Santa Sed - Chilean Family Cuisine

The following photos do not do justice to great little Chilean restaurant I discovered the other evening just steps away from the Canal Saint Martin. I'd walked past this place a few times, and it piqued my interest, but as I forgot the strange name, it slipped my mind. Then I found a review deep in the fooding archives, and decided to go check it out? Carla, the comely patronne, welcomed me as an old friend, tutoying me as if she had known me her whole life. Her enthusiasm and passion really do make the ambience in the restaurant what it is. She was so charming I could hardly keep my concentration on the food, which merited serious gastronomic reflection. All washed down with a pisco sour (pisco, sugar, lemon juice and a beaten egg white) cocktail and pichet of a decent Chilean Carménère. Special mention goes to the house red pepper and garlic butter. Coté deco, simple and cozy, with wooden tables, mismatched chairs, mosaic floor tiles, and ambient Latino dub.


Excellent ceviche, simply prepared fish with lemon juice and corriander

Empanadas de Pino, crispy crust, tasty spiced ground beef, acompanying tomato sauce freshly made

Pastel del Choclo, a Chilean specialty of ground corn,chopped onion, pieces of beef and chicken, hardboiled egg and black olives, all baked in the oven in a clay dish

Classic dolce de lethe, but in a crepe and sprinkled liberally with Chilean sour raisin liqueur

Da Claudio Montmartre

Very decent seafood spaghetti last Sunday at Da Claudio , just south of the Butte. Fresh homemade pasta, tomato sauce, mussels, calamari... Friendly service

La Pizzetta

Yet another resto lauded heavily by the Figaroscope, Le Fooding, et al. Attractive, minimalist dining room. Pleasant terrace. Packed to capacity at 12h45. OK pizzas (white pie with mushrrom cream, garlic, ham.. and a typical saumona) on an agreeable street near Montmartre, but the service ! True Slow Food! At the entrance waiting (already having reserved by phone..) 15 minutes before the first bonjour. Pizza arriving after nearly one hour after having been ordered. The bill coming nearly 20 minutes after being requested. Despite the patron being there, seems an amateur operation. I'd go back to Maria Luisa, Positano, or two or three other more professional and friendly places before coming back here. The one positive point were the waitresses evident and comely cleavages...Sorry no photos..

Relais de l'Entrecote Secret Sauce Recipe

Amazing what you can find on the internet with a little digging... Now , if I could only find the correct measures...

"Le Relais de Venise instead served the dish with a complex butter-based sauce containing tarragon, marjoram, dill, rosemary, thyme, basil, paprika, anchovies, and numerous other condiments and spices"

Stella Maris

This lunch at Stella Maris was the first meal after their (inevitable, however long) first Michelin star. I'm not so sure Yoshino-sana was in the kitchen, as he normally comes out to say hello, but the level of cooking was certainly up to snuff. The langoustine tempura perfectly cooked and accompanied by every type of asparagus available. The filet of sole was tasty, although perhaps a touch undercooked, and the sides of brocolli cheese and "bubble and squeak" astoundingly good. The dessert of skewers of tiny baba au rum was good. Special mention for the gaspacho with cucumber gélée and especially the superb amuse bouche parmesan galette.


Gazpacho with cucumber gelée

Langoustine tempura with asparagus

Filet of sole with side of broccoli and cheese and SUPERB (intended?) take on "bubble and squeak" (cabbage with semi-mashed fried potatoes ?)

D'Chez Eux Gogo review

D'Chez Eux

Tucked away in a small street behind the Ecole Militaire in the seventh, D'Chez Eux is a hardy stalwart of Paris' traditional bistro culture. Offering a fine, uncomplicated classic French cuisine, with specialties such as home-made charcuterie, cassoulet , cote de boeuf, well-chosen wines, fine cheeses, etc. The starter of huge garlic-butter infused Burgundy snails (served sans shells) was superb, the fresh white asparagus in a white vinagrette gargantuan, and the crispy-skinned roast coquelet with tarragon cream sauce simply perfect. The cheese plate was small but well chosen with St. Nectaire, camembert, roquefort, etc, and the crowning dessert the best chocolate mousse in Paris (sorry no picture..)




Burgundy snails and garlic butter sauce


Seasonally fresh asparagus


Roast chicken with cream tarragon sauce

Breizh Café Paris Gogo review

Pré Catelan lunch

Langoustine ravioli, served in a virgin olive oil bouillon, with pepper and mint

Langoustine nems with jus de romaine and roasted peanuts

Veal sweetbreads cooked casserole-style with truffles and tempura of capucines with garlic

Tempura-style lobster "balls", topped with caviar, accompanied by "wasabi" salad

Deconstructed pidgeon with fresh pea-filled macaroni

Pidgeon maigret and sausage

Apple dessert (apple actually a hard sugar construct filled with Carambar ice cream, cider and exploding pop rocks)

Condé Nast Traveler May 2007 - MY PHOTO!

It's the tiny one of the Cantine de Quentin. Smallest contribution to the magazine, but a contribution never the less!

Breizh Café Paris

Paris' chouchou of the moment is a creperie located in the oh-so-chic upper Marais in the midst of cutting-edge art galeries and hip clothing stores, which opened a month ago to rave reviews from the likes of the fooding people, François Simon and his band,L'express, etc. What makes this creperie special is the pedigree of it's owner, who opened his first establishment in Cancale, before moving with his Japanese wife to Tokyo and opening eventually five other establishments in the Japanese capital and Yokohama, before returning to Paris. The kitchen staff are all Nippon, with the technical skills inherant to anyone Japanese in the food business, and the ingrediants are all top-notch and French - Bordier butter, the finest black flour, homemade jams, artisinal hams, bacon, freerange eggs and cheese, exceptional ciders, Breton small-production beers... short , this is everything a creperie should be, and markedly different from the rest of this world of insipid pancakes.



Lancelot beer and superb Breton cider by the pitcher

Breizh Cola!

Black flour crepe with artisinal bacon, egg and mushrooms



Notice the ALATO DESIGN storage boxes on the top shelf

UNICO review in Monocle magazine

Bodrum food

Envie...


Pastry filled with rice pilaf, cinnamon, and chicken, tasted a little like a Morrocan pigeon pastilla


Grilled veal chops


...all with this picturesque view of Bodrum harbor..

Shame on Bodrum Airport

Seen by yours truly this morning at the Bodrum airport in Turkey. How shameful- are there no regulations for things like this? An airport is, after all, a reflection of the country... Not only were the potato chips vastly overpriced, here are a few other delicacies: pizza slice 5€, croissant 4€, kebab 9€...more soon

Meiji in Gridskipper

Pharamond restaurant Paris