Feast Blog

Thanks to some last minute recommendations from friends, a small travesty was averted. We arrived in Lyon on Sunday – a day when most restaurants are closed. Fortunately, Brasserie L’Est, owned by the inimitable Paul Bocuse. A brasserie, I was a bit overwhelmed with haute cuisine and desirous of simpler fare. There is a bit of a circus feel to the restaurant when you enter, with movie posters of train movies on the walls and a model train running around a track, just below the ceiling. An open kitchen (with a microphone for the head chef) puts you in the middle of the action. It was all perfectly charming.

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A Saturday-night drive around Lake Geneva to Montreux was an unexpected surprise. Located in the Fairmount hotel is Jaan, a previously Michelin-starred restaurant (didn’t see it on the 2008 list) in an elegant Belle Epoque-styled hotel overlooking Lake Geneva. Up front, I will state emphatically that the food served was easily some of the most artistically-plated and exceptionally tasting that I can recall. I will also advise that the service was so painfully slow as to have made me consider walking out. Perhaps that is what caused the loss of their Michelin star, but if one is patient, than one can be rewarded with some exceptional cuisine.

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Dinner at Lion D’Or was a sumptuous business meal for eight people; consequently, I was surreptitiously trying to take pictures and sharing plates was not a possibility. We started the evening with a magnum of Laurent-Perrier Champagne, Grand Siecle, 2000, a rich, complex wine with elements of a white peach stone fruit. A small platter of amuse which were sampled in the upstairs bar included herby gourgeres (surprisingly cold) and cigars of puff pastry with a hint of herb.

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Second day in Geneva; not yet bothering with full breakfasts, each morning I have gotten up and just wandered the city. On my first morning, I settled into a tea shop for a small pâté-filled pastry as well as one twisted up with bits of walnuts. But this morning, I stumbled on a farmer’s market and was entranced with the wild strawberries — something we don’t see very often and quite delicious.

These are a handful of pics of food from Barcelona. Well, that first shot is actually behind a closed window of a dry-goods shop and the towels which were decoratively displayed in such a delectable fashion. Most are from the market. What the Borough market in London does for cheese, the St. Joseph La Boqueria market in Barcelona does for fish…

Yes, there is a lot more available for purchase as seen by the bounty of fruits and vegetables and meat, but it is the quantity and quality of fish which astound. We talked about renting an apartment so we could just shop at the market and prepare our own meals and I think that next time, that simply must be done. Especially since I was unable to eat at most of the finer restaurants I was hoping to… Not that what I ate was especially bad (okay, the Kangaroo Carpaccio ranks up there with being incredibly regrettable), but I know I missed some truly stellar establishments by sufficing with what was convenient.

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