Restaurants

Recommendations | Restaurants

Restaurant Pont Vell, Besalu, Spain

Posted on

Last spring, we had the chance to visit our friend James Miller at Mas Costa Besalu just outside the town of Besalu, in Spanish Catalonia. What an amazing experience! Besalu, it turns out, is a quiet little town of about 2500 people, which is a 45 minute walk from the Mas.  The town has retained […]

Restaurant Pont Vell, Besalu, Spain Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

Last spring, we had the chance to visit our friend James Miller at Mas Costa Besalu just outside the town of Besalu, in Spanish Catalonia. What an amazing experience! Besalu, it turns out, is a quiet little town of about 2500 people, which is a 45 minute walk from the Mas.  The town has retained

Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
Restaurants

Restaurant Pluviôse, Saint-Jean-de-Luz France

Posted on

What a pleasure to find a restaurant so utterly concentrated on making simply-delicious food from the freshest possible, ultra-local ingredients and trusting that it will be beautiful, without any flourishes!  In this age of tweezer-food, micro-flowers, sauce dots and Instagram-able plates, it’s like dining in a monastery! And here, the monks dine very well! Located

Restaurant Pluviôse, Saint-Jean-de-Luz France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

What a pleasure to find a restaurant so utterly concentrated on making simply-delicious food from the freshest possible, ultra-local ingredients and trusting that it will be beautiful, without any flourishes!  In this age of tweezer-food, micro-flowers, sauce dots and Instagram-able plates, it’s like dining in a monastery! And here, the monks dine very well! Located

Tagged , , , | 2 Comments
Restaurants

Restaurant Le Socowa, Ciboure France

Posted on

Literally across the street from the Bay of Biscay, Le Socowa is the  French version of a beach front fish shack. With that in mind, you would expect that organization would not be a strong point, which it is not:  they almost never answer the phone if you call for a reservation and as far

Restaurant Le Socowa, Ciboure France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

Literally across the street from the Bay of Biscay, Le Socowa is the  French version of a beach front fish shack. With that in mind, you would expect that organization would not be a strong point, which it is not:  they almost never answer the phone if you call for a reservation and as far

Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
Restaurants

Chez Mattin, still great!

Posted on

The last time I had the good fortune to dine at Chez Mattin in Ciboure was pre-covid.  This family-run Basque restaurants has been consistently one of my favorites for years, see my recommendation from 2013! But a lot changed during covid, and many wonderful restaurants have either not opened or never re-found their pre-covid form,

Chez Mattin, still great! Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

The last time I had the good fortune to dine at Chez Mattin in Ciboure was pre-covid.  This family-run Basque restaurants has been consistently one of my favorites for years, see my recommendation from 2013! But a lot changed during covid, and many wonderful restaurants have either not opened or never re-found their pre-covid form,

Tagged , | Leave a Comment
Recommendations | Restaurants

St. John’s, Marylebone London, England

Posted on

The third restaurant (plus numerous bakeries) in the lineage of landmark London restaurant St. John, which has set the standard  for locally sourced, wonderfully simple and traditional English food since the 1990’s.  The original location in Farringdon still has one Michelin star, a feat for a restaurant where the decor is minimal and the simplicity

St. John’s, Marylebone London, England Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

The third restaurant (plus numerous bakeries) in the lineage of landmark London restaurant St. John, which has set the standard  for locally sourced, wonderfully simple and traditional English food since the 1990’s.  The original location in Farringdon still has one Michelin star, a feat for a restaurant where the decor is minimal and the simplicity

Tagged | Leave a Comment
Recommendations | Restaurants

Auberge de la Fontaine, Laas France

Posted on

It always warms my heart to come across a restaurant like the Auberge de la Fontaine. Knowing that is is still possible to dine so well for so little money reminds me of how and why I fell in love with traditional French cooking in the first place. It only adds to the experience that

Auberge de la Fontaine, Laas France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

It always warms my heart to come across a restaurant like the Auberge de la Fontaine. Knowing that is is still possible to dine so well for so little money reminds me of how and why I fell in love with traditional French cooking in the first place. It only adds to the experience that

Leave a Comment
Restaurants

Haraneko Borda, Itxassou, France

Posted on

In the Pays Basque, adding Borda to the name of an eating establishment signifies a rustic country inn. In Euskera, borda means barn and the original Bordas were kitchens set up in underused barns, often with the cooking done over wood-fired braziers and guests served at long rows of tables, outdoors when weather permitted. Although

Haraneko Borda, Itxassou, France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

In the Pays Basque, adding Borda to the name of an eating establishment signifies a rustic country inn. In Euskera, borda means barn and the original Bordas were kitchens set up in underused barns, often with the cooking done over wood-fired braziers and guests served at long rows of tables, outdoors when weather permitted. Although

Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
Restaurants

La Legende, Sauveterre de Béarn, France

Posted on

Combine a wine shop, a cafe, a natural wine bar, a hangout for locals that’s open from 10am to midnight and a restaurant where everything is made from scratch using ingredients gathered within 100 miles and what do you get? La Legende in Sauveterre de Bearn. On the face of it, Sauveterre de Béarn (population

La Legende, Sauveterre de Béarn, France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

Combine a wine shop, a cafe, a natural wine bar, a hangout for locals that’s open from 10am to midnight and a restaurant where everything is made from scratch using ingredients gathered within 100 miles and what do you get? La Legende in Sauveterre de Bearn. On the face of it, Sauveterre de Béarn (population

Tagged , , | Leave a Comment
Recommendations | Restaurants

Les Passionnés, Toulouse France

Posted on

Les Passionés bills itself as a cave a manger, which functionally, means a wine shop where you can also get something to each beyond the charcuterie and cheese you find in a bar a vin. The description written on the restaurant’s facade, “Cafe du marché Vins d’artisans” gives a better idea of the restaurants ambitions,

Les Passionnés, Toulouse France Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

Les Passionés bills itself as a cave a manger, which functionally, means a wine shop where you can also get something to each beyond the charcuterie and cheese you find in a bar a vin. The description written on the restaurant’s facade, “Cafe du marché Vins d’artisans” gives a better idea of the restaurants ambitions,

Tagged , , | Leave a Comment
Restaurants

Asador Extebarri

Posted on

We recently had the chance to have lunch at Asador Etxebarri, a restaurant that has gotten a lot of attention from the culinary press for its grill-centric take on traditional Basque food.  I had read how great the food is but had not realized that the restaurant is so isolated or that it was in

Asador Extebarri Read More »

[portfolio_slideshow]

We recently had the chance to have lunch at Asador Etxebarri, a restaurant that has gotten a lot of attention from the culinary press for its grill-centric take on traditional Basque food.  I had read how great the food is but had not realized that the restaurant is so isolated or that it was in

Tagged , | Leave a Comment