I am acutely aware of my softer, self-indulgent attitude to dieting now. After a summer spent on the water or beside it, invariably ending the day in a good restaurant, I decided to give it a bit of a break. This does not mean swapping to a diet of dust and greens. Indeed, I have been in the company of too many good men who started out that way and then dined on wine, leaving … [Read more...]
A truffle kerfuffle in Provence
Foodies are always on the lookout for the uncommon and the creative. This does not always work out well. I once ate at a truffle-only restaurant in the Var in Southern France. The place was called Chez Bruno and was so pretentious you could only see waiters by appointment. When we turned up and announced we were ‘sans reservation’ the Gallic horror and hand wringing was pure … [Read more...]
Zuma and the Blue Hill in New York
Zuma in Manhattan is a nightclub where people sit and eat, not dance. Like the best nightclubs - its a Japanese restaurant by the way - it is hard wired to spike sexual behaviour: The music pulsates, the lights are forgiving, the senses bathed in alcohol and the palate honeyed by its offerings. The absence of mirrors meant that I did not see even one unmuscled hunk of a man. … [Read more...]
Nacarat (Amsterdam): ‘To die for and believe me I really like living’
I dutifully followed my wife who was climbing up every floor of the Hudson’s Bay Department store on Rokin in Amsterdam. It felt like it was the Via Dolorosa. Then, in between the suede boots at a 70 per cent discount and the new collection of bright yellow bikinis that Ralph was offering while it was minus three outside, I saw a sign I could finally warm to. Restaurant, it … [Read more...]
