Material Archive

European Tour: Le Comptoir – the hardest reservation to get in Paris

Le Comptoir was the first restaurant we ate at when we arrived in Paris and all I can say is that it was a fantastic way to kick off our European Tour!

There wasn't anything we didn't love about it – the food , the service, the location and the price.

 

Skip ahead to 0.56 sec to see where Bourdain talks about Le Comptoir

If you keep watching the video - you'll arrive at Bourdain's visit to Joel Robuchon's L'Atelier – which we also had the amazing fortune of getting a reservation at. More on that later...



Photographing food with an iPhone is tricky – it really doesn't do the dishes justice, so I'll only post a couple images and simply say, please do yourself a favour and go here – you'll love it!

 

European Tour: Ladurée, Paris & London

If it's not wildly obvious already, I am obsessed with Ladurée. Why? Where to begin... it represents everything I love: amazing pasteries & chocolates, beautiful branding & packaging and an authentic legacy of doing it exceptionally well for 150 years.

While In London and Paris – I sought out almost every location to sample something new I hadn't tried before. My new favourite item is pictured above with the rose petal – it's called the rose & raspberry Ladurée Saint-Honorés and is every bit as delicious as it is pretty.

Of course, I shipped home all of my empty boxes so that they could assume their rightful positions on my packaging wall.

 

European Tour: First stop – Paris!

I've lost count of how many times I've visited Paris – the number is in the teens now, but even so, every visit is like my first. I never lose my sense of awe and delight. The city is just a huge advent calendar to me – every door opens to some wonderful new gift.

Coming up, I'll review four restaurants I tried there… Le Comptoir, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Les Cocottes and Chez Robert et Louise, as well as some stores and other fun stuff.

 

Happy NYE!

Running around – shopping, cooking, assembling party favors, etc.

Excited for tonight – will drink many pink bubbles... :-)

My week in pictures & other random stuff I like:

My Christmas Wish List

Truth be told, we don't do gift exchange in our family anymore – unless you happen to be under the age of 18. Instead, we travel or buy one another fun food items – like great chocolate or wine. So this list above is not a not-so-subtle hint for my beloved – I wouldn't dream of asking for these things (beyond vulgar!). Rather, it's a wish list for the things I hope go on sale Boxing Day...so I can buy them myself, if I have any fun money left after 3 weeks in Europe! ;-)

 Starting from the top, left to right:

1. Dries Van Noten Snake Boot from MyTheresa

2. Gold heart drop earrings from St Kilda

3. Sparkle needle point pillow from Jonathan Adler

4. Hipster heads from Jonathan Adler

5. Red plexi clutch by Charlotte Olympia

6. Gold snake Sang A Pop bag from Kirna Zabete

7. Multi-wrap watch from Burberry

8. Camel coat with fur collar from Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti

9. Creme de Rose lipbalm from Christian Dior

10. Soap on a roap from Diptyque at Barneys

11. Pave diamond earrings by Janis Provisor at Kirna Zabete

12. Gold devil pencil sharpener from Jonathan Adler

13. Blue satin ribboned heels by Liam Fahy

14. Constance H bag from Hermes

15. Green star earrings from Bochic

16. Glitter ankle boot from Barneys Co-Op

17. Nail lacquer in Scarlet Chinois by Tom Ford

18. Pink enamle bracelet from St Kilda

19. Yellow drop earring by Tom Binns

20. H Ring, little square dishes and collier de chien, Hermes

21. Bag by Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuitton

22. Needle point sunglasses sleeve by Jonathan Adler

x

Two Weeks In New York City: Dinner at Corton

 

 

Knowing the backstory behind anything always makes it a richer experience, so it was a special thrill to eat at Corton so soon after enjoying A Matter of Taste at TIFF. You can see my previous post about Paul here.

WHERE: Corton at 239 West Broadway, New York

MOOD: The look of the room is cool and dark – bit cave like at night with the lack of windows. Vibe in the room is quiet, intimate, yet friendly – not stuffy at all.

PRICE: The 9 course tasting menu is $155

WHEN WE WENT: Saturday dinner

WHAT: MB and I both had the 9 course tasting menu.

TRY: Whatever they put in front of you.

SKIP: Maybe only the chocolates, jellies and macaroons at the end because you might be ill from consuming so much. I indulged so excessively that by the end, I felt positively intoxicated with food. But, to be fair, I must disclose, that I did eat at Jean Georges earlier that very same day – so not entirely this menu's fault! I am a piglet! ;)

SERVICE: Consistent and pleasant but hard to understand the food descriptions at times given some softspoken staff.

REPEAT?: Without question, I will be visiting Corton on every subsequent visit to New York. It is a must. Side note: MB and I were walking through Tribeca a day after eating at Corton and saw Paul Liebrandt walking right in front of us (see photo above). I loved our dinner so much that I wanted to grab him and thank him personally but knew it would come across crazy, so I kept my distance and just smiled.

MOST NOTABLE: Being consistently surprised with every dish and the wonderful sense of discovery you feel as you try to recognize and deconstruct your beautiful and at times, abstract food. Paul's unshakeable commitment to excellence and creativity is so deeply evident with every new course presented – you can literally taste the devotion and artistry. The man is a genius. Am I gushing or what?!

ANYTHING ELSE?: Pastry Chef Shawn Gawle created a dessert that was so spectacular that I almost felt like crying while eating it. I realize how absurd and pretentious that sounds, but it was that good!

Please note that my photographs do not do the food justice!

My visit to Ladurée New York

Well, let's be honest, it's not like being in Paris. But, it is nice to be able to get a quick Ladurée fix while trapped in North America ;)

The store sadly does not carry any pastries, chocolates or Langues de Chat (which I expressly came for), but, it's packed to the gills with macaroons, tea, candies and even ice-cream.

I left with the most glorious oval box filled with everything I could get my greedy mitts on. :)

Stuffing my face with delicious caramels as I write this...

 

 

More Nathalie Lété

I love Nathalie Lété's owl illustration so much that I broke my own rule and bought two instead keeping my collection singular. Get them at Anthro.

Recette filmée : Macarons

Chanel Make-Up

Was just looking through my YouTube favs and found this fun video from last January.

The hotel 'Maison Champs-Elysées' by Maison Martin Margiela

In love with the look of this hotel... it has 57 rooms and suites located on the quiet rue Jean Goujon, in the heart of Paris.

Collecting: French Steel Cut Beaded Purses

It's probably pretty obvious by now that I like "things" and that I collect many different types of them.

One that I have a particular fondness for are vintage French steel cut purses. Something about the combination of sparkle, pattern design, handmade craftsmanship and the sheer heaviness of them, make them irresistible to me.

The above are some recent new additions to my ever growing collection.

Brunch at La Société

 
Last Sunday, the city was very quiet on Bloor Street, as all the ladies who lunch and their hubbies were in Muskoka for the long weekend. This provided my friends and I a rare opportunity to experience La Société sans "scene" and just focus on what's really important – good food!

In an effort to cleanse ourselves of a very indulgent series of rich meals over the previous few days, we skipped the Croque Madames and opted for the fresh seafood tower.

As we waited for it to arrive, I toured the new space and was very impressed not only with it's size, but the lovely attention to detail with the decor. The ceilings, the wood panelling, the beautiful floor are all evidence of Charles Khabouth's commitment to making La Société feel like an authentic French Bistro and it's fair to say, he has succeeded.

During my walk, I also came across a chef photographing the seafood tower he had just finished assembling for my table and I was delighted to learn that he loves to document his work. This pride in his craft was evident in the tasting that soon followed – we gobbled up all the oysters, prawns, tuna, salmon, lobster and crab with big smiles on our faces. Our dessert of macaroons, jellies and truffles were also delicious!

Will return for dinner soon and report again –

A sweet video about Nadège Patisserie

Gimmie Gimmie:

Bangle by Lady Grey  •  Sparkle Bag by Miu Miu  •  One-piece pale pink swimsuit by Miu Miu  •  Medor Clutch by Hermes  •  White leather bracelet by Hermes  •  Gold oxfords by Nicholas Kirkwood  •  Pyrite ring by Lunessa  •  Linen oxfords by Jill Sander  •  Silver pyrite ring Carole Tanenbaum •  Gold sequin top by Vince • Velvet dress  • YSL Nail lacquer  •  Gold lace cuff by Aurelie Bidermann •  Hammered gold bangles by Osanna Visconti  •  Caramel booties by Celine  •  Trench by Burberry  •  Jypsiere by Hermes  •  Coin ring by Aurelie Bidermann  •  Silver sequin / pink scarf by Club Monaco  •  Bow brooch by Balenciaga  •  Boots by Hermes

 

 

Spoils of War: Boxing day shopping

Hey remember this beauty I was lusting after? Was lucky and snapped up the "Nyota" at Holts today :-)

 

Marie Antoinette

If you turn the volume off and just watch this film while you play some music – it's a spectacular feast for the eyes.

Stuff I'm liking today:

Shot by Colin Angus.

 

I don't know what this means but I love how the purple smoke looks – esp. against that blue tile. Wouldn't it be nice if it smelled like grape?


This is a Christmas garland from TOAST. Wish it was a necklace instead.






This is an awesome mural from the Ace Hotel.

 

  

This is Melissa Auf der Maur and Olivier Theyskens during their collaboration. He reminds me of Trent Reznor in this outfit and haircut.

This is a brilliant fucking idea. I'm mad at myself for not thinking of it sooner. Why isn't everything this good?

 

  This charming illustration is by Ben Weeks. I met him recently at the Design Thinkers conference.

This is a detail from a dress I want to buy from Urban Outfiters. It looks very similar to one I fell in love with last Spring from Jonathan Saunders.

 

The necklace and dress are both Lanvin.

 

Some lovely packaging design for Merchant & Mills. Have you ever seen a more beautiful pin?

 

I don't know where this is but I want to go there and never return.

Xavier Barrade

Love his visualization of statistical data as installation art. See more from Xavier Barrade here.

More Sébastien Tellier – ROTT

Seriously love this guy.

My favourite song right now: Sébastien Tellier's "Look"

Raymond Savignac

A dear friend bought me this lovely Tin Tin poster from a stall along the Seine during one of my many visits to Paris when I lived in Strasboug. Sadly, it is still waiting to be framed.

Jean Philippe Delhomme

One of my favourite books that I bought last year was Jean-Philippe Delhomme's The Cultivated Life. Today, after reading an article in Interview magazine, I was delighted to discover that he has a marvelous new blog under the nom de plume “The Unknown Hipster”. I think I love this man.

ilemi paris

See more here.
 

CALLA

 

Loving Canadian born – Paris based designer Calla Haynes.

Coveting Surface to Air boots & sandals

 

I'm in deep covet mode for Surface to Air's platform buckle ankle boots and sandals.

I wish I was here right now: Chez L'Ami Louis

In my humble opinion, this bistro on Rue du Vertbois with only 12 tables, is one of the most charming Parisian restaurants I have ever visited. You can get mile-high plates of match-stick frites and escargot the size of a walnut! Heaven.

Tina in France

Have you ever seen Tina Turner's house in the south of France? She's built quite a nice little life there and every time I see this photo of her from Architectural Digest, I mentally Photoshop myself into her place.

I ♥ Vanessa Paradis

Marni & Ladurée!

Oh joy – two of my absolute favourite brands have decided to collaborate! Ladurée has invited Consuelo Castiglioni of Marni to add her unique touch and affinity for flowers and dots to the iconic brand's macaroon box – complete with gold leaf. Now, if they could only figure out a way to have them FedExed to me without arriving as gold dust. Trust me, they don't ship well.  via Vogue UK

I have a craving for Calissons

 




It's 12am and I have a craving for something that I can only buy in the place featured in the photo above – which is most definitely not in the Big Smoke. If you see these some place – please email me! x

Beautiful Intricate Renderings from 1812, Paris

Found here.

Claire Hecquet-Chaut Ceramic Jewelry

Aren't these lovely? Handmade ceramic jewelry by French designer Claire Hecquet-Chaut. Her collection is sold at Astier de Villatte and some online Japanese retailers – but I haven't found them anywhere that I can access them yet. If you see them somewhere, please let me know!

Astier de Villatte

 
While looking at PatchNYC's blog recently, I was reminded of one of my favourite tableware brands – Astier de Villatte. Designed by Benoît Astier de Villatte and Ivan Pericoli, the house specializes in handmade black terracotta clay with a milky glaze finish which is created with an old technique they revived called estampage. This method leaves each piece with deliberate little hiccups and imperfections that make each item one of kind. If you're not fortunate enough to visit their storefront in Paris, which was once home to Napoleon's silversmith, you can check out their very cool website which is unlike any other porcelain and earthenware company I have ever seen.

I finally watched Paris je t'aime!

It only took me 3 years but I finally watched Paris je t'aime the other night with MB and it was quite enjoyable – a real love letter to the city. A series of short films by various directors; I could have done without the mines, vampires, wacky hair salon duo and Oscar Wilde as a ghost but the rest were charming. Of particular note was the Place des fêtes by South African writer-director Oliver Schmitz about a Nigerian man, who asks a paramedic for a cup of coffee as he lays dying from a stab wound and 14e arrondissement about a letter carrier from Denver, who, on her first visit to Europe, recites in very rough (and completely endearing) French what she loves about Paris, written and directed by Alexander Payne. The New York version, New York, I Love You is scheduled to be released in October and features a few of the same actors from the French version. This time I won't wait so long to see it!

The poster above is the Japanese version – you can buy it here.

Loving these ceramic thingama-what-its or better know as "accents"

Le Petit Atelier de Paris is a charming little shop in, you guessed it, Paris! The little bunnie & owl kill me – so cute.

Nice partnership: Hermès & Liberty of London

Hermès and Liberty have paired up to create a limited edition of cotton scarves from the Liberty Tana Lawn collection for Fall 09. You can pre-order at Liberty now.

Dear Cannelés, I love you

Today I went for a long bike ride around the city and stopped at the park, some favourite stores, Kensington Market and also, back to Nadège! This time I had an amazing chocolate and hazelnut 3 boule cake and it was very nice but what blew my socks off were the cannelés. For the life of me I can't recall why I've never kicked up a fuss about these before – maybe I've never had such good ones – but these are remarkable. They are the perfect balance of chewy, fluffy, soft, cakey, custardy, caramelized, toasty goodness. They sell mini versions in sets of three which is a very good thing because it makes them seem more precious. Otherwise, I would be inclined to buy them by the dozens and eat them like popcorn if it weren't so gauche.  ;-)