…out complimentary hors d’oeuvres–thick slices of toasted country bread topped with pale slices of summer truffle that pleasantly tasted like wet leaves. When we were ushered inside, we sat at…

On the waterfront: Sitges  My discovery of Catalan cooking dates to an almost comically unsuccessful stint as an English teacher in Barcelona in the mid-eighties. I had a gap between…

…lined tub chairs at white marble pedestal tables, low lighting, good sight lines, and a sort of minimalist cosmopolitan aesthetic that wisely reprises the good art deco bones of the…

…French markets, many of which are in smaller cities and towns, including Rennes, Narbonne, Arles, Antibes, Saint Remy and most recently, Provins, a charming little town just an hour east…

…fruit compotes and sorbets instead of the usual mignardaises, candies and pastries. This gentle and planed down proposal was much more in keeping with the prevailing—and even invigorating—theme of restraint…

…Ore, Château de Versailles, Place d’Armes, Pavillon Dufour – 1st floor, Versailles, Tel. (33) 01-30-84-12-96, Open Tuesday to Sunday from 8am to 6.30pm. Closed Monday. Average lunch 35 Euros. www.ducasse-chateauversailles*]}*.com…

…often true as concerns people who come from countries that prefer filets to anything whole. With just a little dribble of green olive oil from a mill in Les Alpilles,…

…an emancipated Mozambican slave who lived in 16th century Kyoto. “There’s a big gastronomic romance between France and Japan, because the two countries recognize themselves in each other. I’m sort…

…and someone who loves the Marais for its history, architecture and magnificent mixture of different cultures–if the neighborhood’s essential DNA is Jewish, it’s also long been Paris’s gay neighborhood and…

…to follow during the meal to come. Using seasonal Loire Valley produce as its anchor, the Mauberts’ cooking was a vivid set of dishes with elegant but occasionally playful melodies…

The 10th anniversary of Spoon, Alain Ducasse’s world food restaurant just off the Champs Elysees, offers an intriguing year-end opportunity to muse on how much eating in Paris has changed…

…separates the bar from the main dining room. Fifties retro wall lamps and Scandinavian modern chairs and tables give the space a funky flea-market edge, and the chef himself laid…

…it feeds everyone who lives there. La Canopée, Forum des Halles, 1st Arrondissement, Tel. (33) 01-53-45-84-50. Metro: Les Halles, Chatelet , Louvre-Rivoli, Etienne Marcel. Open daily. Average 30-35 Euros. www.restaurant-champeaux.com…

…of the nine dishes Bruno and I shared the other night, especially given the fact that our appetites were heat-wilted and balky. In fact, it was almost as though Compagnon…

…Italian guides rate most highly still practice a sort of mannerist modern cooking that espouses the worst of Nouvelle Cuisine fussiness without embracing the really important things it changed. To…

…By that I mean sauces–yes, real sauces, and not foams. Mind you, I have nothing against foams, but as Teshima demonstrates, the same new technologies used to create them can…

…Epoque tiles, to run the kitchen, and Atusmi’s short produce focused menu, which changes often, runs to intriguing small plates, which are easily composed into a pleasant and very satisfying…

…Parisian grocery stores, specifically the FRANPRIX chain, are small, filthy, inhospitable, and poorly stocked when compared the average American or English super market (yes, yes, yes, the city has wonderful…

…beautifully about food. But he’s just as adept at mining life’s truths. Lobrano’s debut book is a lovely feast.” —Tom Sietsema, food critic, Washington Post So what is My Place…

…à Versailles, Versailles, France, Tel. (33) 09-83-34-76-00, Open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch and dinner, closed Sunday and Monday. Lunch menus 29 Euros, 38 Euros; dinner menu 49 Euros, 65 Euros. www.latabledu11.com…