For cheap, fast and mouthwateringly good Mexican in west LA check out hole-in-the-wall La Playita.
3306 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica
Los Angeles
Bonnes MiettesRestaurant pics/picks from La Dernière Miette
Perfect after an evening walk through the Jardin des Tuileries: Boutique wine bar La Garde-Robe: great wine, delicious charcuterie and cheese platters. Don’t miss their specialty ~ croque-monsieur with serrano ham.
41, rue de l’Arbre Sec
75001 PARIS
Physicist turned Chef Alain Pramil experiments with unusual ingredients (Ficoïde glacial or ice plant) and wonderful flavour combinations (raspberry & green tea icecream) at his restaurant Pramil. Amazingly well priced: €19 lunch menu, €29 for dinner. He is open Sunday nights too, which is no small thing in Paris.
PARIS 75003
The most delicious soup I’ve ever had (or maybe first equal with the beetroot & cumin soup at Moro) ~ Leek & potato with salted cod, olive oil potatoes and a warmed poached egg. British chef William Thorpe brings a Mediterranean influence to the vineyard restaurant at Cable Bay.
12 Nick Johnstone Drive, Oneroa, Waiheke Island, New Zealand
If you are heading north of Auckland, make sure you stop at The Glass House at Brick Bay vineyard where you can taste their boutique wines accompanied by a selection of local breads and cheeses, before checking out their Sculture Trail through lush native New Zealand bush.
Matakana, New Zealand
Simon Wright’s signature dish of Crispy Roast Duckling with sweet spices, steamed bok choy, mandarin purée and kumara mash, followed an exquisite entrée of marinated tuna with fresh picked crab, avocado, toasted rice, aromatic herb salad, with lime leaf dressing. The award-winning French Café is not to be missed.
210 Symonds Street, central Auckland, New Zealand
This dessert was so beautiful and delicious I had to post Le Carré de Marguerite twice.
Spiced poached pear in a chocolate fondu with vanilla ice cream.
87 rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris
Mint and pea soup with crème fraîche, delicately flavoured with preserved lemons.
Le Carré de Marguerite’s inventive young chef provides a daily menu based on fresh seasonal produce. They even do grand cru by the glass (the only restaurant in Paris who does, I’m told).
87 rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris
Carette. For one of the best hot chocolates in Paris.
4 place du Trocadero, 75016 PARIS
“ It’s a bit like being inside an Amish barn-raising, where someone’s spiked the lemonade with acid
— AA Gill reviewing Sake No Hana in London, Feb 2008
Le Cercle du 17éme. Another mouth-wateringly good meal from the people at the Circle of the 17th: Soy-marinated cod, leek fondu, pepper ratatouille and curried rice.
A cosy little spot, with a genius Japanese chef giving Japanese lightness and flavour to classic french dishes.
5 rue Labie, 75017 PARIS
La Mosquée. The sun was streaming through the trees onto the enamelled tabletops as we sipped our post-lunch mint tea in the court yard. Inside you can get great salads, tagines & couscous dishes at the main restaurant (lunch & dinner), or try tea and north African pastries at the salon de thé. Open 7 days a week.
30 rue Saint-Hilaire, 75005 PARIS
