Gastronomy in Paris: Le Grande Cafe Capucines

Sometimes a favourite restaurant has nothing to do with the restaurant boasting of Gault Millau, or Michelin Star. Sometimes, it is just the right combination of service, ambience, and food which suits one's taste. The Grande Cafe Capucines is one such restaurant for me. Undecorated, but a firm favourite.

Right next to the Paris Opera, on Boulevard Capucines, is the Grande Cafe. I discovered this some 20 years ago, on a business trip...we were hungry, tired, and it was drizzling in Paris. My colleague and I saw this magnificent cafe, looking regal and like it stepped right out of the 1920s belle epoch. We immediately went in.

This is a typical art deco style Parisian restaurant. The tables are set very close to each other...it is impossible not to hear what the table beside is discussing...of course, if its French, their discussion remains private to us.

I love this restaurant. The service is always efficient, which is more than what can be said of many Parisian restaurants...though truth be told, they have improved over the years. These days, they attempt to speak English...and often quite good English when in the old days, even if the waiters do speak English, they pretend not to, and spoke only French. And more nowadays, they do not turn a nose if you just order carafe eau, instead of sparkling or still water.

And they were serving divine French oysters. One of the few in the 1se Arr which have a oyster booth outside the restaurant.

These were fine de Claire no 3 I think, or perhaps no 5. They were delicious. Succulent, fresh, smooth and rather fat. Wonderful with just a touch of lemon or a dash of tabasco. Marvellous.

For starters we also had some foie gras

I rather usually prefer pan fried foie gras, but they didn't have that. So we had the pate. This was a rather large serving. Quite nice foie gras...as usual, fat, satisfying...slight greasy, but immensely aromatic as only foie gras can be, and tasted very nice.

For our mains, Edward had the baby chicken in a pot

Nicely done. The chicken, though described as a baby chicken was rather large...perhaps the size of our regular kampung chicken. The meat was nicely done, very succulent, tasty. The skin is almost crisp, though not quite. A little braising liquid sat in the pot. Very tasty.

Kin had the veal chop

This was divine. Beautiful cut of veal. Nice, decent serving size. Perfectly grilled...slightly crisp on the outside with beautiful maillard. And very tender within. The accompanying jus was also savoury and very tasty, as were the morelle mushrooms. This was a winner dish. One to come back for more. Excellent.

I had the lamb shank

It was roasted perfectly. Very tender, very moist within. But the sauce, in my view was a tad too sweet...perhaps the reduction was allowed to caramalize a bit too much for my taste. The carrots and radish supporting the lamb was very nicely done. This is still a very good dish, but I did find the sauce a bit too sweet.

The portions were rather large, so for dessert, we only ordered one...a combination of sorbet and ice cream

The pear and lemon sorbet was right up my alley. The ice crystals were very small, almost undetectable...well, actually not detectable on the palate, and the fruit confit used to make the ice sorbet superb. Powerful flavours of pear and lemon. The sole scoop of chocolate ice cream was good too, but de rigeur. The scoops were mixed with very rich full cream and drops of French pastry which tasted very good...super sweet to be sure, but had a hard texture, which gave way to a slightly sticky and overpowering sweet melange. Nice.

I almost always eat at this restaurant everytime I am in Paris. We loved the package so much, we ate there twice on this 7 day trip. So for me, my conclusion is absolutely recommended.

Le Grand Cafe Capucines
4 Boulevard des Capucines
75009 Paris, France
+33 1 43 12 19 00
http://www.legrandcafe.com/

Eating Italy: Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como

The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio runs a superb restaurant.

Situated on the northernmost tip of the southern lip of Lake Como, it juts out into the lake, commanding a wonderful view of the beautiful lake. I attended a Lange sponsored dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Begining 2012, Lange is one of the sponsors of the Concorso d'Eleganza della Villa D'Este, to be held in Cornobbio the following day. Our table ovelook the hotel's pool, which in turn overlooks the lake.

Amuse bouche

I am not sure what the amuse bouche was...the waiter did not explain, and it was not listed in the menu. I didn't really quite like the amuse...but it was decidedly not spectacular in any way.

The first course was the reverse...spectacular in every way...it was a serving of crunchy prawns with mixed greens and citrus salad

The prawns were indeed crunchy and very sweet. Super fresh. The pastry which wrapped the prawns were light, crisp and broke to the touch...not a tad of grease was detected, though I am sure it was deep fried. The greens wer also fresh, light, and the salad dressing was quite superb.

The next course was also quite spectacular...a homemade ravioli with cottage cheese and spinach, fondant egg yolk, parmesan cheese and truffle.

Very tasty as well...except for the truffle, though looked like a fairly generous shaving, it lacked punch and taste. The aroma of truffle itself was very mild. But the ravioli was perfect. The pasta done superbly...al dente, and bursting within the stuffing.

For mains, we were served the loin of veal cooked in olive oil, fried potato and broccoli tartare and baby aubergine

In a word superb. The meat was done to perfection. The meat was glorious. The texture - text book perfect. The meat was tender but at the same time provided a bit of resistance. A light lingering taste of milk fed to the calf remained. Very good.

Next a show of sorts...the desssert was coffee cream with chocolate cookie with a nitrogen frozen Calvados ice cream. Liquid nitrogen was poured into the bowl of milk, briskly and expertly stirred, and served. All done in situ, right by the table side.

Judging by how busy this little team of waiters were making the calvados ice cream, this is indeed a popular dish.

Excellent meal. I overheard someone saying that the restaurant had one Michelin star, but searching the web sources, I could not confirm it. But the meal I had was spectacular, and worthy a Michelin star.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Via Roma, 1
22021 Bellagio Como, Italia
+39 031 950216

Feasting in Switzerland: Le Poisson at Auvernier, near Neuchatel

Neuchatel. Lovely city. Pearched on the lake, it enjoys the mountains on one side, and the lake on the other. However, being a little lower in altitude, and by the lake, it does get quite a lot of fog.

Click here for a wide pano from the mountains looking over Lake Neuchatel. The Alps in the distance, and the fog over the city.

In the evenings, it is a bit more lively than most Swiss cities. But a short drive away, in the little village of Auvernier, lies this wonderful fish restaurant...its namesake in French Le Poisson (meaning fish).

We started with a glass of champagne and oysters. I cannot imagine a better combination for fresh oysters.



Fresh as it can be. Sweet, delicious. With a whiff of the fragrance of the distant sea.

And of course, I had fish...sole, pan fried with butter, and a serving of shoe string fries.



Needless to say, the sole was fresh. Firm flesh, white creamy. Pan fried to perfection...thin, slightly crisp on the outside. Smooth, rich, moist inside. Beautiful.



And the fries...superb. Crisp covering...and a creamy interior. I imagined the fries to be deep fried in tallow or a mix of tallow and butter to give it the rich, creamy mouthfeel. Sinful, but oh, so good.

For desserts, I had a small scoop of ice cream...pistachio



Home made. Delicious. And...



a triple decked decadence of pear and cream within crisp pastry. Heavenly.

Truly a magnificent place to dine in or near Neuchatel. We went to the restaurant on a Monday evening, and it was brimming...full. Merely 5 days later on Friday, we had a magnificently catered meal at a private residence attended by the chef of Poisson himself labouring in the kitchen.



He moves fast, this man.

Needless to say, it was a magnificent meal, featuring one of the best langoustines and veal dishes I have had in a long time.





The meat was superb. Sous vide, and expertly browned. Tender to melting. Smooth, creamy mouth feel. Superb.

Washed down with these magnificent wines.



I cannot begin to describe the Chateau Cheval Blanc. The first bottle (yes, we had 2 bottles) was superb...truly magnificent, in its prime. The second was still excellent, and had it not been the wonderful palate and nose of the first, we would have hailed it as a beautiful drink. But in comparison, it was perhaps a bit over in terms of aging. Perhaps a month earlier. But both bottles were superb. All its touted to be.

And for desserts, home made glazes...the marron was particularly wonderful.



Again fully confirms that this is one of the best restaurants in the land. Superb.


Restaurant Le Poisson
Rue des Epancheurs 1,
Auvernier 2012, Switzerland
032 / 731 62 31
www.lepoisson-auvernier.ch/

Tateru Yoshino - Tokyo, Japan

One of the newly minted Michelin rated restaurants in Japan, Tateru Yoshino is a gem within the busy Shiodome area. Perched atop level 25, at the looby level of Park Hotel at the Shiodome Media Tower, this is a very small eatery - only 22 seats. Chef Yoshino prefers to keep his restaurants small to ensure high quality of cooking and service. The restaurant was brightly lit, with sunlight streaming in from the large windows.

This restaurant is one of two which were awarded the coveted Michelin 1 star belonging to gifted chef Yoshino. Co-incidentally, Shiodome Park Hotel also features another 1 star Michelin restaurant within the same premises.

As I usually stay at the Park Hotel, I took the opportunity to visit and have lunch with my wife on 21 April 2008. The set lunch was very reasonably priced at Y3675 for a 4 course meal comprising of Amuse-bouche, soup, main course, petite dessert, coffee/tea.

The Amuse-bouche was a breaded deep fried quail's egg, and tuna. Despite being deep fried, the egg had a light, crunchy crust, and the insides still soft.

The soup of the day was pumpkin soup. Very fine, subtle taste. As is typical of Michelin style restaurants, the soup featured a fine foam, with a sprinking of thinly sliced parma ham.

Kin had the duck breast, which was stuffed with foie gras. A magnificiently piece of duck was roasted, and then pan fried, and served with a stuffing of the some very good goose foie gras.

The skin was perfectly seared, crispy, and the thin layer of fat just below the skin would burst into a wonderful flavour in the mouth as one bites on the morsel. The foie gras was tender, creamy, and extremely rich. Tasty!

I had the veal, seasoned only with Japanese sea salt and pepper. The veal was done just right, with a hint of red within, and perfectly seared on the outside. The meat was tender, juicy with no hint of fat.

Dessert and petite fours was next. Dessert was a wonderful sorbet of raspberry, and a small slice of mango flavoured cake.

Petite Fours was a good selection of various sweets. We had one of each. The macarons are a speciality of Chef Yoshino...3 different types were offered.

Interesting meal. A typical one star Michelin meal in Europe would cost at least Euro80 per head, even for lunch, so Y3675 (which converts to approx US$36.75 at time of the meal, or S$49) is pretty good value for this very high level of cooking and very attentive service.

gastronomie francais tateru yoshino
Park Hotel
Shiodome Media Center
Tokyo

http://www.tateruyoshino.com/english/top.html