Luxeat

Berthillon ice cream

Berthillon ice cream is simply the best in Paris, and , maybe even in the world. Once you try it, you don't want any other kind of ice cream. Trust me.

The image of three Berthillon ice cream scoops- strawberry sorbet,caramel and coconut ice cream. There are multiple spots in Paris where you can have them, but my favorite is Le Flore en L'Ile cafe facing the Seine river and Notre Dame cathedral in L'le de la Cité.  ( 42 quai d'Orléans; tel.01 43 29 88 27) Its, of course, very touristy, but there is no better place to be in Paris on a hot day. 

The best paella in Valencia

Valencia is the home for paella and the typical "paella Valenciana" is with rabbit and chicken. I didn't try this one as i have a psychological barrier to eat these beautiful fury creatures. What i enjoyed though was paella with lobsters, which is to die for!
The coast of the port of Valencia is where you will find the best paella restaurants. Most of them have been there forever - La Pepica (Avenida Neptuno 6,Valencia;tel. 96 371 0366), for example, was Hemingway's favorite. The scenes from La Pepica are even in one of his books - "The Dangerous Summer". He wrote, "Dinner at Pepica's was wonderful"...

Pierre Herme macarons news

Just back from the Pierre Herme shop in rue Bonaparte and I could  not help but notice (and to buy of course) this seasons macarons novelties.

Finally the French dessert genius created a macaron inspired by his most popular dessert -Ispahan. As you can see in the image below, its a small copy of the cake, just fresh raspberries are replaced by stewed raspberries(macaron biscuit,litchi "à la rose" cream, stewed raspberries).

I have tried it and to be honest, the original cake is much better.The Ispahan macaron is very sweet and has even artificial taste,what is usually not typical to Pierre Herme.

Mercado Central, Valencia

What a dramatic climate change- from chilly winds in New York last week (i was there just for three days) to orange trees in Valencia. ( The capital of paella, which i've been eating every single day since i am here and i am still not tired of it!) I will write about my reason of the trip in Valencia later on as it is worth a separate post, but first i wanted to post the images of the remarkable central market. I just love  the generosity of  Spanish markets...

Paella image

Paella with lobsters is so good that it is almost sinful... Which means I've been very sinful lately... Almost..  More coming soon...

Senderens

Alain Senderens- one more  French chef that has transformed his three Michelin stars  restaurant Lucas Carton to a cheaper and more relaxed place that carries his name. Of course, since its reopenning   Senderens  has been on my wish list, but considering that it is always full and that i rarely make reservations in advance, there was no chance to get a table in this highly popular place...
It was Easter night and , plus,Sunday, so obvioulsy everything was closed in Paris. My friend and I passed by L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon,which is always opened( the new generation of  haute gastronomie restaurants in Paris have borrowed the American way of working hours), but the waiting time was .. 3 hours.. We decided to try Senderen in place de la Madeleine then and  this time we were lucky - there was still one more table left in the "salle" upstairs. In the first image above you can see the view of place de la Madeleine i had from where we were seated.

Le Violon d'Ingres

I have been in  Le Violon d'Ingres  before its "price cutting revolution"  and i remember  really enjoying my dinner . I don't recall what i ate (it was few years ago), but at  that time  Le Violon d'Ingres was a very classic and  bourgeois,  "Rive Gauche"  style  place.

Christian Constant, the chef of Le Violon d'Ingres has followed the Robuchon example. He cut the prices, redesigned the decor and turned the place to a dining spot for those who search for every day casual food.

It seems that the model works very well. You will not find that many high-end  places in Paris where 3 courses  dinner menu ( a starter, a main course and a dessert)  costs  € 45. No very fancy or rare products, but you can feel the huge emphasis on the freshness and the quality of the ingredients.

The service was very pleasant ,but you do  get that "don't stay too long" feeling. There was some kind of "in a hurry" atmoshpere, similar what i noticed in Chez L'Ami Jean ...So better just come on the exact time of your reservation...