Author: admin
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Paris Flea Market | Chez Louisette
I love going to the Paris flea market to search for treasures, and to visit vendors who have become friends over the years. When I’m there, I always break for lunch at a rollicking café that is just as exceptional for its character as it is for the food. The Marché Vernaison is a maze…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Belle-Île-en-Mer | Citadelle Vauban
One of the most unusual hotels I’ve stayed in was also the location of an incredible, exceptional restaurant – but before I tell you about the restaurant, I must first describe the journey to get to this unique location. I took two trains, one bus, and a ferry from Paris to Belle-Île-en-Mer, an island off…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Portofino | Ristorante Puny
One of the (many) perks of working on “The Brian Boitano Project” for HGTV, was the opportunity to eat at some fabulous restaurants in Italy. Brian, besides being an Olympic gold medal-winning skater, is a fantastic chef, with his finger on the pulse of the best restaurants. Ristorante Puny is a Portofino landmark, and eating…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | London | Time for Tea at The Langham
“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” Henry James (1843-1916) American expatriate writer When in London, one (well, I) absolutely must have afternoon tea. The tradition of the English afternoon tea dates back to the 19th century, credited to the Duchess of Bedford,…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Seville | Redhouse Art & Food
Behind a massive, graffiti-covered door in Seville, Spain is a café. And a bar. And an art gallery. And an antique store. It’s all in one room, and it’s called Redhouse Art and Food. The folks at Redhouse have taken over a large, industrial space for their unique creative enterprise. It was late afternoon, and…
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PARIS | Two rival cafés | Café de Flore & Les Deux Magots
On Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés, sitting a short block away from each other, are rival cafés Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots. They became rivals in the early decades of the twentieth century, when the intellectuals, writers, and artists of the period became loyal to one or the other. On one of my trips to Paris, I made…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Buenos Aires |Desnivel
In Buenos Aires, you must eat meat. There’s beef for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it’s the best beef you’ll ever have. At Desnivel, you get the full monty. A word about Argentine beef, and why it’s so good: For starters, the cows spend their lives, happily roaming, and eating, among the Pampas grasses. (I’m…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES| Vancouver | Nelson the Seagull
Bread and coffee are the mainstays of the menu at Nelson the Seagull, but that’s not all – and it’s not just any old bread and coffee… The bread is freshly baked all day long, and the expertly brewed espresso coffee is perfection. Jonathan Snelgar and his two sisters, Jodi Balfour and Lee Snelgar, moved…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Vienna | Café Diglas
When I’m in a new city, I love to try out the local cuisine in as many different restaurants as I can fit in. The exception to the rule was in Vienna – I discovered a charming café where I wanted to try out each and every meal of the day. Oh, I tried other…
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EXCEPTIONAL EATERIES | Como | Pane e Tulipani
Pane e Tulipani (translation: Bread and Tulips) can be found on a quiet street corner in Como, Italy. Both design and cuisine are perfection. Sit down at a scrubbed pine table with the warm breeze drifting through the door. Crisp carrot sticks and freshly-baked bread will be placed in front of you . . . …
