Luxeat

Amaya

I was sceptical before my dinner in Amaya - almost surethat its just another fashionable Indian calling itself modern(I've been to so many of them),but all what is modern is the fancy interior and crazy martinis,or,worse,European cuisine mixed with Indian spices.
In fact,it was a little bit of all of the cases above, but I loved my Indian meal at Amaya more than any other Indian meal I've had recently.

Oysters and king crab legs at Elliot's oyster house

After a slight disappointment at Lampreia ( I do think the chef is very talented, but I was not lucky with my first dish. Cured tuna is really not for me.. While my friend's beetroot soup and veal were delicious.) I went for "more casual" places in Seattle. One of them - Elliot's oyster house . 

The abundance of salmons, crabs and lobsters...

Seattle Farmers Market..

New Tayyabs,London

I’ve read many positive things about New Tayyabs (Zagat 28/30!!) "authentic" Pakistani in Whitechapel, where you have to "queue to get a table", the prices are "negligible" and the food is to "die for", simply "the best South Eastern Asian in London".

Mr Chow,London

Mr Chow in London is not an ordinary restaurant . The cuisine is Mandarin, but the service reminds you an old fashioned Italian restaurant somewhere in Manhattan (long time ago). When you enter the place, you see a kitschy billboard “1968”, while the music played is somewhere between 1995 and 2005,in a cheap bar preferably and louder after 8 pm. On my left- a couple from Los Angeles , speaking about jet lag (very nice people), on my right- two men in their late thirties and in their expensive suits speaking about how Citigroup are going to fire 50 000 people . (Perhap they are nice too, but can one trust somebody who is responsible of huge amounts of strangers' money these days ? :))

Does food have to be authentic to be good?

Just finished reading The Man Who Ate the World , an amusing and suprisingly honest book about restaurants in some of the world's metropolies. For somebody who has been in all of these cities ,(except Dubai) and many of the restaurants mentioned, this book is like a candy. One thing that I found  particularly interesting is the authors thoughts on the authenticty of meals and products.He speaks about the "horrible" pressed pigs ears he once ate at London's Chinese restaurant Ecapital or "foul flavor" of baby lamb with dry yoghurt he had in Dubai.

Reading the paragraph, i caught myself always searching for authenticity in the restaurants i go when i travel. But, after all,what is more important pleasure or autheticity? I remember trying roe of sea cucumber in one of Kyoto kaiseki restaurants and believe me, I am not sure want to taste again that orange jelly, even if it was served in a graceful, ceremonial kind of way.What is a delicacy for one group of people, can be strange for another. In Lithuania (where i come from) there is one speciality called vėdarai,potatoes mixture stuffed in pork intestines. The dish is authentic i guess, but i am not sure i want them for my lunch today...

Anyway, the book is great, esepcially if your passion is eating out and eating well.

So fashionable tea time

What can be more fashionable than cakes created "in the style of the world's finest designers"? This is what London Berkeley's afternoon tea time "Prêt-à-portea"  is about. "Balenciaga vanilla and blueberry chequered bavarois","Chanel stars and stripes strawberry and vanilla pannacotta" or "Lanvin purple macaroon with raspberry ganache". I love Balenciaga and Lanvin, especially when you can eat them! For the 2008 autumn/winter collection, check here

Kyo Ya, New York

I wish i went to Kyo Ya (94 East 7th str. tel. 212 982 4140) before diving into the mysterious kaiseki experience in Kikunoi , Kyoto last spring. Maybe i would have enjoyed Kikunoi more. Degustating kaiseki dinner without certain preparation and knowledge is the same as going to a 3 Michelin stars restaurant for the first time. And i guess this is what happened to me in Kikunoi.
Kyo Ya is something in between the very traditional kaiseki and the Japanese food we are used to. Not forgetting the perfect Japanese ingredients and kaiseki aesthetics of course. When eating in Kyo Ya  or Sugiyama ,or other kaiseki restaurants you just comprehend how versatile,rich and deep kaiseki and Japanese cuisine in general is.

Kyo Ya has 29/30 in Zagat (More than Per Se or any other restaurant in Manhattan- it is not the first time i see Zagat doing such bold moves :)). I don't know if i would place Kyo Ya higher than Per Se, but surely i would rate Kyo Ya as one of the best and most memorable restaurats in NY.