GAYOT's Blog

by Jeff Hoyt

We are very pleased with our international team of reviewers who write about restaurants, hotels and more from Sydney to the Galapagos. We are especially proud of one of our Paris correspondents, Jean-Claude Ribaut, who is the food critic for the French newspaper Le Monde.

Mr. Ribaut recently worked with Elaine Sciolino, a Paris correspondent for The New York Times, for an article on eating fresh peas. The two of them traveled to L’Oustau de Baumanière, a top restaurant in Provence where Queen Elizabeth has dined, to eat peas picked fresh that morning from the restaurant’s own vegetable garden.

Continue reading “From Gayot to The New York Times” »

by Sophie Gayot

As you know, we go around the globe to bring the freshest news about the restaurant scene. If you missed me on the radio a few weeks ago, here is your chance to catch up on the conversation I had with chef Jamie Gwen. Her weekly radio show airs on Sundays in Los Angeles on KFWB News Talk 980.

Click on the restaurant names below to listen to what we had to say:

• L’Abeille, Shangri-La Hotel Paris, Paris – (More about the restaurant at GAYOT.com with an exclusive video of executive chef Philippe Labbé);

• Le Bernardin, New York – (More about chef Eric Ripert at GAYOT.com’s blog);

• Mercato di Vetro, West Hollywood;

• Stella Rossa Pizza Bar, Santa Monica – (More about the restaurant at GAYOT.com with an exclusive video with executive chef Jeff Mahin. The restaurant has just been named one of GAYOT.com’s Top 10 Pizza Restaurants in the US);

Continue reading “Restaurant News on the Airwaves” »

by Sophie Gayot

 

It was indeed hot during the Amateur Competition at Les Etoiles de Mougins, the 6th Festival International de la Gastronomie recently held in Mougins, France. The sun was shining, so the temperature under the tent was hot, as was the ambience. It became hotter when it came time for the members of the jury — including me — to deliberate, as we did not agree on who should win. Besides myself, the rest of the jury were chefs: Serge Gouloumès (Le Mas Candille), Sébastien Chambru (Le Moulin de Mougins), Christopher Hache (Les Ambassadeurs), Christelle Brua (Le Pré Catelan), Claire Verneuil (contestant on the 2011 season of the French Masterchef TV show), and the President of the jury, Frédéric Anton (Le Pré Catelan), who is also on the jury of the French version of the TV show MasterChef.

Continue reading “Red, Hot & French” »

by Sophie Gayot

I previously wrote about attending Les Etoiles de Mougins, the 6th Festival International de la Gastronomie held in Mougins, France, and the professional chef competition. Of the seventy chefs who tried to take part, only five were selected to come to Mougins. Jessica Largey, who is a sous-chef at David Kinch’s Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos, California, was the only American and the only woman to make the cut.

Continue reading “Following A Contestant” »

by Sophie Gayot

Gastronomy is a very significant part of French culture, but it’s even more important today than ever before. For the first time, on September 23, 2011, the country is holding a national day dedicated to gastronomy. Frédéric Lefèbvre, French Secretary of State for Trade, SMEs, Services, Tourism, the Professions and Consumption, created La Fête de la Gastronomie to celebrate the rich diversity of the French gastronomic tradition. Each year, the Fête de la Gastronomie will be based on a theme. For 2011, it is “the Earth.”

 

All over the country, restaurateurs, chefs, caterers, producers, government agencies, and amateurs will showcase French cooking, French produce, and the art of entertaining à la Française. As I am writing these lines, there are over 4,400 scheduled events — and there are sure to be impromptu ones as well, such as chefs coming out of their kitchens to cook in the streets. The objective is to bring people together and inspire them to get cooking.

Continue reading “La Fête de la Gastronomie in France” »

by Sophie Gayot

This past weekend, the 6th Festival International de la Gastronomie was held in Mougins, France. Over eighty chefs from all over the world made the trip to the south of France to showcase their cuisine during Les Etoiles de Mougins. The highlight of the three days was Sunday’s chef competition.

During the first step, five chefs were selected from a list of seventy: Francis Ogé (a cook in the kitchen at the Elysée Palace), Filipo Fiorentini (Arnolfo restaurant, Italy), Nelson Da Silva (Le Loom, Seignosse), Jessica Largey (sous-chef at David Kinch’s Manresa, Los Gatos, Calif.) and Olivier Jean (Le Métropole, Monte-Carlo). They had two hours to prepare a “foie gras cuit servi chaud avec une garniture libre autour de la courge butternut” (warm cooked foie gras with butternut squash based garnish). To make it harder, at the last minute, the jury introduced a mystery ingredient: lentils.
Continue reading “Les Espoirs de Mougins 2011: The Winner, Le Gagnant” »

The Eiffel Tower on Your Plate

by Sophie Gayot

There is a French expression: “avec des si, on mettrait Paris en bouteille,” which means, “with ifs, you could fit Paris in a bottle.” But how can you fit the Eiffel Tower on a plate? Watch the exclusive video interview with executive chef Philippe Labbé of L’Abeille restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel Paris, to see how he does it. You will find out why Labbé is paying a tribute to La Grande Dame, as about half of the hotel’s 27 suites and 54 rooms have unobstructed views of the monument built by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 for the World’s Fair.

Continue reading “L’Abeille Restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris” »

by Sophie Gayot

The sixth edition of Les Étoiles de Mougins, Festival International de la Gastronomie et des Arts de Vivre will be held September 16-18, 2011, on The Riviera in the gorgeous village of Mougins (Côte d’Azur, France). After the second edition in 2007, the prestigious event had to limit the number of participating chefs to 100 due to its overwhelming success. The Festival was created by mayor Richard Galy in 2006 to honor chef Roger Vergé who literally put Mougins on the world map with his restaurant and hotel Le Moulin de Mougins. If it sounds familiar, this is where Liz Taylor would hold her “big” AIDS charity dinner during the Cannes Film Festival. Watch the exclusive video interview with Mayor Richard Galy, the man behind the Festival. He wants people to know that Mougins is also a city of art with over 30 galleries and “ateliers d’art” stretching along the small winding and charming streets, and it now has a new Museum of Classical Art.
 

Continue reading “Tastes & Saveurs in Mougins, France” »

by Sophie Gayot

A recent lunch in Paris brought me to Cyril Lignac’s bistrot Le Chardenoux located in a quiet street of the eleventh arrondissement. Lignac was not there, but Marie-Laure, “la maîtresse de maison”, was. As I ordered the baba au rhum for dessert, a Chardenoux classic, and my guests ordered the pain perdu à la cerise and the profiteroles à la vanille, she insisted that we try the éclair caramel beurre salé (salted butter caramel éclair). She knew exactly was she was doing, and that we would all love it. She was right. I don’t think an éclair can get any better than that, between its wrapping and its content: a perfectly baked puff pastry filled and covered with a delicious caramel cream.

Continue reading “When the Eclair Sparks” »

by Sophie Gayot

Like last year, we have partnered with Tennis Channel to offer a taste of France to American fans of Roland Garros who can not make it to Paris. In New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix and Los Angeles, we have selected the top ten French bistros/brasseries/restaurants to help celebrate Tennis Channel‘s round-the-clock coverage of the two-week French Open. Their high definition programming will let you follow the matches of tennis’ largest and most prestigious clay-court competition live starting at 5 a.m. EST. A nightly recap will run from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST.

 Here is where to find the GAYOT.com Top 10 French Restaurant Guide for these markets:
– Atlanta
– Los Angeles
– Miami
– New York
– Phoenix
– Washington D.C.

 For more info about the coverage of Roland Garros 2011, go to www.tennischannel.com.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »