Laduree, Minums, Les Deux Magots, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

What a day!!!
No touristy sites yet appart from the food ones.
Laduree; macaroons to die for, in a selection of seasonal/daily flavours. Think crunchy outer and heavenly soft centres that nearly fall apart once bitten; blueberry, cherry and raspberry were the picks.

Minums; next door to the famed, Maxims. It was the little brother of Maxims, and very similar to France Soir on Toorak Road. We sat at a gorgeous old bistro table at the front and drank Cote Du Rhone rouge by the carafe and ate the clichés... very cheesey gratinated onion soup, a rich bisque soup with rouille, steak tartare and fries -listed as pomme allumettes - straw potatoes, and I had a green salad on the side, missing my greens!

Dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
You know you have a successful restaurant when you can tell a late walkin table -we arrived at 10pm, that if they come back at 11.30 you may have something for them... and then they come back... and then happlily waited until midnight to be seated! But we had to go to this restaurant based on SO many recommendations from friends
*** -images and details to come

**More to come (I am trying to type on a French keyboard...very slowly)**
Jack

Paris at last

Well here I am, at last in Paris.
After a long flight; Melbourne, Hong Kong, London and then Paris, and down one bag... we have arrived. Feeling like a easy bistro meal and a decent nights sleep, it was lucky Gabby could not we could get us a reservation at L'Ami Jean until 10pm or we would have missed it!
Arriving slightly late we did not realise what we were getting ourselves in for...
**More to come**
Jack

Comme

On Tuesday evening PDC and I enjoyed one of the best meals in Melbourne that we have had in a while, at Comme.
We had selected Comme having dined there just after it opened and loving it then, so it was a perfect choice before the long flight ahead of us. I had some shucked to order, as fresh as they come Tasmanian oysters with the cutiest mergeux sausages the size of your pinky. Followed by a rare fillet of venison with cherries, parsnip puree and fondant potato (photo to come...)
To make the experience even more special our waitress 'Gabby' was from Paris and helped us by making a reservation in a regarded bistro for our arrival the next evening. Fantastic.
**Extended review to come**
Jack

We are off!

Just a quick post to say we are off on our wining and dining adventures in France, Spain and London. Be back on home soil in 3 weeks, but don't stop visiting I will be posting some very interesting restaurants while away.
Tonight before the late flight so get us in the mood we are dining at Comme with its French and Spain cuisine, have dined there before and loved the gourgeous fresh flavours and flexible plate sizes.
Bye for now...
Jack

Unlaid eggs???

I openly call myself a food nerd, people usually laugh and shake their head no, while thinking yes... so I was surprised to stumble across something very interesting at Prahran market last weekend. At first I didn't quite believe the butcher until I got thinking about it this week and then did some research (see I told you, food nerd!).
In little round plastic takeaway containers one of the poultry butchers had about ten small little orange balls that looked like perfectly round egg yolks. I enquired after staring for a while and were told that they were unlaid eggs. Now most people would probably be grossed and try and not think about it any more, but I asked what you would use them for. I was informed that they are great dropped into soup or to make an amazingly rich custard.
The research I turned up was this article from the New York Times and this amazing photo
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times


I didn't buy them but immediately now think of a curry I had in Laos that I bet had them in it, and I reckon I have also had them in 'special' pho soups on Victoria St.

What do you reckon? Too freaky? Do you have a recipe?
Jack

Airline Food Mission

Have you seen this hilarious site, http://airlinemeals.net/ ?
It strikes a cord with me because of my imminent trip but also because of the 3 internal flights I took through Vietnam the year before last. Each 'dining experience' was a spam roll of a different variety. Perhaps I'm being mean, but on Vietnam Airlines, I had the pleasure of looking at three mystery meat rolls wrapped in plastic. A differnet looking processed meat in a white bread roll, wrapped tightly in cling wrap.

I've set myself a personal mission to photograph how well Qantas does on my trip, will keep you in the loop.

Jack

Mighty, Mighty Melbourne

This is the biggest, tastiest burger from Grill'd (and some herby chips on the side), the Mighty Melbourne. It’s got all the usual Aussie hamburger ingredients including as you would expect; egg, bacon and beetroot on a toasted bun.
This burger is much bigger than I need or want to be able to eat but I just have to have this burger and all the bits that go onto it. I usually manage to get ¾ of the way through before I think I may explode. This is definitely the bet commercially available burger in Melbourne (if Grill’d is closed BBNT is the next best option).

Jack

(sorry about the crappy lighting in the shot, couldn't concentrate as I had this burger staring at me and an empty tummy)

Eating at Jack's... and PDC's

In anticipation of the much awaited trip, permanent dining companion (PDC) and I have been cooking up a European storm.
Dishes have included, steak tartare- raw hand minced organic eye fillet, mixed with raw egg, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, capers, shallots, cornichons... I forget the rest. Its PDC’s favourite to make, hence the insistance of the kiwi beer in the background of this photo.

We then had duck confit. I admit it; we cheated and brought the prepared duck legs from Parisienne Pates on Lygon Street.

I often buy bits and pieces from there; pate, terrine, sausages and cheese. It’s easy dinner party food for the time poor and fussy like me. We had the duck legs with braised du puy lentils and some caramelised Brussels sprouts and bacon (as if there wasn’t enough saturated fat in the pan!).

Though it seems fancy, this was quite an easy, delicious dinner and importantly not too much to clean up after!
Jack