So dark was our room at the Vecellio that Monsieur and I found it difficult to predict the outside weather when we woke each morning. Today, our third together in Venice, saw the curtains draw back to reveal a glimpse of the lagoon and a blue (yes, blue!) sky. This was indeed fortunate as we…
Category: Restaurants – let’s eat chic
Restaurant reviews, recommendations, eating out
Venice: From Rialto to Prosecco and Pasta with Planeta
Monsieur and I were certainly getting our feet wet in more ways than one, as I guided him around Venice. Having visited the Guggenheim Collection, where I’d once spent my days as an intern, we then headed for the Rialto area – famed for its market and covered bridge. In fine weather, this would have…
Learning to like tofu
LiKo (Little Korea Restaurant) 2-3 Lisle Street, London WC2H 7BG, Tel 020 7434 1601 In the darkest days of January, when we were still in the throes of post-Christmas empty pocket-dom, a pair of my colleagues and I conjured a carrot to dangle before our noses and lead us out of the gloom: we decided…
Flicking knives on Valentine’s
Valentine’s Day is one of those occasions that has the potential to fail miserably. If you’re single, it can make you feel very alone. If you’re part of a couple, apart from being the romantic zenith of the calendar ,it can be very expensive, tacky, and can have the opposite of its intended effect by…
Clos Maggiore
When a top restaurant website rates an eatery number one in more than one category, you know you’re onto a good thing. When a friend recommends the same place, you know the reviews must have substance. Clos Maggiore is just such a place and really does live up to expectation. We reserved a table…
Patronage at a Venetian Palazzo – The Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Once upon a time in Venice, I was a museum intern, and once upon that long time ago I fell in love with this dreamy little metropolis of canals and palaces and chilled glasses of sgroppini and steaming plates of fresh spaghetti alle vongole. How can one not fall for a place where you wake…
Getting our feet wet in Venice
Monsieur and I slumbered long, that first night in Venice. In fact, we somehow slept through our alarms before finally falling out of bed at an embarrassing 11am. That was stupid. Now we’d have to move fast to make up the time. Our lateness didn’t escape the attention of the hotel receptionist. A man exuding…
Osso Buco, by Billy Collins
(Photo from Politicook.com. I’m afraid I didn’t have any of my own photos to use and this one shows the bones very well.) Pat of Singleforareason sent me a link to a poem today. It relates to my Rome-ing in the Rain post, where Monsieur warms up with a hearty Ossobucco (which can be spelled…
Rome-ing in the Rain
For the previous post, From Gladiators to Gondolas… click here. Marcus Agrippa’s Pantheon is a remarkable, cylindrical structure that never dates. Its pediment proudly states: ‘Agrippa me fecit’, or ‘Agrippa made me’, and it’s little wonder that this Roman General had his name emblazoned across this building. Initially constructed in 27AD and rebuilt by Hadrian in…
Dining in Disguise – or why Ruth Reichl is my new favourite food writer.
It isn’t often that I find a book that makes me want to read it twice in three months, but I should have known from the review that I’d want to immediately re-read Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl: “GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES is Ruth Reichl’s delicious and mischievous account of her time spent as an…
A Thai Bride at The Blue Elephant
At long last I am proudly able to say that I’ve dined at The Blue Elephant, here in London. It’s one of those landmark places that I’ve been hearing about ever since moving to London. For a long time my commute took me past its blue neon sign twice daily but until last week, I’d…
The Red Flame – a flaming good Big Apple diner
Red Flame Coffee Shop 67 W 44th St, New York 10036 Btwn 5th & 6th Ave Phone: 212-869-3965 Fax: 212-869-4398 Menu link click here. To visit The Red Flame Coffee Shop in Midtown, Manhattan is to have the quintessential New York diner experience. Monsieur and I have visited this bastion of weekend brunch each time we’ve been in…
Epicurienne 