Laureate (as well as $100,000). We also chatted with the many visiting Calgarians, who were treated to a visit to the Steinway factory as part of their visit. You can learn more about Pavel at his website: http://www.pavelkolesnikov.com