Wine Tasting in Bordeaux

One of the most amazing things about living in Paris is that you can take quick weekend trips to explore the absolutely phenomenal wine regions around the country. A few weekends ago I joined some friends for a weekend in Bordeaux. We decided to focus on one specific region, St. Emilion. One specific word to describe it: Magical.



Here are the highlights:

1. The wine (of course): we visited the Chateau Pindefleurs, Clos de la Madeleine and Chateau Rozier, as well as the Maison Riviere and its underground wine caves in St. Emilion. The robust, fruity Merlot / Cab Franc blends were so varied, but similar flavour profiles across the chateau that we tasted.

2. The wine-makers: quirky, passionate, curious, fun...the winemakers and vineyard owners each spent at least an hour with us to show us their vines, cellars, production equipment, storage, warehouses...the more questions we asked, the more they told us! Oh, and we had a tasting of various wines at each spot. Delicious, and very fun to be able to compare across the different wines.

3. The lunch (delicious): we ate at a wine bar / restaurant in the adorable town of St. Emilion. L'Envers du Decor.

4. Wandering through Bordeaux on Saturday evening - the lively student town is filled with cute bars and beautifully lit up mansions.

I will definitely be going back to explore more of the wine regions in Bordeaux!

Top restaurant lists for 2012!

Part of my obsession with restaurants all started when a friend in London told me about her dream to eat at 40 of the World's 50 best restaurants by the time she's 40. She then proceeded to introduce me to the San Pellegrino top 100 restaurants list. And I was hooked.

I've only had the chance to eat at one of the restaurants on the San Pellegrino list (Chateaubriand, in Paris), but was amazed at how varied the list actually is in terms of style and price points for the various restaurants. This isn't the Michelin starred restaurants that all cost an arm and a leg...there are some actually accessible restaurants on this list! In the last few weeks, the new list came out for The Worlds' top 50 restaurants for 2012...check it out here.

When I moved back to Toronto in 2009, I started looking for a 'best of Toronto' restaurant list, given that none of the Toronto restaurants make the SP list. That's when I found Joanne Kates' top 100 restaurants in Toronto list. Perusing it, I realized a bunch of my favourite restaurants were on her list in 2010...so I figured we might have similar criteria, and started to make my way through it. I found her 2012 list as well today, take a look here.

I was in Toronto for a quick weekend getaway to visit friends and have fun, and managed to visit two of the establishments on the list...one of my all time favourites, Starfish (#73), and Khao San Road (#30). I personally feel that Starfish is underrated, while Khao San Road is way way too high on the list...but they're both great meals. I also enjoyed my first bbq of the season...Cumbrae's ground beef and chef Chris' burger mastery hit the spot perfectly.

I'll keep you posted if I visit any of the restaurants on the San Pellegrino top 50 list...enjoy!

A picnic by the Seine

What to do on a sunny Saturday in Paris? Why a picnic by the seine of course!

Key ingredients:
-4 (or more) good friends
- a blanket
- a well scoped spot along the water
- freshly baked baguettes from blé sucre, a local (and incredible) bakery in the 11th close to the Marché d'Aligre
- saucisson sec and thinly sliced Parma ham from our new favorite butcher (also in the Marché d'Aligre)
- fresh pears, cucumber, tomatoes, avocados, rocket and mandarins from the French organic market stall
- delicious cheese (a 36 month aged compté, a soft and creamy goat and a seriously stinky cheese)
- a chilled bottle of cheap and delicious rosé
- some fresh Madeleines and a few (ok...maybe more than a few) pieces of dark chocolate

Baguettes, Bike...en route to the Seine!

Instructions:
- Vélib to the marché in the morning (ps - Vélib is the public bike transport system in Paris. It's AMAZING)
- pop your purchases in the basket
- stop for oysters at Le Baron Rouge
- swing by home to pick up a knife, cutting board, glasses and the blanket
- Vélib to the seine
- scope a spot on the quai in the sunshine

Enjoy while watching the boats go by!

Skiing - the Italian way

I spent this past weekend basking in the sunshine on a ski hill in Italy.

Gorgeous views, great runs and tons and tons of sunshine. The Italians really know how to do skiing. Here's a snapshot of a typical day:

8:30 - wander towards the gondola, stop en route for a morning espresso or cappuccino, and freshly baked (still warm) marmalada - a croissant filled with piping hot apricot marmalade to give you energy for the skiing ahead.

9:00 - gondola up the hill. Ski ski ski ski.

12:30 ish - stop for lunch. A proper sit down lunch involving pizza, pasta bolognese, penne Siciliana or a polenta with cheese and mushrooms....accompanied by a carafe of local wine, filled from the wine tap (I'm not kidding)! Followed by a dessert blueberry tart and A second round of espresso. Mmm

1:30 ish - take a breather on the patio in the sun to digest

2:00 ish - ski again, maybe with a little bit less zip than in the morning

4:30 ish - end the day with a glass of wine on a patio, or a cold beer after skiing down to the base.

7:00 ish - head to a local pizza joint in the basement of an old old stone building to have the most amazing pizza's, accompanied by burratta and Parma ham, delicious chillies in oil from Caprese, and of course, the local house wine.

12:00 - bed time & repeat the next day!

The italians - they definitely know how to ski.

And it was lovely London indeed!

Could not have asked for a more beautiful, sunny or delicious weekend...and here are some snapshots from the adventures!

My favourite chorizo sandwiches....mmmmmm

Borough Market breads,...

And an Oyster stop? Bien sur!

Caerphilly anyone? 

Lovely London

A quick trip under the channel last night, and I'm in London for the weekend! Lovely lovely London. It's a city that is filled to the brim with amazing friends and good food - so I thought I'd give you a little preview of the eating that is to come...will report back with the verdict!

The things I'm most looking forward to this weekend:
- Ottolenghi. Bakery deliciousness in Notting Hill. They also do amazing salads and take-away food like you've never really seen before.
- Borough Market. A massive market with delicious samples of cheeses, brownies, amazing sandwiches...oh man, the chorizo sandwiches are incredible...I can't wait!
- Neil's Yard cheeses...stilton anyone?
- Sitting in a pub and enjoying a glass of cider (yes, I will have cider and not beer - but it's more about the atmosphere than anything else...)

Now time to head off and enjoy!
A bientôt!

Cheese & charcuterie

A very significant addition to my diet in France has been the (at least) weekly occurrence of a meal consisting of cheese and charcuterie, most definitely accompanied by a glass of wine.

There really isn't a bad time for it - brunch, lunch, early dinner, late dinner, afternoon snack, aperitif, late night snack...it's the most versatile of meals, and it always hits the spot!

Last week I went to one of my absolutely favorite spots, Le Garde Robe - un petit bar à vin dans le deuxième arrondissent - which I discovered by chance about a year ago in march when I came to Paris for a quick visit. It likely gets credit for my subsequent move to this city, because I fell so in love with it, I have about 5 pages of notes on the logistics for setting something like this up in Vancouver/ Toronto, and have been back probably around 5-6 times since.

Ok - but back to the cheese and charcuterie. Here are my tips at putting together a good parisian cheese / charcuterie plate at home (picture on the right is a homemade one):

1. Use a board of some kind - slate or wood if possible (plates are apparently out of fashion)

2. Get at least 4 cheeses. Vary strengths, textures and milk types. I also like to vary colors (orange mimolette, white chèvre, yellow compté)

3. At least 2 different types of charcuterie - I've been on a bit of a 'saucisson sec' kick, sliced, and then a shaved jambon cru (like a prosciutto or a Parma ham). We did have some delicious smoked/cured filet mignon on our last plate at lgr - and it was delicious, but I'm not sure where to get that for home!

4. Serve with freshly baked baguettes , sliced into thick slices, and a knife or two for cutting. We sometimes also add cornichons, or dried cranberries or olives to accompany.

Of course, to be enjoyed with a glass of vin rouge - I'm loving the wines from Languedoc Roussillon at the moment - big, bold and juicy. Mmm delicious!

On a cold and windy night in Paris...

...there's nothing better to do than head to a tiny little adorable restaurant tucked away in the 10th.

Last weekend we had one of the coldest weekends in Paris. It got down to -10 Celsius. I only even realized how cold it was when I was at the market in the morning, and I took my hands out of my mittens to pay for some brocolli...and by the time I put them back in my mittens, my fingers were frozen. Amazingly, the outdoor markets were still busy (admittedly with crazy people like me who stubbornly refused to believe that it could get that cold here). It even snowed! Here's the photo to prove it - snow coming down outside my apartment:


Ok, so all of that to say that after a quick walk from the metro to get to this restaurant, we were ready for some warmth and deliciousness. Le Galopin is a super small, funky restaurant. It does a phenomenal prix fixe with a menu that changes daily, all prepared for you by the two chefs in the tiny kitchen that has a big open window out onto the about 10 tables in the restaurant. So you can litterally see the chefs preparing your food as you sit and chat and enjoy the cozy atmoshpere and excellent wine.

The lamb

I love not having to chose what I'm going to eat; and the two amuses-bouches (a little potato-shrimp soup that tasted like a champagne-based clam chowder, and a little zuchini/squash salad), entrée (cod sashimi), two mains (a super-tender fish, and a lamb and brussel sprouts combination), and two deserts (yes! two! a banana  ice cream and chocolate cookie-crumble, and a marinated pear, walnut and sorbet combo) really hit the spot.

Dessert #1! Pears and walnuts.
I had to have a bite before I took the photo...

Beautifully presented, perfectly cooked, we spent a good amount of time trying to guess at all of the different flavour combinations in each dish. Accompanied with a delicious bottle of bordeaux - all I can say is that I will absolutely be back!

Les salades niçoises

I have a new addiction. Luckily, this time it's not to crazy expensive (although delicious) chocolate, or to grey's anatomy (although I have discovered how to download this season on itunes...yay) - but actually to the iconic French salad: la salade niçoise.

Why iconic? It's available at just about every brasserie or bistro - and although it does vary in quality (sometimes it's pretty basic), it always involves the same deliciously filling and non-salad like ingredients that make it the perfect full meal (when accompanied with fresh baguette):
- potatoes
- green beans
- tuna (the best niçoise are with fresh tuna, all of the ones I've had and/or made in France are with canned tuna)
- hard boiled eggs
- tomatoes
- chives / parsley / cilantro
- super simple vinaigrette

I had a delicious one for lunch today at an adorable bistro near Place Vendome (le Castiglione - upstairs...it was packed and for good reason), which clearly prompted this post as i'm still thinking about how yummy it was, and Linds and I made one on friday night at home (picture below) where we discovered the secret to the best niçoise: Add some champagne to the dressing instead of white wine vinegar...exquisite!

Re-bonjour!

Hello blog.

I apologize. It's been quite a while since I've filled you up with some new stories. 

I have no good excuse. It's not that I haven't been anywhere worthy of reviewing...in fact, it's quite the opposite! I have been spending a lot of time getting used to my new city (I still get excited when I say this: Paris), exploring the wine bars and restaurants, sampling baguettes, cheeses, croissants, chocolates...

The only proper reason that I can give for not writing is that at first I think I actually found it tough to tell whether something was "awesome" because it was cool and different and Parisian, or because it was truly "WOW - Awesome!" because of the food, atmosphere, people or service.

Two specific events may mark the moment where I realized I could make the separation...After a day of perfect wine tasting in the Loire Valley, I managed to criticize a meal of delicious crab consomee and Coquilles St. Jacques (scallops) in Tours for not having enough 'atmosphere', and today I just enjoyed a delicious chocolate eclair from one of the best pâtisseries in Paris, and thought 'meh - it's ok, but I wouldn't rush back...not chocolatey enough'. I'm clearly ready to write again. 

So here it goes! To give you a taste of the past few months of fun, I'm going to start with my 'food and wine highlights', experienced in Paris and on other travels, including Avignon, the Loire Valley, Christlum (Austria), Dusseldorf, Megeve, London, Montreal and Calgary...it's been a very fun few months!  

1. A visit to 'Domaine Les Rochers' in Chinon, Vallee de la Loire, to taste their delicious Chinons in their Cave, built in the 15th century. Purchased my first case of wine!


2.  L'Office, possibly my new favourite restaurant for all of the right reasons: the chef is awesome, the atmosphere is fun and chill, it's full of french people...oh, and the food is truly exceptional.

A view of L'Office

3. Chocolate tasting volume 2 with my family over Christmas. We pitted the Parisian greats: Jacques Genin, Jean Paul Hevin, Fouquet and Michel Cluziel against Calgary favourites Bernard Callebaut, and new rogue 'Papa Chocolat'. It may have been a bit ridiculous to have 7 boxes of chocolates going at once over Christmas...but we survived. The winners? Jacques Genin, JPH and Bernard Callebaut.

4. A wine tasting night at an adorable wine bar, Avitus, in Avignon. Most people don't go to the Rhone Valley and taste 7 great Bordeaux wines - but by chance we found this wine bar and they were tasting bordeaux that night, and so we jumped in and enjoyed a 1989 Chateau Haut Briant, and a brilliant sancerre with a few Sommeliers and wine students. It was accompanied by fresh goat cheese and ham (from the village where the wine bar owner lived) - amazing.

Perusing the wines at Avitus

5. A fun Sunday night that started at L'Avant Comptoir (a fantastic wine and tapas bar serving incredible biodynamic wines), where we met some excellet chefs (from L'Office), and ended with L'As du Falafel on Rue des Rosiers - a Parisian Falafel institution.

6. Lunch with the other students from my french class at Creperie des Canottes - a group of Brazilian, Colombian, American, Irish, Korean, Taiwanese and Canadian students enjoying crepes de froment that could have been imported directly from Brittany and muddling our way through conversation in French...followed by a break in the sunshine in the Jardins de Luxembourg before heading back to class.

Class break in JdL

7. Apres Ski prosecco at the 'umbrella bar' (it's not actually called that, but it looks like one), in Christlum. Serenaded by the fun German band singing songs that seemed eerily similar to Oktoberfest (Schwim, Schwim, Schwim...)

8. Glu-wine, schnapps and Raclette at the christmas market in Dusseldorf. This was my first true Raclette, with the cheese melted directly off of the wheel of cheese, dripping onto the just-toasted bread. It was enjoyed standing up in a tiny little hut next to the skating rink, sheltered from the chilly winds. Both the cheese and schnapps helped warm our tummies.

9. Munching on warm-out-of-the-oven fresh baked baguette from an amazing bakery (Ble Sucre) in a neighborhood park in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, close to the Marche d'Aligre, complemented with some glorious sunshine, a 'cafe noisette' and some salted, handmade butter, purchased from the market. (a cafe noisette is an espresso with a tiny bit of milk - my new coffee of choice).

10. Wine tasting with friends in Montreal - we sampled 2 of my favourite South Africa wines, a Vergelegen and a Chocolate Block that I had been saving for a few years, and enjoyed on New Years Eve. We had a bit of a struggle with the cork on the Chocolate Block (a bit dried), but the wine was delicious. 

11. The best cheese fondue that I have every had, tucked away in an adorable little chalet-restaurant in Megeve. What made it so good? It had cepes (mushrooms) in it, was gooey, thick, piping hot and every bite was sooooo tasty. It also created the most delicious toasty-cheesy-crust in the pot at the end. Accompanied with some Crepy white wine from the Savoie wine region, it got us nice and ready for the next day of skiing in beautiful powder!

I'm looking forward to sharing more food and wine adventures from Paris!