Luxeat

Agapé Substance

 

Agapé Substance is like a breath of fresh air so needed in the Parisian gastronomic world. The neo bistrot on rue Mazarine ( in the 6th ) is tiny, has walls and ceilings made of mirrors and the chairs are not at all comfortable, but what you get on your plate is exciting ,sensational and simply very good. Give me Agapé Substance instead of any 3 Michelin stars restaurant in Paris at the moment, i will choose Agapé  without a second thought!

I had the "carte noire" ( black truffle menu), which included the following dishes:

 

Watercress "snow" with seashells stock  (Cold, fresh, acidic; pronounced seafood flavors thanks to the stock.)

D.O.M. - back to the Amazon

 

Green tomato jelly

If you walk around São Paulo's Jardins area you could  be also strolling around an upmarket neighborhood in Los Angeles or any other megapolis. This is the drawback of modern travelling. You fly to another part of the world, but when you go out from your hotel ( I was staying at the very lovely  Fasano, ), you see Louis Vuitton and other brands shops that  can be found anywhere . The only "exotic"phenomenon was the 24/7 security and  incredibly high walls surrounding the local residences in Jardins. I didn't feel any danger but i guess there is a reason why they build them so high...

Alex Atala's D.O.M. is like no other restaurant I' ve been though. It is located in the bourgeois Jardins, but when you push the heavy door separating the dining room from the street, you are somewhere in the Amazon rainforest.

Kitchen Hero 2011 by Sternefresser.de

 

You can find the whole list here. Fantastic chefs, great food bloggers, critics..  Luxeat as well ;)

 

Beautiful food at The Ledbury

 

The food at The Ledbury was not only beautiful, but also delicious. Contemporary French,British products, 2 Michelin stars, 29/30 in Zagat, probably one of the most sought after reservations in London.  I will definitely return!

 

The images of the menu (December 2011)..

Opinionated About Dining Best Meals of 2011

 

Luxeat's meal of the year is on the list! ( so as some of the best chefs' in the world, writers' and fellow food bloggers')

The ultimate seafood at Sushi Saito

 

 

When you sit at  a 7 places sushi counter, you will most likely end up making conversations with your neighbours. My neighbours at  Sushi Saito ( Jidousha kaikan Bldg. F1, 1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo,tel. 03-3589-4412 ) - a nice Japanese couple who comes to this sushi bar regularly and who also spends their summer holidays in the South of France. We spoke about sushi,fish in Japan,in France and  " why don't Europeans like their fish"  as they "overcook it and cover in sauces","so you can't even see which fish you are eating". This point of view was particularly interesting as somehow it's true.The philosophy of Japanese cuisine is the complete opposite. It is all about respecting  ingredients and instead of overcooking them, emphasising their freshness and natural texture.

At the legendary Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza

 

The father and the son - Jiro Ono and Yoshikazu Ono 

Those who have ever been eating out in Tokyo might know the difference between "Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza" (Tsukamoto Sogyo Building, B1F. 4-2-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo ,tel. 03-3535-3600), 3 Michelin stars  and "Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi" (2*). You can quite easily get a booking at the latter, while if you are gaijin, a  foreigner who doesn't speak Japanese, you have little chance of getting a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza. And you shouldn't even try walking in as  you will be most likely turned away.If you do want to eat sushi made by the hands of the "Japan's living national treasure", 86 year old sushi master Jiro Ono , you must speak Japanese or be accompanied by a fluent Japanese speaker. Claims of rude service and even foreigners discrimination at Sukiyabashi Jiro Ginza have been surfacing on the internet. Therefore i was a little nervous before going there ,especially that the night before i read about  Andy Hayler's  unfortunate experience.

In fact,  I was treated really nice and  it was one of my best  sushi experiences in Tokyo ever .

Noma

 

The dessert at the best restaurant in the world- poached pear with a sponge of frozen and aerated pine

Reserving Noma these days is as impossible as it was  reserving El Bulli few years ago. The worldwide recognition  and  "world's best restaurant" title means that people are flying to Copenhagen just for a lunch or a dinner . Obvioulsy I didn't think twice when Very Good Food  proposed me to go there together. It was my second time at Noma, Trine's- the 25th! Trine Lai was one of the first bloggers to blog about Noma (if not the first?) ; it's also thanks to enthusiasts like her , Copenhagen has become one of the most important gastronomic destinations in the world.

How did the dinner compare to my first time at Noma? Well, it was much longer as we had the big menu, only the snacks' part took about one hour.( If we count all the  snacks and sweets, we had around 30 different "dishes" brought on our table..)

I also think that cooking at Noma has evolved a lot and now it's more about new and unique  tastes than the ideology. They do exclusively  use  Scandinavian products such as Danish oysters or black truffles from Gotland, but what really impressed me were some fantastic  products combinations.

Le Pré Catelan

The signature bone marrow dish

Le Pré Catelan is one of my favorite 3 Michelin starred restaurant in Paris. Located in Bois de Boulogne,it  is just ten minutes drive from the city (16th arrondissement is the closest).  The restaurant is housed in a Napoleon III style pavillion, it's opulent interior was renovated few years ago. Le Pré Catelan's chef is the very talented Frédéric Anton who used to work at Joel Robuchon's restaurants. You can really feel Robuchon's influence in Frédéric Anton's cooking -  he creates dishes that are not only delicious but also beautiful to look at.

Le Louis XV by Alain Ducasse

Provencal products, especially vegetables and herbs are the main focus at Alain Ducasse  restaurant Le Louis XV in Monaco. Maybe the restaurant's plates are gold plated and the sumptuous interior is anything but modern, the cooking is contemporary and light.