VIVRE POUR MANGER

or Five Days of Fine Dining
My former boss and friend Mark now lives in Switzerland where he and his family have a chalet in Jaun, the only German-speaking municipality in district of French-speaking Gruyère in the Prealps, or Alpine foothills. Mark generously offered the use of the chalet over Christmas.
Tiffany, Sebastian and I took up [...]

Normally I avoid restaurants listed in guide books. The last place I want to be is a restaurant crowded with American tourists. This trip was different. The center of Brussels is incredibly touristy – in the way that French cities often have touristy neighborhoods. I guess I tend to forget that Berlin isn’t as touristy [...]

Kristin told me about a newish casual Korean place on Alte Schönhauser Straße called Yam Yam. After her rave review, we went there together and we both had the super yummy bulgogi rice bowl.  The bulgogi was served with piles of fresh baby spinach on top (a hard to find item in Berlin). I find [...]

When I was in Berlin last December, Tiffany, Kristin and I had a lovely four-course meal at Noto, a small, brand-new restaurant in Tiffany’s building. Not only was the food great and the atmosphere cozy, we sat across from the open kitchen and had fun watching the chef, who seemed to be putting on a [...]

Still there. Still good. We thought we’d better make sure.
After we discovered that our original choice for lunch on Friday was closed, Tiffany and I decided we needed more barbecue. We had already been hungry for it again after putting together the first review on Wednesday night.

There was an ignored stand outside the Austin Convention Center. I guessed that it lacked patrons because people were intimidated by the food concept, which was bacon-laced waffle cones filled with Tex-Mex classics. I opted for The Hoss, which was filled with lettuce, diced tomatoes, guacamole and cheese with a couple beef taquitos tucked in.

When most people think of Austin food, they think of barbecue and Tex-Mex, but Austin is also becoming known for its food trailers. Several new ones have opened up in the past year, offering everything from upscale fare using local ingredients, sushi and Cuban sandwiches to Asian fusion, Indian and even disgusting sounding full-meal donuts [...]

Bistrot Lyonnais
On Monday, in Geneva for business, I ventured from my hotel a little before 8pm to look for dinner. After perusing the menu of a few places in the neighbourhood, I settled on the little “bistrot lyonnais”. The menu looked a little meat heavy but made my mouth water.
The proprietor and wait staff greeted [...]

This was my last hurrah before going back to a normal diet after the holidays. My sister and brother-in-law talked me into lunch at Habanero, our favorite greasy Tex-Mex joint. Trip number four in two weeks. Ahem.